The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign – Chapter 693

“I…”

Just as Bu Eunseol was about to say something,

“I understand.” The middle-aged woman cut him off sharply and bowed her head toward So Yeonghwa.

Swish.

At that, the Sect Leader sitting on the jade throne rose from her seat and disappeared into the inner chambers.

“Follow me.” With cold, brisk steps, the middle-aged woman quickly walked off somewhere.

Bu Eunseol stared dumbfounded at her retreating back, completely at a loss.

‘So everything was already arranged in advance. I have no idea what they’re even doing.’

Judging from the Sect Leader’s attitude, the reason he had come here and what he wanted—it seemed everything had already been discussed beforehand.

Then why hadn’t anyone told him in advance?

‘The most important thing in any mission is information.’

No matter the mission, to ensure success, one must be provided with as much information as possible.

Yet the Martial Venerable had deliberately withheld information when assigning this task to Bu Eunseol.

‘He was even hiding the circumstances and information about the Snow Blossom Sect from Chief Inspector Gongsun as well?’

If he had wanted the mission to fail, there would have been no need for such an elaborate scheme. Therefore, the only explanation was that this entire setup had been orchestrated precisely to conceal the true situation from Gongsun Dankyung.

But then… why?

The Martial Venerable had outstanding subordinates, including Mu Gyeol.

Not only through Gongsun Dankyung but through many others, he could have issued secret orders to Bu Eunseol at any time.

So why go through all this convoluted trouble?

‘I’ll find out once I get there.’

Fortunately, contrary to what was rumored in the martial world, the Snow Blossom Sect didn’t seem to practice malevolent martial arts. Though their temperament was extremely cold, they were not tainted by true evil.

Had that not been the case, Bu Eunseol would never have obediently followed them.

“Enter here.”

Following the middle-aged woman inside, a grand hall of dizzying height soon came into view.

It appeared the Snow Blossom Sect had established its main base within Okryong Mountain, carving passages through the rock and creating a network of internal pathways.

“Go to that place, and you’ll encounter one gate.” The middle-aged woman pointed to a massive door at the far end of the grand hall. “At the end of the gate, you will see an ice wall. If you can break that ice wall, you will obtain the Ice Crystal Jade there.”

“It’s that simple?”

“Whether it’s simple or not, you’ll know once you’re inside.”

The woman’s expression was one of utmost pity, as though she were looking at a corpse already frozen to death.

‘There’s something here.’

Bu Eunseol gave a wry smile.

In the current martial world, there was likely no one who had encountered as many different mechanisms and traps as he had. No matter what kind of trap or device appeared, he was confident he could break through it with ease.

He was especially adept at destroying walls—he had, after all, recently shattered the God-Forbidden Heavenly Wall at the Gongsun family.

“Understood.”

As Bu Eunseol stepped through the door, a heavy thud echoed as the iron gate closed automatically behind him.

Thud. Thud.

Without hesitation, he walked deeper inside.

Immediately, a mad, violent gale began blowing from directly ahead.

It was so powerful that without using the Thousand-Jin Weight Technique, he wouldn’t even be able to stand upright.

But that wasn’t the real problem.

“This kind of cold energy…”

Bu Eunseol couldn’t hide his astonishment.

The wind carried a terrifying chill capable of instantly freezing the meridians.

It passed straight through the skin without causing surface damage, penetrating the body directly and… seemingly froze the meridians in an instant—an utterly unfamiliar and extreme yin energy.

“So that’s why they said it couldn’t be done.”

Moreover, with every step forward, he saw thick bloodstains and remnants of human bodies scattered to the left and right.

Most likely, those who entered this place before him failed to withstand that bizarre cold energy, perished here, and the Snow Blossom Sect had merely roughly cleared away the corpses, leaving various remains scattered along the passage.

‘This makes no sense.’

Having mastered the Heavenly Glacial Secret—which had reached the pinnacle of ice techniques—Bu Eunseol was almost completely immune to extreme yin energies.

Yet the cold contained within this wind was so unique that even he, who possessed the very essence of extreme yin arts, felt pain as though his blood vessels were freezing.

He couldn’t even completely block the pouring chill.

‘Could this be a test of internal energy level?’

To withstand this level of cold energy, one would need at least three hundred years of cultivation to barely form a protective qi membrane.

Though puzzled, Bu Eunseol soon nodded.

‘I’ll resist it.’

He had set Seon Woojin’s maximum internal energy capacity to just under six cycles (about 540 years).

Of course, that was far below his true capacity, but even at this level, his internal energy wouldn’t fall short compared to the previous generation’s masters.

Hummm.

As he spread three hundred years’ worth of internal energy throughout his body, a transparent protective qi barrier formed.

Bu Eunseol began advancing step by step, resisting the cold once more.

‘Even the protective qi isn’t enough?’

Despite wrapping himself in protective qi, he still couldn’t completely block the cold.

He, who had mastered the Heavenly Glacial Secret, even after layering protective qi, was unable to stop the cold energy contained in the wind?

That meant that, across the entire martial world, there were probably only a handful of masters capable of walking through this passage.

‘Should I double my internal energy, or find another method?’

Bu Eunseol pondered for a moment.

If he used his true internal energy exceeding five hundred years, he could easily withstand several times the current level of cold.

But that would exceed the limits he had set for Seon Woojin’s abilities.

‘In the end, martial arts should be solved with martial arts.’

Stopping in place, he recalled every principle of martial arts he knew.

‘Let’s try utilizing the “Ice Within the Heart” and “Will Becomes Perfect Ice” mysteries from the Heavenly Glacial Secret.’

What made the Heavenly Glacial Secret considered the pinnacle of extreme yin arts was not only its ability to generate far more powerful cold true qi than any other ice technique, but also its capacity to store external cold energy within the body.

In the past, Bu Eunseol had used this method to absorb all the cold energy from the pond filled with Divine Cold Spirit Water in the Heavenly Glacial Pass, thereby storing cold true qi surpassing even that of the North Sea Ice Palace Lord, allowing him to instantly deploy the Heavenly Glacial Secret.

‘I’ll do it.’

Hummm.

As he raised the Heavenly Glacial Secret to its maximum, his hair turned pure white and his eyes glowed with sharp blue light.

Whoosh.

The strange cold energy contained within the wind began to be slowly stored in his dantian.

Since cultivating the Crystal Divine Energy, Bu Eunseol had stopped storing cold energy in his dantian and instead expelled it, allowing him to instantly generate cold energy whenever he used the Heavenly Glacial Secret.

Storing both extreme yin and extreme yang energies simultaneously in the body would eventually destroy it.

‘I only need to absorb it for a short while.’

As he absorbed another surge of powerful cold qi with the Heavenly Glacial Secret, Bu Eunseol felt something strange.

It was odd.

Even after continuously absorbing cold energy beyond a certain level, while the cold true qi similar to Crystal Divine Energy piled up in his dantian… it was merging smoothly with his original true qi without any conflict.

It was being stored gently, without clashing against the extreme yang energy he already possessed.

Whoosh.

The blowing wind now felt almost pleasant, and the bone-freezing cold could no longer be felt.

‘This is strange.’

But now was not the time to analyze this mysterious cold energy.

After walking for a long while, he finally reached the end of the passage. Before him loomed an ice wall of staggering height.

Judging by how the ceiling couldn’t even be seen, this was most likely the Mysterious Yin Wall they had spoken of.

‘They want me to break this?’

Bu Eunseol wore a hollow expression.

The ice wall was easily over a hundred zhang tall.

And they expected him to shatter it in one go?

This was something only a master of the Limitless Realm could accomplish by unleashing consecutive Martial Extremity Forces.

“This is impossible.”

Bu Eunseol did not know surrender.

But he also knew the difference between the possible and the impossible.

This ice wall could only be broken by a master capable of unleashing Martial Extremity Force.

“Hmm.” Bu Eunseol lightly placed his hand on the ice wall.

Immediately, he felt a cold energy that seemed to freeze his meridians on contact.

It appeared the wind blowing through the passage was being generated by this very ice wall.

“No good.”

He looked up at the towering ice wall.

Shattering such an enormous structure in one strike was something only a Martial God, not a human, could achieve.

Tap.

But something was wrong.

Even though he tried to pull his hand away, it wouldn’t come off.

It was as though the very spirit of ice dwelling within this massive wall was attempting to absorb his Heavenly Glacial Secret through his hand.

Could this ice wall possibly possess spirituality?

‘Ridiculous.’

A mere ice wall daring to steal a human’s power?

A sharp blue light flashed in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.

‘I’ll see whether my Heavenly Glacial Secret or your cold energy is stronger.’

Fueled by stubborn pride, instead of resisting the suction force coming from the ice wall, he began drawing in the cold energy using the Absorption Technique.

Shuuuuuu.

As he pushed the Heavenly Glacial Secret to its limit, his hair turned not just white, but nearly transparent, and endless blue light continuously flashed from his eyes.

Shuk! Shuuuuuk!

A ceaseless contest of cold energy began.

The suction force of the ice wall was more powerful and cunning than Bu Eunseol’s Heavenly Glacial Secret but Bu Eunseol possessed camel-like endurance and terrifying internal energy.

At first, his Crystal Divine Energy was consumed rapidly, but as time passed, the ice wall’s suction force gradually began to weaken.

Shuuuk.

Eventually, the situation reversed.

Bu Eunseol started absorbing the cold energy flowing from the ice wall into his own body.

‘This is…’

As the strange extreme yin energy flowed into him, Bu Eunseol realized something.

‘It’s energy that came from a human body.’

The absorbed extreme yin energy wasn’t naturally generated—it was ice technique qi created within a human body.

In other words, someone had attempted to use the ice wall as a medium to absorb Bu Eunseol’s Crystal Divine Energy but unable to withstand his overwhelming internal energy and the solidity of the Heavenly Glacial Secret, they were instead being absorbed.

“Aaah!”

Finally, a scream rang out from high atop the towering ice wall, and a white figure plummeted downward. With his vision capable of piercing darkness, Bu Eunseol instantly recognized the figure as a woman wearing scarlet palace robes.

‘Dangerous.’

If he caught the unconscious woman directly, her body would shatter against his hands before he could even hold her.

Crack!

Using the “Reduce Again and Again” mystery of the Flower-Plucking Jade Hand technique, Bu Eunseol immediately reduced the acceleration of her fall, halting her momentarily in mid-air.

Thud.

Catching the lightly falling figure with both hands, Bu Eunseol opened his eyes wide.

She was a mysterious beauty with skin as white as a flower blooming brilliantly in a pale snowfield, and features so exquisite that even the word “peerless” fell short.

“She’s a disciple of the Snow Blossom Sect.”

Looking at the unconscious woman, he tried to check her meridians but hesitated for a moment.

He couldn’t bring himself to carelessly touch the body of an unconscious maiden.

‘That’s right.’

Recalling how the Divine Water Palace Lord had once examined him with her energy, Bu Eunseol instantly created a transparent hand.

Shuuuk.

“Her vital energy is severely damaged… So she was the one trying to steal my Heavenly Glacial Secret.”

Continuing the diagnosis with Crystal Divine Energy, Bu Eunseol furrowed his brows.

The woman’s appearance was elegant and beautiful—she didn’t look like a wicked fiend who would steal others’ energy.

“There’s no need for me to treat her.”

Floating her body with his internal energy, Bu Eunseol headed back toward the hall where the Sect Leader had been.

“There’s an injured person.”

As he shouted upon entering, the interior became briefly noisy. Soon, the same middle-aged woman who had guided him came running out.

“Young Sect Leader?”

Shocked, she hurriedly rushed back inside and returned with a middle-aged woman wearing splendid palace robes and a face veil.

It was the Sect Leader, So Yeonghwa.

“Hyang-ah!”

So Yeonghwa cried out in shock and asked Bu Eunseol, “What in the world happened?”

“While trying to break the ice wall after passing through the gate the Sect Leader mentioned… suddenly, I felt an energy trying to absorb my internal energy from the ice.” Bu Eunseol calmly explained the situation. “As I resisted that force, a scream rang out, and she fell from a height of over a hundred zhang atop the ice wall.”

“Over a hundred zhang from the ice wall? You were supposed to go to the Mysterious Yin Wall—why did the Heavenly Yin Ice Wall appear?”

At her shout, the middle-aged woman who had guided Bu Eunseol stepped forward trembling in fear.

“I… I was displeased that an outsider entered our sect so freely, so I sent him to the Heavenly Yin Ice Wall instead…”

“What did you say?”

So Yeonghwa flew into a rage.

But upon seeing the unconscious beauty in Bu Eunseol’s arms, she urgently shouted,

“To the Soul-Returning Pavilion Master! No—I’ll go myself.”

Taking the woman from Bu Eunseol’s arms, So Yeonghwa rushed inside like the wind.

The disciples followed her in a rush.

“…”

Bu Eunseol stared blankly at the scene.

He couldn’t follow them, yet he had nowhere else to go. He simply stood there for a long time, watching in silence.

How much time passed?

The door opened again, and So Yeonghwa emerged with a grave expression.

The middle-aged woman following behind her had a face as pale as a corpse—it seemed the situation was not good.

“What did you say your name was again?”

Her face stiff, she forced a smile toward Bu Eunseol.

“I only remember up to ‘Martial Alliance’…”

“I am Seon Woojin.”

“Yes, Captain Seon.”

After taking a deep breath, she asked again.

“Please explain the situation in detail once more.”

Bu Eunseol calmly recounted everything.

How he endured the freezing wind pouring through the passage, reached the place with the massive ice wall, touched the wall to break it, and suddenly felt a suction force, prompting him to counter with the Absorption Technique.

“As I thought…” 

Only now did So Yeonghwa seem to fully understand the situation, nodding slowly.

“The place you went to was not the Mysterious Yin Hall where the Ice Crystal Jade is kept, but the Heavenly Yin Hall where the Heavenly Yin Ice Wall is located.”

“Heavenly Yin Hall.”

“Yes. It is a place created by our sect’s founder. Inside the Heavenly Yin Ice Wall dwells a mysterious treasure called the Snow Jewel that endlessly emits infinite extreme yin energy.”

She continued.

“And above that ice wall is a place suitable for cultivation. The cold energy emitted by the Snow Jewel makes it the perfect environment for cultivating the Ice Essence Snow Blossom Qi.”

So Yeonghwa shook her head.

“And Hyang-ah was cultivating there.”

“But why did you send me to that place?”

When Bu Eunseol asked, So Yeonghwa bit her lip.

“The Ice Flower Court Master took you to the Heavenly Yin Ice Wall instead of the Mysterious Yin Wall. Anyone sent there would die—ten out of ten.”

Only then did Bu Eunseol understand the full situation.

The middle-aged woman who was supposed to guide him to the Mysterious Yin Wall had instead sent him to the Heavenly Yin Ice Wall in an attempt to freeze him to death. Naturally assuming he would perish there, Bu Eunseol had broken through the Heavenly Yin Hall and touched the Heavenly Yin Ice Wall.

By cruel coincidence, the woman cultivating atop the wall and absorbing its cold energy was exposed to Bu Eunseol’s Heavenly Glacial Secret.

Thinking his Crystal Divine Energy was merely the energy of the Snow Jewel within the ice wall, she attempted to absorb it.

Meanwhile, Bu Eunseol, believing the ice wall was trying to absorb his ice technique, deployed the Absorption Technique.

In the end, it became a contest of internal energy, and the woman, defeated in that contest, was gravely injured.

“Is she alright?”

“Her life is not in danger. However…”

Lowering her head and glaring murderously at the Ice Flower Court Master, So Yeonghwa let out a deep sigh and continued.

“Because you used the Absorption Technique, that child has lost her True Yin.”

“True Yin…?”

“Yes. It means she has lost her purity without ever having dual cultivated.”

Bu Eunseol’s mouth fell open.

In the body of a woman of pure and chaste virtue exists True Yin.

When a man absorbs that True Yin, it greatly enhances his internal energy.

That is why lascivious demonic cultivators of the martial world use the Art of Harvesting Yin to Supplement Yang, desperately stealing True Yin to increase their cultivation.

‘But…’

All Bu Eunseol had done was deploy the Absorption Technique to draw in cold energy. How could he have stolen her True Yin?

“There seems to be some misunderstanding.” He hurriedly explained. “Even if we had both used Absorption Techniques against each other, the only thing that would be damaged would be her ice technique and internal energy. There’s no way I could have absorbed her True Yin.”

In truth, his internal energy level remained exactly the same, and he felt no sensation of having absorbed True Yin.

“That can’t be.”

“It’s the truth. If you wish, you may examine my meridians yourself.”

Seeing the sincerity in Bu Eunseol’s expression, So Yeonghwa tilted her head in confusion.

But soon, something seemed to dawn on her, and her eyes sparkled.

“Could it be… that you have trained in yin-cold type martial arts?”

Seeing the certainty in her eyes, Bu Eunseol had no choice but to answer, “I happened to come across the opportunity and learned one or two minor techniques of the North Sea Ice Palace’s ice arts.”

“North Sea Ice Palace… I see.”

So Yeonghwa let out a deep sigh.

“The ice arts of our sect share the same origin as those of the North Sea Ice Palace. Both were born from the same secret scripture—the Cold Ice Snow Blossom Scripture.”

“They share the same root as the North Sea Ice Palace?”

“Essentially, yes.” 

She explained calmly.

“In ancient times, the founders of both sects were lovers. By chance, they obtained a secret scripture containing the eternal forbidden art known as the Cold Ice Snow Blossom Scripture, and each gained great enlightenment from it.”

“…”

“The North Sea Ice Palace created the Glacial Heavenly Flow as their method of cultivating Crystal Divine Energy, while the founder of our sect created the Ice Essence Snow Blossom Art.”

Bu Eunseol’s mouth fell open.

The founders of the North Sea Ice Palace and the Snow Blossom Sect had been lovers, and their martial arts shared the same origin?

This was a secret history of the North Sea Ice Palace and Snow Blossom Sect that had never been known to the martial world.

“Do you understand why I’m telling you this?”

“I do not.”

So Yeonghwa let out another deep sigh and said,

“Please save our Hyang-ah.”

“What do you mean?”

“That child has lost her True Yin, so she can no longer cultivate the Ice Flower Snow Blossom Qi. And we cannot return the True Yin that has already been absorbed into your body.” 

Swallowing her pain, So Yeonghwa spoke with iron resolve.

“The only remaining method is to use the Returning Essence Joyful Yin Great Method, through which you would slowly transfer the True Yin absorbed into your body back to her in the form of true qi over the course of one hundred days.”

“Returning Essence Joyful Yin…” Bu Eunseol muttered with a dizzy expression.

Just from the name of the technique, he could clearly guess that it involved the mysteries of dual cultivation… 

In other words, transmitting the true qi through sleeping together.