‘He’s really injured!’
Dong Yugak was a highly suspicious man.
Had there been any sign that Bu Eunseol was faking his injuries, he would never have revealed himself. But clear blood flowed from a wound near Bu Eunseol’s chest, and his complexion was deathly pale.
It was certain he had sustained a critical sword wound, and judging by his complexion… he had clearly been struck by Bing Hanpung’s Ice Thunder Palm.
‘Heh heh heh.’ Suppressing the urge to dance, Dong Yugak approached Bu Eunseol.
Step, step.
As he slowly approached, Bu Eunseol, who had been crouching, struggled to open his eyes.
“You.” Seeing Dong Yugak reveal himself, Bu Eunseol, greatly surprised, struggled to stand.
But there was no escape.
The only way out was to leap over the towering cliff… Unless he could fly like a bird, escape was impossible.
“Surrender quietly.” At Dong Yugak’s words, shing.
Bu Eunseol drew his dark sword.
But having lost much blood, his gaze was hazy, and his breathing came in short gasps.
“Did you think you could face this family head in that state?” Dong Yugak stared at Bu Eunseol, then suddenly unleashed the Snow Yin Palm, a supreme technique of the North Sea Dong family.
To confirm if Bu Eunseol was truly injured, he struck with the Snow Yin Palm from a distance without approaching.
Whoosh!
As the palm strike, imbued with cold energy that could freeze the heavens, surged forward, Bu Eunseol quickly dodged.
Tremble.
But unable to fully evade the strike’s range, he shivered lightly.
‘It’s true!’
Shivering from the cold of the Snow Yin Palm. It was an involuntary physical reaction, proof that he lacked the internal energy to resist the cold.
“Hahaha!” Finally shedding all doubts, Dong Yugak closed the distance and unleashed his palm strikes with full force.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Bu Eunseol, dodging the barrage of cold-infused Snow Yin Palms, struggled to execute his sword techniques. Though his sword forms were sharp, their power was weak, as he couldn’t properly channel his internal energy.
‘But this could still be a trap.’ Dong Yugak was not only cautious but deeply suspicious.
Judging that Bu Eunseol might have a hidden counterattack, he prepared another scheme.
“Fall!” Seizing an opportunity, Dong Yugak launched a powerful palm strike toward Bu Eunseol’s head.
Swish.
As Bu Eunseol dodged and prepared to counter, hummm!
Dong Yugak amplified his palm strikes with both hands, pressing down on Bu Eunseol’s head.
Certain that Bu Eunseol had sustained deep internal injuries, he chose a contest of internal energy over palm techniques to safely subdue him.
‘I’ll burst your blood vessels!’ With a triumphant smile, Dong Yugak poured out his full internal energy.
Bu Eunseol’s complexion grew even paler. As extreme yin energy invaded his body, his blood vessels began to freeze further.
‘The successor of Majeon, yet his internal energy is formidable.’ Astonishingly, even with frozen blood vessels, Bu Eunseol was enduring Dong Yugak’s three cycles of internal energy with ease.
‘This strong despite being injured?’ Dong Yugak felt a chill in his heart.
If Bu Eunseol were uninjured, he would be an opponent Dong Yugak could never defeat.
‘Why aren’t they here yet?’ Despite considerable time passing, his subordinates, who should have followed, were nowhere in sight.
Moreover, this man, though injured, was tenaciously holding out, matching Dong Yugak’s three cycles of internal energy. At this rate, even if he subdued him, Dong Yugak himself might sustain significant internal injuries.
‘No choice.’ He couldn’t just wait for his subordinates.
Having made a decision, Dong Yugak employed a specific internal method.
Humm.
Half of his body’s skin began to turn blue.
While techniques like the Dual Hand Tiger Strike exist in the martial world, no secret technique allows splitting internal energy methods into two.
But with a method that wields both yin and yang energies? It allows temporarily unleashing different energies simultaneously.
Swish!
Dong Yugak swiftly extended his left palm, secretly gathering energy.
Small blue lightning bolts instantly enveloped Bu Eunseol’s body.
Crackle.
In an instant, Bu Eunseol’s body turned into a block of ice.
With a single strike, he froze a person entirely using an extreme yin ice technique—the Ice Thunder Palm, a palm strike only the palace lord of the North Sea Ice Palace could use.
“Heh heh heh… Hahaha!” Dong Yugak burst into triumphant laughter.
Having captured Bu Eunseol, the next palace lord would come from the Dong family. And with that, the world he had long desired would finally unfold.
“I need to dispose of him quickly.” If the other family heads or his subordinates discovered traces of the Ice Thunder Palm?
They would immediately realize he was the one who ambushed Han Jawook.
“Farewell.” Dong Yugak looked at Bu Eunseol and gathered the Snow Yin Palm.
He intended to shatter his frozen body in one strike.
“It was true.” At that moment, an enraged voice came from above the cliff.
“Who’s there!” Startled, Dong Yugak looked up, whoosh, thud.
A middle-aged man in white robes slowly descended from the air.
It was none other than Bing Hanpung, the lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, who should have been bedridden.
“Palace lord, how…?” As Dong Yugak gaped, whoosh, thud.
Four more figures appeared behind Bing Hanpung. They were the heads of the four families of the North Sea Ice Palace, excluding the Bing family.
“Even you all…” Dong Yugak rubbed his eyes.
It was impossible.
How could the family heads, who were supposedly pursuing alongside him, have arrived here first?
“The pursuit itself was a trap.”
Han Woosang glared at Dong Yugak with hateful eyes. Not only had he crippled his son, but he had also divided the North Sea Ice Palace for so long, and now the culprit stood before him.
“It seemed like we pursued in different directions, but we gathered here. We knew you’d follow his trail to this place.”
Dong Yugak’s face hardened.
In other words, Bing Hanpung’s attempted assassination and Bu Eunseol’s escape were all staged?
“But I don’t understand.” Bing Hanpung’s injury was undoubtedly real.
Above all, wasn’t Bu Eunseol, the successor of Majeon, now frozen by the Ice Thunder Palm, lifeless?
How could this be called a scheme?
“You sacrificed Majeon’s successor just to catch me? Did the palace want to be annihilated by Majeon?” As Dong Yugak shouted in disbelief, Han Woosang sneered.
“Do you think you’re the only one who can wield yin-yang energy?”
As he finished speaking, crack!
A faint crack appeared in the ice encasing Bu Eunseol’s body, boom! Rumble.
With a loud explosion, the solid ice covering him shattered completely.
Sssss!
White steam began to rise from Bu Eunseol’s body.
By unleashing intense fiery yang energy, he broke the ice and restored his frozen blood vessels in an instant.
Flash!
As Bu Eunseol opened his eyes again, the Ban-geuk radiance in his gaze blazed like the sun.
“You, you weren’t injured from the start!” At Dong Yugak’s cry, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“Didn’t you see for yourself?”
“Don’t lie! How then!” Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol raised both hands.
Sssss!
His left hand radiated fiery yang energy, whoosh!
And his right hand emitted Cold Ice True Energy.
The Ban-geuk Method encompasses both yin and yang energies of nature.
Having mastered the ice technique from Bing Hanpung, he could perfectly separate and wield icy extreme yin energy and Ban-geuk energy.
“With one spark alive, I can instantly melt Cold Ice True Energy and quickly recover from severe internal injuries.”
This was why Bu Eunseol learned the North Sea Ice Palace’s martial arts and the second trap set to capture him.
“Dong Yugak!” Before Bu Eunseol could finish, Han Woosang stepped forward, speaking in a voice dripping with blood. “Though the six families of the North Sea weren’t always harmonious, we’ve united for generations. How could you commit such a cruel act!”
“Cruel act?” Blood-red resentment burst from Dong Yugak’s eyes. “Don’t talk nonsense! I should have been the palace lord long ago! Bing Hanpung only became palace lord by luck!”
“What?”
“And yet your son dared to vie for the next palace lord, so I had no choice but to cripple him.”
“Dong Yugak, have you lost your mind?”
“Lost my mind?” Dong Yugak shouted with a pained expression. “While I was defeating the North Heaven Demon Palace’s elite vanguard, Bing Hanpung took the opportunity to behead their palace lord. And he became palace lord for that achievement.”
At that time, the North Sea Ice Palace was engaged in a life-or-death war with the North Heaven Demon Palace.
The heads of the six families, candidates for the next palace lord, all achieved great feats.
In particular, Bing Hanpung of the Bing family beheaded the North Heaven Demon Palace lord, and Dong Yugak of the Dong family defeated their elite vanguard, paving the way for a great victory.
Bing Hanpung and Dong Yugak.
Both achieved significant feats, but the palace lord position naturally went to Bing Hanpung.
Because he had faced the North Heaven Demon Palace lord in a one-on-one duel and beheaded him. Moreover, treating Bing Hanpung’s severe internal injuries required the thousand-year ice crystal, making his ascension to palace lord almost fated.
“They gave the palace lord position to someone just because he was injured!” Dong Yugak trembled as he shouted. “How could I accept such a thing?”
“That was only natural, wasn’t it?” Unable to hold back, Seol Segeuk, the head of the Seol family, shouted. “Dong family head, did you defeat the elite vanguard alone? Wasn’t it possible because our Seol family guarded your rear?”
“So what?”
“So what? The palace lord faced the North Heaven Demon Palace lord one-on-one and beheaded him!”
“Stop spouting nonsense!” Dong Yugak shouted in rage. “Because I, and our Dong family, single-handedly annihilated the North Heaven Demon Palace’s elite vanguard, our palace won! I achieved the greater feat!”
Pointing at Bing Hanpung, he continued, “But Bing Hanpung, that cunning bastard, took advantage of my wiping out the vanguard to behead their palace lord!”
Watching Dong Yugak’s outburst, the five family heads shook their heads in disbelief.
Dong Yugak.
Having harbored resentment for so long, he was even distorting past memories to suit his narrative.
“Dong family head, let go of your resentment.” Bing Hanpung said in a sorrowful voice.
“Everything is over now, isn’t it?”
“Heh heh heh, over?” Instead of lowering his head in pain as expected, Dong Yugak suddenly let out a sinister smile. “Bing Hanpung, did I seem that sloppy to you?”
“…”
“Did you think catching me would unravel this long-planned scheme?” He suddenly pulled a signal flare from his robes.
Pew!
As the flare dyed the snow-white sky red, the others felt an ominous premonition.
“There are already external forces I’ve planted inside the palace.”
“What?” As Han Woosang frowned, Dong Yugak gave a sinister smile.
“Even if nothing else, capturing the young lords of the five families would make perfect hostages, wouldn’t it?”
The family heads’ eyes widened simultaneously.
They were aging. The future of the North Sea Ice Palace now rested on the young lords of each family.
If external forces took the young lords hostage?
Even with the martial strength to annihilate them, they could never resist.
“Dong Yugak! Aren’t you ashamed as a family of the North Sea?” At Baek Jinyu’s shout, Dong Yugak sneered.
“Baek Jinyu, are you qualified to say that?”
“What?”
“You’ve been exploiting the despondent palace lord all this time, and now you’re contacting other external sects to swallow the palace. And you dare mention the North Sea families?” Baek Jinyu’s face flushed red.
“Don’t talk nonsense! Where’s your proof?”
“Hmph, the palace will soon be mine anyway.” Looking at Bing Hanpung, he said, “Bing Hanpung, if you hand over the thousand-year ice crystal now, I won’t harm the young lords.”
“No need to listen to him.” Bu Eunseol stepped forward calmly.
“The palace will be fine.”
“How?”
“I anticipated this and had the young lords take refuge in the Ice Crystal Pavilion, with protection arranged.” Since Dong Yugak had been plotting to destroy the North Sea Ice Palace for so long, he surely had allies within.
The forces of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars were also inside, likely targeting the young lords of the five families as hostages.
“Then…”
“With Unryong and So Okrim there, they’ll hold out for a while.” With that, Bu Eunseol unleashed his Swift Beyond Shadow technique.
Swish!
As his figure streaked across the sky like a comet and vanished, “Let’s go together!”
Bing Hanpung also soared into the air after Bu Eunseol.
Whoosh!
The technique Bing Hanpung used was the supreme movement technique of the North Sea Ice Palace, the Glacial Flash Shadow.
Yet he couldn’t keep up with Bu Eunseol’s figure speeding ahead.
“Let’s go together!”
Unable to catch up, Bing Hanpung shouted once more, and Bu Eunseol turned back, calling out, “Palace lord, you must quickly lead the family heads and troops to block the forces invading the palace. You don’t need to follow me!”
“Understood!”
Boom!
Meanwhile, Bu Eunseol arrived at the North Sea Ice Palace’s interior.
Clang! Clang!
As expected, the palace gates were wide open, and warriors in shimmering red robes were swiftly entering.
The forces hidden in the Dong family had colluded with external forces to open the gates.
However, the invading warriors numbered around a thousand—insignificant compared to the palace’s forces. Their martial arts were exceptional, and with the Dong family’s forces aiding from within, the masters of the other five families were in disarray.
“Listen, all five families except the Dong family!” Bing Hanpung, entering after Bu Eunseol, shouted loudly.
“The Eom and Seol families, block the forces invading the palace! The remaining three families, subdue the Dong family’s forces that betrayed the palace by colluding with external forces!”
At the palace lord’s solemn command, the disciples of the North Sea Ice Palace finally moved in unison. Especially upon learning that the enemies wreaking havoc inside were from the Dong family, the other families’ forces organized and began subduing them.
“Yoo Unryong!” Bu Eunseol spotted Yoo Unryong and So Okrim fighting a fierce battle in front of the Ice Crystal Pavilion, where the palace lord resided.
In fact, Yoo Unryong was the first to notice signs of rebellion.
While Bu Eunseol handled various matters, he kept a close eye on the Dong family’s movements and gathered information from many disciples. He had informed Bu Eunseol that the Dong family had already rallied external forces inside the palace.
“Bu Eunseol! We need to deal with these guys first!” Yoo Unryong pointed to the warriors pressing toward the Ice Crystal Pavilion.
“Move aside!” At his words, Bu Eunseol drew his sword and leapt into the center of the roughly two hundred warriors.
Clang!
But as his dark sword struck their bodies, sparks flew with a dull sound.
It turned out they were wearing unique armor capable of withstanding divine swords.
‘They equipped so many with armor that can block a divine sword?’ Bu Eunseol’s eyebrow twitched.
The warriors storming the Ice Crystal Pavilion numbered around two hundred. Not only were they highly skilled, but they were all clad in this unique armor.
‘That’s why they struggled.’ Yoo Unryong and So Okrim could easily defeat five hundred warriors, let alone two hundred. But they were struggling against warriors in armor impervious to weapons, employing unique battle tactics.
“No way!” As their assault intensified, Yoo Unryong changed his Ten-Section Staff technique.
Whip!
The flexible staff, like a whip, slipped through the armor’s gaps, striking the warriors’ vital points.
“Ugh! These guys are annoying!” So Okrim also switched tactics, using the Mountain-Shattering Strike against the armored warriors.
Boom! Boom!
With strange vibrations, her strikes passed through the armor, directly hitting the warriors’ organs.
“Form the Force-Breaking Turtle Formation!”
As Yoo Unryong and So Okrim’s techniques grew more sophisticated, the warriors crouched and huddled together. Raising their internal energy, they blocked incoming attacks and advanced step by step toward the Ice Crystal Pavilion.
They resembled a giant turtle moving slowly.
“Argh! They’re doing everything!” So Okrim unleashed her fist techniques, but whether due to the formation’s effect or their mastery of techniques like Iron Cloth, her attacks no longer worked.
“Fine!” Enraged, she stretched her arms to the sky and ground, gathering her internal energy.
She unleashed the Dual-Severed Galaxy Strike, the most powerful destructive fist technique in the world.
Boom!
As her massive strike hit, the armor blocking divine swords shattered.
Twenty advancing warriors were reduced to fragments, scattering in all directions.
“That’s it?” So Okrim’s eyes widened.
To think the Dual-Severed Galaxy Strike, said to pulverize mountains, only took out twenty warriors?
But she had overlooked something: the enemies’ skills were far from ordinary.
They wore armor, mastered external techniques for protection, and employed a bizarre formation that repelled force. Yet she had shattered twenty of them… Her fist technique was already at the pinnacle of the martial world.
Step, step.
Despite Yoo Unryong and So Okrim’s relentless attacks, they advanced like turtles, step by step.
“Damn it!”
The Dual-Severed Galaxy Strike and Yoo Unryong’s Ten-Section Staff techniques consumed vast amounts of internal energy. If the enemies were willing to sacrifice their lives, they might eventually breach the Ice Crystal Pavilion.
Thud.
At that moment, Bu Eunseol stood before the warriors charging toward the Ice Crystal Pavilion.
As he intensely gathered his internal energy, his hair began to turn white.
Crackle.
His entire body became enveloped in white cold energy.
He had unleashed the Heavenly Glacial Secret, the supreme technique of the Glacial Great Emperor.
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