Chapter 1

Just a few months ago, my new life had been perfect.

“Frozen White Divine Palm!”

“Well done! That’s right!”

“Your Grace, where have you… Ah, you’re playing with the young lady again?”

“Shh! Su-ryeo is finally starting to take an interest in martial arts!”

I was born as the only daughter of the Lord of the Northern Sea Ice Palace and grew up surrounded by love.

People said my father was cold and strict with everyone else, but he was endlessly gentle with me.

He praised me even for holding a spoon properly and gave me anything I wanted. He was a completely doting father.

“Wow, how can our young lady be so beautiful?”

Just like my name, Seol Su-ryeo, I had beautiful looks.

I had wealth and endless love.

These were all things I had never had in my previous life.

Maybe this was my reward for dying young.

When I was little, I really believed that.

After all, I had finally passed the civil service exam, only to die before my first day of work.

When the truck came toward me, and even for a while after realizing I had been reincarnated, I felt bitter.

But I decided to think positively.

Living as an ordinary civil servant in South Korea might have been a decent life.

Still, this new life had given me so much more.

A martial arts world… Not bad. Actually, it’s amazing. There have to be countless handsome men with long hair.

The palace guards who had raised me since childhood were all handsome men and beautiful women.

Well, they were like family.

But someday I hoped to travel across the martial world and meet plenty of handsome long-haired heroes.

The proud heir of the Namgung Clan who couldn’t control his arrogance.

The reckless young master of the Tang Clan, raised on poison until something inside him had broken, yet completely helpless when it came to love.

The intelligent and gentle young master of the Zhuge Clan, who looked exactly like a perfect second male lead.

“Starting today, you’ll learn Qi Circulation.”

“Yes! Finally!”

But before I could venture into that dangerous world, there was something I absolutely had to do.

I had to become strong.

In the martial world, where the law can’t protect you, only strength matters.

Just like when I studied for the civil service exam, I trained for fourteen hours every day.

“You’re already building your qi?”

Fortunately, I discovered I had some talent.

I thought controlling qi like in novels would be difficult, but I learned the basics surprisingly quickly.

Following the cultivation method I had been taught, I imagined the proper mental image, focused on several acupoints, and breathed as instructed.

Before long, I could clearly feel qi.

“Did I do it correctly?”

“…You did. H-How is that possible…?”

Something began gathering in my dantian.

After repeating it for several days, I felt as though endless strength was filling my body.

Training was boring and exhausting, but I was determined to endure it for my future.

However, when every effort brought obvious results, it actually became fun.

“The young lady is a once-in-a-generation martial genius!”

Well… I thought so too.

Maybe it was because I had inherited my father’s blood.

He was one of the greatest martial artists alive.

This new body of mine was unbelievably healthy.

My strength, agility, stamina, and every other physical ability were exceptional.

Surely people in my previous life weren’t all this healthy, right?

Back then, just running five minutes from the subway station to my university left me gasping for nearly an hour.

But in this body, I could practice martial arts continuously for ten hours without getting very tired.

No… that can’t be normal.

I must simply have been born with extraordinary talent.

None of the children who began training with me could keep up.

“Miss Su-ryeo, how did you perform that technique just now? Did the Palace Lord secretly teach it to you?”

“Hm? It wasn’t a technique. I just added a movement that felt natural.”

“…!”

The endless praise made me greedy for even greater achievements.

“What? A bear appeared near the village? Where is it?”

“Big Sister Su-ryeo defeated it!”

“What?!”

“The Ice Palace already took it away to raise it.”

“My goodness, Young Lady!”

Even though I had learned only the basic techniques, I could easily defeat children several years older than me in sparring.

Even allowing for the fact that people praised me because I was the Palace Lord’s daughter, I was clearly talented.

“…The amount of internal energy you possess is comparable to what I accumulated after consuming precious elixirs until I was twenty. And your yin qi is unbelievably pure. Su-ryeo, you will become the greatest genius in the history of the Ice Palace.”

Everything went smoothly.

I built internal energy through cultivation.

I strengthened my body through endless training.

As the years passed, I grew deeply attached to martial arts, the Northern Sea Ice Palace, and my new life.

Of course, there were a few small inconveniences.

The Northern Sea was so cold that many foods couldn’t be found here.

And I had never seen my mother’s face because she entered closed-door cultivation shortly after giving birth to me.

Even so, I truly loved my life as Seol Su-ryeo, daughter of Seol Baek-young, the Lord of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.

At least…

Until a few months ago.

***

“Father… isn’t it a little cold?”

“Hm? Have you caught a cold?”

One day, while happily training, I suddenly became sick without any warning.

At first, I only felt a slight chill.

“Really? That’s strange.”

“Rest today. If you push yourself while you’re sick, you’ll only make it worse.”

Martial artists were not supposed to catch common illnesses like colds.

I had been healthy my entire life, even before learning martial arts.

Yet one day, I suddenly began feeling as though I had a severe fever and chills.

Five days passed.

Even after resting properly, my condition grew worse every day.

When it became clear I wasn’t recovering naturally, I visited the Ice Palace physician.

“Her fever is far too high. Even cooling medicine isn’t bringing it down.”

Following his prescription, I drank all kinds of herbal medicine for ten days.

Instead of improving, I only became worse.

I’ll get better eventually… right?

Since I had always been healthy, I believed everything would be fine.

I focused on resting.

I quietly practiced breathing exercises to drive out the evil qi.

I wrapped myself in thick blankets and slept for ten hours at a time.

“Is everyone really saying they aren’t cold?”

“The weather is getting warmer. Even those who don’t know martial arts have taken off their fur coats.”

“That’s so strange…”

Protecting my body with internal energy did nothing.

Whenever I tried to circulate my qi, I felt as though something terrible would happen.

Cold.

So unbearably cold.

Gradually, I even lost my appetite and grew thinner.

“Father… it might be an epidemic. Please keep everyone away.”

Only after a full month did I finally admit that this mysterious illness would not disappear on its own.

Neither the palace physician, nor my father, nor even I, with my knowledge of twenty-first-century medicine, could identify the disease.

Realizing how serious it was, Father agreed to my request.

Except for himself, since his cultivation made him immune to illness, no one else was allowed into my room.

He personally cared for me every day, worrying constantly.

“I’ve sent Commander Baek-ung to the Central Plains. He’s searching for famous physicians. Just endure a little longer.”

Another month passed.

Several physicians arrived from the Central Plains.

I hoped one of them would recognize my illness.

Instead, after checking my pulse, they all shook their heads.

My pulse was strong and steady.

It was exactly what one would expect from a healthy martial artist.

“For now, we’ll prescribe medicine according to the symptoms.”

At first, the medicine seemed to help a little.

But with each passing day, even that stopped working.

My heart?

My dantian?

From somewhere deep inside my body, an overwhelming freezing energy continued to pour out.

Across my previous twenty-two years and my current eight years, making thirty years in total, I had never experienced anything like this.

It felt as though a monster inside my body was slowly devouring me.

I tried not to show it because Father was already worried enough.

But I was so cold that I truly believed I might die.

“Su-ryeo… Just hold on a little longer. I promise your father will save you.”

Father never cried in front of me.

But I could tell how much he was suffering.

I didn’t want to die again.

If I died this time too…

Would I be reincarnated once more?

I hadn’t truly lived either of my lives yet.

I hadn’t become the strongest martial artist.

I hadn’t even traveled to the Central Plains.

I hadn’t met a single handsome man with long hair.

While I desperately tried to control the energy inside me, Father searched everywhere for a physician.

“The White-Robed Divine Doctor has arrived!”

A little over one hundred days after my illness began, one of the Three Greatest Physicians Under Heaven arrived at the Northern Sea Ice Palace.

“Oh… she’s much younger than I expected.”

He was an elderly man.

Like his title suggested, he wore pure white robes.

He was both a physician and a martial artist, with a sword hanging at his waist.

“Thank you for coming all this way. Please… save my daughter.”

Father almost begged him.

By now, I could barely move my arms or legs.

Even breathing had become difficult.

“Young Lady, may I check your pulse?”

I barely managed to nod.

He had already heard about my symptoms.

Without hesitation, he sat beside me and took my pulse.

Several famous physicians from the Central Plains had already examined me.

But somehow, I couldn’t help hoping this man would be different.

Perhaps one of the Three Greatest Physicians truly could discover what was wrong.

Perhaps, as a powerful martial artist himself, he could understand the terrifying energy inside me.

I looked at him with desperate hope.

“…”

About fifteen minutes passed.

Finally, Father could no longer contain his anxiety.

“Do you know what illness she has?”

“My apologies. I took so long because her constitution is extremely unusual. I had to examine her qi several times.”

“An unusual constitution?”

The White-Robed Divine Doctor nodded.

“The amount of internal energy in the young lady’s dantian is astonishing. It is impossible to believe she is only eight years old. Even compared to talented young martial artists in their twenties, it makes no sense.”

“That’s because Su-ryeo’s talent is extraordinary.”

“An eight-year-old body cannot safely contain that much internal energy. Especially since she has been practicing an ice-based cultivation art.”

“Of course.”

“At such a young age, no matter how intelligent she is, her understanding cannot keep up. But because of her unique constitution, her supreme cultivation method, and an excellent teacher, she accumulated far too much internal energy.”

“…You’re saying that’s the problem?”

Father’s face darkened.

The White-Robed Divine Doctor slowly opened his eyes.

“Yes. The balance of essence, qi, and spirit has collapsed. Her immature body and insufficient understanding cannot control the overwhelming amount of qi she possesses. As a result, the yin energy has gone out of control.”

“So it’s like forcing someone with low cultivation to consume an unrefined spiritual herb?”

“Exactly.”

I didn’t understand every technical term.

But it sounded like my body had accumulated more freezing yin energy than it could handle.

Just hearing him identify the true cause gave me hope.

“So… that’s why I’ve been so cold?”

“Yes. The excessive yin energy you’ve accumulated is harming your body. This is called True Cold with False Heat. The overwhelming yin pushes the body’s yang energy outward. On the outside, you appear feverish and sweat heavily, but inside your body is unbearably cold.”

“Can she be cured?”

Father asked urgently.

I wanted to know the same thing more than anything.

Would I survive?

Fortunately, the White-Robed Divine Doctor nodded.

“If she takes medicine that contains concentrated extreme yang energy and practices the qi circulation method I will teach, we can restore the balance of yin and yang and stabilize her internal energy for now. There will still be things she must be careful about afterward… but she doesn’t need to know those yet.”

“How do we make such medicine? Should I gather the ingredients?”

Father jumped to his feet, looking ready to search the world for rare herbs and spiritual treasures.

“Please calm yourself, Palace Lord. I suspected the cause after hearing your letter, so I already brought every ingredient available in the Central Plains.”

“Ah!”

Father let out a deep sigh of relief.

Meeting the White-Robed Divine Doctor for the first time that day, he finally burst into tears.

He looked ready to kneel before him.

The doctor gave Father a slight bow before taking my hand.

“Please wait just one or two days while I finish preparing the medicine. Your life is no longer in danger, though the cold will continue to torment you. Shall I put you to sleep using an acupoint?”

I wanted to refuse.

But as an eight-year-old child, I wasn’t really given a choice.

Without waiting for my answer, he pressed an acupoint.

Warm energy spread from where his fingers touched me.

Blink.

My eyes slowly closed.

“There is… something… about the young lady’s constitution… that I should tell you. Let us… move elsewhere.”

“I understand… the medicine… how…”

Their voices gradually faded.

The White-Robed Divine Doctor hadn’t wanted to tell a child she was dying.

But I already knew what he was going to say.

Even though I hadn’t read many books full of classical Chinese in this life, I had read plenty of martial arts novels in my previous one.