novelraw Chapter 226 : A Hot-Blooded Man
Chapter 226 : A Hot-Blooded Man
Chapter 226: A Hot-Blooded Man
They said that when one’s life flashed before their eyes, they would see the face of someone they longed for.
Seol Jindo had been pierced by longing as the face of his wife, whom he had not thought of in a long time, surfaced in his mind. But as a loud noise burrowed into his ears, his consciousness slowly returned.
When he slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his own body—perfectly intact, without a single wound.
And the next thing he saw was the palace members who had awakened before him, and in front of them—
a young Troubleshooter doing something utterly bizarre.
“This damn monkey bastard, what are you staring at me for like you did something right? Want me to smack you?”
Dan Mujin tapped a black staff engraved with Hell-Piercing Demon-Slaying Staff against his shoulder, provoking the White-Furred Lion King as if ready to fight at any moment.
And the White-Furred Lion King—who had apparently regained consciousness at some point—was also glaring at him as if it would kill him, resting a strange iron staff on its shoulder.
Neither side gave an inch, baring their teeth and growling at each other.
“What is this…….”
Seol Jindo pushed himself up behind the palace members, who seemed to have been watching this scene for quite some time.
When the unusual red-haired woman had appeared, and when they had been helplessly overwhelmed by something invisible, he had thought everything was over.
Yet now, it felt as though he had returned from the brink of death.
“Excuse me, this primate keeps glaring at me. Could you do something about it?”
Dan Mujin grumbled as he turned toward the red-haired woman, speaking casually even to a supreme expert capable of using the Formless Sword.
“……What in the world.”
What had happened while he was unconscious?
The other disciples of the North Sea Ice Palace also seemed confused, though their bodies were unharmed. There were too many things that didn’t make sense.
“Ha ha!”
The red-haired woman between them laughed brightly, as if amused.
“It seems it resents being beaten by you. That’s the look of someone seeking revenge.”
She read the meaning in the blazing eyes of the monkey spirit beast.
“This bastard dares glare at the lord of all beasts……. Hey brat, if it weren’t for that Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron staff, I would’ve beaten you to a pulp already, you know?”
“Ukkit?!”
The eight-chi giant beast and the man glared even more fiercely at each other, neither backing down as violent energy surged between them.
“Well, even you would have trouble dealing with that one unless you form Qi Projection. And since I helped it absorb the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp, who knows what would happen if you truly fought now.”
The red-haired woman swayed her shimmering crimson hair, confidently saying that the outcome of a fight would be hard to predict.
For some reason, the true master of this cave—the one who had defeated all of them—seemed to have withdrawn her hostility because of Dan Mujin.
However, that did not mean everything had been resolved.
As she had just said, the greatest purpose of entering this cave had been lost.
At that thought, Seol Jindo’s face darkened again.
He soon looked toward his youngest daughter, Seol Soyoung.
Her body seemed fine, but her mind appeared distant, her expression blank.
Seeing that, his heart collapsed once more.
Summoning his courage, he slowly walked toward the red-haired woman.
“I am Seol Jindo, Palace Head of the North Sea Ice Palace. May I ask your esteemed name?”
She was a transcendent master who could knock down dozens of martial artists with a mere flick of her finger. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke.
He could not understand how the Troubleshooter could speak so casually to such an eccentric master who wielded the Formless Sword.
“I am Jeok Il.”
Her vermilion eyes, like raging flames, fixed on him.
Through her red, flowing hair, her pale face stood in stark contrast—her lips curved with both confidence and arrogance, giving her a mysterious aura.
“The Palace Head of the North Sea Ice Palace I saw before had white hair. You seem quite young. Are you the successor?”
Even her realm and age were impossible to estimate.
A reclusive master who lived alone in this frozen land where no one could survive.
Though Seol Jindo still felt resentment over the White-Furred Lion King, he could not afford to offend a master who wielded the Formless Sword.
“Yes, that is correct. But may I ask, Elder Fairy, why you—”
Jeok Il’s eyebrow twitched.
“Elder Fairy?”
At that moment, the young Troubleshooter beside them gave a sharp signal.
Mouthing “Are you crazy?”, Dan Mujin gestured for him to change his words. Judging by the large bump on his head, something had already happened.
Seol Jindo hastily corrected himself.
“Fairy, may I ask why you reside in this Ice Cave?”
In the Central Plains, those who transcended human limits and lifespan were sometimes called immortals or fairies.
Since he now knew her name, he could not call her “that person,” so he tried to address her respectfully—but nearly stepped on a landmine.
“Because it’s hot.”
Jeok Il answered plainly.
“I stayed here to cool the heat and Yang Energy within my body.”
“…….”
Even the martial artists of the North Sea Ice Palace, accustomed to cold, had to prepare thoroughly to come here—
yet she had come simply to cool herself down.
Since she had mentioned Yang Energy herself, Seol Jindo gathered his courage and spoke again for his daughter.
“Fairy, I have a young daughter suffering from Nine Yin Severed Meridians. Her Blood Meridian is filled with cold Yin Energy.”
Jeok Il’s gaze turned toward Seol Soyoung, who was breathing weakly with a pale face.
“Hm, the Yin Energy has blocked and eroded her Blood Meridian. The Heavenly Affliction of the North Sea Ice Palace’s bloodline, was it? What a pity.”
Fortunately, this reclusive master seemed to know about their affliction.
That made things easier.
“To cure it, either a master who has trained the Heat Yang Divine Art for at least one Gapja must provide Internal Energy, or a spiritual creature filled with Yang Energy, like the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp, is needed—but unfortunately……”
His finger pointed toward the White-Furred Lion King facing Dan Mujin. Its once-white fur now gleamed gold as Seol Jindo glared at it with resentment.
Jeok Il already knew everything from Dan Mujin.
“You sought the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp to save your daughter, just as that one consumed it to save its life. Is that not so?”
She spoke as if nothing was wrong.
“B-But, regardless of the reason, it attacked us suddenly, so we had no choice but to use the Ice-White Divine Art—”
“Then that one merely defended itself when a group of uninvited guests stormed into its home, did it not?”
No matter how desperate the motive, the means were not justified.
Jeok Il spoke indifferently, as if no one was entirely right or wrong.
“…….”
Seol Jindo bit his lip in silence.
In Murim, when words failed, force was often used. But this opponent was far beyond him.
The fact that she even listened to them could be considered mercy.
“You look troubled. The previous Palace Head was the same. I would like to show mercy for old times’ sake, but there is no method.”
The energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp had already fused with the spirit beast. It could not be retrieved.
Even if she pitied them, she had no way to help.
“B-But you said you possess immense Yang Energy…! If you could just grant one Gapja—!”
Desperation filled his voice.
But Jeok Il shook her head.
“Why……! To you, it would be like scooping a ladle of water from the sea!”
A martial artist who had lived for centuries surely possessed unprecedented Internal Energy.
Yet she refused even one Gapja.
“It is not that I am unwilling. It is that I would kill her.”
Her finger pointed at Seol Soyoung.
“Kill her…?”
“My Yang Energy is no longer something that can be called Internal Energy. If it flows into her Blood Meridian, she would melt like a person thrown into fire.”
She had surpassed human limits—her entire body filled with pure blazing Yang Energy.
“……Then there truly is no way?”
Seol Jindo collapsed.
“Not entirely… but it is extremely dangerous.”
“Please tell me! I cannot send Soyoung away like this—I promised her mother!”
The leader of an organization knelt before her, begging.
“Have a strong martial artist accept my violent Yang Energy first, filter it, then pass it to the girl. That might work.”
“Then please! Give me the chance!”
But—
“You would die instantly.”
Silence fell.
“…Even if I lack Internal Energy… could I extend her life a little?”
“You could… but you would die in agony today.”
Seol Jindo closed his eyes.
“I’m okay, Father.”
Seol Soyoung clutched his wrist.
But he had already decided.
“My children have grown well… I can entrust them with the future.”
At that moment—
“Excuse me.”
A voice cut in.
Dan Mujin raised his hand.
“I think my Internal Energy is about two Gapja.”
“….”
All eyes turned to him.
When Jeok Il mentioned two Gapja, everyone had despaired.
But—
‘I’m here.’
I watched everything with complicated feelings.
“…Is it really two Gapja?”
One Gapja meant sixty years. Two meant one hundred twenty.
‘I had at least a hundred before…’
Maybe a bit short.
But—
“I’m really okay, Father…”
Seeing her accept death calmly—
“Fuck that.”
My anger flared.
“I think I have about two Gapja.”
Everyone stared in disbelief.
“Are you serious…?”
“More like around a hundred years, but… that should be enough, right?”
Jeok Il tilted her head.
“Are you certain? You could die.”
“Would I really die?”
“……Yes.”
“Then I’ll just die once, not twice. Stop talking and shove that Yang Energy into me.”
Even as the red letters of the Salseong flashed before my eyes—
I ignored them.
“Ha ha ha…!”
Jeok Il burst into laughter.
“You’re insane—in a good way.”
Flames gathered in her palm.
“Endure it if you can!”
Boom!
Her palm struck below my navel.
In an instant—
an unbearable, blazing heat drilled into my Dantian.
An endless hell of fire engulfed me.
“Ghuuuugh—!”