TL: FoodieMonster007

    Although the blood flowing from her empty eye socket froze instantly, the ghastly trail it left behind gave Seol Suryeon the appearance of a blood-soaked demon.

    "...Disciple of Eun Yerin?" she whispered in disbelief.

    Why is the name of a ghost who died decades ago being mentioned here?

    Once upon a time, Eun Yerin was the greatest obstacle to her rise to power. Despite being born with astonishing talent, she was a fool who had no ambition and instead talked about finding happiness with an ordinary man.

    She didn''t deserve her position, so I got rid of her.

    Seol Suryeon wholeheartedly believed that she would be a better Empress for the North Sea Ice Palace than the incompetent Eun Yerin. Therefore, when she received an offer from the Blood Cult, she had picked up her brush without hesitation.

    Dear Yerin, I recently heard rumors about the Divine Physician''s whereabouts from an acquaintance. Wasn''t your lover quite frail and sickly? Perhaps...

    She had never regretted it, not even once. Even if she could go back in time, she would make the same choice.

    It''s been sixty years! How dare this man appear before me, claiming to be Eun Yerin''s disciple?

    Seol Suryeon glared at the man who had deceived her by pretending to be the son of a Seol Clan runaway. The man who had shattered everything she had painstakingly built over decades. The man who claimed to be her nemesis''s disciple.

    "What utter nonsense are you spouting!?" she shrieked, releasing a sinister aura. "Eun Yerin died in the Blood Cult''s hands! She struggled to escape, but she died in the end. How could she have raised a disciple?!"

    "...So you knew everything." Baek Suryong aimed his sword squarely at Seol Suryeon''s forehead, a cruel smile playing on his lips. Killing intent burned in his eyes. "Whether you believe me or not doesn''t matter. I am Eun Yerin''s disciple, and I have come to avenge my master. Seol Suryeon. I will grant you the most miserable death in the world."

    "Ahahahaha!" Suddenly, Seol Suryeon burst into maniacal laughter.

    Her gaze fell upon the corpses strewn across the floor. Most of them were Seol Clan elders. The entire leadership of her family had been annihilated.

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    I still can''t believe how easily my decades of work came tumbling apart.

    Fresh blood poured from her empty eye socket, and berserk qi began to corrode her bone marrow.

    "If what you say is true, does that mean that bitch is tormenting me even in death?" she giggled.

    There was no need to hide the truth anymore. Seol Suryeon had known for a long time that she had gone mad, consumed by her own ambition.

    SHWAAA...

    The snowflakes that had settled on the ground floated into the air once more. The blizzard that had ceased began to rage again. The biting winds of the North Sea lashed out in all directions like blades.

    "I was so disappointed that I didn''t get to kill Eun Yerin with my own hands. No matter. Today, I shall vent that frustration on her disciple!"

    Seol Suryeon''s body floated into the air. A turbid, grayish aura enveloped her entire body as demonic qi mingled with the frigid energy of her White Ice Divine Art.

    [Be careful! Something is very wrong with her! The flow of her qi is extremely rough and bizarre,] the Divine Azure Dragon Sword warned.

    Baek Suryong nodded. He recognized Seol Suryeon''s demonic art.

    The Explosive Blood Demonic Art, huh?

    The Explosive Blood Demonic Art was a dangerous demonic art that granted a user immense qi for a short time in exchange for a significant portion of their inner arts and lifespan. It was a martial art that had been all but abandoned even in the Blood Cult.

    "Die," Seol Suryeon muttered, waving her hand.

    The enhanced qi that poured from her hand split into three streams, each aiming for a different part of Baek Suryong''s body.

    CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

    Baek Suryong gritted his teeth against the recoil from the Divine Azure Dragon Sword as he blocked the strikes. Each blow was powerful enough to smash boulders to dust.

    She''s strong.

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    Seol Suryeon was wielding enhanced qi like a whip. What began as three strands increased to six, then seven and eight. Soon, Baek Suryong found himself overwhelmed by attacks raining down from all directions.

    Baek Suryong''s movements became a blur as he continuously parried the attacks.

    "Ahahaha! Are you really Eun Yerin''s disciple? It looks like you haven''t learned anything properly!" Seol Suryeon mocked.

    Baek Suryong''s eyebrows twitched. "For someone who stole my master''s martial arts, you sure are talkative."

    He lifted his head sharply, revealing his crimson eyes.

    "!!" A momentary opening appeared in Seol Suryeon''s attacks.

    Baek Suryong didn''t hesitate. Leaping into the air, he swung the Divine Azure Dragon Sword at Seol Suryeon''s neck.

    At that moment, however, Seol Suryeon''s lips curled into an uncanny smile. "Those eyes... they''re mesmerizing. I shall take them as a trophy."

    CRASH!

    Baek Suryong was thrown back by a massive shockwave. A look of dismay flashed across his face.

    I expected it wouldn''t have much effect, but...

    Despite the fact that Seol Suryong had learned a demonic art, the Heaven Defying Divine Art had little effect on her. On one hand, she had mastered the White Ice Divine Art first. On the other , her martial arts were outstanding enough to rival the Ten Supremes.

    Nevertheless, Seol Suryong''s eyebrows trembled minutely. "The energy emanating from you is unpleasant. I feel as if you''re looking down on me."

    KWAKWAKWAKWANG!

    At Seol Suryeon''s will, the eight scattered strands of enhanced qi gathered into one and descended upon Baek Suryong.

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    Baek Suryong immediately dodged, but huge craters were gouged into the floor, and stone dust poured down from the ceiling. Due to the repeated impacts, the cracks in the Royal Court''s walls spread at a frightening speed.

    "Ahahaha! You run around like a little rat!" Seol Suryeon giggled hysterically, swinging her enhanced qi whip wildly.

    Baek Suryong blocked or evaded most of the attacks with movements approaching divine technique. However, it was impossible to get close to Seol Suryeon. The eight strands of enhanced qi created dozens, hundreds of trajectories, each one was as fast as lightning.

    Damn it! This is a harder fight than the one with the Poison Demon.

    Baek Suryong wiped the blood flowing from his lips with the back of his hand. Seol Suryeon''s display of martial might was staggering, especially considering she had lost an eye. A single mistake, a moment''s hesitation, could cost him his life.

    [It would be best to retreat for now,] the Divine Azure Dragon Sword suggested. Seol Suryeon, a master on par with the Ten Supremes, was fighting by burning her entire life force. To engage her in direct combat was foolish.

    Baek Suryong shook his head. [She can''t fight like this for much longer.]

    [She will collapse on her own even if we do nothing. It is better to retreat.]

    "No, there''s no need for that," Baek Suryong insisted.

    The Divine Azure Dragon Sword trembled. [...Are you up to something again?]

    Baek Suryong smirked, but he didn''t actually have a plan in mind.

    Sometimes, the simplest method is the right answer.

    "I just have to crush her with power," he said. "Hoo..."

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    Baek Suryong exhaled deeply. For the first time since his life-or-death battle with the Poison Demon, he drew upon the full power of the Heaven Defying Divine Art.

    His white hair, dyed by sorcery, could not withstand his heaven-defying energy and began turning red at the tips. He could have controlled the transformation, but he let it be. Right now, he needed every last ounce of his focus.

    A destructive force boiled within his body, stronger than ever before.

    [Stop! If you draw out any more heaven-defying power, the burden on your body...!]

    "Didn''t you say that it was okay for me to overexert myself once or twice?"

    [I also said that was insurance for an emergency!]

    "If this isn''t an emergency, then what is? If I back down now, the North Sea Ice Palace will become a wasteland."

    PSHHHH...

    Baek Suryong''s transformation stopped halfway through, leaving his hair half red and half white. The pure white energy of the White Ice Divine Art swirled in his left hand, while the crimson energy of the Heaven Defying Divine Art shimmered on the Divine Azure Dragon Sword in his right.

    "What are you muttering to yourself now?" Seol Suryeon cackled as she brought her enhanced qi whip to bear.

    Baek Suryong indifferently raised his lowered sword.

    CRACK!

    Seol Suryeon''s wide eyes tinged with bewilderment as all eight strands of her enhanced qi were crushed. Acting on pure instinct, she leaped back.

    This is impossible! What on earth did he do?

    She hurriedly gathered her internal qi to restore her whips. Once again, eight gray snakes danced around her like guardian spirits.

    "Is that all you know how to do?" Baek Suryong taunted.

    Behind me! Feeling a chill run down her spine, Seol Suryeon spun around. The eight snakes bared their fangs simultaneously.

    SWOOSH!

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    In an instant, more than half of the snakes were beheaded. Baek Suryong broke through Seol Suryeon''s defense and grabbed her right hand with his left.

    "Let go of me!" Seol Suryeon screeched, curling her fingers into claws.

    Grayish qi sprouted from her fingernails, and her confidence soared. Bare-handed combat was her specialty. Since she was young, she had always preferred fist and palm techniques to weapons.

    PABABABAK!

    As she traded blows with Baek Suryong, however, Seol Suryeon realized that her techniques were being read with blatant ease. Horror filled her eyes.

    "How? My techniques..."

    Baek Suryong snorted. "Your techniques? You mean the New Moon White Ice Dance you stole?"

    Seol Suryeon might have stolen the New Moon White Ice Dance, but Baek Suryong was the one who had created that martial art alongside the Ice Moon Goddess. As long as he had enough inner qi, he could completely overwhelm Seol Suryeon.

    CRACK! CRACKLE!

    First, he broke all of Seol Suryeon''s fingers.

    CRUNCH!

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    Next, he broke her wrist.

    "Ugh!" Seol Suryeon''s face contorted in pain.

    Still, Baek Suryong didn''t stop.

    CRUSH!

    He completely shattered the bones in her left arm.

    "KYAAAARGH!" Seol Suryeon screamed, but her eyes glinted viciously.

    Baek Suryong quickly backed away. His instincts were warning him of danger.

    BOOOOOM!

    Her left arm exploded as if it were a hidden weapon, sending dozens of bone fragments through the space that Baek Suryong occupied just moments before.

    "...Crazy bitch. You detonated your own arm?" he exclaimed.

    Seol Suryeon grinned. Sacrificing her arm had bought her time, time to create distance between herself and Baek Suryong.

    She glanced toward the unconscious Eun Hwiryong... or more accurately, toward the divine artifacts of the North Sea Ice Palace lying beside the fallen Empress.

    That''s right. If I had those...!

    Eun Hwiryong, her inferior, had fought her to a standstill by borrowing the power of the North Sea''s divine artifacts, the White Ice Divine Sword and White Ice Bangles.

    I am the true ruler of the North Sea. They will lend me greater power!

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    Using telekinesis, Seol Suryeon summoned the White Ice Divine Sword and White Ice Bangles toward her.

    Baek Suryong chuckled. "Shall we bet? Let''s see who those things choose."

    Suddenly, the White Ice Divine Sword and the White Ice Bangles stopped in midair. Baek Suryong had initiated a telekinetic tug-of-war.

    VWOOONG...!

    The divine artifacts trembled for a moment, then slowly began to drift toward Baek Suryong.

    Seol Suryeon''s eye filled with despair. "Why, why...?!"

    She could tell that Baek Suryong wasn''t trying particularly hard to draw the artifacts to himself. On the contrary, it was the divine artifacts of the North Sea Ice Palace that were pushing her away and choosing him.

    VWOOOOOOOOM! VWOOOOOOOOM! VWOOOOOOOOM!

    A divine white light enveloped Baek Suryong. In his left hand, he held the White Ice Divine Sword. On both his wrists, the White Ice Bangles glowed radiantly.

    STEP, STEP...

    Baek Suryong walked towards the utterly dumbfounded Seol Suryeon and smiled savagely. "One eye, one arm. You still have plenty left to lose, right?"