Whooo—.A land of extremes where a chill like knife-edges never stopped cutting across the earth.The Northern Sea.In a place where no one seemed able to live, a colossal fortress sat.The Northern Sea Ice Palace, sovereign of the north.To survive in an extreme environment, the body had to be strong.Built atop hardened bodies, their martial arts could only grow stronger. Thanks to that, the Northern Sea Ice Palace, as a single power, held the top seat.Every winter, the Northern Sea Ice Palace set its sights on the Central Plains.Not their own barren ground, but the Central Plains’ rich, fertile soil.Yet they failed every time—for one reason: they were the strongest only when winter lasted.So when the Ice Palace’s invasion began, the Central Plains chose to endure, to hold out until the weather warmed.Which is why the Ice Palace found a way to keep their full strength even in heat:They carried on their bodies Ice Essence, found only in the polar reaches of the Northern Sea.The Essence’s cold replenished yin, letting them fight at true strength even when days turned warm.Preparations were complete. This time, they believed, they would truly conquer the Central Plains.Then Martial Deity Heaven appeared.At first, they thought little of it.The Central Plains had always seen new powers rise and fall.They took it for one of those.It was not.Martial Deity Heaven was unlike anything they had faced.In a single day of invading the Central Plains, they were stripped down and driven back to the Northern Sea.They tried a few more times after that, only to confirm how terrifying Martial Deity Heaven was before retreating again.From then on, so long as Martial Deity Heaven existed, they no longer attacked the Central Plains.But they hadn’t given up.They prepared, waiting to pounce again the moment an opportunity appeared.Someone approached the Northern Sea Ice Palace. ****A few months earlier, Northern Sea Ice Palace.Tak-tak— tak-tak—.Knuckles tapping a table echoed through a quiet room.Buk Mu Gyeol, Lord of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, eyed the man before him with open suspicion.“So you want us to take this and attack the Central Plains?”“Yes.”“You know Martial Deity Heaven is there?”“Very well.”“Then you know how much we fear them?”At Buk Mu Gyeol’s words, the man smiled.“It isn’t fear. You’ve been sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall to repay humiliation at any time. I’m here to help you do exactly that.”“You’re mistaken. We do fear Martial Deity Heaven. Have you ever crossed them?”“I know it well. We’ve suffered at their hands too.”“Oh? And who are ‘we’?”“That I cannot say.”“Hahahaha!”Rumble—.Buk Mu Gyeol’s laughter made the building tremble.“Are you playing with me? One gesture from me and you die here.”“I don’t mind dying. I came ready for it. I only hope you won’t let a good opportunity slip through your fingers.”Something gleaming and lustrous entered Buk Mu Gyeol’s line of sight.It wasn’t a jewel.It was Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Essence—yin condensed in the ultimate cold over ten millennia.That alone made the offer tempting enough.“Ha… damn it.”The chance to lay hands on the Essence he had hunted so long.With that, the attempt was worth making.For a Northerner, Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Essence was a once-in-the-world stroke of fortune—a sovereign elixir.“Fine. I accept your proposal.”“Thank you. The Northern Sea Ice Palace won’t attack the Central Plains alone. Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, Potala Palace, and Raging Sandstorm will move with you.”Hearing that other forces would join made it feel doable.“Good. When?”“We’ll tell you when the time comes.”“Until then, we’ll share the Essence’s power and absorb as much as we can with my men.”He had no intention of hoarding the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Essence.It wasn’t enough for him alone to grow strong.Only by growing strong together would they truly be strong.Living alone in the Northern Sea was akin to suicide.So when something good came along, the Ice Palace didn’t hog it.Sharing was a matter of course.That was one reason the Northern Sea Ice Palace was strong. ****Present day, Northern Sea Ice Palace.Buk Mu Gyeol had absorbed the power of Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Essence and shut himself away for months.His seclusion ended; he stepped back into the world.“Congratulations on your achievement, my lord.”Buk Mu Gyeol looked different.His realm had risen—and he looked younger.Rejuvenation to youthful prime.Measured by Central Plains standards, he had stepped into a Mythic Realm class.At this level, even the Martial Deity Heaven Lord seemed within reach.His confidence swelled.He wasn’t the only one who had grown strong.The auras of his subordinates had changed.Every last one of them was far stronger than before.They no longer needed to carry Ice Essence to avoid weakening.His confidence pierced the heavens—yet a prickle of unease crawled up his spine.What?Stronger than ever, so why this ominous feeling?He shook his head.It had to be Martial Deity Heaven creeping into his thoughts.He needed to erase that fear as quickly as possible.He vowed to repay the humiliation of the past.He drew a deep breath and looked over his men again.A smile kept tugging at his lips.One after another, they stood at realms he could be satisfied with.Compared to the past, their might was beyond comparison.The mood said they wanted to sprint to the Central Plains right now and clash with Martial Deity Heaven.“My lord! All preparations are complete! Let us dash to the Central Plains at once!”“That’s right! Let’s show those Martial Deity Heaven bastards our true strength!”As his men clamored, Buk Mu Gyeol raised a hand to stay them.“I feel the same, but the time hasn’t come. Until it does, become even stronger.”“Yes, my lord!”Staring at his strengthened subordinates, Buk Mu Gyeol soothed his unease.‘What is this? With all this muscle behind me, why does the dread feel worse? Hah. I need a drink to drown this damn feeling.’ Whooo—.A cold wind that felt like it could freeze everything blew without ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) cease.Through that razor wind, one man walked at leisure and one struggled to move.Yeon Cheon Baek and Gwangpung Shinga.“This pup’s young and already wheezing like that.”At Yeon Cheon Baek’s jab, Gwangpung Shinga was speechless.Young? Compared to whom?Not an argument he could make.Yeon Cheon Baek was far older.There was a different reason Gwangpung Shinga was this worn out.On the way here, Yeon Cheon Baek had “watched his martial arts” by driving him mercilessly.Day after day without rest, sparring pushed to the edge of human limits had wrung his body and mind dry.On top of that, they had traveled all the way to the Northern Sea using nothing but lightness arts; even a high-realm expert would be exhausted.Expert or not, he was human.“Here. Catch.”Yeon Cheon Baek tossed something to the spent Gwangpung Shinga.He blinked at it.“Martial God Golden Pellet. Eat.”For a second, Gwangpung Shinga thought he’d misheard.“Sir?”“You making me say it twice? Martial God Golden Pellet.”“Th-this is the Martial God Golden Pellet? The elixir they say is even rarer than the Great Rejuvenation Pill?”“Yes. Swallow and circulate. Nothing beats it for nourishing the body.”Use a Martial God Golden Pellet… as a tonic?Absurd.He trembled at the sheer extravagance—when Yeon Cheon Baek’s bark cracked over him.“What are you doing? Eat and circulate, now. We don’t have time.”“A-are you sure I should really—eat this?”“You think I’m the kind of man who jokes about what I put in my mouth? Not eating yet?”“I-it’s just, such a precious—”“Want to die?”“I—I’ll eat!”The instant killing intent rose off Yeon Cheon Baek’s body, Gwangpung Shinga flipped the pellet into his mouth.There was no chewing. It melted instantly and slid down his throat.“Kh—!”Heat flooded his body in a rush.He dropped into a cross-legged seat and began regulating his breath, circulating his inner energy.Normally one never did that in an open space like this, but with Yeon Cheon Baek guarding him, he could do so without worry.The heat spread through every limb, unwinding his exhaustion at speed.It filled his muscles with vigor and rapidly replenished his dantian—long depleted—with rich internal energy.A little later.Light flashed in Gwangpung Shinga’s eyes and faded.“Haa!”As expected of the Martial God Golden Pellet.Power overflowed through his whole body.“Heh-heh-heh. Now you look human. Up you get—we move.”“Y-yes! Th-thank you!”“Enough. It’s not like I don’t know how hard this is on you. If you tire, I’ll give you another. So work without holding back.”“U-understood.”Weren’t there only a handful of Martial God Golden Pellets in all of Martial Deity Heaven?How could he hand them out like this?“Why? Got a question?”“I heard even Martial Deity Heaven only had a few of these. Are you sure it’s all right to give them to me like this…?”“Oh, those. We did only have a few. Not anymore.”“Sir?”“Woo Jin made them by the armful. The storerooms are packed. I’ve got a dozen-odd on me.”Hearing that Yeon Woo Jin had made them, Gwangpung Shinga understood.“Right! Let’s go!”“Oh? Hearing Woo Jin made them put spring back in your step?”“Yes! It did!”Yeon Cheon Baek snorted at the sight.“Don’t let that heart change. If it does, I’ll come find you.”“That will never happen!”“Good. I believe you. Move.”“Yes!” “That it?”“It is.”The fortress in the distance.The Northern Sea Ice Palace.“How about we rest in a village nearby and go tomorrow?”“Mm. Shall we?”“There’s an inn there. Let’s head in.”They walked toward the inn that had just come into view.The moment they stepped inside, every gaze in the room zeroed in on them.A man who looked like the attendant came over.“You don’t look like locals. Best be on your way. Stay here and you might run into trouble.”“What’s that supposed to mean?”“You look like men from the Central Plains. Folks here don’t like Central Plains people much. So go on. Don’t stir up trouble.”“No.”At Yeon Cheon Baek’s answer, the attendant shook his head.“I did warn you.”“Your hospitality’s rotten. What you say at times like this is ‘Welcome in,’ then show us to a seat.”The attendant gave a thin smile.“Sit anywhere that’s empty.”“Bring whatever you’ve got for a quick bite and some liquor.”“Got it.”“And we’re staying the night. You have a room?”“We do.”“Clean one up.”“Will do.”They ordered and sat.The people who had been chatting away a moment ago all eyed them with wariness.Yeon Cheon Baek smiled like he was enjoying himself.“Nice atmosphere.”Gwangpung Shinga let out a snort.To call this “nice”?Very Yeon Cheon Baek.As if he were just waiting for someone to pick a fight.Did they have any idea?That the man they were glaring at was the head of Martial Deity Heaven—the power the Northern Sea feared most.He watched to see who would make the first move. No one did.One man quietly stood and slipped outside.That was it.The rest went back to talking, eating, and drinking as usual.Yeon Cheon Baek sounded deflated.“What? I thought they’d jump us right away. That’s it?”While he muttered, disappointed, the attendant returned with food and drink.Steam curled up from the soup.“What’s this?”“No poison in it. Try.”With that, the attendant left.Yeon Cheon Baek took up a spoon and sipped the broth.Slurp—.“Ho! Tasty.”Even if there had been poison, it wouldn’t have mattered.At Yeon Cheon Baek’s realm, toxins were something the body purged on its own.

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