Chapter 333
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 333
Chapter Title: Received Some Help
Bing Ok-ryeong gave a subtle smile.
A smile that seemed to say she knew everything.
Ha Mu-baek tried to offer more excuses, but he shut his mouth, figuring it would just come off as petty.
Soon, Bing Ok-ryeong's expression changed.
-You failed to grasp your disciples' true feelings, leaving behind a calamity that raged for a thousand years.
It was a statement filled with regret.
Then, from her lips flowed the full story of what had transpired.
Her lingering will had heard every bit of the Dragon Training Pavilion's resentful thoughts poured out in fury.
-Thank you so much. Thanks to you, I can finally pass on without any regrets.
"Are you a spirit?"
Ha Mu-baek asked cautiously at her mention of departing.
Bing Ok-ryeong shook her head.
-I am myself, yet not myself. More precisely, a fragment of myself left behind over long ages. A piece of my will embedded when I arranged the Ice Heaven Cold White Lotus. My true self passed away a thousand years before that, unaware even of this. And now, I too will return to nothingness at the end of my arrangements.
Ha Mu-baek's expression twisted oddly at her words.
A face brimming with the question of how such a thing could be possible.
-Immodest as it sounds, I, Bing Ok-ryeong, was the foremost formation master and sorcerer of my era. Even Tak Ji-myeong could twist the energy of that imugi because he was my disciple.
Perhaps mistaking his look for doubt, Bing Ok-ryeong went out of her way to explain her connection to Tak Ji-myeong.
"So sorcery can achieve even that..."
Ha Mu-baek murmured, and Bing Ok--ryeong gave a faint smile.
-Just a foolish woman who didn't even notice her disciple's affections, let alone his change of heart.
It was a self-deprecating laugh.
Bing Ok-ryeong had set her arrangements in motion only after reading the heavens and foreseeing a fiery calamity.
She had suspected Tak Ji-myeong was plotting something, but never imagined it would be like this.
The thoughts of the Fire Dragon.
They contained not only Tak Ji-myeong's lingering will etched into the sword but also Tak Yo-beom's intentions.
Ha Mu-baek didn't know that part, but Bing Ok-ryeong's will had read it all.
-Defile every woman of the Bing clan and enslave them? That mad bastard.
Bing Ok-ryeong spat out a crude curse without thinking.
"Pardon?"
Ha Mu-baek blinked in surprise.
But Bing Ok-ryeong just smiled playfully and said nothing.
-You'll learn soon enough even if I don't tell you, my benefactor.
"Doesn't leaving a will like this require a great deal of internal energy or qi?"
In Ha Mu-baek's mindscape,
her manifestation felt so vividly real that the question arose naturally.
-We were both lucky. Me and you.
"Pardon?"
-It seems one of the descendants of Ice Heaven Palace reached a level in formations close to mine.
At her words, a certain face flashed in Ha Mu-baek's mind.
Naturally, Han Seol-bing.
-From your expression, you know who it is. That child is channeling the pure ice qi here.
'Ah.'
The icy energy rising from underground so suddenly.
That had been Han Seol-bing's doing.
'Received some help.'
Thanks to that icy qi, he'd absorbed the fiery energy far more easily.
-The pure ice qi carried my will. And the qi flowing in now is also pure ice qi, allowing me to manifest in your mindscape like this. I planned to protect your bloodline and dantian before fading away.
Bing Ok-ryeong patiently explained away Ha Mu-baek's doubts.
-But that's coming to an end soon. Even if the pure ice qi keeps flowing, a will from a thousand years ago can't persist forever. It's time for us to part, benefactor.
"Thank you. You've cleared up so many of my questions."
Bing Ok-ryeong shook her head at Ha Mu-baek's gratitude.
-I should be the one thanking you. You saved Ice Heaven Palace and my descendants. As recompense—though I don't know if it's enough—I'll pass on everything I know. A mere fragment can't convey much, though.
"Pardon?"
Ha Mu-baek blinked at the cryptic words, but
Bing Ok-ryeong just smiled gently, waved her hand, and vanished.
The internal energy in his dantian shifted.
The pure ice and Dragon Training qi still clashed in Ha Mu-baek's dantian, dissipating into his own internal energy.
But a tiny portion of the pure ice qi
slipped out of the dantian, traveled along his meridians,
and plunged straight into his mind.
Thud.
His head shook violently, as if struck hard.
Ha Mu-baek felt a momentary daze,
followed by a cool clarity.
Then, memories that weren't his own began flooding in.
Ha Mu-baek quietly accepted them,
realizing this was what Bing Ok-ryeong had meant.
The memories poured in like a raging torrent,
but Ha Mu-baek's genius memory absorbed every single one without missing a beat.
His dantian took in the pure ice and Dragon Training qi, his mind Bing Ok-ryeong's memories.
He absorbed it all.
Ha Mu-baek entered a true samadhi state.
Forgetting time, forgetting space.
Forgetting even what was happening in Ice Heaven Palace.
He remained immersed in his mindscape.
In that time, the flames that had scorched the Tak clan's lands and threatened Ice Heaven Palace fully vanished.
Once the fiery qi dissipated, Han Seol-bing stopped channeling her pure ice qi.
The icy qi faded too.
All that remained of the Tak clan were charred ruins.
Ice Heaven Palace warriors surrounded those ruins with ironclad vigilance.
Only one person remained inside: Ha Mu-baek.
The Ice Heaven Palace warriors stood guard to protect him.
At the core were the Bing and Han clan fighters.
It was only natural.
They had witnessed his divine feat firsthand before the palace lord's hall.
They knew all too well that he was their benefactor.
Bing Chwi-seol and Han Seol-bing appeared at the Tak clan's main gate.
To check on Ha Mu-baek's condition.
He remained seated in lotus position, utterly still.
"It's already been seven days and nights."
Bing Chwi-seol said worriedly.
"Well, he'll open his eyes soon. I wonder just how much stronger he's gotten this time..."
Bing Chwi-seol nodded at Han Seol-bing's reply.
A blessing in disguise, as they say.
Ice Heaven Palace had encountered tremendous fortune.
The Dragon Training qi Ha Mu-baek couldn't fully contain had been purged of its fiery nature and expelled.
Pure, unadulterated qi blanketed the entire palace. At Bing Chwi-seol's command, upon sensing it,
every Ice Heaven Palace warrior had circulated their energy to absorb it.
Except the Tak clan fighters.
They were either unconscious from Ha Mu-baek's hand or subdued by Bing and Han warriors, their meridians sealed. They couldn't circulate qi.
Han Seol-bing gazed at Ha Mu-baek with a small smile.
She visited once a day at the same time, but he hadn't changed.
What kind of monster was he turning into?
As she thought that,
Flash.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes snapped open in an instant,
and a terrifying glint poured forth.
"Eek."
Han Seol-bing flinched, covering her eyes with a groan.
Bing Chwi-seol did the same.
Crack. Crack.
Ha Mu-baek rolled his neck and shoulders.
"Ngh."
He unfolded from lotus position, stood, patted his waist, and stretched his legs.
His body felt stiff—a sign that quite some time had passed.
"How long was I out?"
He looked to Han Seol-bing and asked.
"Seven days."
"Hm. That's a good while."
Han Seol-bing nodded at Ha Mu-baek's mutter.
"So, what kind of ridiculous monster have you become this time?"
Every time he did this, he emerged even more monstrous.
That's why she asked.
Ha Mu-baek gave an odd smile at the question.
Then he spread his right hand.
Whoosh.
Pure flame bloomed in his palm.
Not some Three Realms True Fire or anything.
Just fire.
Fire itself.
"Gasp!"
Han Seol-bing jumped in shock.
Undeterred, Ha Mu-baek opened his left palm.
Crackle.
A lump of pure white ice formed.
"Wha? Wh-what..."
Han Seol-bing stared in disbelief.
Bing Chwi-seol's eyes were wide as saucers too.
"Wh-what is this? How can a person... handle both fire and ice qi at once...? Is this even possible?!"
She blurted out every thought racing through her head.
"It just sort of happened. Thanks in large part to you, for continuously sending the pure ice qi."
Ha Mu-baek said calmly, a faint smile on his lips.
"Me? How did you...?"
Han Seol-bing was stunned again.
Even for Ha Mu-baek, she hadn't thought he'd know.
"Someone told me."
He answered matter-of-factly, as if it were nothing.
But Han Seol-bing tilted her head.
There was no one who could have told him.
Only she and Bing Chwi-seol knew.
"Is that all this time?"
Han Seol-bing eyed him incredulously.
As expected, the monster had become an even greater monster.
Ha Mu-baek smiled gently.
Not the faint one from before.
Han Seol-bing sensed something ominous in that smile.
"Wh-what? What else is there...?"
"Well... my internal energy... hm... how to put it..."
"..."
Han Seol-bing watched his mouth intently as he groped for words.
"It's grown so much I can't even gauge it anymore..."
Drop.
Her jaw dropped,
mouth agape.
What was this monster saying?
His internal energy had ballooned absurdly?
He already had absurd internal energy and unleashed absurd martial arts.
And now even he couldn't measure it?
What did that mean...?
What the hell.
Scary.
A whirlwind of thoughts churned in Han Seol-bing's head.
But
Bing Chwi-seol wasn't as shocked this time.
She had expected it.
That dense qi blanketing Ice Heaven Palace.
She had recognized its origin as Ha Mu-baek.
Having expelled such qi, how much must he have amassed in the process?
She couldn't even imagine.
"Congratulations on your great accomplishment, benefactor—Ha Daxia."
Bing Chwi-seol stepped forward,
clasped her fists in salute, and bowed deeply.
A debt that couldn't be repaid even a hundred times over.
"Thank you, Palace Lord."
Ha Mu-baek returned the salute with a bow.
"You've made gains too. Congratulations."
Bing Chwi-seol shook her head at his words.
"It's all thanks to you, Daxia. You processed that immense fiery qi and spread it across Ice Heaven Palace..."
Ha Mu-baek shook his head in turn.
"It was energy I couldn't handle myself. If I'd been greedy, my dantian would've burst."
Ha Mu-baek chuckled.
It was the plain truth.
But he hadn't expected the people of Ice Heaven Palace to make use of what he'd expelled.
Every warrior in sight had seen massive gains in internal energy.
Han Seol-bing was no exception,
though her progress felt different.
Likely a fortune gained while channeling pure ice qi to him.
Ha Mu-baek could speculate now, having received Bing Ok-ryeong's memories.
"Thank you once more. You've saved Ice Heaven Palace, Daxia."
Bing Chwi-seol bowed again.
Ha Mu-baek shook his head yet again.
"One of my people asked for help, and I obliged. When my own asks, it's only natural."
At Ha Mu-baek's response,
Bing Chwi-seol's eyes gleamed oddly.
She glanced back and forth between Ha Mu-baek and Han Seol-bing.
The meaning in her gaze was clear.
"Tch."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue lightly.
"All Bing women are the same, huh."
He muttered as if they were hopeless.
"Pardon?"
Bing Chwi-seol blinked,
but Ha Mu-baek didn't answer.
"Sister! What are you thinking right now?!"
Han Seol-bing finally caught on to the implication in Bing Chwi-seol's look and yelped sharply.
Calling her "sister" instead of "Palace Lord" showed her fluster.
"I should rest first. I'm in no state to be seen like this."
"Ah."
Bing Chwi-seol let out a gasp, as if only just realizing.
"My apologies, Daxia. I've been remiss. I should have seen to this first... Please, follow me."
Seven days prior,
their first task had been cleaning the guest quarters for Ha Mu-baek.
Ready to escort him there anytime.
Bing Chwi-seol now led the way to those quarters.
Han Seol-bing trailed at the very rear.
Her faintly flushed cheeks
went unseen by both Bing Chwi-seol and Ha Mu-baek.