Absolute Ban Order (1)
“Did you just say the North Sea Ice Palace can restore my dantian?”
Baek So-cheon stared at Yeom Hwa-sin in astonishment. The man's expression made it clear this wasn't a joke.
“That's right. As far as I know, only the Ice Palace can fix it for you.”
He had surprised Baek So-cheon countless times before. This was yet another record broken.
“Didn't you say you'd restore it once my martial arts reached the next level?”
“As repayment for saving my life, I'll fix your dantian first.”
Baek So-cheon recalled his earlier words. You'll return to our path too. It was clear now that he'd had this in mind all along.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You're really impossible to figure out.”
“I'm not that complicated. Maybe I seem that way because I'm too straightforward.”
A sudden thought struck him. When he'd been trapped by that beast, had Yeom Hwa-sin truly not anticipated he'd come to the rescue?
Could he have been planning to restore my inner power from that moment?
The man was so unpredictable that Baek So-cheon couldn't even guess what was going through his head.
Baek So-cheon glanced up at the ice wall and asked, “To get to the Ice Palace, do we climb over this?”
“No. Just wait here.”
Baek So-cheon felt a twinge of curiosity.
The North Sea Ice Palace was one of the righteous sects, though technically leaning more toward the orthodox side. How could it have ties to Yeom Hwa-sin?
“I didn't know the Black Heaven Alliance and the North Sea Ice Palace had dealings.”
“Not the alliance. It's me and the Ice Palace Lord—we know each other. Officially, the alliance and the Ice Palace have no connection.”
“What's your relationship with the Ice Palace Lord?”
“Let's say I'm someone who can fulfill her wish.”
“Whose wish?”
Yeom Hwa-sin only gave an enigmatic smile, saying no more.
“I hope it's yours.”
“Me too. But you'll need to steel yourself.”
“What do you mean?”
“It might fail. Even I'm not sure—it's no easy task. You could even die.”
His voice dropped low, like a warning, but Baek So-cheon remained unfazed.
“That's the problem. You have no attachment to life. But it's fine. Soon you'll regain your inner power—and your hope along with it.”
Yeom Hwa-sin seemed more excited than ever.
In truth, though Baek So-cheon kept a calm facade, his heart raced with anticipation and thrill.
How will they restore my dantian? If it works, what happens to my current inner energy? Will it merge? Or operate separately?
Of course, as Yeom Hwa-sin said, the process wouldn't be simple. The treatment itself could be deadly, and he might even get caught recovering his original power mid-way.
But this journey had made one thing crystal clear: to face him, he needed his dantian restored. And to defeat him, he'd need to grow even stronger in the process.
“Let me ask one thing honestly.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why restore my inner power? No bullshit. I want the real reason.”
“And what will you give me in return?”
“I'll answer one of your questions honestly.”
“Deal. My next stage has hit a wall. Ordinary methods won't break it, so I'm trying something special.”
“And that involves restoring my inner power?”
“A fight where death feels real—might that shatter the wall?”
Baek So-cheon nodded. If he'd truly plateaued, it was worth attempting. Only someone at their level could even consider it.
“My turn to ask, then?”
“Ask away.”
Yeom Hwa-sin started to form a question, lips parting, then held back.
“I'll ask later if I think of it.”
“Better ask while you can. You're at that forgetful age.”
“Hahaha.”
They chatted idly as they waited, but no one appeared.
“Before your martial arts wall, shouldn't we deal with this one first?”
Yeom Hwa-sin thumped the ice wall loudly and bellowed, “Tell them: if they don't open up now, I'll smash my way in. Consider this your warning.”
He seemed convinced someone was eavesdropping from the other side.
“Not exactly welcome here, are you?”
“Who in the jianghu welcomes me?”
“In a situation like this, they'll still fix my dantian?”
“I'm me, and you're you.”
“This is my first time here too.”
“Did you think fixing a dantian is that easy? You might have to collapse in their lord's hall first.”
“I can't exactly beg on my knees, so you'll handle that.”
“Forcing things is my specialty. Leave it to me.”
Baek So-cheon chuckled. Who could've predicted he'd be trading jokes with the Black Heaven Alliance Lord at the gates of the North Sea Ice Palace? Life was truly unpredictable.
Still, no one came even after a long wait.
Yeom Hwa-sin, who must have anticipated the snub, showed no anger.
“How long have we waited?”
“About half a shichen.”
“We've waited enough.”
As he strode toward the wall, Baek So-cheon quickly asked, “You're not really going to smash it if they don't open up, right?”
“Why not?”
Yeom Hwa-sin channeled inner energy into his fist.
“I'll count to three. One, two...”
Just as he raised his hand to strike, the ice wall slid open with a soft hiss. The door was so masterfully concealed that it was invisible until it parted.
A woman in white robes bowed politely to them.
“Forgive us for keeping esteemed guests waiting. I will escort you to the Palace Lord.”
She led them inside, her swift steps betraying peak-level mastery.
Under her guidance, they traversed a long corridor flanked by walls that mimicked ice but were actually stone, adorned with exquisite murals: a pair of cute birds perched on snow-laden branches, children sledding on a frozen lake, an elderly couple holding hands along a snowy path. Scenes of the cold north, yet all warm and tender.
That warmth only amplified the lethal aura of the hidden mechanisms beneath. A chill far deadlier than anything in the Murim Alliance's lord's hall.
No surprise—it had to be stronger, if anything.
No sect in martial history had ever toppled the North Sea Ice Palace. Their power and foundations defied imagination, yet they remained in the north, living quietly.
“Do you know why they never leave the North Sea?”
“No idea.”
“There's an Absolute Ban Order forbidding them from ever venturing to the central plains.”
“Whose order?”
“Who else? The useless predecessors of the Ice Palace, now rotting in the ground.”
The guide's steps quickened slightly. The topic clearly made her uncomfortable.
“How do you know this?”
“From those who wanted to leave.”
“People want to leave?”
“Some did in the past, some do now. To them, the North Sea is just a massive prison they itch to escape.”
The woman ahead flinched again. This was evidently a taboo subject in the Ice Palace.
Baek So-cheon suspected internal politics at play. Even beggars under a bridge formed hierarchies and schemes when gathered—what made this place different?
Thankfully, Yeom Hwa-sin dropped it as they emerged into a garden that stole the breath away.
“Ah!”
Baek So-cheon gasped in genuine awe.
Majestic palace buildings loomed in the distance, crafted to shimmer like ice, dazzlingly beautiful. Snow-covered plum trees bloomed around them, flanked by intricate ice sculptures—art so lifelike it halted their steps.
Men and women in white glided by, all strikingly handsome. Some were masters, others mere civilians.
They greeted the pair with bright, radiant smiles, faces beaming with joy, as if strolling paradise.
Yeom Hwa-sin paused and asked Baek So-cheon, “What do you sense from them?”
“Something unnatural.”
“Exactly! Good eye.”
Their happiness felt contrived, staged perhaps for the visitors' arrival. Or at least, not entirely sincere.
Soon, they reached the Palace Lord's hall, flanked by peak-to-transcendent experts lined in formation.
At the center sat a woman in ornate pure-white robes: Seo Bing-bing, the current Ice Palace Lord.
She was far younger than Baek So-cheon expected—mid-twenties at most, early thirties tops. She'd likely inherited the throne recently.
Her guards, by contrast, were all seasoned elder women.
“Why have you come to our palace again?”
Her first words were prickly, laced with hostility.
Yeom Hwa-sin grinned. “Nice to see you too.”
Baek So-cheon sensed it instantly.
Something happened between them.
Her demeanor screamed resentment toward Yeom Hwa-sin.
“Our palace isn't open to just anyone.”
“I'm not just anyone. And my friend here is special too.”
All eyes turned to Baek So-cheon.
He clasped his hands in salute and said calmly, “Baek So-cheon.”
“I know who you are. Hero Baek, a champion of the righteous—why travel with a villain like him?”
She called Yeom Hwa-sin a villain without hesitation.
“As you've heard, I lost my power. That's how I ended up like this.”
“Truly regrettable.”
Yeom Hwa-sin chuckled at her sigh. “Won't be for long.”
“What do you mean?”
“This man will regain his original strength.”
“Everyone knows Hero Baek's dantian was shattered. How?”
Yeom Hwa-sin met her gaze squarely. “The Life-Death Divine Physician will treat him and revive it.”
Seo Bing-bing's face hardened at the name.
Baek So-cheon, meanwhile, was stunned. “He's alive?”
The man once hailed as the reincarnation of Hua Tuo, the greatest physician of his era—even Murim Alliance's Divine Physician Ban Wol-ryang had acknowledged him.
Yet he'd vanished from the jianghu years ago. Everyone assumed him dead. Apparently, he'd been here all along.
Seo Bing-bing replied in a voice as cold as her expression. “The Life-Death Divine Physician isn't here.”
Yeom Hwa-sin seemed to have expected that, unfazed. “He should be. And he needs to treat this man.”
Her lips curled in challenge. “Why should he?”
Yeom Hwa-sin's talent for shocking people wasn't limited to Baek So-cheon.
His next words stunned everyone present.
“Because in return, we'll lift the Absolute Ban Order.”