Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 352
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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 352
I answered without hesitation.
“We hail from the Blue Cloud Gate. I am Cheong Mu-myeong, and this is my senior brother, Cheong Mu-jeon.”
“Blue Cloud Gate… I’ve never heard of such a sect. Where is it located?”
“It’s a small sect in the borderlands. You likely wouldn’t know of it.”
Mu-jin glanced toward Ya Su-yeong, and after a moment of contemplation, she nodded.
“The Murim contains countless minor sects, and it’s impossible to know them all. Very well. Let us proceed together.”
Mu-jin seemed to discern something from Ya Su-yeong’s demeanor.
“Amitabha, our young patrons have ventured to such a perilous place at such a tender age. Your courage is truly commendable.”
“Our master instructed us to gain experience, so we came.”
At Seol Woon-hwi’s response, several nearby figures let out quiet chuckles. They likely assumed these were inexperienced youths here to show off.
‘Being dismissed like this is quite a novel experience in its own way.’
Only two.
Only Ya Su-yeong and Mu-jin did not underestimate Seol Woon-hwi and Manager Seong.
The instincts of those two, honed through years in the Murim, clearly sensed danger.
Ya Su-yeong spoke in a cold voice.
“Enough idle talk. Let us begin now. The night grows late.”
The hour of Insi had long passed.
The entrance to the Secret Realm manifested before a rocky face of Mangwol Peak, and all eyes turned toward it.
“Amitabha, we may travel together, but separation is also possible. Please bear this in mind, and if feasible, move in groups.”
With these formal words, Ya Su-yeong and Mu-jin stepped into the Secret Realm’s interior.
The martial artists followed in their wake, and finally, Seol Woon-hwi and Manager Seong entered the Secret Realm.
Before entering, Seol Woon-hwi spoke briefly.
“If we become separated, come find me.”
“Is it not acceptable for me to search for you, Young Master?”
“It is not.”
Manager Seong, with a faint smile, nodded.
“I shall find you.”
The two figures vanished completely.
* * *
Despite the conversation they had shared, all who entered the Secret Realm found themselves gathered in one place.
“It seems we shall all travel together after all.”
At Ya Su-yeong’s words, all fell silent.
The space they occupied was a cavern—vast enough to accommodate hundreds of people.
There were precisely two passages leading out: one was wide enough for dozens to walk shoulder to shoulder, while the other could accommodate roughly a dozen.
Luminous stones embedded in the walls cast a soft, ethereal glow—the only notable feature of the place.
“There are two passages.”
When such branching paths appeared within a Secret Realm, the conventional wisdom was to take the largest route.
The reason was simple.
A larger passage meant any traps or mechanisms would likewise be larger, making them easier to evade and allowing more time to prepare.
In narrow passages, one must move urgently, so most choose to proceed through the larger corridors—and Ya Su-yeong was no exception.
“We’ll take the larger passage. There’s no reason to delay; let’s depart immediately.”
Ya Su-yeong and Mu-jin stood at the front, with the other masters following behind them.
Seol Woon-hwi and Manager Seong positioned themselves in the middle of the group.
The passage descended in a gentle slope, leading deeper underground.
After walking roughly a hundred paces, Ya Su-yeong’s voice called out from ahead.
“Wait, stop here.”
Everyone halted in their tracks.
“Look at the ground. The color of the stones has changed subtly.”
At Ya Su-yeong’s words, everyone gazed downward. Indeed, the hue of several stones had shifted noticeably.
“It appears to be a trap of some kind. What should we do?”
Various voices exchanged opinions.
Even as this unfolded, Ya Su-yeong and Mu-jin’s gazes remained fixed upon Seol Woon-hwi and Manager Seong, while the two men returned their scrutiny with equal intensity.
Ya Su-yeong smiled.
“I’d appreciate hearing the esteemed opinions of the two gentlemen from Blue Cloud Gate. Do you have any thoughts?”
Before entering the Secret Realm and after.
Ya Su-yeong’s demeanor remained consistent.
She had been acutely aware of the two individuals claiming to be from Blue Cloud Gate all along, and if those around her had failed to notice this, it would have been remarkable indeed.
Silence fell upon the group.
An exceedingly uncomfortable silence, and one that promised only greater discomfort ahead.
Seol Woon-hwi stepped forward.
“We shall proceed separately from this point onward.”
“Separately? Why?”
“Because I sense that you two are uncomfortable with our presence.”
“….”
“Rest assured. From the moment we depart from this group, we shall make no claim to ownership over whatever treasures you and the other martial masters here may obtain.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. However, should my sworn brother and I reach the end of the Secret Realm first, we shall claim all treasures that emerge from that place.”
“Our junior here proposes an interesting bargain. Though I suspect this will only make matters more awkward.”
“Do you find it disagreeable?”
Ya Su-yeong paused in thought, then glanced around at the surroundings.
“When we first entered the Secret Realm, there were two passages, weren’t there? You’re saying you’ll take that other passage, correct?”
“That is correct.”
“Very well. I accept your bargain.”
Without hesitation, Seol Woon-hwi turned and departed, with Manager Seong following silently in his wake.
As Ya Su-yeong watched the two figures disappear, Mu-jin sent her a message through Jeonum.
-Which one are you wary of?
-Who else? That sworn brother of his—Cheong Mu-jeon or whatever his name is.
-From what I can tell, he seems to have reached the Divine Transformation Realm.
-Then your assessment is mistaken. In my judgment, he stands at the same level as I do.
-Same faction, you say?
-An assassin by origin. Such types are quite skilled at concealing their cultivation level. From what I can tell, he’s at the Heaven-Human Realm. That bastard.
-…You know well enough that the Divine Transformation Realm and Heaven-Human Realm are truly different. Do you really believe so?
-Yes. But if he’s not Heaven-Human Realm but merely Divine Transformation Realm? Then the story changes entirely.
-Changes in what way?
-My perception detects a danger as if I’m facing a master of the Heaven-Human Realm, yet he’s actually Divine Transformation Realm? Then the martial arts he’s learning must be at least Martial God Grade. With such martial arts, if a situation arises where he must be killed, you’d need to be prepared to lose an arm. You know how it is. What kind of fights we people of this sort engage in.
Assassins’ fights fundamentally begin with the resolve for mutual destruction.
Mediocre ones forget that principle and get themselves killed acting cocky—it’s routine. But those at Divine Transformation Realm are different.
Their fights always end with one dead and one alive. That’s the world of assassins.
Mu-jin nodded as if convinced.
Then, curiosity arising, he posed a question immediately.
-What do you make of that Mu Myeong, the donor standing beside him?
-…In a way, he seems even more dangerous than that Cheong Mu-jeon fellow. Though his martial arts cultivation level is nothing remarkable.
-I share that assessment.
-In any case, he’s definitely hiding something.
-Better to keep them apart than together?
-Yes. But if those two arrive at the end before us.
-Amitabha, then they must be erased. For peace.
Ya Su-yeong laughed as well.
-Right. They must be erased. As if they met with an accident and died.
This is a Secret Realm, after all.
In a Secret Realm, no one knows what happens.
The two exchanged laughter and refocused on their current situation.
* * *
Not long after Seol Woon-hwi and Manager Seong stepped into the narrow passage, the first trap appeared.
“Young Master.”
Manager Seong detected the subtle change in the floor and halted his steps.
The color and texture of the stone differed, and a faint aura emanated from it.
Seol Woon-hwi knelt and examined the floor carefully.
“A Five Elements Formation.”
He traced the stone’s surface with his fingertips, grasping its structure.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth were intricately interwoven, and touching even one wrongly would unleash a lethal barrage.
At a glance, holes were bored throughout the wall’s corners, and the stone patterns beyond them were abnormally fractured.
Commonplace enough—poison-coated Hidden Daggers or arrows would rain down, and simultaneously the walls would collapse while the floor crumbled.
And beyond that, something else surely awaited.
“The sophistication is higher than expected.”
Martial artists at the Flame Qi Four Stages level would certainly be eliminated entirely at this point.
In my previous life’s records, there was nothing like this. Either almost no one had come through this passage, or they hadn’t documented it.
There were various possibilities, but I didn’t dwell on them.
“Traps of little consequence, you said?”
“How could I possibly know everything?”
Manager Seong chuckled softly.
“Would it be acceptable if I handled this?”
When Seol Woon-hwi nodded, Manager Seong produced several small tools from his robes as if he had been waiting for this moment—thin wires, small beads, and several silver needles.
“Before I became the Young Master’s direct subordinate, I wandered through the Murim for quite some time. I’ll dismantle this in the blink of an eye.”
Manager Seong immediately used the wire to carefully touch the critical points of the Five Elements Formation.
He was reversing the principles of Metal Generates Water and Water Generates Wood to sever the formation’s circulation loop.
Click, crack.
With subtle sounds, the formation dissolved, and a section of the floor opened slightly, revealing a small jade vial.
Upon closer inspection, characters were inscribed upon it.
“Bone Transformation Pills.”
Despite the obvious passage of considerable time, the jade vial and its contents remained in pristine condition, as if they had been placed there moments ago.
As Manager Seong lifted the jade vial, a subtle medicinal fragrance wafted forth.
“These wouldn’t be particularly necessary for me or the Young Master… but they must be quite valuable, wouldn’t they?”
Seol Woon-hwi, offering no direct answer, surveyed the surroundings.
“If they hid something like this from the very first trap, it means far more treasures await ahead.”
“This truly is a treasure vault.”
The two resumed their advance.
And Seol Woon-hwi’s prediction proved accurate.
After walking another twenty paces, a second trap appeared.
This time it was the Yin-Yang Principle Reversal Formation.
A Tai Chi pattern was carved into the wall, and black and white energies rotated ceaselessly.
“When Yin reaches its extreme, Yang is born; when Yang reaches its extreme, Yin is born.”
Seol Woon-hwi murmured, analyzing the structure of the rotating Tai Chi. He needed to identify the precise transition points between yin and yang.
“Pierce the second point on the left and the lower end on the right with the needle.”
Manager Seong immediately acted, and the formation dissolved. The wall section beneath it rose with a dull thud.
Another jade vial emerged from within.
“Marrow Building Pills.”
True to their name, these were precious Spirit Pills that strengthened the bone marrow and aided the circulation of internal energy.
Even martial artists at the Four Stages of Heaven and Earth realm would benefit greatly from them, with their value starting at five hundred gold taels.
Seol Woon-hwi silently handed it to Manager Seong.
“You’re planning to give this to Alliance Leader Hwa as well, aren’t you?”
Seol Woon-hwi shook his head.
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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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