Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 351

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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 351
In his childhood, Cheolmu-baek had once fallen into a frozen lake in the depths of winter. Or more precisely, he had been pushed into one.
It was the work of his step-brothers. They had genuinely regarded him as nothing more than a ghost or a demon. Claiming that spirits would never sink in water, they shoved him from the cliff overlooking the lakeshore.
A blade of wind struck his entire body, and his arms broke through the thin ice on the water’s surface before his whole form was engulfed in white foam.
The terror of death descended upon him.
He screamed and swallowed water. The cold of the winter lake cut through him like a knife, piercing deep into his very bones.
The abyss of the lake, frozen solid, seized his sluggish body with relentless persistence. He sank endlessly downward.
It was a horrifying memory. Before and after that moment, he had never experienced such terror.
Yet now, in this very instant, Cheolmu-baek felt a fear remarkably similar to that day.
“A massive battle-axe, the complexion of a foreign merchant… I have heard tales of you. So you are the Blue-Eyed Ghost of the Cheonma Sect.”
Jimeol Magoon fixed him with a gaze where blood-qi flickered brilliantly.
Kiiiiiieeee!
The shriek of ashen blood-qi radiating outward in all directions pierced the air like a scream.
The Northern Sky King beside him also flashed his eyes.
“This wretch is a Cheonma Sect member?”
A piercing killing intent erupted from the Northern Sky King’s body.
“Now that I think of it, there were traces of the palisade being shattered in a single blow. You dare mock me with such meager martial prowess?”
The Northern Sky King bared his teeth and glared at Cheolmu-baek.
Cheolmu-baek feigned composure, but internally he was deeply tense.
‘There are so many such masters under heaven.’
His breath caught. A heavy pressure crushed his lungs, and a chill ran through him despite the warmth of the air.
‘I am still merely a colt that has just begun to gallop.’
Cheolmu-baek felt acutely the vastness of the world and the depths of his own ignorance.
He was afraid.
The darkness of that lake he had witnessed that day now enveloped him once more.
Flash!
Yet Cheolmu-baek’s eyes blazed with light instead.
“Yes. I am Cheolmu-baek of the Cheonma Sect.”
Fear gripped him, but he had never retreated in the face of it.
‘This is my battle, chosen by my own hand. And I have always seized victory.’
That day was no exception.
Cheolmu-baek had sunk to the very bottom of that distant lake, yet he clawed his way back to the shore and broke his step-brother’s jaw.
This time will be no different.
Fear is merely fertilizer for growth.
“Come then, you servants of the blood sect that cultivates wicked power. By my commander’s order, I shall hold you at bay.”
“Your arrogance pierces the heavens!”
Whoosh!
In an instant, a shadow fell across his vision.
That shadow was none other than the Northern Sky King’s iron hammer.
Boom!
Cheolmu-baek was driven back in a sliding retreat.
He blocked with the flat of his axe, but his hands trembled from the impact.
“You can’t even react to this much? What are you going on about?”
The Northern Sky King let out a derisive snort. Then, glancing toward Ji-myeol Magoon, he spoke.
“This one needs to die. No objections, yes?”
“Have you forgotten what matters? Right now, he is not the priority.”
“Did you not see what this fool is doing? Those gleaming eyes suggest he’ll obstruct us to the bitter end. It would be better to dispose of him now.”
“…Hurry and rejoin us.”
“I take that as permission.”
Ji-myeol Magoon and the three remaining Heavenly Kings advanced past Cheolmu-baek.
“Gasp!”
“They’re coming! Everyone, draw up your inner force!”
The soldiers formed their ranks quickly, trembling despite their haste.
They were coming.
These warriors would surely struggle to hold back even a moment against those monsters, yet they had no choice. They had to stand firm, prepared to die.
“Pacheonggun. Advance!”
With Ji-myeol Magoon’s command, the enemy’s elite kicked off the ground.
Or rather, attempted to.
“Not so fast!”
Cheolmu-baek raised his axe overhead, then hurled it down with tremendous force.
Crash-crash-crash-crack!
The axe spun viciously through the air, tearing up the earth before embedding itself in front of them.
Boom!
In nearly the same instant, Cheolmu-baek kicked off the ground and soared upward.
He wrenched the axe free in one motion and roared.
“No one shall pass this point without going through me!”
“…!”
The Dokgo Household’s warriors gazed at Cheolmu-baek’s back, trembling with awe.
Such unyielding resolve and spirit, even before overwhelming masters.
If one’s heart did not burn at such a sight, they had no right to call themselves a martial artist.
“Dokgo Household!”
In that moment, a passionate cry erupted from somewhere.
“Charge! Stand and fight the enemy!”
“We must help! All forces, advance!”
“We cannot let him fall! Cast aside fear and press forward!”
“Roaaaaaah!”
The positions of attack and defense reversed in an instant.
The soldiers surged forward, and chaos erupted across the battlefield.
Crash! Clang-clang! Boom-boom-boom!
“Raaaaaaah!”
“Krraaagh!”
“Die!”
Screams and battle cries, the clash of metal and explosive booms.
A cacophony of sounds intermingled as fierce combat erupted across the battlefield.
The soldiers’ morale was extraordinary. Each one’s eyes blazed like living flames.
Yet the elite were not called elite for nothing.
Whoooosh!
The martial artists of the Dokgo Family began falling one by one.
Relentless volleys of arrows rained down—many didn’t even have time to draw their blades before blood sprayed from their bodies.
But the Dokgo Family’s momentum was not easily broken.
“Do not retreat!”
“Haaaah!”
Clang!
The front line would breach for an instant, only to be filled again immediately.
Even the fallen would rise and fight again; those bearing mortal wounds pressed forward without retreating. Only the dead remained behind.
Cheolmu-baek’s entire body tensed with power.
“Now it is my turn. I shall show not merely words, but deeds.”
Cheolmu-baek gripped his axe and charged directly toward the Four Heavenly Kings.
Boom!
The woman wielding two thin blades in both hands—the Southern Sky King—deflected it lightly with her left blade.
Cheolmu-baek, undeterred, wrenched the axe back with all his strength, using the recoil to spin his body in a full rotation before swinging the axe again.
“How troublesome.”
Whoooosh!
A blade strike saturated with killing intent came to meet him.
Clang!
Cheolmu-baek was driven back six paces.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
Was this what they meant by a blade dance of chaos?
In a single instant, countless blade strikes poured down like rain. Cheolmu-baek, with agility that belied his massive frame and exceptional axe mastery, evaded or blocked the multitude of attacks.
Whoosh!
Yet he could not block them all.
In a flash, countless streams of blood erupted from his thighs and forearms.
‘It is fine. Shallow wounds.’
As long as he could plant his stance and swing his axe, such wounds were nothing.
Boom!
But in that moment, a terrifying killing intent erupted from behind Cheolmu-baek.
“How dare you, this lowly Semu dog, disrespect me!”
The Northern Sky King appeared behind Cheolmu-baek.
Cheolmu-baek’s eyes widened as if they would split.
* * *
Whoosh! Crash!
Hoa’s charge sent enemies flying in all directions.
“Roooaarrr!”
The thunderous roar froze the enemies’ bodies, and immediately after, Dokgo Myeong’s Hyeonchul Sword carved a path through them at tremendous speed.
“Hoa, can’t you go just a bit faster?”
“Grrrr!”
“In exchange, once I’m done, I’ll definitely get you a piece of spirit grass!”
“Roooaarrr!”
Hoa lowered his body and pounded the ground even more fiercely.
After charging forward for a brief moment.
Clang! Clang!
“Don’t retreat! Stand and fight!”
“Kyaaaah!”
Dokgo Myeong’s expression twisted.
The soldiers’ encampment locked in fierce combat finally came into view.
It was complete chaos. The battle line had collapsed into a brawl.
‘Damn it! How did it fall apart so quickly!’
That was when.
“Aaahhh!”
A scream pierced the air.
Turning my gaze, I saw a young martial artist who had fallen and was exposed to a Patcheon Army soldier’s attack.
Whoosh!
The distance was too great for a sword strike to reach. Dokgo Myeong adjusted his grip on the Hyeonchul Sword and hurled it.
Crash!
The Hyeonchul Sword, drawing a black line through the air, pierced through the Patcheon Army soldier’s torso.
Flash!
Leaping from Hoa’s back, Dokgo Myeong retrieved the Hyeonchul Sword in a single bound and shouted.
“Are you alright!”
“Gasp! Y-you’re the Cheonma Sect Leader!”
“Your name?”
“I am Neungmyeong of the Gwigap Unit under the Soldiers, paying respects to the Cheonma Sect Leader!”
“Neungmyeong? That’s the same as my name!”
It was a light jest meant to restore his senses, but the man named Neungmyeong, his face covered in blood, twisted his expression in a most grotesque manner.
“Now that you’ve come to your senses, give me a brief report! Where is the Left Army Commander? Have you seen the Cheonma Sect?”
“The Left Army Commander continued the battle and hastily withdrew to the rear! Because of that, the battle line here was pushed back and the situation developed into chaos!”
It seemed Dokgo Gun had no time to reorganize his formation before having to rush out.
Indeed, the Patcheon Army’s pursuit force appeared to have arrived much faster than expected.
“Then the Cheonma Sect! You haven’t seen the Cheonma Sect!”
“I saw Captain Cheolmu-baek rush to the rear before anyone else.”
“Cheolmu-baek? That one alone?”
Over there right now, they have not just the Four Heavenly Kings but even Jimeol Magoon. Did he really go alone?
“That’s what it looked like to me!”
“You didn’t see any other Cheonma Sect members?”
“No! Because the skirmish was breaking out….”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed with light.
“Then we have nothing to worry about.”
“Sir?”
“My men would never just stand by and watch one of our own charge out like that!”
* * *
With a tremendous explosive sound, Cheolmu-baek spewed blood as he was hurled into the air.
Thud!
His massive frame crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
It was over.
To meet such a heavy blow with palm techniques would require internal energy several levels higher. But now it was the opposite.
And yet.
“Cough! Haa….”
Thump!
Cheolmu-baek pushed himself up.
Blood poured from his mouth and his entire body was covered in dust, but he refused to collapse again.
“Stubborn bastard….”
“Enough talk. Come at me.”
“Yeah, let’s see if you can get up even with both legs broken.”
The Northern Sky King pushed off the ground again.
But in an instant, his eyes widened as he looked upward.
Flash!
A streak of sword light descended directly toward his head.
Clang clang clang clang!
Countless sparks erupted in the air amid the metallic clashes.
“You crazy bastards! What are you doing!”
Whoosh!
Flames erupted along the sword path as if drawn by brush strokes.
This was the characteristic of the Solitary Yang Divine Sword, the most aggressive of the Dokgo Household’s Eight Divine Techniques.
And in this era, only one person besides Geom Wang Dokgo Un-hak had cultivated the Solitary Yang Divine Art to this degree.
“You bear of a bastard! Are you alive!”
Dokgo Ak shouted explosively, taking position beside Cheolmu-baek.
“…You’re late.”
“Who told you to charge out without a word? I was fighting on the front lines and came rushing over!”
“How’s the front?”
“Can’t you see? Right now this place is several times more important.”
Dokgo Ak pointed his sword, shimmering with fire energy, toward the Four Heavenly Kings as he spoke.
“And since everyone has arrived, we will undoubtedly emerge victorious.”
Thud-thud-thud!
The sound of martial artists striking the ground echoed through the air.
Soon, several figures descended around Cheolmu-baek.
Though their number was merely dozens, each one of them was a martial artist worth a hundred men.
“Why do all the men in this unit act so recklessly?”
“Elder brother, your younger sibling has arrived.”
“Captain Cheol!”
The Cheonma Sect joined the fray, led by the sharp-tongued Bang Dan-a and the steadfast Hang San-gwi.
And a chilling voice rang out from right beside Cheolmu-baek.
“Warriors of the Cheonma Sect. You have done remarkably well.”
Cheolmu-baek spun his head around in surprise.
When Dokgo Ak said “everyone,” he did not mean only the Cheonma Sect.
Dokgo Gun had come to this place as well.

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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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