Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 332
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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 332
Silence hung in the air.
“The relationship between master and servant is not merely a hierarchy of superior and subordinate. It is a bond where one entrusts their very life to the other. A master bears responsibility for his servant’s life, and a servant places his master’s will above his own existence. That is the true righteousness of the master-servant bond.”
“I see…”
“As your master, I shall bear all responsibility for your past, present, and future. I will ensure you can hold your head high and face the world with pride, and I will not allow anyone to treat you with disrespect.”
Tears streamed down Han Mu-rin’s face, but Seol Woon-hwi continued without hesitation.
“And as my servant, you must obey my will, walk the path I walk, and be prepared to draw your blade before me if necessity demands it. That is the duty of a servant.”
Seol Woon-hwi slowly stepped back as he spoke.
“Will you accept this?”
Han Mu-rin bowed deeply. His voice trembled as he answered.
“I, Han Mu-rin, shall obey my master’s will.”
The air within the Byeol Gwan transformed. As if heaven and earth themselves bore witness to this oath.
Seol Woon-hwi smiled with satisfaction.
“Now your position is truly defined. You are my blade and my shadow. Whether it be the Hondo Maryeom Palace, the Martial Alliance, or anyone else in this world—if they stand in our way, we shall cut them down together.”
Han Mu-rin lifted his gaze to meet Seol Woon-hwi’s. No longer fear, but unwavering resolve burned in his eyes.
“I shall obey your command, my master.”
In this moment, a true bond of master and servant was forged.
Seol Woon-hwi wished to confirm one more thing.
“Now it is time to change your name.”
Han Mu-rin performed the Embracing Fist salute.
“From this day forward, I shall abandon my false name and return to my true identity.”
Dong Mu-rin—the bloodline of Dong Yu-seong, the former Vice Palace Lord of the Hondo Maryeom Palace.
If this matter concluded successfully, he would become the Palace Lord of the Hondo Maryeom Palace.
“You understand what must be done?”
“Of course.”
Han Mu-rin’s current realm was the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.
To speak of conquering the Hondo Maryeom Palace at this realm was preposterous.
Yet if there was something that must be done, there was only one path.
The Palace Lord of the Hondo Maryeom Palace, Shin Ju-eon, had two sons.
Both of them had reached the same realm: Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.
“I shall sever the heads of Shin Ju-yang and Shin Ju-je.”
“I trust you.”
That day, the envoy group from the Heavenly Righteousness Alliance departed for Yeom-ma Mountain.
* * *
Two young men entered the Palace Lord’s Hall of the Hondo Maryeom Palace.
They were Shin Ju-yang and Shin Ju-je, the two sons of Shin Ju-eon.
The elder brother, Shin Ju-yang, possessed sharp features and cold eyes, while the younger brother, Shin Ju-je, despite his gentle appearance, emanated a keenness hidden in the depths of his being.
Both were in their early twenties and had ascended to the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, standing as core figures to lead the next generation of the Hondo Maryeom Palace.
In truth, Seol Woon-hwi was the anomaly; in the Murim, prodigies of their caliber would certainly be called geniuses once or twice.
It was no coincidence that everyone paid attention to Han Mu-rin, Namgung Won Yang, and Ju So-ah, all of whom surrounded Seol Woon-hwi.
In any case, both of them had been summoned by Shin Ju-eon.
And it was accompanied by startling news.
Shin Ju-yang, the eldest brother, spoke first.
“Is it true that Dong Yu-seong’s son… is still alive?”
Shin Ju-eon lifted his head to regard his two sons. His expression remained as composed as always, yet something complex flickered deep within his eyes.
“It is.”
“How could such a thing….”
Shin Ju-je shook his head as if finding it difficult to believe.
“I heard that the entire family was eliminated at the time, yet the youngest son survived.”
“The situation was chaotic back then.”
Shin Ju-eon answered matter-of-factly.
“It was something that should never have been overlooked, but a single child… could have been missed.”
Shin Ju-yang’s brow furrowed.
“Then where has he been hiding all this time? More than a decade has passed.”
“He was in Sae-oe. Under the name Han Mu-rin.”
“…Sae-oe… and Han Mu-rin… could he be…the Snow Mountain Demon Army’s…?”
“Yes.”
Shin Ju-je clenched his fists tightly.
“Then Seol Woon-hwi deliberately concealed him from the beginning. This is a blatant provocation from the Eternal Snow Palace.”
Shin Ju-eon began to nod slowly, then shook his head at the last moment.
“It is not a provocation from the Eternal Snow Palace, but rather Seol Woon-hwi’s provocation.”
As evidenced in his conversation with Zhuge Yeong-hyeon, Shin Ju-eon harbored fear of the Eternal Snow Palace as an organization.
This was not without reason.
Recently, strange rumors had been circulating.
Rumors that the Palace Lord of Snow Palace had ascended to the perfect Primordial Sole Existence.
This was truly catastrophic.
There was already a considerable gap in martial standing, and an even greater chasm in the realm of martial arts.
Not all martial artists at the same Five Realms of Martial God are of equal caliber.
He was already the heaven of Snow Mountain, no—the heaven above heaven itself.
If such a man were to move, the Mixed Path Demon Flame Palace would be utterly annihilated.
In a single night, or rather, within a time period.
It was no coincidence that Shin Ju-eon had joined hands with the Martial Alliance. Their strength was desperately necessary to him.
After catching his breath for a moment, Shin Ju-eon slowly opened his mouth.
“And consider this. At that time, he was merely a child. Barely ten years old, practically nothing but a babe. How could such a child reach Sae-oe? Does it not strike you as strange?”
Shin Ju-yang answered.
“You mean to say there was a collaborator, Father.”
“Yes. Try to deduce who it might be.”
“…Either Hwa Mu-ryeong of the Flame Army, or Yeom Wang Hwa Mu-nyeom, who was the Deputy Palace Lord generations ago.”
Shin Ju-eon merely nodded silently.
“Father.”
Shin Ju-yang stepped forward and spoke.
“Should we not settle this matter once and for all? The mere fact that Dong Yu-seong’s bloodline still lives poses a grave danger to our Hondo Maryeom Palace.”
“A danger, you say….”
A peculiar smile crossed Shin Ju-eon’s lips.
“Do you understand why it is dangerous?”
The two brothers blinked at his words.
“Well… he is the bloodline of a traitor who attempted rebellion… and all other bloodlines save his were executed. In other words, he could become a future threat, which is precisely why this is the greatest danger, is it not?”
Shin Ju-eon took a sip of tea before him and spoke quietly.
“That may be so. But tell me this. Do you know?”
“Know what, Father?”
“Why I killed Dong Yu-seong.”
Both sons tilted their heads simultaneously.
In truth, from the perspective of these brothers, Shin Ju-eon’s question was most peculiar.
He had attempted rebellion, so he deserved death, and this was the result, was it not?
Yet why ask why he was killed?
Could there have been another reason?
“You two should begin to understand by now.”
With those words, Shin Ju-eon rose from his seat and walked toward the window.
“Dong Yu-seong was a direct disciple of Yeom Wang Hwa Mu-nyeom. That is an undeniable fact.”
“Indeed, Father.”
“And he received the Yeom Hwang Heavenly Mandate Technique from Hwa Mu-nyeom.”
Shin Ju-yang and Shin Ju-je nodded.
The Yeom Hwang Heavenly Mandate Technique was among the most supreme martial arts in the Murim. Especially since it was the exclusive martial art of Hyeon Mu-je, the past Yeom Hwang who earned his legendary name, it would be unthinkable for Hondo Maryeom Palace not to know of it.
“But there is one thing you do not know.”
Shin Ju-eon turned to face his two sons.
“The true origin of the Yeom Hwang Heavenly Mandate Technique.”
“Origin, you say….”
“In the days when the Thousand Year Demon Cult dominated the Murim, there existed a supreme master of Primordial Sole Existence who personally marched into the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and severed the heads of three elders. He was a monster known by the alias Huncheon Yeom Hwang.”
Shin Ju-je’s eyes widened.
“Could it be that he….”
“Yes. The founder of the Yeom Hwang Heavenly Mandate Technique. And he left behind a secret transmission.”
Shin Ju-eon’s voice grew lower.
“The Yeom Hwang Heavenly Mandate Technique that Dong Yu-seong cultivated was merely the outer shell.”
“…Then you are saying the true essence of the Yeom Hwang Heavenly Mandate Technique exists separately.”
“Indeed.”
“…And you, Father, obtained it…?”
Shin Ju-eon nodded.
“Dong Yu-seong once entered a secret realm near Yang Ma San and returned with a martial art.”
“….”
“Its name is the Absolute Flame Primordial Heaven Technique. Dong Yu-seong asked me whether he could cultivate it and sought my counsel.”
This was a secret that must never leak to the outside world.
“That day, I made a decision. I would seize that martial art. No—I would monopolize the very essence of that technique.”
As the atmosphere grew grave, the two brothers regarded each other.
“A fortnight after that day, I killed Dong Yu-seong and his entire family. Yes, as you say, I did so because he attempted rebellion. But his rebellion was singular in nature: he dared, before me—the Palace Lord of Hondo Maryeom Palace—to declare that he would master the Absolute Flame Heaven Art.”
“….”
“That was betrayal directed at me. A martial art that should have been devoted entirely to me, yet the Vice Palace Lord sought to refine it? It could become a seed of future discord. He accepted that risk. He revealed his true intentions.”
Indeed, the difference between one thing and another can be vast.
These two brothers understood.
This was how justification was manufactured.
“Do you comprehend?”
“…I comprehend, Father.”
Shin Ju-eon continued, gazing out the window.
“I risked incurring the Yeom Wang’s wrath. Though I believed he would overlook it given the debt he owed me, I cannot deny it was a gamble with my life. Yet it was worth the price.”
It took ten years, but I ascended from Heaven-Human Unity to Limitless Divine Manifestation.
That alone was achievement enough.
Shin Ju-eon reflected.
Would these two sons truly grasp the depth of his intentions?
The two brothers did not disappoint that expectation.
Shin Ju-je spoke.
“A stain upon Hondo Maryeom Palace, then.”
“Precisely so.”
“Then that stain must be completely concealed, must it not?”
Shin Ju-eon smiled faintly.
This was it.
This was the bearing of one who leads an organization.
Shin Ju-yang spoke.
“If we possess a stain, then our adversaries must possess one as well. I shall investigate the weaknesses of Han Mu-rin and Seol Woon-hwi.”
Shin Ju-eon spoke calmly to his two sons, who were already preparing.
“Do not rush. Above all, Seol Woon-hwi is no easy opponent. And behind him stands a master of Limitless Divine Manifestation whose identity remains unknown.”
Shin Ju-je’s expression grew uncertain.
“Is there no possibility that he is Yeom Wang Hwa Mu-nyeom?”
Shin Ju-eon’s expression hardened momentarily.
“…That possibility cannot be ruled out. In fact, if I consider it carefully, that is the most likely scenario.”
“….”
“Do not worry. I know his nature and his habits well. Now that we stand at the same realm, should he appear before my eyes, that place will become his grave.”
If the already-aged Hwa Mu-nyeom were to face the vigorous Shin Ju-eon, victory should naturally belong to Shin Ju-eon.
That was their understanding.
Shin Ju-eon clasped his hands behind his back and spoke slowly.
“Make your preparations.”
“For what, Father?”
“Absolute Flame Huncheon Art—today, I shall bestow it upon you both.”
The two brothers broke into radiant smiles.
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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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