Chapter 301: Qi Deviation-1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 301: Qi Deviation-1
Whoosh!
Enveloped in a roaring blaze, Neung So-hwa took a slow step forward.
With every stride, the flames surged higher, beginning to melt the very iceberg beneath her feet. Before long, the fire had consumed the entire frozen mass.
Nothing remained but a world of dancing flames.
Gulp.
Sun-woo swallowed hard as he watched the spectacle.
He had been told countless times that her flames would be immense, but he had never imagined they would be this overwhelming. They had literally swallowed the iceberg whole.
Though it was more of a large hill than a true mountain, the sheer scale of the conflagration offered a terrifying glimpse into the vast power she commanded.
Sun-woo felt his body tremble. It was as if he were standing face-to-face with a raw force of nature.
Vastness.
That was the only word for what he felt from her. A presence so distant and colossal that even the thought of reaching out to it filled him with dread.
Sun-woo found himself unable to even swallow his own saliva.
"What are you doing?"
Neung So-hwa’s voice drifted into his ear.
Snap.
Startled back to his senses by her voice, Sun-woo looked at her properly.
She stood there stark naked, without a single thread covering her body. Her eyes were a crimson red, like fresh blood, and the massive flames continued to wrap around her entire form.
"Are you okay?" Sun-woo asked, his face etched with worry.
"I am fine. In fact, I feel quite refreshed."
Sun-woo felt a pang of doubt. The explosion had occurred just before she could consume the Ice Essence. He had seen with his own eyes the Ice Essence being blown away by the blast.
How could she be perfectly fine?
"What about the Ice Essence?"
"I have no need for a gift given by such a lowly wench."
Neung So-hwa frowned as she answered. Hearing her words, Sun-woo felt a sharp sense of dissonance.
The Neung So-hwa he knew was not a woman who would disparage someone as "lowly." She was a woman possessed of a grace and benevolence that transcended her high status. To hear such a derogatory term come from her lips felt fundamentally wrong.
"Are you sure you're really okay?" Sun-woo asked suspiciously.
"Did I not say I am fine? I am well. Not only do I feel relieved, but my mind has never been clearer. It seems that with the seal broken, I have reached the Profound Realm."
"The... the Profound Realm!?"
Sun-woo’s eyes widened in shock. He knew she had been close to it, but he never imagined that simply breaking the seal would allow her to ascend to the Profound Realm instantly.
"Why so surprised? Is it not only natural for one as noble as I?"
"...I suppose so."
"More importantly, Sun-woo, let us return to the Ice Palace at once."
Neung So-hwa spoke with a sense of urgency.
"Why? Do you want to go show off to Guard Ma?" Sun-woo replied with a smirk.
He assumed she was in a hurry because she wanted to brag to Guard Ma about her recovery.
"No. I intend to kill Bukgung Yeon."
"Huh?"
The words that left her mouth were the exact opposite of what Sun-woo had expected. For a moment, his brain seemed to stall. He couldn't process what he had just heard.
"So, let us hurry back."
Her urging snapped him out of his daze.
I must have misheard her. Surely, I misheard.
Sun-woo began to desperately doubt his own hearing. It made no sense. Neung So-hwa talking about killing someone? It was impossible.
She was not the kind of person to speak of murder so lightly. At least, that wasn't the woman Sun-woo knew.
"Sohwa."
Sun-woo looked at her, standing there like a goddess of fire.
"Speak."
"I think I misheard you. Could you tell me again why we need to get back to the North Sea so quickly?"
"It seems your young ears have failed you. But I am merciful, so I shall repeat myself."
Neung So-hwa’s expression turned cold.
"We must go to kill Bukgung Yeon, the Master of the North Sea Ice Palace."
"............"
Sun-woo was speechless. He realized then that he hadn't misheard her at all.
"You're... you're joking, right?"
"I am not joking."
Her tone was resolute.
"What are you talking about?! Killing Bukgung Yeon?!"
Sun-woo’s voice rose in disbelief. Even if there had been some friction, hadn't their relationship ended on relatively clean terms? They had received the Ice Essence and given the Cat's Eye Stone in return. Why on earth would she want to kill her?
"It is only natural. I wish for her to die."
"What!?"
"I dislike her. Enough to kill her."
Neung So-hwa’s eyes glinted with a murderous aura.
"She is arrogant. How dare a mere girl playing king in some backwater village show such insolence to me, one born of the noblest and most precious bloodline in the Central Plains? She deserves death. No, I will kill her."
"Wait... wait! That was because she didn't know who you were..."
"That is not all. She is unpleasant. Beyond unpleasant. The way she prattles on as if she herself were the embodiment of order and law is utterly grating. She must die. My heart will not find peace until she is gone."
Neung So-hwa scowled deeply, her anger palpable.
"And her greatest sin of all is that she laid hands on what is mine."
"Yours?"
Sun-woo tilted his head in confusion. Bukgung Yeon wasn't a thief; why would she touch Neung So-hwa’s belongings?
"Yes. She had the audacity to touch what belongs to me. It is a crime for which the extermination of three generations would be insufficient. Of course, her clan is already gone, so killing her alone will have to suffice."
Neung So-hwa let out a cheerful laugh at her own words.
"Neung So-hwa, calm down. You're not acting like yourself at all."
"Why... do you not call me Sohwa?"
"What?"
"I asked why you do not call me Sohwa with affection!"
Fwoosh!
With her scream, the flames surrounding her body surged even more violently.
"It is because of that bitch, isn't it? You have been seduced by her wicked breath and her wicked whispers!"
Neung So-hwa shrieked, her Extreme Yang energy erupting without restraint.
"That wench deserves to be torn limb from limb! You are mine! Sun-woo is mine! How dare she covet what is mine!"
"Since when was I yours?!" Sun-woo protested.
"I will kill her. I will burn that woman who touched Sun-woo until not a single speck of bone ash remains! Sun-woo is mine. You should only look at me, only like me! So how dare she lay a finger on you!"
Neung So-hwa poured out her rage in a continuous torrent of screams. With every shout, the fire rose higher.
"I will kill her! And that is not enough. I will burn down the Ice Palace she so desperately wants to rebuild, and every villager in it! She will regret the day she touched what belongs to me!"
Neung So-hwa ranted with a cruel smile. She was laughing—laughing while speaking so easily of massacring innocent people.
"................"
Hearing her rage-filled screams, Sun-woo was certain of one thing. She was not in her right mind.
The Neung So-hwa before him was entirely different from before. She wasn't the innocent "Baby Sohwa," nor was she the alluring "Fox Sohwa." She was like a tyrant. Just like the Extreme Yang Flame Emperor Demonic Qi itself.
Her emotions were intensified to an abnormal degree. While she had always been somewhat dependent on him, she had never been this obsessive. And while she had disliked Bukgung Yeon, she was never a woman cruel enough to harbor murderous intent toward her.
Qi Deviation.
Sun-woo was sure of it. The sudden surge of the Extreme Yang Flame Emperor Demonic Qi had plunged her into a state of Qi Deviation. All her emotions were heightened, and she was consumed by a desire for destruction. This was undoubtedly the influence of the demonic art.
Sun-woo knew he had to stop her. If she were merely emitting flames, he could have just made her absorb the stray Ice Essence. But with Qi Deviation, the situation had changed. He had to subdue her. And then, he had to force-feed her the Ice Essence.
Dammit.
Sun-woo cursed inwardly at the mess he had found himself in. Neung So-hwa falling into Qi Deviation was not part of his plan. The unexpected turn of events filled him with irritation.
"Sohwa," Sun-woo called out, his voice deliberately tender.
"Yes, speak. If it is you who speaks, I shall listen to anything you have to say."
As soon as he spoke kindly, Neung So-hwa replied instantly, as if she had been waiting for it.
"Would you consider eating the Ice Essence?"
"I refuse."
"You said you'd listen to me."
"I said I would hear your words, not that I would grant your request."
Neung So-hwa’s expression remained firm.
"Don't be like that. Just do it for me. Close your eyes and swallow it once, okay?"
Sun-woo tried to use his charm to persuade her. He thought that since her affection for him was also maximized, she might listen to his suggestion.
"No matter how much you plead, it is useless. How could you ask me to consume something that belonged to such a lowly creature?"
Neung So-hwa frowned. While it pained her to refuse Sun-woo, her hatred for Bukgung Yeon was even greater. There was no way she would willingly ingest the Ice Essence provided by her.
"Furthermore, I am perfect as I am now. Why would I consume such a trivial thing? It is preposterous."
She looked at Sun-woo with eyes redder than blood.
"Sun-woo, let us go. I shall show you. The great power that can defy even nature itself."
Neung So-hwa wore a dangerously beautiful smile.
"............"
Sun-woo stared at her in silence.
The massive flames consuming her body. Her snow-white, naked form. Her hair and eyebrows as red as burning embers. A beauty that could eclipse the moon and put flowers to shame—a peerless, breathtaking visage.
She looked no different. On the surface, she was the same Neung So-hwa he had always seen. Still beautiful, still radiating a mysterious aura.
But Sun-woo knew. The resemblance was only skin-deep.
Whish!
Sun-woo unfastened the Dragon Tail Soft Sword from his waist. The supple blade dangled loosely toward the ground.
"What are you doing?"
"Sohwa, you're not in your right mind."
"What nonsense is this! My mind has never been clearer!"
"No, that's not clarity. You've been consumed by your martial arts."
"Mind your tongue!"
Neung So-hwa’s voice rose in anger.
"I am a great warrior who has reached the Profound Realm, a Half-Immortal! How dare a commoner like you judge me!"
Her face was flushed with fury as she screamed.
Fwoosh!
As if reacting to her rage, the flames surrounding her grew even larger.
"You haven't reached the Profound Realm. You're being swung around by your own power."
"What! You have become quite insolent yourself!"
"Neung So-hwa, I'm going to make you eat that Ice Essence."
Sun-woo spoke in a calm, steady tone.
"Do you think I will just stand by?"
"Your opinion doesn't matter. I've already made up my mind."
Hummmmm.
Sun-woo channeled his internal energy into the Dragon Tail Soft Sword.
Snap!
The once-limp blade instantly pulled taut and rigid. Sun-woo pointed the stiffened sword at Neung So-hwa.
"I am simply doing what must be done."
He looked at her with eyes full of resolve.
"How foolish. Do you truly believe you are a match for me? Or do you think I will go easy on you because of my affection? I truly wonder what is going through your head."
Neung So-hwa spoke as if she couldn't comprehend his actions. To her, the gap between them was as vast as that between a grown man and a seven-year-old child. Sun-woo had to be aware of that. So how could he point a sword at her? It made no sense.
"I think I can handle you."
Sun-woo’s voice remained calm.
"It seems I have been too informal with you. That is why you take me so lightly."
Neung So-hwa glared at Sun-woo with her blood-red eyes. Her voice was now chillingly cold.
"It seems I must personally teach you the meaning of the difference in our status."
Whoooooosh!
As she finished speaking, the flames that had been circling the iceberg all rushed toward Sun-woo at once. Before long, the intense heat and pressure began to weigh down on him.
"Urgh."
Sun-woo felt the searing heat as if his very skin were being scorched, the air growing so thick and heavy it stifled his breath.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
His breathing became ragged. Suddenly, even the simple act of drawing breath had become a struggle.
"Fire is a terrifying thing. Even without direct contact, its mere presence is lethal enough to bring death."
Neung So-hwa watched him with her crimson eyes.
"Sun-woo, my lovely Sun-woo. Put away your sword. Abandon all thought of resistance. Just accept me as I am."
A faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
"If you do, you shall have anything you desire."
Her voice was thick with seduction.
"Anything at all."
She gazed at him with a look of pure, unadulterated allure.
Sun-woo’s eyes wavered as he looked back at her. He seemed shaken.
After a long silence...
"............I..."
Sun-woo finally began to speak.
Neung So-hwa watched him with a gaze full of longing, waiting for the words that would follow.