Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 224

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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 224
Iron Net’s eyes blazed with fervent light as he hurled his body forward.
Whoooosh!
My body was sent flying backward.
Spinning through the air, my hands caught hold of strange bone fragments—throwing knives I’d prepared beforehand, crafted from the byproducts of demonic creatures.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
Though these throwing knives were forged from demonic creature teeth and bone, a mere throw couldn’t pierce through Iron Net’s thick scales.
But I’d bought time, and in that fleeting instant, a golden radiance flashed like morning light.
“Roooaaarrr!”
Golden mane rippled magnificently.
Geum-ye, wreathed in the essence of the sacred mountain across her entire body, rammed into the creature’s torso.
Boom!
The collision erupted with a wave of force.
Thus the lion and serpent became entangled.
Mystical beast and demonic creature, divine spirit and demonic entity.
‘It’s a bit different from the legendary clash of tiger and crane, considering the different species involved.’
The collision between these two beings resembled a scene from legend itself. The difference was that a mere human like me was also part of that battle.
Crash! Boom!
Like masters executing a perfect combination technique, Geum-ye and I moved in seamless harmony, driving Iron Net back.
‘This is strange.’
A beast and I shouldn’t be able to communicate, and there’s no reason we should coordinate.
Yet we matched perfectly—almost too perfectly. It felt nearly like fighting alongside a true partner.
Uuuuummm!
And the reason wasn’t difficult to discern.
‘True energy. Our vital forces are communicating, our bodies and consciousness moving as one.’
A certain transformation that had come to me during my time on the sacred mountain.
That true energy flowed in communion with the essence Geum-ye wielded, naturally guiding our movements.
Retreating here, striking there, attacking simultaneously.
My consciousness followed the movements of true energy itself.
And I had experienced this before.
‘Dragon Scale Fist was like this too. With Dragon Scale Fist, with Geum-ye, and this beast as well!’
I felt a great crack forming in the wall of enlightenment that had been fracturing recently.
In that moment when I vaguely grasped the path that Cheonoe Gyeong’s true energy should take.
“Kiiiieeeeek!”
Iron Net suddenly twisted away from me and lunged at Geum-ye instead.
“How dare you look away in front of me!”
I immediately drove my Hwacheon Strike into the creature’s torso.
Thud!
It was different from the metallic sound before.
I felt the blade tip clearly pierce through the gaps between its scales.
But then.
‘This madman?’
Gwisucheolmang paid no heed to the wounds upon his own body.
Rather, as if he had intended to endure from the start, he didn’t even turn his head and simply lashed out at Geum-ye’s torso.
Boom!
Geum-ye, caught defenseless by the attack, was driven into the cliff face.
Screech!
As if declaring it finished, the creature whirled his head toward Dokgo Myeong.
Was it a judgment that a continued exchange would be dangerous? Or did Dokgo Myeong simply appear less threatening?
“Kyaaaaaaack!”
Gwisucheolmang unleashed a bestial roar and charged at Dokgo Myeong.
Dokgo Myeong let out a scoff and raised his blade high.
“Did you think a one-on-one would make any difference? No matter how strong you think you are, you’re nothing but vermin!”
Whoosh!
In that instant, Dokgo Myeong’s sword traced a graceful arc.
Jecheon-gi, the martial art of suppression and fluidity, unfurled in the form of his blade.
Clang clang clang clang!
That massive head was redirected by the sword’s point.
Gwisucheolmang’s fangs failed to find their mark on Dokgo Myeong, instead plunging into the ground beside him as if bouncing away.
‘An attack without technique, without cunning, without skill!’
Dokgo Myeong immediately shifted his vital energy.
Perfectly positioned—Gwisucheolmang’s crown, now embedded in the ground beside him.
He drove a palm strike directly into that very spot.
Boom!
A sound erupted like iron being hammered in a blacksmith’s forge.
From Gwisucheolmang’s head to the tip of his tail, his entire body convulsed violently from the impact.
“Kiaaaaack!”
Flash!
Was it rage?
A deeper, more intense light blazed in Gwisucheolmang’s crimson eyes.
‘So you bare your eyes at me—what good will that do…!’
Something surged toward him from the front.
A tail strike.
Dokgo Myeong, about to thrust his blade forward again, suddenly halted.
‘What is this?’
He attempted to counter with Jecheon-gi, but his instincts demanded evasion.
Yet his blade was already extended.
Dokgo Myeong hastily shifted his footwork and launched himself backward.
Whoooosh!
By the narrowest margin, the wind raised by Gwisucheolmang’s tail swept across his body.
Anticipating the toxic miasma, I held my breath. Yet I felt something surge up from my throat.
“Hack!”
Stale blood dripped down.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes wavered.
‘Internal injuries?’
I clearly dodged it…
Why had the internal injuries I sustained and sealed away at the beginning reopened?
Could it be…?
“…!”
Uuuuuuung!
The moment I lifted my head and our eyes met, my stomach twisted and I felt as though someone had bound my limbs.
It wasn’t some peculiar ability. The demonic creature and mystical beast hadn’t employed any legendary powers from the tales.
This was a force familiar to me.
No, it was more than familiar—it was something encountered as naturally as eating in the Gangho.
‘…Qi wave?’
Dokgo Myeong swallowed hard with a stunned expression.
‘Could it have learned to manipulate its qi by watching me?’
Like the sword winds or palm strikes of martial artists, the creature had wielded its own vital force to assault me.
Kwang!
The tail that followed swept across, and my foot, which I had planted firmly, lifted off the ground.
‘Damn it, what a repertoire! So underhanded! Know when to stop!’
A massive body, swift movements, armor of steel-like scales, human-level intelligence, toxic miasma and demonic energy coiling throughout its entire form.
And on top of that, it could learn?
What exactly couldn’t this thing do? This wasn’t fair!
Fwubububung!
“…!”
As I pressed forward with the iron net, I was driven back in chaos once more.
I used Jecheon-gi to absorb the impact, but couldn’t prevent my body from being lifted.
Only after flying nearly ten zhang and crashing into a cliff face could I regain my footing.
Bang! Bang! Kwaaaang!
The iron net gave no time for thought or respite.
Closing the ten zhang distance in a single breath as if it had flown, the iron net swung its tail and body wildly.
Fwisssss!
Black powder-like substance flowed from its mouth and scales.
Toxic miasma.
I was overwhelmed just neutralizing the creature’s qi waves that tried to bore into my body with each impact, and now I had to defend against the miasma as well.
“Damn! I swear nothing ever comes easy for me!”
Dokgo Myeong ground his teeth and sprang to his feet.
Fortunately, this battle wasn’t mine alone.
‘Now!’
The moment Dokgo Myeong gestured toward something.
A roar that shook the very mountain erupted from behind.
“KROOOOAAARRR!”
It was the lion’s roar unleashed by Geum-ye.
As befitted a Mystical Beast, a wave like lightning flashed forth, and the oppressive aura and toxicity were swept away entirely.
‘Nothing has changed. I’ll do as before.’
Dokgo Myeong drew forth the vital energy from his entire body.
Ssshhhhh.
The Iron Net’s gaze became enigmatic.
How could I fathom what thoughts ran through a creature’s mind?
And truthfully, I had no desire to know.
‘If I drag out time, it grows stronger! Let’s go!’
Dokgo Myeong locked eyes with Geum-ye.
Just as I was about to clash with the beast once more.
BOOM!
“…?!”
Despite my burning resolve, the creature turned its head.
Then it hurled itself down the mountainside and began descending rapidly.
‘What’s happening all of a sudden?’
Fleeing? It’s fleeing after coming all this way?
‘No, wait a moment.’
It wasn’t fleeing.
Dokgo Myeong quickly confirmed the direction the creature was moving and his eyes widened.
The beast descended the slope with frenzied speed toward the lower reaches.
There lay the village of the Daesan clan.
* * *
The tremors of battle carried down through the mountain passes.
The able-bodied men of the Daesan clan could not have failed to sense it.
“Village Chief!”
“What is the matter?”
“The, the village well….”
Dan-hu discovered the dried well and gasped in horror. In Guangxi, a land of heavy rains and damp earth, wells rarely ran dry.
A young martial artist from the village descended directly into the well and scooped soil from the bottom into a wooden bucket.
The earth was completely parched and brittle, and strange blue granules were mixed within it.
‘Poison!’
It was a vicious toxin. A foul stench emanated from the wooden bucket containing the soil.
But that was not all.
“There! Block it!”
“Seal it tight! We must seal it!”
BOOM! CRASH-CRASH-BOOM!
Near the peak of Yongryeong Mountain, the demonic creatures had not only escaped their formation but were now scattering poison across the surrounding earth.
‘I sensed something was amiss, but could it truly deteriorate this severely in merely a single day…!’
The Iron Net had even targeted the water source itself.
They called it a calamity spirit, a calamity spirit, yet it was truly a demonic beast that brought drought and pestilence in its wake. From this mere creature, I felt an intensity of malice.
“Where is the Iron Net now?”
“Please, wait just a moment.”
Chrrrrk!
The Mudang, dressed in brilliant crimson robes, shook the divination blocks and drew a fortune.
Yet there was no need to consult the divination at all.
For at that very moment, a bone-chilling cry echoed from the mountainside near the village entrance.
“Kyaaaaaaaa!”
Gwisucheolmang.
The direction from which its desolate howl came was toward the triple gate.
“To the triple gate at once! Cross through and prepare your positions! We must not allow that creature to descend the mountain!”
Demonic creatures that have tasted human blood grow more cunning, more vicious.
Moreover, Gwisucheolmang was different from other demonic creatures in some fundamental way.
If it descended below the mountain, it would be nothing short of catastrophe.
It was then.
The villagers caught sight of the black demonic beast approaching from afar.
“…Fire!”
At Dan-hu’s cry, the gathered strength of the village erupted forth.
Fwububububung!
Arrows adorned with talismans took flight through the heavens, and those confident in their martial prowess gripped spears and hurled them with inner force.
Though they differed in countless ways, they were still of the Dokgo Household’s lineage. The power of arrows and thrown spears was considerable.
Yet.
Shrieeek! Crash!
With but a single sweep of its tail, the Iron Net shattered all those attacks.
The villagers, who had not anticipated such overwhelming strength, wore expressions of despair—but it was then.
“Deploy the formation! We must hold the triple gate!”
Dan-hu’s urgent cry saved them.
The martial masters spread strange energy waves from behind, while the warriors stood at measured intervals, wielding their weapons.
And they collided.
Kwaaaang!
“Kraaaak!”
“Keuuuugh!”
No one fell.
They had held the line.
The Iron Net fixed its gaze upon these newly arrived humans and opened its maw wide.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
Whether its fury had reached its peak, its cry now carried the very essence of killing intent.
Whoooosh!
As expected, waves of qi and venom scattered in all directions.
Dan-hu’s eyes flashed with intensity as he stepped forward.
“You cunning demonic creature! Do you truly believe the essence of the Great Mountain is so easily trampled?”
Dan-hu declared sharply, hurling a talisman into the void.
Flare up!
Azure flames bloomed from the talisman, and a powerful counter-field spread forth, incinerating the Iron Net’s aura.
A form of mystical art rejected by the righteous sects of Gangho as heterodox.
Power manifested through means different from martial prowess, yet it succeeded in blocking the Iron Net’s advance toward the three gates.
“Hold your ground! That evil water serpent shall not breach our defenses!”
Screech!
The Iron Net bared its terrifying fangs and attacked in all directions, but the warriors of the Ten Thousand Great Mountain dashed about frantically, hindering its assault.
Not a single person had fallen yet.
They could withstand both the venom and the demonic aura.
Dan-hu saw a path to victory.
‘We can do this. The Divine Spirit is coming. And Dokgo Myeong as well!’
If the villagers and Dokgo Myeong joined forces, subjugating the Iron Net would not be impossible.
Yet there was one thing Dan-hu had overlooked.
“Ahhh! Aaahhhhh! What, what is this!”
“Kyaaahhh!”
“Village Chief! Demonic creatures!”
…!
Dan-hu’s eyes widened in shock.
Beyond the three gates lay the domain of demonic creatures.
Those that had been hiding in fear of the Iron Net’s aura caught the scent of humans and came rushing forth.
The defensive formation collapsed.
Boom! Crash!
The Iron Net’s massive form descended upon the village.
The warriors, each occupied with demonic creatures erupting from the ground, could not spare attention for the Iron Net.
‘This cannot be!’
Warriors sent flying through the air by the Iron Net’s tail.
Screaming martial artists.
Slither!
The Iron Net turned its head, showing no intention of remaining bound to the village.
Toward the distant lower slopes of the mountain.
It sought a place where it could drink richer blood.
It was at that very moment.
Booooom!
With a deafening roar, two beings radiating white and blue light burst into the fray.
“Make way!”
It was Geum-ye and Dokgo Myeong.
Dokgo Myeong plummeted down onto the crown of the Iron Net’s head.
“Hold still, you bastard!”
Whoosh! Crash!
Like a thunderbolt, a blade pierced straight through the Iron Net’s skull.

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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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