Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 243

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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 243
Dokgo Myeong and the managers headed back toward the Cheonma Sect.
Though they all made a show of their injuries, there wasn’t a single weak-bodied man among the managers. They quickly dusted themselves off and rose to their feet.
On the way back like this.
“Something like that happened?”
“At the time, I did see strange creature corpses in the Geumsan Pavilion warehouse, but to think they were all demonic creatures….”
Dokgo Myeong briefly explained the events that had occurred in the meantime.
However, as stories tend to go, he added just a touch of exaggeration.
“The water serpent was just flying through the sky!”
“W-wait, you mean it flew all the way to the sky?”
“And it was just spewing fire from its mouth!”
“F-fire too!”
“And from its eyes it was shooting something like wind blades!”
“R-really? That really happened?”
The ones with the best reactions were Geum Seok-du and Dokgo Ak.
Namgung Sohwa and Cheolmu-baek simply shook their heads in disbelief, while Ye-hwa clung tightly to Namgung Sohwa’s side.
After finishing his explanation like that, Dokgo Myeong held Hoa in both his hands.
“…And so in the end, I ended up bringing this one back, is what I’m saying.”
“Mew-ow!”
Hoa let out a cry with his tail held stiffly upright, as if greeting them.
“Hoa! Greet them!”
“Purr-rumble!”
Hoa bobbed his head up and down rapidly.
“…Does it understand speech?”
“Is it really a mystical beast?”
The three who had been listening to Dokgo Myeong’s words with indifference now showed interest in Hoa and approached.
Rather, Geum Seok-du and Dokgo Ak seemed somewhat frightened and only watched from a distance, but Namgung Sohwa suddenly reached out her hand.
“Oh, oh wait! You’ll get your fingers bitten off!”
“Be careful! Even if it’s a mystical beast, it’s still a fierce beast…! Huh?”
Contrary to Dokgo Ak’s worry, Hoa gently accepted Namgung Sohwa’s touch.
“Oh my, how adorable.”
“Purr, purr!”
“…Mm.”
Lick, lick!
When Ye-hwa also stroked Hoa’s chin, Hoa even let out a rumbling sound and licked her fingers.
Dokgo Ak’s eyes widened.
“Oh… it’s quite docile?”
“Ah, this fellow’s just a coward. I’m embarrassed to take him anywhere because of how timid he is.”
“Ah, well of course people would react that way—it just looks like a fierce beast!”
Dokgo Ak, who had been bristling, swallowed hard.
“W-well then, maybe I should try too….”
The moment he carefully extended his index finger.
Crack!
“Ow!”
Dokgo Ak found himself bleeding.
Seeing Dokgo Ak’s eyes widen in shock, Dokgo Myeong chuckled with amusement.
“Tch… why does this beast only go after me!”
“Hoa is a mystical beast through and through. It doesn’t hesitate for a second before biting off the fingers of a wicked man?”
“What did you just say?!”
“Go, Hoa! Chew up that reckless fool’s fingers completely!”
“Yelp!”
“Ah! Stop it! I said stop! Don’t do it!”
Dokgo Ak fled about in a panic.
Dokgo Myeong chuckled as he chased after Dokgo Ak, then soon handed Hoa over to Namgung Sohwa and walked a step behind them.
Geum Seok-du approached him.
“You must have worked hard.”
“Yes. You’ve worked hard too, Seok-du.”
Geum Seok-du smiled brightly and continued speaking calmly as if delivering a report.
“People have been arriving sporadically. Currently, about twelve have come and are staying at the Cheonma Sect quarters.”
“Ah, those are the people I contacted?”
“Yes, for now we’re treating them as honored guests.”
The Cheonma Sect members who had arrived earlier.
Now it was time to properly establish the Cheonma Sect.
“Good work.”
“I heard from the Gae-bang that more people are coming. I think it would be good to set a date. What do you think?”
Dokgo Myeong tilted his head.
“Set a date?”
“Shouldn’t we at least see their faces and conduct a simple test? Since we’re accepting people, after all.”
Dokgo Myeong inwardly admired this.
‘I was only thinking of gathering all the Cheonma Sect members from my past life, but I didn’t consider such details.’
Still, this was the right approach.
I knew these people, but the managers who would oversee them were meeting them for the first time.
Moreover, the Cheonma Sect could no longer be a haphazardly assembled band of warriors—it needed to become a proper elite force. Procedure mattered.
“Well done. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“And… this is just my thought, but I think it would be good to post notices in various places announcing that you’re recruiting people.”
“Why is that?”
“Even if all the people you personally invited come, there won’t be thirty. Shouldn’t we fill at least fifty, or perhaps even a hundred people?”
A hundred, a hundred.
Right, the Melsa Brigade and the Fierce Tiger Brigade both exceed a hundred. There’s a limit to how elite a small force can be.
Dokgo Myeong nodded in agreement.
‘There’s no harm in that.’
I had reached out to as many connections from my past life as possible, but many had refused or couldn’t be found. Even if circumstances later required me to bring them in, having a larger foundation on this side would make acceptance easier.
“Good. Let’s do that.”
“Then we’ll set it for the first day of the lunar month, two weeks from now.”
“Do it that way.”
“And….”
Geum Seok-du lowered his voice to a whisper.
“I have completed the initial phase of what you instructed.”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“Is it that?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“It’s finished?”
“The materials required were so extensive that I couldn’t produce much.”
Dokgo Myeong nodded in acknowledgment.
Before leaving, I had entrusted Geum Seok-du with a task.
It was the decryption of the Comprehensive Scripture of Elixirs—a tome I had discreetly acquired from the Mandeung Clan—and the crafting of mystical elixirs.
Fortunately, it seemed Geum Seok-du had applied himself diligently without shirking.
“The two basic ones were an inner energy cultivation elixir and a vital restoration elixir, correct?”
“They are called the Heavenly-Earthly Pill and the Life-Returning Pill, respectively.”
The Heavenly-Earthly Pill and the Life-Returning Pill.
I already knew these names.
“The Sect Leader said that calling them mystical elixirs hardly does them justice. The effects of the Life-Returning Pill were particularly extraordinary.”
“Of course they would be.”
“Sir?”
“It’s nothing.”
A memory from my past life suddenly surfaced.
Back then, I had backstabbed a Paedobyeon executive and stolen a Life-Returning Pill to consume.
The potency was absolutely remarkable. I remembered how my twisted meridians had realigned themselves within just a single hour.
“What about the other two? You said you thought you could decipher them independently.”
“Ah, those are the Lotus Powder Medicine and the Heavenly Grace Pellet.”
Lotus powder medicine and a pellet like the grace of heaven.
These elixir names were certainly grandiose.
“What are their effects?”
Geum Seok-du swallowed dryly.
“The Lotus Powder filters turbid qi from within the body and regulates the blood vessels. It can be called a turbidity-removal medicine.”
“Then what about the Heavenly Grace Pellet?”
“The Heavenly Grace Pellet is an antidote. While it may not be effective against extreme poisons, it can neutralize most ordinary toxins according to the records.”
“Tch, what good is that?”
Dokgo Myeong snorted dismissively, his expression deflating.
But Geum Seok-du shook his head.
“The medicinal efficacy is merely ordinary, but that is not the crucial matter.”
“Then what is?”
“It appears mass production may be possible, even if not in tremendous quantities.”
“…!”
Mass production—if that were true, the entire situation shifted into a different realm entirely.
How extensively poison was employed throughout the martial world. No substance was consumed as rapidly as antidote.
“For now, it seems we could produce enough to serve as standard reserves exclusively for the Cheonma Sect.”
Dokgo Myeong swallowed hard.
“This must proceed with absolute secrecy. You understand?”
“Of course. I have not spoken to anyone. Only Son Tae-im knows, as I requested materials from him.”
Spiritual elixirs, exotic medicines, turbidity-cleansing powders, and antidotes.
Mention spiritual elixirs and precious blades, and martial artists lost all restraint.
Much less mere medicines—and a manufacturing formula at that. It required meticulous control.
“Have you tested it?”
“Not yet. However, based on what is written….”
“Bah! How can I trust it based merely on written words! That means we still have no idea if it actually works!”
“Y-yes?”
“What have you been doing all this time without even testing it!”
“Well, it is not something one can simply consume carelessly….”
“This will not do. Let us conduct a proper test this very moment.”
Why was it?
It was a perfectly reasonable statement, yet hearing it from Dokgo Myeong’s lips filled me with profound unease.
“A test, you say… What exactly do you mean?”
“What do you mean what? Someone must consume it.”
“Forgive me for asking, but who exactly is to consume it?”
“Why ask the obvious?”
Dokgo Myeong pointed his index finger directly at Geum Seok-du.
Then he slowly rotated his finger to indicate the Cheonma Sect members walking ahead.
“You all must consume it, of course.”
“….”
“First, let us try that powder said to cleanse turbidity? Then if you consume those spiritual herbs I brought from the sacred mountain, the efficacy should be absolutely remarkable?”
* * *
Though Hoa had consumed a considerable amount, not all the spiritual herbs had been depleted.
Long after that time had passed, yet still there remained fresh crimson berries, ho-shou-wu of indeterminate age alongside wild ginseng, and numerous other unnamed spiritual herbs….
The particularly precious specimens had been carefully preserved separately, and Hoa had not touched those.
Dokgo Myeong displayed them to Geum Seok-du.
Geum Seok-du, who possessed considerable knowledge of medicine and pharmaceuticals, was utterly astonished.
“This… is this not the Crimson Fruit!?”
“Hmm? That is the Crimson Fruit?”
“Yes, yes… And this—is this not wild ginseng?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking?”
“No, I can’t tell even looking at it. It clearly looks like ginseng, but why is it so bright red?”
Crimson ginseng, exaggerated clumps of fleece flower root the size of a human forearm clustered densely together, and an unidentifiable mushroom with a bluish tint and a wide cap.
“…Is it actually safe to eat this?”
When Namgung Sohwa asked cautiously, the rest of the colleagues also looked at Dokgo Myeong with uneasy expressions.
Dokgo Myeong shrugged his shoulders.
“It was fine for me?”
“How many years old is this exactly?”
Dokgo Myeong answered indifferently.
“I’d guess around a hundred years or so.”
“A hundred-year-old root? That’s all?”
“Maybe? The inner energy gain wasn’t as much as I expected. So I just brought everything I found. Anyway, that’s what I did.”
Then Cheolmu-baek opened his mouth.
“So how should we handle this?”
“Seok-du, bring it here.”
“Ah, yes.”
At Dokgo Myeong’s command, Geum Seok-du suddenly began tapping the floor of the office.
Then he lifted one of the floorboards with a whoosh and thrust his hand inside, pulling out a small wooden box.
“…You hid it there? When did you manage that?”
“I just played around a bit while the workers were busy. I made places like this all over the corners.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It’s not very difficult.”
“…Well, I suppose so.”
Geum Seok-du opened the box’s lid. Medicines were neatly arranged in compartments divided in a grid pattern.
Dokgo Myeong pointed to a compartment containing bundles of neatly folded paper and spoke.
“This is medicine to remove turbidity. First, each of you take one to expel the turbidity, and once that’s done, distribute the spiritual herbs appropriately among yourselves.”
“You’re giving all of this to us? What about you, Commander?”
Ye-hwa looked up at Dokgo Myeong with a blunt gaze.
Dokgo Myeong shook his head repeatedly.
“At this point, nothing short of a flood dragon’s inner core interests me anymore. Accept it gratefully.”
“Ah, yes.”
Geum Seok-du stood from his seat.
“There’s a private training room over there. Let’s head there.”
The five managers headed to a space where narrow, prison-like rooms were packed closely together.
Each entering their respective rooms, they swallowed the purification medicine with water.
‘This should be fine, right?’
‘Well, we won’t die from eating it.’
And everyone had to spend a full day in breathing cultivation.
Of course, it wasn’t just time that was spent.
“Ugh, ugghhh!”
“Ak!”
“What did you feed me, Dokgo Myeong!”
“Ugh, ugh, ugh…!”
Not knowing what kind of medicinal effects it would have, he alternated between screaming in agony and attempting to regulate his breathing through cultivation.
‘I absolutely will not consume that again.’
Having already experienced something similar once before, Dokgo Myeong made a firm resolution.
Soon, as the managers emerged one by one, their complexions had turned ashen as if they’d swallowed poison.
“Master, even if it means death, I will never take that medicine again.”
“This damnable….”
All five of them reeked of a pungent odor from head to toe.
Only Dokgo Ak, however, showed no change in complexion or expression.
“Hmm? I feel fine?”
True to form for someone raised on the finest things, Dokgo Ak—whose inner cultivation reserves were distinctly deeper than the rest of the group—shrugged his shoulders.
The expressions of the other managers turned cold at the sight.
“If you have any sense, keep quiet. Ugh, really.”
“Young Master.”
“Tsk!”
“Why, why are you only doing this to me!”
And the next day.
All the managers divided the spiritual herbs Dokgo Myeong had brought into exactly five equal portions and consumed them.
One day, two days….
Even after four days had passed, the managers could not leave their rooms.
Son Tae-im and Jo Ryang-ui approached Dokgo Myeong, who had been resting his chin in his hand before the training grounds, whether out of boredom or habit.
“The repairs are complete, Young Master. Ah, no, I mean, Master.”
“Ah, our Tae-im. Overseer Jo, you’ve worked hard as well.”
“How, exactly, do you train in such a way that you destroy everything so thoroughly?”
“Ah, well, these things happen sometimes.”
“Ah, yes….”
Dokgo Myeong, who had been yawning from boredom while waiting, gazed at Son Tae-im.
“What do you think of Overseer Jo, our Tae-im?”
Son Tae-im flinched slightly, then laughed awkwardly.
“That… he, he has excellent work sense! I’m teaching him well!”
When Dokgo Myeong glanced at Jo Ryang-ui, he simply smirked.
“Yes, I’m learning a great deal.”
“You mean it?”
“No. Actually, it’s all flattery.”
“….”
“I’ve received a handover of nearly all matters related to the Cheonma Sect. There were quite a few things being handled in a haphazard manner. It’s fortunate that we’ve had few people until now.”
Ah, truly our honest Overseer Jo!
Son Tae-im’s face turned deathly pale.
“Ah, no, why do you speak like that! Hehe… Young Master, you understand, don’t you?”
“Yes, my Tae-im. I trust you.”
“Hehehehe!”
“But I also trust our Overseer Jo.”
“….”
“Let’s do well.”
“Yes.”
Son Tae-im, who had been sweating nervously and reading the atmosphere, soon fled from his seat as if escaping.
The next day, Dokgo Jo-hak came and briefly discussed matters, and as evening fell, Geum Seok-du emerged first.
“Ugh, C-Captain….”
“Ah, Seok-du. Did you finish well?”
“That’s a hundred years of cultivation? Absolutely not. What kind of ridiculous cultivation record….”
Geum Seok-du shook his head vigorously.
He even sighed, muttering at length, and the breath he exhaled carried such palpable inner energy that it was tangible.
‘Ah, that’s right. I originally filter out and absorb more than half, don’t I?’
In contrast, the others did not. Their perceptions had to differ.
Time passed again.
Around the seventh day, the Saheon Sect Leader came to visit the Cheonma Sect.
“Quite a spectacle. Such a sight is not easily witnessed.”
Dokgo Wi-hak stood beside Dokgo Myeong, gazing at the training grounds.
“Indeed, that is so.”
Dokgo Myeong also glanced at the training grounds.
Through the crack in the door, an intensely powerful energy wave burst forth, impossible to conceal.
Dokgo Wi-hak spoke.
“The Four Pinnacle Masters of the Cheonma Sect.”
Four supreme experts of the Cheonma Sect.
They were now breaking through their walls.
Dokgo Myeong smiled with satisfaction.
“They will become even stronger.”
More than they are now.
They must, and I believe they will.
“So it shall be.”
“They must. Now those four must lead the people.”
The true beginning of the Cheonma Sect had arrived.

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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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