Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 339
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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 339
Shin Ju-eon’s expression was a sight to behold.
Bewilderment painted his features, yet he genuinely could not comprehend what he was witnessing.
It had been roughly twenty years since Hwa Mu-nyeom’s retreat, and Dong Yu-seong’s purge had occurred ten years prior. Even then, Hwa Mu-nyeom had not revealed himself.
This meant he had been inactive in the Murim for two decades, yet the figure before him now resembled a martial artist in the prime of his power.
His technique was devastatingly potent, and the distribution of his qi approached near perfection.
Shin Ju-eon, having ascended to Limitless Divine Manifestation, believed he could overwhelm Hwa Mu-nyeom, yet he found himself being subtly pushed back.
Especially in that final moment.
Had he not retrieved his sword, Hwa Mu-nyeom’s strike would have cleaved his body cleanly in two.
“What in the world….”
Shin Ju-eon spoke through ragged breaths.
“What have you been doing these past twenty years?”
Hwa Mu-nyeom saw no reason to answer.
He simply gazed at Shin Ju-eon with composed serenity, his hands clasped behind his back.
A wound? Certainly a serious one.
But it mattered not. I had not lived so pathetically as to be shaken by mere pain.
He spoke in a quiet voice.
“The life I spared—now I shall reclaim it.”
Beneath that measured tone lay a killing intent so chilling it sent shivers down the spine.
Shin Ju-eon’s brow furrowed sharply.
“Then and now, as Vice Palace Lord, you have always stood in my way.”
“I did not obstruct—I offered counsel.”
Hwa Mu-nyeom’s reply remained composed. Displeased by this demeanor, veins bulged across Shin Ju-eon’s forehead.
“…Do you still not understand!”
“Understand what?”
“At that time, my realm was Heaven-Human Unity, and yours was Limitless Divine Manifestation as it is now. You, who served the previous generation, offered me counsel? That is the same as issuing commands!”
“Just as you speak of realms, so too were you and I distinguished by position at that time.”
“Which is precisely what you are saying—that position was meaningless!”
Shin Ju-eon’s fury erupted.
“When the previous Palace Lord died, you should have perished as well or vanished of your own accord. Instead, when I became Palace Lord, you entered as Vice Palace Lord and obstructed my every action!”
His fists clenched tightly.
“Yes, during my forty years as Palace Lord, twenty of them were your dominion. Hondo Maryeom Palace! It was yours!”
“I have never once considered Hondo Maryeom Palace to be mine.”
At Hwa Mu-nyeom’s continued composure, Shin Ju-eon ground his teeth.
“Still so arrogant! Beyond mocking me, you view me as utterly contemptible!”
“If that is what you wish to believe, I shall not dissuade you.”
“Your shadow, your traces, all of it grated upon me. Your daughter as well! Those foolish wretches would seize any opportunity handed to them, then and now, vermin that they are….”
“I did not come to indulge your grievances.”
Teeth ground together with a sickening sound.
His rage had reached its zenith.
Shin Ju-eon, his fist clenched tight, opened his mouth with a chilling voice.
“So you claim you’ll take my life? You dream of the impossible.”
“From what I see, it doesn’t seem impossible at all.”
“Then I too must craft a new tale.”
His eyes transformed with vicious malice.
“Your daughter Hwa Mu-ryeong, seeking to kill me and seize the Palace Lord’s seat, summoned you from your seclusion. And that day, you died while your daughter was sold into slavery.”
Shin Ju-eon wore a contemptible smile.
“Does this story please you?”
Hwa Mu-nyeom let out a sigh.
“You’ve grown even more pathetic in my absence.”
“What did you say?”
“Stop your prattle and come.”
Instantly, Shin Ju-eon kicked back from his seat.
I’ll tear that mouth to shreds.
I’ll simply rip it apart and kill him.
Hwa Mu-nyeom also rose from his position.
Shin Ju-eon, capturing every movement in his eyes, drew forth a hidden secret technique he had concealed.
Absolute Flame Soul Heaven Technique.
Heaven Flame Explosive Burst.
Crimson flames erupted from his sword blade like an explosion, forging a colossal dragon.
As the dragon roared and flew toward Hwa Mu-nyeom, just as he was about to extend his fist—
In that briefest of moments.
Shin Ju-eon’s eyes turned toward the entrance of the Sect Master Hall.
And the instant he glimpsed something there, he faltered.
In a life-or-death duel between martial artists of Limitless Divine Manifestation caliber, even a moment’s carelessness is fatal.
Especially now, as he unleashed his ultimate technique—such negligence was no different from hastening his own end.
It was a situation that should never occur.
Yet for Shin Ju-eon, it was unavoidable.
Thwack—!
Hwa Mu-nyeom’s fist pierced through his solar plexus, and azure flames blooming from Hwa Mu-nyeom’s body consumed him.
* * *
Dong Mu-rin, who had been waiting inside the carriage, slowly opened the door and stepped outside as the surroundings grew quiet.
The night air brushed against his face.
It was cold, yet somehow familiar.
Then he moved forward.
Though barely ten years old, he had not forgotten those moments from when he fled this place in the past.
With each step, memories resurfaced.
The path lined with red stones, pine trees standing on either side, and red flowers planted throughout—the distinctive crimson hues of Hondo Maryeom Palace revealed themselves clearly even beneath the moonlight.
It was hardly different from the memories of the past.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say it had not changed at all.
It was as if time itself had frozen—the exact same scene as that night a decade ago when a small child had fled in tears of blood.
Climbing the stone steps, Dong Mu-rin recalled the past.
The memory of walking this path while holding Father Dong Yu-seong’s hand, the garden where he had played with his brothers, and that night when everything was drenched in crimson blood in a single instant.
‘I remember it all.’
Dong Mu-rin’s gaze turned ice-cold.
The place he arrived at was a separate pavilion located on the outskirts of Hondo Maryeom Palace.
Dong Mu-rin had managed to reach this place without any obstruction, and there was a simple reason for it.
Most of the key figures guarding Hondo Maryeom Palace were currently at the lodgings where the porters were staying.
As Dong Mu-rin pushed open the pavilion’s door and stepped inside, he could see them.
Two men in a candlelit room.
They were Shin Ju-yang and Shin Ju-je, the sons of Shin Ju-eon.
It was peculiar how those faces he had seen in the past remained unchanged.
Though not twins, the expressions of both men filled with bewilderment were nearly identical.
“How… why so early?”
Dong Mu-rin spoke briefly to the muttering Shin Ju-yang.
“No matter how much you plan, you remain only in his palm.”
His brow furrowed sharply.
There was nothing surprising about it. These two had been planning to assassinate Dong Mu-rin. The original plan was like this.
When the envoy group arrived, the key figures would be assigned to the Sect Master Hall, while porters and guards would be assigned to the lodgings as standard.
And Dong Mu-rin was to be included among those important figures.
After all, the original purpose of the conference was ‘the clarification of Cheon Ui Jung-jeong.’
That was the standard procedure, and from that position, Shin Ju-eon intended to claim there had been a misunderstanding and send only Dong Mu-rin separately to the pavilion.
Then these two brothers waiting in the pavilion would subdue Dong Mu-rin and extract information from him, while Shin Ju-eon would kill Seol Woon-hwi and his men in the Palace Lord’s Hall.
And if the martial artists of Hondo Maryeom Palace, who were surrounding the lodgings, killed them all to silence them,
the entire plan would be complete.
The reason Shin Ju-eon specifically kept these two brothers in the pavilion and intended to separate Dong Mu-rin was simple.
Competition.
Though he already considered Shin Ju-je, the eldest son and Young Palace Lord, as the next Palace Lord in his heart, even such a Shin Ju-je, and his younger brother Shin Ju-yang, needed competition.
This was Shin Ju-eon’s method of education.
“If you think about it differently, neither of you were in the Sect Master Hall either, so it’s fair to say you both had the same idea.”
“…”
“The justification is becoming clear enough. Eventually, one of you two will become the next Palace Lord of Hondo Maryeom Palace, so arranging a meeting between outstanding Later Generation Prodigies… that’s hard to refuse.”
“…Who are you?”
Everything Dong Mu-rin said was correct.
But the most important thing was timing.
This was far too early.
He absolutely should not have come now.
Yet for this man to come alone and reveal the existing plan meant he was thinking the same way.
Shin Ju-je spoke first.
“Have you come to kill us?”
Dong Mu-rin answered with composure.
“Isn’t that obvious?”
In that instant, the air within the Byeol Gwan grew taut and suffocating.
“Ha, this insane bastard.”
Shin Ju-yang let out a hollow laugh while Shin Ju-je spoke coldly.
“They say he serves a madman, and now I see what he learned from that lunatic.”
There was no change in Dong Mu-rin’s expression.
If anything, he appeared even more composed.
Seol Woon-hwi had once told him this.
A martial artist must maintain equanimity in any circumstance.
Even if one’s parents were insulted before his eyes, even if his master were reviled.
He must not reveal such things in that moment.
For others it might differ, but for Dong Mu-rin, whose Demonic Transformation bloomed from the center of rage, his inner self must always remain serene.
Seol Woon-hwi had made him swear never to forget or violate this principle.
Dong Mu-rin had adhered to it faithfully.
Rage is far more terrifying when refined than when displayed openly.
Shin Ju-yang asked.
“You’re surprisingly skilled at controlling your emotions.”
“Does it appear so.”
“Your realm is Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, correct?”
“That’s what’s known.”
Shin Ju-je chuckled softly.
“You haven’t been there long, have you?”
“Not long.”
“Both he and I have been in Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown for over three years.”
This time, Dong Mu-rin let out a soft laugh.
“And?”
“One at Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown against two? You don’t seem to grasp the situation. You’ve simply walked into your own grave.”
Shin Ju-yang added his words.
“This makes no sense. Surely you didn’t come alone?”
“I came alone.”
At Dong Mu-rin’s answer, the two brothers exchanged glances and burst into laughter.
“You’re just as mad as your father.”
Shin Ju-je spat out his bitter words.
But Dong Mu-rin showed no disturbance. Instead, he placed his hand upon the sword at his waist and spoke.
“Enough talk. Let’s begin.”
His voice remained calm, yet within it burned an immense rage vast enough to incinerate the world.
Shin Ju-yang and Shin Ju-je both placed their hands upon their weapons.
“Very well. Then let us see what manner of man you are.”
The two brothers drew their swords.
“Father always kept a watchful eye on Dong Yu-seong.”
“….”
“Those bloodkin of his possessed talent so formidable they were nothing short of dangerous, and would come to occupy a significant portion of the Mixed Path Demon Flame Palace in the future.”
“….”
“The Absolute Flame Soul Heaven Technique was never the core issue. Dong Yu-seong—the man called the next Yeom Wang—his talent was the true reason for death.”
“….”
“There are several matters I wish to inquire about before killing him, but first I shall suppress him and then ask….”
“Truly, you speak far too much.”
Flames erupted across Dong Mu-rin’s entire body.
They were no ordinary fire.
Black flames interwoven with crimson light blazed forth with an ominous and malevolent aura, as though evil fire had surged up from the depths of hell itself.
Demonic Transformation Extreme Heaven Sword Technique.
I shall use it to silence these two fools.
Dong Mu-rin planted himself firmly amid the scattering ashes.
Shin Ju-yang and Shin Ju-je hastily formed their formation.
Crimson flame energy erupted from both their bodies.
Absolute Flame Soul Heaven Technique.
Flame Heaven Opening.
As the two wielded their swords simultaneously, crimson flames spread in a fan pattern, dyeing the entire Byeol Gwan in red light in an instant.
Yet Dong Mu-rin pierced straight through those flames.
Demonic Transformation Extreme Heaven Sword Technique
Defying Heaven Demonic Flame
Black flames erupted explosively from Dong Mu-rin’s sword, devouring the crimson flames of Shin Ju-yang and Shin Ju-je before reversing their flow back toward them.
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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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