Survival Guide for the Reincarnated Chapter 95

In the span of fifteen days, an extraordinary number of events had taken place.

Among martial artists, there wasn’t a single one who didn’t understand what it ant to ascend in realm.

It was sothing that couldn’t be bought with gold, jewels, or even power—yet rumors spread that playing a ga of Go with Seol Unwi could make it possible.

Even before, the influx of people had been intense. But after three individuals actually ascended in cultivation after playing with him, the crowd had grown to levels no ordinary force could contain.

Among them were many riffraff—but not all.

And how could there not be?

In a single day, the number of people arriving in Yangnyeong had reached the hundreds.

But make no mistake—

There were hundreds of players coming to play Go. Once their attendants and escorts were factored in, the number easily rose to the thousands.

Yangnyeong enjoyed a sudden economic boom from the flood of visitors, but the branch mbers of Yangnyeong and Chief Steward Seong were practically dying from exhaustion.

How much longer could this go on?

Unwi was aware of this, and he had devised a thod of his own.

First: those who arrived in Yangnyeong would play each other in matches, and only the final two would be allowed to face Unwi.

Second: no additional gas would be permitted—Unwi would play only two matches per day.

And third—

Perhaps the most important of all—

Both of those gas would be played in public.

Just like this one.

Hundreds of eyes focused on a single spot.

The man sitting across from Unwi was Jang Mujin, the “Hidden Sword Hand” from Golosan—a training ground famous within the demonic path.

A master of the Spirit Ascension Stage and one of the most renowned Go players in the Central Plains.

Unwi, staring at the white stones, spoke.

“Once again, we have so many gathered here today.”

“As expected, no? Your match record with the Golden Path Chess Hero has beco a legend. To be honest, I was skeptical until I saw it for myself...”

Jang Mujin looked straight into Unwi’s eyes.

“...You are not ordinary. After watching your ga with the Jade Sword Immortal, Ha Mujin, a few days ago, I beca certain. You are a prodigy of the ages.”

Many among the onlookers nodded in agreent.

Unwi gave a soft smile.

“They say even a bear will dance if you flatter it enough—but unfortunately, I’m not much of a dancer. I’ll express my feelings through this ga instead.”

“I look forward to it.”

Jang Mujin placed a black stone. Unwi followed with a white.

The opening moves were unremarkable.

Without a word, the two began their ga.

Black and white stones landed on the board.

Then, at so point, one of Unwi’s white stones caused a flicker in Jang Mujin’s eyes.

The large house he had ticulously built in the upper right corner was suddenly at risk.

This is...

Jang Mujin looked at his black formation.

It had been like a fortress wall—but Unwi’s single white stone had pierced a seam in it.

No exaggeration—he hadn’t even noticed it happen.

When...?

And then the crowd began to murmur in delayed astonishnt.

“Huh...”

“That move...”

“How did he think of that...?”

Jang Mujin’s expression hardened.

Now he could see it.

Unwi’s opening, which had started from the lower left, had flowed through the center and linked all the way to the upper right. It had created a massive pattern.

Until now, each move had seed ordinary—but with just a few stones in place, the flow had revealed itself.

This is depth.

So deep—imasurably deep.

Unwi’s white stones moved as if alive, and each motion seed to contain the logic of heaven and earth.

Jang Mujin murmured,

“...The white stones... it’s as if they’re reading the very heavens.”

He looked up.

Unwi still wore that sa gentle smile.

Indeed.

A prodigy of the ages.

Jang Mujin resud playing, and tension flooded the main hall.

Hundreds of eyes were locked on the board, and with each stone placed, even breathing beca inaudible.

Unwi’s white stone landed once more.

It appeared ordinary—but its depth was beyond anyone’s imdiate comprehension.

“...Damn...”

Jang Mujin’s face stiffened. Only now was the shape created by Unwi’s play becoming visible.

“That move...”

Soone gasped behind him.

“A five-move foresight! That one stone just dood the entire upper-right group!”

Even with such a distracting outburst, Jang Mujin silently picked up a black stone.

In over thirty years, he had played many masters. But never a ga like this.

Unwi moved again—this ti toward the center. Like a waterfall crashing down, his white stone surged /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ forward, pressing Jang Mujin’s black stones into retreat. The pressure from the upper right had now spread to the center.

“...Now I see.”

Unwi opened his mouth.

“What it is that you seek through this ga.”

“I...”

Jang Mujin looked down at his black stones.

“...I wanted enlightennt. A way to cross from Spirit Ascension to the Mythic Realm...”

“In that case, may I ask you sothing?”

“What is it?”

“What does Go an to you, senior?”

The question echoed through the grand hall. Jang Mujin fell silent.

Then he looked at the board before him.

His once-great black formation being taken, piece by piece—it reminded him of his own past.

“Go is... a contest between two people placing stones.”

“Then what are we doing now?”

Unwi placed another white stone—this ti in the lower right.

It was like a sword dividing heaven and earth. Even Jang Mujin’s final escape route was blocked.

“We are...”

Jang Mujin’s gaze trembled. At last, it seed sothing had struck him.

“...We’re not just placing stones.”

“No. We are discussing the truth of heaven and earth. You seek enlightennt—but is that enlightennt truly found in the ga?”

Hundreds of martial artists held their breath. Each word from Unwi pierced deep into their hearts.

“Enlightennt doesn’t co from the board. Go is rely a mirror. A mirror that reflects our hearts. As they say, ‘A virtuous man is never lonely—for he will always find companions.’ Isn’t it the sa with black and white? Go only exists because both sides face each other.”

Unwi placed the final white stone.

“To harmonize while accepting difference—that, I believe, is where the Dao begins. Look at your black stones. Look at my white stones. Do these seem like just lifeless pieces in a ga?”

Jang Mujin’s eyes flew wide. Sothing inside him began to stir.

“...Now I see...”

His voice shook.

“All this ti I sought enlightennt in the ga—but it was within all along...”

“Yes.”

Unwi’s voice echoed through the hall.

“On this board are black and white, surrounding each other, trying to capture. But within it lies deeper aning. It is no different from our martial world.”

Every single martial artist in the hall listened with rapt attention.

“We martial artists are sotis enemies, sotis allies. But the root of it all must be the Dao. Just like on this board.”

Tears welled up in Jang Mujin’s eyes.

It was as if sothing inside him had broken open. The gate to the Mythic Realm was opening.

“...I truly understand now...”

His voice trembled.

“Go was only the beginning... The true enlightennt...”

He set his stone down and imdiately sat in ditation.

A massive wave of internal energy burst from his body, and every spectator instinctively stepped back several paces.

A man was now on the verge of entering the Mythic Realm.

It was an unbelievable—almost absurd—scene, and most were left speechless. So gasped aloud.

Only Unwi remained unchanged.

Without a word, he placed his white stone.

Jang Mujin was no longer able to continue the ga, but even if he had resud, the result would not have changed.

A difference of thirteen and a half points.

Unwi had won.

***

Unwi slowly rose from his seat. The hundreds still gathered in the main hall turned to him as one.

“A martial artist stands on the verge of a breakthrough.”

His voice was calm.

“At tis like these, a peaceful atmosphere is needed. I ask everyone to quietly withdraw.”

Soone opened their mouth to speak, but stopped.

Another looked disappointed—but no one dared defy Unwi’s words.

One by one, the martial artists began to rise and leave.

At that mont—

“Master Unwi.”

It was Ju Soa’s voice. She approached briskly, holding a sealed letter.

“...A ssage from the main palace.”

She looked awkwardly formal, likely due to all the onlookers, but Unwi didn’t mind.

He silently accepted and opened it.

Youngest,

I’ve heard about the incredible things you’re doing in Yangnyeong.

I never imagined you’d grow into soone this remarkable... though, well, you know . I’m not one for writing letters like this.

But I need your help.

The second brother made a serious mistake related to ‘that matter’ we discussed during the last eting.

You’ll understand—the incident at Bingbaek Gorge.

What started as a small wound on his arm has now progressed to the point where even the physicians have given up.

If you have ti, could you co take a look?

If you’re able, I truly hope you can co.

That idiot might be a pain, but he doesn’t deserve to die like this.

Unwi’s expression shifted—if only subtly.

Chief Steward Seong caught it imdiately.

“Young Master...? Are you all right?”

“No. I’m not.”

Seong blinked.

But it was true.

This was not sothing to take lightly.

To an outsider, the contents of the letter might be too vague to parse—but not to Unwi.

The second son, Seol Muryeon, was in critical condition.

An unexpected event—and one that simply couldn’t be allowed to happen at this ti.

Yet if he looked more closely, the reason behind it made sense.

A eting. Bingbaek Gorge.

Just from those two terms, it was clear.

Not long ago, the Viper Valley infiltrated the Snow Mountains to produce poison.

Unwi had identified the plot, and the other northern heirs had gone with the White Falcon Guard to eliminate the threat.

Unwi had designated the most likely hideouts—and the group Muryeon led had gone to Bingbaek Gorge.

And who was Seol Muryeon?

A genius rivaling even the eldest, Seol Horyeong. A man obsessed with cultivation.

If the “Thousand-Year Serpent” was hiding in Bingbaek Gorge, there was no way he would have left it alone.

As its na implied, it was a serpent that had lived a thousand years. Not a normal beast—this was a spirit creature.

Even consuming a five-hundred-year-old serpent granted resistance to all poisons. A thousand years? That went without saying.

In his past life, Seol Muryeon had died about a year and a half from now.

But now—he was on the verge of dying imdiately.

There was no ambiguity in why Seol Yeonhwa had sent this letter to Unwi.

He was the first to pinpoint the Viper Valley’s infiltration.

He was also the one who identified the existence of the Ice-Venom Erosion Poison.

And now, everything depended on him.