Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 357

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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 357
The passage leading to the next gate was entirely different from those that had come before.
Patterns carved into the walls emanated a soft glow, and those patterns shifted ceaselessly. The symbols of the Eight Trigrams rotated, while the characters of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches flowed across the surface.
Manager Seong spoke cautiously.
“Young Master. These patterns….”
“They belong to the Cheongseong Sect.”
Seol Woon-hwi said, gazing at the wall.
“They appear to have been carved by Cheong Heo Jinperson himself.”
The Cheongseong Sect had been annihilated during the Thousand Year Chaos, yet little was known about the organization.
One might say it lacked distinction.
Though it was a Daoist sword sect, it ranked near the bottom among the Nine Sects and One Gang, never producing a single Alliance Leader—the highest position in the Martial Alliance at that time—and throughout its thousands of years of history, not even one martial artist had reached the legendary Innate Three Realms, let alone the Primordial Sole Existence, which had occurred merely once.
Cheong Heo Jinperson had been the Sect Master of the Cheongseong Sect during the Thousand Year Chaos, and he was also its final Sect Master.
His realm was the Great Void Formless.
“Cheong Heo Jinperson was the greatest alchemist of his era. He was also the one who integrated Daoist principles into alchemy.”
“He must have been a remarkable figure.”
Seol Woon-hwi nodded.
“Let us continue forward.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
The two of them walked until they finally reached the end of the passage.
There stood a colossal Stone Gate, with the symbol of the Yin-Yang Tai Chi carved prominently on its face, and the Eight Trigrams arranged around it.
“The Yin-Yang Tai Chi Eight Trigrams Formation.”
“I’ve heard of it. Isn’t it a formation technique that reaches nearly the level of a Divine Martial Artist?”
Seol Woon-hwi nodded.
Before the Stone Gate lay a small stone tablet with characters engraved upon it.
-Those who understand the Way do not speak, and those who speak do not understand the Way. Yet to pass through this place, one must comprehend the Way.
After reading the tablet, Seol Woon-hwi exhaled a long breath.
Manager Seong asked him.
“Young Master, what does this mean?”
“It’s Cheong Heo Jinperson’s peculiar taste. He’s created a gate that cannot be breached by force alone.”
Seol Woon-hwi began examining the Stone Gate carefully.
At the center of the Yin-Yang Tai Chi symbol was a small hole, and the Eight Trigrams surrounding it each pointed in different directions.
‘Qian, Kun, Kan, Li, Zhen, Xun, Gen, Dui… the sequence is scrambled.’
Seol Woon-hwi analyzed by pointing to each trigram with his finger.
“It’s arranged in reverse order rather than the proper arrangement, and the Innate Eight Trigrams and the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams are mixed together.”
Manager Seong couldn’t quite understand what Seol Woon-hwi was saying, but he watched quietly.
Seol Woon-hwi extended his hand and said.
“A silver needle.”
Manager Seong immediately retrieved a small silver needle from his pouch and handed it to Seol Woon-hwi.
After a moment of thought, Seol Woon-hwi inserted the silver needle into the hole at the center of the Yin-Yang Tai Chi.
Click.
With a subtle sound, one of the eight trigrams protruded slightly. It was Qian.
Seol Woon-hwi then rotated the Qian trigram clockwise three times. Next, the Dui trigram popped out.
“Heaven emerges from the earth… Qian represents heaven, Dui heaven breakthrough.”
Seol Woon-hwi rotated each trigram as if solving a puzzle, one by one.
Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, Kun in that order.
Each time a trigram was rotated, a subtle vibration emanated from the Stone Gate.
When the final Kun trigram was placed in position.
A deep rumbling echoed.
The Stone Gate began to open slowly.
But what lay beyond was not another chamber.
It was a colossal maze.
“Come.”
“…Yes.”
The moment they stepped into the maze’s entrance, the surrounding landscape transformed completely.
The walls were entirely mirrors, and countless reflections of Seol Woon-hwi and Manager Seong were cast within them.
“It appears to be an Illusion Formation, though not a simple one.”
Seol Woon-hwi touched one of the mirrors with his hand. The reflection of him within began to move.
In a direction different from his actual movement.
“What did the records say about it?”
After a moment of thought, Seol Woon-hwi slowly spoke.
“The illusions within the mirrors move independently of one another.”
“Does it have a name?”
“It is the Spirit Separation Formation created by Cheong Heo Jinperson through alchemy techniques.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Perhaps. If one cannot distinguish the real from the false, it could prove perilous.”
“Do you know how to overcome it?”
Seol Woon-hwi walked slowly forward. The illusions within the mirrors all began to move as well.
Some walked to the right, some to the left, some backward.
“Follow me.”
“Understood.”
The two entered deeper into the maze.
The first few intersections were relatively simple. But gradually the maze became more complex, and the number of mirrors increased exponentially.
Yet none of it posed a threat.
They merely revealed themselves.
“…A thought suddenly occurred to me.”
“What thought?”
“Young Master clearly knows the path and avoids the traps, but what if that were not the case?”
“Those duplicates would have attacked.”
“…But there are hundreds of them?”
“Did I not say so? Of those who entered this Secret Realm, roughly a hundred came, yet fewer than ten emerged alive.”
Looking at the situation, a catastrophe was entirely plausible.
Seol Woon-hwi moved forward again, and Manager Seong followed suit.
Before them lay three paths. However, a mirror was positioned at each path, and within each mirror, a different landscape appeared.
The left mirror showed brilliant light. It resembled an exit.
The center mirror was filled with darkness.
The right mirror revealed another maze.
“Which way, sir?”
“All of them are false.”
Seol Woon-hwi gazed down at the ground. The floor bore minute scratches.
“The true path is here.”
Seol Woon-hwi struck the ground forcefully with his foot.
The floor cracked and shattered completely, revealing a hidden passage beneath.
“Cheong Heo Jinperson revered the Daoist principle of non-action and natural spontaneity. The most elaborate is false, and the most ordinary is true.”
The two entered the hidden passage.
But what awaited them there was yet another trial.
At the center of the passage stood a massive Alchemy Furnace, radiating intense heat.
“Is this modeled after the Eight Trigrams Furnace of the Supreme Old Lord?”
Seol Woon-hwi murmured.
Eight stone tablets were arranged around the Alchemy Furnace, each engraved with trigram symbols.
This time, it was a combination of the Five Elements Formation and the Eight Trigrams Formation.
Seol Woon-hwi began examining each stone tablet.
“Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal….”
“The Five Elements, sir.”
“Precisely—it utilizes the generative relationships of the Five Elements.”
“When you say utilizes…?”
“Right now, this is not generation but destruction. We must reverse it to generation for the Alchemy Furnace to extinguish.”
Manager Seong rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.
“How should we proceed?”
After observing briefly, Seol Woon-hwi spoke in a quiet voice.
“Metal overcomes Wood, Wood overcomes Earth, Earth overcomes Water, Water overcomes Fire, Fire overcomes Metal—rearrange them accordingly.”
“What happens if we fail?”
“What lies within is True Fire. It will erupt. It is the final defensive mechanism Cheong Heo Jinperson left behind.”
“….”
“Moreover, since it is flame created through alchemy, it burns far hotter than ordinary fire and cannot be extinguished by water. Even a martial artist at the Heaven-Human Realm would suffer serious injury from a direct hit.”
Seol Woon-hwi continued, crossing his arms.
“Begin with Metal.”
Metal symbolizes autumn and represents the west.
Manager Seong rotated the stone tablet counterclockwise. With a click, the tablet settled into place.
“Next is Water. Winter, north.”
He rotated the second tablet.
“Wood. Spring, East.”
The third.
“Fire. Summer, South.”
The fourth.
“Earth. Seasonal transition, Center.”
The moment I turned the final stone tablet, the flames in the Alchemy Furnace began to subside.
Shhhhh….
Smoke rose up, and the lid of the Alchemy Furnace slowly opened.
Inside lay a small jade box.
This jade box was meant to be a parting gift to present to Hwa Mu-nyeom.
“Raising my cultivation level, achieving my revenge, and even providing such a precious gift…. Alliance Leader Hwa has clearly received tremendous favor from Young Master.”
In Manager Seong’s view, all this grueling effort was because of Hwa Mu-nyeom.
To be honest.
Speaking with complete candor, Hwa Mu-nyeom ought to have died for Seol Woon-hwi not just twice, but three times over.
“Alliance Leader Hwa…. Is he truly that significant?”
Seol Woon-hwi turned his head.
“Does it seem otherwise?”
“There aren’t many martial artists of the Dao Transformation Authority, but I don’t believe Young Master should suffer to this extent for that reason.”
Seol Woon-hwi chuckled softly.
“I have never taken fate lightly.”
“….”
“Regardless of that person’s value, once a bond is formed, if there is something I can give, I should give it. Then something will return from that side as well.”
“What if Hwa Mu-nyeom keeps his mouth completely shut?”
“Does he seem like that kind of person?”
“He doesn’t seem like it, but I’m uncertain.”
There was no way I could fail to understand Manager Seong’s heart.
His desire for me to remain at his side had elevated him to the Heaven-Human Realm, but now it had become another problem.
This is also called obsession in other words.
“Don’t dwell on it too deeply. How about looking only ahead?”
Manager Seong scratched his head.
“Understood, Young Master.”
I placed the jade box into my Storage Bag and moved forward.
“Let’s head outside now.”
According to the records, this Alchemy Furnace was the final gateway.
Once I passed through here, the exit should appear.
With that thought, the moment I passed the Alchemy Furnace, I could only freeze in place.
“…Young Master…?”
I stared silently ahead.
Where a passage should have been, there stood a massive cavern.
At its center, nine stone statues in different poses were arranged in a circle—this was truly strange.
There was nothing like this in the records Seol Woon-hwi had read.
“The Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation.”
Seol Woon-hwi identified the arrangement of the stone statues at a glance.
But what unfolded afterward was something he had not anticipated.
-The path of heaven is nine, the path of earth is eight. Where nine and eight converge, truth dwells.
Manager Seong immediately drew his hidden dagger, while Seol Woon-hwi silently gazed toward the center of the Eight Trigrams Formation.
There stood a figure he had not seen moments before.
An old man in Daoist robes. With white hair and a flowing white beard, he resembled an immortal sage, and a subtle azure radiance emanated from his form.
A Thought Entity.
And in perfect, complete form at that.
“…Cheong Heo Jinperson.”
The old man smiled as he watched Seol Woon-hwi murmur the name.
-The first descendant I have seen in a world where war has ended.
Cheong Heo Jinperson’s voice was gentle yet carried an unmistakable authority, but Seol Woon-hwi found himself in a rare state of bewilderment.
He truly could not comprehend this situation.
Was this not far too sudden?
No records spoke of this—how could a Thought Entity appear in the Secret Realm, and a complete one at that, like Gongmyeong Daesa or Jeok Ma Dae-gun?
Was there some truth about the Secret Realm that had remained hidden all this time?
Surely everything had a reason.
Seol Woon-hwi took a deep breath to collect his thoughts and answered quietly.
“I have merely passed through the Secret Realm left behind by Cheong Heo Jinperson.”

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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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