Chapter 317
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 317
Chapter Title: So, What Does That Mean...
Bing So-seol.
The one and only younger sister of Bing Chwi-seol, Palace Lord of Ice Heaven Palace and head of the Bing Clan.
Starting last year.
By order of her older sister—no, the Palace Lord—she had been overseeing the Bing Clan.
The reason was that at thirty, she now possessed sufficient capability.
And in carrying out the clan head's duties in the role of Deputy Palace Lord, what she felt was...
'How in the world does my sister handle all this work...'
The Bing Clan's affairs alone were overwhelming, yet Bing Chwi-seol managed the palace's matters as well.
The ability it took to handle both all this time...
Was utterly unimaginable.
No, it wasn't just the sheer volume of work.
There was something far more crucial than the massive workload.
The moments of choice and decision.
As someone in a position to choose and decide, bearing responsibility for the outcomes...
No one could know the depths of agony that came with each such instant.
And after every decision, the self-recrimination and regret would follow: Had it been the right choice? Were there no other options?
Thus, Bing So-seol had lived fiercely, giving her all for a full year.
But lately, an enormous crisis had arisen that left her utterly at a loss.
The Tak Clan's disturbances.
The blockade of the Palace Lord's Hall.
In this situation, she couldn't fathom what stance the Bing Clan should take or how to respond.
And so, they had raised their alert to the maximum and could only watch the Tak Clan's movements.
In the midst of all this, Na Hong-ryeon came seeking Bing So-seol.
The chief steward of the Han Clan, who had provided the pretext for this entire fiasco.
She had moved discreetly enough, but it was an action impossible to hide from the Tak Clan's watchful eyes.
How much worse did she intend to make things?
Bing So-seol, who had reluctantly granted a private audience, fixed Na Hong-ryeon with a gaze that held no warmth.
"First, allow me to apologize for providing the pretext that sparked this crisis."
Na Hong-ryeon bowed deeply and courteously.
Yet Bing So-seol's expression remained unchanged.
"What business do you have with me? Are you trying to turn the Tak Clan's blades toward the Bing Clan as well?"
A sharp, aggressive tone.
Na Hong-ryeon, seated across from her, answered calmly.
"Once the Han Clan falls, their swords will turn to the Bing Clan regardless."
Bing So-seol bit her lip.
She knew it wasn't wrong.
"I've brought a plan from Lady Seol-bing."
At Na Hong-ryeon's words, Bing So-seol's face grew subtly complex.
Lady Seol-bing was her sole confidante within Ice Heaven Palace, her dearest friend.
It had been years since her return.
However.
That very woman had provided the pretext for this crisis.
Thus, her homecoming brought no pure joy.
Nor did the mention of her plan spark any interest.
Na Hong-ryeon, as if fully understanding all these circumstances, continued her words with unflappable composure.
As the explanation progressed, Bing So-seol's expressions shifted in waves.
At first, she thought it pure madness.
But when it came to breaking through the blockade into the Palace Lord's Hall...
A flicker of hope appeared.
Considering the supplies left in the Palace Lord's Hall, they needed to act without delay.
However.
All forces of both Bing and Han Clans pouring into the Palace Lord's Hall?
It was feasible.
It stood at the heart of Ice Heaven Palace, the grandest structure there.
In truth, the palace had been built around it from the start.
But concentrating every fighter in one spot would only make it easier for the Tak Clan to attack.
They'd be rats trapped in a jar.
"Are you saying to walk right into the trap?"
Bing So-seol couldn't help furrowing her brow as she spoke.
Her own sister was already in that very position.
Na Hong-ryeon offered a faint smile.
"Even the Deputy Palace Lord hasn't considered it. That means the Tak Clan is even less likely to. A fortunate turn."
Bing So-seol's frown deepened.
"Do you not know why the Palace Lord's Hall is located there in the first place?"
"Because the Millennium Ice Essence resides there..."
The frigid energies of the North Sea—cold, ice, all gathered and condensed over ten millennia into a single crystal.
The Millennium Ice Essence, the very quintessence of the North Sea, possessing absolute chill.
The founder of Ice Heaven Palace had discovered it underground and erected a massive hall atop it.
Thus began the palace.
"The Palace Lord is there as well. And Lady Seol-bing has returned."
"So what does that..."
Bing So-seol, on the verge of an irritated outburst, trailed off.
The three conditions Na Hong-ryeon had mentioned.
If they were met...
"Ah...!"
A soft exclamation escaped Bing So-seol's lips.
With those three...
It was possible.
Few knew, but...
Han Seol-bing had achieved it at just eighteen.
Bing So-seol had heard the tale directly from her.
Han Seol-bing had shared it first with her, right after succeeding.
But.
She herself had never performed it.
"Is it possible?"
A much gentler question.
Na Hong-ryeon nodded.
"Yes. She said it's definitely possible. Without any variables. The only potential issue is interference from the Tak Clan."
If she said so, then it was so.
There was hope.
But Bing So-seol's brightening face soon hardened again.
"Even so... that only buys us defense. How do we strike at the Tak Clan's forces...?"
Truth be told, Na Hong-ryeon had harbored the same doubt.
Before coming, during her private talk with Han Seol-bing, she had posed the exact question.
At that time.
Han Seol-bing had smiled brightly and replied.
"Just hold out for a few days. Then the strongest monster in the jianghu will arrive. Without fail."
Words brimming with certainty.
Na Hong-ryeon trusted Han Seol-bing's conviction.
"Lady Seol-bing says she has a way. She's called for reinforcements."
Dubious, yet...
Na Hong-ryeon's eyes shone with conviction.
And Bing So-seol knew Han Seol-bing well.
She chose to believe.
There were no other options anyway.
Whether this led to starving in a trap or a miraculous reversal...
No one could say.
"I'm not sure if anyone will come to our aid right on time. It's a civil war, after all."
As Bing So-seol spoke, Na Hong-ryeon seemed about to say something else.
"But among what we can do, nothing seems better than this. Very well. We'll follow Seol-bing's plan."
Bing So-seol made her decision.
"Thank you, Deputy Palace Lord. But the fewer who know, the better."
Na Hong-ryeon left her final plea and departed.
The Han and Bing Clans sprang into frenzied action.
Time was short.
They prepared with all their might.
Within limits that wouldn't hinder movement, each packed the maximum load they could carry.
Even children old enough to run.
Meanwhile, Han Seol-bing went to the building housing the orphan laborers and gathered them too.
Leaving them behind might doom them as arrow fodder.
The Tak Clan observed every move.
"Even the orphan laborers? Ha. Planning to use them as shields? Not a bad idea. We should've struck first."
That was Tak Yo-beom's reaction upon hearing the report.
He considered sending men even now, but the laborers had already joined the Han Clan.
Too late.
Though their addition wouldn't sway the tide anyway.
Just a twinge of regret at missing good shields.
"Hurry! Faster! No time!"
"Food and daily necessities only! Discard wealth and treasures! Useless trinkets like gold won't fill your belly!"
The warriors dashed among the families, shouting loudly.
Nearly mi hour now.
Bing Clan members arrived at the Han Clan one by one.
Anxiety filled their faces.
The Bing Clan retainers poured in relentlessly.
Sensing something amiss from the sight, the Han Clan retainers quickened their hands.
Bing So-seol arrived as well.
"I've put you in an awkward spot, Deputy Palace Lord."
Han Go-jeok offered his apologies to her.
Her expression had softened considerably.
"The Tak Clan is acting on absurd pretenses."
A fact she knew all too well.
In her current plight, she had simply needed someone to vent on, hence her cold reception of Na Hong-ryeon.
"Long time no see."
Han Seol-bing greeted Bing So-seol.
"Yeah. Long time. You've changed so much I hardly recognize you."
"That's my line."
Ten years and their respective positions...
Had transformed them beyond recognition.
Yet faint smiles graced both their lips.
Bing So-seol soon asked Han Seol-bing.
"It's certain, right?"
Han Seol-bing nodded with utter confidence.
That was enough; Bing So-seol asked no more.
Most of the Han Clan's elders here still looked uneasy.
Meaning Han Seol-bing hadn't fully explained even to her own clan.
Only Han Go-jeok and Na Hong-ryeon seemed privy to the full plan.
The Bing Clan members were in the same boat.
Told merely that they were joining forces with the Han Clan for battle against the Tak.
Shin hour.
All preparations complete.
The Han Clan's main gate swung open.
Warriors of Han and Bing charged out.
An action the Tak Clan hadn't anticipated.
That they'd move first, no less.
With such meager forces?
"Heh. Even better. Before we sweep them tomorrow, let's give them a taste of our strength."
Tak Yo-beom chuckled.
But his face soon changed.
Due to the next report.
Those charging from the Han Clan weren't heading toward the Tak Clan.
They were rushing straight for the Palace Lord's Hall.
And not just warriors—even non-martial retainers, laden with baggage, ran alongside.
When the Bing Clan had moved to the Han earlier, he'd assumed they were gathering for battle.
But now this?
Why?
Yang Jeok-san's face twisted in bewilderment.
Utterly incomprehensible.
At that moment.
Someone urgently sought the clan head's quarters.
Tak Pung-geon.
"Pung-geon. What is it?"
Tak Yo-beom asked, seeing his pale, panicked face.
"We, we must stop them! Block the Han and Bing Clans from entering the Palace Lord's Hall!"
Tak Pung-geon blurted desperately.
"Why? They're trapping themselves."
Though puzzled by the unexpected move and its intent, the end result was still rats in a jar.
Such was Tak Yo-beom's thinking as he questioned.
"It's the Palace Lord's Hall! The Palace Lord's Hall! And Han Seol-bing has returned!"
"So what?"
"If that wench enters it, sh-she can borrow the power of the Millennium Ice Essence to deploy it!"
"Deploy what?"
Tak Yo-beom muttered, still baffled.
Yang Jeok-san's face drained of color.
"N-no, surely not... Are you speaking of the Ten Thousand Shatter Formation, Tak Clan Head?"
Tak Pung-geon, who oversaw the Tak Clan's Formation Hall.
He nodded vigorously at Yang Jeok-san's question.
"Ten Thousand Shatter Formation? Ten Thousand Shatter?"
Tak Yo-beom muttered, disbelief dawning on his face.
An expression screaming impossibility.
"You don't mean the Ice Heaven Myriad Images Ten Thousand Shatter Formation?"
Panic filled him.
"Yes. It's Han Seol-bing. That's surely why they're heading to the Palace Lord's Hall."
"Impossible. That she could deploy it?"
The absolute formation devised by Ice Heaven Palace's founder.
One believed to exist only in legends.
"It seems possible. Someone accessed the formation diagram and manual in the palace library."
Tak Pung-geon replied.
"How do you know?"
"I'm studying it myself right now. But there are traces of someone before me."
"Old traces?"
"No, within the last twenty years. Judging by the dust around the shelves..."
That left only one person.
Han Seol-bing.
The acknowledged genius of formations, supreme master of Ice Heaven Palace's arrays.
"Seeing it doesn't mean she can deploy it..."
Tak Pung-geon shook his head.
From those traces, he'd examined all two dozen manuals of the Ten Thousand Shatter Formation.
Every one bore signs of being read from start to finish.
No annotations, but...
The traces alone told him.
'She mastered it.'
He didn't know when.
Tak Pung-geon was thirty-five this year.
He had mastered every formation in Ice Heaven Palace.
Six months ago, thinking only one remained, he'd challenged the Ice Heaven Myriad Images Ten Thousand Shatter Formation.
Yet he barely grasped its fringes.
He wondered if he'd master it before death.
Despair at Han Seol-bing's shadow loomed.
Then news of the Tak Clan's blockade pretext.
Feeling the moment ripe, he learned of her return and their charge toward the hall, prompting his rush to Tak Yo-beom.
"T-Tak Formation Head speaks sense. If by any chance Han Seol-bing has mastered the Ten Thousand Shatter Formation and deploys it from the Palace Lord's Hall... We must block them. At least keep Han Seol-bing out!"
Yang Jeok-san urged frantically.
"Send the Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps! Now!"
Tak Yo-beom issued the urgent command.