Chapter 318
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 318
Chapter Title: Go to the Palace Lord's Hall!
Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps.
The martial force of the Tak Clan, named after the Cold Wind Corps, one of the Ice Heaven Palace's three major military units.
It was composed of the clan's top one hundred elites.
Tak Yo-beom dispatched them immediately without a second thought at the words of Tak Pung-geon and Yang Jeok-san.
They had been arranged specifically to deal with Han Seol-bing from the start.
At the clan head's urgent command, the hundred warriors hurriedly prepared and burst out of the Tak Clan compound.
They raced toward the Han Clan with all their might.
"Our target is Han Seol-bing. Han Seol-bing. Ignore everyone else and just capture that bitch. You've all memorized her description, right?"
It had been over a decade since Han Seol-bing left the palace.
Some didn't remember her face, and time had changed her features anyway.
From the moment she returned.
A few with sharp eyes had confirmed her face and drawn portraits.
The Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps had memorized those portraits.
That was one reason Tak Yo-beom had sent them out in such haste.
The Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps hurtled toward the Han Clan, pounding the ground.
It happened in an instant.
No matter how vast the Ice Heaven Palace was.
As a single faction.
Even if they were far apart within the same enclosure, there were limits to the distance.
A massive crowd moving toward the Palace Lord's Hall came into view.
They seemed to be running at full speed as well.
But with civilians in the middle, their pace couldn't be fast.
A long, stretched-out column.
Their vanguard appeared to already be clashing with the Tak Clan warriors blockading the Palace Lord's Hall.
"Corps Leader, if we attack their flank now..."
The Cold Wind Corps' deputy leader approached and spoke to the corps leader.
Just as he suggested.
That would weaken their assault on the Palace Lord's Hall while inflicting fatal damage on them.
However.
The corps leader glared at the deputy with icy eyes and said,
"Our goal is Han Seol-bing. Preventing that bitch from entering the Palace Lord's Hall. That's our mission."
A chilling voice.
The deputy could only bow his head at that response.
"There's no need to attack the enemy's main force. It's a waste of time to find her. We need to make her come out."
The Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps leader, Deng Ga.
A sinister smile curled on his lips.
"Deputy, instead of suggesting we hit their flank, you should've said to target the family members they're trying to protect."
The deputy couldn't even lift his head at Deng Ga's eerie words.
"They're moving like that to protect the family members. If we go after them, she'll come out on her own. Han Seol-bing!"
Deng Ga bellowed with internal energy infused in his voice.
"Come out now! Or we'll ignore everything and sweep away all the family members!"
His voice spread in all directions.
Panic erupted among the family members at his words.
It was inevitable.
They were ordinary folk who didn't know even the basics of martial arts.
Even if they belonged to a martial sect.
Warriors threatening to attack such family members.
Deng Ga's shout had its effect.
At the rear of their column.
Movement stirred among those who looked like a desperate guard unit protecting the family members.
Some trying to block someone, others trying to break through,
Looking closely, the blockers were all Han Clan and Ice Clan warriors.
The one trying to break through.
Was a single woman.
A woman.
Deng Ga focused his inner energy into his gaze.
The face he confirmed.
Matched the portrait they had received almost perfectly.
"There! That's the bitch! Hit the rear!"
At Deng Ga's command, the Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps swiftly formed up and moved.
The formation they completed was the Cone Charge Formation.
A formation shaped like an awl to pierce through the enemy.
It reflected their intent to charge straight at Han Seol-bing alone as a single point.
The corps leader took the tip of the awl, leading the Cone Charge Formation straight forward.
"B-block them!"
A Han Clan warrior shouted.
At that moment, Han Seol-bing's sharp cry overrode his.
"Get out of the way! I'll handle them, so head straight to the Palace Lord's Hall!"
Thwack!
She struck the warrior blocking her and charged forward.
Han Seol-bing, who had already drawn her sword, rushed alone toward the hundred warriors coming for her.
The warriors tried to follow.
"Damn it! I said go to the Palace Lord's Hall!"
At Han Seol-bing's curse-laced shout, they hesitated, and the distance grew.
They had missed the chance to fight together.
In the end, they had no choice but to protect the family members and head toward the Palace Lord's Hall.
"P-please come back safely!!!"
One of the Han Clan warriors cried out desperately.
Han Seol-bing smirked at the shout, but the smile wasn't visible to him.
Instead, it was perfectly clear to Deng Ga.
'Smirking? Cocky bitch.'
Thanks to Han Seol-bing jumping out without fleeing, the task had become easier.
However.
For her to stand alone against a hundred of them.
It was the height of arrogance in thought and action.
But she ignored it and began unfolding her sword arts.
Ice Soul Snow Ridge Sword.
The sword art that all senior Ice Heaven Palace warriors learned.
Naturally, Deng Ga knew it too.
Han Seol-bing assumed the starting stance of the Ice Soul Snow Ridge Sword and charged toward the enemies rushing at her.
Facing charging foes while standing still would sweep her away in their momentum.
To avoid that, she had to build her own momentum.
Even in a one-against-a-hundred fight.
That was what she had realized through two wars.
'Of course, avoiding is best.'
But she couldn't avoid now.
A pure white sword aura soon formed on Han Seol-bing's blade.
A sword aura emitting frigid ice energy.
Deng Ga, facing her, also drew his sword aura.
His was also pure white ice energy.
Because they had trained in arts from the same root.
Clang!
The two clashed.
The Cone Charge Formation soon shifted form.
Circular Square Formation.
A circular formation for defense against attacks from all directions.
Optimized for defense.
But now, their orientation was reversed.
Swords aimed inward, not outward.
A formation to surround Han Seol-bing.
Glance.
Han Seol-bing observed the Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps' movements.
The formation change was swift and precise.
Truly elites.
Yet Han Seol-bing focused entirely on facing Deng Ga.
Those on Deng Ga's left and right attempted joint attacks.
Clang clang!
The two couldn't withstand the power in Han Seol-bing's sword.
It was at least a deputy leader level strike.
But the deputy was commanding half the formation from the opposite side.
The moment the deputy moved for a joint attack, the formation would collapse.
In the end, Deng Ga had to face Han Seol-bing alone and push her to the center of the Circular Square Formation.
However.
'Wh-what sword is this...'
Deng Ga's back grew slick with sweat.
The sword art Han Seol-bing used was definitely the Ice Soul Snow Ridge Sword.
But not the one he knew.
The killing moves were even more vicious, the variations more dizzying.
And the sword aura's power?
Deng Ga could barely hold on.
'These bastards are underestimating me. Can't miss this opening.'
Han Seol-bing gritted her teeth and swung her sword.
Circular Square Formation.
A formation for encircling enemies.
But for a hundred against one, it was too loose and sloppy.
Right now, at most four could engage Han Seol-bing.
More than that, and the formation would crumble.
Because they complacently thought four could handle her.
She couldn't miss this gap.
If time dragged on, they might alter the formation.
That was why.
Han Seol-bing charged at the one who seemed to be the Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps leader, issuing commands.
Even if it wasn't the one she knew.
It didn't matter.
Take this one down first.
Han Seol-bing's sword assailed fiercely.
"Kuhk."
Deng Ga faltered back under her momentum.
"You bitch..."
Deng Ga's sword movements changed.
Not the Ice Soul Snow Ridge Sword.
Not the Ice Heaven Palace's common sword art.
A sword art infused with the Tak Clan's secret techniques.
White Heaven Hundred Nights Sword.
A hundred sword strikes flickering toward Han Seol-bing.
Han Seol-bing's sword changed as well.
Ice Heaven Sunlight Sword.
An Ice Heaven Palace sword art infused with Han Clan insights.
A cold ice energy sword art infused with the hot, dry yang energy of the sun.
A paradoxical sword art.
One no one in the Han Clan had fully mastered.
It unfolded from Han Seol-bing's hand.
"Hah."
Deng Ga let out a scornful laugh.
He recognized the Ice Heaven Sunlight Sword. And the story behind it.
Her single sword evaded all hundred strikes.
Slash.
It sliced Deng Ga's shoulder.
"Kuk."
A blow suffered after looking down on her.
Hot pain rose from his shoulder.
Hot.
Two opposing heats.
The heat felt from extreme burning.
And.
The heat felt from extreme cold.
It shouldn't be, but Deng Ga glanced at the sword wound on his shoulder.
His eyes widened in shock.
An unbelievable wound.
The center was red and blistered like a burn from heat.
Frost rimmed the edges white.
Burn and frostbite.
Suffered simultaneously.
"What the..."
"It was a pain in the ass... but not an impossible sword art to complete."
Han Seol-bing muttered that toward the stunned Deng Ga.
She wasn't lax enough to miss such an opening.
She had been through too many battlefields for that.
Slash.
The follow-up strike.
Han Seol-bing's pure white sword aura severed Deng Ga's throat.
"K... heuk..."
She leaped past Deng Ga, who couldn't even scream properly, and broke free of the Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps' Circular Square Formation.
The Cold Wind Corps members stared in dazed shock.
The first to recover was, as expected, the deputy leader.
"Ch-chase her!"
Han Seol-bing unfolded the Ice Heaven Moon Shadow Step.
An Ice Heaven Palace unique movement art.
More precisely, this too was infused with Han Clan insights.
The direction she headed was now the emptied Han Clan grounds.
Ninety-nine Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps members pursued her at full speed.
Toward her home, the Han Clan's front yard.
"The Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps should be enough, right?"
Tak Yo-beom's words drew nods from Yang Jeok-san and Tak Pung-geon.
"She's no Ha Mu-baek. She can't handle a hundred from the Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps."
Yang Jeok-san declared confidently.
Ha Mu-baek.
His reputation had even reached this northern land.
The ever-vigilant Tak Clan against the Central Plains had obtained basic information on him.
Not precise, but.
Enough to know he could handle a hundred first-rate experts.
"She was just a deputy corps leader under Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek. Just a deputy. He wouldn't have taught her his martial arts."
Yang Jeok-san added.
"If the Tak Clan's Cold Wind Corps forms their sword formation properly, they can capture her easily. No matter how skilled she is in formations, breaking a hundred-man sword formation isn't easy even for a transcendent expert."
Tak Pung-geon spoke with conviction as well.
Tak Yo-beom nodded at their assurances.
"So now we just wait?"
"How about attacking those heading to the Palace Lord's Hall?"
Yang Jeok-san's suggestion.
"Available forces?"
"Iron Wind Corps will be ready in about half a shichen."
The Iron Wind Corps, composed of two hundred first-rate warriors.
Not as elite as the Cold Wind Corps.
But still a powerful force.
Tak Yo-beom had initially been against moving them right away.
But after committing the Cold Wind Corps to capture Han Seol-bing, his thinking had shifted.
He viewed deploying additional forces positively.
"Prepare them. Once we catch that bitch Han Seol-bing, we smash the Palace Lord's Hall. They'll take heavy losses breaking through the blockade anyway. Not giving them time to rest is a good strategy."
"Yes!"
Perhaps thrilled his suggestion was accepted.
Yang Jeok-san responded energetically and withdrew.
To relay the clan head's orders to the Iron Wind Corps.
Early dawn.
Ha Mu-baek opened his eyes from his brief sleep.
The previous day.
He was completely unaware of what had happened in the Ice Heaven Palace or the desperate struggle Han Seol-bing had endured.
Just one hour of sleep was plenty.
The night before.
He had told his master everything he needed to convey.
As expected of his master, he had quickly mastered the Face-Changing Technique.
No need for multiple faces.
Just one was enough, making it even faster.
The face Wi Ji-gun had chosen.
Was unexpected.
Ha Mu-baek recalled it and chuckled again.
He had planned to leave right after.
But his master stopped him.
Said to at least say goodbye to Seol-ran before going.
Though their time together had increased since coming to the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Lately, Ha Mu-baek had been leaving the pavilion often.
Not wanting to disturb his little sister's sleep, Ha Mu-baek had taken a short nap as well.
Now, geared up, he set off.
Toward the Graceful Dragon Dormitory where the female disciples lodged.
He stopped at a distance where the dormitory building was visible.
And slightly released his presence.
With Ha Seol-ran's sensitivity, she'd notice for sure.
As expected.
About one gak later.
Ha Seol-ran appeared, loosely draped in an outer robe.