Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 401

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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 401
Four days had passed since leaving Yang-ryeong.
Seol Woon-hwi and his party were resting at an inn nestled at the foot of Snow Mountain.
Ju So-ah was still recovering, and Namgung Won Yang was tending to her. It was the right thing to do for her complete recuperation.
Standing alone in the snow-blanketed courtyard outside the inn, Seol Woon-hwi turned his head.
A cart containing thirty-five heads.
That cart was a gift from Seol Woon-hwi, his will, and his justification.
He gazed silently up at the heavens.
“Lord Hyeon Seol-rin.”
At the low voice that suddenly reached his ears, Seol Woon-hwi turned his head.
A man emerged slowly from the darkness.
White robes and white hair.
His gaze was deep and piercing.
Hyeon Sim.
Leader of the White Command Guard.
The master of Limitless Divine Manifestation offered a cupped fist salute to Seol Woon-hwi, his expression complicated.
“Have you been well?”
“It is you, Leader. I have been well.”
Seol Woon-hwi lowered his fist as he spoke.
“It truly feels like it has been a long time.”
“Yes… it has been quite some time, but…”
Hyeon Sim’s gaze turned toward the cart.
Though it was covered with canvas, he knew.
What lay within it.
“Lord Hyeon Seol-rin. What exactly do you intend to do?”
“As you can see.”
“…”
Hyeon Sim drew a deep breath. Seol Woon-hwi continued.
“I believe I have given sufficient warning to the Elder Council.”
“Do you intend to kill them all?”
“Yes.”
At the short and clear answer, Hyeon Sim’s brow twitched.
“But your great-uncle is also there.”
He was speaking of Seol Cheon-hwa, the leader of the Elder Council.
“And he is also the Palace Lord’s uncle.”
“And?”
“…Yes?”
Hyeon Sim’s eyes widened.
Seol Woon-hwi spoke calmly.
“Blood is not that important.”
“…Lord Hyeon Seol-rin…!”
“Even if Seol Cheon-hwa shares the blood of the Seol clan, he is a man who will plunge Snow Palace into chaos.”
“How can that be?”
“Current Leader, do you truly not understand?”
“What do you mean?”
I walked slowly forward.
Only the crunch of snow beneath my feet broke the silence.
“He is one hundred and thirty-one years old this year.”
“…Yes.”
“Yet even at that age, he has not relinquished his ambitions.”
Hyeon Sim bit his lip.
My words were correct.
“Moreover, his retreat to the shadows was his own choice, and he has been content with that position all this time. At least, that is how it has appeared.”
Hyeon Sim’s eyes gleamed.
“What you’re saying is….”
I nodded.
“Seol Cheon-hwa is a man who manipulates circumstances from behind the scenes and reveals his influence.”
“….”
“Whenever a problem erupts in the open, he easily draws a line and turns away.”
My voice grew cold and heavy.
“I will speak plainly.”
I looked directly at Hyeon Sim.
“If Seol Cheon-hwa had come before me directly and asked for help bringing the Elder Council to the forefront, I would have gladly accepted. I would have gone with him to persuade Father and suggested giving him a proper opportunity. Yes, I would have been even more proactive in elevating the Elder Council. That is the truth.”
Hyeon Sim’s eyes widened.
I continued.
“For him to come to me with such a request would have shown that this was not mere ambition or scheming, but the resolve of a martial artist taking responsibility for his own actions and wielding his sword with conviction.”
“….”
“Yet what has he done instead?”
I let out a bitter laugh.
“I am certain he has not even spoken such words to Father. Am I right?”
Hyeon Sim nodded silently.
He was right.
From the moment Seol Cheon-hwa retreated to the shadows, he had done nothing.
He had not gone to see the Palace Lord, Seol Jung-cheon.
He had not requested a private audience.
He had not stepped outside at all.
He had merely confined himself to the Elder Council.
And it was Hyeon Sim who knew this—no one else.
The Thousand-Li Divine Eyes.
My two eyes overlooked the entirety of the Main Palace.
“He tried to use the Cheon Seol Sip Sam Dae to restrain me.”
Seol Woon-hwi’s voice grew even colder.
“In the process, he sold out my Elder Brother’s name as well, and the name of Cheon Seol Moon.”
Hyeon Sim’s expression darkened.
“He must have been moving behind the scenes for over half a year.”
“….”
“The Cheon Seol Sip Sam Dae, and surely various martial artists from the Main Palace have visited the Elder Council. Is that correct?”
“…Yes.”
Hyeon Sim let out a sigh.
“That’s right.”
He knew it well.
As the leader of the White Command Guard, as the one who monitored every movement of the Main Palace, he knew what Seol Cheon-hwa was doing behind the scenes.
But there was no justification to stop it.
If a Grand Elder of the Elder Council and a master of Heaven-Human Unity offered counsel, there would be countless people willing to trudge through the snow barefoot to follow it.
Seol Woon-hwi spoke.
“His plan is far too transparent. As my standing in the Murim expands, he seeks to position himself in opposition to me, thereby elevating his own value.”
“….”
“In doing so, the value of the Elder Council naturally rises as well.”
Seol Woon-hwi let out a soft laugh.
“As you well know, the relationship between me and the Polar Descendants.”
“Is quite excellent.”
Hyeon Sim replied.
“Yes. In fact, I’m on good terms with my Elder Brother as well.”
Seol Woon-hwi nodded.
“In such circumstances, there is no one who can restrain me.”
Hyeon Sim agreed.
That was true.
Who could possibly touch Seol Woon-hwi?
Before Seol Woon-hwi was even a remarkable person, all of the Polar Descendants who should compete with him harbored no such thoughts.
They understood his heart, owed him debts, and recognized the measure of his character.
Hyeon Seol-rin was somewhat problematic, but he was now conducting himself well in the Nan-cheon Region.
If he caused trouble, Hyeon Seol-rin would die, and his maternal sect, the Cold Ice Gate, would vanish from the world.
Even if that truly came to pass, there was no one who could hold Seol Woon-hwi accountable.
The Elder Council wished to play that role.
That would be the value Seol Cheon-hwa envisioned, and it would become the driving force that allowed him to demonstrate his influence and operate as a shadow manipulator on Snow Mountain.
“Leader.”
“Yes, Lord Hyeon Seol-rin.”
Seol Woon-hwi spoke slowly.
“I am not unaware that my Father has been watching over the Martial Alliance.”
Hyeon Sim’s eyes wavered.
“You must have been watching from quite a distance in the sky.”
I looked up at the heavens.
“If Gun Mu-gyeol moved or revealed his killing intent, you would have stepped in immediately.”
“….”
“I understand well the heart of a father who cherishes me to that degree.”
“Lord Hyeon Seol-rin… this is truly….”
Hyeon Sim’s voice trembled.
No matter what, what I was about to do was far too dangerous.
“That is precisely why.”
I met Hyeon Sim’s gaze directly.
“I will do what I must do, both for my father and for Snow Palace.”
“….”
“If my father commands me not to, then I shall refrain.”
I paused for a moment.
“But if you respect my will.”
My eyes deepened with resolve.
“Would you tell him to enter closed-door training, pretending to know nothing of this?”
Hyeon Sim’s eyes widened.
“…Is there a reason for this?”
“There is. As I have said repeatedly, I do not shy away from bearing filth upon myself.”
“….”
“To preserve my father’s reputation, my elder brother’s reputation, and to secure practical benefits as well.”
I pressed my hand to my chest.
“If I must stain my name with a few drops of blood, I consider this a bargain.”
“…Lord Hyeon Seol-rin.”
“So I shall be buried in obscurity. My elder brother need only tour the forces of the Ice Sea Region or Snow Mountain to settle matters.”
Hyeon Sim read it clearly.
That I spoke with absolute sincerity.
And that I had already planned everything.
Hyeon Sim thought to himself.
‘This man….’
‘He is utterly beyond prediction.’
‘Remarkable—nay, wondrous.’
He would stain his own name with blood to protect his father and brother.
He thinks of Snow Palace as a whole.
I had once described Hyeon Sim this way.
A loyal subject among loyal subjects.
Yet in this moment, Hyeon Sim understood with absolute certainty.
That Seol Woon-hwi of the Polar Descendants, Hyeon Seol-rin before his eyes, possessed a loyalty far deeper than his own.
Hyeon Sim drew in a deep breath.
“…Understood. I shall do as you say.”
“Thank you.”
“But will you also touch the Cheon-seol-mun?”
“I intend to issue them a warning.”
“As you did with the Cold Ice Gate back then?”
“Yes.”
Hyeon Sim exhaled deeply once more.
“…Understood. I shall convey this to the Palace Lord.”
“Thank you, Leader.”
Seol Woon-hwi performed a deep cupped fist salute.
Hyeon Sim returned the gesture in kind.
In an instant, Hyeon Sim’s physical form dissipated like smoke where he stood.
The next morning.
Seol Woon-hwi stood outside the inn.
A white speck descended from the sky.
A supreme-grade messenger bird.
The white dove alighted upon his hand.
He untied the letter bound to its leg.
He unfolded it.
There, it was written thus:
-Lord Hyeon Seol-rin. The Palace Lord has entered closed door training.
Seol Woon-hwi carefully folded the letter.
The board was set.
* * *
Five days later.
The Main Palace of the Eternal Snow Palace.
A carriage arrived at the colossal palace nestled deep within Snow Mountain.
The inspection was meaningless.
Who would dare interrogate the Polar Descendants when the Palace Lord himself had entered seclusion and the Young Palace Lord was away on his rounds?
Seol Woon-hwi proceeded unobstructed toward the Elder Council, situated in a corner of the Main Palace.
The Elder Council, upon arrival.
Though positioned in a corner, the building’s scale was far from modest.
It was a five-story structure whose grandeur rivaled that of the Palace Lord’s Hall itself.
Seol Woon-hwi, regarding the building with evident displeasure, drew his sword.
Manager Seong stood beside him, with Ju So-ah and Namgung Won Yang, both fully recovered, positioned behind.
Seol Woon-hwi spoke.
“I shall count to five. If you do not emerge by then, I shall enter myself.”
Seol Cheon-hwa is a master of Heaven-Human Unity.
He could not possibly be unaware that I and my companions had arrived at the Elder Council, nor could he fail to hear a voice of this volume.
Yet no answer came.
Then so be it.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I brought my sword down in a decisive strike.
Crash—!!
The doors of the Elder Council shattered in half.
It was far from over.
I raised my sword horizontally.
The Void Manifestation Qi surged to its absolute limit.
My ash-grey hair began to gradually turn white.
At this extraordinary sight, Manager Seong’s eyes widened, and both Ju So-ah and Namgung Won Yang gasped in shock.
The energy converged into the Jinwha Cheonryeong Sword.
Whooooom.
The blade vibrated.
I swung it silently.
Heaven-Defying Vast Sword.
One Vast Sword.
Screech—!!
The Elder Council split cleanly in two.
* * *
The highest level within the Elder Council.
Seol Cheon-hwa sat in meditation.
White hair and a face lined with age.
Yet his gaze remained sharp as ever.
One hundred and thirty-one years old.
A master of Heaven-Human Unity and the leader of the Elder Council.
“That impudent brat. He’s got some nerve.”
A scoff escaped him involuntarily.
Just as I had anticipated, Seol Cheon-hwa saw and heard everything.
I had said it clearly—I would count to five.
How absurd.
The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.
“Arrogant bastard. No discipline, no courtesy, no fundamentals whatsoever.”
Seol Cheon-hwa muttered to himself.
The thirty-five heads loaded onto the carriage were impressive in their own way.
‘He meant to use that as leverage.’
But what good would that do?
They were already dead.
Whether it was Dong Bang-jin or anyone else, the dead speak no words.

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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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