Chapter 430: The Three Reasons for Giving a Gift
Geom Mugeuk walked behind the Ice Palace Master.
Naturally, he had assumed that the Ice Palace Treasury would be located outside the palaceâsomewhere deep in the Northern Sea, in a snow-covered mountain storm where the cold could freeze one's heart.
However, the Ice Palace Master led Geom Mugeuk deep into the interior of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
"This is the first time I've shown this to an outsider."
"It is an honor, Palace Master."
"This is my way of repaying you for saving this palace."
As they passed through several gates guarded by the elite martial artists of the Ice Palace, a frozen lake appeared.
"From now on, step exactly where I step and follow closely."
Geom Mugeuk could tell. There was a formation laid across this seemingly ordinary lake.
The terror of this formation lay in its unpredictability.
He had never encountered a formation deployed over a frozen lake. While everyone would be preoccupied with the fear that the ice beneath might crack, the real danger would strike from elsewhere when they least expected it.
Geom Mugeuk stepped precisely where the Ice Palace Master stepped and followed in her footsteps.
What would happen if he failed to find the life gate? Would the ice break, plunging him into the freezing lake? Or would he be trapped forever, wandering atop this frozen surface?
The Ice Palace Master, who had been walking in silence, suddenly asked,
"That girl named Lee Ahnâis she born of a demon?"
"No, she was entrusted to our cult when she was very young."
The Ice Palace Master continued walking silently. Her back seemed to suggest she had more to say.
"But why do you ask?"
Whether in appearance or nature, Lee Ahn was no ordinary person, but it wasnât like the Ice Palace Master to show interest like this.
"Itâs nothing. The thought just crossed my mind. Mind your steps."
Once again, the Ice Palace Master carefully stepped along the life gate as she crossed the lake.
Beyond the formation was a valley. It was a narrow path, just wide enough for three or four adults to stand side by side.
Whiiiiing.
The wind was cold right from the entrance. Not just coldâit was truly cold.
They were now on the path toward the Ice Palace Treasury.
"It suddenly got colder."
At Geom Mugeukâs comment, a faint smile appeared on the Ice Palace Masterâs lips.
"The real cold hasnât even begun."
The Ice Palace Master felt a little thrilled at the thought of letting the Young Cult Leader taste this cold. Saving the palace was one thingâbut since he had insisted on going where only those with the Extreme Cold Constitution could reach, she was determined to show him the merciless chill of the Northern Sea.
"Come, letâs go."
This time, the Ice Palace Master did not walk ahead. She walked beside Geom Mugeuk. She needed to keep an eye on his condition. Whether one was a master or not, even the smallest misstep here could lead to death.
Truly, with each and every step, it grew colder.
"Donât try to force yourself too much."
"Itâs still bearable for now."
Truly, the saying about cold that freezes your very lungs must have been meant for moments like this. It wasnât merely the wind that made it cold. It felt like they were walking closer to the very heart of extreme cold. One step brought them into a colder space, and the next step into one even colder. The change was abrupt and stark.
Shiiiiiâ
There was no wind, yet a strange sound echoed.
"Are you alright?"
From the midway point onward, with every step they took, the Ice Palace Master checked Geom Mugeukâs condition.
Yet Geom Mugeuk remained unaffected. He felt the cold, of course, but it neither impacted his body nor turned into pain.
The Ice Palace Master had worried that he might freeze solid while standing there.
But Geom Mugeuk walked on without troubleâif anything, he moved more firmly than she did.
Shiiiiiiiiiiâ
There was still no wind, but the strange sound continued to grow louder the further they walked.
The farther they went, the more surprised the Ice Palace Master became. If he didnât possess the Extreme Cold Constitution, then it meant he had another martial art capable of withstanding this cold.
'Could such a martial art really exist?'
As they continued, the cold became even more severe.
This wasnât just a chill that froze water on contact with air. It was a cold that defied reason and exceeded limits.
Even Geom Mugeuk, who had consumed the Millennium Snow Fruit, and the Ice Palace Master, who was enduring with her innate inner energy, found themselves unable to exchange words. The cold was that overwhelming.
Eventually, the two reached the end of the path.
There stood a massive chunk of iceâno, a massive ice wall.
And it wasnât just any ordinary ice. It radiated a chill so immense it seemed to be the origin of all cold in the world.
In other words, they had been walking toward the very source of the worldâs cold.
And surprisingly, there was a door embedded in that ice wall.
It was astonishing to think someone had dared to carve a hole into it and make space within.
The Ice Palace Master opened the door and stepped inside. Geom Mugeuk followed closely behind.
The moment she closed the door, silence fell.
The strange sound that had rung in their ears disappeared completely, and as if it were a lie, that maddening cold vanished along with it.
In fact, the inside wasnât that cold at all. It felt like stepping into a house made of ice. If anything, it even felt like the deeper they went toward the center, the more the cold would fade.
Now that speaking was possible, the Ice Palace Master looked silently at Geom Mugeuk for a long while. Eventually, she asked once again for confirmation.
"You have the Extreme Cold Constitution, and youâve been hiding it from me, havenât you?"
"As I said before, I do not possess the Extreme Cold Constitution."
"Then do you have some martial art that can endure such cold?"
"No. None of our cultâs martial arts could possibly withstand this cold."
She couldnât help but wonder. Could it be that the Young Cult Leader had somehow learned a secret martial art passed down only to the Ice Palace Master?
"There is one way to withstand any cold, isn't there? The legend passed down in the Northern Sea."
The Ice Palace Master, who had been momentarily dazed, suddenly recalled a certain fact.
"Donât tell me⊠you?"
Geom Mugeuk decided to be honest. He didnât want to leave any unease lingering in her mind by dodging the truth.
"Yes, I consumed the Millennium Snow Fruit."
Geom Mugeuk confirmed somethingâjust how wide the Ice Palace Master could open her eyes when she was shocked.
The Millennium Snow Fruit was a legendary elixir passed down like a myth.
It was the pinnacle of elixirs that strengthened resistance to coldânot just the cold itself, but any kind of energy with a cold attribute could be received and accepted with ease.
"Did the Millennium Snow Fruit really exist?"
Even the Ice Palace Master had believed it to be a mythical elixirâsomething that existed and yet didnât exist, a mystery.
"I was lucky. A rare opportunity presented itself."
The Ice Palace Master shook her head firmly.
"The Millennium Snow Fruit is not something that can be obtained by luck alone."
If it were, it wouldnât have been passed down as a legend for generations.
And the one who had obtained it was the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult?
But that very Young Cult Leader had saved the Ice Palace. Was this all just coincidence? The scheme behind the attack had aimed for the Ice Palace Treasury, and now here she was, standing beside the one who had destroyed the perpetrators. Was it really all coincidence?
Or⊠was this an inevitable flow of destiny that had brought them to face each other here?
"Come on in."
They walked slowly down a corridor made of ice. At the end of that corridor lay a vast spaceâthe Ice Palace Treasury.
The walls, the ceiling, the floor, even the display shelvesâeverything in sight was made of ice.
This place was unlike any other treasury. Remarkably, all the treasures were encased within the ice. As if they were packaged in ice bricks, they were frozen in varying sizes.
The ice was crystal clear.
Because of that, the weapons and armor encased within looked like they were floating in midair.
It was the first time Geom Mugeuk had seen such a mystical sight.
"This is truly magnificent."
The Ice Palace Master smiled.
"Even with powerful Heat Yang Energy, it wouldnât be easy to melt them."
Reaching this place alone was difficult, but even if one made it here, extracting treasures from within the ice would not be an easy task.
She couldnât help but wonder what Geom Mugeuk might desire from this place.
He pointed to a sword among the treasures stacked ahead, encased in ice.
"Could that sword be the Cold Sky Divine Sword?"
"It is."
A legendary sword known to double its power in the hands of someone who had mastered ice techniques.
"And that one beside it⊠that must be the Shattering Blade."
"You have quite the knowledge when it comes to weapons."
Not only thoseâmany other divine weapons were stored here. They were the collection amassed by the Northern Sea Ice Palace over countless years.
And yet, the Ice Palace Master could sense it.
'He wonât choose a sword.'
Though he hadnât drawn the Black Demon Sword in front of her, the Ice Palace Master could sense it. The sword hanging at Geom Mugeukâs side was superior to any weapon within this place.
Indeed, while Geom Mugeuk admired and was impressed by each and every weapon, he chose none of them.
Next to those were gemstones that appeared to float in midair. Encased in small pieces of ice, the gems looked all the more mystical.
Among them were truly priceless gems. Even the finest Antidote Pellet and Night Pearls floating nearby seemed plain in comparison.
Yet Geom Mugeuk passed them by as well. Of course, he moved slowly, just in case the Secret Box might react.
Up until now, the two orbs the Secret Box had absorbed werenât found among the precious items. They had been discarded, hidden away.
So he had hoped, perhaps as a twist, that one might be sitting proudly among these priceless jewels. But the Secret Box showed no reaction. Wouldnât it have been wonderful if it had been placed at the very top of these treasures?
Next was the section where elixirs were displayed.
They were elixirs that couldnât be easily obtained even with wealth. Even the weakest among them were rare enough that martial artists would long for them even in their dreams.
But Geom Mugeuk passed by that place too. Still, he examined them thoroughly, so as not to appear like someone looking for something in particular.
"Is there nothing you want?"
"If something draws my heart, I will choose itâbut so far, nothing has."
He had gone through all the weapons, elixirs, and items on display, but the Secret Box had shown no reaction.
âWas there truly nothing in the Northern Sea Ice Palace the Secret Box could absorb?â
He wondered if the lack of reaction was because everything was encased in ice. But there was nothing he could do about that. Everything here was within ice. He couldnât exactly ask her to melt them all.
Just as he was about to give up, something caught his eyeâa large mural painted far across the wall. Even from a distance, the image of a great white dragon ascending was clearly visible.
Geom Mugeuk began walking toward it.
And when he neared the mural, the Secret Box inside his robe stirred.
He was startled. He hadnât expected the mural to provoke a response from the Secret Box.
Up close, he understood why. The mural wasnât simply painted.
In the place of the wish-fulfilling orb held by the white dragon was a blue sapphire, and in its eyes were embedded red rubies. That wasnât all. Various colored jade stones were embedded across its claws and body.
And among those many jades, there was one white jade. The Secret Box was reacting to it.
âThatâs the White Eye Orb!â
Had he not come to see the mural, he would never have discovered it.
Just who had hidden these things here, and why?
That, he couldnât yet know. But since fate had led him to this point, he could only hope the day would come when the truth would be revealed.
Geom Mugeuk spoke to the Ice Palace Master.
"May I choose one of the jade stones embedded in that mural?"
Naturally, the Ice Palace Master was surprised. She hadnât expected him to ask for a jade from the mural.
"Do you want the wish-fulfilling orb?"
"No."
What Geom Mugeuk pointed to was the white jade embedded at the tip of the dragonâs tail.
"Please grant me that tail."
Though white jade was certainly valuable, it couldnât compare to the other treasures they had seen earlier.
"May I ask why you want that one in particular?"
"Back in the cult, they often used metaphors about meâcalling me a hidden dragon, a dragon about to ascend. But Iâve always wished to live as a tail. To never forget that desire, Iâd like to have that white jade."
The Ice Palace Master still wore an expression of incomprehension.
She leapt lightly into the air and removed the white jade embedded in the wall before landing back down.
No matter how closely she examined it, it was just an ordinary white jade.
"Are you truly satisfied with this?"
"Yes, more than enough. And simply having seen the Ice Palace Treasury has been a priceless experience for me."
Geom Mugeuk received the white jade and tucked it safely into his robe.
Unaware of its true significance, the Ice Palace Master misunderstood.
'He really doesnât want to cause me any trouble.'
If that was the case, she couldnât let him leave with just that. The Ice Palace Master said something unexpected.
"I am not satisfied."
If he hadnât come, that would be one thingâbut now that he had, now that he had saved the Ice Palace, she couldnât send him off with a mere piece of white jade.
She walked over to the place where the elixirs were stored. From the very top of the stacked elixirs, she drew down a block of ice using Void Telekinesis.
"You're the only one who can consume this anyway."
As she infused her internal energy, the ice began to melt, revealing a small bead. At a glance, it looked like a marble-shaped chunk of ice, but it was in fact the pinnacle of Northern Sea elixirs.
Ten Thousand Extreme Ice Essence.
It was the greatest among cold-attribute elixirs, so potent and intense that only someone who had consumed the Millennium Snow Fruit could safely absorb it.
"Is it really alright for me to receive something so precious?"
"If you donât take it, itâll just remain frozen here forever."
Even now, Geom Mugeuk possessed more internal energy than anyone else in the martial worldâbut he still hungered for more.
Cultivating the Nine Calamities Demon Art alone demanded enormous internal energy, and on top of that, he had to train within the Temporal and Spatial Transference Technique, opening the Heavenly Time Secret Art within it. For Geom Mugeuk, internal energy was time. Internal energy was the strength that would protect everyone.
"Go on, take it."
"Then I wonât decline any furtherâthank you very much."
Right then and there, Geom Mugeuk consumed the Ten Thousand Extreme Ice Essence.
It was truly a bone-chilling energy. Had his body not already been conditioned by the effects of the Millennium Snow Fruit to endure any cold, the moment he swallowed it, he wouldâve frozen solid and perished. No, he wouldnât have even been able to swallow it to begin with.
The immense energy of the Ten Thousand Extreme Ice Essence surged through his meridians. It roared like a mad northern windâbut his body was already one that had weathered through such crazed gales.
With several careful circulations of his energy, the force of the Ten Thousand Extreme Ice Essence gradually gathered in his dantian and turned into pure internal energy.
Until now, he had vaguely thought he might possess the most internal energy in the martial world. Now, he was certain. His internal energy had to be the greatest.
But what made him happy wasnât just the increase in energy. It was the fact that he could now advance even further in the Heavenly Time Secret Art and the Nine Calamities Demon Art.
Today, the Ice Palace Master had been surprised again and again. She never imagined he would be able to refine the Ten Thousand Extreme Ice Essence so quickly.
And so, the decision to give him a third gift came easily.
"Choose one more."
"This alone is more than enough."
"There are three reasons I am giving you three gifts."
"What are those reasons?"
"The first is to repay you for uncovering the truth behind the Former Master Brewer's death, and for eliminating the ones behind it."
That, he understood. He had saved the Ice Palace.
"The second is⊠for making me look back."
Geom Mugeuk understood. She meant the moment he reminded her that her daughter was still thereâhis words had rekindled a bond that had seemed forever lost. For that, she was grateful.
"The third is a gift given in advance."
"What do you mean?"
"Youâll understand someday. What I meant."
It was an investmentâfor her daughter.
By the time Han Seol became the Ice Palace Master, Geom Mugeuk would be the Heavenly Demon. This was her way of asking in advance: when that time came, to please look after the Northern Sea Ice Palaceâand her daughter. If that request could be bought with a single treasure, then it was a small price to pay.
Geom Mugeuk understood her heart. And so, he accepted her intention for her daughter.
"Then Iâll choose one more."
He took another look around. This time, it wasnât a gift for himself, so he chose with extra care.
"Then for the final one, I choose this."
What Geom Mugeuk picked⊠was a wine cup.