By Zephyria 
HF 79
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However, Cheon Mu-gyeong had someone unconscious draped over his shoulder. With pure white hair, the person was the polar opposite of the demonic energy emanating from Cheon Mu-gyeong.
Wi Yeon-gang knew who it was without even seeing the face.
“Why is Ho-yeon…?”
He could not hide his question of why. It was surprising enough that the Cult Leader, who should be in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, was here, but with Wi Ho-yeon accompanying him, he had no inkling as to the reason.
A thought crossed his mind that perhaps the Cult Leader had come because he knew something, but that was unlikely. Wi Yeon-gang soon erased that anxious thought from his mind.
As Cheon Mu-gyeong took a step forward, Wi Yeon-gang gripped his sword tightly under the suffocating pressure. Though he was the Palace Master leading the North Sea, his entire body trembled involuntarily due to the overwhelming difference in their realms.
An ordinary person would have simply dismissed Cheon Mu-gyeong as a strong man, but the higher one’s realm, the more acute their energy perception became, allowing them to see through their opponent more clearly. Every fiber of Wi Yeon-gang’s being was screaming at him to flee from this disaster of a man.
“Bring him back to life.”
The man’s black hair fluttered carelessly as he looked down at Wi Yeon-gang with an air of superiority. Between the strands, his red eyes glowed with an eerily vivid intensity.
“What on earth does that…”
Was he saying that Wi Ho-yeon wasn’t just unconscious, but dying?
As Wi Yeon-gang tried to check on Ho-yeon, Cheon Mu-gyeong headed toward the Palace Master’s Hall. The Snow Eagle Squad and peak masters who arrived late tried to block him, but Wi Yeon-gang raised a hand to stop them.
“Everyone may stand down. He is my guest.”
In the first place, he was not a being that humans could stop. At the Palace Master’s command, the subordinates were clearly bewildered, but none disobeyed. Instead, they tightened the security around the Palace Master’s Hall more strictly than usual.
The Ice Palace Hall, built from ten-thousand-year eternal ice, boasted a hard durability with a bluish tint. The interior of the Palace Master’s Hall, where the Palace Master resided, was also filled with frost energy originating from the ten-thousand-year eternal ice. Cheon Mu-gyeong tore down a snow leopard pelt hanging from the wall and covered Wi Ho-yeon’s body with it.
“I shall guide you to a place to lay Ho-yeon.”
Wi Yeon-gang, who had almost used formal honorifics, consciously adjusted his speech. The Palace Master’s Hall, which was open on all four sides, had no significant fabrics or decorations other than the animal pelts on the walls. Since he had usurped the position of Palace Master through a rebellion, Wi Yeon-gang had cleared away everything that could obstruct his vision to prepare against assassinations.
Now that he had purged all the forces that rebelled, the threat of assassination was gone, but since he had not abandoned his caution, he maintained a somewhat empty state.
Wi Yeon-gang clearly remembered Cheon Mu-gyeong’s letter.
From what I heard from Young Master Wi, the North Sea Frozen Land is so barren due to the ten-thousand-year frost energy that the people cannot even afford meals and the palace’s finances are meager. This seat, observing the poverty of the North Sea, bestows the wealth that was gathering dust in a corner of the cult.
He had already been mocked for being poor, so he glanced at Cheon Mu-gyeong’s expression, wondering if he would laugh even more upon seeing his Palace Master’s Hall.
His face was devoid of expression, as if he were wearing a mask. He was so tall that Wi Yeon-gang’s neck felt stiff from having to look up at him.
“Lay him here. I will call the Ice Palace physician to check his condition.”
Wi Yeon-gang pointed to the bedchamber he usually used when enjoying his afternoon naps. However, before he could even finish speaking, Mu-gyeong was already laying Ho-yeon on the bed. Wi Yeon-gang clicked his tongue inwardly. He wondered what on earth had been done to make Wi Ho-yeon so unconscious.
After instructing a maid to bring the Ice Palace physician, Wi Yeon-gang approached to examine Ho-yeon’s condition. But to his surprise, Ho-yeon was much thinner than when he had left the Ice Palace, and his complexion was ghostly pale.
With a complicated face clouded by guilt, Wi Yeon-gang lifted Ho-yeon’s wrist to feel his pulse. Simultaneously, Wi Yeon-gang turned around and scowled deeply.
“What on earth did you do?”
He wanted to scream, but his instinct, like a prey animal before a tiger, suppressed his voice. Cheon Mu-gyeong, having laid Ho-yeon on the bed, stood tall, his gaze directed downward.
“Bring him back to life.”
“…There is no way to revive one who is already dead.”
“If it is ice art, there must be a way to endure qi deviation.”
He was saying that Ho-yeon, whose pulse could not be felt, had ended up like this due to qi deviation. However, for Wi Yeon-gang, this was a completely incomprehensible situation.
Ho-yeon had not formally learned ice art, but his innate internal energy was the greatest in the North Sea. When he first met Ho-yeon, he had even mistaken him for the heavenly ice polar dragon, so there was no way he could have suffered qi deviation while using ice art.
Was he interrupted during meditative breathing? Moreover, seeing Ho-yeon’s gaunt appearance, it was clear how his life in the demon sect must have been.
Ultimately, Wi Yeon-gang could not contain his indignation and exploded.
“Why did this happen? I must know the reason! I may have sent Ho-yeon away under the pressure of the demon sect, but I never wanted him to be treated like this!”
Was he even thirty? If he had known nothing about the Cult Leader’s personal history, he would have been completely convinced that Cheon Mu-gyeong had undergone returning to youth. Furthermore, he had believed that the rumors of the heavenly demon divine art being perfected were exaggerated. But after witnessing it with his own eyes, he realized the rumors were actually understated.
He was an opponent against whom no victory could be guaranteed, even if all the masters of the Ice Palace, including himself, attacked together. Having expressed his anger toward such a Cult Leader, Wi Yeon-gang could not guarantee his own future.
“This seat took Wi Ho-yeon’s dantian. Thus, he failed while attempting to open the sealed dantian.”
Wi Yeon-gang looked at Cheon Mu-gyeong, who delivered this shocking news without a single expression, with eyes of disbelief.
He had heard the Cult Leader had the nine yang severed meridian; it seemed he had forcibly taken Ho-yeon’s yin energy. Consequently, Ho-yeon must have sealed his own dantian and entered a state of suspended animation. Then, in an attempt to forcibly wake him, the Cult Leader had injected true qi imbued with demonic energy.
“He cannot be saved. Since demonic energy has entered Ho-yeon’s body, there is even less of a way.”
“His body has already endured this seat’s demonic energy before.”
Wi Yeon-gang felt a tingling sensation at the back of his neck, wondering just how much more he was supposed to be surprised by.
“Are you saying this wasn’t the first time?”
“I guarantee that if you cannot save him, the Ice Palace will not remain safe either.”
He had heard that the demon sect bastards were all crude, and it seemed they took after their Cult Leader.
“What is your intention, doing this to him and then telling me to save him?”
“Since the heart has not stopped completely, a way must exist.”
What was he relying on to be so confident? Well, he must have something to rely on. Everyone would bow their heads before his supreme martial arts. However, since he had already stuck his head into the tiger’s mouth, Wi Yeon-gang had no intention of backing down quietly.
“Even if I save him, you will just repeat the same thing. I would rather leave Ho-yeon as he is. I mean, it is better for him to die.”
“You speak quite openly since he is not your biological child.”
Wi Yeon-gang cleared his throat. The Cult Leader had already revealed in his letter that he knew Wi Ho-yeon was not a biological child, while discussing a father-son affection that didn’t even exist.
“He is a… beloved son born of the heart! Therefore… he is my child.”
The Cult Leader’s brazenness pierced the summit of the eternal snow mountains, and there was no reason why Wi Yeon-gang could not do the same. The moment Cheon Mu-gyeong moved his body, which had been as still as an old tree, Wi Yeon-gang almost drew the sword tucked into his side. The Cult Leader turned around, grabbed the back of the neck of the newly arrived Ice Palace physician, and dragged him toward Ho-yeon.
“P-Palace Master.”
The Ice Palace physician, eyes wide and trembling, called out to the Palace Master desperately.
“Cheon-seok, examine Ho-yeon’s condition first. I will explain everything later.”
“Y-yes.”
Woo Cheon-seok was the disciple of Wan-ho, a divine physician who wandered the world. Wan-ho was famous for being an eccentric old man who did not take disciples, but when he visited the North Sea, he took in the orphaned Woo Cheon-seok and raised him. It was because he needed a slave to act as his hands and feet while staying in the North Sea, but the child was quite admirable, so he took him as a disciple.
Cheon Mu-gyeong also knew about Woo Cheon-seok. At one time, he had sought out everyone called a divine physician across the Central Plains. When he invaded the Ice Palace, he had tried to obtain Wan-ho’s whereabouts through Woo Cheon-seok, but even the disciple did not know where he was wandering.
He found Wan-ho in his next life, but even he could not save Cheon Mu-gyeong.
Woo Cheon-seok hesitantly checked Ho-yeon’s condition. No pulse could be felt, and the heart was not beating.
“Tell me he cannot be saved.”
Woo Cheon-seok’s shoulders flinched at Wi Yeon-gang’s telepathic transmission.
“But his condition is truly critical. His heart is barely beating.”
“It is fine. For Ho-yeon, this must be the process of recovery.”
Even when he had emerged from the underground cave of the eternal snow mountains and brought a blizzard to the Ice Palace, he had woken up after sleeping as if dead like this.
“Palace Master, if you ask me to examine a dead man… are you asking me to find the cause of death?”
Since Woo Cheon-seok’s acting was very convincing, Wi Yeon-gang also wore a complicated expression.
“The Cult Leader said the heart was beating, but it seems he was mistaken.”
At the word ‘Cult Leader,’ Woo Cheon-seok gasped as if he had been stabbed by a sword. The only Cult Leader Woo Cheon-seok knew was Cheon Mu-gyeong of the demon sect. Seeing the terrified Woo Cheon-seok, Wi Yeon-gang regretted using that title, but the milk was already spilled.
“You may not believe it, but please listen, Cult Leader. Though Cheon-seok is young, he is the best physician in our North Sea. He is not lacking even to be called a divine physician—”
“Wan-ho raised his disciple in vain.”
Woo Cheon-seok, chilled by the cool and low voice, gasped again, and Wi Yeon-gang did the same. The fact that Woo Cheon-seok was Wan-ho’s disciple was a secret known only to Wi Yeon-gang, who had brought him to the Ice Palace, and a few close aides. Thus, there was no way the Cult Leader could have known.
Was there a spy in the Ice Palace? And among his closest aides? Otherwise, there was no way he would know Wan-ho.
However, Wi Yeon-gang could affirm that there was absolutely no close aide who would betray him. Perhaps the Cult Leader had seen Wan-ho somewhere. Or perhaps that old man had mentioned Woo Cheon-seok first.
“I will not hold the Cult Leader responsible for making Ho-yeon like this. However, so that I may ease my guilt, please allow us to hold the funeral on our side. Surely you can show that much generosity.”
Wi Yeon-gang spoke while maintaining as much composure as possible.
“Wi Yeon-gang.”
At the low but heavy call, Wi Yeon-gang swallowed hard.
“Do you remember what this seat said?”
“The… letter?”
“Wi Ho-yeon is this seat’s possession.”
He was stating that the Ice Palace would not even be able to recover Wi Ho-yeon’s body. The expressionless man spoke fiercely while looking at the peacefully closed eyes of Ho-yeon.
“He survived well in a place where one freezes to death.”
More surprising than Cheon Mu-gyeong’s rough manner of speaking was the fact that he lay down, embracing Wi Ho-yeon on the bed. He had even stripped off his light outer garment.
“…Cult Leader, Ho-yeon’s situation is, for us also—”
“Shut up and bring a brazier.”
Cheon Mu-gyeong spoke coldly while holding Ho-yeon, who was no different from a corpse. With his face half-buried in Ho-yeon’s shoulder, his exposed red eyes shimmered with madness.
Since Ho-yeon’s back was almost entirely covered by Cheon Mu-gyeong’s embracing hand and forearm, all that was visible was the pure white hair.