Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 387

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 387
I say this repeatedly.
No, not repeatedly—I mean I keep saying this: Gun Mu-gyeol was absolutely not an ordinary man.
This wasn’t merely a matter of exceptional self-justification.
He found legitimacy in everything, and if that legitimacy didn’t exist, he created it to fill the void.
If anyone was sacrificed in the process, he deemed it a natural sacrifice. Typically, when such a man becomes a nation’s ruler, he either unifies the realm or plunges the world into chaos and calamity.
Seol Woon-hwi slowly took his seat across from Gun Mu-gyeol, and Namgung Won Yang stood behind him.
Gun Mu-gyeol poured wine into Seol Woon-hwi’s cup.
“Drink.”
Seol Woon-hwi, who had been staring at the cup, let out a soft laugh.
“I would stake my life that there is poison in this.”
Gun Mu-gyeol laughed.
“Indeed, you are not an easy man to deal with.”
Without a word, Seol Woon-hwi picked up the cup and turned it upside down toward the ground.
The wine spilled entirely onto the earth.
“I didn’t drink it, but it is clearly fine wine.”
“Wine must be tasted to be appreciated. How can you call spilled wine fine wine?”
Seol Woon-hwi, having inverted the empty cup, met Gun Mu-gyeol’s gaze directly.
“You have something you wish to ask me.”
“I do indeed.”
“Then ask away.”
“Very well. I shall ask without reservation.”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s eyes sharpened.
“The odds are high that you and I will become enemies, so why would you offer to elevate my realm?”
“Because I made a promise.”
“A promise—yes, therein lies the problem. In all my years, I have witnessed countless men bound by such promises, yet I have never seen one who keeps it when his own life hangs in the balance.”
“If I understand correctly, you doubt my true intentions.”
“True intentions… yes, that would be a fair way to put it.”
Seol Woon-hwi quietly righted the overturned cup.
“Pour me another.”
“Are you going to spill this one too?”
When Seol Woon-hwi shook his head, Gun Mu-gyeol poured wine into his cup.
Seol Woon-hwi gazed at the wine for a moment before speaking in a quiet voice.
“It is not simply because of a promise to you, Senior.”
“It’s not?”
“It is a promise I made to myself.”
“To yourself?”
“As a martial artist, there are countless paths one can walk. The path I walk is one I forge myself, and the most essential thing in pursuing that path is my own will.”
“…”
“A martial artist who guards his own will yet fails to respect that of another martial artist would be speaking nonsense from the start. It would be nothing but the foolish act of dwelling on something once believed to be a path but was merely an illusion—like a dream.”
“Is that so.”
“That is why I respect the resolve of other martial artists. I respect the very path they have chosen to walk. However, what matters most is the state of mind with which they pursue that path.”
“You apply such a standard to those you observe, and therefore you apply that same standard to yourself?”
“Yes. Only then can the path I walk become the righteous path.”
Gun Mu-gyeol stroked his chin.
This one.
Not merely a genius, but a genius bestowed by Heaven itself.
To respect one’s own resolve, one must also respect the resolve of others. If one loses their life in that process, that too is a facet of that respect.
Acceptance and non-acceptance.
The difference emerges there.
If one accepts it, weight is given to that path, and ordinarily, a person of this caliber will inevitably shake the Murim in the future.
It is on an entirely different dimension from what Seol Woon-hwi does now.
Unmistakably.
Gun Mu-gyeol could be certain.
The magnitude of resolve that Seol Woon-hwi before his eyes possessed was verily that of the Martial World Supreme.
Yes. This man is one who could become the Martial World Supreme in the future and have all the Murim and every nation kneel beneath his feet without issue.
Because he possesses a heart of that magnitude.
“…It is astonishing. Truly astonishing.”
Seol Woon-hwi silently raised his cup to his lips.
And then it happened.
Gun Mu-gyeol extended his hand.
Seol Woon-hwi’s cup froze in mid-air.
“…That will suffice. Do not drink.”
As Gun Mu-gyeol flicked his fingers, the cup fell straight to the ground. The vessel shattered, and wine splattered across the floor.
“I failed to recognize a true martial artist even when standing before one.”
“You are too kind.”
“No, it is not kindness. It is sincerity.”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s eyes grew even softer.
“Let us begin.”
“Very well.”
Seol Woon-hwi retrieved something from the Sunset Platform.
It was a Go Board.
“…Go?”
“Yes.”
Seol Woon-hwi also produced a pouch of Go Stones.
Black and white.
“The principles of Martial Learning resemble the game of Go.”
“….”
“Will you play a game of Go?”
Gun Mu-gyeol hesitated briefly, then nodded.
“Good.”
I handed the black stones to Gun Mu-gyeol and took the white stones for myself.
“Please make the first move.”
Gun Mu-gyeol picked up the black stones.
Clack—
He placed his opening move.
The flower point.
A classical opening.
I placed my white stone as well.
Clack—
I asked him a question.
“Do you understand the concept of Wuji—the Primordial?”
“…Wuji?”
“Emptiness itself. A state of absolute nothingness.”
I pointed to the empty Go board.
“This board is Wuji. There is nothing upon it.”
“…I see.”
“But the Alliance Leader has now made the first move.”
I gestured toward his black stone.
“From Wuji, Taiji has emerged.”
“…”
“From nothingness, existence is born.”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s eyes shifted with understanding.
“Continue.”
“What do you believe is the essence of the Northern Ming Divine Art?”
“Is it not mutual benefit?”
“It is Wuji.”
“…Wuji?”
“Yes. An ocean that accepts all things. To empty oneself and receive the Heaven and Earth Energy.”
“Hmm…”
“But the Alliance Leader has not yet achieved complete emptiness.”
“…What do you mean?”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s brow furrowed.
“What are you saying?”
“The realm of Great Void Formless.”
I continued.
“A state where form exists yet is formless. The Alliance Leader dwells there.”
“…That is true.”
“But that is not yet Wuji.”
“…Hmm…”
“You have drawn near to the Formless, yet you still remain conscious of form.”
I gazed at Gun Mu-gyeol.
“Because you possess confidence. But if you regard the self with the mask and the self without it as one and the same, how can you still be conscious of form?”
Gun Mu-gyeol clenched his teeth.
Clack—
Gun Mu-gyeol placed a stone without a word.
I responded in kind.
Clack—
“To ascend to the Primordial Sole Existence,”
I spoke while observing the Go Board.
“You must forget even yourself.”
“…Forget yourself?”
“Yes. You must forget the existence called ‘I’.”
“Then what becomes of you?”
“You become one with Heaven and Earth.”
I spoke with certainty.
“There is no self, no Heaven and Earth. There is only oneness.”
Gun Mu-gyeol fell silent.
Clack, clack, clack—
The game continued.
Black and white stones filled the board.
I asked,
“Do you know the Wandering Carefree Path?”
It was Gun Mu-gyeol’s Exclusive Martial Art—an Ultimate Technique that he could not possibly be unfamiliar with.
Gun Mu-gyeol answered decisively.
“To wander freely.”
“Indeed. But true Wandering Carefree Path is,”
I pointed to the empty spaces on the Go Board.
“To wander yet leave no traces, is it not?”
“…”
“To walk upon water without ripples, to soar through the sky without stirring the wind.”
“Is that the true meaning of acting without action, following nature?”
“It is.”
Gun Mu-gyeol placed another stone.
Clack—
But his hand trembled.
“…Seol Confucius.”
“Yes.”
“You,”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s voice grew low.
“Are you deceiving me?”
“I am speaking the truth, sir.”
“This enlightenment of Primordial Sole Existence.”
Killing intent flickered across Gun Mu-gyeol’s eyes.
“Is it truly possible?”
“It is possible.”
“Then prove it.”
“I am proving it right now.”
Seol Woon-hwi answered calmly.
“…What?”
“I continue to prove it. It is merely that the Alliance Leader cannot perceive it.”
In that instant.
Boom—!!
Gun Mu-gyeol’s internal energy erupted.
The entire chamber trembled.
The aura of Great Void Formless.
It was overwhelming.
Namgung Won Yang placed her hand upon her sword from behind, yet her fingers trembled visibly.
In contrast, Seol Woon-hwi remained utterly unmoved.
He merely gazed upon the Go Board.
“Young Master Seol.”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s voice grew cold and sharp.
“Are you toying with me?”
“I am not.”
“Then why.”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s eyes bore down upon Seol Woon-hwi.
“Why do I feel nothing?”
“You are feeling it.”
Seol Woon-hwi spoke quietly.
“You simply have not yet realized it.”
“…What?”
“Alliance Leader.”
Seol Woon-hwi looked directly at Gun Mu-gyeol.
“You are angry right now.”
“…”
“Why are you angry?”
Gun Mu-gyeol could not answer. Yet he knew the answer.
Both Seol Woon-hwi and Gun Mu-gyeol knew.
“You fear that you may never ascend to Primordial Sole Existence.”
“…”
“Fear has transformed into rage.”
My voice continued calmly.
“But to ascend to the Primordial Sole Existence…”
“….”
“You must release everything—fear, rage, all of it.”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s killing intent gradually subsided.
“…Continue.”
“Observe the Go Board.”
I gestured toward the Go Board.
“Black and white stones are intermingled.”
“…Indeed.”
“But look closely.”
My finger moved slowly across the Go Board.
“Black remains black, white remains white. They are not mixed.”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s gaze turned toward the Go Board.
I continued speaking.
“Yet when you view the entire board…”
I encompassed the entire Go Board with my hand.
“It becomes one.”
“…What…?”
“This is the Primordial Sole Existence.”
Gun Mu-gyeol’s eyes widened.
“Mixed, yet unified.”
I continued.
“Black and white stones do not blend, yet they form a single game of Go.”
“….”
“The same applies to the Alliance Leader’s Northern Ming Divine Art and the Free Wanderer’s Path.”
“…Ah…?”
“The two martial arts do not blend. Northern Ming Divine Art remains Northern Ming Divine Art, and Free Wanderer’s Path remains Free Wanderer’s Path.”
“Then how…?”
“But.”
I stated with certainty.
“They form a single entity—the Alliance Leader.”
Silence fell.
Gun Mu-gyeol gazed intently at the Go Board.
For a long while.
“…I think I’m beginning to see it.”
“You still have far to go.”
“…Mm.”
“Seeing and understanding are different things.”
Seol Woon-hwi picked up another Go Stone.
Clack—
“Let us continue.”
The game resumed.
Mid-game.
Dozens of stones now filled the Go Board.
“Alliance Leader.”
“…Yes.”
“Please recite the first verse of the Incantation Formula from the Northern Abyss Divine Art.”
“…In the northern abyss there is a fish, and its name is Kun.”
“What is its meaning?”
“In the northern sea there exists a fish, and it is called Kun.”
“What manner of fish is it?”
“Its size cannot be known.”
“Why cannot it be known?”
“…Because the sea is far too vast.”
“Precisely.”
Seol Woon-hwi nodded.
“The essence of the Northern Abyss Divine Art is the sea itself. Not the Kun.”
“…”
“You have concentrated on the Kun all this time.”
“…That is true.”
“But what you must truly perceive is the sea.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————