novelraw Chapter 230 : Things That Happened in the Meantime
Chapter 230 : Things That Happened in the Meantime
Chapter 230: Things That Happened in the Meantime
The day after the chaotic banquet of the North Sea Ice Palace.
Through my dawn training beneath the falling starlight, I felt that my Star Spirit Energy had increased tremendously.
The good karma I had risked my life to accumulate in order to save that young girl mercilessly suppressed the evil star within my Upper Dantian.
And seizing the opportunity while the evil star had weakened, I stole as much of the power of the stars as I could, refining it into internal energy through the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method.
At the very center of my Dantian, an enormous mass of Star Spirit Energy, swollen to a heaven-shaking extent, shimmered like a galaxy.
And those pure white waves pushed the tiny Moon Spirit Energy and Yang Energy into the corners. They looked crushed, holding their breath under the overwhelming presence of the Star Spirit Energy.
Especially the Yang Energy—which had nearly melted all my internal organs—had lost even more of its momentum after I shared it with Seol Soyoung, now curled up in submission.
Even so, if mishandled, it was still a force capable of burning my entire body to ashes—the energy of the Red Sun.
And as for the Moon Spirit Energy, I had been told that if not properly controlled, madness could seep into both mind and body.
Fortunately, the Star Spirit Energy—formed by gathering scattered starlight—was the weakest in force, yet it possessed the nature of calmly harmonizing and balancing the other two energies.
This was the strange phenomenon unfolding within the microcosm that was myself.
For now, the other two energies were suppressed and safe, but if their power were to surge due to some unknown cause, they could exceed the limits of a human vessel—that was what the Red Sun had said.
Such a burden could collapse my body, so although it was an immense power, it had to be handled with caution.
Realizing anew just how tremendous the things I carried within my body were, I prepared to leave the North Sea Ice Palace.
“Dan Mujin Master, are you feeling alright? It seemed like the elders of our North Sea Ice Palace bothered you quite a bit yesterday……”
At that moment, a slender voice brushed against my ears.
When I turned my gaze, I saw a blonde, blue-eyed girl looking at me with concern.
“I’m fine. I didn’t get a wink of sleep since I even trained at dawn, but I’m young—I can handle it.”
The one who spoke to me was the youngest daughter of the North Sea Ice Palace, Miss Seol Soyoung.
I hadn’t drunk any alcohol yesterday, but I was dragged all over the place by the thoroughly intoxicated people of the North Sea Ice Palace.
They were all celebrating the young lady’s full recovery, drinking heavily—and the elders especially wouldn’t let me go, going on about how they had daughters of marriageable age under their care.
On top of that, I had even completed training to steal the power of the evil star at dawn, so I truly hadn’t slept at all.
Yet perhaps thanks to the immense achievement, my mind was clearer than ever.
“What about you? Are you feeling alright now?”
At my question, Seol Soyoung nodded vigorously, her face full of vitality.
Her once pale complexion had greatly improved, and the inescapable curse of the North Sea Ice Palace she had been born with no longer seemed to torment her.
“It’s all thanks to you, Master. My body feels so light it’s like I could fly.”
As if to prove it, she smiled brightly, spread her arms wide, and spun around in place.
A vitality and liveliness I had never seen before seemed to radiate from her entire body.
From what I had heard from the elders yesterday, Seol Soyoung had not only overcome the Nine Yin Severed Meridian, but her body was now filled with refined Yang Energy—meaning that if she trained in martial arts, she could achieve tremendous accomplishments.
She had also said she wanted to learn the Ice White Divine Art she had previously avoided, so she could contribute to her family.
It seemed that double blessings had befallen this northern clan.
“Then for the sake of your Ice White Divine Art, I guess I should keep this instead of selling it.”
I took out the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal from the wooden box and waved it in front of her.
Even just holding it in my hand, it emitted a chilling cold that seeped into my bones.
When I clicked it back into the special wooden box, only then did it feel like the cold that had settled in the space receded.
“……You really don’t have to.”
“The Palace Head of the North Sea Ice Palace insisted quite strongly. Said they’d definitely buy it back. Their determination to restore their finances was intense.”
Come to think of it, weren’t the martial artists of the North Sea Ice Palace mysterious beings who could form ice even in midsummer?
If they just made ice in front of the imperial family during scorching heat, they could probably earn a fortune…
But business proposals based on capitalism probably wouldn’t work on these rigid Murim people.
“Then… are you returning to the Central Plains now?”
Seeing me packing my belongings, including the wooden box, as I left the room, Seol Soyoung asked about my next destination.
“I’ve completed all the requests I was entrusted with, so an outsider should return to where he belongs.”
Like how in a village of one-eyed people, a two-eyed person is considered strange.
In this northern land filled with Westerners, we stood out quite a bit.
At my words calling myself an outsider, Seol Soyoung made a slightly disappointed expression.
“You’re not an outsider. If you come anytime, everyone will welcome you like family. I guarantee it as a blood member of the North Sea Ice Palace.”
“…Like family.”
I didn’t really know what that meant, having never had a proper family.
Still, though the North Sea Ice Palace was freezing in temperature, the people themselves were warm.
Just looking at how Seol Soyoung, who had been abandoned by fate, had grown into such a bright child proved that.
And thinking back, the people of the North Sea Ice Palace—and even Seol Jindo—had kept trying to offer me things at the banquet.
I stared quietly at Seol Soyoung in front of me.
She was about the same age I had been when I wandered the back alleys as a beggar years ago.
As I silently gazed into her blue eyes, she slightly averted her gaze and spoke strangely.
“…To people from the Central Plains, it looks a bit… strange, right?”
I asked with a puzzled expression.
“What does?”
“My eyes and skin. And my hair too… My older sister said people look at us like they’ve seen a ghost.”
Come to think of it, Seol Sakhwa had seemed quite tired of the discrimination in the Central Plains.
“Not really. You’re just pretty.”
Her delicate features made her look like a Western actress right in front of me—it was fascinating, if anything.
“…I see.”
Unfamiliar with such praise, she scratched her cheek shyly.
Just as her ears began to turn red, the office staff appeared behind us and threw out comments in disbelief.
“There he goes again. Flirting with a girl first thing in the morning, Mujin?”
“Exactly. Ever since Juwol-a, he’s been on a roll.”
Jo Harang and Ilhong had also come out, fully prepared to leave.
Flirting? That was not something I could just ignore.
“What are you talking about? I just said what I honestly thought.”
The request settlement had already been completed, so it wasn’t lip service—it came from the heart.
People of the Central Plains who found Westerners strange probably wouldn’t understand my sense of beauty.
“The scary part is that he actually means it, Jo Harang.”
“He doesn’t even care about age anymore. That’s a crime, you know.”
Slander filled their words. I shook my head as if I didn’t need to listen and walked away.
As we exchanged farewells and I showed signs of leaving, Seol Soyoung suddenly grabbed the sleeve of my clothes from behind.
“Dan Mujin Master.”
It was that look again. That strange sense of connection.
The girl who had been destined to die but survived spoke to me.
“You’ll come back, right?”
“Of course.”
At the very least, I’d have to come back once to deal with the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal. And if the summer heat became unbearable, I might come here to escape it.
“Now that you’ve even gained a title in the North, you have to promise you’ll come back, okay?”
It seemed I had gained a new alias here, not just Dog-Beating Dragon.
Curious, I asked what it was.
“What do people here call me?”
“They call you the true god of the staff who defeated the White-Haired Lion King… the Staff God!”
“….”
Was this perhaps a title given by the Palace Head, the Ice God?
“…Yeah, thanks.”
Thinking about coming back and being called that left me with mixed feelings. I might need to reconsider revisiting.
Anyway, that was how I parted ways, waving goodbye to the girl who had been born with a doomed fate.
When we returned to Beijing, hot and humid weather greeted us.
Unlike the North, the Central Plains was entering the height of summer, where the sun heated the crown of your head.
As sweat formed on the bridge of my nose, I truly felt that I had returned to Beijing.
And in this heat, the gifts I brought back from the North would prove even more valuable.
With a cheerful expression, I headed to find Eun Hwaran.
I planned to tell the Trading Lord of one of the Ten Great Trading Companies everything I had seen and heard in the North, and perhaps arrange business opportunities beneficial to both sides.
Ironically, however, the first person I encountered upon stepping into the Eunseong Trading Company was none other than Hwang Geolgae.
“Tsk tsk, you unfilial disciple. You disappear for months without a word, and the first person you look for upon returning is Trading Lord Eun Hwaran?”
The old Daoist, his beard flecked with gray, struck his Dog-Beating Staff against his shoulder as he looked down at me in displeasure.
“Not just a Trading Lord—she’s my sister.”
“An adopted sister. And after traveling so far and bringing gifts, shouldn’t you first visit your master?”
The master who had only taken me as his sole disciple scolded me for not fulfilling my duties.
I had tried to sneak into the Trading Lord’s office unnoticed, but that plan was clearly ruined now.
“But when I go to my sister, she gives me good food and listens to me. You just take everything first and beat me up.”
I hadn’t expected a refined master-disciple relationship like those of prestigious orthodox sects.
But taking everything I had was a bit much, even for a beggar.
“You brat, that’s called discipline. And if you brought something good, you should offer it to the boss immediately without being asked. Haven’t you ever lived like a beggar?”
I had long graduated from that kind of life.
I pulled the wooden box containing the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal closer to my chest, trying to hide the sweet frozen delicacies I had brought from the North.
“You rascal, something must have happened in the North. Spill everything and hand over what you brought.”
Those were meant for Eun Hwaran, who always treated me with snacks.
I couldn’t just hand them over to a violent old man like him.
I pulled out the long black staff from my back and faced his Dog-Beating Staff.
At that, Hwang Geolgae snorted as if it were ridiculous that I intended to face him with the Dog-Beating Staff Technique.
Sure, it would be difficult to face him with that technique—but like this, I had at least a chance.
Click.
I twisted the handle of the Hell-Piercing Demon-Slaying Staff and drew out a gleaming sword. This was the hidden true form of the black staff.
“Oh?”
Seeing that I had no intention of honestly explaining what I experienced and obtained in the North, Hwang Geolgae looked dumbfounded.
“What, is there something you can’t tell this old man?”
If I told him I had met a Being Beyond Heaven and brought back something dangerous, he’d definitely go berserk.
If I was going to get beaten anyway, I figured it’d be better to fight first and then get beaten.
“Come at me, old man.”
The words I hadn’t dared to say in front of the Red Sun, the blazing Being Beyond Heaven.
“You brat, now you say ‘old man’ without hesitation.”
At my provocation, which was no longer surprising, Hwang Geolgae let out a hollow laugh and raised his energy.
Soon, a ghost-like figure shot forward, gliding like a phantom.
“Let’s beat you up after a long time!”
Since I had gained greater achievements in the North, I thought things might be different this time.
But what was this? Hwang Geolgae subdued me even faster than before, displaying even more flawless martial prowess.
As he flicked my head repeatedly, I told him about everything I had experienced in the North, including the Yang Energy and the existence of the Red Sun.
Looking up at the sky, Hwang Geolgae let out a deep sigh.
“Primordial Heavenly Lord, why do you give me such trials?”
He rubbed his furrowed brow while invoking the supreme deity of Daoism.
Then, as if he couldn’t stand it anymore, my master raised his fist again.
“This won’t do. You need to be beaten more to come to your senses.”
“…Hey! No violence! Master-disciple violence out!”
Already used to my nonsense, Hwang Geolgae flicked my forehead with a sharp ‘smack.’
“You brat, in Murim, you need strength to even shout things like that.”
He taught me the harsh truth of Murim firsthand—that the cries of the weak meant nothing.
“Damn old man…”
After finishing this welcoming beating, my whole body felt exhausted.
Even though I had poured out all my martial arts, my master’s wall seemed to have grown even higher.
I asked with a puzzled expression.
“Did you… gain some kind of achievement while I was away, Master?”
When we clashed earlier, I had sensed some kind of change.
“I’ve started to see it.”
“…See what?”
“What lies beyond that wall.”
He had been estimated to be at the Blazing Flame Realm… was he now stepping toward the legendary realm beyond?
“…What the hell.”
“Watch your mouth. Instead of rejoicing at your master’s achievement.”
Then what about my grand goal of paying him back for all the beatings I’d received?
What a damn situation. That monstrous old man was getting even stronger.
“Heh, while you were in the North, many changes happened in Beijing as well.”
He said things had taken a strange turn, so he had focused on training.
Usually he just lazed around drinking—what could have prompted this?
“What happened?”
Sensing something serious from his tone, I asked.
Without a word, Hwang Geolgae subtly pointed toward the magnificent imperial palace.
“What about the imperial palace?”
“There was an incident.”
An incident meant something had happened there.
“What kind of incident? Don’t tell me the Crown Prince, who was on the verge of death, finally passed away?”
If that were the case, a storm would sweep through Beijing—and it would also be a golden opportunity for Imperial Concubine Hwang and Princess Peach Blossom, who backed me.
“No. The opposite. His condition has stopped worsening.”
However, Hwang Geolgae began to say something unexpected and ominous.