The God of Death and the God of War - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Evil Hegemon Martial God

Chapter 30

Though it wasn’t outwardly apparent, Dokgo Cheon was inwardly greatly flustered.

Until now, whenever talk of disciples came up, it was precisely Dokgo Cheon who had refused as sharply as Jeok-un was doing now.

Not only warriors belonging to Sadocheon, but also the children of Sapa’s renowned forces, even the legitimate heirs of the Three Great Merchant Guilds of the Central Plains.

‘Every single one of them caused a commotion trying to become my disciple.’

But now this completely opposite situation was unfolding.

It was his first time proposing discipleship to another, and he truly never imagined he would be so decisively rejected.

Though it felt embarrassing to gild his own face, to refuse becoming the disciple of Sadocheon’s Cheon-ju and Sapa Jeil-in.

‘…Why on earth?’

He couldn’t understand Jeok-un, who was looking at him with deeply furrowed brows as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.

After much contemplation, Dokgo Cheon finally thought of one reason and carefully spoke up.

“Is it because of the burden? If that’s the case, don’t worry…”

“What burden? I simply don’t want to become a disciple.”

“…?”

Jeok-un rejected the proposal even more simply and clearly.

That he did not wish to become his disciple.

At Jeok-un’s clear expression of intent, Dokgo Cheon’s pupils shook violently as if struck by an earthquake.

However, this unbelievable choice was the result that came after perfect calculations in Jeok-un’s mind.

‘There would be benefits to becoming Saja Dohuang’s disciple, but the disadvantages are greater.’

In Jeongpa, which values justification and distribution, just the fact of becoming the disciple of the Martial Arts Alliance Leader, comparable to Sadocheonju, would earn great respect.

That’s the power of justification and distribution that rules the righteous path.

But Sapa is different.

Sapa values individual martial prowess, and if one relies on others’ power or acts while riding on someone’s back, it’s hard to win hearts.

‘Who would truly follow a fool who acts like a fox borrowing a tiger’s authority right after arriving?’

Translated to Jeok-un’s case, they might bow their heads to him immediately because of Dokgo Cheon, but would absolutely never go beyond that.

This was a complex problem also related to Jeok-un’s origins.

Being from Jegal Sega, one of the Seven Great Families comparable to Gupa Ilbang even among Jeongpa, there was a high possibility of facing great rejection and criticism.

Before his regression, he had been cast out from his family as a cripple, enduring all kinds of hardships and forming bonds while rolling around at the bottom together, so the hatred toward him was minimal.

But now the situation was completely different.

Also, secondly, becoming Saja Dohuang’s disciple would prevent internal enemies from easily attacking or attempting to assassinate him.

It wasn’t that he wanted to end his own life, and one might ask what this nonsensical talk was about.

Jeok-un planned to rampage even more wildly than when he swept away the No-ga brothers later, and he hoped internal enemies would fly toward him like moths to a flame upon seeing that.

How could he not desire it?

When they would give him justification to kill them himself.

‘Doyecheon. I hope that old raccoon comes charging first.’

Suddenly, Doyecheon’s face appeared in Jeok-un’s mind.

The father of Dojuman, whom he had personally destroyed in Noe-ok, and now the greatest internal enemy he would have to face in the process of devouring Sadocheon.

‘Before regression, the one I fought most fiercely against until I became the master of Sadocheon.’

Recalling the entangled bitter relationship with Doyecheon, the matter with the No-ga brothers was truly nothing.

However.

Even setting aside all those points, what made him reject the disciple proposal above all was.

‘Me? Under Dokgo Cheon? Why?’

A disciple is someone inferior in skill who enters below.

In short, his pride wouldn’t allow it.

He acknowledged that the current Dokgo Cheon was remarkable, but that didn’t mean he was superior or better than himself.

‘He’s merely someone I acknowledge as having equal status and realm.’

Jeok-un had also been the Sapa Jeil-in of his era, and hadn’t he fought Cheonma with his life and Gangho’s fate on the line?

From the beginning, he had come into the embrace of Sadocheon, his hometown, not entered as Dokgo Cheon’s subordinate.

Accordingly, he had refused to become a disciple.

‘Well, of course it’s true that I achieved progress through the life-and-death battle with Dokgo Cheon.’

But that didn’t mean he intended to abandon everything of his own and newly learn Dokgo Cheon’s martial arts.

From the beginning, when Cheonma stirred in the future, the only power that could oppose him was his own Paecheon Singi.

“Hmm, I certainly didn’t expect this development.”

“Do you evaluate yourself quite highly?”

“But you too must have realized when we crossed blade tips. That the grain of your sword and my blade are the same. If you became my disciple and followed the path I show you, you could advance much faster.”

Dokgo Cheon’s tone was certain.

Well, it wasn’t wrong.

But Jeok-un’s answer to that was.

“I’ve already carved out the path I’ll take. Having two guides would only lead to the ship’s destruction.”

“…!”

It was an assertion that wouldn’t be lacking even if called arrogant.

Dokgo Cheon was slightly surprised by Jeok-un’s attitude, but was surprised once more by what followed.

“Besides, you don’t necessarily have to become a disciple to help each other.”

“Hmm?”

“Well, if Cheon-ju wants me that much—”

Jeok-un said with a grin.

“I’d gladly serve as a drinking companion for a lonely old man.”

“…!!”

Anyone witnessing this would be shocked.

Who was Dokgo Cheon?

Wasn’t he the supreme being of Sadocheon and one of the masters counted on one hand in all of Gangho?

To show such an insolent attitude before such a person?

He could have shown displeasure at such terrible rudeness, but.

‘Heh, is he suggesting we engage in free discourse without being bound by status?’

Dokgo Cheon was rather pleased.

Frankly speaking, free discourse would be impossible if they became master and disciple.

Dokgo Cheon would have to teach and Jeok-un would have to learn.

But if they shed the constraints of master-disciple relationship, the two had nothing to be reserved about.

Though there was no word of acceptance, Jeok-un spoke up.

“Now, let’s put aside this tea that’s boiling like lava and have a cool drink.”

“…What a shameless brat with no experience.”

“In the old days, when Ha Ji-jang saw an excellent junior, he was immediately pleased and released his golden turtle to drink through the night. Haven’t you learned from classical stories?”

Golden turtle for wine.

As expected of someone from Jegal Family.

He was spouting scholarly talk.

“Haha, if I’m Ha Ji-jang, are you saying you’re the Poet Saint Li Bai?”

“Hehe, Li Bai was me in my previous life.”

Dokgo Cheon burst into laughter at the absurdity.

Jeok-un still shamelessly and confidently puffed out his chest.

‘My age before regression was mid-thirties, so counting that, it’s only a fifteen-year difference.’

However, contrary to Jeok-un’s words, though better than thirty years, fifteen years wasn’t a small difference either.

“…”

Dokgo Cheon was silent for a moment.

But eventually he chuckled and spoke.

“Hmm, Ha Ji-jang and Li Bai had about a forty-year age difference, so compared to that, it’s reduced by about ten years.”

“Hehe, see that? How conscientious I am.”

“If your conscience were truly alive, you’d at least use honorifics now.”

“Mmm, understood. Still, you’re the leader now, so I should show that much courtesy.”

“Haha, you crazy bastard.”

As soon as Jeok-un finished speaking, Dokgo Cheon waved his hand and the teacup slid smoothly to the side.

Though it should have fallen to the floor and shattered, the teacup moved intact to the side table, and soon a wine bottle emerged from a hidden space behind the grand master’s chair.

“We’ll start the first cup with Geomnamchun.”

“Keu! This is exactly it!”

It was truly the exquisite art of void manipulation.

Jeok-un watched this and smiled quietly.

It was the moment when Dokgo Cheon, who had reached the age of knowing heaven’s will (50 years old), and Jeok-un, who was barely past his coming of age, truly became drinking companions.

As wine cups went back and forth, a pleasant intoxication began to color both men’s faces.

“To obtain two divine artifacts when even getting one is difficult. Remarkable.”

“Well, I was lucky.”

“But you mustn’t rely too heavily on the power of divine artifacts. You might become intoxicated by tools and forget the essence of martial arts.”

“Ugh, that’s such an old-fashioned way of thinking. They say a master calligrapher doesn’t choose his brush, but if skill levels are equal, wouldn’t the one using a good brush produce at least one stroke better?”

“No, even so…”

Their conversation, no matter what trivial topic it started with, naturally flowed into discussions of martial learning and martial principles, and debates led from one topic to another in an endless chain.

There could be no easy resolution.

Each person’s accumulated martial theory was the trajectory of their life, their very character.

Each person’s pursued and achieved enlightenment was not the sole correct answer, but one of many possible paths.

‘How can someone who has clearly lived a shorter life possess such deep enlightenment? It’s not as if he carries memories of reaching the transcendent realm in a previous life…!’

‘To think that enlightenment could be interpreted in such a way! The more we converse, the more aspects emerge that could add new colors to my martial arts!’

Therefore, the more they tilted their wine cups, the more the two men came to truly acknowledge each other.

Eventually, their great discourse continued not with wine bottles, but with entire wine jars being emptied.

But then, Dokgo Cheon suddenly cast his gaze toward the window.

The sun that had risen to midheaven had long since set, and the cool night breeze was gradually flowing through the gaps in the door.

“Wait, let’s pause for a moment.”

“Mmm, are you surrendering already?”

“As if that would happen. Let’s first settle your reward and then start again.”

“Ah, right.”

Jeok-un exclaimed as if he had completely forgotten.

Come to think of it, wasn’t this meeting originally arranged to decide his treatment?

The more he conversed with Dokgo Cheon, the more he felt his martial theory developing, so he had momentarily forgotten.

“Hmm, but the reward I had in mind was taking you as a disciple, which was the greatest… So then, do you have something else in mind? Given the importance of the matter, I’ll place you ‘anywhere’ as long as it’s a ‘Daeju’-level position.”

“…!”

As soon as Dokgo Cheon finished speaking, Jeok-un’s eyes lit up.

A Daeju-level position.

And anywhere.

The meaning of these two things was clear.

Even if the position he wanted was that of a Daeju among the Ten Heavenly Commanders, he would give it without hesitation.

‘Well, this gentleman really wants to put his stamp on me properly.’

Jeok-un suppressed a laugh that almost escaped.

At a glance, Dokgo Cheon was inwardly hoping that he would take the vacant position among the Ten Heavenly Commanders created by the disappearance of No Hwang-mun’s Geumwol-dae.

Currently, the Ten Heavenly Commanders were divided into factions following Cheon-ju Dokgo Cheon and Vice Cheon-ju Doyecheon.

If Dokgo Cheon made him the new leader of the Ten Heavenly Commanders as a reward, he would be clearly marked as Dokgo Cheon’s man in the eyes of outsiders.

Then, Jeok-un opened his mouth without hesitation.

“There is a place I have in mind.”

“…!”

This time, interest flickered in Dokgo Cheon’s eyes.

What choice would this fellow make?

Dokgo Cheon watched Jeok-un’s moving lips with inner anticipation.

“The position I want is in the Oecheon Unit.”

“…?”

“Specifically, I want to be the Daeju of the Baekya Unit.”

“…??”

After hearing the answer, he blinked his eyes and doubted his own ears.

It was because Jeok-un wanted a completely unexpected, absurd place.

‘…Didn’t he say he coveted my position? But why would he want the abandoned Oecheon Unit from Sadocheon’s power structure?’

That was right. As the character for “outer” suggested, the Oecheon Unit was the collective term for the Outer City’s lower-tier combat units that couldn’t belong to the Inner City’s Ten Heavenly Commanders.

The numerous combat units of the Outer City boasted far greater numbers than the Ten Heavenly Commanders.

However, the qualitative level of their members could never compare to the Ten Heavenly Commanders.

Particularly, the Baekya Unit that Jeok-un had requested was, by its very nature, among the lowest in combat power even within the Oecheon Unit.

It was mostly filled with people selected for quantity over quality in a system resembling masterless warriors.

But Jeok-un’s request for such a terrible unit from Dokgo Cheon had its reasons.

‘First, if I become a Daeju of the Oecheon Unit, it will appear to outsiders as if the leader considers my evaluation to be trash.’

In other words, it meant internal enemies would have no reservations about attacking him.

‘Come at me. I’ll crush you all.’

And the second reason was that becoming the Daeju of the Baekya Unit was indeed the fastest path to rising to the position of Danzu.

‘The position of Daeju is ultimately just groundwork for obtaining the rank of Danzu to challenge Sadocheonju.’

By utilizing the characteristics of the Oecheon Unit, which wasn’t bound like the Ten Heavenly Commanders and could move most freely, he could rise to the position of Danzu fastest.

And the most important final reason.

Certainly, the Baekya Unit was rated as the lowest unit, but there was a twist that current people didn’t know.

Finally, information about his right-hand person discovered by searching through memories from before his regression.

‘Hyeol-hu is currently in the Baekya Unit.’

Hyeol-hu, the precious gem who had been his chief strategist before regression, was currently hidden in the mud called the Baekya Unit.

Just obtaining her alone would fulfill his reason for entering the Baekya Unit.

But Dokgo Cheon, completely unaware of Jeok-un’s intentions.

“Tsk, are you just trying to back out now? No more formal speech or anything?”

“?!”

Could only blink his eyes while looking at Jeok-un.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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