Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 207

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 207
The Grand Council convened for six consecutive days.
It appeared to be the longest duration among all councils held in nearly twenty years.
Remarkably, the leaders of both major factions who had been absent on the second day returned the very next day. However, they seemed to lack the capacity to mount further attacks against Dokgo Myeong’s faction.
After navigating through numerous complex and delicate interests and muddy disputes over territorial authority, the council barely reached a consensus.
“…Thus, we have reached a provisional conclusion.”
“Provisional? This is merely where things begin.”
It was a conversation between the bitter Outer Hall Master and the Elder Council Leader.
“We shall temporarily convert the Overseer’s Office into a Military Affairs Bureau. Additionally, we will unify the command structure.”
“Overseer. Isn’t this premature? Nothing is prepared yet. First, the Elder Council should….”
“The Inner Sect will draft proclamations and distribute them to each branch and the Moyong Family.”
“The Outer Hall shall transition to wartime operations and recall our forces.”
Though the council had concluded, the struggle among those who held the Dokgo Household’s helm had only just begun.
A political battle for territorial authority and spoils of war.
The Outer Hall Master, the Elder Council Leader, and Wi Baek the Overseer—these seasoned politicians bore deep exhaustion etched across their faces.
Fortunately, all three commanded capable subordinates. When they sketched the outlines for their respective objectives, the administrators filled in the details.
Those three, however.
“On that matter, we also have something to say… *cough! cough!* My apologies.”
A man who had coughed dryly continued speaking with a voice that seemed to carry obsessive determination.
“…We have already contributed considerable silver from the Golden Mountain Pavilion. Why must we expend more funds? This is absolutely unacceptable!”
Eyes gleaming with bitterness, eye sockets darkened by exhaustion to an ashen black, withered skin, and disheveled hair….
One might mistake him for a jiangshi—a creature that had once drawn the condemnation of the entire martial realm during the Milky Way Incident.
He was none other than Dokgo Jo-hak, Master of the White Jade Pavilion.
“…Jo-hak. Are you alright?”
“I am vacant of such concerns. Please address me as Master of the White Jade Pavilion.”
“Perhaps you should take a brief rest.”
“That won’t do, Inner Sect Leader! I must settle this matter while the opportunity presents itself!”
Dokgo Jo-hak was the de facto helmsman steering Dokgo Myeong’s faction forward, and he personally handled all manner of administrative duties.
As a result, he had already gone without sleep for four days straight.
‘That death-dealing bastard—too cowardly to dirty his own hands, a wretch worthy of Buddha’s double curses….’
Dokgo Jo-hak ground his teeth as he thought of Dokgo Myeong.
-Ah, surely you don’t expect me to surrender everything just because I mentioned securing the inner chambers? Of course not—you already know that. Surely our uncle isn’t so incompetent?
Dokgo Jo-hak, the very embodiment of pride.
Though he recognized the provocation, he had been caught by that single word—”incompetent”—and now endured overwork with the resolve to burn through even his innate vital energy.
“….”
Even Wi Baek regarded him with an expression of slight exasperation before opening his mouth.
“Master of the White Jade Pavilion.”
“What is it?”
“Where exactly is Young Master Myeong and what is he doing?”
Dokgo Jo-hak’s expression hardened instantly.
The root cause of all this, the very man who had driven the Dokgo Household into war—he was likely at this very moment….
“Tormenting people, I’d wager.”
“…?”
“My son is probably there too.”
Dokgo Jo-hak gazed toward a distant place.
Sa Heon-gak’s rear training grounds.
Dokgo Myeong was there right now.
“Hah! Absolutely obsessed with it! Is this right? Is this how it should be? Life in the martial world these days has become absolutely splendid!”
Just as Dokgo Jo-hak had predicted, he was bellowing at his subordinates with a voice that rang like a bell.
* * *
“Wow, martial life these days is really convenient. My lord is locked in a stone prison eating grain-substitute pills while still training, and I’m being dragged around day and night without sleep for work… Isn’t this just perfect?”
“….”
“Wow, look at Ye-hwa here? Your skin has gotten so much fairer?”
“I, I mainly train at night….”
“So you were playing during the day?”
“….”
“Argh! How is the martial world even functioning these days? Everyone’s gone soft. Soft! Have you all forgotten those days when we had to flee with our tails between our legs?”
It felt like blood might pour from my ears. I could actually hear a ringing sound, a real high-pitched whine.
The complexions of the five subordinates standing in a row, looking grimy and worn, darkened considerably.
‘Ugh, here we go again….’
‘Does this look like playing to you?’
‘Good grief! I knew this would happen!’
It was unjust.
Unbearably unjust.
Even being a hundred times generous, setting aside everything else, we trained with genuine ferocity….
“No, brother. We really didn’t slack off and worked incredibly hard….”
At Dokgo Ak’s mumbling, which sounded almost pleading, Dokgo Myeong’s head snapped around.
“Oh, you worked hard?”
“Y, yes!”
“Did you break through the peak realm?”
Dokgo Ak flinched.
‘This madman talks about the peak realm like it’s a trip to the outhouse.’
Dokgo Ak carefully opened his mouth.
“W, well, not exactly….”
“Then you were playing?”
“No, but I’ve been diligently training my external techniques lately… and, and once the household atmosphere improves, I’m planning to learn new martial arts….”
“So you were playing?”
“….”
“So, you were playing?”
Only then did Dokgo Ak grasp the direction this was heading and nod his head.
“I was wrong.”
“Yes, if you’d just admitted your mistake like that, it would’ve been over. Why do you keep making excuses? That’s only making people hate you more.”
Dokgo Myeong turned sharply to look at Cheolmu-baek.
Cheolmu-baek thrust out his chest proudly as he spoke.
“I’ve completely mastered the Infiltration Technique.”
Cheolmu-baek spoke with subtle pride.
Dokgo Myeong tilted his head.
“Don’t tell me you couldn’t even do that originally?”
“….”
Cheolmu-baek’s shoulders, which had seemed about to soar skyward, quickly sank.
Then someone shouted.
“Wait a moment! Young Master!”
It was Geum Seok-du.
At his bold cry, the heads of the Chamma Unit members snapped toward him.
‘Could it be?’
‘Captain Geum! As expected!’
‘We knew we could count on you!’
Geum Seok-du spoke.
“I’ve completed all the tasks you assigned me! I’ve finished decoding the antidote formula for the spirit elixir!”
This traitor!
Trying to save himself alone!
But Dokgo Myeong was an existence that Geum Seok-du’s cunning could not overcome.
“What about martial arts training?”
“…Pardon?”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t do it?”
“….”
“You skipped it?”
Geum Seok-du struggled valiantly, but he too lasted only three seconds.
With everyone looking dejected, Dokgo Myeong fixed his gaze on the last person.
“And Sohwa, you….”
Dokgo Myeong looked at Namgung Sohwa, then turned his head away.
“…I’ll let that slide for you.”
Dokgo Myeong looked at the Chamma Unit members again.
“Hey, you lot. Do you think I’m just harassing you for fun?”
Well, it kind of seems that way.
As everyone struggled to swallow the words rising to their throats, Dokgo Myeong continued.
“You’ve all heard the news, right?”
“….”
“Before long, a war between the factions will break out. It won’t be a simple matter of winning or losing. Everything is entangled in this. And we must participate in it as well.”
In that instant, the eyes of the Chamma Unit captains gleamed with light.
Crack!
Namgung Sohwa ground her teeth and gripped her sword so hard her knuckles whitened.
Dokgo Myeong had noticed the venom blazing in her eyes long ago.
That’s why he hadn’t said much.
“…We really did our best.”
Cheolmu-baek spoke.
Dokgo Ak stammered out his own words.
“We tried desperately. Truly.”
Dokgo Myeong nodded his head a couple of times.
“Of course I know. I can see you all tried yourselves to death. Where in this world would you find people who work harder than you?”
You really know?
Is that how someone who knows talks?
“You probably didn’t try hard enough anyway. Unless you had two lives, right?”
Clench!
At the sight of Dokgo Myeong speaking while clenching his fist, his subordinates’ expressions turned gloomy.
Dokgo Myeong chuckled and spoke.
“But everyone tries. That’s just the baseline.”
“…!”
“For men of your caliber, it’s time to bring results. Those with boundless ambitions shouldn’t settle for mere effort, should they?”
Everyone fell silent.
“In the martial world, those who fail to produce results are simply dismissed as ‘lacking effort.’ Even if that’s not the case, it becomes so anyway. If you don’t want to hear that, you have to see it through to the end.”
“Ah….”
“Mm.”
Sighs escaped from here and there.
It was disappointing.
It felt unfair.
But they understood.
Effort is merely the framework.
Of course, the framework is most important when building a tower. Everyone knows this.
But the world only looks at the tower’s peak, never at its framework.
“Enough of the long talk.”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes flashed.
The commanders flinched.
“I can’t stand watching my men get beaten down, whether on the battlefield or anywhere else. You understand what I’m saying?”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“I’m saying you should get beaten by me first so you don’t get beaten anywhere else.”
Shiver!
All the commanders felt a chill run down their spines.
“Hehehehe. It’s time to test the secret technique I perfected in the Brain Prison.”
So that’s what you really wanted all along, you bastard!
They all shared the same sentiment, yet none dared voice it aloud.
Dokgo Myeong had immediately stamped the ground.
Crash!
The Chamma Unit captains gasped and drew their weapons in unison.
* * *
“Ugh… ugh…”
“Mmm… mmm…”
About half an hour later.
The captains were sprawled across the ground.
Even Dokgo Myeong, who had beaten them all down, was far from unscathed.
“Cough! Hack! Damn, look how vicious these bastards have gotten.”
Dokgo Myeong lay stretched out on the ground, breathing heavily and roughly.
I’d been a bit harsh in my eagerness, but they’re certainly growing sharper with each passing day.
Cheolmu-baek, the first to recover and stand, clicked his tongue.
“What was that last technique?”
Dokgo Myeong grinned wickedly.
“You could call it a secret technique I’ve recently created.”
“A secret technique… you say?”
“Yeah, what did you think?”
“What did I think.”
Cheolmu-baek wore a peculiar expression.
After much deliberation, he answered.
“It was like a sandstorm.”
A sandstorm that, once unleashed, engulfs the entire prairie.
That feeling of a sandstorm that sweeps away horses and men alike.
“This relentless bastard grows even stronger after emerging from the Thunder Prison.”
Dokgo Ak, who had been knocked unconscious and embedded in the ground, regained consciousness and grumbled.
‘Damn, I thought I’d land at least one blow.’
Dokgo Ak clenched his fist regretfully.
In the final moment of the sparring match.
Dokgo Myeong suddenly shifted his momentum and overwhelmed everyone at once.
The technique’s execution was so different from my usual fighting style that they were all caught off guard and fell in an instant.
Seeing their dejected expressions, Dokgo Myeong clicked his tongue sharply.
“Why are you all so shocked? It’s still incomplete.”
“That was incomplete?”
“Of course! Goodness, they were bragging so much about their efforts that I wondered how much they’d improved…”
As the criticism resumed, the captains gazed at the distant mountains with expressions that said, ‘Here we go again.’
It was then that Geum Seok-du tactfully changed the subject.
“Commander! So, um, what should we do going forward?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you ask me to produce results? Surely you weren’t expecting me to just keep training indefinitely.”
Dokgo Myeong nodded.
“Ah, right. That’s actually what I called you here to discuss.”
“….”
“I think it’s about time you all started preparing to recruit people.”
“Pardon?”
“Hm?”
Everyone exchanged confused glances.
“Recruit people? What do you mean by that, sir?”
“Obviously the Chamma Unit members.”
“…!”
“What could five of us possibly accomplish if war breaks out? It’s time we found more people and expanded our forces.”
Geum Seok-du asked with a bewildered expression.
“Recruit people? You mean we’re venturing back into the martial world again, given the current situation?”
“We don’t have time for that. I’ve already made preparations, so they should be arriving soon.”
“Sir?”
“Seok-du, don’t you remember what I asked of Ju Won-gwang?”
“Ah…!”
“Those people are starting to arrive at the main household.”
When I had met Ju Won-gwang at Dengyongji.
What I had entrusted to him was precisely locating the scattered members of the Chamma Unit throughout various regions.
At the same time, I had left behind ‘contacts’ to recruit them.
‘I didn’t find them all, but I never intended to in the first place.’
The Chamma Unit had many people I couldn’t associate with, and I had no intention of bringing all of them, excluding those.
I didn’t want to drag in people like Gwak Dae-ryong, those I’d rather not involve in a conflict.
However.
‘Since there were so many living wretched lives to begin with, quite a few must have responded.’
I smiled faintly.
“At most, we have two years before the real war begins. Until then, we need to prepare thoroughly. For that to happen, first….”
I looked at my subordinates.
“You all have much to learn. I’ve already thought of teachers to instruct you personally, so prepare yourselves.”
“…?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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