Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Seol Un-gang ran across the snowy mountains, his body battered beyond recognition.

It would not have been strange if he had collapsed long ago, but a superhuman will kept his body moving.

Yet before long, his flight was forced to a halt.

A sheer cliff had appeared before him.

The cliff alone stood several hundred zhang tall.

Below it, the glacial Northern Sea stretched endlessly.

The path was cut off.

"Well, well. The little rat has been cornered."

Just then, a mocking voice came from behind him.

When he turned around, he saw Seol Jin-ak standing there with one corner of his lips curled upward, wearing a triumphant expression.

Behind him, the martial artists of the Northern Sea Four Families had formed a battle line.

Breaking through them was impossible.

Nor could he leap off the cliff.

If swept up in the Northern Sea's violent waves, even the greatest of masters would struggle to survive.

"I truly did not expect you to slip through the Northern Sea Four Families' dragnet and flee all the way here, but I will acknowledge your tenacity."

"Who asked for recognition from the likes of you?"

Seol Un-gang said through gritted teeth.

"Quite the foul mouth you have."

"I've got no courtesy to spare for a wretch who murdered his own father."

Seol Un-gang shot back, his eyes brimming with bitter hatred.

"The one who killed Father was not me, but you."

"What?"

Seol Un-gang wore an expression of disbelief.

"Did you not harm Father and steal the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal?"

"What kind of nonsensical drivel is that? You're the one who colluded with the Northern Sea Four Families, staged a rebellion, and harmed Father!"

Seol Un-gang could not contain his fury and shouted.

"Denying it is useless. It has already been revealed that you conspired with your maternal family, the Seomun House, to smuggle out the Northern Sea's treasure, the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal."

Seol Jin-ak wore a sinister smile.

Seol Un-gang realized that Seol Jin-ak was distorting the truth to pin all the blame on him.

"Do you really think fabricating lies like that will bury the truth?"

"Truth? The truth is that you harmed Father and stole the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal."

Seol Un-gang's expression hardened.

They say history is written by the victors.

If Seol Jin-ak became the Palace Lord of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, his words would become the truth.

"Won't you feel any shame becoming the Palace Lord of the Northern Sea Ice Palace that way?"

"The seat of the Palace Lord was mine from the beginning. It was never a seat meant for a mongrel like you."

Seol Jin-ak said, making no effort to hide his fury.

"So because you knew you couldn't win it by skill, you committed the atrocity of killing your own father?"

Seol Un-gang tried to goad Seol Jin-ak into confessing his crime, but Seol Jin-ak did not take the bait.

"There is no point wasting more words. Spare me the talk and hand over the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal you took."

"The Myriad-Year Ice Crystal was entrusted to me by Father. Even if I die, I won't hand it over to you."

"Then I will simply kill you and take it."

Just as Seol Jin-ak was about to signal the Northern Sea Four Families' martial artists to attack—

Seol Un-gang pulled a translucent, glowing orb from his robe.

The Myriad-Year Ice Crystal.

A relic forged from the essence of ice, imbued with extreme cold.

A divine treasure of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, said to elevate the mastery and power of ice arts simply by possessing it.

The moment Seol Jin-ak laid eyes on the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal in Seol Un-gang's hand, greed surged in his gaze.

"Kill that bastard at once and bring me the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal!"

At Seol Jin-ak's command, just as the Northern Sea Four Families' martial artists moved to act—

Seol Un-gang extended the hand holding the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal beyond the edge of the cliff.

"If even one of you moves, I'll throw the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal off this cliff."

Seeing that, Seol Jin-ak cried out in alarm.

"Everyone, halt!"

The Northern Sea Four Families' martial artists stepped back.

"Do not do anything foolish."

"Foolish?"

"You do not want to die here either, do you? Hand over the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal peacefully, and I will spare your life."

Seol Un-gang stared at Seol Jin-ak's rapid about-face in disbelief.

"You'll spare me?"

"If I can protect the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal, sparing your life is no great matter."

When Seol Un-gang seemed to waver, Seol Jin-ak spoke as if he meant every word.

"Is that so?"

"I told you it is. Now hurry and hand the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal to me."

Seol Jin-ak held out his hand, and Seol Un-gang laughed as if the offer were beneath contempt.

"Do you really think I'd believe that?"

Seol Un-gang hurled the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal in his hand into the Northern Sea.

"No! Stop!"

Seol Jin-ak shouted in desperation, but the Myriad-Year Ice Crystal had already tumbled off the cliff and sunk beneath the waters of the Northern Sea.

Fury surged to the crown of Seol Jin-ak's head.

"Do you have any idea what you have just done?"

Seol Jin-ak's body trembled with rage.

"I figured it was better to throw it away than give it to you."

"You vermin! I will tear you to shreds!"

Unable to contain his fury, Seol Jin-ak launched himself at Seol Un-gang.

That was exactly what Seol Un-gang had wanted.

He knew there was no chance of survival.

But he would not die quietly.

Even if he died, he would kill Seol Jin-ak before he went.

'I'll end it in one strike!'

Seol Un-gang poured every last ounce of his strength into his sword.

A howling snow gale rose from his blade and crashed down upon Seol Jin-ak.

Snow Wind Fills the Sky.

The ultimate technique of the Ice White Snow Wind Sword.

Every snowflake in the blizzard of Snow Wind Fills the Sky was a qi blade.

Even a formidable master would find it no easy task to evade the qi blades of the snow gale assaulting from every direction.

A decisive strike that Seol Jin-ak's skill could never withstand.

Seol Un-gang was certain this attack would kill Seol Jin-ak.

At that moment, Seol Jin-ak's eyes flickered with cold light.

And from his body, a blood-red energy erupted with ferocious intensity.

'That energy—!'

Seol Un-gang's eyes went wide.

It was not a Northern Sea martial art.

Moreover, the thick demonic qi emanating from the blood-red energy—

Demonic arts.

And supreme-grade demonic arts at that.

Where on earth had Seol Jin-ak learned such wicked demonic arts?

But there was no more time to think.

Seol Jin-ak, having condensed the blood-red energy, thrust his right hand toward the qi blades of the snow gale.

FLASH—!

His blood-red palm scattered crimson light as it tore into the qi blades of the snow gale.

CRASH—!

The qi blades struck by the crimson light shattered and dispersed.

The blood-red palm, having pierced through the qi blades of the snow gale in a single breath, struck Seol Un-gang squarely in the chest.

"Gah—!"

With a scream, Seol Un-gang was sent flying through the air.

His body, flung beyond the cliff's edge, plummeted helplessly toward the base below.

Unable to even think of righting himself, Seol Un-gang fell rapidly downward.

The strike just moments ago had shattered his chest, and his consciousness teetered on the brink of fading.

'I can't die like this......'

His thirst for vengeance against Seol Jin-ak and the Northern Sea Four Families—who had killed his father—clung to his consciousness until the very end.

SPLASH—!

But the moment he struck the Northern Sea, his consciousness severed completely.

The impact of falling from several hundred zhang had shattered his entire body.

With his consciousness gone, Seol Un-gang sank endlessly into the cold waters of the Northern Sea.

Then it happened.

FLASH—!

Suddenly, a brilliant light surged up from the depths of the Northern Sea.

The light gathered toward Seol Un-gang and was absorbed into the space between his brows.

The brilliant light persisted for a long while, and when every last trace of it had been absorbed, Seol Un-gang's body scattered and vanished.

***

Hot.

It felt as though a ball of fire was thrashing around inside his body.

An indescribable agony ripped screams from him involuntarily.

'Ngh. But what's going on here?'

Even amid the pain, questions arose.

He had surely died in the cold waters of the Northern Sea.

So how had he awakened again?

And what was this excruciating agony?

Had he died and fallen into a scorching hell?

No. That couldn't be.

What sin had he committed to warrant being cast into hell?

Above all, he was unmistakably alive.

Every one of his senses told him so.

Just then, a woman's voice reached his ears.

"Physician Jang! Geom-i is in agony. Please, do something."

"The extreme yang fire qi inside his body is too powerful. The fever-reducing pills have no effect."

A man who appeared to be a physician answered in a strained voice.

"So you're telling me to just sit and watch my child suffer like this?"

"For now, there is nothing to do but wait for the extreme yang fire qi to settle."

"Is that any answer for a physician to give?"

The woman erupted with grief and frustration.

"If we intervene carelessly and agitate the extreme yang fire qi, the young lord's pain will only grow worse. Surely that is not what you desire?"

At the physician's words, the woman fell silent.

Seol Un-gang listened to their exchange and grew even more bewildered.

It seemed the person they were speaking of was him.

The extreme yang fire qi was likely referring to the searing blaze rampaging through his body right now.

But when had extreme yang fire qi formed inside his body?

And what was this name, Geom-i?

The word "child" also made no sense.

After all, one would not normally call a man past thirty a child.

Come to think of it, his body felt different.

'Don't tell me—!'

Struck by a sudden thought, Seol Un-gang examined his body.

It was not his body.

It was the body of a child who looked to be about fifteen years old.

'What in the world......'

The present situation was utterly beyond comprehension.

He had died and awakened in a child's body.

In that instant, memories that did not belong to him flooded into his consciousness.

Seol Un-gang realized they were the memories left behind in this body.

And through those memories, he was able to learn who this body belonged to.

Namgung Geom.

The eldest grandson of the Namgung Family.

'So I've become Namgung Geom, the eldest grandson of the Namgung Family.'

It was beyond the realm of understanding.

Seol Un-gang—no, Namgung Geom—chose not to question it and simply accepted it as it was.

'Think later. The extreme yang fire qi comes first.'

The agony had reached its peak, thanks to the ball of fire thrashing through his entire body.

Even for Namgung Geom, it was pain difficult to endure.

It seemed best to deal with the pain first.

Nothing was better than extreme yin energy for suppressing extreme yang fire qi.

The Ice White Divine Art.

The secret legacy of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.

The moment he recalled the mental formula he had cultivated in his previous life, the verses of the Ice White Divine Art activated naturally.

But his qi center was completely empty.

The inner arts he had built over a lifetime were gone.

However, there was an energy that responded to the Ice White Divine Art.

It was the extreme yin qi scattered throughout the blood meridians in his body.

It seemed that some of the energy from the elixirs Namgung Geom had taken over the years had lingered in his blood meridians.

Moreover, the amount was not small.

'Seems I'm not meant to die just yet.'

Namgung Geom circulated the Ice White Divine Art and gathered the extreme yin qi scattered throughout his body into his qi center.

At first, it would not budge.

But the Ice White Divine Art was the supreme ice-type inner arts method.

No energy of a cold and yin nature could defy the Ice White Divine Art.

Namgung Geom circulated the Ice White Divine Art without pause.

Enduring the agony of the extreme yang fire qi while circulating the Ice White Divine Art was no easy task.

But in his previous life, Namgung Geom had weathered countless situations more extreme than this.

This much, he could withstand.

Namgung Geom clenched his teeth and circulated the Ice White Divine Art.

TWITCH—!

At last, the extreme yin qi that had refused to budge responded to the Ice White Divine Art and began gathering into his qi center.

Namgung Geom rapidly refined the extreme yin qi in his qi center into the inner arts of the Ice White Divine Art.

That was only possible because of the enlightenment from his previous life.

Namgung Geom set the ice white qi he had hastily forged into motion.

The ice white qi surged toward the extreme yang fire qi rampaging through his body.

The extreme yang fire qi, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the ice white qi, could not mount a proper defense.

The ice white qi drove the extreme yang fire qi back ferociously.

But the extreme yang fire qi was no pushover.

The extreme yang fire qi that had been forced back regrouped and began to resist.

The ice white qi and the extreme yang fire qi lunged at each other as if to devour one another.

BOOM—!

A shockwave erupted inside Namgung Geom.

The searing agony felt as though it was turning his mind blank.

Namgung Geom clenched his teeth.

If he lost ground here, it was over.

He had to push back the extreme yang fire qi no matter what.

Namgung Geom clenched his teeth and circulated the Ice White Divine Art.

The ice white qi and the extreme yang fire qi clashed in a battle that yielded not a single inch.

The battle between the two energies lasted more than a quarter of an hour.

To Namgung Geom, that quarter of an hour felt like a full two hours.

'Ngh. I can't hold out much longer.'

Namgung Geom had reached his limit.

As his consciousness grew hazy, the ice white qi seemed ready to scatter at any moment.

'No! I can't break down here!'

Namgung Geom bit his tongue to jolt his consciousness awake.

Grasping the ice white qi that was about to scatter, he fought back against the extreme yang fire qi with everything he had.

Then, the extreme yang fire qi—which had been charging like an enraged wildfire—suddenly subsided and retreated.

Having withdrawn into nine of his meridians, the extreme yang fire qi hardened as if fossilized.

At the same time, the heat roiling through his body vanished.

'This is killing me.'

Utterly drained, Namgung Geom lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.