Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 3
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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 3
The dantian I had clearly felt was separated, and the power I once wielded when united with heaven and earth, using spiritual energy, had vanished like mere dust, but I was alive.
And I could start again.
Before that, I needed to understand the phenomenon.
Why had this happened?
Reversing time meant rejecting not only the heavenly mandate but the flow of the universe itself, which was utterly incomprehensible.
The fate of Defying Heaven isn’t something just anyone is born with, and Defying Heaven itself isn’t something anyone can do.
Even those lazy bastards sitting up in the heavens can’t do it.
I looked in the mirror and ran my hand over my face.
The final moment.
I had been caught in an avalanche.
The Protective Body Energy that had surrounded my flesh and such things were meaningless. I had already expended everything.
I clearly felt my limbs being torn apart, my neck being ripped, and the pain of my head being crushed.
No.
That’s not right.
I concentrated a bit more.
There was something more.
The realm I had reached was the realm of Primordial Sole Existence.
At that level, you can no longer be called human.
Even if your head is crushed, you can survive.
No matter how weakened and exhausted the state, to completely kill a master of Primordial Sole Existence, there’s a process that must be followed.
First is bursting the heart after bursting the head.
Second is bursting the head after bursting the heart.
If not that, then bursting both the heart and head simultaneously.
In the end, both the heart and head must completely lose their function.
Only then can you kill them, and only then can they die.
Let me think again.
I clearly felt my limbs being torn. I felt my head being crushed too.
Then.
At that moment, my heart was…
Did it burst?
It burst. But before it burst, something pierced my heart.
I rested my chin on my hand.
Then what had pierced it?
It was an avalanche that occurred in that massive Ten Thousand Year Snow Mountain I had split in half.
There couldn’t have been only snow and dirt inside it.
There must have been byproducts too.
If one of those byproducts was a Heaven-blessed Treasure capable of Defying Heaven.
If that were the case, it could explain this current phenomenon.
I raised my head and looked toward the window. The massive Ten Thousand Year Snow Mountain, clearly visible even from the window, filled my vision.
That mountain, which had been in that spot for over ten thousand years, apparently had several unrevealed secrets.
A smile formed on my lips.
All those words I had burst out with before dying were sincere.
The life of a bastard son.
As a child, I felt that life was like that of a pig bound in shackles, and I felt I could only live like a human being if I escaped this place.
Only the thought that this place where I was wasn’t where I belonged occupied my mind, and everything I did was a mess.
To be completely honest, it’s true that my life changed after leaving the Snow Palace.
I entered a secret realm, learned martial arts in that secret realm, became famous with those martial arts, and ended up joining the Original Blood Sect, known as the most vicious in the Central Plains.
Forty years.
That’s how long I lived as a Blood Person in the Blood Sect.
And a mere nineteen years – that’s how long I lived in the Snow Palace.
I lived those forty years like a madman without regret, but those nineteen years were so regrettable.
They always held me back and haunted my dreams even when I slept.
Since I was no longer able to return to the Snow Palace, I prayed from afar that the Snow Palace would be eternal.
But as time passed, the Snow Palace began to become a group of vermin worse than even the Original Blood Sect, and I had no choice but to make a decision.
I brought it down with my own hands.
I have no regrets about that either, but now a new opportunity has arisen.
I intend to live without regrets.
“Um… Branch Master?”
I turned my head. There was a middle-aged man with disheveled hair.
There’s only one general manager who handles all the various affairs of this Seol-ap Branch.
His name is Seong Yang-ho. Usually called Manager Seong.
“All the branch members have assembled.”
I nodded and began walking.
Then, I briefly stopped beside him and placed my hand on his shoulder.
“Manager Seong.”
“Yes, young mas… I mean, Branch Master.”
“Is the work manageable?”
“…Yes, of course.”
Something about this situation felt a bit strange, so I couldn’t help but smile.
“I know that Manager Seong’s work is difficult.”
“…It’s… fine.”
“How could it be fine when you’re doing manager work that’s not even in your destiny?”
For a moment, Manager Seong’s eyes flashed.
But it was only for an instant. If I hadn’t regressed, it would have been such a brief moment that I wouldn’t have noticed.
“Manager Seong.”
“…Yes… Branch Master.”
“There will be bloodshed here and there today, so make sure to comfort the subordinates well so they don’t waver.”
No answer came.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…Are you… alright?”
“Do I look sick somewhere?”
“It’s not that, but you seem to have changed a lot.”
I smiled.
“In a world where you must change to survive, naturally I should change, shouldn’t I?”
“…”
“If you need anything, come find me anytime. And let’s unify the way you address me. Whether it’s young master or branch master.”
“…I’d like to call you young master.”
“Then do that.”
I walked outside.
* * *
Eighteen in total.
That was the number of people assembled in the Seol-ap Branch training ground.
Regardless of gender or age, they all shared the same question.
Seol Woon-hwi had changed.
He was an illegitimate son who had always cowered at every moment, but today he killed someone.
And that person wasn’t just anyone, but Ya Woon-sang, the deputy division head of the Seol-ap Division.
Who was Ya Woon-sang?
He was a first-class disciple of Ju-ryeong Sword Gate, officially dispatched to the Seol-ap Division.
He was one of the disciples of Lee Ji-chang, known by the alias Ice Snow Sword Scar, one of the four great elders of Ju-ryeong Sword Gate, and was a promising figure with a bright future, but now only his head remained there.
That crazy bastard.
The illegitimate son had definitely gone mad.
This was something that could never be done with a sound mind.
Then suddenly, this question arose.
Ya Woon-sang’s level was at the early stage of the Flame Energy Four Realms, the Yang Light Four Manifestations, so how could Seol Woon-hwi, who was only at the Circulation Realm, kill him?
And why did he gather us all here like this?
Setting aside other questions, the last question was quickly resolved.
“Is everyone gathered?”
Everyone turned their heads at the still youthful voice.
Seventeen years old this year.
His face looked as young as his voice, but strangely, there was visible ‘weight’ to him.
Seol Woon-hwi quietly looked around at the division members of the Seol-ap Division with eyes that were hard to read.
“You must be curious. Why I gathered you all here.”
“….”
“Ya Woon-sang lying dead over there dared to overstep the division head’s authority with his position as deputy division head. He extorted money and authority, doing things worthy of death.”
Seol Woon-hwi paused briefly, then clasped his hands behind his back and smiled.
“I am the head of the Seol-ap Division. And every single one of you is a member of the Seol-ap Division. From this moment today, one absolute rule is established in the Seol-ap Division. You must absolutely obey the division head’s words.”
“….”
“If anyone violates this, they will be executed immediately. I will tear their throat and grind their limbs whole to feed to the wild dogs. If anyone doesn’t want to follow this, raise your hand or turn around and leave the division now.”
Why had Seol Woon-hwi gathered them?
There were two reasons.
The first reason was what he had just stated.
From this moment today, the Seol-ap Division would change.
The position of division head was absolutely not a low position.
Especially in the northern region where the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace was located, the division head was a very high position.
Everyone knew that there was no ‘nation’ in this northern region.
The Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace wasn’t a nation either, but it took the form of one.
Most of the surrounding lands, including Snow Mountain, were under the dominion of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace, and the position of division head was like a kind of county magistrate or prefect who ruled over that entire region.
In any case, surprisingly, no one objected to Seol Woon-hwi’s words.
Everyone kept their positions and only looked at Seol Woon-hwi with stern eyes.
Meeting those gazes, Seol Woon-hwi now brought up the second reason he had gathered them here.
“The long-haired guy second from the left, step forward.”
At those words, a man with a displeased expression stepped forward two paces.
“The bald guy at the right end, you step forward too.”
As Seol Woon-hwi said, the owner of the shiny head at the right end walked forward.
Looking at the two, Seol Woon-hwi asked.
“You seem to have complaints. Speak up.”
“…Division Head. I understand what you’re thinking, but this isn’t right.”
“This isn’t right?”
“…Yes. Ya Woon-sang is a first-class disciple of Ju-ryeong Sword Gate. His master is someone with the alias Ice Snow Sword Scar, a strong man among strong men who has reached the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.”
He looked at the man with strange eyes.
“A strong man among strong men… That’s not a phrase used so commonly. You, what’s your name?”
The man who had been looking at Seol Woon-hwi as if asking how he didn’t know a division member’s name revealed his identity.
“I’m Kang Sang.”
“Then that bald guy over there, what about you?”
“…I’m Woo Sang-hyeon.”
“I see. Now that we’ve exchanged names, Kang Sang, continue speaking.”
“…Ice Snow Sword Scar’s wrath will descend upon the Seol-ap Division.”
“So?”
“His anger will fall not only on you, Division Head, but also on us division members, and with high probability, we will all die.”
Besides that, Kang Sang’s story continued.
How angry Ju-ryeong Sword Gate, which controlled the neighboring city of Yang-ryeong, would be, how much the elders of Ju-ryeong Sword Gate cherished Ya Woon-sang, how Ya Woon-sang had already been the deputy division head here even before Seol Woon-hwi came to Seol-ap, and how his influence was this and that.
Seol Woon-hwi listened to that story very quietly.
Soon, Kang Sang closed his mouth as if he had said everything he wanted to say.
“Are you finished?”
“Yes. I’m finished.”
“I see. But as I kept listening, one question arose.”
“What question?”
“You belong to the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace, so why are you speaking for Ju-ryeong Sword Gate’s position?”
Kang Sang flinched.
“If that Ice Snow whatever guy comes here, this place will become his grave.”
“…What…?”
“If he brings people with him, they will all die together too.”
Seol Woon-hwi moved his steps and approached right in front of Kang Sang’s nose.
“Where do you think this place is?”
“…That’s….”
“This is Seol-ap. The master of Seol-ap is me, standing before you.”
Seol Woon-hwi looked at Kang Sang with unwavering eyes.
“Being the master means holding the life and death of every existence in this place in my hands. As I speak, hazy memories are becoming clear again.”
“…What is becoming clear… are you saying?”
It had been confusing since it was such an old memory.
But it was certain that Ya Woon-sang had devoured the Blue Cloud Trading Company.
In Seol Woon-hwi’s past memories, that had definitely happened. And because of that incident, Ya Woon-sang began wielding tremendous influence in Seol-ap, and Seol Woon-hwi gradually became a puppet.
There was naturally no intervention from the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace.
The past Seol Woon-hwi had felt dejected, thinking that the Snow Palace didn’t even care because he was an illegitimate son, but thinking about it later, that wasn’t the case.
The Palace Lord of the Snow Palace had been continuously giving him opportunities.
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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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