NOVEL NEXT Chapter 58
[At that moment, far from the Central Plains, in the North.]
Inside a palace sculpted from ice atop a white frozen plain.
In the deepest part of a place that could be called ‘Ice Palace,’ a woman stood before a massive frozen pillar.
“…….”
With hair suspiciously long and white, and eyes glowing blue, the woman reached out towards the ice pillar.
“…Lee Seol-ah.”
The woman trembled as she called the name ‘Lee Seol’ toward the icy column.
A chill, akin to that of an ice sheet, flowed from her elongated fingers, as if she could freeze a person’s neck at any moment.
If there were a person who best embodied the term ‘cold rage,’ it would surely be her.
The white-haired, blue-eyed woman toyed with the ice pillar for some time before turning her stiff face away.
“So, what brings you to the North Sea Ice Palace?”
“I have come to fulfill the wishes of the palace lord.”
The white-haired woman, of somewhat different appearance than the Ice Palace Lord, bowed her head to the Ice Palace Lord, known as ‘Witch of the White Face.’
“Do you not wish to revive your disciple?”
“…….”
“Or is it not so? Having kept her from ‘the brink of death,’ do you not wish to return her to her original state?”
“Shut up.”
The Ice Palace Lord glared at the White Face with a fierce expression.
“The moment I withdraw the frozen ground, my daughter will die.”
“Yes. In this deep underground where no sunlight touches, illuminated only by ‘Midnight Wine,’ here lies the true trap of icy ground. The moment you pull it back, your disciple, whom you cherish even more than your daughter, will perish.”
“This witch…!”
In an instant, the Ice Palace Lord lunged at the White Face, grabbing her neck.
Ka-rang!
Behind the White Face, a man in black clothing swiftly drew a sharp sword, but the Ice Palace Lord caught it barehanded and extended her remaining hand toward the White Face’s neck.
“Ugh…?!”
“How arrogant for an assassin to be so disrespectful. Do you find the lord of the Ice Palace amusing?”
The assassin in black, known as ‘Assassin King,’ frowned as his sword was grasped by the Ice Palace Lord.
With his sword seized, defeat was inevitable.
“White Face…!”
“Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
“?!”
“Haha.”
But the Ice Palace Lord’s other hand was stopped by the White Face, who raised just one finger towards her neck.
“You…!”
“I’m sorry, Assassin King. I needed a conversation partner for the journey to the North Sea.”
“You deceived me…!”
“I never said I couldn’t use martial arts, did I?”
The Assassin King’s attack was thwarted, but conversely, the Witch had successfully blocked the Ice Palace Lord’s strike.
“What are you doing, witch? Are you trying to incite a disturbance?”
“Not so much that, but rather, it’s about a man who considered himself superior realizing the triviality of women’s affectations and becoming flustered.”
“That’s not entirely wrong.”
Ka-bling!
As the Ice Palace Lord swung her hand down toward the Assassin King, he froze in place, becoming an ice statue.
“Indeed, Ice White Divine Art. To freeze the leader of the Black Death, whom even the Demon Cult feared, in one stroke.”
“This is the North Sea, the underground of the frozen plains. Why did the Ice Palace Lord build ‘Palace’ here?”
Despite summoning the ‘Ice White Divine Art’ with great zeal, the White Face felt no impact on her body.
“…I don’t know what method you are using, but there is no reason not to listen to your bizarre words.”
The Ice Palace Lord took a step back.
“Lee Seol, is my child born from my heart. When my heart was pierced by the Sword Saint, I personally salvaged her from the river and brought her here, frozen with the Ice White Divine Art.”
“Is that not what you wished? That something would happen so that the being on the verge of death, having bled out from a heart wound, could survive?”
“……Yes.”
The Ice Palace Lord stared intently at the White Face, scanning her up and down.
“If this is a jest, die here. I will personally send you to the King of Hell.”
“Could it possibly be a jest? After all, look at how I came all the way to this Ice Palace. I disguised myself as dead to evade the Demon Cult’s pursuit and came here without even meeting my beloved disciple.”
“It is not my business to hear your circumstances. Just get to the point.”
“My disciple can bring back the dead.”
“…….”
At the White Face’s words, the Ice Palace Lord relaxed her expression.
“You are a madwoman.”
“Indeed, I am a madwoman. But I speak the truth.”
The White Face pulled her clothes aside, exposing her chest.
“If there is any falsehood in my words, I will offer my life to the Ice Palace Lord.”
“……You.”
The Ice Palace Lord frowned at the pathological whiteness of the White Face, who was raising the Ice White Divine Art.
“Is it truly a living being?”
“Yes, she is alive. She was simply born this way.”
“…….”
“The important thing is that if you desire it, your disciple can come back to life.”
“…However.”
The Ice Palace Lord withdrew her hand and clasped it behind her back.
“If a parent suffers watching their child in agony from an incurable disease, only to awaken and see the dead body of their child, what meaning would that hold?”
“She is alive.”
“……?”
“The daughter of the Martial Hero, Yu Yi Seol, Mo Yong Seol. She is perfectly fine as we speak.”
“What?”
The Ice Palace Lord shook her head in disbelief.
“Who is Zhu Unjalmek? Ten years ago, the Sword Saint himself carried that child to this North Sea Ice Palace. Although I blocked the entrance, I don’t know that Lee Seol is here, but at that moment, I took her pulse. That was an incurable disease!”
“But she has been cured. By my disciple’s Extreme Yang Reversal.”
“……!”
“I presume you would prefer to have patients with Absolute Meridian Sickness continuously arise in the Ice Palace. You would absorb their yin energy, allowing you to ‘preserve’ the near-dead Yu Yi Seol as long as you live.”
The White Face shrugged, pointing to various spots on the walls of the secret chamber.
“Now that is no longer necessary. My disciple will treat Absolute Meridian Sickness patients, and also tend to the wounds of Yu Yi Seol.”
“That’s….”
“I am the one who first brought news of the situation in the Martial World to the Central Plains, Ice Palace Lord. You must trust me completely.”
“…So.”
The Ice Palace Lord scanned the White Face from top to bottom.
“What do you desire?”
“…….”
“You wouldn’t have come all the way to the North Sea without any gain. A woman disguised as dead—what is your purpose?”
“…Haha.”
The White Face moved closer to the Ice Palace Lord.
“Ice Palace Lord, how remarkable it is. A female master who has reversed aging, yet still maintains her purity.”
“What nonsense are you uttering?”
“If I have one wish.”
The White Face stepped forward, surprising the Ice Palace Lord, swiftly wrapping her arms around the lord’s waist and gripping her chin with her hand.
“I wish for my disciple to have the affections of all the beauties in the Central Plains.”
“What…?”
“Just as Yu Yi Seol is like a child born from the heart of the Ice Palace Lord, my disciple is like a child I long to give birth to and raise myself.”
“…….”
The Ice Palace Lord could not move despite the White Face’s approach, bringing her face closer.
“Time has come ripe. The Demon Cult has been defeated, and chaos no longer reigns over the world. Someone must bring the turbulence of this age and continue the chain of reversing the heavens.”
“You mean, you want to bring about bloodshed in the Martial World again?”
“Bloodshed is bloodshed. However, this blood… will not be that shed by dying people.”
A blush emerged on the White Face’s pale skin.
“It will be the blood of maidens, as they bear children and give birth.”
“What….”
“My disciple will unify the Martial World. While the Heavenly Demon sought to dominate the world through force and might, my disciple will do so through vigor and masculinity.”
“You little….”
The Ice Palace Lord continued speaking with a serious face.
“You truly are a madwoman.”
“Haha.”
“What on earth is your disciple like?”
“My disciple is a child who will close the chapter of martial arts and open a new era. That blood, that energy, must not be confined to the Mo Yong Family alone. If we are to usher in the age of the ‘Chosen’ even a little sooner.”
The White Face was sincere.
“My disciple’s blood must spread far and wide, so that many children with that energy are born, allowing me to finally reach the ideal world I wish for.”
“…What sort of energy do you speak of? True energy?”
“No.”
A smirk.
“Fairy Aura.”
“…….”
“I do not wish to be a witch, but to become a ‘Medical Fairy.'”
The Ice Palace Lord couldn’t help but swallow her spit at the White Face’s crazed expression.
“That is correct. I want to ascend.”
And so, she unwittingly failed to notice.
“And I simply wish for the era of sages to dawn upon this land.”
Without even a creaking sound, a fine crack appeared in the ice pillar.
* * *
[A few days later, at the entrance of the Holy Paradise, the newly established Medical Hall ‘Moonless.’]
“Hey, Physician Seok. Why didn’t you tell me such important news?”
Dang Yu-ri glared at me with a serious face.
I understood what Dang Yu-ri meant, but for the moment, I could only turn my gaze sideways.
“What is that outfit?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Where’s the martial outfit you usually wear? Why are you dressed in clothes that expose your legs?”
“It’s the latest trend.”
Dang Yu-ri pointed to her form-fitting top, which draped down to expose her legs.
“A true master doesn’t mind weapons, and a true female master isn’t tied to her clothing.”
“Is that so? Is it a ploy to catch a man’s attention?”
“Something like that. Thanks to this, you, Physician Seok, have been ‘averting your gaze’ and are conscious of me.”
“So, why?”
“I want to go to the Imperial Palace.”
Dang Yu-ri said with a serious face.
“Why, are you trying to enter as the Emperor’s concubine? You didn’t care before because you were a man, but now that you’re a woman, what are you planning?”
“Not that. Isn’t it better to connect with someone who has been a woman from the start rather than a man? I will befriend the Empress.”
Dang Yu-ri was serious.
“The Martial World is going crazy. But you said you preferred pure women, didn’t you?”
“Uh, could it be…?”
“What about Sword Hero?”
“Hey. Do you want to die?”
Dang Yu-ri pretended to punch me but only hit the air.
“If it weren’t for you treating Mo Yong So-ja, you would be dead, and I would have taken Mo Yong So-ja’s first night. Do you understand?”
“What a brazen thing to say?”
“!!”
Dang Yu-ri stiffened immediately.
“Ah, ah…!”
“My first night has already been taken by the Physician, and even if I went back in time, it would be the same.”
“Ugh, eugh….!”
Mo Yong Seol approached from behind and wrapped her arms around Dang Yu-ri, gripping her neck, but Dang Yu-ri’s eyes rolled back in sheer ecstasy at her touch.
“This won’t do. Physician.”
Mo Yong Seol reached her hand beneath Dang Yu-ri’s abdomen.
“Could you please give me a quick harm treatment?”
“……Huh?”
Dang Yu-ri froze, enjoying Mo Yong Seol’s contact.
“W-wait. What do you mean by harm treatment….”
“It’ll hurt a little since it’s your first time, but that’s okay.”
“W-wait! That’s…!”
“Somehow I feel like the Physician needs to give me a proper treatment… Ow!”
I lightly punched Mo Yong Seol.
“Physician…?”
“Get away. And don’t go saying things like that carelessly.”
I pulled Mo Yong Seol’s hand off Dang Yu-ri’s abdomen.
“This is solely for you.”
I moved her hand to something that only Mo Yong Seol could have.
“……Yes.”
Mo Yong Seol blushed as she buried her face.
“Alright, let’s prepare for the newly opened Medical Hall. Thanks to the ‘Empress,’ who has promised to provide much assistance for the Mo Yong Family, we have now secured a space to treat Absolute Meridian Sickness patients.”
“I have a question.”
Dang Yu-ri raised her hand.
“Regarding what happened to His Majesty, does the Empress wish for the Extreme Yang Reversal as well?”
“That is….”
I answered while pulling Mo Yong Seol closer.
“Soon, we’ll be able to ask a noble lady who will visit the Medical Hall with a ‘court lady.'”