Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 392

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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 392
As we stepped outside, the world had already fallen into twilight.
“Shall we take a walk for a moment?”
“Yes, let us do so.”
Heo Un-jin passed through the rear gate of the estate without a word and walked along a forest path.
A thin mist rose from the lake, spreading low across the area and soaking in the moonlight. With the moon hanging high and silence blanketing the surroundings, only the footsteps of two people echoed through the serene forest path.
‘This is….’
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed as he gazed at Heo Un-jin’s back.
‘The Martial Emperor.’
His frame was somewhat small for a martial artist. His gait and bearing were slow and gentle—so much so that even if he unleashed his martial prowess, it seemed he couldn’t break a child’s wrist.
Yet precisely because of this, Dokgo Myeong could only marvel.
‘Unlike others who restrain or conceal their vital energy, this is simply as natural as breathing.’
Within Heo Un-jin’s body, two forces that could not coexist yet must coexist simultaneously flowed in perfect harmony—dual yet singular, true energy.
The Two Principles and Yin-Yang.
In other words, the Supreme Ultimate.
With his three energy centers filled with vital force bearing not the slightest bias, no matter how keen one’s perception, there could be no sense of artifice. It felt as natural as the stones and trees along the roadside.
‘This is the pinnacle of the martial way that the Taoist sect pursues.’
Now Dokgo Myeong possessed not merely interest in martial techniques for combat, but understanding of martial philosophy itself. Though his martial prowess had not yet reached his previous life’s realm, his insight and enlightenment surpassed it.
Then it happened.
A soft rustle.
Heo Un-jin, who had been walking ahead, turned his head and smiled gently.
“Young man.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Why do you stare at this worthless old man so intently? You’ll bore a hole through my back. Hehe.”
His tone in public differed from his tone in private. A much softer voice spread gently.
Dokgo Myeong coughed lightly.
“Is the Master truly just an ordinary old man? Merely by observing you, I feel my eyes have opened.”
“A moment ago you were so fierce, yet now you speak such honeyed words?”
“I speak from the heart.”
Heo Un-jin smiled and walked alongside Dokgo Myeong.
“Then tell me—what did you perceive?”
Dokgo Myeong pondered briefly before speaking.
“I perceived the Supreme Ultimate.”
A pause.
Heo Un-jin gazed at Dokgo Myeong with interest.
“So it was not mere flattery.”
“How did you come to harbor opposing energies?”
“Why do you assume they are opposing?”
“Pardon?”
“Does true extremity exist in this world? All flows and converges into the Supreme Ultimate. Where one exists, the other must follow; where I am, my counterpart must be.”
A profound enlightenment washed over me. It resembled what I had heard from the Old Man beneath the ancient tree when I visited the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
“And yet you’re surprised when you yourself harbor something similar?”
“Pardon?”
“Your true energy.”
Heo Un-jin met my eyes and smiled softly.
“That crystalline and pure true energy—it seems it was never singular to begin with.”
“…!”
“There’s no difference. In this world, there is no difference.”
I stared wide-eyed, turning Heo Un-jin’s words over in my mind.
‘There are no extremes in this world. Nor is there any difference.’
It resonated with the secret realm of the Heavenly Outer Scripture’s unity and the profound principles of the Dark Heaven Scripture.
Crack!
I heard a sound as if something were fracturing.
Not an actual sound, but the sound of cracks forming in the wall of martial arts that had been blocking my path.
“Ah!”
Heo Un-jin let out an exclamation.
“I only grasped this after reaching the age of knowing Heaven’s will, yet you’re already putting it into practice before thirty.”
“Pardon?”
“Many wait for enlightenment to come to them, but truth be told, enlightenment comes not to those who wait, but to those who actively seek it. Every moment is both learning and martial practice—and you already understand and embody this, do you not?”
“I wouldn’t say it’s anything so remarkable.”
“Hehe.”
Heo Un-jin chuckled.
Then, after a moment, he wiped the smile from his face and spoke.
“I owe you an apology for today, in many ways.”
I shook my head.
“I believe there was nothing wrong with what you said, Master.”
“Yet someone like you still pushed back so fiercely?”
“Not everyone can walk the right path.”
Tap.
Heo Un-jin stopped walking.
His body, hands clasped behind his back, turned slightly toward me.
“Will you answer me one question honestly?”
“If it’s something I can answer, I will gladly do so.”
“Why do you help Baek Jang-mun?”
I hesitated.
“Help Baek Jang-mun? Rather, I received help from the Alliance.”
I played dumb for now.
My relationship with Baek Mu-heun remained a secret.
Making him the first Alliance Lord, seizing control of the Gangho through the Martial Alliance, strategizing with him to shape the currents of the martial world and public opinion—all of it, every conversation I’d shared with him, had to remain hidden.
“Do you truly not understand what I’m saying?”
Heo Un-jin’s eyes were as clear and deep as always, yet a subtle chill permeated that composed gaze.
Dokgo Myeong exhaled sharply.
“How did you know?”
“I’m not skilled in politics. But I pride myself on having a decent eye for reading people and the world.”
Was he truly being humble, claiming he lacked insight despite saying such things?
Dokgo Myeong let out a hollow laugh and nodded.
“Before I answer, there’s something I must tell you.”
“What is it?”
“I’m not helping him.”
“…?”
“Our intentions align and we have things to exchange, so we’re conducting transactions, but I haven’t fully joined hands with him.”
“You mean you’re only cooperating temporarily?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Dokgo Myeong paused briefly, weighing his words.
“I believe my answer lies in what I said at that earlier conference.”
“…To win the war.”
“Baek Jang-mun possesses ability. Our aspirations are similar as well. Therefore, I wish to make him the alliance leader. With him, we can win this war.”
“Yes, he’s certainly capable of leading a war to victory. But he’s not the sort to end the fighting.”
Yes, this is precisely why Heo Un-jin is a great man.
He first desires to end the conflict.
But Baek Mu-heun and I always look to victory first.
‘I cannot live that way. Nor do I wish to.’
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed.
“That’s why I haven’t completely joined hands with him.”
Heo Un-jin, who had been staring blankly at Dokgo Myeong, finally opened his mouth.
“What exactly do you desire? Peace in Gangho? The position of Dokgo Family patriarch? Supremacy under heaven?”
Dokgo Myeong turned his gaze and looked around.
“For you, Elder, what range does the world encompass?”
“What kind of strange question is that?”
“For me, it’s precisely this much. Only what my eyes can see and what my hands can reach.”
Of course, now my reach has widened somewhat, and more people have come into view.
“At first, I thought it would be enough to simply live well within that scope. But when I touched this, that popped out, and when I extinguished the fire here, it ignited there. Eventually, I concluded that this wretched world needs to be overturned once.”
“….”
“That much—a vague and uninspiring conviction—is everything I am.”
“No one lives doing only as they please.”
“Under such pretexts, people endure and endure, and in the end, all that emerges is resignation that the world was always this way.”
“Isn’t that enlightenment?”
“I seem to be someone fundamentally unsuited for pursuing the Way. I simply cannot understand why one should live that way.”
Dokgo Myeong spoke with a forceful voice, as if making a declaration.
“Even if I ultimately fail and shatter into pieces, I must live doing what I want to do.”
Heo Un-jin laughed hollowly.
“Indeed, you and Baek Jang-mun could never think alike.”
“Would I speak falsehoods before you?”
“Do you truly believe the Bloodline Cult is so dangerous that we must endure all manner of side effects and chaos?”
Dokgo Myeong’s expression hardened completely.
“If we combine our strength, we will win easily. We will shed less blood. Yet knowing this, must I still walk a different path?”
“I see. Yes… You are convinced that you are right. People like you are rare.”
Heo Un-jin exhaled a long sigh.
Dokgo Myeong spoke.
“I understand your concern, Elder. You fear the Martial Alliance becoming a single absolute power.”
“I do not doubt Baek Jang-mun’s character, but he is certainly capable of such a thing.”
Having said this, Heo Un-jin suddenly changed the subject.
“Come, let us go a bit further. We are almost there.”
Heo Un-jin turned and walked forward again.
Dokgo Myeong followed silently behind.
Soon the two arrived at the waterside where the scenery of Dong Lake, shrouded in mist, came into view.
“Whenever there is a gathering at Dong Lake, I always visit this place. It has quite an elegant charm to it.”
Not far from the residence.
The vast expanse of Dong Lake, with mist drifting across it, entered my sight.
The full moon stretched across the gently rippling water’s surface. On the opposite shore, the lights of the night-bright streets flickered endlessly.
“When gatherings are held elsewhere, we usually meet at inns or taverns, which is quite troublesome. That is why I eagerly await gatherings at this Dong Lake villa. What do you think of it?”
Dokgo Myeong gazed at the open vista and answered.
“It is a lake.”
“And?”
“Well… it is quiet.”
“…”
“If things go wrong, you could bury a person here and no one would ever know.”
“…”
Tsk, is that not it?
If you wanted eloquent expressions, you should have brought a poet. Why bring someone whose profession is beating people?
“Still, it has a certain charm to it.”
“I am relieved to hear that.”
“Why have you brought me to this place?”
“When one must discuss troubling matters, one must gaze upon water. Do you know the saying ‘the merchant values water’?”
Whoosh.
Each time the wind blew, the water would advance slightly, then recede.
Sorrow tinged his voice.
“I said I would speak no more, so I shall restrain myself. Yet one cannot avoid something simply because it is unavoidable. Does the Martial Alliance not need some safeguard to check its rampage?”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I had a feeling you wouldn’t simply dismiss my warning.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Trust? Ha! How could I trust someone I’ve only just met? If I’ve misjudged you, that’s simply my mistake.”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed at those words.
“Then….”
Dokgo Myeong, who had begun to speak, suddenly clamped his mouth shut.
‘Should I say this now?’
It was something he’d intended to bring up much later, subtly. The situation had caused the thought to brush across his mind unbidden, but he wasn’t certain it was the right move.
But his deliberation was brief.
Dokgo Myeong continued without hesitation.
“Don’t ask me to do it. Do it yourself.”
“What did you just say?”
“Become one of the shackles binding Baek Jang-mun and the Martial Alliance.”
“…?”
“Aren’t you interested in the position of Vice-Alliance Leader?”
Heo Un-jin’s eyes widened as if he’d never expected to hear such a proposal. Even the Three Emperors of the realm seemed to have failed to anticipate this.
But regrettably, in his previous life, he had already been Vice-Alliance Leader. Though the position held barely a shred of actual authority, merely an honorary title.
“You’re asking me to assume the position of Vice-Alliance Leader of an organization that hasn’t even been established yet?”
“Isn’t it natural that all such arrangements are finalized at the last moment?”
“Did you not hear my words? I meant to abstain from factional strife as well. Are you asking me to step into that conflict?”
Dokgo Myeong smiled faintly and gazed toward the water’s edge.
“Shang Shan Ruo Shui—the Sage Laozi spoke in the Daodejing of water as the highest virtue. Just as water can transform into any shape….”
Dokgo Myeong looked directly at Heo Un-jin.
“Yet why do you flee? Sometimes conflict is necessary to end conflict.”
Heo Un-jin’s gaze deepened.
“If, by some chance….”
“….”
“If I become Vice-Alliance Leader, won’t factions form before the Martial Alliance even begins? Then the victory in war you speak of would become distant indeed.”
From the start, they would divide into parties and fight. Internal strife could lead to catastrophe.
“That won’t happen.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Because Baek Jang-mun won’t allow it.”
“…!”
“He will consolidate the authority of the Martial Alliance and its Leader by any means necessary.”
Baek Mu-heun believes that concentrated power through strength is the path to peace.
He will not relinquish the Martial Alliance. It is his very conviction made manifest.
Thus he could become infinitely terrifying, infinitely cruel.
“The Vice-Alliance Leader position is merely a minimal check and safeguard. Use that authority to restrain the Alliance’s rampage directly.”
“….”
“If you truly cannot do it, yet simultaneously wish to prevent power concentration and tyranny….”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“Rather, you should kill Baek Mu-heun. There is no other way.”
“…!”
“And after that, you will have to kill me as well. However, if you truly intend to do so, you must make it appear that we were killed by the Twin Horse Alliance. Only then can you prepare for the Blood Cult.”
“….”
Heo Un-jin’s expression twisted. He stared at Dokgo Myeong with eyes that had hardened into stone.
Dokgo Myeong did not avert his gaze and met those eyes directly.
Is the Martial Alliance righteous?
No, it is merely necessary.
Then is it evil?
As I said, it is merely necessary.
Neither Baek Mu-heun nor Dokgo Myeong would ever stop for that one principle.
The age was too steeped in darkness to pursue righteousness alone.
* * *
‘An unpredictable young man.’
In the way he dreamed of conquering the realm, he resembled Dokgo Cheon.
In his conviction and his willingness to disregard means and methods for that conviction, he resembled Baek Mu-heun.
And that coldness….
‘It resembles his father in his youth.’
The image flickered across his mind—beautiful yet sharp features.
Nearly thirty years had passed since those days.
Back then, there was a martial artist who wandered Gangho, scattering blood as commanded.
He realized far too late that when one swings a blade at another, the blood splatters upon oneself as well. In the end, he shattered his own sword and surrendered himself to endless emptiness.
Gangho called him the Sword Ghost.
The sects that harbored resentment toward him called him the Demon Sword.
And the Wudang Sect called him both the enemy of Sahmun and, at the same time, their disciple.
“….”
In the midst of the endless sound of flowing water.
Heo Un-jin opened his eyes that had been tightly closed.
“I shall give your proposal my consideration.”
For now, that was all for today.
But Dokgo Myeong was certain he would accept.
After a long silence.
Suddenly, Heo Un-jin spoke.
“That is unexpected, though.”
Dokgo Myeong’s expression became puzzled.
“Unexpected?”
“That you, of all people, are proposing such a thing to me, of all people.”
“…?”
“You are….”
An indescribable emotion colored Heo Un-jin’s voice.
“Have you ever heard the details of what transpired between the Heavenly Demon and your father?”

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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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