Chapter 227

**Season 2, Chapter 141:** Ten years after Jang Woon left, Dokgo Ryong's parents passed away and his situation did not improve as invasions still occurred sporadically in places beyond his influence. Since the residents couldn't rely on the imperial military to protect them, they turned to Dokgo Ryong for aid, but the areas were too vast for his militia to cover. With a new powerful leader emerging across the border, starting to unite various groups of people, tensions rose since they would eventually launch a massive invasion. Dokgo Ryong was worried about Jang Woon after hearing about a massive battle in the Murim but he couldn't leave his hometown due to his current circumstances.

Then an emissary from the imperial court arrived to propose that Dokgo Ryong and his militia join their conquest of Nanman because of his familiarity with the local conditions and Dokgo agreed. At first, the expedition was extremely successful and was met with little resistance but as they ventured further into foreign lands, they had a harsh time due to unfamiliar geography, climate, diseases, various beasts, and warriors at a level beyond their imagination with bizarre martial arts. Facing relentless and persistent resistance, the expedition had to continue their battle against all those factors without much backup. After six arduous years, the enemy finally completely surrendered.

Worried about his friend Jang Woon, Dokgo rushed to Zhongyuan only to find the ruins of the Old Murim Alliance and its allied factions, along with news of Jang Woon's death. In addition, the fight between the Old Murim Alliance and the Asura Blood Sect left many stories but those who actually participated no longer remained. He then visited the new Murim Alliance formed after the war only to find the leaders of the new alliance conversing about how to exploit the Old Murim Alliance territories (such as the Cheonwoong Faction's land, and Mount Gwe-Heung where the Black Snake headquarters were once situated). Angered, Dokgo Ryong insulted the leaders and accused them of taking advantage of the Old Alliance's sacrifices. In reply, the leader of the New Alliance criticized the Old Alliance and even claimed they would have done a better job against the Asura Blood Sect.

Angered that Jang Woon and his comrades sacrificed themselves for such people, Dokgo Ryong returned to his hometown and cooped up at home in grief for a while before packing a few things and leaving. With no information on where Dokgo went, some people claimed he went to Nanman while others claimed he went deep into the mountains.

15 long years later, Dokgo Ryong returned and annihilated a group of bandits taking residence in his former home. It is revealed that through long training, he combined the bizarre martial arts of Nanman and the Dokgo family's martial arts to create the Divine Heavenly Destruction Techniques. With news of his return, warriors from the expedition years before and some Nanman people who defected to his side during the expedition started gathering under his banner. This included his closest aides who fought with him on the expedition (Hyeol Bi, Mak Sapyeong, Gwi Yeong), as well as talented individuals who had been drawn to his power (Hwan Sa and Chamberlain Huang). With the formation of the Heavenly Destruction Sect, their power grew uncontrollably and started to expand outwards. In just ten years, they subjugated the area south of the Yangtze river. Furthermore, the reason it took so long was because the area south of the river was vast but some also say it was because Dokgo Ryong left the task to his disciples and didn't get involved. Yang Jeonghak personally thought he was waiting for a reply from the New Murim Alliance, citing that when Dokgo first demanded the Murim Alliance step down and leave Zhongyuan, they dismissed it as an empty threat from a new clan on the countryside. However, after the Heavenly Destruction Sect subjugated the area south of the Yangtze river, they realized the seriousness of the situation and sent a messenger. The Alliance offered him half of Zhongyuan but Dokgo refused since it wasn't the reply he was looking for before telling the messenger he would only give them one more month to come up with a suitable compromise. In the flashback, Hwan Sa commended his master for the choice, saying that their offer was just a trick to buy time and that their enemy would resist to the end. However, knowing the self-serving nature of the Alliance, Dokgo simply replied that he wish they had such spirit.

After one month of waiting, Dokgo Ryong decided to venture out and purify the Murim.

## Appearing Characters

* Dokgo Ryong (flashback)
* Gang Ryong
* Gwi Yeong (flashback)
* Hwan Sa (flashback)
* Hyeol Bi (flashback)
* Jang Woon (flashback)
* Mak Sapyeong (flashback)
* Old Man (flashback)
* Yang Jeonghak