Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 440

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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 440
Chapter 2
Entering the sect posed no difficulties.
Though I had exchanged martial techniques with Yeong Woon-seong along the way, Cheon Do-ja’s resolve was already set, and mine was no different.
Since it was all mere formality, I saw no reason to dwell on it.
Now came the true matter at hand.
There was no need for time to heal.
The efficacy of the Mannyeon Icecrystal had not yet faded.
My broken arm had mended, my shattered ribs had knitted together, and my damaged organs had returned to their proper places. The only delay came from expelling Yeong Woon-seong’s Blood Energy that lingered within my body.
I moved to the Separate Residence located deep within the Blood Cult Central Hall.
This was a place Cheon Do-ja occasionally visited and stayed.
It was positioned quite high within the Central Hall, and the view it commanded was magnificent.
As a side note, in my previous life, this was where I had dwelt.
I passed through a broad corridor and moved into the garden. I climbed the stairs constructed there.
A familiar path.
A path I had walked countless times in my previous life.
Upon arriving at the Separate Residence, I paused to survey my surroundings. Nothing had changed.
It towered high into the sky, and clouds were visible.
I was not breathless or fatigued. I was not the sort of person to be.
Just as I was about to open the door silently.
“Why do you linger outside?”
It was Cheon Do-ja.
“Come in.”
I opened the door and stepped inside.
Cheon Do-ja sat before a Go Board. He was reviewing a game by himself.
He slowly lifted his head and regarded me.
Cheon Do-ja paused his hand and asked.
“Is your body well?”
“Yes. I am well.”
“It is not.”
“Yes.”
I sat across from him with the Go Board between us.
Cheon Do-ja cleared away the Go Stones.
Slowly.
One by one.
“Shall we play a game?”
“I shall not decline.”
Cheon Do-ja picked up a Black Stone and placed it on the star point.
Clack.
The sound resonated.
I picked up a White Stone.
And placed it.
Click.
The game of Go had begun.
In the silence, only the sound of stones striking the board echoed.
Click.
Click.
Click.
How much time had passed?
Cheon Do-ja opened his mouth.
“Are you satisfied?”
I froze mid-reach for another stone. I lifted my head.
Satisfied with what?
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Is the Blood Cult the final brushstroke that completes the picture you’ve been painting?”
My eyes grew serious.
The final brushstroke.
There was no need to deliberate on this.
“No, sir.”
“No?”
“Yes. I believe it would be premature to speak of the final brushstroke so soon from the beginning.”
“Is that so.”
“Everything is a process. Is it not?”
This time, Cheon Do-ja flinched slightly.
A subtle smile crossed his face.
“Do you know something?”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“I find you strangely appealing.”
“You’ve held favorable regard for me since our first meeting.”
“Hmm, was that so?”
“I thought it was because the first impression was striking.”
I paused briefly before placing another stone and continuing.
“But it wasn’t.”
“It wasn’t?”
“You saw traces of distorted Heavenly Energy within me.”
“….”
“You must have considered various possibilities about what that signifies.”
“….”
“And you realized it. One singular answer, excluding all other variables.”
I smiled faintly.
“From that moment on, you must have decided to watch over me. You observed everything I did, everything I intended to do—watching it all again and again.”
“….”
“This time, I wish to ask you something. Are you satisfied with me?”
Cheon Do-ja laughed brightly.
“Satisfied? Of course I am.”
“I’m relieved to hear that, Cheon No-ya.”
The two of them resumed placing stones on the board.
For a time, only the sound of stones being placed echoed through the silence.
It was Seol Woon-hwi who spoke first.
“I have had two fathers.”
“Mm.”
“One shared no blood with me, yet I followed him as a foster father. The favors I received from him are countless. And I have repaid every one of those debts.”
“Repaid them?”
“Yes. Without the slightest shortfall—in fact, I repaid them abundantly.”
“Then, did you also hear the opinion of this foster father of yours?”
“There was no need to hear it.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I know what his heart desires.”
Cheon Do-ja’s eyes deepened.
“My entry into the Origin Blood Sect was not to repay that debt. As I said before, I have already repaid all such obligations.”
“Then why did you come?”
“You extended an invitation, and moreover, I needed to come.”
“You needed to?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask the reason?”
Seol Woon-hwi set down his stone for a moment and straightened his posture.
“The path I walk—it may well differ from yours, Cheon No-ya.”
“….”
“Until now, I believed they were the same. But there is certainly something different about them. Because they differ, I stand here now, and you stand there.”
Cheon Do-ja’s smile deepened at Seol Woon-hwi’s words.
It was a truly meaningful statement.
“I intend to discover what that difference is. And.”
“And?”
“I am not your hunting dog.”
“Who said I would use you as one?”
“I know you wouldn’t, but I wanted to make it certain.”
“Hehehehe….”
“I will do what I believe is right.”
“And you will bear the consequences yourself?”
“Yes.”
“I know what kind of result that would be.”
“Whatever the outcome, if it arose from walking a path I believed was right, then I must bear it.”
Cheon Do-ja’s eyes curved with pleasure. The more they conversed, the more he appreciated every word that fell from Seol Woon-hwi’s lips.
“That is what a Martial Artist is, is it not?”
“A Martial Artist, yes.”
“One who holds a conviction.”
“Who never bends until the moment of death.”
“A person who carries the blade of belief in their chest.”
“And one who understands the weight of that belief.”
The dialogue between the two men, flowing like connected sentences, naturally came to a pause.
They regarded each other in silence.
Whether acknowledged or not, the two men resembled each other, just as many had sensed.
Whether it stemmed from their willingness to learn or was inherent from birth, no one could say, but because they were alike, their actions and thoughts were similar as well.
Cheon Do-ja slowly opened his mouth.
“What role could you play in the Blood Cult at present?”
It was the most important question.
Seol Woon-hwi answered immediately.
“The unification of the Central Plains.”
Cheon Do-ja smiled and placed a stone.
“I understand the Blood Cult’s interior is turbulent.”
“It is turbulent.”
“The sub-factions desire it. The disciples desire it as well.”
Seol Woon-hwi picked up a stone.
He paused briefly in thought.
Where should he place it?
*Clack.*
“What do you think, Cult Leader?”
“Hmm.”
Cheon Do-ja let out a soft laugh.
“I have no interest.”
*Clack.*
“What changes if the Central Plains are unified? People still die, power still corrupts, and desire still knows no end.”
“….”
“I see no meaning in it.”
Seol Woon-hwi placed a stone as he spoke.
“But as I mentioned before, the sub-factions desire it.”
Cheon Do-ja nodded.
“They do.”
“Not only the Five Major Factions, but even the smaller sub-factions. All cry out for the unification of the Central Plains.”
*Clack.*
“It seems to hold meaning for them.”
Seol Woon-hwi gazed at the Go Board.
Black and White.
They were contending for territory against each other.
“If Cheon No-ya shows no interest.”
Seol Woon-hwi looked toward Cheon Do-ja.
“I will resolve it.”
Cheon Do-ja’s hand froze.
Still holding a stone.
“Resolve it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Seol Woon-hwi picked up a stone.
“Does the process matter?”
“It does matter.”
“But I believe the result matters more than that.”
“It’s a question without a definitive answer, but if you think so, then that shall be correct. Heheheh.”
Cheon Do-ja, having spoken thus, gazed silently at Seol Woon-hwi.
For a long time.
Then.
Click.
He placed a stone.
“Continue speaking.”
“The problem with the Blood Cult now is that the sub-factions act independently.”
Seol Woon-hwi pointed at the Go Board.
“Like this board. Black and White play separately.”
Click.
“The Main Headquarters goes its own way, and the sub-factions go theirs.”
“….”
“That is why the sub-factions cry out for unifying the Central Plains. Since the Main Headquarters does not move, they will move themselves.”
Cheon Do-ja nodded.
“And then?”
“They must be bound into one.”
Seol Woon-hwi’s voice was resolute.
“A bridge is needed to connect the Main Headquarters and the sub-factions.”
Click.
“That bridge is a position.”
Cheon Do-ja took a sip of tea.
One sip.
“What position?”
“A position more prominent than the Vice Sect Leader.”
Seol Woon-hwi spoke.
“A position that communicates directly with the sub-factions, listens to their voices, and simultaneously conveys the will of the Main Headquarters.”
“….”
“Formally similar to the Vice Sect Leader, but substantively holding greater authority.”
Tap.
Seol Woon-hwi placed a stone.
“Below One Person, Above Ten Thousand.”
Cheon Do-ja’s eyes narrowed.
“…You’re suggesting the creation of such a position.”
“Yes.”
“And you intend to occupy that seat yourself.”
“That is correct.”
Tap.
Cheon Do-ja placed a stone.
“There must be a reason.”
“There is.”
Seol Woon-hwi met Cheon Do-ja’s gaze directly.
“What the sub-factions desire is not the unification of the Central Plains.”
“Hmm…?”
“Recognition.”
Seol Woon-hwi’s voice lowered.
“They wish to be recognized by the Main Headquarters. To be acknowledged as members of the Blood Cult. To be valued as much as the Main Headquarters itself.”
Tap.
“Yet the Main Headquarters does not see them. Because the Cult Leader shows no interest.”
“….”
“Therefore, they cry out for the unification of the Central Plains. They wish to accomplish something grand and earn recognition from the Main Headquarters.”
Cheon Do-ja laughed.
A soft chuckle.
“Perceptive.”
Tap.
Cheon Do-ja sipped his tea again.
“So you would create such a position to grant the sub-factions recognition.”
“Precisely.”
“It will not be easy.”
“I have no intention of walking an easy path.”
Cheon Do-ja gazed at the Go Board.
They were now entering the middle game.
Black held a slight advantage.
“You intend to spill blood.”
“If necessary, it must be scattered, must it not?”
“Hehehehe… Very well. I shall create a place for you.”
Cheon Do-ja set down the stone and continued, regarding Seol Woon-hwi.
“But you will need a name, will you not?”
“I have already given it thought.”
“Speak then.”
Seol Woon-hwi fell silent for a moment.
Soon, a single word flowed from his lips.
“Blood Heaven Middle Emperor.”
Cheon Do-ja’s eyes gleamed.
“Blood Heaven Middle Emperor?”
“Yes.”
“Blood, Heaven, Middle, Righteous.”
Seol Woon-hwi explained.
“It means to stand at the center beneath the heavens of the Blood Cult, upholding righteousness.”
“…”
“A position that maintains balance between the Main Headquarters and the sub-factions, guiding the entire Blood Cult toward the righteous path.”
Cheon Do-ja laughed.
Brilliantly.
“I am pleased. Truly pleased.”
It could not have been otherwise.
For it was Cheon Do-ja himself who had first created the position of Blood Heaven Middle Emperor, and who had forged the very name itself.
Tak.
He placed the stone.
“Blood Heaven Middle Emperor. A fine name indeed.”
“Thank you.”
“Then from this day forth, I shall establish that position.”
Cheon Do-ja’s voice was resolute.
“And I shall appoint you as its first Blood Heaven Middle Emperor.”
Seol Woon-hwi bowed his head.
“Thank you.”

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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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