Chapter 77 – Northern Sea Ice Palace (1)

Ju Yun-hui had wanted to go with them, but she was excluded from the party due to the opposition of the Emperor and Yu-jin.

Even so, Yu-jin had no intention of heading to the Northern Sea Ice Palace alone. Why would he go by himself when he had his precious women? With that thought, Yu-jin made his way to a large brothel.

“Master!”

A peculiar look crossed Eun Seol-rin’s face as she tore open her own top, baring her breasts, and rushed toward Yu-jin.

Yu-jin grasped her face and kissed her. Their tongues tangled, and his hand delved inside her pants.

“You seem to have gotten quite worked up while I was away. To think you’d get this soaked from just a kiss.”

During his time at the imperial palace, he hadn’t held any of his women, so they, consumed by the energy of the Yin-Yang Lust Arts, had no choice but to pleasure themselves.

But such relief could not replace Yu-jin’s presence. Yu-jin had Eun Seol-rin bend over, spread her flower petals, and inserted his member. As it entered, a moan escaped Eun Seol-rin’s sultry lips.

“Aahhh~ Hah, Master! I’ve been waiting for this!”

Just then, Na Ye-jin, Ran, and Han So-un entered and embraced Yu-jin.

“Yu-jin!”

“Master!”

Yu-jin smiled at the three women’s eager response. They quickly shed their clothes and pressed their bodies against his.

Yu-jin inserted his fingers into Na Ye-jin’s flower petals and began to move them back and forth. With each movement of his fingers, moans flowed from Na Ye-jin’s elegant lips.

She, too, was just as aroused, her love juices already overflowing and soaking his fingers. Han So-un and Ran began to lick Yu-jin’s chest.

“Today, I will completely cool down your heated bodies that have longed for my touch!”

Yu-jin shouted loudly. And so, the four women and one young man spent a debaucherous day together.

The next day, they departed for the north.

* * *

The Northern Sea Ice Palace.

A power known to be situated at the very edge of the northern lands.

The martial arts practiced by the warriors of the Ice Palace were predominantly of the ice element, and it was said that a body frozen by their techniques would never thaw.

At its pinnacle was the Palace Lord, the Ice Dragon Emperor, whose ice arts were rumored to be powerful enough to freeze a desert.

But the Northern Sea Ice Palace was not feared merely for its terrifying ice arts. The most dreadful thing was the frozen earth and air that protected it.

The region known as the Northern Sea was a land of extremes where even masters with bodies impervious to heat and cold could not guarantee their survival.

Yet, many people still came to this land. The reason, amusingly enough, was for fortuitous opportunities.

The climate of the Northern Sea was so extreme that even the warriors of the Ice Palace found it difficult to endure.

The winters, in particular, were so cold that words failed to describe it, and it was common for even the palace warriors to freeze to death.

The most crucial point here was that with the corpses came secret manuals. The opportunity hunters headed to the Northern Sea precisely for these manuals. Ice arts were rare in the Central Plains, and thus, the techniques of the Northern Sea Ice Palace fetched an exorbitant price.

“The weather here is always terrifying.”

Though the opportunity hunters were as bundled up as they could be, they still scowled at the weather, which was perfect for freezing a man to death.

But they pressed on, thinking of the opportunities they would gain. There were about thirty of them.

Considering that opportunity hunters usually worked alone, this was a large number, but given the dangers of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, it was only natural for them to travel in a group.

“We’ve got to find something good today.”

At the words of Sa Ma-heun, nicknamed “Dog Nose,” who was leading the group, the other opportunity hunters nodded. Their recent harvests had been poor, and everyone was feeling desperate.

“Still, it’s strange. Who in the world could have cleaned them out?”

Sa Ma-heun, called “Dog Nose” for his excellent sense of smell for opportunities, possessed a natural talent for finding them, true to his name.

Even he had recently found places that reeked of a huge score, but unfortunately, someone had already been there, and he had come away with nothing.

But there was something odd. Fortuitous opportunities, by their very nature, were meant to be found by those with whom they shared a destiny. However, such discoveries always left traces. Those who found them were usually so overjoyed that they paid no attention to their surroundings.

“But the recent ones we found had all traces completely erased, as if an opportunity hunter found them.”

One place even had its entrance blocked by a massive boulder. Looking at such things, it was clearly the work of an expert.

But this field was a small one, and if any hunter hit a jackpot, word would spread quickly. Yet, there had been no such news, leaving Sa Ma-heun at a loss.

That was why he had turned his steps to the Northern Sea Ice Palace, a place barely touched by others, along with the other opportunity hunters whose recent results had been lackluster.

“Brother Dog Nose, have you sniffed anything out?”

Cheol-ak, who worked with Sa Ma-heun, approached with a sly grin. Sa Ma-heun waved his hand, pushing him away.

“Talk from a distance. There’s nothing more annoying than a burly man getting close. Anyway, I haven’t smelled anything yet. I feel like my nose is frozen solid because of this damn weather.”

“True, you can never get used to the weather here. By the way, how many times did you say you’ve been to this Northern Sea, brother?”

Sa Ma-heun had been an opportunity hunter long before Cheol-ak had.

“I haven’t been here much either. Maybe five times? And I came up empty four of those times. The weather is god-awful, and the harvest is pathetic. If I had just found a few things in the Central Plains recently, I wouldn’t have come to this godforsaken land.”

Sa Ma-heun grumbled, but finding something once out of five times was a success rate incomparable to other opportunity hunters.

Even renowned hunters often failed to find anything after searching ten times.

“Well, everyone’s profits have been poor, so we’re counting on you, brother. So, get to sniffing hard.”

Cheol-ak said his piece and stepped back.

Hearing his words, Sa Ma-heun shook his head. It was easier said than done; finding an opportunity was an incredibly difficult task.

Just then, Sa Ma-heun’s nose twitched.

“Oh?”

What Sa Ma-heun was feeling now was no ordinary sensation. It was the feeling of a true jackpot. He unleashed a tremendous movement technique and began to run across the snow.

Realizing that Dog Nose had found something, the other opportunity hunters followed suit.

Their movement techniques were outstanding, surpassing those of first-rate masters, as it was a fundamental skill for their profession. Moreover, they had trained themselves with what they had obtained while searching for opportunities, so their martial prowess was close to that of first-rate masters.

“This feels good!”

Sa Ma-heun exclaimed, looking at the cave before him. He could feel a “jackpot” from within.

Sa Ma-heun entered the cave with the other opportunity hunters. Inside were countless frozen warriors.

Even in their frozen state, their imposing figures seemed to pressure the living, signifying that they had been powerful masters in life.

“To think there was a place like this here, so far from the Ice Palace.”

Although the Northern Sea was the territory of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, the palace did not govern every part of it.

This place was within the Ice Palace’s territory but beyond its reach. There were no people living nearby either.

To find a tomb of such outstanding warriors in a place like this could only be called incredible luck.

“A manual! It’s a manual!”

“There are weapons, too! Every single one is a famed sword!”

Those who found something shouted with loud laughter. It was rare to find both secret manuals and famed swords together, but this place had them all.

“Huh?”

Just then, Sa Ma-heun felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding. It was an ominous feeling, as if a single misstep could cost him his life in an instant.

“I’ve always been curious. I wondered who the people were that rummaged through and took our precious things. But to think I’d catch the culprits today.”

A woman’s voice echoed throughout the cave. And soon, a single “goddess” appeared before the opportunity hunters.

A breathtakingly beautiful woman with long silver hair and silver eyes.

Her appearance was worthy of being called a goddess. However, the opportunity hunters stood as if frozen, unable to move as they gazed at her.

“When the warriors of the Ice Palace know their time has come, they always leave the palace and wish to become one with the land of the Northern Sea. Along with everything they possess. But you all have insulted their will and tried to take what is theirs.”

“D-Damn it! K-Kill her!”

Sa Ma-heun, the strongest among them, shouted loudly, and the opportunity hunters, regaining their senses, drew their weapons and imbued them with energy. Various forms of sword and saber energy were aimed at the woman, but her expression remained unchanged.

“How foolish. To think you would try to attack me, a member of the Northern Sea, on this land. If I were you, I would have run. Well, it’s too late for that now.”

The woman extended her hand toward the charging opportunity hunters. Her soft hand and the energy-infused weapons collided at a single point.

*Crash!*

Unbelievably, the energy-infused weapons completely froze and shattered. Without hesitation, the woman reached out and grabbed the man’s neck, and that was the end. The man’s face instantly froze over and then shattered.

“R-Run!”

Sa Ma-heun hastily shouted and turned his body. But they did not know that while entering was easy, leaving was difficult.

The woman smiled faintly and infused power into both her hands. Then, she slowly pushed them forward. In that instant, a massive light swallowed more than half of the opportunity hunters.

When the light faded, what remained were the opportunity hunters, turned into chunks of ice. The ability to turn a person into a block of ice in the blink of an eye was an ice art possessed by few even within the Northern Sea Ice Palace.

“The Ice-White Divine Palm… Then… you are…”

The Ice-White Divine Palm was the ultimate palm technique that could only be learned by the direct bloodline of the Palace Lord. And among the current Palace Lord’s direct descendants, there was only one woman.

The Ice-White Divine Maiden, Bukri Eun, the daughter of the Palace Lord and the woman with the greatest talent in the palace. Such a woman was targeting them.

“That’s enough. I do not wish to hear my name from your filthy mouths.”

“I don’t want to say the name of a dirty bitch like you either!”

Cheol-ak leaped forward, swinging a massive saber. A great flame was imbued in his blade; it was the Raging Fire Saber technique he had learned from an opportunity.

His training had not been in vain, as the flame on his saber was immense and scorching hot. But it was useless against Bukri Eun.