Chapter 104
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: The Three-Year Bet
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The elders' eyes widened.
“Young Palace Lord?”
“Is, is that even possible?”
Even Yu Gong-seon couldn't hide his shocked expression as he looked at Seol Hwa-un.
“I've been pondering it ever since we first entered the Central Plains. And today, coming to the Elder Council, I found the key to it.”
“Hmm?”
“It's hard to believe. Something even the ancestors couldn't achieve for centuries, and you think you can?”
The elders, having composed their initial shock, now wore faces full of distrust.
It was only natural. For someone like Seol Hwa-un, who hadn't even passed thirty, to claim he could solve a problem that even grandmasters struggled with.
Seol Hwa-un gave a faint smile.
“Will you make a pact with me?”
“A pact?”
“If I solve the palace's internal energy issue, the Elder Council will fully support our advance into the Central Plains.”
“……!”
“And I request the support of the Ice Heaven Corps as well.”
The elders couldn't hide their bewilderment.
“What?!”
“How do you even know about the Ice Heaven Corps……!”
Ice Heaven Corps.
A group of warriors secretly cultivated by the Elder Council—only twenty-seven in number, but each one's prowess rivaled the leaders of the Ice Sword Brigade.
Seol Hwa-un spoke calmly.
“The Five Great Protectors told me.”
The Elder Council Leader let out a sigh.
“Hah! How could they…….”
“…….”
“Young Palace Lord, do you know why the Ice Heaven Corps was created?”
“……I do.”
“Two hundred years ago, our palace suffered great damage from the Heavenly Collapse Fist Emperor. Even then, our forces weren't as weak as they are now. Yet we couldn't stop him.”
Seol Hwa-un felt a pang in his chest.
‘……Back to that story again.’
The Elder Council Leader's eyes burned with intensity.
“That's why the Ice Heaven Corps was formed—as the palace's final line of defense. We kept even the palace itself in the dark for that reason.”
As he said, even Seol Hwa-un, the Young Palace Lord, hadn't known until the Five Great Protectors told him; it was that thoroughly hidden.
“Of course, I know that part too.”
“You want to send that Ice Heaven Corps, our ultimate safeguard, to the front lines right now?”
“Yes.”
“Hah!”
“Final line of defense…… Fine words. But I see it differently.”
Seol Hwa-un's eyes flashed.
“The warrior who guided me here must be from the Ice Heaven Corps, right? He possessed exceptional martial arts rare even in the palace. But as a member of the Ice Heaven Corps, he'll spend his life confined here.”
“…….”
“The previous generations of the Ice Heaven Corps were the same. Talented in martial arts, yet buried in the Elder Council, waiting for the palace's crisis simply because they were in the Ice Heaven Corps.”
“What nonsense! They serve with a sense of duty…….”
“The elders, having served the palace diligently in your youth before entering the Elder Council, have no regrets. But what about the Ice Heaven Corps?”
“……Hmm.”
“With no crises to face, don't they secretly wish for one to come?”
“…….”
“If a true great crisis strikes, the elders can step in then. But if even the Elder Council can't handle the enemy, I doubt the Ice Heaven Corps could either.”
“Th, that's……!”
“I requested the Ice Heaven Corps not just for the force needed to advance into the Central Plains, but for their sake as well.”
“Even so, we can't hand over the Ice Heaven Corps!”
Managing the Ice Heaven Corps was the sole prerogative of the Elder Council Leader, beyond even the Five Great Protectors' authority.
One silent elder spoke up.
“Make the pact.”
The Elder Council Leader flinched and stared at him.
“What?”
“But in exchange, the Young Palace Lord makes one too. If you fail to solve the internal energy issue, you abandon the advance into the Central Plains.”
“……!”
“And you'll take responsibility for convincing the Palace Lord as well. How about it?”
The elders' expressions shifted.
“That…… sounds good.”
“Elder Council Leader, let's do it that way.”
“Hmm…….”
Now Yu Gong-seon was the flustered one.
“No, wait a moment! That's too much. Convincing the Palace Lord was the Young Palace Lord's job to begin with…….”
From Yu Gong-seon's perspective, it was an utterly unreasonable condition. With the Five Great Protectors already on board, the North Sea Ice Palace's advance into the Central Plains was all but decided.
To overturn everything over one internal energy issue? No matter how formidable the Ice Heaven Corps was, the pact was completely lopsided.
Yet Seol Hwa-un replied calmly.
“Very well. Let's set the deadline at three years.”
“Y-Young Palace Lord!”
Seol Hwa-un gave a faint smile.
[Teacher Yu, trust me.]
Hearing his transmission, Yu Gong-seon inexplicably felt at ease.
‘Hah, is this another of the Young Palace Lord's talents? It instills such trust somehow.’
That didn't mean he was fully reassured. It was a problem unsolved for centuries, after all.
Seol Hwa-un looked at the Elder Council Leader.
“Will you make that pact?”
The Elder Council Leader nodded with a stern expression.
“Fine. Exactly three years from today.”
Seol Hwa-un nodded calmly.
“Of course. I trust the Elder Council Leader's word.”
Seeing his expression, the Elder Council Leader felt an inexplicable unease.
‘No way he can actually pull it off, right?’
* * *
Most of the elders left with satisfied expressions. Yu Gong-seon asked with a troubled look.
“Young Palace Lord, are you really confident?”
Seol Hwa-un smiled gently.
“You seem anxious.”
“Of course! Why on earth did you make such a pact?”
“I only made it because I'm confident. Don't worry. I'll solve it in a year, not three.”
The North Sea Ice Palace's internal energy problem had long been Seol Hwa-un's concern. He himself was unaffected, but the other palace members couldn't use his method.
No one else could cultivate the Nine Yin Primordial True Qi, and even if they could, they'd have to discard their existing internal energy.
Moreover, it incorporated the Heavenly Collapse Fist Emperor's signature techniques—revealing it could invite backlash.
‘The solution is clear: supplement the yin-heavy internal energy with yang energy to achieve balance.’
But that wasn't easy either.
‘In the North Sea, cultivating pure yang arts is difficult.’
The North Sea overflowed with yin cold energy, but ways to obtain pure yang energy were scarce.
There was yang from the sun, but even that was weakened by the North Sea's yin, limiting how much could be gathered.
Yet all these issues could be resolved right here, in Ice Lord Valley.
‘Using the yang energy rising from this land…….’
His gaze turned to Yu Gong-seon.
‘And Teacher Yu's One Yang Divine Art.’
“……?”
They needed a top-tier divine art that wasn't a Primordial Harmony Sect ultimate technique, and Yu Gong-seon had exactly that.
“Teacher Yu, where is the manual with the One Yang Divine Art's formulas?”
Yu Gong-seon's eyes sparkled.
“You plan to use the One Yang Divine Art?”
“Yes.”
The One Yang Divine Art lacked raw power but excelled in stability.
It could be cultivated alongside the North Sea Ice Palace's yin arts without conflict.
Proof was Yu Gong-seon himself.
“But cultivating the One Yang Divine Art alone won't solve the problem.”
“Naturally. The key is harmonizing it with the palace's yin cold arts.”
“I-Is that possible?”
“Of course it's not easy.”
Even for a martial arts genius, it was daunting. But Seol Hwa-un had deeply mastered the Primordial Harmony Sect's arts.
And those arts centered on yin-yang harmony. His understanding in that realm was unrivaled under heaven.
Seeing Seol Hwa-un's expression, Yu Gong-seon said,
“You really are confident. Something even the Nine Thousand Martial Emperors of the Central Plains couldn't claim.”
“Of course.”
“Sadly, I lost the One Yang Divine Art manual long ago.”
“Then…….”
Yu Gong-seon grinned and tapped his head.
“But it's all memorized up to the annotations. I'll recreate it right away.”
“Understood.”
Soon, Yu Gong-seon returned with a freshly inked One Yang Divine Art manual, the ink not yet dry.
“…….”
Seol Hwa-un slowly read through the One Yang Divine Art's formulas.
‘Hmm…… Deeper than expected. But skilled warriors could learn it without much trouble.’
He set the manual aside. The formulas were already etched in his mind.
“…….”
He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and sank into meditation. In his mind, the One Yang Divine Art's formulas began to disassemble.
‘No need for energy circulation or linkages. Just the most concise formulas.’
Seol Hwa-un's meditation stretched on. Yu Gong-seon, watching from the side, tilted his head.
‘What is he doing?’
An hour passed like that. Finally, Seol Hwa-un's eyes snapped open.
“……Done.”
A satisfied smile curved his lips.
“Teacher Yu, bring writing materials.”
“Ah, yes!”
Holding the brush, Seol Hwa-un wrote the martial formulas without hesitation.
Yu Gong-seon, watching beside him, went wide-eyed.
‘Th-this is!’
After a long while, Seol Hwa-un's brush stopped. Exactly five hundred characters of formulas filled the paper.
“I've condensed the One Yang Divine Art…… Let's call this the One Yang Art.”
Yu Gong-seon let out a dazed laugh.
“Haha, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would've believed it.”
The One Yang Divine Art, over fifteen hundred characters, reduced to five hundred.
‘To fully comprehend it in that short time and condense it like this!’
Summarizing a divine art's formulas this concisely was no easy task. It was harder than creating a new martial art.
A single mistake could lead to qi deviation.
But Yu Gong-seon, who had mastered the One Yang Divine Art, recognized that Seol Hwa-un's One Yang Art was flawless.
He felt like he was dreaming.
‘One thing I can say for sure: the Young Palace Lord is the greatest genius in the palace's history!’
Seol Hwa-un spoke calmly.
“Now, I need to create a new heart formula harmonizing this One Yang Art with the palace's yin cold arts.”
This was far more difficult. And since the North Sea Ice Palace had various yin cold arts, each would need its own tailored formula.
“That's even harder…… but somehow, I think you'll pull it off quickly.”
Seol Hwa-un smiled gently.
“It won't take long.”
To properly create the heart formulas, though, preparations were needed.
“Hmm…….”
Looking around Yu Gong-seon's cluttered home, he shook his head.
‘Can't do it here.’
Oblivious, Yu Gong-seon asked brightly,
“Shall we start right away?”
“……We have time, so we'll do it back at the palace.”
“Very well.”
“Then let's head to the palace now. Prepare yourself, Teacher Yu.”
Yu Gong-seon shrugged.
“What's there to prepare? Just some clothes and a few books.”
Seol Hwa-un said sternly,
“Wash up thoroughly…… and change into clean clothes if possible.”
“Ah…….”
Only then did Yu Gong-seon realize his disheveled state.
“Got it.”
And so, Seol Hwa-un took Yu Gong-seon and returned to the North Sea Ice Palace. They headed straight for the Palace Lord's chambers.