Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 331

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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 331
“That sounds like you’re saying to let him live.”
“Only for a time. In the Murim, accidents like what befell Cheon Ui Jung-jeong are hardly uncommon.”
Shin Ju-eon placed a Go Stone on the board.
“Even if things go smoothly, and regardless of Cheon Ui Jung-jeong being an illegitimate son, the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace will certainly act in some manner.”
“….”
“I hate to sound weak, but I will absolutely kill Dong Yu-seong’s youngest son. Since I know full well that Cheon Ui Jung-jeong cherishes him, Cheon Ui Jung-jeong and I have no choice but to become enemies. What can the Martial Alliance do for me in this process?”
Zhuge Yeong-hyeon smiled faintly.
“If our Martial Alliance gains control of the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance, we intend to separate Cheon Lim and the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance once more.”
“And then?”
“Cheon Lim will be managed directly by our Martial Alliance, and I would like to recommend you as the new leader of the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance.”
“Me, as Alliance Leader?”
“Who else could sit in that position but you, Sect Master? Ihwa Geom Cheon Jong has become a toothless tiger and will not undertake any major activities in the near future. That leaves the remaining Five Great Families and the Four Demonic Outer Sects’ branches, but your realm surpasses them all.”
“Hmm.”
“I will personally persuade our Main Alliance’s leader.”
This was the crux of everything.
Gun Mu-gyeol, leader of the Martial Alliance.
His name had to be brought into play. Moreover, for things to proceed smoothly, he needed to do more than merely acquiesce—he needed to participate actively.
“And we can completely block any intervention from the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace.”
Now the conversation was finally moving in the right direction.
“Is that possible?”
“In truth, it was not that we could not kill him.”
Zhuge Yeong-hyeon’s pupils gleamed with killing intent.
This was sincere.
Not that they could not kill him—that they chose not to.
“No matter how formidable the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace is, a thorn that protrudes so prominently must inevitably shatter. The same applies to Seol Jung-cheon of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace.”
Zhuge Yeong-hyeon paused briefly, then continued as he placed a stone on the board.
“The moment the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace’s Main Palace intervenes, they will turn the entire Murim against themselves.”
Even if Seol Woon-hwi originated from Sae-oe, once he entered the Murim, he had to abide by its laws.
He had been following them thus far, but as his position rose and his share increased, only fools would still regard him as a mere youth.
Now he was a true master of the Murim and a rising star among rising stars wielding tremendous influence.
Yet building a reputation in the Murim meant multiplying one’s enemies.
Since he had created no shortage of adversaries, once a proper justification was established, every blade would turn toward him.
Whether he could overcome it or not was irrelevant.
According to the board Zhuge Yeong-hyeon had arranged, Seol Woon-hwi had no “future.”
Shin Ju-eon, seated across from him, lifted his head.
“Make certain of this. Will you lend your strength to killing him?”
Zhuge Yeong-hyeon laughed softly.
“Of course, Sect Master.”
No more stones were placed.
The match was already decided.
Shamefully, Zhuge Yeong-hyeon had devised a plan to pressure Seol Woon-hwi by exploiting the Divine Slaughter Sword Sect.
But that scheme had completely fallen apart and vanished into thin air, forcing him to seek a new path.
That path was the Mixed Path Demon Flame Palace.
Two birds with one stone—no, three birds with one stone.
Zhuge Yeong-hyeon’s eyes were fixed upon the future, and at the end of that future lay my death.
His schemes, why he sought to draw Shin Ju-eon into the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance, why he presented such crude tactics—
I knew none of it. Nor did I need to.
What mattered was that Zhuge Yeong-hyeon had drawn Shin Ju-eon in, and that this affair was a joint operation between the Martial Alliance and the Mixed Path Demon Flame Palace.
This was truly what mattered.
Gun Mu-gyeol’s involvement meant the inevitable success of the plan.
“It has been quite some time since I shall meet the Alliance Leader.”
Zhuge Yeong-hyeon smiled faintly.
“He too eagerly anticipates meeting with you, Sect Master.”
The laughter of the two men echoed through the Sect Master Hall.
* * *
Letters came and went.
Mine, Shin Ju-eon’s.
We said what needed to be said and coordinated our efforts.
The conclusion was simple: I would go directly to the Mixed Path Demon Flame Palace.
So it was decided.
“Young Master.”
At Manager Seong’s call, I turned my head.
“Everyone is assembled.”
Regardless of the objective or what transpires there, as long as one belongs to an organization, one cannot help but be mindful of outside scrutiny.
Brute force alone would only invite resistance.
In the end, the Murim is a battle of justifications.
Shin Ju-eon desires this, and so do I.
Only then can whatever actions we take be easily managed afterward.
When Manager Seong said everyone was assembled, he meant the envoy group formed to journey to Yeom-ma Mountain, where the Mixed Path Demon Flame Palace was located, had all gathered at the Main Alliance.
“Then let us depart.”
As I moved to leave, Manager Seong asked me a question.
“…Will you truly be alright?”
I read emotion in his voice.
“Are you anxious?”
“Is that even a question? Of course I am anxious.”
I laughed.
“We are merely going to have a conversation.”
“…A conversation… Young Master. I am not a fool. Do you think I do not understand your intentions?”
“Publicly, we went to converse, nothing more than that….”
Seol Woon-hwi trailed off mid-sentence.
Following Seol Woon-hwi’s gaze, Manager Seong turned his head.
A man in neat, orderly attire approached—a stark contrast to the disheveled appearance he’d shown until now.
“Supreme Commander.”
It was Han Mu-rin.
After observing him briefly, Seol Woon-hwi patted Manager Seong’s shoulder and spoke.
“As always, I intend to produce results. You need only assist me from closer than anyone else—is that difficult?”
“Not at all, Young Master.”
“Then what more could be needed?”
Manager Seong laughed with an awkward smile.
“Go on ahead.”
After observing Han Mu-rin for a moment, Manager Seong nodded.
“Understood.”
With that, Manager Seong withdrew, leaving only Seol Woon-hwi and Han Mu-rin alone together.
Seol Woon-hwi silently studied Han Mu-rin’s expression.
His appearance was neat and his face utterly expressionless, yet he could not deceive my eyes.
Deep contemplation and resolve were etched into Han Mu-rin’s pupils.
He knew.
What would unfold on Yeom-ma Mountain.
“I suspect no one has asked you this.”
“Asked what?”
“…That the Supreme Commander moves because of this one person. If anyone were to stop it, it could only be you.”
Seol Woon-hwi quietly pondered Han Mu-rin’s words.
To stop…
“From another’s perspective, staking one’s life on aiding your revenge would appear deeply inappropriate.”
“….”
“It’s simple. Discard one man named Han Mu-rin, and the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance becomes safer and stronger. The Mixed Path Demon Flame Palace is the very core of the Four Demonic Outer Sects. Merely joining hands with them grants immense influence throughout the Central Plains. Is that what you wish to say?”
“Yes.”
Frankly, to any ignorant outsider, my actions would seem not merely strange but utterly bizarre.
Staking one’s life for a single subordinate in the Central Plains? Even with extreme generosity, it could happen.
But what of the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance now?
In the Murim, it had even earned the title of one of the Three Great Powers.
Though still lacking compared to the Martial Alliance and the Four Heaven Alliance, none dared regard the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance lightly.
It was a union of the Odaegeomsong and the Four Demonic Outer Sects. Moreover, with high probability that even the neutral Five Great Families would join, the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance resembled another rising sun in the Murim.
Who created this?
Seol Woon-hwi.
Beginning as Cheonsu-sa, I had transformed the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance from the brink of collapse into one of the Central Plains’ three great powers.
Yet if this endeavor failed, everything I had built would turn to dust.
The fate of such an organization determined by Han Mu-rin’s revenge? For Han Mu-rin, this burden was inescapable.
“Each person walks their own path.”
“….”
“The path I walk as a martial artist is not the path of a coward.”
“…Supreme Commander….”
Seol Woon-hwi stepped forward before Han Mu-rin.
“Fate is not something that comes easily into being.”
Seol Woon-hwi’s voice pierced through the silence of Byeol Gwan.
“There are those who meet by following the threads of fate, and there are those who cherish such bonds and vow to become a sword for one another. To turn one’s back on such a person is not merely to defy one’s own will—it is to defy the very essence of the martial way.”
Han Mu-rin’s eyes wavered.
Seol Woon-hwi had always spoken in difficult, layered ways.
Once one began to fathom the profound meaning contained within his words, it was only natural for emotions to surge like this.
“If one who serves you swears to become a sword for your sake, then as the one being served, should you not naturally protect his honor?”
That was right.
There was no error in it.
“Moreover, to accept his past, to build his future together with him, and to allow him to hold his head high and gaze upon the world with confidence—that is the moral duty of a human being and the moral duty of a martial artist.”
Seol Woon-hwi continued, placing a hand on Han Mu-rin’s shoulder.
“Abandoning you would bring me ease, certainly. Manipulation and justification are simple enough. I could even use such means to gain greater advantage. But the choice to abandon you was never an option from the beginning. To abandon you would be to tarnish my own honor, and it would be to deny the very path I walk.”
“….”
“You know well that I have never walked an easy path.”
“…I understand well.”
“The bond between us, which began at Seol-ap, I intend to cherish.”
“…Supreme Commander….”
Han Mu-rin’s shoulders trembled.
He realized how narrow his perspective had been in those past moments when he thought only of himself.
“And.”
Seol Woon-hwi’s voice carried an even deeper resonance.
“True loyalty shines not in times of comfort, but in times of hardship.”
Han Mu-rin’s eyes fixed upon Seol Woon-hwi’s gaze.
“The reason I do not abandon you is not because my affection runs deep. You are my subordinate, and I am the one you serve. What more could be needed than this?”
Tears began to glisten in Han Mu-rin’s eyes.
Seol Woon-hwi had always been this kind of man.
Whatever he began, he saw through to its end.
He did not yield even when countless matters could be resolved by merely bending slightly, retreating a step, and accepting a small blemish upon his own honor.
He lived so as not to harbor regret.
The oath he had sworn for his people.
The oath for the future.
He had not betrayed the path of a martial artist that he walked, not for a single moment.
If death came in that process, he was mad enough to regard it as a good death.
Such was the man.
Seol Woon-hwi was.
“But then again.”
Withdrawing my hand from Han Mu-rin’s shoulder, I continued slowly.
“How much longer do you intend to address me as Supreme Commander or Cheon Ui Jung-jeong?”
Han Mu-rin’s eyes widened considerably.
“Then….”
I looked directly at Han Mu-rin and spoke.
“From now on, call me Master.”

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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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