Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 441

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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 441
Tak.
Seol Woon-hwi placed a stone.
The two continued their game of Go.
In silence.
Only the sound of stones being placed echoed.
Tak.
Tak.
Tak.
A war was unfolding upon the Go board.
Black and white.
Each expanding their territory, capturing the opponent’s stones, and building their domains.
It was evenly matched.
But.
As time passed.
Black began to gain a gradual advantage.
Cheon Do-ja’s moves ran deep.
Each move carried meaning, and he was looking several moves ahead.
Seol Woon-hwi did his utmost as well.
Drawing upon the experience of my previous life, I made my moves, searched for openings, and waited for opportunities to counterattack.
Sweat was beading on my forehead. I was concentrating to that degree.
But the more I did so, the clearer one truth became.
It won’t work.
This is beyond my reach.
Cheon Do-ja’s Go was as natural as flowing water.
He did not force a victory, did not artificially construct territories, but simply allowed the game to flow.
Yet within that flow, white’s domain was steadily shrinking.
This is truly terrifying.
Follow the flow and I am drawn in and swept away; abandon it and the approaching current from behind consumes me.
There was no way to escape this flow, no matter what I did.
There is no correct answer.
At least not one I could find right now.
Whether it was because the level of enlightenment in my mind differed, or because the realm I occupied was different.
I had felt this sensation many times before.
Clearly, even when displaying abilities and qualities that overwhelm ten thousand, the moment I faced Cheon Do-ja, there was always one step.
At best, half a step.
That degree of difference was always felt. An unbridgeable, absolute gap.
I had striven to narrow it as much as possible, and through doing so, I came to understand that aforementioned ‘half step’.
Cheon Do-ja, no matter what, was always ‘half a step’ ahead of me.
This half step was so absolute that calling it insurmountable would be an understatement.
No Cheon-myeong took decades to progress from the Heaven-Human Realm to Heaven-Human Unity.
The realm where Seol Woon-hwi and Cheon Do-ja resided was far beyond that.
A single step forward at such heights could never equal a step taken from below.
That was it.
The difference between the two of us.
Click.
I placed the final stone.
“Half a territory difference, then.”
“So it is. Hehehehe.”
Seol Woon-hwi began clearing the stones from the board.
Cheon Do-ja helped him clear them as well.
“Regrettable, isn’t it?”
“Indeed, it is.”
“But it was a fine game of Go.”
“It was.”
Cheon Do-ja gazed at Seol Woon-hwi.
“Next time, you will be able to win.”
“…I hope so.”
We finished clearing all the stones.
Cheon Do-ja poured tea again.
For Seol Woon-hwi.
And for himself.
“A personal question, if I may ask one?”
At Cheon Do-ja’s seemingly serious inquiry, Seol Woon-hwi’s expression grew grave as well.
“Please, speak.”
Cheon Do-ja then asked him.
“Are you satisfied?”
It was a brief question.
Yet it was one laden with meaning—far more meaning than one could possibly imagine.
“I have harbored much regret.”
“Regret, you say…?”
“Have you, No-ya—or rather, has the Main Headquarters—harbored regret?”
“I have.”
Cheon Do-ja’s eyes wavered.
“Countless regrets, and from ages I can no longer recall until this very moment, I harbor regret with every passing instant.”
“Then in that regard alone, it seems I am somewhat better off than you.”
“Hmm?”
“At least until this very moment today, I harbor no regret. And I will have none in the future either.”
“Ho…”
“That is my answer to your question, Main Headquarters. Are you satisfied? Yes. I am satisfied. I am satisfied now, and I will remain satisfied in all the days to come.”
“A path walked without regret… I too pursue such a path, yet those who walk it inevitably create enemies.”
“I am aware.”
“And that enemy could very well be me, standing before your eyes.”
Seol Woon-hwi smiled faintly.
“When we last met, we discussed this very matter. Do you remember?”
“There is no way I could forget.”
“At that time, I said this: those who attempt to wield me as a blade will inevitably pay the price.”
“Indeed.”
“I am a blade that moves by my own will. I do not move at another’s command. However, should anyone attempt to force that will, they become my enemy—and in this matter, even the Main Headquarters before my eyes is no exception.”
Cheon Do-ja fell silent for a moment.
He clearly favored Seol Woon-hwi.
It was not because he knew Seol Woon-hwi’s secrets or anything of that nature.
It was truly not for such reasons.
Seol Woon-hwi’s present bearing.
Those unwavering eyes even as he spoke such words.
It was unmistakable sincerity.
In truth, Seol Woon-hwi had lived exactly as those words proclaimed.
That.
That aspect pleased him immensely.
A man’s chosen path must be free of regret.
A path stained with regret is ultimately the same as one mired in despair and fear.
Seol Woon-hwi harbored neither despair nor fear. He possessed certainty in the path he walked alone, and he wagered his very life upon that certainty.
A true martial artist.
A genuine martial artist.
“…Excellent. Truly.”
At those brief words, Seol Woon-hwi bowed his head in silence.
Cheon Do-ja spoke.
“I hope that the end between you and me brings satisfaction to us both.”
Seol Woon-hwi raised his head and replied.
“The same wish is mine, Main Headquarters.”
The two men gazed at each other once more in silence. Questions dwelling in their minds, and answers that ought to be given.
Both were deferring them.
They understood that speaking now would disrupt the current flow.
They waited for the moment each deemed appropriate.
In this too, these two resembled one another.
Seol Woon-hwi slowly opened his mouth.
“Since we are speaking of such matters, might I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead.”
“If I were to learn the ‘truth,’ would that place you in difficulty?”
“…Hmm… that is a troublesome question to answer.”
“There is no need for you to do so.”
“Still, I must. Did you not fail to answer my question honestly?”
“That is true.”
“Then answer me this: when you discover the truth, if in that moment you do not deny the path you have walked thus far, I will be satisfied. But should you deny even the slightest part of it, I will be disappointed.”
Seol Woon-hwi, who had been thinking for a moment, shook his head.
It was not an answer to the question.
“The Main Headquarters still speaks in riddles, I see.”
“Heh heh….”
“I asked whether I would trouble the Main Headquarters.”
“Whether you trouble me or not is ultimately my judgment to make, is it not?”
“That is correct.”
“Then… whatever it may be, there will be nothing that troubles me.”
Cheon Do-ja’s eyes gleamed.
“This is conviction.”
“Indeed.”
Cheon Do-ja gazed silently at Seol Woon-hwi as he answered thus.
For a long time.
Deeply.
Then he smiled.
“Blood Heaven Middle Emperor.”
“Yes.”
“I truly like this name. Tomorrow, I shall summon all the Elders, the leaders of the sub-factions, and the Blood Spirit Corps. I will make the official announcement at that gathering, and from tomorrow onward, you will bear that weight.”
“Thank you.”
“Authority to command the sub-factions. Authority to use the intelligence network. Authority to mobilize the resources of the Blood Cult.”
“….”
“The relationship with the Vice Sect Leader may be awkward, but that too shall be a new source of amusement. Are you confident?”
“Yes.”
“I see. This is why youth is so appealing. Wait, is it truly youth?”
Seol Woon-hwi laughed softly.
“I am far younger than the Main Headquarters.”
“Heh heh… indeed.”
Cheon Do-ja rose from his seat and walked toward the window.
“Seol Woon-hwi.”
As Cheon Do-ja spoke while gazing out the window, Seol Woon-hwi felt as though he had returned to the past.
The way Cheon Do-ja called him was not “you” or other such forms of address.
Seol Woon-hwi.
This brief name alone.
He lifted his head.
“I shall watch the path you walk.”
“The Main Headquarters may not approve of it.”
“That sounds like you’re saying my mind is narrow.”
“What appears broad may actually be narrow in reality, would it not?”
Cheon Do-ja chuckled softly.
“You know, I quite like you.”
“Is there a reason?”
“Well, I’m not sure if this qualifies as a reason, but I’ll simply say—’just because.'”
Seol Woon-hwi let out a quiet laugh.
“Liking something without reason is certainly possible.”
Seol Woon-hwi rose from his seat.
“Watch carefully. Whether you’ve embraced a wolf or a rabbit.”
After offering the Embracing Fist salute, Seol Woon-hwi departed, and Cheon Do-ja gazed after him in silence for a long while.
A wolf and a rabbit.
He shook his head.
From the very beginning until now, Cheon Do-ja had never once considered Seol Woon-hwi as either of those two.
Seol Woon-hwi was a tiger and a dragon.
A true divine being descended from Snow Mountain.
“Hehehehe….”
It truly seemed as though it would be entertaining.
For the first time in ages.
* * *
The Origin Blood Sect was the greatest organization in the Central Plains.
Whether righteous or demonic in path, none could ignore the prestige of the Origin Blood Sect.
Power accumulated over centuries.
The formidable strength that had completely fortified the Ilwol Plateau.
And the five sub-factions that protected the Main Sect.
Even the countless sects throughout the Central Plains that followed the Origin Blood Sect.
This alone defied reason, yet there was one exception.
There existed a being that transcended all of this.
The absolute existence known as Cheon Do-ja.
If a sect of this magnitude were not the greatest, then what sect could possibly claim that title?
To put it bluntly, the Origin Blood Sect wielded authority surpassing that of nations themselves.
And now, a new figure had entered the Origin Blood Sect.
Seol Woon-hwi.
There was no one who did not know that name.
A genius among geniuses who shook the Central Plains.
A Polar Descendant of the Eternal Snow Palace.
A hero who had erased the Nan Cheon Gate from existence.
This genius had transferred his allegiance from the Eternal Snow Palace to the Origin Blood Sect.
The rumors spread swiftly.
Throughout the entire Central Plains.
Martial artists chattered endlessly about it day after day.
Seol Woon-hwi had entered the Blood Cult, even receiving some new position called Blood Heaven Middle Commander—a title that barely made sense. Beyond the treatment befitting such a rank, did this even make logical sense?
As mentioned before, the Original Blood Sect was undoubtedly the supreme organization of the Central Plains.
That supreme organization had recruited an outsider and granted him a position rivaling the Vice Sect Leader, perhaps even surpassing it.
This defied all common sense.
Some even went so far as to say that Cheon Do-ja, the Cult Leader himself, had lost his mind.
Of course, they were a minority.
Most still acknowledged it.
Seol Woon-hwi was an existence that had never appeared in the history of the Martial World, and the current Supreme One had essentially stamped his approval on this fact.
All eyes turned toward him with keen interest.
What exactly would Seol Woon-hwi do?
Having obtained such a position within the Original Blood Sect, what could he possibly intend to accomplish?
A man stood gazing out the window.
The Office of the Vice Sect Leader of the Original Blood Sect.
The Vice Sect Leader—the Demonic Way Zen Master Yu Cheong.
With his usual expressionless face, he watched the cherry blossoms scattering beyond the window.
“So he has finally come.”
Seol Woon-hwi.
From the moment I heard that name, I felt unsettled.
A Polar Descendant of the Eternal Snow Palace.
Entangled since the time of Yang Seol-jin, and not long ago, I even saw his face directly.

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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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