Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 138

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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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Chapter 138

“That’s correct. Before that, I’d like to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Do you know what ‘gratitude’ is, Senior Gwang?”

Manager Seong’s eyes lit up as if it was a familiar question.

Wasn’t that the same thing he had said to No Cheon-myeong at Divine Ginseng Valley?

Gwang Han spoke.

“Of course I know what it is. Hey, you’re still a child so you might not know well, but once you reach Heaven-Human Unity, you can’t be free from debts of gratitude. Even if you don’t want to keep them, you have no choice but to honor debts of gratitude. Hm? You little bastard. How dare a mere brat who’s only at Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown dare mention debts of gratitude in front of someone?”

Even at Gwang Han’s attitude, Woon-hwi only smiled.

This was how he originally was.

He seemed similar to No Cheon-myeong but was also different.

“Then let me clarify something.”

“What now?”

“If I provide information about the Divine Spear, you must grant me ‘three’ requests.”

“…Not just one, but three?”

“Isn’t this a long-cherished wish that your predecessor, and your predecessor’s predecessor, and those before them couldn’t fulfill for at least four hundred years?”

“…”

“I can help you fulfill that wish in your generation, Senior Gwang. Are you really concerned about just three requests?”

“…This bastard… speaks well, doesn’t he? Yes, as you say, what would three measly requests matter? If I can just learn the whereabouts of the Divine Spear, I’ll obtain a peerless spear and soon become peerless myself. Alright, let’s hear it.”

“The Heavenly Dragon Divine Spear is at Hwaseong Mountain.”

At this direct statement that came without any preamble, Gwang Han’s eyes widened in surprise, though he hadn’t even been expecting much.

“Hwaseong… Mountain? You don’t mean that Hwaseong Mountain in Wol Kingdom, do you?”

“Yes. The weapon of the Dragon King Immortal, who was the ancestor of the Dragon Fierce Spear Sect, is buried deep underground at Hwaseong Mountain.”

“…A hundred years ago, my ancestor said he had thoroughly searched Hwaseong Mountain like hunting for lice…”

“He didn’t search properly. If you give me a map, I’ll point out the exact location.”

“…You… that information… where did it come from?”

“I cannot tell you that. But please don’t doubt my sincerity.”

“…What reason do I have to trust you?”

“Then do I seem to trust you, Senior?”

“…”

“Let’s stop this pointless back-and-forth where we both know the answers. I’d like to change the subject.”

“…Do you have more to say?”

There was.

More precisely, there originally wasn’t, but now there was.

“Earlier, you said that if you learned the whereabouts of the Divine Spear, you’d obtain a peerless spear and soon become peerless yourself. Is that correct?”

“I suppose so?”

“…”

“Why? Do you have a problem with that?”

“Yes. A little. Why does obtaining the Divine Spear mean obtaining a peerless spear?”

“…Hah… I don’t know if a mere child like you can understand, but listen well. The Divine Spear is a peerless spear. If you obtain a peerless spear, naturally you also obtain peerless spear techniques.”

At those words, Woon-hwi chuckled.

“This… bastard… laughs?”

“Won’t you even let me laugh freely, Senior?”

Gwang Han’s eyes narrowed.

“Hah… Look at this bastard?”

“Since we’re on the topic, let me ask – if the Divine Spear is a peerless spear and spear technique, then what exactly is ‘peerless’?”

“Are you posing a philosophical question to me? A mere Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown?”

Woon-hwi’s eyes turned coldly.

“How can someone who gave information to a person who knew nothing about the whereabouts of the Divine Spear be called ‘mere’? If I hadn’t pointed out Hwaseong Mountain, finding the Divine Spear in your generation would be impossible, and the next generation and the generation after that would also be impossible. The Divine Spear would remain buried underground, sleeping until the end of the world. Isn’t that right?”

Gwang Han’s mouth clamped shut. Because that was undeniably true.

As Woon-hwi said, whether it was at Hwaseong Mountain or not wasn’t the important thing. The Murim was vast, and Gwang Han’s predecessors and Gwang Han himself had searched through countless areas of the Murim like hunting for lice. Yet they still couldn’t find it.

They would have to search the same places again, but it was overwhelming to know where to start, and if Hwaseong Mountain was correct, that was a place they had never even suspected, so it would take hundreds more years.

“By any chance, are you using the word ‘peerless’ without knowing what it means, despite being at that level?”

At that barbed question, Gwang Han suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“Oh… Ohwahahaha!! This is truly… as Geuk said, a heavenly madman who has far surpassed even extraordinary levels.”

Woon-hwi didn’t move a muscle.

Gwang Han asked him.

“Then what do you think peerless means?”

He answered without hesitation.

“Above heaven, below earth, throughout past and future – something that no one and no weapon can imitate. That is peerless.”

Silence flowed.

Woon-hwi’s answer was as natural as flowing water. It was an appearance that could only come from unwavering conviction.

Gwang Han, who had been looking down on Woon-hwi as merely Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, had no choice but to think differently at this moment.

“Now let me ask. Can a mere spear be a peerless spear and peerless spear technique?”

Veins bulged on Gwang Han’s forehead.

“…The philosophical question itself is not at a level of martial learning that a mere Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown can understand. You, what are you?”

“Rather than who I am, you still haven’t answered my question, Senior.”

Meeting Woon-hwi’s clear eyes, Gwang Han slowly opened his mouth.

“…Peerless. Yes, as you said, what no one can imitate is truly peerless. The Divine Spear is a heaven-sent spear that has nothing comparable above heaven, below earth, throughout past and future, so wouldn’t that be the peerless spear and peerless spear technique?”

Woon-hwi looked at Gwang Han for a long time, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Then is the value of the peerless you speak of in the object itself?”

“…”

“The spear itself is peerless… Then it means it’s a heaven-sent spear, but why didn’t heaven protect it? Why did the Divine Spear leave the Dragon Fierce Spear Sect and change owners? Why isn’t that peerless spear in your hands right now, Senior?”

Gwang Han’s face hardened.

“In the martial arts of the world, ‘peerless’ is a title given not to weapons but to the ‘people’ who wield them. Peerless swordsman, peerless master… It’s not the object that’s peerless, but the person who wields it.”

Woon-hwi’s voice grew deeper.

“You wander searching for the Divine Spear, Senior, but you seem unaware that the true peerless realm lies outside the Divine Spear. True peerless spear technique is possible with any spear. With the Black Sea Water Dragon Spear, with a bamboo pole, even…”

Woon-hwi raised his finger and pointed at the air.

“It’s possible with bare hands. While you’re obsessed with the object called the Divine Spear, the true peerless realm only grows more distant.”

Gwang Han’s eyes widened greatly. It was an expression mixing anger, bewilderment, and faint enlightenment.

“You dare…”

“The Divine Spear is not peerless. It’s just a weapon. The martial arts that would come with that Divine Spear are also just martial arts.”

Woon-hwi’s words were sharp as arrows.

“The moment searching for the Divine Spear became your purpose, you already strayed from the path of peerless. A martial artist enslaved to tools can never become peerless.”

Gwang Han’s hands began to tremble. Something flashed in the eyes of the elderly Spear King.

“Then… you… are you claiming to be peerless?”

His voice was almost a whisper.

Woon-hwi answered slowly but with a voice full of conviction.

“I am not peerless. But I am walking the path of peerless. That path of pursuing inner enlightenment without depending on objects.”

Silence flowed. An invisible tension stretched taut between the two men.

Through this brief exchange, Gwang Han realized for certain.

This seventeen-year-old man before him was indeed the genius of the ages that the world spoke of.

Extraordinary and more extraordinary.

The depth of martial learning contained within was truly no less than Gwang Han’s, who had reached Heaven-Human Unity.

“I acknowledge it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was looking down on you.”

Gwang Han was at least a man who knew how to acknowledge things.

“I am 73 years old. From the moment I met my master until this very moment, I have only searched for the Divine Spear. The Divine Spear was the purpose of my life, and I believed without doubt it was peerless. Do you know why?”

“Because it’s a long-cherished wish.”

“…Yes, it’s a long-cherished wish. Not just ten or twenty years. Over four hundred years. It’s the process of fulfilling a long-cherished wish that has been passed down through my predecessors’ predecessors, and their predecessors’ predecessors, for that tremendous amount of time. It wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t brainwashed myself into believing I would find the peerless spear and the peerless spear techniques.”

“I understand.”

“…I won’t deny that I gained enlightenment thanks to you. Yes, you’re right. How could a mere spear become peerless? The most important thing is the person.”

Manager Seong, who had been watching the conversation, had this thought.

How is it that masters who have reached a high realm always end up sighing deeply as if they’ve aged decades whenever they talk with Woon-hwi?

That’s probably a talent in itself.

Gwang Han, who had been holding his head, finally spoke.

“Hwaseong Mountain, was it?”

“Yes. I’ll write down the exact location for you.”

“Before that, what are the three favors you wanted to ask of me?”

“Are you thinking of granting them?”

“…Originally I was going to grant them after confirming whether the Divine Spear exists or not, but didn’t you ask me earlier? Whether I’m someone who knows gratitude.”

“I didn’t say ‘someone.'”

“Whether it’s ‘someone’ or whatever, the context was the same, wasn’t it?”

“If I deny it, I’d just become the strange one.”

“No, even if you don’t deny it, you’re already strange enough. Telling a complete stranger about the whereabouts of a weapon like the Divine Spear? You could have taken it yourself. Why bother?”

Woon-hwi smiled.

“I told you, didn’t I? It’s just a mere spear.”

“…”

“People are more important to me than weapons or martial arts. Senior.”

Admiration began to settle on Gwang Han’s expression.

This, this.

I thought he was just some crazy bastard running wild without sense, but that wasn’t it either.

How should I put it.

Should I say he’s like a giant who could control the future of Murim?

To get such a feeling from just a young guy from Samhwachujeong, this is, it’s impossible to explain.

“…What’s the favor? Hurry up and tell me.”

“Please accept him as your third disciple.”

“…Who? You? Me? Someone of your level…”

“Not me, I’m talking about Cheon Pung over there.”

Cheon Pung, who was holding the Heavenly Thunder Black Dragon Spear, staggered in place as if flustered.

“Accepting him as your third disciple is the first favor, teaching Cheon Pung all the martial arts contained in the Divine Spear when you obtain it is the second favor, and giving the Heavenly Thunder Black Dragon Spear to Cheon Pung is the third favor. Oh, and when you go to Hwaseong Mountain, there will be a corpse that has become white bones. It’s a person named Han Cheol, so while you’re there, please just hold a funeral for him. That would make it four favors then.”

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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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