Chapter 336
Chapter 336
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 336
Chapter Title: Unraveling the Truth
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Bu Eun-seol's party decided to stay at the Frozen Ice Pavilion, not far from the Ice Palace Lord's residence.
This place not only had several rooms but also a large study and a conference room, making it an ideal spot to put their heads together and discuss matters.
"First, with the Palace Lord's help, I've gathered information on the heads of the five families, excluding the Bing family."
Over the past few days, Yu Un-ryong, with the aid of Bing Han-pung's trusted subordinate, had completed his investigation into the five families.
"First, Eom U-jung. Head Eom is a greedy and avaricious man. He's been currying favor with various factions for a long time. Statistically, he has the highest probability of being the traitor."
"Mm."
"Dong Yu-gak. Head Dong has no particular ambition and is a moderate figure. Even with the five families in disarray, he has taken a step back and maintained a wait-and-see attitude."
Yu Un-ryong continued his explanation.
"Seol Se-geuk, Head Seol, is ill. I heard he misused his internal energy during a past struggle for the Palace Lord position. They say it has recently flared up... but it's not certain. We should keep him on the list of suspects."
He paused for a moment, his voice lowering.
"Han U-sang. Head Han is on the worst terms with the Ice Palace Lord. The discord within the North Sea Ice Palace is, in fact, related to Head Han."
Originally, Han U-sang's eldest son, Han Ja-uk, was the most promising candidate for the next Palace Lord.
But on the eve of the martial contest, he was suddenly ambushed. As a result, the position of the next Palace Lord went to Bing Han-pung's son, Bing Yu-rin.
"When the Ice Palace Lord's son was named the next in line, the five families refused to acknowledge it. Because of that, the North Sea Ice Palace has still not been able to select the next Palace Lord."
"So a rift formed just because the Ice Palace Lord's son was chosen?"
At Bu Eun-seol's question, Yu Un-ryong wore a bitter expression.
"It's not that. It's because the culprit's identity was traced to one person."
"Who was it?"
So Ok-rim, who had been listening, asked, and Yu Un-ryong shook his head grimly.
"The Ice Palace Lord."
Yu Un-ryong said gravely.
"Han Ja-uk was injured by the Five Thunder Frost Palm, a technique only the Palace Lord can master. All the family heads confronted the Ice Palace Lord, but... with no decisive evidence, the matter was eventually swept under the rug."
Bu Eun-seol nodded.
Ultimately, this incident left the North Sea Ice Palace unable to choose its next lord, and even the current Palace Lord's authority was weakened.
Yu Un-ryong rubbed his brow.
"Because of this, Head Han despises the Ice Palace Lord. He's the most likely suspect for a traitor. He has the strongest motive to side with the descendants of the Eight Desolations and Three Stars."
Bu Eun-seol nodded.
"Baek Jin-yu. What about Head Baek?"
"Head Baek is out of the question. He's the type to pretend to support the weakened Ice Palace Lord while manipulating him from behind to secretly run the North Sea Ice Palace. He'd rather the current situation continue."
Hearing Yu Un-ryong's clear explanation, Bu Eun-seol and So Ok-rim fell into deep thought.
To summarize briefly,
Head Eom is full of ambition,
Head Dong is indifferent,
Head Seol is ill,
and Head Han holds a great grudge against the Ice Palace Lord.
Furthermore, Head Baek is using this opportunity to manage the North Sea Ice Palace from behind the Palace Lord's back.
"Ugh. What a headache."
So Ok-rim scratched her head, realizing the situation in the North Sea Ice Palace was more complicated than she'd thought.
"Dammit, where do we even start?"
Yu Un-ryong also frowned.
"And we're only supposed to meet each of them once."
So Ok-rim had no expectations.
However, since Bu Eun-seol's strategic mind was exceptional, the chances of catching the traitor would be higher if he met all three family heads himself.
But Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
"It's fine. We just need to confirm things. It doesn't matter who meets them."
"So. How are we going to meet the five?"
At So Ok-rim's question, Bu Eun-seol began to lay out his plan.
"First, you will meet Head Seol."
"Huh? Me?"
"Someone who has mastered the martial arts of the Sacred Emperor should be knowledgeable about the human body."
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
"Especially if he's ill from misusing his internal energy, he'll be susceptible to 'heart-fire'. You're good at getting under people's skin, so you should be able to confirm if Head Seol's illness is real."
Though he said it like that, Bu Eun-seol knew So Ok-rim was shrewd and highly skilled in martial arts.
At the very least, if Head Seol's illness was a lie, he wouldn't be able to deceive her.
"Hmm. If he's faking his illness, there's a high chance he's the traitor."
As So Ok-rim nodded, Bu Eun-seol spoke to Yu Un-ryong.
"You will meet Head Dong. And through conversation, try to grasp his disposition."
"Why? Wouldn't it be better to meet the ambitious Head Eom?"
"The North Sea Ice Palace is no small faction. If he has maintained an ambitious attitude for a long time, he would have also formed a meticulous plan."
Bu Eun-seol said firmly.
"There is no chance that Head Eom is the traitor."
"But will it be okay for me to go?"
"No need to feel pressured. It's fine to just see if his publicly known disposition matches his actual self."
"Then what about you?"
"I will make my decision after hearing your stories."
Bu Eun-seol smiled faintly.
"For the final decision."
"Hmm."
Yu Un-ryong hummed thoughtfully.
He too was shrewd, but he couldn't fathom Bu Eun-seol's plan.
But he was certain that Bu Eun-seol, with his divine strategies, would find the traitor who was colluding with outsiders.
"Alright. Let's do that."
Afterward, Yu Un-ryong went to see Head Dong.
But as expected, he was turned away at the door.
He couldn't even enter the Dong family's gates, let alone have a conversation.
"I have no choice."
Yu Un-ryong took a white jade token from his sleeve.
"I didn't want to use this."
It was a command medallion engraved with the Bing family crest, given to them by Bing Han-pung to use if the family heads absolutely refused to meet them.
"Using this means I'll only get to meet him once."
To understand a person, one had to meet them at least three times.
Yu Un-ryong had intended to build a personal rapport and visit the Dong family multiple times.
But if he forced a meeting with this token, he would truly only get one chance.
"It can't be helped."
In the end, only after presenting the token was Yu Un-ryong able to meet Head Dong.
So Ok-rim also went to meet Head Seol.
She too was turned away at the door and eventually had to present her token.
During their private meeting, she provoked Head Seol with her brash attitude and words.
In the end, Head Seol, furious to the point of exploding, forgot he was ill and was provoked into drawing upon his internal energy.
The next day. Frozen Ice Pavilion, conference room.
"That old man. His illness is real. Even while he was fuming, he couldn't properly channel his internal energy."
So Ok-rim explained in detail the situation when she saw Head Seol.
According to her, Head Seol was genuinely ill and had a problem with his internal energy.
"Head Dong certainly seemed like a man without any particular ambition."
However, Yu Un-ryong said with a dissatisfied expression.
"But he seemed more cunning than I expected. I couldn't tell if he was putting on an act or if that was his true nature."
After hearing everything, Bu Eun-seol nodded.
"Then I suppose I'll have to meet Head Han."
"Why? Is Head Han the traitor?"
At Yu Un-ryong's words, Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
"Not necessarily. However, this is a rift that formed independently of the traitor... it's best to mend it as quickly as possible."
He immediately left the Frozen Ice Pavilion and walked toward the south gate.
The North Sea Ice Palace, consisting of six families on a vast fifty-thousand-pyeong estate, was centered around the Bing family, with the Baek family situated right next to it.
And the remaining four families were divided to the east, west, south, and north, guarding the North Sea Ice Palace.
After walking for a while down a wide road like a main thoroughfare, a large palace with a solemn blue hue came into view. It was the seat of the Han family.
*Clomp, clomp.*
As Bu Eun-seol approached, guards dressed in snow-white uniforms blocked his path.
"Who goes there?"
Without a word, Bu Eun-seol showed them the Ice Palace Lord's token.
"I wish to see Head Han."
The guards looked at each other, then nodded.
"Our lord has given prior orders that he will not meet any emissary from the Ice Palace Lord."
Rumors had already spread that three guests from the Demonic Cult had come to see Palace Lord Bing Han-pung and that they would be visiting each of the divided families.
Having heard the stories, Han U-sang had ordered his guards in advance not to let them in, even if they came.
"Tell him I am here to reveal the truth behind the Young Lord's assassination attempt."
"The truth?"
As the guards' eyes widened in surprise, Bu Eun-seol smiled calmly.
"Just deliver that message."
Guided by a guard, he arrived at a secret chamber deep within the Han family palace.
The interior was made of a transparent material, as if everything was made of glass.
As Bu Eun-seol stepped inside, a middle-aged man with eyes as cold as ice looked down at him.
It was none other than the head of the North Sea's Han family, Han U-sang.
"You claim to know the truth behind my son's assassination?"
"I do."
"Speak."
"First, I would like to examine your esteemed son's injuries myself."
"I don't understand what you mean."
Bu Eun-seol spoke in a confident yet polite tone.
"Only by seeing your son's injuries can I properly explain the truth."
Bu Eun-seol was the heir of the Demonic Cult, a position arguably higher than that of the North Sea Ice Palace's family heads.
However, as he spoke politely from beginning to end, even referring to his son as 'esteemed son'—a term for the son of a superior—Han U-sang's expression softened slightly.
"What will you find by seeing his injuries?"
"Will you allow me to see him?"
Han U-sang bit his lip and said.
"This isn't some pointless scheme by the Ice Palace Lord, is it?"
"How could it be?"
"Very well. But if you speak nonsense... even if you are the heir of the Demonic Cult, this old man will not stand by idly."
It was not a simple threat.
It had been over a decade since his son was grievously injured. Yet his body had not recovered, and the truth remained unknown...
Han U-sang's grudge was deep enough to freeze the heavens.
"That will not happen."
"Fine."
He led Bu Eun-seol to a place with a sign that read 'Ice Vault.'
Despite its name, the inside was as hot as a furnace.
Looking closely, he saw that fires were being constantly stoked outside to heat the interior. And in the center of a bed lay a man with a pale face.
It was Han U-sang's eldest son, Han Ja-uk.
"A characteristic of the Five Thunder Frost Palm. If that yin energy is not pushed out, the blood vessels will freeze."
Bu Eun-seol carefully observed Han Ja-uk, who lay there with a pale face.
He had thick eyebrows, a high-bridged nose, and the face of a hero.
But as the extreme yin palm energy caused his blood vessels to freeze moment by moment, his face would occasionally contort in pain.
"Pardon me."
Bu Eun-seol carefully examined his back.
Only a faint mark from the extreme yin palm strike remained. There were no traces left that could identify the attacker.
It was certainly a power with enough extreme yin energy to freeze the blood vessels, so it seemed certain to be a martial art of the North Sea Ice Palace.
*Jiiiing.*
Bu Eun-seol's eyes had turned completely white.
Gongsim Tongryeong.
He had heightened his senses to the absolute peak of Yasudo, capable of finding traces even decades old.
*'I knew it... so that's what it was.'*
A flash glinted in Bu Eun-seol's eyes as he examined Han Ja-uk's wound.
His long-held suspicion had been proven correct.
"I have seen enough."
"Then tell me the truth."
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
"In two hours, please wait outside the training hall inside the Glacier Palace. You will understand then."
"What?"
At the absurd reply, Han U-sang's expression turned grim.
"Are you trying to play games with me?"
"Is this not a truth that has remained unsolved for over a decade?"
Bu Eun-seol said with an even more serious expression.
"This is to confirm it with certainty, so please, trust me this once."
Han U-sang's expression was complicated.
He could sense that Bu Eun-seol was not lying or being evasive.
However, being asked to come to a place only the Palace Lord could enter... did that not imply the culprit was related to the Palace Lord?
"Don't tell me the Palace Lord is the culprit? Is that why you're summoning me there?"
"If you come in two hours, you will know everything."
Bu Eun-seol said with an utterly serious expression.
"I will see you at the training hall."
And he immediately turned to leave.
Han U-sang started to stop him, but then, as if a thought occurred to him, he lowered his hand.
And with an indescribably complex expression, he watched his retreating back.
Leaving the Han family estate, Bu Eun-seol's eyes narrowed.
*'It's not Head Han.'*
Han U-sang was genuinely furious, and his son, Han Ja-uk, had also suffered a great decline in his internal energy.
Naturally, he had reason to bring in outside forces.
But with his unbending character, he would sooner leave the North Sea Ice Palace than commit treason or bring in outside forces.
*'It was a good thing I made arrangements with the Ice Palace Lord in advance.'*
Bu Eun-seol's mind was spinning at the speed of light.
Even before coming here, he had already deduced the circumstances of Han Ja-uk's ambush and even predicted the culprit.
That was why he had arranged things with Bing Han-pung before meeting Han U-sang.
"Greetings."
At that moment, on the path to the Glacier Palace, he saw an elderly man standing tall.
He had long, slender eyes, and their depth made him look like a man of profound wisdom at a single glance.
"This old one is the head of the Baek family, Baek Jin-yu."
"I am Bu Eun-seol, Lord of the Martial Soul."
As Bu Eun-seol paid his respects, Baek Jin-yu offered a benevolent smile and said.
"To meet the Lord of the Martial Soul, who shakes the world, in person like this, I see that the rumors in the martial world are not exaggerated."
"You are too kind."
"Might we walk and talk for a moment?"
It seemed Baek Jin-yu had chosen this feigned chance encounter as a way to have a brief conversation with Bu Eun-seol.
"Of course."
At his reply, Baek Jin-yu got straight to the point.
"I hear that you, Lord of the Martial Soul, have come to mend the strife in our palace. And that this is a condition for peace with the Demonic Cult."
Bu Eun-seol did not hide it and spoke frankly.
"That is true."
"There is no need for that."
Baek Jin-yu began in a low voice.
"Our palace can handle its own affairs. An outsider's interference will only cause greater discord."
He sighed and continued.
"The rifts in our palace should not be mended by an outsider."
"Why is that?"
"For generations, our palace has rejected outside forces and stood on its own. If you help, even the Ice Palace Lord's dignity will be damaged."
Bu Eun-seol smiled faintly and said.
"Even if the rift was caused by an outside force?"
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Baek Jin-yu's expression stiffened.
"An outside force?"
"You will find out soon enough."
"Can you guarantee that?"
"Of course."
Bu Eun-seol wore a placid smile.
"If an outside force had not been involved, this is a matter that not even the Demonic Heavenly Emperor could have interfered in, had he come himself. I, the humble Lord, would never have dared to even think of coming to the North Sea Ice Palace."
Seeing Bu Eun-seol's confident smile, Baek Jin-yu's expression hardened.
Baek Jin-yu. Was the head of the Baek family the traitor? Or was he a bystander who knew everything but pretended not to, for the sake of his regency?
"Is that so?"
Baek Jin-yu's expression quickly returned to one of gentleness.
"It seems I have spoken out of turn. Well then, we shall meet again."
"Take care."
As Bu Eun-seol paid his respects, Baek Jin-yu smiled and slowly turned away.
As Baek Jin-yu turned away, his eyes were fiercely narrowed.
The rift must not be mended.
If it were, his own position—which he had long enjoyed by carrying out the Palace Lord's duties for him—would be shaken.
***
Glacier Palace.
This was where the Palace Lord resided and handled the affairs of the North Sea Ice Palace, and it housed a large training hall.
The key martial arts of the North Sea Ice Palace were passed down through oral teachings.
This training hall was where the Palace Lord would impart martial arts to those who had rendered meritorious service or to outstanding disciples.
Inside the training hall, a man in black martial robes and a middle-aged man in white robes stood facing each other.
They were Bu Eun-seol and Bing Han-pung.
"Why did you request a private audience with me in my own training hall?"
At Bing Han-pung's question, Bu Eun-seol cupped his hands.
"I wish to receive a lesson from you, Palace Lord."
"A lesson?"
"Today, I visited Head Han's palace and saw his son's wound."
"I see."
Bing Han-pung wore a lonely smile.
"So? In your eyes, does it also seem as though I was the one who struck the vicious blow?"
"It does."
The Five Thunder Frost Palm is a Palace-Guarding Art that only the Palace Lord can master.
Only Bing Han-pung in the entire North Sea Ice Palace had mastered it, so such suspicion was unavoidable.
But then, Bu Eun-seol gave a strange answer.
"If I were a disciple of the North Sea Ice Palace, I would have thought you were the culprit without a doubt."
"If you were a disciple of the North Sea Ice Palace... what do you mean?"
"I have a question for you, Palace Lord."
Bu Eun-seol cupped his hands and replied.
"Judging by the name 'Five Thunder Frost Palm,' it seems it's not purely based on true yin, like frigid yin or profound yin... but incorporates the energies of wind and thunder, or water and fire. Is that correct?"
After examining the traces of the Five Thunder Frost Palm on Han Ja-uk's body, Bu Eun-seol had seen through the fact that it was not a purely yin-based palm art.
Bing Han-pung did not hide his surprise and nodded.
"That's correct."
"I would like to ask precisely what is incorporated within it."
Only then did Bing Han-pung understand why Bu Eun-seol had requested a private audience in the training hall, a place normally used only for closed-door cultivation.
"Are you asking me to reveal a part of the secrets of my palace's ultimate palm art?"
"I am."
Bing Han-pung frowned.
No sect would ever reveal even a single line from the scripture of its ultimate secret arts to an outsider.
And yet, Bu Eun-seol was speaking as confidently as if he were asking for something that had been entrusted to him.
"I simply wish to know what kind of power it incorporates."
Not a hint of selfish desire could be seen in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
After a moment's hesitation, Bing Han-pung spoke as if he had no other choice.
"The Five Thunder Frost Palm is known as a true yin martial art, but in reality, it involves various Three Yin and Three Yang, with Heavenly Wind and Water Wind as the first transformation, Heaven and Earth as the second transformation, and..."
In the end, he explained all the transformations contained within the Five Thunder Frost Palm.
Bu Eun-seol, who had been listening intently to the teachings, nodded.
"So the Five Thunder Frost Palm is a technique that uses gravity to overwhelm lightness, and slowness to subdue speed."
"Precisely."
*Cheok.*
But then, Bu Eun-seol drew his left palm toward his body.
And as he extended it into the air again,
*Hwaak!*
Pure white frost, along with the shadows of small lightning bolts, etched themselves into the air.
It was the ultimate palm art of the North Sea Ice Palace, the Five Thunder Frost Palm.