I was sipping tea at a tavern, watching the people pass by.
They walked along the snow-covered road with ease, never slipping.
Just as the people who lived under the sandy winds of the Outlands had adapted, the people of this Northern Sea lived in harmony with the snow.
The person I was supposed to meet here was someone I had never seen before.
I had no idea who among the passersby would suddenly enter the tavern and sit before me.
The reason I wore a bamboo hat, keeping my face hidden from others, was not for my own sake, but for the person I was meeting.
He was a man for whom secrecy was life.
How much time passed like that?
A middle-aged man sat down across from me with a natural air.
“Aigoo, it’s cold.”
The ordinary-looking man with a benevolent impression was the head of Silver Moon's Northern Sea Branch.
All the information networks of the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion and Silver Moon were currently focused on the Northern Blood Sect and the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
Silver Moon had contacted me, saying they had an urgent report.
It could have been relayed through a telepathic message from afar, but I wanted to meet the man in charge at least once.
“Have a cup of warm tea first. You’ve worked hard.”
I poured tea into his cup.
Though I couldn't offer wine to a subordinate who was working hard, I wanted to give him at least a warm cup of tea.
Wine would have been better, but the reason I chose a tavern and not an inn for our meeting place was because of the Drunken Demon.
I told Han Seol we could drink next time, but I resolved not to drink myself until the Drunken Demon did.
While I poured the tea, the man quickly sent a telepathic message.
—Second Young Master Yang Jung of the Northern Blood Sect is dead.
The news was unexpected.
I had anticipated that Yang Jung would be pushed out of the line of succession because of this incident.
But he was dead?
The respectful demeanor of the Northern Blood Sect Master, who had said he would invite me, came to mind.
‘He’s far more heartless than he looks.’
What in the world was he plotting, going so far as to kill his own son?
He could attach any reason he wanted to the death.
Since it was the death of the Northern Blood Sect Master’s son, no one would dare step forward to investigate the cause.
From this report, I could surmise one thing for certain.
The Northern Blood Sect was connected to the Blood King.
If not, he wouldn't have dealt with this matter so hastily, even killing his own son.
—For now, pay close attention to the movements of the Northern Blood Sect's eldest son.
—I will send word as soon as any unusual movements are detected.
—Thank you.
The man left first.
I stayed for a moment to finish the rest of my tea before leaving the tavern.
As I opened the door and stepped out, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
The name Northern Blood Sect was chosen by fate.
A gate that would guide me to the Blood King.
Ah, Blood King, do you know? The northern gate is the gate to the underworld.
*
When Geom Mugeuk returned, the Drunken Demon delivered some welcome news.
“I’ve figured out why he killed her.”
He had planned to tell everyone together once Geom Mugeuk returned, so he hadn’t informed Lee Ahn and Han Seol yet.
“I knew our Demon Sovereign would figure it out.”
In front of Han Seol, Geom Mugeuk treated the Drunken Demon as a Demon Sovereign, not as a brother.
Now that everyone was gathered, the Drunken Demon revealed how he had found out.
“First, with the conviction that it was definitely related to wine, I examined the recent letters exchanged with her. Most of the conversations we had were about wine.”
Since the letters were saved by the brewer, he was naturally reading the letters he himself had sent.
That made it very difficult to find a clue.
“Then I discovered this passage.”
The Drunken Demon showed them a line.
—I, too, wish to try the Incense Snow Ice Wine.
Geom Mugeuk and Lee Ahn had never heard of Incense Snow Ice Wine.
Han Seol, on the other hand, knew all about it.
“The Incense Snow Ice Wine isn’t just an ordinary wine. It’s a wine with a special effect.”
“What kind of effect?”
“It’s a wine that helps you endure the cold. Drinking alcohol normally warms the body and makes you feel the cold less, but this Incense Snow Ice Wine has a remarkable effect.”
The Drunken Demon also knew well about the properties of the Incense Snow Ice Wine.
And the moment he saw those words, one thing came to mind.
“The body type those bastards were trying to find this time was the Extreme Cold Body, wasn't it?”
The Extreme Cold Body and the Incense Snow Ice Wine.
Both had the commonality of enduring the cold.
“Isn’t it a coincidence?”
Geom Mugeuk and Lee Ahn nodded.
Just then, Han Seol raised a question.
“Isn’t that reason a little weak to say the brewer died just for that?”
“You’re right, it is.”
The Drunken Demon readily admitted it and added another, more decisive reason.
“As far as I know, the Incense Snow Ice Wine is a drink that can only be made with the permission of the Ice Palace.”
“That’s right. Wines with special properties require the Palace’s permission.”
“But when I looked into the past wine-making records at the Hundred Wines Snow Courtyard earlier, there was nothing about Incense Snow Ice Wine.”
“There was nothing? That can’t be right.”
If that was the case, it was certainly suspicious.
“So she made it secretly for someone.”
The Drunken Demon agreed with Geom Mugeuk’s deduction.
“The fact that she told me about it means she had no idea the wine would be used for a bad purpose. It was probably requested by someone she knew well. Someone she trusted.”
It was a conjecture he could make because he knew her well.
“Did she say who asked her to make it?”
The Drunken Demon shook his head, expressing his regret.
“She didn’t go that far. She said it was a really good experience to make the Incense Snow Ice Wine for the first time, and I replied that I wanted to try it.”
“To find the answer with just that one phrase. That’s incredible.”
Geom Mugeuk praised the Drunken Demon.
It wasn’t just empty words, but sincere praise.
The Drunken Demon was certainly a smarter person than he had thought.
“My head must be spinning because I’m not drinking!”
Smiling at the Drunken Demon’s joke, Geom Mugeuk looked at Han Seol.
Han Seol knew what Geom Mugeuk wanted.
“I’ll find out who asked for the Incense Snow Ice Wine to be made.”
Though she answered, she felt a sense of doubt.
Could she really find out? If it was made without the Palace’s permission, the process would have been thoroughly concealed.
As if reading her mind, Geom Mugeuk suggested, “Move together with Lee Ahn.”
Han Seol refused Geom Mugeuk’s proposal.
“It’s more convenient for me to investigate alone.”
Sharing a room with her was already burdensome enough.
Now he wanted them to roam around together during the day, too? That was an unpleasant thought.
“I know.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“It is because you might be in danger.”
It was an unexpected reason, not just for Han Seol, but for Lee Ahn and the Drunken Demon as well.
“Are you worried about my safety, the Young Palace Master, within the Ice Palace?”
At that, Geom Mugeuk shared the news he had learned just a short while ago.
“Yang Jung is dead.”
The most shocked person was Lee Ahn.
“He’s dead? Why?”
“It seems he was just another loose end to the Northern Blood Sect Master.”
That statement said it all.
He was a man who deserved to die anyway, having deceived and brought so many people to their deaths through experiments.
But the fact that his killer was his own father was shocking.
Han Seol was also shocked, but her surprise was not because of Yang Jung’s death.
It was because Geom Mugeuk knew of his death before she did.
‘Their information network is better than ours? Of all places, here in the Northern Sea? Does mother know about this?’
Geom Mugeuk warned Han Seol, who was lost in thought for a moment.
“You must not let your guard down for a second. The son of the Northern Blood Sect Master meeting his end inside the Northern Blood Sect—that is the essence of this fight.”
To put it more broadly, it meant that the child of the Ice Palace Master could die within the Northern Sea Ice Palace in this fight.
“So, move together with Lee Ahn.”
In Geom Mugeuk's eyes, Han Seol felt an authority she could not defy.
It wasn’t an overbearing attitude.
It was a compulsion born from a heart that was genuinely looking out for her.
“I will.”
Han Seol did not refuse any longer.
It was the first time in her life as the daughter of the Ice Palace Master that she had ever felt such tension.
Geom Mugeuk looked at Lee Ahn.
No words, no telepathic message, not even a nod was necessary.
She would handle it well on her own.
A single glance was enough.
Once the two women left the room, only Geom Mugeuk and the Drunken Demon remained.
“They’re looking for a way to withstand extreme cold. Why? Are they trying to learn some evil art we don’t know about? Or are they plotting something related to the Northern Sea Ice Palace?”
At the Drunken Demon’s question, Geom Mugeuk rose from his seat.
“There’s a place I need to go. Brother, you secretly watch over Lee Ahn and the Young Palace Master.”
“Where are you going all of a sudden?”
Geom Mugeuk replied with an enigmatic smile.
“I’m also going to prepare for the cold.”
“What do you mean?”
Leaving the curious Drunken Demon behind, Geom Mugeuk also left the room.
“Answer me before you go! Hurry! Didn’t I tell you I’m sensitive because I’m not drinking?”
*
Even if I wanted to answer, it was something I could never reveal.
I was on my way to handle a matter related to my life before regression.
The place I flew to in an instant using Swift Step was a snowy mountain.
Among the vast snowy mountains, it was the coldest and windiest place, the Great Wind Valley.
This place was said to have the strongest winds in the world.
Whoooooosh.
A terrifyingly strong wind blew through the valley.
It was a wind valley known to be impassable even for masters of martial arts.
It was a place where the wind would rip the flesh and bone from a man.
On top of that, the wind whipped up the snow, obscuring one’s vision.
The people of the Northern Sea also called the wind here the Mad Killing Wind.
It was literally a crazed wind, a wind of death.
It was so cold and harsh that even if one used inner energy to protect their body, passing through the valley was no easy feat.
It was truly a mystery created by nature.
Upon hearing the theory that they were looking for a way to prepare for the cold, I finally realized that the time had come for me to visit this place.
Before my regression, I had wandered to all sorts of places in search of ingredients for the Great Regression Art.
When I encountered places like this, I would push myself to enter with even more tenacity.
I had even come this far.
Phew, I really don't have the confidence to live that life again.
Whoooosh.
I continued to walk into the valley, cutting through the wind.
The deeper I went, the stronger the wind became.
The wind blew so fiercely it felt like it would tear apart even my protective energy, and I had to use my inner energy just to keep from being blown away, making it incredibly difficult to advance.
‘It was around here.’
As I went on, I entered a crevice in the right wall.
It was a space where one could take a very brief shelter from the wind outside.
My past self had also hidden like this.
It must have been fate.
That I discovered a passage leading to another place at the very corner of this crevice.
It was a time when I used to inspect every nook and cranny.
There was another crevice in a place completely unnoticeable to the eye.
It was a narrow gap behind a spot blocked by thick vines.
It looked completely uninviting.
The thought that one could get stuck and die while trying to enter came to mind instantly.
I went inside.
I continued through the passage, so narrow that only one person could barely pass through.
After passing through it all, a slightly wider space appeared.
It was as if I had come to another world; a place where sunlight streamed in and grass and trees grew.
Outside, a blade-like wind was blowing, but here, a stream gurgled.
It was a place where one could feel the mysteries of primeval times.
“It’s been a while.”
In the center stood a single tree.
On it hung a white fruit.
It looked as if chunks of ice were dangling from the branches.
This was the legendary elixir passed down through stories.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit.
Not only could one gain far more inner energy than from the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, but it also had one more astonishing effect.
In addition to becoming resistant to the cold, one could comfortably accept any kind of cold-natured energy.
That wasn't all.
One could also block attacks imbued with extremely cold inner energy.
For example, even if struck by the Ice Cold Palm, it meant one’s meridians would not be damaged by the cold energy.
Conversely, one could also learn the Ice Cold Palm more easily than anyone else.
I had already obtained a body immune to heat and cold from the Heavenly Qi Pill given by the Poison King, but this Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit was an elixir specialized in warding off the cold.
If the effects of both elixirs were to overlap, I would be able to overcome even the most extreme cold that surpassed all limits.
In my life before regression, I couldn't consume the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit.
The cold energy contained within the fruit was so strong that it couldn't be consumed as it was.
If one consumed it out of greed, their meridians would instantly freeze.
It was an elixir that perhaps only the Ice Palace Master, who had achieved Great Mastery in the Heavenly Ice Divine Art, could consume.
I still remember.
The words I said as I left the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit behind.
Let’s meet again if fate allows.
At that time, I had a belief that I might regress and visit this place again.
Now I could try.
I had gained an incomparable amount of inner energy, my meridians had become stronger, and above all, I had achieved Great Mastery of the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art.
I believed that the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art, having reached Great Mastery, would protect my body from the cold energy emitted by this Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit.
If this belief was lacking in the slightest, I shouldn't consume the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit.
It was certain that I would suffer a great internal wound.
But I felt that all of this was fate.
I had discovered this place before regressing, I had achieved Great Mastery of the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art, and the enemy was trying to find and use the Extreme Cold Body.
Fate was speaking to me.
It was time to consume the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit.
No, that I must consume it.
Along with fate, my instincts also spoke.
If you prepare for the extreme cold, so shall I.
‘Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art, I’m counting on you.’
The moment I grasped the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit, a coldness spread through me as if my entire body would freeze.
Just by touching it, the fruit was warning me of its danger.
Eat it and you will die.
I consumed the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit without hesitation.
The moment it entered my mouth, I felt a coldness I had never experienced before.
I thought it would be hard and not melt easily, but I was wrong.
The moment it entered my mouth, it melted in an instant, and an extreme cold spread throughout my body.
The Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art was already activated and resisting the cold energy.
Sssssssssssssssss.
It was a coldness that made me want to scream.
I couldn't believe something this cold existed in the world.
Even with the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art activated, I felt a pain as if my entire body was freezing.
I wanted to expel this energy from my body immediately.
I was filled with the fear that I might die from this.
‘Endure, I must endure.’
While melting the energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit, I recited the formula of the Nine Calamities Demon Art and thought of the evil spirits.
I thought of the East, West, South, and North, and I thought of the Heavenly Demon Souls I had seen in my illusion.
I thought of everything related to the Nine Calamities Demon Art and the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art.
When that was not enough to bear it, I thought of my father.
I thought of his face as he looked at me and sneered.
It was effective.
In this painful situation, a smile surprisingly formed on my lips.
I endured, and endured again.
And the result was a great success.
I had succeeded in completely melting the energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit.
A large amount of inner energy was added to my energy core, and most importantly, I had achieved what I wanted.
The cold energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit permanently settled in every corner of my meridians.
Now, unless a colder energy than that of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit invades my body, no cold energy will be able to affect me.
I was glad to think that I had gained another weapon to use against them.
This is how I would gradually become stronger.
“I will surely use this power for good.”
After bowing to the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Fruit tree with my hands clasped, I left that place.
I passed through the narrow passage and came out again into the valley where the mad wind raged.
Whoooooooooosh.
An immense wind assailed me.
Even though I didn’t raise my inner energy to protect my body, the flesh-biting wind didn’t feel cold at all.
To exaggerate a little, the Mad Killing Wind had now become a spring breeze, a warm wind to me.
Before regressing, I had turned back the way I came.
I couldn't go any further into the valley.
But today, I was curious.
What lay at the very end.
And so, I began to walk toward the source of the wind.