Chapter 96
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Return to the North Sea Ice Palace
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Seol Hwa-un's group arrived at the North Sea Ice Palace under the escort of the Ice White Cavalry.
The North Sea's biting winds were still as fierce as ever, but to them, they even felt cozy.
‘Finally, we're back!’
After a journey of over four months, the emotions were fresh and overwhelming.
Especially after enduring the assaults from the Eight Demonic Gates and the Green Forest bandits at the end.
“…….”
Seol Hwa-un gazed at the North Sea Ice Palace with a peculiar glint in his eyes.
‘To feel this way.’
Including his previous life, he had spent most of his existence in the Central Plains, which could be called his homeland.
Compared to the harsh and frigid North Sea Ice Palace, the Central Plains had a warmer climate and a far more livable environment.
Yet, paradoxically, returning from that Central Plains, the North Sea Ice Palace now felt like the warmth of a mother's embrace.
‘I see. So I've truly become a full-fledged North Sea man now.’
It was not a bad feeling.
At the entrance to the North Sea Ice Palace, numerous palace maids who had already received the news had gathered.
And at the very front stood Seol Wi-myeong and the heads of the Five Great Families.
“…….”
The expressions of all the family heads except Seol Wi-myeong were bright.
No, to be more precise, they looked like they were forcibly holding back laughter.
Seol Hwa-un stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and bowed his head.
“Vice Palace Lord Seol Hwa-un, reporting back from the journey to the Central Plains.”
“…….”
Seol Wi-myeong stared at him with complicated eyes.
“……You must have suffered.”
“I apologize, but the North Wind Brigade under my escort…….”
Seol Wi-myeong cut off Seol Hwa-un's words with a stern expression.
“Your complexion doesn't look good. We'll hear the full report after you've fully recovered.”
“……Understood.”
Seol Wi-myeong turned his head and raised his voice.
“Where is the Medical Hall Leader?”
At his call, a middle-aged woman stepped forward.
“Medical Hall Leader Han Jeong-yeon, present!”
“Devote yourselves to treating the Vice Palace Lord's group. I authorize the use of top-grade (A-rank) herbs.”
Han Jeong-yeon's eyes widened slightly. Top-grade (A-rank) herbs were reserved only for the Palace Lord's family or the heads of the Five Great Families. He had lifted that restriction.
“I shall obey.”
“Vice Palace Lord, focus solely on your treatment and put all other thoughts aside.”
Seol Hwa-un bowed his head as if he had no choice.
“As you command.”
Seol Wi-myeong turned away as if he had said all he needed to. The reason he repeatedly emphasized treatment was clear.
‘He's telling them not to pester him out of curiosity about the Vice Palace Lord's exploits.’
‘Tch, what a shame.’
The heads of the Five Great Families smacked their lips and followed behind Seol Wi-myeong. The gathered palace maids glanced around cautiously and dispersed.
Thanks to that, Seol Hwa-un's group could head to the Medical Hall quietly without any interference.
The North Wind Brigade Leader gave a faint smile.
‘For the Palace Lord to show such consideration.’
It was surely for no one else but Seol Hwa-un.
And as Seol Hwa-un headed to the Medical Hall, a thread of transmitted voice reached his ear.
[Use my training chamber for circulating your qi and healing your injuries.]
It was Seol Wi-myeong's transmitted voice. But his figure was nowhere to be seen.
Seol Hwa-un's eyes widened slightly.
‘Could it be Thousand-Li Sound Transmission?’
Thousand-Li Sound Transmission was a technique that allowed transmitted voice regardless of distance, and along with Six Harmonies Voice Transmission, it was only possible upon reaching a profound level of transmitted voice mastery.
Naturally, the farther the distance, the more difficult Thousand-Li Sound Transmission became.
To send it from a distance where even Seol Hwa-un's qi sense couldn't detect him was truly remarkable.
‘He's grown even stronger in the meantime!’
Seol Hwa-un had grown greatly during his Central Plains journey, but it seemed Seol Wi-myeong hadn't been idle either.
Seol Hwa-un gave a faint smile.
‘I thought I'd caught up a bit…… As expected, he's extraordinary.’
As a member of the North Sea Ice Palace, having the Palace Lord grow stronger was a welcome development in many ways.
As Seol Hwa-un stood still, the North Wind Brigade Leader walking beside him called out.
“Vice Palace Lord, aren't you going?”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
* * *
For the first time in a while, the Medical Hall buzzed with activity. No less than eighteen patients had flooded in.
Since emergency measures had already been completed aboard the sailboat, there were no critically injured among them.
Seol Hwa-un was no exception. He had sustained considerable internal and external injuries, but nothing severe.
Beyond applying golden sore medicine and bandaging, there were no special treatments needed.
However, his entire body—both arms, thighs, and all—was covered in wounds.
Medical Hall Leader Han Jeong-yeon personally changed Seol Hwa-un's bandages and casually remarked.
“You've truly become sturdy. It feels like just yesterday you were bedridden almost all day.”
During Seol Hwa-un's childhood struggles with blocked meridians, the person who had spent the most time with him was Han Jeong-yeon.
“Auntie, you can speak comfortably like before.”
She was also the cousin of the palace maid Han Su-yeon. The cheerful Han Jeong-yeon immediately took up his offer.
“Then I will.”
“Yes.”
Han Jeong-yeon gazed intently at Seol Hwa-un.
“It reminds me of six years ago. When you survived a near-death crisis and overcame your blocked meridians…….”
“You were as joyful as my mother.”
“Yes. You're the Vice Palace Lord and my nephew, but…… after watching over you so long, you felt like my own child.”
Han Jeong-yeon, who had lived her whole life single, stirring her hidden maternal instincts with her frail young nephew was hardly surprising.
“I heard you broke through assaults from the Eight Demonic Gates and Green Forest bandits? And to come out with injuries this minor. I can hardly believe it's the same kid from back then.”
Though Han Jeong-yeon said it in passing, Seol Hwa-un felt a needless pang of guilt.
“It was good fortune.”
“Ever so humble. But it's truly amazing. You say you used fist techniques, yet not a single scratch on your fists.”
To the fist master Seol Hwa-un, his fists were weapons in their own right. Having swung them as much as or more than the North Wind Brigade Leader, their pristine condition was bound to raise suspicions.
In fact, the North Wind Brigade Leader's straight sword had dulled so much from the fierce battles that it had been sent straight to the forge for repairs.
Seol Hwa-un simply smiled without a word.
‘All thanks to the Shadowless Fist Gauntlets.’
He had removed them temporarily for treatment, but without the gauntlets recovered from the Martial Alliance, things would have been far more perilous.
As Han Jeong-yeon tied off the bandage knot, she said.
“Done. These are wounds that will heal with time…… Now, let's check your internal injuries?”
“Yes.”
At her words, Seol Hwa-un readily extended his wrist. Han Jeong-yeon grasped his pulse and began the diagnosis.
‘Hm, the pulse itself is strong. It's truly hard to find traces of that former weakling now.’
She infused qi into Seol Hwa-un's body. Her soft internal energy thoroughly scanned his insides.
‘Indeed, the internal injuries are deep. But not immediately life-threatening.’
As she casually swept over Seol Hwa-un's dantian, Han Jeong-yeon jolted in surprise.
‘Huh? What's this?’
Not only the amount, but the density of the condensed internal energy was no joke.
‘Internal energy of such purity! And faintly, it even carries yang energy!’
Since Seol Hwa-un had begun serious martial arts training, she hadn't had occasion to check his pulse, making this more than surprising.
‘This isn't the purity achievable with the Ice White Divine Art. Something from the forbidden area? But this yang-dominant qi doesn't…….’
“Do you need to check more?”
At Seol Hwa-un's words, Han Jeong-yeon snapped out of her thoughts.
“Ah, sorry.”
She withdrew her hand with an awkward expression.
“It's not serious, but the internal injuries are deep, so recovery will take time. Hm, let's stop here for today.”
“Yes.”
“I'll prepare decoctions, so take them without fail each time. Don't forget to come tomorrow.”
“Yes, Auntie.”
With no further treatments needed, Seol Hwa-un took the medicine packet and left the Medical Hall.
‘Internal injuries like these, I'll recover from in a few days of qi circulation if it kills me.’
With that resolve, he headed straight to the Palace Lord's training chamber.
“…….”
The underground training chamber looked almost the same as before.
But upon closer inspection, one could see far more cracks in the floor than previously.
Seol Wi-myeong training there came vividly to mind.
‘How diligently he must have trained…….’
Generally, the higher one's martial prowess, the harder it becomes to advance.
For someone of the Three Venerables of the Outer Realm to elevate his realm in mere months meant he had put in bone-grinding effort.
‘Once my body recovers, I should request a spar.’
The Palace Lord's training chamber gathered pure yin energy exceptionally well, making it efficient for qi circulation.
That was why Seol Hwa-un had come specifically here.
“Hm?”
Looking for a spot to circulate his qi, he spotted a wooden box in the center of the training chamber.
“This is……?”
Atop it was a neatly folded letter. Unfolding it revealed a familiar handwriting.
[It is the Ice River Divine Pill. Use it wisely.]
It was from Seol Wi-myeong. Though brief, it conveyed his warm intentions.
‘This precious thing…….’
The Ice River Divine Pill was a spirit pill of the North Sea Ice Palace, but with its manufacturing secret lost, only a few remained.
It was among the top spirit pills of the North Sea Ice Palace, but not comparable to Shaolin's Great Return Pill or Wudang's Supreme Purity Pill.
It wasn't that the North Sea Ice Palace's medicine lagged; in the barren North Sea, gathering herbs was so difficult that spirit pill crafting hadn't developed.
Still, it was a spirit pill comparable to the Small Return Pill.
With so few left, even the Palace Lord's authority limited how many he could use.
That was why he hadn't given it freely to Seol Hwa-un during his blocked meridians ordeal.
‘Father…….’
Seol Hwa-un hesitated briefly but decided to accept Seol Wi-myeong's intent.
‘I understand it as a command to grow even stronger and lead the North Sea Ice Palace to greater heights.’
He slowly opened the wooden box. As he did, a refreshing fragrance accompanied a subtle chill.
Inside the box, atop luxurious red silk, lay a silver pill emitting a faint glow.
“So this is the Ice River Divine Pill.”
It was Seol Hwa-un's first time seeing the real thing.
‘I’ll take it right away.’
He picked up the Ice River Divine Pill with two fingers. A chilling cold spread through his fingertips.
‘Just holding it gives off this much chill.’
The Ice River Divine Pill soon entered Seol Hwa-un's mouth. The moment it touched his tongue, it melted smoothly and slid down his throat.
‘Ugh!’
Even Seol Hwa-un, with some resistance to yin-cold qi, grimaced at the immense chill that followed.
He immediately sat cross-legged and began circulating his qi.