Do You Need Healing?
The North Sea Ice Palace was a northern sect that wielded cold energy. Its location lay relatively close to the western territories, so many of its members possessed exotic features. The most striking trait was their hair color—whether from their cultivation method or bloodline, direct descendants all had silver hair.
'Exactly like this woman!'
Chilbok shuddered as he stared at the silver-haired woman encircled by hulking, muscular warriors. 'Silver hair, foreign looks, and peak experts as subordinates. No doubt about it—she's a direct bloodline of the North Sea Ice Palace!'
The match was too perfect to ignore. Chilbok cursed his own slow wits and frantically thought through his options. 'These people are notorious for being cold-blooded and merciless. If I turn down their proposal, they might wipe out not just me but the entire village!'
The North Sea Ice Palace possessed terrifyingly powerful martial arts and had dyed the central plains in blood more than once. Tense, Chilbok held out the chunk of adamantite.
"The village is yours, free of charge!"
"Pardon?"
The silver-haired woman's face clouded with bewilderment at the unexpected declaration.
"You're just giving it away? It's not some trivial object—it's an entire village. If you're offering it as payment, we can sell it and—"
"It's an abandoned village anyway, so it doesn't matter!"
It did matter. Inside, Chilbok felt like his heart was being torn apart, but he held it in. 'Handing over something this insanely valuable for just one village? Does she really think I'll believe that? She's definitely planning to come back later, claim it was a loan, and kill me.'
Chilbok was convinced the other party was deceiving him and toying with his life.
"To offer something so precious so casually… you must be no ordinary person. In that case, rather than accepting this village as payment, I would prefer to build a good connection with all of you. Please consider it a gift and accept it graciously."
"No, you really don't have to…"
"Please do not refuse. In truth, I lack the ability to handle something of this magnitude."
This part was genuine. A chunk of adamantite the size of a human head far exceeded anything Chilbok could manage. When he mixed half-truths into his excuse, the silver-haired woman smiled.
"Hehe, is that so? Then it would be rude of me to keep refusing. I'll accept it with gratitude."
Though she spoke with an angelic smile, to Chilbok it sounded completely different. 'Hehe, sharp-eyed, aren't you? If you'd been foolish enough to accept without reading the room, I was going to kill you.'
Chilbok ground his teeth inwardly at the hallucinated threat. 'Just you wait. Once the deal is done and you're gone, I'll run straight to the Cheongseong Sect and tell them about you!'
He pretended to listen obediently while secretly planning to stab them in the back. Meanwhile, completely unaware of his schemes, the silver-haired woman—Elena—was simply delighted.
'Wow, I saved a ton of money! Never thought I'd meet someone generous enough to hand over an entire village for free!'
Elena's group settled into their new village. The abandoned settlement Chilbok had guided them to was quite rundown, but the houses themselves remained intact. Since the hour was late, each person claimed a house, settled in, and spent the night.
The next morning, the real work began.
"Carry those supplies over there!"
"Clean this area thoroughly."
"Especially make sure the residence where the Immortal Physician will stay is spotless!"
At dawn, the entire village launched into a massive cleaning effort. Every resident, now blessed with powerful, tempered bodies, pitched in. They hauled away useless furniture, lifted it with ease, and transformed the entire dilapidated settlement.
"Once the village is cleaned up, what should we do next?" Elena asked, watching them with a dazed expression.
She, Geumgang, and Lee Cheongryeo—the three who had become the village leaders—stood a short distance away, not participating in the cleaning.
"I know the Sadoryeon can't interfere too openly in Sichuan, but I'd still like to reduce the chances of them launching an attack," Elena said.
When the Blood Fiend Squad had fled, their bold declaration about sending even stronger experts had stuck in her mind.
"In that case, we must expand our influence within Sichuan," Geumgang replied respectfully. "If we become renowned figures in the region, even the Sadoryeon will hesitate to touch us."
"Build influence and become important people, huh?" Elena made a slightly sour face. She understood the logic—harassing an ordinary citizen and harassing a local powerhouse were two very different levels of difficulty.
'But how the hell do I build influence and become a famous person?'
The method was the problem. Even if someone suddenly told her to become famous, Elena was just an ordinary person at heart. She might have been mistaken for a supreme expert in Murim, but fundamentally she was nothing more than a gamer.
While she was pondering this, a group of people appeared in the distance. They were Daoist priests wearing blue robes. What set them apart from ordinary priests was the swords hanging at their waists. They entered the village abruptly, looking around and murmuring among themselves.
"Whoa, look at those muscles!"
"Their external cultivation is exceptional."
"So the report was true?"
The priests whispered as they observed the villagers. Geumgang and Lee Cheongryeo's expressions changed the moment they saw the group.
"No way…"
"Why are they here of all places!"
They recognized the newcomers and were visibly shocked. One of the priests stepped forward—the oldest and most dignified among them. He offered a polite fist salute toward the trio.
"I am Jeonghyeon, Sect Leader of the Cheongseong Sect."
Jeonghyeon's introduction was short yet carried weight, but Elena's reaction was indifferent.
'Cheongseong Sect? Never heard of it.'
The Cheongseong Sect was one of the three major orthodox factions that divided Sichuan alongside the Tang Clan and the Emei Sect. Jeonghyeon, its sect leader, was a widely known figure throughout the entire Murim world. But Elena, who knew none of this, simply responded politely.
"Ah, I see. I'm Elena. We just moved here yesterday."
"Hmm, is that so."
Jeonghyeon was visibly flustered that someone would respond to him so casually. He briefly studied Elena's appearance, glanced at Geumgang beside her, then asked again.
"Then, Lady Elena, might you be from the North Sea Ice Palace?"
"Where is the North Sea Ice Palace?"
"…You don't know the North Sea Ice Palace?"
When his question was met with an even more clueless one, Jeonghyeon looked thoroughly perplexed.
"Hahaha!" Geumgang burst into laughter beside her. "Hahaha! I wondered why the illustrious Cheongseong Sect had come all this way, but it seems you've fallen for a ridiculous misunderstanding!"
Having roughly grasped the situation, Geumgang wore a mocking smile. "It looks like some idiot saw my Lord's silver hair and made a fuss claiming she was from the North Sea Ice Palace, yes?"
"…Idiot or not, we received an anonymous tip. Seeing a Peak Realm expert like yourself call this young lady 'Lord' only deepens my suspicions."
Jeonghyeon was also a renowned Peak Realm master. Having seen through Geumgang's level, his doubts only grew stronger. "Do you have any token to prove your identity?"
"I don't have a token, but I do have martial arts," Geumgang replied indifferently. He raised his fist and made a striking motion toward the empty air.
A single strike shattered a tree nearly a hundred paces away with a thunderous crack.
"Hundred-Step Divine Fist!" Jeonghyeon cried out as if screaming. It was one of Shaolin's secret techniques—there could be no clearer proof of identity.
"See? Would a secular disciple of Shaolin follow someone from the North Sea Ice Palace?"
"So you are from Shaolin. But you appear to be a secular disciple since you have not taken the tonsure. How did you learn a technique reserved only for those of the main temple? Among the secular disciples, in the past twenty years, only one person has—"
Jeonghyeon suddenly stopped mid-question as the answer dawned on him.
"Fist Hero Geumgang! Could it be you? The greatest Peak Realm master among all of Shaolin's secular disciples!"
"Greatest? Hardly. I'm just a wretch who got beaten half to death by the Sadoryeon and lived as a cripple until I barely crawled back from the brink."
"B-but I heard you lost most of your martial arts because of the Sadoryeon?"
Seeing him now, the reality was completely different from the rumors. As Jeonghyeon stood there in shock, Lee Cheongryeo spoke next.
"Sect Leader, it is an honor. I am called Lee Cheongryeo."
"The Sword Princess!"
"Yes, though I was unworthy of the title. But I, too, was nearly killed by the Sadoryeo."
With misty eyes, Lee Cheongryeo looked at Elena and explained.
"The one who saved my life and restored Great Hero Geumgang's martial arts is none other than this silver-haired benefactor before you."
"T-this young lady?"
"Though she appears young, the Benefactor is a remarkable person who possesses both the martial prowess of a supreme expert and divine healing arts."
As Lee Cheongryeo lavished praise without reservation, Jeonghyeon could only stare in a daze. He looked back and forth between Elena, Geumgang, and Lee Cheongryeo, unable to believe what he was hearing. By all logic it should have been impossible, yet here stood Geumgang, his martial arts fully restored.
"D-do you truly possess divine healing arts? Enough to restore someone whose martial foundation was almost completely destroyed!"
Jeonghyeon's shocked question leaned heavily toward the healing arts. Elena noticed the faint spark of hope in his eyes.
'Don't tell me… he needs my heals?'
It was the same look gamers gave when they realized she was a healer—the subtle, expectant gaze that said please heal me.
'Looks like either he or someone he knows is sick. If I cure them, won't that build me quite a bit of fame?'
She wasn't entirely sure, but the Cheongseong Sect seemed fairly prestigious. Helping them would probably help her become a notable figure in Sichuan.
"Is there someone who requires my assistance?" Elena asked, cutting straight to the point after thinking it over.
Jeonghyeon flinched. "…And if I said there was, what would you do?"
"I will heal them for you."
"You speak so confidently when you don't even know who it is."
"I can heal most things," Elena declared with absolute certainty.
Jeonghyeon let out a low groan. After a brief internal struggle, he finally spoke with great caution.
"Can you even cure Qi Deviation? The truth is, my martial uncle—the greatest elder of the Cheongseong Sect—has fallen into Qi Deviation and is no longer in his right mind."