Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 22

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

Chapter 22

Chapter 5

Seol Jung-cheon.

He was certainly no fool. In fact, if he were a fool, he could never have reached that level.

He had sensed it from the beginning.

That Seol Woon-hwi had no interest in meetings and such.

It was truly puzzling.

Even though the meeting’s content was about such a grave matter as the destruction of the Snow Palace, he treated it as if it were trivial.

It would have been natural to think he was insane beyond just being puzzling, but Seol Jung-cheon didn’t think so.

Rather, his interest was piqued.

“You look like you have something to say to me. Go ahead and try. What could be so important to you?”

“I’ll speak directly to the point.”

“That suits me fine.”

“I intend to consume the Yang Ryeong.”

“…You?”

“Yes.”

This was puzzling too.

Was that all he wanted to talk about?

Seol Jung-cheon’s thoughts changed with Seol Woon-hwi’s following words.

“Isn’t the reason you sent me to Seol-ap the same thing?”

“To be precise, it’s different.”

“Is that so? I thought it was the same in terms of proving qualifications.”

“…You would prove your qualifications in such a way?”

“Am I not a bastard son?”

“…”

“It’s natural that a bastard son must accumulate achievements to gain recognition. You’ve been continuously giving me opportunities for that.”

From Seol Woon-hwi’s words, Seol Jung-cheon felt something strange.

It wasn’t like they were exchanging sword techniques, but his words seemed to have several different meanings.

He read it immediately.

“How much do you know?”

“I know most of it. The opportunities you’ve given me, dispatching people to protect or monitor me, and the continuous trials you’ve put me through.”

The Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace wasn’t foolish, and they couldn’t be unaware that Seol-ap’s lord had become a puppet, devoured by those beneath him.

There was only one case for this.

They knew but turned a blind eye.

There was a sufficient reason for that too.

“Since you wanted me to prove myself, I will now prove it.”

“You really have… changed a lot.”

“I had to change. But if I consume the Yang Ryeong, it would achieve results beyond what the Palace Lord desires, so I dare to make some requests.”

“Is there something you want?”

“There are two things. The first is something the Palace Lord would naturally give if I achieve such results.”

“Then what is the second?”

“I need one Ten Thousand Year Carp’s Inner Core.”

True to its name, it’s a carp that has lived for ten thousand years.

It’s usually treated as a spiritual creature, and all animals that have lived for more than a thousand years naturally develop an inner core. That inner core provides overwhelming energy that cannot be replaced by any spirit medicine…

“What do you intend to use such a precious thing for?”

“What else would a martial artist use it for?”

Seol Woon-hwi raised both his arms to show them.

“This current body of mine is too wretched. I need to consume at least a Ten Thousand Year Carp and undergo Bone Transformation to improve somewhat.”

Strange.

It was truly strange.

“You’re like a completely different person.”

“A different person… Palace Lord, I had a very long dream recently.”

“Are you talking about that dream you mentioned earlier?”

“Yes. In that dream, I commanded the world, but I regretted one moment from the past like a madman.”

“Regret…”

“Throughout my life, I was always held back. I couldn’t recognize opportunities as opportunities, lived trapped in a prison of my own making, living a meaningless life, turning away, running away. I don’t want to live like that ever again. The Palace Lord probably had similar regrets.”

“You mean me?”

“You had a bastard son.”

“I did.”

“Despite continuously giving opportunities, you must have regretted receiving reports about that fool who couldn’t recognize those opportunities. Isn’t that right?”

Unexpectedly.

Seol Jung-cheon spoke very decisively, as if there was nothing to think about at length.

“No.”

“…I see. I thought you would.”

Seol Jung-cheon rose from his seat.

“Do you think I’m cold-hearted?”

“Since you’re the Palace Lord of the Snow Palace, I think it’s natural that even your heart would be as cold as the martial arts you practice.”

“Then even if I’m cold as a Palace Lord, how do I seem as a father?”

“…”

“The position of Palace Lord is, in the end, a position of management.”

Seol Woon-hwi quietly listened to Seol Jung-cheon’s words. He came down from the platform with heavy steps and stood before Seol Woon-hwi.

“You cannot lead this massive force with simple strength alone. You must have the relationships between them and sufficient justification. Strength is only needed after that. You have three older brothers and one older sister. They all have backgrounds, and those backgrounds support one pillar each of the Snow Palace.”

“That means my value is correspondingly lower.”

Seol Jung-cheon chuckled softly.

It was unexpected.

Seol Woon-hwi was seeing Seol Jung-cheon smile like this for the first time.

“I won’t deny that your value is lower. To speak coldly, the current you is neither a notable existence in this Snow Palace nor can you be seen as having future value.”

Seol Jung-cheon paused briefly and looked down at Woon-hwi as he asked.

“You asked me. Whether I regretted it.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll answer that question. I did regret it. I-ryeong, who was your mother, was a woman who loved not me bound by the position of Palace Lord, but me as a person – the person named ‘Seol Jung-cheon’ himself.”

“…”

“I loved her too. I could have given her everything. The gift she left me is you. Regret? Of course I did. If I had brought her to the Snow Palace then, wouldn’t I have noticed and treated her ‘severed meridians’? I was too foolish back then, sealing my own meridians under the excuse of martial arts cultivation. I missed the timing and lost I-ryeong.”

“…”

“The intent behind your question asking if I regretted it was probably asking whether I regretted bringing you into this world. Am I right?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll tell you the conclusion. I don’t regret that at all.”

“…”

“Whether you were a bastard, born without eyes, without arms, or even without a dantian, I would have smiled as brightly as I did the moment you came into this world.”

“…”

“I wanted you to realize. I hoped you would understand my position. The reason I didn’t tell you directly was because I believed without doubt that you would eventually realize it.”

“…”

“I won’t deny this either. I wanted many things. Not just one, but two, three – the number kept growing, and you probably became increasingly isolated. Even so, I waited. Do I seem cold-hearted?”

“You seem a bit heartless.”

“Heartless… You may resent me or point fingers calling me cold-blooded, and I can humbly accept it. I’ve done things worthy of that.”

It wasn’t wrong.

But there’s one thing that must be addressed.

Seol Jung-cheon cares for Seol Woon-hwi.

What was it that Seol Woon-hwi realized so late?

This.

Seol Jung-cheon’s heart.

How could Seol Woon-hwi, with his pathetic level of skill, have run away from home within the territory of the Snow Palace in the first place?

How could he have entered that secret realm alone like that?

That secret realm.

It was the secret realm that Manager Seong had told him about. Then was Manager Seong the only one who knew of that secret realm’s existence? That couldn’t be.

Seol Jung-cheon knew about it and had it revealed.

There, Seol Woon-hwi cultivated his strength and emerged into the world. After that, he caused a stir in the Murim and became a ‘master.’

Seol Jung-cheon always supported his path.

Until the moment of his death.

This was truly the truth.

After Seol Jung-cheon’s death, the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace fell into ruin, and Seol Woon-hwi couldn’t just leave that ruined Snow Palace alone.

First he tried persuasion, second he tried persuasion, and third he tried persuasion.

Since they absolutely wouldn’t listen to reason, he didn’t try a fourth time.

Even if he wasn’t a filial son, he didn’t want to become an unfilial one.

He wanted to honor his father’s will.

The Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace that walked ‘such a path’ deserved to fall.

So Seol Woon-hwi began a war alone, and the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace crumbled at the hands of Seol Woon-hwi, the illegitimate son.

That’s the whole story.

Seol Woon-hwi doesn’t regret what happened then for even a single moment.

Because he believed without doubt that if it had been Seol Jung-cheon, he would have acted exactly the same as Seol Woon-hwi.

Seol Woon-hwi spoke with resolute eyes.

“I won’t point fingers or anything like that. I won’t harbor resentment either.”

“…Mm.”

“Rather, I’m nothing but grateful.”

“Grateful…”

“I’m not particularly good with words. I don’t know if this is something I inherited from you, Palace Lord, or from my late mother, but I do know how to convey sincerity.”

Seol Woon-hwi stepped back one step and assumed the Embracing Fist posture.

“I realized your infinite grace far too late, Palace Lord.”

“…”

“I intend to repay it. If you say you’ll cast me out, I’ll be cast out without any lingering attachment.”

Seol Jung-cheon lightly grasped both of Woon-hwi’s arms with ‘one hand’ as he spoke.

That’s how large Seol Jung-cheon’s hands are. No joke, they’re inhumanly large.

“Even if you become a ‘blood person,’ I will not cast you out.”

Seol Woon-hwi smiled awkwardly.

“Did you know?”

“I received a report. More than anything, you already killed Bing Seol Geom Heun, didn’t you? As Manager Seong, he couldn’t help but report it.”

“I understand.”

“Don’t forget. You are my son.”

“I know. Palace… no, Father.”

It was the first time.

With Seol Jung-cheon right before his eyes, this was truly the first time he had said these words.

Father.

Someone close yet very distant, more difficult to face than anyone else in this world.

“Good. Hearing you call me father.”

“If we have private meetings, I’ll do so each time.”

Seol Jung-cheon burst into laughter.

It was an utterly satisfied laugh, and as he laughed like that, Seol Jung-cheon suddenly became curious about one thing.

“Earlier, you said there were two things you wanted… one is the Ten Thousand Year Carp’s Inner Core, so what is the other one?”

There was only one.

“The Complete Records of Ten Thousand Snows.”

The martial arts manual containing all the history of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace, passed down only to the Palace Lord’s direct lineage.

It could be considered a scripture, or as its name suggests, a complete record.

At Woon-hwi’s words, Seol Jung-cheon answered without hesitation.

“If you want it, I can show it to you right now.”

He shook his head.

“That’s not what I want.”

“…Mm…”

“I intend to prove my qualifications.”

“…”

“Only by proving that will there be no opposition to me learning the Complete Records of Ten Thousand Snows, and if there is opposition, wouldn’t that itself lack justification?”

“You mean there will be bloodshed.”

“Whichever path you walk, Father, I’ll say this clearly—it will probably be different from the path I walk.”

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