novelraw Chapter 227 : Everything Floating in the Sky
Chapter 227 : Everything Floating in the Sky
Chapter 227: Everything Floating in the Sky
It felt as if a red-hot iron skewer were stabbing below my navel.
Just as Jeok-il had said, this wasn’t Internal Energy at all—it was a blazing lump of fire itself.
“Ghk, ghk…!”
A choking sound echoed through the cave. Inside my Dantian, the Blazing Yang Energy rampaged like madness.
I tried with all my might to confine the Yang Energy within my Dantian, but my Internal Energy wasn’t enough to block it all.
As a result, the small amount that leaked out began spreading through my entire body like flames burning me alive.
“AAARGH!”
It felt like sizzling lava flowing along my meridians. Wherever the flames passed, a scorching agony burst forth as if I were being seared and incinerated.
The fireball, having escaped control, surged through my body like an occupying army.
Bubble, bubble.
Blisters rapidly formed on my reddened skin, as if I had been burned. My body steamed white as though something inside me was cooking.
Just like the White-Furred Lion King before, I screamed in pain and rolled across the ground.
“Sss—ugh! It burns—AAARGH!”
Was this what that monkey bastard had felt when Extreme Yin Energy stabbed through all his organs?
In the distance, a monkey watched me, curling its lips into a smirk.
“Y-you… you damn… bastard… ghk!”
I should’ve smashed that thing’s head in when I had the chance.
Overwhelmed with bitter regret, I writhed on the ground, groaning.
“Boss! At least some water—!”
At that moment, unable to bear it any longer, Ilhong scooped up water nearby and poured it all over me.
Water drenched me from head to toe. But since it was hot spring water, it didn’t soothe me—instead, it irritated my blistered skin and made the pain even worse.
“AAARGH! That hurts more, damn it!”
Seeing this, Seol Sakhwa and Seol Cheonsang used the Ice-White Divine Art to freeze the water solid.
Ihong once again splashed the ice-cold water over me.
SHAAAA!
But only steam rose in thick clouds. The raging inferno inside me showed no signs of dying down.
To think this was merely the result of an extremely tiny leak of Jeok-il’s Blazing Yang Energy.
When I had been poisoned by the Human-Faced Spider, at least I had fainted peacefully. This—this was torture I had willingly brought upon myself while fully conscious.
“The fire is inside you. What use is cooling the outside?”
Jeok-il shook her head as if all their efforts were meaningless.
“W-what… did you… put… inside me…!”
My throat felt like it was burning up, making it hard to even speak.
Was she really carrying something like this inside her body at all times? How could anyone live with an endless blaze burning from within?
“Oh? You’re speaking casually now?”
She curled her lips slightly, watching me with interest.
Her gaze was like that of someone observing just how far I could endure.
“Ghk!”
In the past, no matter what calamity came, the body of the Heaven-Slaying Star would somehow endure—but this time, even the Salseong seemed overwhelmed, only urging me to give up.
‘Sunlight… even I… can’t… handle… it!’
Yang Energy could also refer to sunlight—the blazing rays of the sun. The Blazing Yang Energy Jeok-il carried was as fierce as if it contained the burning sun itself.
Without meaning to, I had now come to harbor the energy of the sun, following the stars and the moon.
I could feel the immense power of my Starfall Heart Cultivation Method, built from stolen starlight, being completely overwhelmed.
No matter how brilliantly the stars shone in the night sky, once sunlight spread, they lost their brilliance and disappeared.
“AAARGH!”
The people of the North Sea Ice Palace stared at me in shock.
At that moment, Jeok-il approached and whispered:
“If you wish, I can withdraw the flames even now. You might still save your life.”
In other words, she was urging me to give up.
So I wriggled like a caterpillar and pointed at the blonde child watching me anxiously.
“Then… what about her?”
“Is that not the fate ordained by the heavens? Humans must accept it.”
In simple terms, she meant: let her die.
That scene reminded me so much of certain people from the Murong Clan that I bit down hard on my lips.
“F-fate…”
“Hmm?”
As I tried to speak with trembling lips, she leaned her ear closer.
“Fuck… your fate…”
“….”
At my half-delirious curse, her eyes twitched.
Perhaps in her hundreds of years of life, she had never seen someone speak to her like this.
“Tsk. More than thirty percent of your meridians have already melted. At this rate, you’ll become crippled and never use martial arts again. And if you endure longer, you’ll lose your life as well!”
She said one would die anyway—two dying instead changed nothing.
Calling it a foolish death, she said she would now withdraw her Blazing Yang Energy.
“N-no… it’s in my body now… so it’s mine…!”
It was a ridiculous claim, but even as my body melted, I refused to give up.
Jeok-il looked at me as if I were absurd.
“So, you truly haven’t been tainted by Moon Spiritual Energy. I will doubt you no longer. You are not mad from the moonlight. So give up now.”
So she had been subtly suspecting me all along.
But seeing me endure, she erased her final doubts.
And now she intended to retrieve her energy.
“N-no…”
“Even if it means your death?”
This wasn’t just for Seol Soyoung.
This was a declaration to the heavens—to the Primordial Heavenly Lord, the Supreme Elder Lord, and all the rest watching from above.
I didn’t know why they dragged me into this world, but I wasn’t going to follow the path they laid out.
‘Hey…! Accept it… you idiot…!’
The Red Letters hastily scribbled in urgency.
My condition was worse than expected.
“If you don’t like it… then save me…”
If I died, not just the Evil Star—but even the Salseong—wouldn’t remain safe.
In other words, we were bound by fate. If they didn’t want to disappear, they’d have to save me again.
“Grrrk…”
But this time, even the Salseong seemed helpless.
White energy surged throughout my body, but the raging wildfire refused to die down.
My head grew hotter, and I felt my consciousness slipping away.
Was this my first failed request?
“Fool…! You must not lose consciousness! If you do, it’s truly the end!”
This wasn’t like the Human-Faced Spider. That had merely been poison from a spiritual beast—this was something like the sun and moon, containing the power of the heavens themselves.
As darkness engulfed me, I slowly began to close my eyes.
SPLASH!
At that moment, an immense amount of Cold Yin Energy poured over my body.
My closing eyes snapped open.
Seol Soyoung had crushed a precious Thousand-Year Ice Essence and infused it with her Yin Energy before scattering it over me.
“Dan Mujin! Stay conscious! You told me yourself—if you don’t give up, there’s always a way!”
Hearing those desperate words from that small, blonde child snapped my mind back.
The Yin Energy covering my body quickly melted away—but her determination lingered deeply in my mind.
At that moment, something sleeping deep within my Dantian awakened.
As if responding to the Cold Yin Energy and my crisis.
Whoooosh—
A faint violet energy layered itself over the white power flowing through my body.
Something cold and eerie—completely opposite to the blazing Yang Energy—awakened and joined forces with the starlight.
‘M-Moon Spiritual Energy…?’
The power I had gained by saving the Sect Leader of the Emei Sect.
Star Spiritual Energy alone wasn’t enough—but once Moon Spiritual Energy joined in, the situation changed.
The forces of the night joined hands to suppress the force of the day.
Cold energy leaked from all directions, forcibly dragging in the rampaging Yang Energy.
Ssssss—
Like a lasso, the Moon Spiritual Energy captured the blazing force and pulled it back into the Dantian.
BOOM!
The fireball thrashed violently as it was trapped, making my body jerk upward.
But with the overwhelming Star Spiritual Energy and the Moon Spiritual Energy sealing every gap, it could no longer escape.
“Star and spirit become one, tens of thousands of energies break the waves—this is the manifestation of strength that subdues demons…”
My throat was dry, but I recited the chant of the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method with fervor.
Gradually, like the moon’s energy before it, the Blazing Yang Energy began to assimilate into me.
Watching silently, Jeok-il muttered in astonishment:
“What a strange creature. You didn’t filter my energy… you made it yours?”
I didn’t know what she meant. I was just struggling to survive.
She grinned widely.
“Ha! You’ve taken everything in the sky into your body. What an arrogant brat.”
Was she bored after living for centuries? I was dying here—what was so amusing?
Meanwhile, my Dantian calmed down as if nothing had happened.
Like the Moon Spiritual Energy, the fire settled into a corner, stabilized.
Seeing my body return to stillness like a calm sea after a storm, exhaustion finally hit me—
And I lost consciousness.
“Ugh…”
Seol Soyoung stared at the Troubleshooter before her with sparkling blue eyes.
A young man who had endured violent convulsions and ultimately absorbed the Blazing Yang Energy as his own.
As he regained consciousness, he sprang up and immediately approached her, pressing her meridians and channeling the Yang Energy.
“Ahh…”
With steady hands and unwavering eyes, the blazing energy shattered the wall of Yin Energy that had tormented her all her life.
BOOM! BOOM!
Each time a blocked meridian opened, her body jolted slightly.
The cold energy subsided, and her pale complexion returned to normal.
The people of the North Sea Ice Palace gasped in awe.
“Ah… finally…”
“Miss has been freed from the Heavenly Affliction of the North Sea Ice Palace…”
BOOM!
As the final blockage shattered, the handsome Troubleshooter grinned and said:
“I told you, right? What’s fate?”
“Uh… what did you say again?”
So much had happened that Seol Soyoung couldn’t keep up.
He repeated his motto:
“Say it with me. ‘To hell with fate.’”
Two women immediately stopped him.
“…Don’t teach a child something like that, Boss.”
“I agree. The heavens might get angry.”
Jo Harang warned him he might be punished by heaven.
Dan Mujin scoffed.
“What if I’m already being punished? Then what’s there to be afraid of?”
The young man spoke as if he carried some hidden burden.
Meanwhile, as Seol Soyoung was fully cured, her family rushed forward and embraced her.
“Soyoung!”
“You’re really cured?”
“Thank goodness!”
It became a heartfelt reunion.
Like people emerging from a long, dark tunnel into sunlight, they rejoiced in the ice cave.
“…Nice to see.”
Dan Mujin muttered, slightly moved.
It was a little enviable—to have a family that cared like that.
“…Well, I guess I do have one.”
A single face came to mind—his sister.
If she hadn’t cared, she wouldn’t have suffered so much.
He found a bit of comfort thinking of Murong Cheonghye.
“Anyway, that’s one job done.”
He muttered about collecting his payment and heading home.
Just as he turned to leave—
“Ha! Who said you could go?”
A red-haired woman blocked his path.
Jeok-il swept back her flaming hair and stared at him with burning eyes.
“You still have things to discuss with me. Much to explain.”
She wasn’t done with him yet.
“…What explanation?”
“You stole my energy, showed strange phenomena, and you’re hiding something else too, aren’t you?”
She said that when he came close, even Heavenly Insight was obscured.
And despite having his internal organs melted, he stood up again as if nothing happened.
“…Can I just go?”
“Try it if you can.”
She raised a finger with a faint smile.
It seemed I’d have to stay in this ice cave a little longer.