Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 63
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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 63
“Phew, now I can finally breathe easier.”
I ceased my rough, frantic movements.
Ssshhh….
From every pore of my sweat-drenched body, wisps of ashen mist billowed forth. I was tempering myself with Hwicheon Gi and Hyocheon Gi.
The Hundred Medicine Sage would have been astounded to witness this.
Injuries that should have required three or four months of recuperation were already entering the stage of rapid healing.
‘Though it’s partly because I’ve consumed every spiritual elixir I received as gifts….’
Swish!
As I lifted my arm slightly, the black sleeve descended with fluid grace.
“…This thing truly is remarkable.”
It was the Dragon Scale Robe, Gi-wang’s legacy.
The extraordinary recovery speed—faster than mere swiftness—was entirely thanks to this garment.
Whoosh!
As I channeled my inner force, the fabric trembled delicately.
Simultaneously, I felt my internal power returning from the points where it touched my skin.
The circulation of inner force.
No, it was amplifying it beyond mere circulation. It received my inner force and returned it, and each time it did, the quality of my power grew exponentially stronger.
‘This wasn’t originally part of my body, yet this is possible? What exactly is this? Was it truly woven from thread in the first place?’
I brushed my arm lightly with suspicious eyes.
Kling!
Not the sound of tearing cloth, but a crystalline ring emanated from it.
The material was truly mysterious. There were no stitch marks or traces of tailoring, and while it felt like silk, it possessed an unmistakable firmness.
It seemed there were more secrets and functions hidden within….
“I’ll have to discover them myself. Really, if you’re going to pass something down, you could at least explain the details.”
I chuckled and let my arm fall.
“Well then….”
I clenched my fist, the one that had once been broken.
Tsshhhhh!
In that instant, an aura somewhere between crimson and violet settled into my fist.
The color of the evening glow—Hongcheon Gi.
“This one also demands my attention now.”
I felt the accumulation and release speed of my inner power had accelerated dramatically.
This was Hongcheon Gi’s function. Like the sunset spreading and permeating across the sky, Hongcheon Gi elevated the responsiveness of my inner force.
“Then.”
My feet touched the ground with gentle grace.
Swish!
Hongcheon Gong, Jahagyeol.
The curved footwork of Cheonryu Yubo and the martial art that commands flow, Jecheon Gi, unfurled.
Boom!
The moment I took another step, my body scattered like mist.
I reappeared the instant I extended my arm.
Boom!
The air burst apart from my arm whipping through it like a lash.
My eyes narrowed.
‘Too linear.’
I shook my head.
‘Again.’
Whoosh!
I withdrew my foot backward and pivoted my body.
Unlike the linear and aggressive movements of Hwacheon Gi and Gwangguk Unheung, this was different.
Curves.
The essence of Cheonryu Yubo. A footwork technique of evasion and infiltration.
And Jecheon Gi was no different.
‘Flow softly.’
My arm extended with fluid grace.
‘Yet never surrender power.’
My hand, swung along the grain of the wind, made contact with the wooden training dummy before me.
Crack! Boom!
The joints of the wooden dummy with its embedded iron core crumpled. Only when the elasticity of the iron core finally reached its limit and snapped did I cease my movement.
“….”
I glanced sideways.
My limbs were trembling uncontrollably.
“Ugh! Just because it moved a little, it had to—ow!”
I grimaced and gently rubbed my limbs.
‘The application of Hongcheon Gi and Cheonryu Yubo were fine, but Jecheon Gi gives immediate backlash if I misstep even slightly.’
I looked at the shattered wooden dummy with displeasure.
Originally, it shouldn’t have crumpled like that. I should have only twisted and extracted the joints.
‘I need more training.’
Jecheon Gi.
A martial art bearing the name “technique to suppress the heavens.” It was a discipline that broke or strangled joints and muscles, disrupting the flow of inner force and technique to topple one’s center of balance.
“Cheonryu Yubo is one thing, but Jecheon Gi loses all efficiency when practiced alone.”
Jahagyeol was fundamentally designed for moving opponents. Solo training was nearly meaningless.
‘Is there anyone worth sparring with?’
Ideally, someone who had mastered aggressive and tyrannical martial arts.
Naturally, a master would be better than a novice.
Someone who could easily block even a lethal strike….
‘There’s no one suitable. Still, this should help compensate for Hwicheon Gi’s offensive capabilities to some degree.’
I took a deep breath.
“Now….”
Then I closed my eyes tightly.
“So this is where it ends.”
When I opened my eyes again, a terrible killing intent swirled within them.
‘Jeong Bloodfiend Sect. Those wretches have already infiltrated Gangho.’
One wing of the Twin Demon League—the Jeong Bloodfiend Sect.
Demons who hide, deceive, and scheme.
Now that I know of their existence, I cannot rest easy.
“Merely plugging one gap is not enough.”
It was the moment I was about to resume my cultivation.
Whoosh!
My sensory perception activated.
My gaze turned toward the entrance of the Rear Garden.
Tap! Tap!
Beyond the open door.
A woman approached with confident strides.
“Your perception is extraordinary. I suppressed my presence thinking you were cultivating, yet you sensed me from that distance?”
Thud!
The woman who struck a long spear against the ground flashed her white teeth in a smile.
“How delightful. It’s been years since we’ve met face to face like this, hasn’t it?”
“….”
“Come now, greet me properly. I am….”
I tilted my head as I stared blankly at her.
“Who are you to act so familiar?”
“…!”
“Do you know her?”
The atmosphere turned cold in an instant.
* * *
Glug! Glug!
Fine silk wine procured directly from Hubei Province was being poured straight from the bottle.
Whether from the alcohol or from rage, Dokgo Yeon’s face had flushed crimson.
“This insolent bastard. I went out of my way to detour here on my way back from completing my mission, and this is how he treats me? ‘Do you know her?'”
“…Leader, please calm yourself.”
“This, this, this!”
Glug!
Dokgo Yeon vented her fury and drained the bottle once more.
Jang Mu-ak, the deputy commander of the Beontcheon Extinction Brigade, muttered under his breath, “He’s acting like an abandoned dog whose master has forsaken him…” and shook his head.
“That bastard definitely remembers.”
“That’s unlikely.”
“Where in this world would you find someone who forgets their cousin?”
“Surely not. Why would Young Master Dokgo Myeong pretend not to know? There’s no reason for it.”
“That’s… tsk, well, I suppose so.”
Dokgo Yeon nodded her head.
Of course, I’d guessed wrong.
Dokgo Myeong naturally remembered Dokgo Yeon’s face.
“Young Master, did you truly not recognize me?”
“No, I did recognize you.”
“Pardon? Then why….”
“I pretended not to know because I thought it would become troublesome.”
“Pardon?!”
“I’ve mastered dealing with those mad relatives, but she surpasses even that!”
Jang Mu-ak and Dokgo Yeon had no way of knowing such a conversation was occurring at this very moment.
“Lord, honestly, it’s not so strange that you couldn’t remember, is it?”
“What?”
“Unlike the Lord who observed Young Master Myeong from afar, Young Master Myeong has barely crossed paths with you, you say?”
“Still, whenever there were family matters of importance, our eyes would meet at least once.”
“Lately, whenever something happens, you’ve been going out on assignments saying it’s bothersome, haven’t you? When exactly was that?”
“…Wait a moment.”
“The fact that it doesn’t come to mind immediately means you couldn’t have remembered it.”
“….”
Dokgo Yeon’s brow furrowed.
“Tsk, I was hoping to have some fun since I couldn’t properly relax my body on this last assignment.”
“Were you thinking of sparring?”
“Of course.”
“Young Master Myeong is currently a patient. Please maintain some dignity.”
“More nagging. You’re the one being disrespectful to the Lord.”
“No, shouldn’t a Lord act like a Lord….”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Tsk, insolent fool.”
Thunk!
Dokgo Yeon carelessly set down the empty wine bottle.
Jang Mu-ak wore a peculiar expression.
“That’s rather unexpected.”
“What is?”
“You show no interest in people who don’t meet your standards, Lord.”
“Does anyone take interest in monkeys prancing about with swords?”
“Don’t you regard most of the Gangho’s martial artists as monkeys?”
And if a monkey were to prance about with a sword, it might actually catch one’s interest….
Jang Mu-ak shook his head to dispel such idle thoughts and continued speaking.
“Though your momentum has been formidable lately, I never expected you to take such interest in Young Master Myeong.”
Dokgo Myeong has certainly been accumulating tremendous achievements lately.
However, he remains merely a rising prodigy ascending at an alarming pace. It was extraordinarily strange to see Dokgo Yeon, who dismisses even seasoned masters of Gangho as mere monkeys, displaying such obsession and regret.
“Moreover, does the Great Lord not despise frivolous individuals? As for myself….”
“Yourself what?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Do you really think I didn’t hear that?”
“I knew you heard it.”
“This bastard…?”
“In any case, why do you take such interest?”
Dokgo Yeon let out a scoff.
“Anyone with eyes cannot help but take interest.”
“Pardon?”
“That one.”
Her lips, glistening with traces of wine, curved upward in a smile.
“He is truly a prodigy of extraordinary power. Completely different from when I saw him last year.”
“A prodigy of extraordinary power… you say?”
“Yes.”
“Surely you’re not about to claim you’ve smelled something again?”
Dokgo Yeon simply grinned. Fine wrinkles formed slightly across the bridge of her nose.
She possessed an exceptional nose—not in the literal sense of olfaction, but rather an uncanny ability to discern the temperament others emanated.
“The scent of blood is extraordinarily potent.”
Jang Mu-ak’s expression hardened.
“Could it be that the young lord’s unusual martial growth is connected to demonic arts involving blood….”
“What nonsense is this? If that were true, would our grandfather have allowed it?”
“Then what is it?”
Dokgo Yeon gazed at empty space with a mysterious expression.
As if measuring Dokgo Myeong’s form within her mind.
“The moment I stepped forward, he shifted his center backward.”
Jang Mu-ak’s eyes flickered.
“He relaxed his entire right arm, yet maintained subtle tension in his grip. Had circumstances been different, he would have struck a vital point and withdrawn.”
“…!”
“If done consciously, it shows. But that one—his body moved first without conscious thought. Even I cannot achieve that.”
Dokgo Yeon fell quietly into contemplation.
How many life-and-death struggles must one endure for such movements to become natural?
The problem was….
‘That one has only recently experienced genuine combat.’
Was it training, or was it temperament?
Or perhaps something their seemingly rigid uncle had been cultivating in secret all this time?
Regardless, none of it was normal.
“Universal martial standards hold little importance for that one. In a life-and-death duel rather than a sparring match… he would effortlessly dispatch masters several levels above him.”
“Is that all?”
“That’s what I sense. So how could I not take interest? My hands and feet are practically itching.”
Scratch! Scratch!
Dokgo Yeon scraped her spear shaft habitually.
Jang Mu-ak shook his head repeatedly.
‘She’s fallen into her obsession again.’
Her fixation on martial arts had reached the level of madness. At this point, there was no stopping her.
“I should bring it up tomorrow when we depart. The journey back to the Family won’t be boring.”
Just moments ago she’d been furious, yet now Dokgo Yeon’s eyes sparkled like a naive country girl freshly smitten with love.
* * *
The Cheonryu Yubo and Dokgo Yeon rested for exactly one day before making their departure preparations.
“Why are you leaving in such haste?”
“We haven’t even properly repaid our debts yet….”
Martial artists from the surrounding region who heard the news rushed to the Manor, creating a sea of people.
Only after bidding them farewell did the path open.
“We wish good fortune upon Anhui’s martial world!”
“Safe travels!”
Dokgo Myeong waved his hand and turned his horse’s head.
Geum Seok-du approached with a grinning expression.
“We’re finally going to see the Cheonha Jeil Sega. What kind of place is it?”
“A chaotic mess of a household.”
“….”
Geum Seok-du’s expression turned lukewarm.
Dokgo Myeong chuckled softly.
“There’s much to do when we return. We need to move quickly now, so don’t let your guard down.”
“What should I do?”
Dokgo Myeong grinned.
“First, learn.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s a troublesome household, but there’s plenty to learn.”
Geum Seok-du blinked.
“Is learning all I need to do?”
“First we’ll reorganize the Family, but you needn’t concern yourself with that. After that, I’ll need to search for some people.”
“People… you say? What kind of people?”
“Men like you.”
Dokgo Myeong’s gaze, as he spoke slowly, turned toward the distant horizon.
“I know their names and characteristics. But most of them—I don’t know where they are or what they’re doing now. I need to search for them in earnest.”
“Pardon?”
At Dokgo Myeong’s words, Geum Seok-du blinked.
“Come to think of it, you said I was the first. Does that mean there’s a second and third?”
“Yes.”
Geum Seok-du’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
That was when it happened.
“The journey from here to the Main Sect is quite far.”
Dokgo Yeon approached, her eyes shimmering with a peculiar warmth.
Dokgo Myeong’s expression hardened visibly.
“Ah, yes.”
“It’s a distance vast enough to contain several minor kingdoms from the borderlands. Considering your internal injuries, your travel speed will be slow, so it should take several days.”
“But why are you telling me this?”
“From the way you’re consolidating your energy, it seems you’ve taken up something new.”
Dokgo Yeon spoke with a meaningful smile.
“How about we exchange some moves along the way to keep things interesting? I think it would benefit you as well?”
Dokgo Myeong regarded Dokgo Yeon for a moment.
Then, without hesitation, he furrowed his brow.
“I’d rather not.”
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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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