Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 310

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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 310
“Sit down.”
Even as Dokgo Un-hak spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the military dispatch in his hand.
Dokgo Myeong pulled up a chair with a crooked expression and smirked.
“My goodness, has our esteemed Left Commander been in perfect health and spirits all this time?”
“What are you doing?”
“Paying my respects, sir?”
Dokgo Un-hak let out a scoff and folded the dispatch in half before responding.
“Thanks to you, I’ve been well.”
“Tsk, honestly.”
“…?”
Regardless of whether Dokgo Un-hak furrowed his brow, Dokgo Myeong leaned back in his chair with a rather insolent posture.
“How is your body recovering?”
“Yes, well. It’s improving.”
“For someone saying that, your movements still seem quite difficult.”
“I nearly ate my funeral rice, so at this point… isn’t this quite the profitable deal?”
Dokgo Myeong repeated the very words Dokgo Un-hak had spoken to the Black Bloodfiend, speaking with sarcasm.
Dokgo Un-hak countered without blinking an eye.
“A fine attitude. You suffered greatly, but since you didn’t die, that’s what matters.”
“Exactly, I did suffer quite a bit. I nearly went to shake hands with the King of Hell himself.”
“You must be worth saving. The way jokes flow from your mouth so easily.”
“It’s not a joke. I was taking a stroll across the River of Three Paths just days ago.”
“In any case, you didn’t die.”
Dokgo Un-hak read through another new military dispatch and spoke.
“There’s no need to thank me for this matter. It was official business, so I don’t consider it a debt either.”
Dokgo Myeong blinked blankly.
“What are you saying? Thank you? A debt? To whom? To me?”
“I rode hundreds of li to rescue a man who’d fallen into the water, so any person would naturally owe gratitude.”
“I became the bait, so what are you talking about?”
“I warned you, yet you threw yourself into the water of your own accord and now call yourself bait?”
“…”
“If you wish, this time I’ll truly use you as bait and push your back toward the water’s edge. Just say the word anytime.”
Dokgo Un-hak’s eyes flashed sharply as he spoke.
‘I suppose that’s enough.’
This man will actually do it if he sets his mind to it. We both understand the situation perfectly—why provoke him and invite disaster?
Dokgo Myeong stared at Dokgo Un-hak with a sullen expression for a moment, then asked bluntly.
“But tell me. Why did you really come?”
Dokgo Un-hak answered coldly.
“If you’re going to spout more nonsense, just go focus on your recovery.”
“I’m genuinely curious about it.”
Dokgo Myeong’s voice carried a subtle heaviness.
Only then did Dokgo Un-hak turn his head.
“If you had stood directly on the front lines when we broke through Namchang, you could have inflicted far greater damage upon the enemy. The merit and glory would have been merely a bonus.”
“That would have been true enough.”
“Yet you don’t even consider it a debt. How am I supposed to interpret this?”
His tone remained casual, but the light in his eyes as he regarded Dokgo Un-hak was profoundly grave.
“As I said, I simply thought the arithmetic didn’t work in my favor to give you up. You still have much work ahead of you.”
“….”
“I spoke of similar matters when I met with the Three Family Heads not long ago.”
Dokgo Myeong shook his head vigorously.
Then why didn’t you come a bit earlier? Damn it, really.
‘If I say this, he’ll counter that there’s neither profit nor reason to do so, won’t he?’
Dokgo Un-hak had truly come only to save me and the Cheonma Sect. He gave no thought whatsoever to supporting our allies.
The military situation bore this out, and so did the politics that would follow. Our allies belonged to the Elder Council faction, and Commander Seo Jung-baek himself was a man of the Elder Council Leader.
Thwack!
He set down the military report he had been reading and altered his tone.
“Now then, tell me the real reason you’ve come to find me.”
“Surely you’re thinking the same thing I am, are you not?”
Dokgo Un-hak nodded with a meaningful smile.
“So your mind hasn’t stopped working despite your body being battered to pieces. Very well, let me hear whether we truly share the same thoughts.”
* * *
“An all-out war already?”
Dokgo Ak’s expression hardened as he listened to Moryong Sohgyo’s explanation.
Moryong Sohgyo nodded lightly and continued her explanation.
“Yes. Suppressing Jiangxi Province, besieging Namchang, eliminating the enemy’s masters, opening passages toward Anhui and Fujian—we originally expected to face such major battles, but by seizing the advantage in this engagement, we’ve bypassed them all.”
Moryong Sohgyo’s explanation continued.
All the managers listened to her words with serious expressions.
In truth, the Cheonma Sect’s greatest achievement in this battle was not the rescue of our allies themselves. The crucial point was that we had torn through the enemy’s lines and provided the catalyst to overturn their strategy.
“Then we’ll enter Zhejiang Province once we’ve caught our breath.”
“Precisely. The enemy will mount fierce resistance with the Pacheonggun, the Yukcheondae, and the forces of the Jeongheol Bloodfiend Sect, which has preserved its full strength until now. Those three forces constitute their main strength.”
“Isn’t it true that the Pacheonggun are essentially Jeongheol Disciples?”
“Yes, the Commander stated as much. In any case, looking at the broader picture, we will engage in a full-scale battle against those three forces.”
“Then until the final blow… we can say there isn’t much time left.”
Geum Seok-du spoke in a heavy voice.
Moryong Sohgyo nodded once more.
“Yes, everything may well end in a single great battle ahead.”
“….”
“According to reports from Gae-bang, even the Yukcheondae, which had been uncooperative until now, has begun to take the field.”
“Now that you mention it, we’ve been receiving sporadic news from Gae-bang lately….”
“The enemy must have strengthened their vigilance as well.”
“That would be the case, wouldn’t it?”
In any case, the battle had reached its final stages in the blink of an eye.
The Moyong Family had enjoyed considerable success using the Jeongheol Sect’s tactics thus far, but now our forces were prepared for them. With no further point in petty schemes, only a direct clash of strength remained.
“The variable is indeed Pacheonggun. Tsk, where did those bastards crawl out from?”
Dokgo Ak’s words drew a grim nod from Moryong Sohgyo.
“Yes, their military strength remains unknown.”
Masters of martial arts are not born gleaming one fine morning.
They require money and time, proper martial techniques and instruction, countless hours of training, and real combat experience.
Yet Pacheonggun had never revealed themselves in the martial world until now.
What did that signify?
‘Perhaps they separated and cultivated already-existing masters, or they were forged in some corner of the Central Plains beyond the gaze of the martial realm.’
For instance, in the outer martial world where Ji-myeol Magoon had once been stationed.
“But ultimately, the most crucial factor will be the enemy’s supreme masters.”
“….”
“As one versed in military strategy, I never thought I’d say this… but if we cannot eliminate the enemy’s masters, we cannot win this war.”
Cheolmu-baek’s eyes gleamed with competitive fervor.
“Come to think of it, you said only two figures have appeared on the front lines?”
“Yes, only Sect Leader Seongcheon and the Black Bloodfiend.”
“Who else is there?”
“Speaking from the Moyong Family’s side, naturally there is Muyong Gaju Muyong Tae.”
Moryong Sohgyo’s voice grew as cold as the depths of winter as she spoke, and Namgung Sohwa’s eyes, which had been listening quietly, froze with icy intensity.
The enemy of both women.
The name written on the very first line of the death roster created by the Cheonma Sect.
“And excluding the Pacheonggun Captain whose full strength remains unclear, Sect Leader Seongcheon Yong Gun-baek and Mumeong, the Grand Master of the Red Sword Brigade, are the primary masters.”
“The Red Sword Brigade, Mumeong.”
Namgung Sohwa murmured softly.
The Red Sword Brigade was Muyong Tae’s personal martial unit—the very force that had burned the place where her family had taken refuge.
“The Red Sword Brigade is also shrouded in mystery. However, when I was still in my family, there were rumors that their Grand Master fought to a draw against Master Yong in martial combat, so they must be an extraordinarily skilled master.”
Muyong Tae, the Pacheonggun Captain, Yong Gun-baek, Mumeong.
“The Jeongheol Sect has approximately three Bloodfiends of that caliber.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Geum Seok-du counted on his fingers as if caught off guard, then swallowed hard.
“There are many. Far more than expected. And the Jeongheol Sect’s Grand General….”
“The Commander said that even the Sword King would find it difficult without facing them directly.”
The Realm of Infinite Extremity.
The supreme pinnacle achieved by fewer than ten masters across this vast Central Plains.
“Then what will become of the Cheonma Sect going forward?”
Namgung Sohwa asked.
Her expression was utterly composed, yet precisely because of this, Moryong Sohgyo could not speak easily. This war was important to all under heaven, but for Namgung Sohwa, its meaning held a different weight entirely.
“That… I cannot say with certainty.”
“You can speak plainly, Moyang Soldier.”
Moryong Sohgyo exhaled deeply and opened her mouth.
“If we think about it coldly, the Cheonma Sect’s stage should not be so grand.”
“…!”
Namgung Sohwa’s grip tightened on her robes so fiercely that blood seeped through the bandages wrapped around her body.
Dokgo Ak asked in bewilderment.
“W-what do you mean? Where is there a unit with greater merit than ours that shouldn’t take the stage?”
“The Cheonma Sect’s merit arose from our own mistakes, and that will no longer be the case going forward.”
“Then, what exactly….”
“That is why I said I did not know.”
Moryong Sohgyo turned her gaze away.
It was toward where the command tent of the leadership stood.
“By now, the Commander should be settling this matter.”
* * *
“What did you say?”
“Exactly as I stated.”
Dokgo Un-hak’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“When I said I would not strip you of autonomy, it was a gesture of respect and commendation. Now we face a total war unlike anything before, and if you move independently again, you could invite great disaster. Do you not know that enemies are targeting your neck?”
“I understand. But I am confident.”
Dokgo Un-hak shook his head firmly.
“Let us speak frankly. Is it because of merit?”
“Of course it is, is it not?”
Dokgo Myeong spoke with a thin smile.
But Dokgo Un-hak knew that smile was not genuine.
“One can hide one’s expression, but never one’s eyes.”
“….”
“From now on, the entire main family will not move according to your plans alone.”
“I understand. But if we create an opening, you will not miss it, will you?”
And the reverse would be equally true.
Dokgo Un-hak exhaled a sigh.
“Tell me then. Who are you targeting? The Muyong Gaju?”
Dokgo Myeong fell silent for a moment, then spoke decisively.
“Of course.”
“The Muyong Gaju is one I must fight with half my life on the line.”
In other words, that meant I would ultimately win. But would that still be true now?
Dokgo Myeong was certain that Muyong Tae’s martial prowess had risen sharply.
Yet he spoke thus.
“Then I will fight with everything I have.”
Dokgo Un-hak exhaled a sigh.
“Have you developed a hobby of suicide?”
“That’s not it. I made a promise, you see.”
“Heh heh, you really are something…”
Dokgo Un-hak let out a hollow laugh before his expression turned serious.
“So there’s more to your ‘of course’? Do you want the Three Demon Generals as well?”
“Yes. This is the opportunity to seize their heads and tear them off.”
“….”
Dokgo Un-hak fell into thought.
They were the enemy’s commanders.
The merit of eliminating them went without saying, and setting that aside, they were quite literally the strongest forces among the enemy’s troops.
“Masters of such caliber wouldn’t move alone. You’re saying you’ll pursue them continuously and strike them down with only the Cheonma Sect? Do you truly believe that’s possible?”
“Even if it’s impossible, it must be done. You know this, don’t you?”
Dokgo Un-hak’s eyes gleamed with a sharpness like the sword strike he’d witnessed on that battlefield.
“Dokgo Myeong.”
“Yes.”
“Set everything else aside. Obtain only the result. Responsibility, vengeance… In the martial world, those who dwell on such things die the soonest.”
“Do not worry.”
Dokgo Un-hak exhaled a sigh.
After a moment of deliberation, he spoke.
“Very well. I grant you permission.”
Dokgo Myeong clenched his fist tightly.
“However, there is a condition. I will deploy a carrier pigeon specially raised by the main family exclusively for you. Ensure you send reports without fail.”
“Understood.”
The enemy was skilled at severing communication lines and capturing messenger birds. However, with the main family’s exclusive falcon—a creature revered as a mystical beast—communication should proceed without major difficulty.
“From now on, all future plans will proceed with you and the Cheonma Sect excluded. We merely use each other. Will you accept this?”
“Yes. It is exactly what I desire.”
Dokgo Myeong smiled with confidence and continued.
“Will you be able to keep pace without falling behind?”
“That’s my line.”
* * *
As I left the command tent.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
I spotted a messenger rushing toward me at a furious pace.
“Huff! Gasp!”
Whatever urgent news he carried, the messenger rushed past me without even offering a greeting.
He was heading toward the command tent I had just exited.
Whoosh!
My instincts, honed sharper by brushing against death, warned of danger.
I stopped in my tracks and turned back.
“…What did you just say!”
Boom!
Dokgo Un-hak’s thunderous voice echoed from within the command tent.
“Explain in detail! Every last detail!”
“That is… well…”
The tent flap tore open with a sharp sound.
The moment Dokgo Myeong stepped inside, sweeping the canvas aside.
A messenger cried out, his complexion darkening.
“The Honam main estate has come under attack!”
“…!”

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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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