Return of the God of War - Chapter 47

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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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Episode 47. Didn’t expect that, did you?
“The, the Sub-sect Leader of the Tianma Divine Sect has arrived!”
The gatekeeper’s voice trembled faintly.
Yet no one dared whisper a word of criticism.
They simply stared toward the entrance in stunned silence.
A moment passed.
Two women of unparalleled beauty walked through the doors.
Tian Hua Lin and her Accompanying Escort, Gui Ying.
While everyone else remained frozen, transfixed,
one man alone moved with swift, deliberate grace.
That man was Mu Yu Jin.
‘Sister Tian, what are you doing here?!’
Invitations to the banquet must have been scattered across the hundred thousand mountains of Xin Jiang.
But from that insular Tianma Divine Sect—
no one had foreseen that the Sub-sect Leader herself would attend.
As Tian Hua Lin strode through the entrance with commanding presence, Mu Yu Jin’s eyes trembled violently.
It was good to see her again.
Yet this reunion had no place in his plans.
‘I have no way to explain Qing Hai right now.’
Mu Yu Jin’s head whipped around frantically.
He was searching for something to hide behind.
He had already shown his face to her in the underwater cave.
In the end, Mu Yu Jin hurried over to Bu Yeon’s side.
“Deputy Director! Quick, help me take this off.”
“W-what on earth are you—”
“No questions!”
Mu Yu Jin tore at the fine cloth robe Bu Yeon had prepared for the banquet, hastily wrapping a scrap of fabric around his head and obscuring his face.
Yet still, no relief came.
‘Will I be able to fool Sister Tian’s eyes?’
Among all else, none possessed perceptiveness quite like Tian Hua Lin’s—keen to an almost transcendent degree.
It would be no exaggeration to call it the finest in all ages.
As expected.
Tian Hua Lin, who had been walking straight toward the honored seat where Namgung Ling Ling sat, suddenly turned her head.
Her gaze immediately fixed upon Mu Yu Jin’s direction.
‘Damn—she’s spotted me?’
But then.
That fear lasted only a moment.
Looking closer, her eyes were not upon him at all.
Slightly to the side.
To the right of Bu Yeon.
Mu Yu Jin’s eyes instinctively followed hers.
There sat an old man, hunched and deeply lined with age.
Tian Hua Lin then withdrew her gaze and resumed her walk toward Namgung Ling Ling.
But Mu Yu Jin, still staring at the old man, felt his brow furrow slightly.
‘What is this sense of wrongness…?’
He studied the old man once more.
An utterly ordinary elder.
The aura he emanated was likewise utterly—
‘…!’
In that instant, Mu Yu Jin’s eyes blazed with sudden clarity.
‘I feel nothing at all?’
Even those who have never learned martial arts possess it if they are alive.
That which is called Innate True Qi, or else Life Energy.
Yet from this old man before him, he felt nothing whatsoever.
An art so sublime that Life Energy itself is gathered inward and sealed away.
It transcended even Hui Kong’s technique of rendering presence faint and ephemeral by several leagues.
And only one person in all of Sado Heaven possessed such mastery.
Mu Yu Jin suppressed a laugh that rose within him.
‘So that’s why I wondered where he’d gone after setting the stage. He was here the whole time.’
Doubtless, as befitted an inaugural banquet for a new Palace Master, this was a small gesture—to keep the limelight upon the principal figure.
“Please, Elder, do try this. The taste is quite fine.”
“Much obliged.”
Bu Yeon had struck up a conversation with the stooped old man without anyone quite noticing, and now the two of them exchanged remarks in low, companionable tones.
Mu Yu Jin watched the sight with evident discomfort.
He wondered whether Bu Yeon could truly refrain from fainting once he learned the old man’s true identity.
In the meantime.
Tian Hua Lin and Gui Ying approached the dais where Namgung Ling Ling sat and offered the Martial Salute with perfect ceremony.
“Tian Hua Lin of the Tianma Divine Sect honors the Palace Lord of Sado Heaven.”
“Gui Ying, Accompanying Escort, honors the Palace Lord of Sado Heaven.”
Given the caliber of his guests, Namgung Ling Ling received them with equal formality.
“The pleasure is mine.”
Yet he could not entirely mask his bewilderment.
“Tell me, Sub-sect Leader—a woman of such pressing duties must have had some reason to grace Sado Heaven’s gathering. What brings you here?”
His tone was gentle, but beneath it lay a direct question: what design had this Demonic Path Practitioner harbored to journey all this distance?
Tian Hua Lin smiled.
Her smile was so luminous that the world around her seemed to brighten; admirers throughout the hall drew in sharp breaths of wonder.
Before her return to this life, she had been called one of the Five Flowers of Jianghu—the Demon Flower.
In this lifetime, it seemed that chapter would arrive rather sooner than before.
Tian Hua Lin regarded Namgung Ling Ling for a moment, then spoke.
“I simply wished to see you. I swear there is no other intent behind my visit.”
“See me? For what purpose?”
“To meet you, Palace Lord. Gui Ying Wild Dragon Sword—Namgung Ling Ling. My father has rendered the judgment ‘a capable warrior’ to so very few in this world.”
“……!”
To be called merely “capable” by someone now elevated to Palace Lord of Sado Heaven—
it was the sort of remark that might easily wound.
Yet the man she named as father was none other than the Cult Master himself, Tian Yi Hui, one of the Three Pillars.
And so Namgung Ling Ling simply inclined his head.
Still, how could the Sub-sect Leader of the Tianma Divine Sect—a position of such standing—have traveled to Sado Heaven on so slight a pretext?
‘That girl’s nerve runs deeper than most.’
But more striking yet was that the Cult Master himself had permitted her this journey.
It was an open secret that the Demon Cult’s leader doted on his daughter to an extraordinary degree.
Namgung Ling Ling’s gaze shifted to Gui Ying at her side.
“Your escort’s skill must be extraordinary indeed, if the Cult Master consents to send you into the heart of enemy territory with only two companions.”
“That is not quite the reason…….”
Tian Hua Lin’s eyes flicked briefly toward the back of the hall.
“I imagine he trusts in the presence of that person there.”
A flicker of interest passed through Namgung Ling Ling’s gaze.
‘She has already perceived it?’
Most of the masters gathered here had yet to notice the concealed presence.
‘So Yu Jin is only now becoming aware.’
Namgung Ling Ling’s eyes narrowed as he studied Tian Hua Lin.
‘I thought there was no one of his generation whose footwork could rival Yu Jin’s…….’
The world, it seemed, was wider than one might assume.
Namgung Ling Ling regarded his son—currently burdened with that curious straw mat—and allowed a faint smile to touch his lips.
‘A formidable rival awaits you, my boy.’
Yet a true rival was often the greatest catalyst for growth.
This meeting would prove good stimulation for his son.
Namgung Ling Ling’s eyes softened as he looked upon Tian Hua Lin.
“Sub-sect Leader, I hope this gathering proves most enjoyable for you.”
“Indeed. My heart is already alight with anticipation.”
Tian Hua Lin’s eyes curved into crescents.
* * *
As the formal banquet commenced in earnest, Namgung Ling Ling slipped naturally among the guests.
Mu Yu Jin seized the moment of confusion to make his escape from Chang Xuan Hall.
But.
“Why such haste, illustrious master of the Secret Assassination Hall?”
Thump.
His footsteps halted.
As Mu Yu Jin turned and met the gaze of Tian Hua Lin, he exhaled silently.
Though her lips curved in a smile, her eyes held no warmth whatsoever.
“But…….”
Tian Hua Lin stepped closer.
“Your talents of impersonation are truly exceptional. First infiltrating the White Tiger Division of the Martial Alliance, and now posing as the Heavenly Lord’s youngest son.”
Mu Yu Jin released the tension in his shoulders.
‘She figured it out the moment I entered, just as I expected.’
Now that his cover was blown, the tension oddly drained away.
Mu Yu Jin unwound the cloth that concealed his face.
“Spare me the tiresome jokes. It’s good to see you again. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Mu Yu Jin of Sado Heaven.”
Tian Hua Lin smiled wickedly.
“Your efforts have caused quite the bloodshed in our Secret Assassination Hall.”
“From the Sect’s perspective, that was a fortunate turn of events.”
His calm demeanor made her eyes flash with interest.
“Indeed. Thanks to you, we were able to conduct a sweeping inspection of the Secret Assassination Hall and root out several rats who had been hiding among us.”
“Then it seems the Sub-sect Leader gained something, and I obtained the Celestial Spirit Fruit without incident—we both profited. There’s no reason for us to harbor ill will. Ha ha ha.”
“Ha ha ha ha.”
For a moment, Tian Hua Lin seemed to laugh along with him.
Then.
“……Are you playing games? Mu Yu Jin.”
Her killing intent abruptly froze the air.
Mu Yu Jin showed no alarm.
He had known from the start that she would react this way.
“There are many things I don’t understand, and I can overlook them. But there’s one thing……”
Tian Hua Lin unleashed her murderous aura.
It was a skill of such refinement that only Mu Yu Jin felt the pressure—unnoticed by the other martial artists around them.
“Why didn’t you attack me in the Underwater Cave of Qing Hai? When I was taking Spirit Medicine and circulating my Qi, you had the perfect opening.”
Her gaze grew even sharper.
“Did you…… know what martial arts I practiced?”
This was a different matter entirely from a leak in the Secret Assassination Hall’s intelligence.
There were only two people in this world who knew what martial arts she had mastered, and that they were rooted in a Shared Root with another’s.
The Sect Leader, Tian Yi Hui, and Tian Hua Lin herself.
It was a secret even her escort of ten years, Gui Ying, did not know.
But.
That was Tian Hua Lin’s belief, and unfortunately, there was another person who knew the secret.
Mu Yu Jin.
He knew more than just her martial arts—he grasped her Unique Secret Heart Method.
The Blood Heaven Grand Immortal Technique.
At this point, his understanding of Blood Heaven Qi might very well surpass even Tian Hua Lin’s own.
More than that.
He had mastered every Fist Technique, Palm Technique, Leg Technique, and Movement Technique she employed—as if they were his own.
So when she obtained the Celestial Spirit Fruit in Qing Hai and displayed her power, he recognized at once that her actions had been a test of him.
But he could hardly confess that directly.
He racked his mind for an excuse, but nothing suitable came to mind.
In the end, Mu Yu Jin decided to shrug his shoulders and brazenly deny it.
“How could I possibly know what martial arts the Sub-sect Leader practices? I merely did my best to fulfill your request and provide Dharma Protection that day.”
Whoosh.
Tian Hua Lin stepped even closer, her face bearing down on his.
The space between them shrank until his reflection shimmered in her dark eyes.
After a long moment of piercing stares, Tian Hua Lin spoke again.
“No. You knew. You absolutely did.”
“If it sets the Sub-sect Leader’s mind at ease, let it be so.”
“You’ll keep pretending? Fine. We’ll see if you can hold your tongue while I beat the truth out of you—like trying to beat dust from cloth on a rainy day.”
Mu Yu Jin shook his head slightly.
“This banquet is an affair overseen by my father, the Heavenly Lord of Sado Heaven. Didn’t your Sect Leader say as much? That unnecessary disturbances which provoke the Heavenly Lord’s displeasure should be avoided.”
“So our Mu Yu Jin knows everything? It seems even you didn’t anticipate this, though.”
Suddenly Tian Hua Lin spun around and strode away with long, purposeful steps.
Seeing where she was heading, Mu Yu Jin clutched his forehead.
He understood what she was about to do.
Just as he feared.
Crack!
Tian Hua Lin came to a stop before the hunched elderly man who had been standing with Bu Yeon.
And then.
“I am Tian Hua Lin, Sub-sect Leader of the Tianma Divine Sect, come to pay my respects to the Absolute Being of Sado.”
Tian Hua Lin bowed with perfect propriety, then glanced sideways at Mu Yu Jin with a subtle smile playing at her lips.
“Might this girl be permitted to make but one small request of the Heavenly Lord?”

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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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