Survival Guide for the Reincarnated - Chapter 99
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 99
Haha…
Looking at my second elder brother laughing like that, I silently continued speaking.
“The reason you swallowed the Thousand Year Poison Snake, and the reason you devoted yourself to martial arts cultivation, were all choices made for the ‘Snow Palace.’ Am I right?”
“…Yes…”
I quietly observed my second elder brother’s bitter smile.
He slowly continued speaking.
“The Snow Palace is not a simple sect. It’s like a nation. The people who live in this barren place have been protected by the Snow Palace for generations. Only with our existence can they pursue stability. Someone must inevitably bear that noble value we’ve protected until now, and its weight.”
I could fully feel the weight contained in my second elder brother’s words.
To protect the Snow Palace’s values, he had even risked his own life.
Was he this kind of person?
This couldn’t be dismissed as simply not having many conversations until now.
His deep inner thoughts could only be heard in a situation like this, hovering between life and death.
“Seol Ho-ryeong… Elder brother’s talent is innate. But that alone is insufficient.”
Brother looked up at the ceiling with unfocused eyes.
Even though his eyes were clearly like that, they were very deep.
“To become a true Young Palace Lord, one needs the weight befitting that position. What becomes of a genius without competitors? Doesn’t history prove that outcome?”
“You’re right. History proves it.”
“There must inevitably be a competitor. I, as the second son, had to take on that role. If not me… who else would do it?”
This was also correct.
A genius needs a competitor befitting them.
Then the one who could fill that role would inevitably have to be someone close yet capable of being a rival.
Among the Polar Descendants, Elder Sister’s heart is too soft to do that, and fourth brother Seol Woon-hae lacks too much qualification for it.
No, there’s no comparison at all.
It’s right for second elder brother to do it. The Snow Palace is not a simple sect.
It could be seen as an alliance like the Martial Alliance, and also as a nation.
Its form just exists somewhere in between.
Naturally, the one to lead it must have different responsibilities as well.
“So that’s why you chose the Thousand Year Poison Snake.”
Brother nodded his head.
“I needed power. The kind of power that could protect the Snow Palace’s values.”
I pondered the meaning contained in brother’s words.
The Snow Palace’s values.
That wasn’t simply the transmission of martial arts or maintaining the sect.
The Manseol Records?
That’s merely an object.
The existence called the Ten Thousand Year Snow Palace.
And the thousands of years of history embedded in Snow Mountain, and the Way contained within it.
Protecting that is the Snow Palace’s true value.
“Elder brother is definitely a genius in my view as well.”
“Yes. Because he’s a genius, he’s all the more dangerous. Because he’s such a genius, he needs a threat that will continuously make him realize that weight. If he doesn’t know the weight befitting the Young Palace Lord’s position, and beyond that, the Palace Lord’s position, then in the not-too-distant future, the Snow Palace will merely fall to being just another strong sect.”
Brother’s gaze deepened further.
“I simply wanted to protect the Snow Palace. Even if it meant staking everything I had.”
In his words, I saw the true Way of a martial artist.
The values he sought to protect even at the cost of his own life.
That was something of a higher dimension, beyond simple loyalty or righteousness.
Now I understood.
“You didn’t call me here for treatment purposes.”
Second elder brother didn’t answer.
He just silently looked up at me.
“You were prepared to die, and planned to pass on to me the work you were trying to do, second elder brother. Am I right?”
Again there was no answer, but I could be certain I was right.
What a truly fine man he is.
After a long silence, brother spoke to me.
“…I received great help from you. Is there anything you want from me?”
I smiled softly.
“I’ve already received it.”
Confirmation of the heart.
That much is sufficient.
Second elder brother’s sincerity had definitely reached me.
He was truly a man whose future I looked forward to.
I carefully closed brother’s eyes.
“Rest. How can the General Commander of the Ice Sea Region leave his post?”
“…”
“After sleeping and waking up, you should be able to manage daily activities. Don’t practice martial arts until at least four days have passed.”
Second elder brother said nothing.
From the moment I closed his eyes, he was slowly falling into cultivation demon state.
Soon brother’s body went limp.
I tried to slowly rise from my seat but sat back down.
Sweat was flowing like crazy from my forehead, and my arms and legs were trembling.
My dantian was completely empty, and though it was somewhat painful, my heart was at peace.
No matter how much I looked around the cold Snow Mountain outside.
There was no place warmer than here.
* * *
Only after two hours had passed did Woon-hwi come outside.
Seol Yeon-hwa, who had been stamping her feet while waiting, quickly approached and asked.
“Youngest!”
Looking at Seol Yeon-hwa like that, Woon-hwi smiled gently.
“Second elder brother is fine.”
“…Re…ally?”
“Yes. He’s sleeping soundly now, so please just watch over him.”
“…You? Are you okay?”
“I’m a bit tired, but I’m fine.”
Seol Yeon-hwa rubbed her face.
Just how far does the youngest’s extraordinariness extend? She can’t even get a sense of it now.
More than that.
“Now… can I tell Father?”
Woon-hwi shook his head.
“He probably already knows.”
“…How?”
“This is Snow Mountain. Even if he didn’t know that second elder brother had secretly hidden the Thousand Year Poison Snake, he couldn’t not know if something abnormal happened to his well-being to that degree.”
Having said that, Woon-hwi turned his head to look at the sky and continued speaking.
“Isn’t that right?”
As soon as those words ended.
Thud.
Before one could even blink an eye, a man descended to the ground.
He had clearly come down from the sky, evidenced by a very thin line drawn in the heavens.
The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy had materialized to the point where it was clearly visible to the eye.
To be capable of such a feat, one would need to be at least at the level of Limitless Divine Manifestation.
In Snow Mountain, there was only one person who was a master of Limitless Divine Manifestation with such wide vision.
“Hyeon Seol-rin’s words are correct.”
The commander of Baekryeong-wi.
It was Hyeon Sim of the Thousand-Li Divine Eyes.
“The Palace Lord already knows everything that is happening now.”
“He must have prepared countermeasures as well.”
“Yes. However, he also added these words: ‘If Hyeon Seol-rin fails, report immediately.’ I heard what you said to Bing Seol-ryeong earlier, but I’ll ask for confirmation. Is Cha Seol-rin truly alright?”
“Yes. She’s fine now. The inner core and blood of the Thousand Year Poison Snake have stably permeated her dantian and blood vessels. Currently, her blood vessels have become somewhat stronger and she has achieved Heavenly Poison Immunity, but depending on how much of the remaining energy she absorbs once she regains consciousness and begins energy circulation, even Ten Thousand Poison Immunity may be possible.”
Hyeon Sim did not doubt Woon-hwi’s words.
He listened with an extremely serious expression and briefly expressed his thoughts.
“…It’s a blessing. For Snow Palace.”
“It’s also a blessing for Snow Mountain.”
“Huh…”
“Please tell the Palace Lord that the ‘Ice Snow Soul Heaven Formation’ he had prepared can be withdrawn.”
“…You even know about that?”
“It was merely deduction.”
Though Woon-hwi said this, Hyeon Sim knew that it wasn’t deduction but certainty.
If it weren’t, he wouldn’t have spoken so decisively.
The Ice Snow Soul Heaven Formation was Snow Palace’s greatest formation technique, and simultaneously its most dangerous one.
It drew in the cold energy of heaven and earth to freeze a person’s very soul, and in that process, not only the body but also the meridians and dantian would completely freeze.
If it had stopped there, it wouldn’t have been called the most dangerous formation technique.
Its characteristic was that by making the frozen body and soul become one with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, everything would be purified – if successful, one would be completely revived and all impurities in the blood vessels would be cleansed, but if it failed, even the soul would be shattered to pieces.
Hyeon Sim swallowed hard.
What a truly remarkable man.
Even the Palace Lord had judged that only the Ice Snow Soul Heaven Formation was the answer, yet this man had treated Cha Seol-rin alone without such methods.
This… he had judged that there would be no shortage for the next commander of the Ice Snow Guard, but now it seemed he had rather underestimated this man.
Though it’s cautious to say this.
He seemed to lack nothing even if he sat in the position of Young Palace Lord.
“And could you also convey this message?”
“Please speak.”
“That while I ‘understand’ Father, I’m still not sure yet – please convey it like that.”
Though it was incomprehensible to Hyeon Sim, he widened his eyes at Woon-hwi’s subsequent telepathic message.
-Please tell him to come find me without anyone knowing on the day the next full moon rises.
Without anyone knowing?
What could that mean?
-It means exactly that. Not only the Vice Palace Lord, but all the mothers must not know. Even among the Polar Descendants, there should be no one who knows. Only Father must come. Please convey this.
Hyeon Sim cupped his hands in salute.
“I shall do so.”
Immediately, Hyeon Sim’s body scattered like smoke.
No matter when he saw it, it was truly a beautiful movement technique.
Woon-hwi turned his head to look at Seol Yeon-hwa.
“Are you still worried?”
“No.”
Seol Yeon-hwa smiled brightly.
“It’s fine now.”
* * *
Looking at the relieved Seol Yeon-hwa, Woon-hwi asked.
“You said to stop by Yang-ryeong before going to the Martial Alliance – aren’t you participating in this Gathering of Sages and Saints?”
Seol Yeon-hwa scratched her head.
“That’s how it turned out. Originally I was going to depart ten days ago, but how could I leave because of that brat?”
It was completely understandable.
“Anyway, the Dragon Phoenix Assembly will be held in nine months. I can go then.”
The Gathering of Sages and Saints was one of several meetings hosted by the Martial Alliance.
It was a gathering where various masters belonging to the Martial Alliance came together to discuss martial studies, but Seol Yeon-hwa seemed to have no great attachment to it.
But the Dragon Phoenix Assembly was different.
As the name Dragon Phoenix suggested, it was a gathering of rising talents.
To be precise, it was a tournament where rising talents gathered to compete in martial arts, and since each sect would bring out all their promising disciples and those they had expectations for, it was also a tournament that would stir the entire Central Plains whenever it was held.
And at this moment, Woon-hwi’s eyes sparkled.
In his previous life, when Seol Yeon-hwa was murdered by five villains, she had been on her way to the Central Plains to participate in the Dragon Phoenix Assembly.
She had traveled with ten Cold Spirit Warriors from Baekryeong-wi, but at the inn where they stayed, all ten of them were poisoned to death and Seol Yeon-hwa was kidnapped.
It was a meticulously prepared scheme, and when they were helplessly caught, everyone in Snow Palace was enraged, and Seol Jung-cheon along with most of the Baekryeong-wi warriors entered the Central Plains and massacred ‘three sects and hundreds of people.’
Though they couldn’t identify two of the villains to the end, Woon-hwi had later captured those two and tortured them for over ten years before killing them, so it could be said that all grudges were repaid, but there was no law saying the same thing wouldn’t happen again.
Woon-hwi spoke decisively.
“At that time, I will go with you.”
“…Huh? Suddenly?”
“I want to see the Central Plains after a long time. Especially, I heard that the scenic beauty of Taehwa Mountain is so outstanding – I’m curious. Very much so.”
Seol Yeon-hwa smiled brightly.
“Alright, then let’s go together at that time.”
“Yes. Let’s do that. Then I’ll be going now.”
She suddenly became curious.
“To Yang-ryeong?”
“No. There’s a place I need to stop by.”
“A place to stop by?”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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