Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 399

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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 399
The Three Sovereigns, the Three Emperors, the Five Lords, the Seven Kings, the Dragon and Phoenix.
Did these rankings and titles of the martial world truly represent a person’s strength?
If so, then the Eccentric Chun, Bang Jong-san, and the Sword King Dokgo Un-hak, both called among the Seven Kings, would inevitably lose to Sword Saint Baek Mu-heun, one of the Three Emperors.
But did that even make sense?
They would likely never fight, but even if they did, the best outcome would be mutual destruction or both sides sustaining heavy losses.
From the start, these titles and rankings differed depending on region, organization, and even generation, making any hierarchy impossible to determine.
But this person was different.
There was no one in the martial world who did not regard this person as standing at its very pinnacle.
‘According to common opinion, this person stands several steps ahead of Baek Mu-heun.’
Dokgo Myeong faced such a figure—Heo Un-jin—in a vast reed field.
“Now that I see it up close, I can feel how extraordinary this weapon truly is. Could it be Hyeonchul?”
“You have a keen eye. Indeed, it is.”
A flash of interest crossed the Taegeuk Muje’s eyes as he regarded the Hyeonchul Twin Sword.
He had seen it before, divided in half and worn at the waist due to its length, but the combined form was far more imposing than expected.
“Even if only half of it were Hyeonchul, the weight would be tremendous, yet you handle it so lightly.”
“I have confidence in my strength. At this level, it feels just right.”
“A characteristic of your martial arts?”
“Yes, I learned martial techniques based on external power. My inner energy cultivation, techniques, and methods cannot exert their full power without external strength.”
Dokgo Myeong spun the Hyeonchul Twin Sword lightly once.
Huitcheon, Hongcheon, Sungcheon.
The three branches of the Cheonoe Realm’s flawless martial arts became hollow without the sensory foundation of Hyocheon.
“From your description alone, I’m reminded of a similar martial technique.”
“Yes? What might that be?”
“The Shaolin’s Muscle Change Classic.”
“…?”
For a moment, Dokgo Myeong’s expression became peculiar.
‘I’ve never thought of it that way, but now that you mention it….’
Contemporary martial techniques of the martial world emphasize inner energy cultivation more heavily. Originally it must have been based on external power, but now it was considered antiquated. As Daoist martial arts developed, inner energy cultivation became prevalent as a methodology for approaching the three dantians.
Thus, still approaching the upper dantian through external power was something only the Muscle Change Classic, called the origin of all martial arts under heaven, maintained.
“Why do you make such an expression?”
“It’s just that… I myself don’t know the origin of this martial art, so whenever I hear such things, it feels like a strange question is posed to me.”
“You don’t know the origin? Even though it’s a Dokgo family martial art?”
“Through some twist of fate, I came to serve as a disciple under someone whose name I don’t even know.”
“If you don’t mind, could you tell me in detail?”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes brightened.
Heo Un-jin was someone who had lived through the age of the Three Sovereigns.
Perhaps he might even know the secrets of the Cheonoe Realm?
Dokgo Myeong briefly explained the Cheonoe Realm within the limits of what he could share.
“…The Cheonoe Realm, you say. You’ve met quite an extraordinary person.”
“I’ve heard the name Mu-il mentioned in connection with the Hwangbo Ga. Could it be…?”
Heo Un-jin stroked his beard gently before speaking.
“Mere hearsay tells me nothing worth saying.”
“I see.”
“But if we exchange hands, perhaps I’ll sense something.”
Heo Un-jin released the hand he’d been holding behind his back and extended the other forward with a gentle motion, still stroking his beard.
Whoooooom!
His true energy slowly unfurled, causing the air itself to vibrate.
“Go ahead and begin.”
“…Very well, then.”
The beginning was always the same.
Boom!
A tremendous strike that shook the earth itself.
Heo Un-jin’s eyes gleamed with interest at the vibration that made the very axis of the world tremble.
‘Extraordinary leg power. It reminds me of the martial world north of the great river.’
Dokgo Myeong closed the distance in a single breath.
Appearing before him in an instant, Dokgo Myeong swung his Hyeonchul heavy sword as he spoke.
“I’ll be going all out.”
Crash!
True to his word, he was at full power from the start.
The Hwicheon Strike—Yeonhwa Blade—tore through the air with a deafening roar.
“Come at me with all you have. I am the current Sect Leader of the Mudang.”
Heo Un-jin’s extended right hand made contact with the Hyeonchul sword.
No—the moment it seemed to touch, his wrist rotated and the back of his hand gently pushed away the lower portion of the blade.
In that instant, something remarkable occurred.
The sword’s trajectory wavered and veered in an entirely different direction from where Dokgo Myeong had originally aimed.
Crash and clang!
The deflected energy wave gouged the earth.
Screech! Bang!
Before his balance could crumble, Dokgo Myeong twisted his body and swung the Hyeonchul sword again.
Whoosh.
Heo Un-jin’s foot traced a wide arc.
His center of gravity shifted from left to right, and now his other hand gently pushed away Dokgo Myeong’s elbow.
Stagger!
His body’s centerline collapsed, leaving his lower body unstable.
Dokgo Myeong had to leap high to avoid crashing to the ground, creating distance between them.
‘This is…!’
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes flashed with recognition.
‘Mudang Taegeuk Palm!’
Dokgo Myeong stared at Heo Un-jin, who stood with his center lowered, smiling gently.
* * *
“Ah…!”
Dokgo Ak watched the match with eyes wide as saucers.
Thud! Boom!
Strangely, Heo Un-jin moved slowly enough to follow with the naked eye and didn’t even attack first, yet Dokgo Myeong’s strikes couldn’t land.
Swaying like reeds, flowing like water without fixed form.
Even Dokgo Myeong’s seemingly invincible martial arts couldn’t transcend the Taegeuk.
‘Is such a thing possible through martial arts alone?’
It was the ultimate grafting of yin and yang.
Moreover, Dokgo Myeong seemed equally astounded by it.
‘His movements differ from our usual sparring sessions. It’s almost like discussing swordsmanship.’
It resembled an exchange of martial knowledge rather than a true contest.
The two didn’t exchange words, yet as if they’d synchronized beforehand, they displayed various techniques while observing each other’s responses.
And what that meant was…
‘My brother has reached a level where he can discourse on martial arts with the Taegeuk Muje.’
Thwip!
In that instant, as Dokgo Myeong’s attack slipped past, he slid and crumpled to the ground.
Yet he immediately struck the earth with his palm, twisted his waist, and drove a fist forward.
“Hmm!”
Heo Un-jin’s eyes widened as he traced another circular energy wave.
Dokgo Myeong’s fist was wrapped in counter-rotating transmission force.
Boom!
With a deafening crack that split the air, the Taegeuk palm strike shattered.
Heo Un-jin’s body launched backward before landing on the ground.
“Heh, reversal and opposition? You know such martial arts?”
“I’m not merely a charging bull, after all.”
“Have you perhaps trained in Daoist martial techniques?”
“How could that be?”
“I must see more.”
“Then I shall advance again. It’s called Jahagyeol.”
Dokgo Myeong slid across the ground in motion.
A footwork of evasion and infiltration—the Cheonla Flowing Steps.
Tap!
The two clashed at close range.
The Hyeonchul Sword still swung with tremendous force, but the nature of the battle had changed from before.
Tap! Crack!
They circled around each other’s distance, deflected strikes by breaking vital points and joints, grappled and pulled, and increasingly engaged in exchanges that disrupted the centerline.
They seemed to interlock joints and throw, yet fluidly shifted their center of gravity to reverse and counter.
It was like watching two serpents coiling around each other.
Boom!
Even so, Dokgo Myeong displayed destructive striking techniques moment after moment.
It was the enlightenment of Dark Heaven Strike. He had become capable of blending the formulas of Hwacheon Strike, an offensive technique, with the formulas of Jecheon-gi, a suppression technique.
“Excellent!”
Heo Un-jin laughed with great admiration.
Remarkable.
His understanding of martial arts and power was exceptionally deep and diverse.
‘So this is Jahagyeol. The application of dual-flower grafting certainly shares common ground with Mudang martial arts.
Yet it is strange.
Despite wielding Central Plains martial arts and formulas so similarly, the purpose feels different.
‘Martial arts specialized in severing flow rather than riding it.’
Specialized in breaking techniques and exploiting weaknesses. If seamless continuity was the hallmark of Central Plains martial arts, Dokgo Myeong’s martial arts were characterized by single strikes that severed the opponent’s vital points at each moment.
Meanwhile, as Dokgo Myeong fought Heo Un-jin, he was recalling many things.
‘I had been so absorbed in the new martial arts I created that I neglected the original foundation.’
Originally, Cheonoe Gyeong was martial arts that severed vital points.
But when exactly did I start focusing on maintaining flow?
‘Divide it by technique units, by movement units. There’s no need for continuity. When linking each technique, sensory formulas can substitute for the connecting movements. Yes, it all comes down to sensory formulas.’
Watching the endless flowing martial arts of Taegeuk, he could instead release his obsession with that continuity.
Cheonoe Gyeong was martial arts that rushed toward the point sensory formulas indicated, taking the shortest path.
His own martial arts and all that—wasn’t that the very foundation of Dokgo Myeong the martial artist?
Boom!
Dokgo Myeong’s feet scraped the ground.
Energy waves spreading outward.
Clearly footwork and stepping technique.
Yet from that footwork, a subtle energy wave twisted the upper dantian and internal force flow.
‘Footwork and stepping technique as a single offensive technique. Harmony of the upper dantian. Without even reaching Wuji, he already manipulates the upper dantian to this degree!’
Crash!
Fierce exchanges continued relentlessly.
Dokgo Myeong, now accustomed to Taegeuk’s defensive methods, skillfully broke through and approached.
Heo Un-jin still displayed impenetrable defense and counterattacks.
If before had been an exchange, now it approached true martial combat. Violent explosions erupted in succession.
“Heh, how remarkable. Self-enlightenment.”
A faint smile played at the corners of Heo Un-jin’s mouth.
“I suppose I have no choice. It’s incomplete martial arts, so I’m embarrassed to display it, but it seems I must reveal even this to satisfy you.”
Whoosh!
His posture shifted subtly.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes widened as if they would split.
‘It comes!’
Bang!
He felt the force pushing against the side of his Hyeonchul Sword.
Dokgo Myeong moved instinctively with urgency. He released tension from his Hyeonchul Sword and thrust out his left palm.
Boom! Ahhhhh!
Dust erupted into the air.
In that instant, Dokgo Myeong’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Whoooosh!
Dokgo Myeong’s energy and the dust rising in its wake began rotating in a single direction as if alive.
That spiraling current soon transformed into a raging torrent.
‘Ugh!’
Dokgo Myeong hastily crossed both arms over his head to shield himself.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
This must be what it felt like to withstand a fierce gale with one’s body.
I was being pushed back.
No matter how much strength I poured into my body, I continued sliding backward, then backward again.
A moment later.
Thud!
Dust cascaded down where all the torrential force had passed.
“Phew, remarkable indeed.”
Heo Un-jin caught his breath briefly and raised his hand.
His hand was covered in blood.
“It’s been ages since my skin was torn like this. And my only martial robe is completely shredded—what am I to do about this…? Heh!”
I wanted to jest and say, “I’ll buy you several new robes,” but the words wouldn’t come out.
“Huff, huff! Gasp!”
My breath had risen to my throat. Only after steadying my breathing could I speak.
“Just a martial robe!”
“…?”
“Ah, no, what I mean is! I’ll buy you several new robes.”
“Never mind. This one still has life in it—I’ll just have it mended. Why waste anything?”
“Then… what martial technique was that just now?”
Dokgo Myeong asked this first, urgency driving him.
“I am the Sect Leader of the Mudang, so naturally it’s a Mudang technique. You ask the obvious.”
“The foundation seemed to be Mudang martial arts—the Transformation of Yin and Yang, the Four Directions Heaven Root. Yet something was different.”
Heo Un-jin’s eyes gleamed.
“You could tell?”
“Once I felt it with my body, I understood immediately.”
“Hmm.”
Heo Un-jin smiled mysteriously.
“It’s a new martial philosophy I’m developing. It emerged while I was synthesizing and systematizing the martial arts of the Mudang.”
“Synthesizing, you say?”
“Three generations have passed since the Great Ancestor. Talented disciples have emerged in the True Martial Hall, so isn’t it time for the Mudang to make the leap to becoming a major sect?”
The Mudang, with its brief history.
Though its martial arts were said to be supreme throughout the realm, there were aspects that left room for improvement.
“Within the sect, it’s called the New School. I believe this is the first time it’s been demonstrated outside the faction. Hehe! I wonder if the elders will take issue with it.”
A new lineage of martial arts.
It was certainly fierce enough to warrant such a designation.
‘Wait. That technique called the New School… could it be?’
In that instant, a fierce competitive spirit blazed across Dokgo Myeong’s eyes.
“I wish to continue. Please show me more of that technique.”
“You want to go again?”
“Yes, neither you nor I have fully revealed our ultimate techniques, have we?”
Heo Un-jin shook his head firmly.
“That’s enough.”
“Sir?”
“Any further and everything will be destroyed.”
Only then did Dokgo Myeong come to his senses and look around.
The once-quiet reed field had become a wasteland as if a typhoon had swept through it.
“Instead, try to recall the exchange. There’s something I wish to tell you.”
“What might that be?”
“You… are currently blocked, are you not?”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes widened.
“Your enlightenment has already reached beyond the wall, yet you cannot cross it. I believe I can explain why.”

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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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