A Fateful Encounter on the Snowfield (5): I Met Ki-yeon in the Snow

'Move...'

'Move, I said!'

I clenched my teeth to force my exhausted, toy-like body to move, the kind that had gone completely dead after pushing myself to the limit.

But no matter how hard I struggled, only my toes and the tips of my wings responded.

Just moments ago, I'd poured everything into staying alive.

Chiseling my way across the ice, driving my body to the absolute limit, barely holding on.

The price I'd paid was nothing but total exhaustion, with not even a flicker of strength left in a single finger.

'No...'

'I'm going to die here?'

The sound I'd been hearing from behind grew steadily louder.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Every heavy footstep striking the ice sent vibrations through the ground.

The tremor reached straight through my body lying on the freezing surface,

'What do I do...'

'Is there still anything I can do?'

I desperately searched for a way.

Running was impossible.

My legs had no strength left at all.

Facing them head-on was even more absurd.

Against that overwhelming body and those razor-sharp claws, all I, a tiny penguin, could do was almost nothing.

'Should I use my inner energy...?'

The very moment I'd just awakened to cultivation, pulling qi from my depleted body might do something unpredictable.

But

'I don't want to die.'

Fear flooded my mind.

What would happen if those heavy paws crushed me?

Everything would end in an instant.

Or maybe I'd be dragged into its maw, bones and all, and disappear without a trace.

But no matter how much fear I felt, reality didn't change.

The polar bear kept coming closer, and the thick shadow it cast on the ice gradually widened.

'Yeah... If I'm going to die anyway.'

'Let's do everything I can and die.'

I steadied my mind and reached toward the latent energy deep within my body.

Focusing slowly, I created a path from my dantian for the qi to circulate throughout my entire form.

'From the dantian, following the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠meridians...'

I slowly began operating the qi, and then

'Oh... I can move a little...'

I could move my body just a tiny bit.

'Even so, there's no way I can run with this...'

I thought hard about what I could do right now.

'Oh... Maybe I should try that anyway?'

Of all the martial arts manuals the old man left me, the only one I'd properly read was the Ice Soul Divine Art.

I'd also read the Ice Soul Divine Palm, but since I was a penguin, I'd given up on it.

'Thinking about it now, I probably don't need to do it with my hands...'

Circulating qi through my abdomen like coating it with ice, I could release the qi from the hands shown in the palm technique from my belly, feet, or beak if it would work.

'Of course, excluding the belly for now.'

Releasing qi from the belly with the dantian present risked damaging it and triggering the devil's way.

'Then the remaining options are feet or beak...'

No matter how I thought, for running it had to be the feet...

'Let me try with my beak... I'll shoot a Freeze Beam at least.'

I gripped my trembling consciousness and slowly focused on my dantian.

The cold qi that had been lurking deep in my abdomen twitched faintly.

'Slowly...'

Following the circulation method of the Ice Soul Divine Art, I pulled the qi along the meridians from the dantian, and the cold energy that started there traveled through my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chest toward my throat.

I forced the qi that had risen to my neck all the way to the tip of my beak.

'Out.'

Whoosh—uuu.

I exhaled a long breath.

But nothing happened, and only a faint puff scattered into the air.

'...No.'

I checked my qi again.

It clearly reached my neck, but when I breathed, it dispersed again.

Like trying to grab water with my hand.

'Not controllable.'

Thud.

The footsteps from behind shook the ice once more.

The vibration reached my chest.

'There's no time.'

I adjusted my posture again.

This time I pulled up a bit more qi.

The cold energy, forced upward until the meridians pulsed, climbed my throat.

'This time...!'

I spat out all the air I had.

Puuu—!

A sharp pain hit my throat as if it had frozen inside.

'Kwek!!!'

The qi couldn't exit and scattered inside my neck instead.

The cold energy reversed course, blocking my breath, and a cough burst out as

'Kek! Kek!'

Only white mist puffed from my beak.

'Failed...'

My vision blurred for a moment.

My dantian started throbbing too, probably because I'd forced qi through an exhausted body.

'If I push it any further, I might really trigger the devil's way.'

But I couldn't give up.

Thud.

Thud.

The footsteps were now very close.

I slowly turned my head, and the polar bear was only about ten steps away.

A massive body.

Snow-white fur.

Black eyes full of killing intent fixed exactly on me, walking casually.

I didn't know if it had decided I was already hunted and couldn't escape.

'Damn it...'

I closed my eyes again.

'Something feels off...'

The martial arts manuals definitely weren't supposed to be this difficult.

It said that if it was the content in the Ice Soul Divine Palm, it was a basic technique where qi was released with the palm to shoot out cold energy, compatible with any inner energy method in the Ice Palace.

Of course, humans would naturally use their hands, but I was a penguin.

So I raised my beak.

But why wasn't it working?

'My qi is scattering from my neck.'

I recalled the sensations from just now.

Dantian.

Meridians.

Chest.

Throat.

And.

'Breath.'

At that moment, a passage from the martial arts manual I had read flashed through my mind.

'Qi isn't pushed out forcibly, but allowed to flow with the breath.'

'...Breath.'

I had been trying to expel the qi first until now, with the breath just following along.

'The opposite.'

Qi wasn't being pulled by the breath; the breath was carrying the qi.

The moment I realized that, a huge wave of sensation rushed through my head.

At that instant.

Srrrooo...

A low, rough growl came from right in front of me.

When I opened my eyes, the polar bear had closed the distance to just two or three steps away.

It slowly lowered its massive head and looked down at me.

Hot breath washed over my face, and a fishy smell of blood stung my nose.

The distance I could still run had long been passed.

The polar bear slowly raised one of its paws.

A paw larger than a human head.

Its sharp claws glinted on the ice.

'It's over.'

My heart was pounding wildly.

My body still wasn't moving properly.

But strangely, my mind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠felt strangely calm.

'Once.'

I slowly inhaled.

Cold air seeped deep into my lungs.

At the same time, the qi in my dantian began to move naturally.

Without forcing it upward.

Following the breath.

Following the meridians.

Like water flowing.

The qi slowly rose toward my throat.

The polar bear's front paw began to fall toward my head.

'Now!'

I exhaled with all my strength.

Whoosh—uuuuuuu—!

At that moment.

From the tip of my beak, pure white cold energy erupted like an explosion, forming the beam I had imagined, and struck the polar bear.

Then

Crack—crackle!!

The polar bear hit by the beam turned into an ice statue.

'Kek... Kek'

'Hah... Hah... Hah... Am I... alive?'

I coughed as my throat felt frozen and stared at the polar bear that had turned to ice.

'I... actually succeeded...'

The polar bear remained frozen in the pose it had been in, mouth open toward me, front paw raised.

'I really... thought I was going to die...'

'I really... thought I was going to die.'

I stared blankly at the frozen polar bear.

Just a moment ago, that creature had been approaching me to eat me.

If that massive paw had simply slammed down once, it would have been over.

But now.

That huge body was trapped inside the ice and couldn't move.

'Did I do it right?'

I couldn't believe it.

No matter how I thought about it, the incident had been too sudden.

I had just wanted to live and done my best one last time.

Even though I couldn't properly shoot out cold energy, or even move my body.

And yet here I was, freezing that polar bear.

'Martial arts really are amazing.'

But I didn't have time to admire it.

My body was in terrible condition.

The inside of my throat still throbbed, and my dantian kept aching.

'Had I pushed it too hard?'

Honestly, I was a little scared.

Whether my body would freeze like it did the first time I used qi, or if I had triggered the devil's way.

'If it had frozen or triggered the devil's way, it really would have been over.'

I carefully checked the dantian inside my body.

'Qi... There's still plenty left.'

The old man had given me all his qi, so there was a lot, but I'd used up everything I could just now.

'I probably can't use any more or my body will break...'

I stopped focusing on my dantian and slowly moved my body.

At first, even my toes wouldn't move, but when I circulated the qi just a tiny bit, the stiffened muscles began to loosen.

'It works.'

It was slow, but I could move a little.

After using all my strength a few times, I finally managed to stand up.

'I have to get to the cave.'

I couldn't stay lying here forever.

The polar bear might stay frozen for a long time, and other dangerous creatures might appear.

I slowly began walking toward the cave.

One step.

Another step.

Normally that distance would have been crossed in no time, but now it felt like an enormous distance.

I nearly fell several times, and the thought of just lying there and giving up crossed my mind, but I couldn't.

I had just been fighting so hard to live, and now that I had barely survived, I couldn't give up here.

'Just a little more.'

I kept moving.

And finally, the familiar entrance to the cave appeared.

At that moment, all the strength left in my legs vanished.

I collapsed inside the cave on the floor.

'I'm back...'

The cold floor felt good.

At least right now, I didn't have to worry about dying.

I slowly caught my breath and thought.

'Today's incident... was really dangerous.'

I was lucky.

If that thing hadn't worked, I would have been inside the polar bear's belly right now.

'Next time... I need to prepare a little more.'

I knew I had to get stronger, but right now, all that mattered was that I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still alive.

I felt the faint remaining flow of qi, closed my eyes, and fell into deep sleep.