Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 261
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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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Chapter 261
A nearby martial artist tilted his head in confusion.
“I wonder why Hwa Mu-ryeong from the Hondo Maryeom Palace is missing…”
“They say contact was suddenly lost.”
Voices of doubt arose among the martial artists.
The Hondo Maryeom Palace was certainly one of the core members of the Ihwa Alliance. Yet it was strange that their presence could not be seen at this critical juncture before the final confrontation.
Whether something had happened or they had defected.
The reason could be discovered later.
What mattered now was completely annihilating the Seongchak Alliance before them.
Hang Ryeo stepped forward and cried out.
“Pung Mu-hwi!”
Her voice echoed across all of Cheongpa Port.
“I make one final proposal. Surrender.”
“….”
“If you disband the Seongchak Alliance now and each go your separate ways, I will spare your lives!”
At Hang Ryeo’s proposal, unrest rippled through the Seongchak Alliance martial artists. Several showed signs of genuine wavering.
But Pung Mu-hwi did not move an inch.
“Surrender?”
He let out a cold laugh.
“When have I ever surrendered?”
“…What?”
“When I slew the Green King, when I established the Cheon Rak-bu, and when I resolved to follow the Great Hero Seol Woon-hwi, I never once retreated nor surrendered.”
“….”
“Rather than surrender as a martial artist, I would choose to die fighting.”
Hang Ryeo’s face hardened.
“Then… there is no choice.”
She placed her hand upon her sword.
“Nearly 800 against 200. How do you intend to overcome this overwhelming difference? Seol Woon-hwi is currently in the Secret Realm fighting for his life against Manhwa Geom-je. It is uncertain whether he will even emerge alive, yet you dare such recklessness.”
Certainty rang in Hang Ryeo’s voice.
“I tell you plainly. You have no hope. Above all, with Seong Yang-ho, who stood by Seol Woon-hwi’s side, now vanished, what could possibly remain for you despite such loyalty?”
Pung Mu-hwi slowly drew his sword.
The aura emanating from the Divine Transformation Realm master’s blade distorted the very air around it. The overwhelming pressure caused visible tension to ripple through the Ihwa Alliance ranks.
“What remains?”
Pung Mu-hwi raised his sword high.
“The spirit of a martial artist remains.”
Pung Mu-hwi had held many private audiences with Seol Woon-hwi.
They had shared numerous conversations and debated the Way many times.
Among them, Seol Woon-hwi’s words remained vivid in his memory even now.
The spirit of a martial artist.
What did that truly mean?
What exactly is a Martial Soul?
It was simple and clear.
To fill oneself with a single heart devoted to the Martial Way.
That is a Martial Soul, and any true Martial Artist must possess it.
And must cultivate it further.
Pung Mu-hwi was a Martial Artist who carried such a Martial Soul.
At his resolute demeanor, Hang Ryeo furrowed his brow and muttered.
“…You’re out of your mind.”
Both sides began drawing their swords.
The aura radiating from hundreds of Martial Artists pulled the air of Cheongpa Port taut. A killing intent that could erupt into bloodshed at any moment engulfed the entire harbor.
Then it happened.
A faint silhouette appeared from across the lake.
Everyone’s gaze shifted toward it.
When had the harbor been brought under such thorough control—what in the world was that ship?
Before long, the vessel touched the shore of Cheon Hae.
And one by one, figures began descending from it.
The first to disembark was a woman.
She appeared to be in her late twenties, carried a long sword, and her gaze was as cold as ice.
Ju So-ah, Group Leader of Yang Woon Dan.
She smiled faintly.
Soon after, two more figures descended in her wake—a man and a woman.
Namgung Won Yang and Han Mu-rin.
The Unit Leaders of the First and Second Divisions of Yang Woon Dan.
Behind them, dozens of Yang Woon Dan members began descending, and the last to emerge was—
“White Spirit Returning Shadow…?”
Though rarely mentioned, Seong Yang-ho was renowned by the alias White Spirit Returning Shadow.
He was the man who served Seol San Ma-gun and enjoyed his greatest trust.
Jin So-cheon and Hang Ryeo could not comprehend this situation.
How could Seong Yang-ho possibly be here?
They knew he had entered the Secret Realm following Seol Woon-hwi—did that mean only Seol Woon-hwi went into the Secret Realm alone?
Their jaws fell open.
These two from the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace displayed movements that defied all common sense.
Had history ever produced such madmen?
“…Are they truly insane?”
Hang Ryeo muttered.
It was understandable.
Setting numbers aside, those men were clearly Seol Woon-hwi’s subordinates—they should be in Yang-ryeong.
Summoning them here was akin to tightening the noose around their own necks.
Regardless of how this affair unfolded, the O Dae Geom-jong and Sa-ma Oe-jong would now have justification to mobilize their main sect’s forces.
Though the numerical disparity remained, he harbored no thoughts of defeat.
Ju So-ah stepped forward.
“Members of the Ihwa Alliance.”
Her voice cut through the rain with crystalline clarity.
“I’m offering you one final chance. Return to where you belong, even now.”
“…I don’t know where you crawled out from, but what makes you think you have any say in this place?”
Ju So-ah chuckled softly and nodded as if she understood.
“If my words carry no weight, what about that person?”
She pointed her finger toward something, and the moment the Ihwa Alliance members turned their gaze in that direction, they gasped in unison.
Approximately twenty men and women were walking toward them as if they had been waiting for this moment.
Every single one of them wore long robes embroidered with at least five or more characters meaning “dye,” and in this vast Murim, only one faction wore such garments.
The Hondo Maryeom Palace.
“…Hwa Mu-ryeong, you mad woman… I wondered where you’d disappeared to, but you’ve switched sides.”
Hwa Mu-ryeong laughed softly.
“I didn’t want to do this at first either.”
Hwa Mu-ryeong paused briefly, then glanced back at Han Mu-rin.
“But circumstances left me no choice.”
“….”
“Don’t harbor resentment. This is the Murim, after all.”
“…You shameless woman. Can you truly bear the consequences of this?”
“Whether I can handle the aftermath or not is something I’ll judge for myself. Why the concern?”
“….”
“Whether I join hands with the Ihwa Geom Cheon Sect or the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace, in the end, I only need to secure the victory.”
“This is absurd.”
Jin So-cheon shouted loudly.
“If you kill all of us here, you’ll become enemies with our parent sect—can you truly bear that burden?”
Ju So-ah muttered quietly.
Getting scared, so the words keep flowing.
Jin So-cheon, pretending not to hear, cried out again.
“Moreover, can Seol Woon-hwi survive against Jang I-cheong in the Secret Realm?”
Jin So-cheon’s words drew murmurs of agreement among the Ihwa Alliance martial artists.
“That’s right! Can someone not even twenty years old defeat the Manhwa Geom-je? Impossible.”
“No matter how much of a genius he is, there are limits! Even if we brawl here, everything will ultimately be decided by who emerges alive from that Secret Realm!”
Then Seong Yang-ho spoke quietly.
“Trust is….”
His voice was low, yet it reached everyone’s ears even through the downpour.
“The absence of doubt.”
Seong Yang-ho slowly drew his hidden dagger.
“If our Young Master says it can be done, then it can be done.”
A cold aura flowed from his blade.
“And if our Young Master commands it, then it shall be done.”
Seong Yang-ho’s eyes gleamed with cold intensity.
“That is precisely what trust means.”
In that instant, a ferocious killing intent erupted from the entire Yang Woon Dan.
Ju So-ah drew her sword.
A resonant hum pierced the air.
From her blade flowed a gentle sword energy.
Heavenly Flower Myriad Light Sword Technique.
It possessed an elegance as if flower petals scattered from the heavens, yet within it lurked a terrifying destructive force.
Namgung Won Yang also drew her sword.
A whistling sound cut through the darkness.
Her sword momentum produced an otherworldly resonance.
Azure String Shadowless Sword Technique.
Like the strings of a stringed instrument vibrating, the azure resonance sang out. Around her, real and illusory strikes intermingled, blurring the boundary between reality and illusion.
Han Mu-rin also drew his sword.
A deafening crack split the heavens.
Lightning descended from above—or rather, it was not lightning at all. It was demonic fire blooming from Han Mu-rin’s blade. Crimson flames pierced the sky, surging upward, and the destructive aura warped the very air around them.
Demonic Fire Extreme Heaven Sword Technique.
Jin So-cheon gasped in shock.
“These… such martial arts…”
All three sword techniques were supreme arts he had never witnessed before.
And most astonishing of all was Han Mu-rin’s final technique.
That was…
Unmistakably demonic arts.
“These insane bastards…”
Hang Ryeo muttered under his breath.
This moment, where the balance of power had been overturned, was an undeniable reality.
The rain fell harder still.
“Shall we begin?”
Just as Hang Ryeo was about to respond to Ju So-ah’s words.
As if waiting for this very moment, Manager Seong hurled the hidden dagger in his grasp with tremendous force.
The instant Hang Ryeo deflected it with all his might, his brow furrowed.
Pung Mu-hwi cried out.
“Kill them!”
The blood battle commenced at Cheon Hae.
* * *
The moment Seol Woon-hwi stepped through the Gate Beyond, his footsteps halted.
“This is…”
The sight that unfolded before his eyes was truly magnificent.
The entire cave was filled with skulls.
And these were no ordinary skulls. From each one still emanated a faint demonic energy, and some bore a dark luminescence.
Among the Blood Persons of the Original Blood Sect, there were cases where their bones turned crimson upon reaching a certain realm.
The certain realm mentioned here refers to at least the Five Realms of Martial God.
Demonic Energy is similar.
Those who wielded Demonic Energy until reaching the Five Realms of Martial God could be called true Demonic People, and it was not strange that their bones changed color like those of Blood Persons.
The ones before my eyes were such.
First, the number of skulls was at least several hundred.
Among them, approximately ten bore a black luster.
Before each of these ten lay a nameplate, and beside it rested a secret manual inscribed with their respective exclusive martial arts.
I gazed upon the first monument.
【Demonic Blood Divine Lord, Jeok Cheon-hyeol】
The name itself was extraordinary. Beneath it lay a secret manual inscribed with the Demonic Blood Grand Method, and as I unfolded it, I exhaled a subtle gasp.
For its grade reached the intermediate level of Martial God Grade, a supreme martial art.
I moved to the next.
【Illusory Soul Demonic Emperor, Heuk Mu-sang】.
His secret manual was the Ten Thousand Soul Illusory Dream Technique.
It was an illusion art that manipulated thousands of vengeful spirits to toy with an opponent’s mind, and its grade was high-level Martial God Grade, bearing striking resemblance to the supreme art pursued by the Heavenly Demon Yin Spirit Gate among the Four Demonic Outer Sects.
This was a forbidden demonic art even among Demonic Arts.
Next was
【Iron Bone Demonic King, Kang Cheol-san】.
His secret manual, named the Demonic Bone Vajra Art, was an external technique that hardened bones to be stronger than steel.
Upon perfection and enlightenment beyond, it would undoubtedly become indestructible adamantine body.
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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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