Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 265

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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 265
“Have you packed everything?”
“Yes, I’ve gathered only the items we need to show as a trial.”
Dokgo Myeong shouldered a large bundle.
Inside the bundle were bones and scales from the Iron Net, along with fragments of other demonic creature byproducts.
“Then let’s be off. We can’t afford to arrive too late.”
Dokgo Myeong left through the Dokgo family’s main gate alongside Dokgo Wi-hak.
Come to think of it, this was the first time the two of them had gone out together like this.
‘Is this even allowed?’
Though he didn’t know the details, he had sensed that the Sect Leader shouldn’t venture into Gangho due to some matter entangled with Mudang. He had a rough idea that a covenant called the Broken Sword Pact had been made because of it, and that the relationship with the family head had become strained.
Dokgo Myeong glanced sideways at Dokgo Wi-hak’s profile.
Then.
“It’s fine.”
Dokgo Wi-hak spoke.
“But I didn’t say anything?”
Deciding to play innocent first, Dokgo Wi-hak smiled plainly and placed his hand on the sword at his waist.
Clang!
Whether it was his imagination or not, the metallic sound seemed unusually loud.
“As long as I’m not entangled in the grudges of Gangho, I’m not restricted from even taking outings with my son. So don’t worry.”
“So, I’m not sure what you’re talking about…”
“Right.”
Dokgo Wi-hak held a smile at the corners of his lips. He seemed particularly cheerful today.
Dokgo Myeong cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“But I heard there’s quite a distance from the Main Sect to Cheolbang. Wouldn’t it be better to borrow horses from the stable?”
“Let’s go on foot if we can.”
“Do you mean we should travel by lightness technique?”
Dokgo Wi-hak nodded.
Dokgo Myeong grinned widely.
“Excellent.”
They soon left the city and entered a sparsely populated path.
Dokgo Wi-hak spoke with his hands clasped behind his back.
“I’ll go first. Follow me.”
The moment Dokgo Wi-hak said this and leaned his body forward.
Whoosh!
He vanished like a phantom, leaving only a gust of wind in his wake.
‘Wow.’
Dokgo Myeong inadvertently gasped as he watched Dokgo Wi-hak’s back.
It was like watching a crane take flight.
With hands clasped behind his back, he pushed off the ground lightly, and in an instant had become a distant speck disappearing into the horizon.
‘I’ll lose him at this rate.’
Boom!
Dokgo Myeong swiftly deployed the Gwangguk Unform and began his pursuit. His speed was no inferior to Dokgo Wi-hak’s, yet unlike him, a thunderous boom followed in his wake.
Dokgo Wi-hak, quickly caught up, glanced back over his shoulder and spoke.
“So you can keep up this easily?”
“This much is child’s play.”
“Increase your speed.”
Whoosh!
Literally a flash of light.
Dokgo Wi-hak surged forward once more.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes widened.
‘I knew he’d be fast, of course, but does he also have mastery over the Lightness Technique?’
Across both his past and present lives, the greatest master of lightness technique Dokgo Myeong had ever encountered was undoubtedly Baek Mu-heun.
That man advanced like a leopard with merely a light push of his feet, and shifted direction like a dragon soaring above clouds with just a subtle twist of his body.
Dokgo Myeong could run as fast as him, but he had never mastered that graceful movement.
Yet now, he could glimpse that same quality in the Sect Leader.
‘The movements are small, there’s no sound, yet the speed is tremendous.’
The Sect Leader didn’t swing his limbs widely or bend his knees excessively.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he lightly tapped the ground, and his body silently cut through the wind, stretching forward effortlessly.
‘At this level, my competitive spirit is awakening.’
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed.
Impressive, but ultimately not impossible to catch up with.
Whirrrrring!
The Cheonoe Yeongdan began to rotate.
Dokgo Myeong drew in a deep breath and pushed off the ground.
“Whoosh!”
Dokgo Myeong quickly caught up to Dokgo Wi-hak again.
Dokgo Wi-hak didn’t even ask this time and simply increased his speed.
Boom!
Caught up again.
Whoooosh!
Speed increased again.
When this happened for the fifth time, Dokgo Wi-hak suddenly looked back and spoke.
“You still seem fine.”
“…I’m managing.”
“Your breathing seems labored?”
“That’s… not it. Just this burden is a bit… bothersome. Huff!”
In truth, his breathing was becoming strained, forcing him to pause between words.
Dokgo Wi-hak nodded.
“That’s enough then. We’re almost there now.”
With those words, Dokgo Wi-hak took a few more steps before coming to a gentle halt.
Quite the opposite.
Boom! Crack-crash!
Dokgo Myeong came to a halt, having carved out a deep trench as if he’d completely overturned the ground itself.
“Huff! Huff!”
Dokgo Myeong exhaled sharply and straightened his waist.
Dokgo Wi-hak approached him and spoke.
“If you run like that twice more, you’ll destroy every mountain path in sight.”
“Pardon?”
“Look at the path you’ve traveled.”
Dokgo Wi-hak gestured his gaze backward.
“…Oh.”
Looking back, the mountain path was a complete mess.
Large holes had been gouged into the ground at every spot where he’d landed hard. And on top of that, there was the trench created from his sudden stop.
As Dokgo Myeong laughed awkwardly, Dokgo Wi-hak spoke in a measured tone.
“You’ve already grasped that the application of external and internal energy is crucial. And that the directionality of internal energy is the key to it all.”
“Ah, yes. That’s correct.”
“Then the next step won’t be difficult. The same principle applies to that new footwork technique you’ve created. Let’s discuss it as we go.”
“Yes.”
Dokgo Wi-hak took the lead.
Looking ahead, I could see a large city. It was Akyang County in Honam.
‘Isn’t this where Baek Ryeon Blacksmith is located? It feels like it wasn’t that long ago, but have we already arrived?’
A distance that would take several hours even on a powerful steed had been covered in an instant.
Thus the two entered Akyang County.
The gate guards merely glanced at them without stopping them.
Dokgo Wi-hak spoke.
“Do you remember when I said you’d reached a level where you no longer need my instruction?”
“Yes, you said that before our match.”
“What that means is, from now on, rather than following what someone has taught you, you can observe and learn directly from experience, adapting it to your own body.”
Learning has no end by nature.
But now Dokgo Myeong had simply reached a level where he could create his own methods and incorporate them into his martial arts, rather than merely absorbing someone else’s approach wholesale.
“Then let me ask you now. What did you observe?”
Dokgo Myeong fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“Your internal energy affected not only yourself, but also the surroundings around you.”
“You saw it correctly. Once you can fully control what’s within, you can control what’s without.”
“So the distinction between internal and external energy becomes blurred, is that what you mean?”
Dokgo Wi-hak’s eyes widened.
“You already knew this?”
“The Sect Leader once told me there is a realm one attains after reaching the state of Harmonizing Fire and Purifying Essence.”
Dokgo Myeong recalled the teachings that Dokgo Cheon had imparted to him.
“He also said that Harmonizing Fire and Purifying Essence is merely the minimum condition. Wouldn’t it be fair to say that I have already reached that level now?”
“Since you’ve forged an inner core, it must be beyond that.”
“In other words, all I need to do is comprehend it, correct?”
Dokgo Myeong immediately understood why Dokgo Wi-hak had asked him to come by lightness technique, and what he was trying to convey.
He had guided him to feel and comprehend on his own the insights he had experienced during their martial exchange.
“I am grateful for your instruction.”
“You simply awakened it yourself.”
“I will comprehend it properly and integrate it into my body.”
Dokgo Wi-hak nodded silently.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed as he bowed his head.
‘To transcend merely strengthening oneself through inner force and instead exert influence on the external world.’
That meant he could execute all manner of techniques—heavy sword strikes, illusory sword strikes, and the like—through inner force harmony alone.
‘If I interweave it with the Four Corners Reverse Technique….’
Could he not shake an opponent’s senses through the manipulation of true qi alone, and even influence the martial techniques the opponent had deployed?
A martial technique that attacks the opponent with qi waves themselves.
Suddenly, a flood of inspiration filled his mind.
“Come to your senses. We’ve arrived.”
“Huh? Ah.”
Dokgo Myeong snapped back to awareness and lifted his head.
It seemed they had arrived while he was lost in thought.
Baek Lotus Smithy.
The place where Heo Yong-do, called the demon-possessed blacksmith, resided.
Just as he was about to step inside, Dokgo Wi-hak opened his mouth with a peculiar expression.
“There is something I should warn you about.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t think it will happen, but… Master Heo might attack me.”
What? Attack?
Why?
* * *
When one thinks of a smithy, one typically imagines similar scenes.
Scorching heat, sparks flying in all directions, the metallic clanging of steel and such.
But this place was different in every way.
Bubbling and churning!
Scraping and grinding!
Crashing and booming!
Sounds of something boiling, grinding, and exploding continued endlessly.
Moreover.
‘What on earth is this?’
Dokgo Myeong blinked as he surveyed his surroundings.
The area was pitch-black and crammed with all manner of odd objects.
Animal bones and hides, dried coral and seashells, talismans and golden ropes, mysterious implements that didn’t appear to be from Zhongyuan, and even a massive iron cauldron bubbling with unidentified liquid.
It looked less like a blacksmith’s forge and more like a warehouse of a wealthy collector with a hobby for gathering, or a training ground for someone versed in dark arts.
That was when it happened.
“Who are you?”
“You shouldn’t enter here without permission.”
From the shadowy corner, blacksmiths covered in soot emerged.
‘They’ve trained in martial arts.’
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes brightened.
Covered head to toe in soot, they were unmistakably blacksmiths.
Yet their eyes gleamed with a pure inner energy so refined it was palpable.
‘This is Cheolbang? Not a martial sect?’
I knew the notorious reputation of Baek Yeon’s Iron Forge from my past life, but I never imagined it would be a place like this.
Then Dokgo Wi-hak spoke.
“I am Wi-hak of Clan Dokgo. Is Master Heo here?”
While the others tilted their heads with expressions of confusion, the oldest-looking blacksmith approached late and bowed his head.
“It’s been a long time, Master.”
“You’re still here?”
“Yes, it’s been a long time. Have you come to see the Master?”
“Yes, is he inside?”
“Normally, without an appointment, we cannot arrange a meeting, but….”
He quickly shook his head.
“If you are Master, the Master won’t turn you away. Please come this way.”
Soon Dokgo Myeong and Dokgo Wi-hak passed through a place cluttered with miscellaneous items and entered deeper inside.
A wave of heat washed over them!
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes widened.
‘The heat is tremendous.’
Any blacksmith’s forge had considerable heat, but it was nothing compared to this place.
The deeper we went, the more I felt pure fire energy. It felt like the aura emanating from someone who had mastered the Blazing Yang technique to its extreme.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of hammering grew progressively closer.
Soon a world made of fire and metal unfolded before the nobleman’s eyes.
In the center, a large old man wielded a hammer.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
With each hammer strike, sparks bloomed like flowers.
Dokgo Wi-hak approached him and spoke.
“Master Heo. It’s been a long time. I am Dokgo Wi-hak.”
“….”
The old man didn’t respond.
He placed the metal he’d been striking into the furnace and watched it with bloodshot eyes, then muttered a single phrase.
“This one’s cracked.”
His voice sounded like a crack in metal, rough and splintered.
The old man pulled the heated metal lump from the furnace and cast it without hesitation into the water trough.
Sizzzzle! Clang!
Behind the billowing steam and the sound of metal shattering, the old man slowly rose to his feet.
His presence was overwhelming.
The massive old man, beads of sweat rolling down his face, grinned widely.
“Kekeke! You’ve finally come. How many years has it been?”
“Over twenty years now.”
“Has it really been that long since you shattered my blade?”
“It has.”
“Kekekek! Not a single word of apology, yet you have the audacity to show your face here? You’ve ruined this masterpiece that contains Heo Yong-do’s very soul so carelessly!”
Perhaps it was the flames shooting up from the furnace.
The old man Heo Yong-do’s eyes seemed to glisten.
And in the next moment.
“Kahahaha! I’ve been laughing about this ever since I heard! Should I smash all the works here as well this time? It would feel absolutely refreshing!”
Heo Yong-do burst into laughter, spouting incomprehensible words.
Dokgo Myeong was now certain that this old man was thoroughly, utterly mad.

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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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