Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 439

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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 439
Blood flowed from his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. His entire body was drenched in crimson.
Several ribs were fractured, and his internal organs had suffered severe damage.
The Mannyeon Icecrystal’s effects were mending him, yet he made no effort to move.
Seol Woon-hwi’s hand held no sword.
That blade was elsewhere.
It now rested in the hands of Yeong Woon-seong, who stood before him.
More precisely, it was embedded in the blood streaming from his shoulder.
It had pierced straight through.
Had it descended even slightly lower, it would have pierced his heart.
At this incomprehensible turn of events, everyone save Cheon Do-ja stood with gaping mouths.
The body of Great Void Formless. Pierced by the blade of Heaven-Human Unity?
Yeong Woon-seong silently touched his shoulder, blood staining his palm. He grasped the blade embedded there and drew it free. Pain surged through him. Yet he smiled.
Brilliantly.
“Did I… lose?”
“No, sir. It was a draw.”
Seol Woon-hwi rose to his feet. As he wiped the blood from his face, his composure seemed oddly serene.
“…You… are a monster.”
“You are too kind.”
“Hah…”
Yeong Woon-seong quietly handed the sword back to Seol Woon-hwi and asked.
“How did you manage it?”
Seol Woon-hwi paused in thought before speaking.
“I observed.”
“Observed?”
“Though I am at Heaven-Human Unity and you are at Great Void Formless, if a blade pierces either of us, we both die the same.”
“That is true.”
“My best choice, with a relatively lower realm, was to exploit an opening. I felt it as I countered your fists.”
“An opening in my technique?”
“Yes.”
Seol Woon-hwi’s voice was measured, yet it resonated throughout the entire Grand Hall.
“When you swung your fists, there was a moment where your qi became disordered.”
“…I see…”
“You were likely aware of it.”
“…”
“But it was not easy to correct.”
Yeong Woon-seong’s eyes gleamed.
“Is there a method?”
“If you ask how to correct it, then yes, there is.”
“…Would you tell me if I asked here and now?”
“Of course. When qi becomes disrupted, it means the energies from consecutive movements are colliding with each other. When striking multiple times, it would be better to intersperse your strikes with other techniques—perhaps a kick here and there—rather than relying solely on your fists.”
“…Hmm?”
This was truly an absurdly simple problem.
In fact, the answer had already been determined, and in my previous life, Seol Woon-hwi had personally corrected Yeong Woon-seong’s technique using this very method.
This approach.
“You seem to enjoy striking people, so why not use your feet as well as your fists? When you only use your fists, the qi collides. If you circulate the energy that would rise upward downward as well, the qi will flow more smoothly without collision. Yes. It is harmony.”
“Harmony….”
It was just as Yeong Woon-seong was about to say something.
His eyes blazed with sudden clarity.
Lightning descended upon his mind.
It was enlightenment.
He immediately attempted to sit in lotus position, but the moment he settled, he stopped.
“…Ah….”
A sigh escaped him.
“Did you perceive something?”
“…I felt it, but it vanished.”
Ascending from Great Void Formless to Primordial Sole Existence is never easy. Such cases are common.
“Next time, you will surely ascend.”
Yeong Woon-seong smiled brightly.
After rising to his feet, he asked casually.
“Did you deliberately target my shoulder?”
Seol Woon-hwi shook his head.
“That was the only opening I could perceive at my current level.”
“Hmm….”
“If I possessed Limitless Divine Manifestation, I might have been able to target your heart, but I cannot be certain.”
Yeong Woon-seong laughed once more.
It was then.
Cheon Do-ja opened his mouth with a quiet voice.
“Elder Yeong.”
“Ah. Yes. Headquarters.”
“What do you make of him? That young man.”
Yeong Woon-seong regarded Seol Woon-hwi once more.
“Exceptional.”
“Hehehehe….”
“Indeed, you are worthy of being the Headquarters. To bring forth talent of this caliber. With this, the strength of the Blood Cult grows ever greater, does it not?”
“It shall. But are you not in pain?”
“This much will heal with a bit of salve.”
“Then go sit down.”
“Yes, sir.”
Yeong Woon-seong smiled faintly at Seol Woon-hwi, then returned to his previous seat and sat down.
Cheon Do-ja spoke.
“You have all witnessed it.”
His gaze was fixed upon Seol Woon-hwi, yet his words were directed at the other Elders.
The Elders nodded in acknowledgment.
“We shall accept this one. Does anyone object?”
There was no one.
“Excellent.”
For a moment.
Seol Woon-hwi looked up at Cheon Do-ja.
Cheon Do-ja looked down at Seol Woon-hwi.
Cheon Do-ja smiled faintly.
“Since none on our side object, very well. Now, let me hear your second question.”
Seol Woon-hwi hesitated for a moment.
There was a question I had prepared beforehand.
Should I ask it? Or should I preserve Cheon Do-ja’s dignity?
Sensing this brief deliberation, Cheon Do-ja spoke casually.
“Ask freely. Whatever question you wish, whatever you desire to know from me, whatever you seek to understand.”
I closed my eyes for a moment.
The Cheon Do-ja of my previous life flashed before my eyes.
The bond we had built together.
The conversations we had shared.
As I have mentioned many times, I followed Cheon Do-ja as I would a foster father.
I harbored regret and sorrow toward Seol Jung-cheon, yet it was Cheon Do-ja who later filled that void.
Cheon Do-ja was everything to me.
I followed his every word.
Though Cheon Do-ja was a man of many secrets, I never pressed him on them.
The reason I did not was because I believed in him and trusted him.
Cheon Do-ja would make the right choice.
He was the person who best embodied the martial artist I aspired to be.
When I destroyed the Thunder Lightning Demon Sect, shattered the Blood Stones, and touched not only Heaven Gate but also the Maitreya Brahma Heaven Sect, he asked me only one thing.
Whether I believed it was right.
I answered that I did. That I believed it was right.
I.
Left the Origin Blood Sect.
On the day I was about to step down, Cheon Do-ja told me to eat this before I left.
It was poison.
I asked him.
Was this what the Sect Lord considered the “right thing”?
He answered without the slightest hesitation.
That it was the right thing.
So I consumed it.
A poison that cannot be detoxified.
Had I risked my life to detoxify it, I could have managed it.
But I could not.
Because it was what Cheon Do-ja deemed correct.
Seol Woon-hwi was going to his death, and Cheon Do-ja had permitted it.
I could not detoxify it. It was the final link, and Cheon Do-ja knew this as well.
How should I express this?
Was I abandoned by Cheon Do-ja?
Or did I abandon Cheon Do-ja?
There is no answer. Only consequences remain.
The Cheon Do-ja of my previous life and the Cheon Do-ja of now are certainly the same yet different people. Would he have read this situation?
Did he wish for it to come to this?
I do not know.
Seol Woon-hwi drew forth the question he had harbored in his heart.
“Then, if I may be so bold as to inquire despite my rudeness.”
“Go ahead.”
“Does Cheon No-ya possess a hobby of discarding people?”
At those words, all the Elders’ eyes widened.
Among them, some bristled with indignation.
What kind of absurd question was that?
Who did Cheon Do-ja think he was?
Since when did he discard anyone?
This insolent wretch.
This vermin.
“What utter nonsense!”
“Do you comprehend the weight of your words!”
Thump.
With that sharp sound, a malevolent aura rippled outward toward all the Elders.
They all fell silent.
Their mouths had been sealed. It was not Cheon Do-ja’s doing.
It was Grand Elder Yeong Woon-seong.
“All of you, be quiet.”
His gaze swept across all the surrounding Elders.
“Is not the Main Headquarters engaged in conversation? Who taught you such foolishness as to dare interrupt that discourse?”
It was truly menacing.
At Yeong Woon-seong’s aura, as if he might shatter their skulls on the spot, all the Elders fell silent.
Yeong Woon-seong then rose from his seat and offered the Embracing Fist salute toward Cheon Do-ja.
“Grand Elder Yeong Woon-seong begs forgiveness from the Main Headquarters.”
Cheon Do-ja, who had been staring directly at Seol Woon-hwi, slowly turned his head to regard Yeong Woon-seong.
“I will ensure the Elders receive proper education. My apologies.”
“What fault could our Grand Elder possibly have?”
“No, I apologize again. With a guest present, it is my failure to have displayed such lax discipline.”
Cheon Do-ja shook his head.
“It is fine. Be seated.”
“Yes, Main Headquarters.”
Yeong Woon-seong, settling into his seat, cast a subtle glance toward Seol Woon-hwi and sent a transmission.
-My apologies for interjecting into the conversation. As you well know, the Elders here can be rather… rough around the edges.
Seol Woon-hwi nodded as if to say it was no trouble.
Yeong Woon-seong was not sitting in the position of Grand Elder for nothing.
He was loyal to the Blood Cult and loyal to Cheon Do-ja.
Cheon Do-ja was his benefactor for life, and if he commanded it, Yeong Woon-seong would even feign death without hesitation.
Why had he spent more than decades in his previous life sitting in the Grand Elder’s seat, sustaining the Blood Cult?
Now, everything could be explained by this very moment.
The Grand Hall fell silent once more.
Cheon Do-ja, who had been slowly turning over Seol Woon-hwi’s question in his mind, spoke in a quiet voice.
“Before I answer your question, have you abandoned any memories?”
“I have.”
“Not from the Snow Palace, I presume.”
Seol Woon-hwi let out a soft laugh.
“You remain as cunning as ever.”
“Take it as a compliment.”
Silence settled once more.
This was truly a fatal question.
After a moment of thought, Cheon Do-ja spoke in a quiet voice.
“I have no memory of abandoning anyone.”
“….”
“Nor shall I ever.”
“You must have a greater cause to fulfill.”
“I do.”
“In the process of achieving it, there will be times when you must abandon your own people.”
“There will be.”
“Then what will you do in such moments?”
“I will not abandon them.”
“Do you have a reason?”
“Because they are my people.”
“….”
“No matter how important the cause, protecting my people is also a cause. Without that cause, what meaning would there be in achieving anything?”
“….”
“Then I suppose I must define what my people means to me.”
Cheon Do-ja surveyed his surroundings.
“Everyone present here is My People. I consider them as such, and I do not hesitate to wield the rod of discipline when they commit wrongs.”
“What manner of discipline do you speak of, sir?”
“If it is a crime worthy of death, I will execute them.”
“I understand.”
“To become My People means to uphold righteousness and principle. Should they abandon this, succumb to greed, and cross the line they must not cross—”
Cheon Do-ja’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
“I will wield the rod. But in that process, I will offer them a choice.”
“What choice is that?”
“The choice of how they wish to conclude their final moments, a choice that preserves their dignity.”
….
“If they wish to die as a martial artist, I will grant them that death. If there exists a path to redemption, I will show it to them. In whatever manner, My People do not die ‘miserably.’ I will not allow such an end.”
Seol Woon-hwi gazed up at Cheon Do-ja in silence.
Though it might be insufficient in some respects, viewed another way, it sounded like a sufficient answer.
This was enough.
“Will you enter?”
“Yes.”
Thus.
Seol Woon-hwi stepped into the Blood Cult once more.

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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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