Absolute Regression Chapter 430

430
The Sword Dance Theater followed behind the Ice Palace Master.

Of course, when I saw the Ice Palace, I thought it would be outside the Ice Palace. I thought that somewhere deep in the North Sea, somewhere in the snowy mountains where a blizzard rages, there would be a place so cold that my heart would freeze.

However, the Ice Palace Master took the Sword Dance and headed deep into the interior of the North Sea Ice Palace.

“This is the first time it’s been revealed to an outsider.”

“It is an honor, Your Majesty.”

“This is my gratitude for saving the main palace.”

As we passed through the gates guarded by the elite warriors of the Ice Palace, a frozen lake appeared.

“From now on, follow me and follow where I step.”

The sword dance could tell that there was a formation unfolding in this seemingly ordinary lake.

The fear of this formation was its unexpectedness.

He had never experienced a formation unfolding on a frozen lake before. While everyone was preoccupied with the tension that the ground might break, the real danger would be somewhere else.

Geommugeuk followed behind her, following the same path that Binggungju had walked.

What happens if you don’t find the living text? Will the floor crack and you sink into the cold lake, or will you wander on the lake forever?

The Ice Palace Princess, who had been walking silently, suddenly asked.

“Is this kid named Ian a blood relative of Mine?”

“No. He was left at our school when he was very young.”

The Ice Palace Princess walked silently. It seemed as if she had something to say.

“But why do you ask?”

Ian is not an ordinary person, whether in appearance or personality, but given his personality as the Ice Palace Princess, I don’t think he would be this interested.

“No. I just suddenly thought of it and asked. Be careful where you walk.”

Once again, the Ice Palace Master diligently crossed the lake, stepping on the living gate.

After passing through the formation, we came to a valley. It was a narrow valley path that could fit three or four adults standing side by side.

Whew.

The wind was cold from the entrance. It wasn’t just cold, it was really cold.

It was a full-fledged road heading towards the Ice Palace.

“It suddenly got cold.”

A strange smile appeared on the corner of Binggungju’s lips at the words of Geommugeuk.

“The cold hasn’t even started yet.”

The Ice Palace Master was slightly excited at the thought of showing the Little Sect Master a taste of the cold. He saved the Ice Palace, and he was determined to show him the bitter cold winds of the North Sea, since he insisted on going to a place that could not be reached without extreme delay.

“Okay, let’s go.”

This time, instead of walking in front, Binggungju walked alongside Geommugeuk. They had to walk together and check Geommugeuk’s condition. Regardless of whether he was a master or not, if he made a single mistake, he could die.

Seriously, it got colder with every step I took.

“Don’t force yourself to endure it too much.”

“It’s still bearable.”

This is when the expression, “my lungs are freezing,” should be used. It wasn’t because the wind was blowing that it was cold. It felt like I was approaching a place where there was extreme cold. With each step I took, there was a colder space, and with the next step ahead, there was an even colder space. It was completely different.

Easy.

There was no wind, but there was a strange sound.

“Are you okay?”

From the middle onwards, Ice Palace Master checked the status of the sword dance every time he took a step.

But the sword dance was fine. He felt cold, but it didn’t affect his body or lead to pain.

Ice Palace Master was worried that Geommugeuk would freeze while standing.

But Geommugeuk walked well. In fact, he walked more vigorously than her.

Easy.

There was no wind, but the more I walked, the louder the strange sound became.

The more I went, the more surprised I became. If it wasn’t for the extreme cold, it meant that there was another magic that could withstand this cold.

‘Is there really such a magic?’

The cold got worse as we went.

It wasn’t the kind of cold that would instantly freeze water exposed to the air. It was a cold that was beyond common sense and beyond the limits of reality.

Neither the Sword Master, who had taken the Eternal Snow Pill, nor the Ice Palace Master, who had been holding on with his own internal energy, were in a position to talk. The cold there was that severe.

Eventually, the two arrived at the end of the road.

There was a huge block of ice there. No, it was a huge wall of ice.

It wasn’t just any ordinary ice. Its coldness was indescribable, as if it were the source of all the cold in the world.

So, the two of them were walking towards the source of the cold in this world.

And surprisingly, there was a door in that ice wall.

It was amazing that they thought to dig a hole here and create space.

The Ice Palace Master opened the door and went inside. Geommugeuk followed him.

The moment the Ice Palace door closed, silence fell.

The strange noise that had been ringing in my ears completely disappeared, and at the same time, the crazy cold disappeared as if it were a lie.

Rather, it wasn’t that cold inside. It felt like I had entered a house made of ice. In fact, I had a feeling that the cold would subside the further I went into the center.

Now that conversation was possible, the Ice Palace Princess stared at the sword dance for a long time without saying a word. Finally, she confirmed it again.

“You’re deceiving me with your extreme delay?”

“I repeat, I am not extremely retarded.”

“Then is there any magic that can withstand the cold?”

“No. None of the magicians in our school will be able to withstand this cold.”

I really thought about that. I wondered if the little sect leader knew about the unique martial arts that were only taught to the princesses of the Ice Palace.

“Isn’t there one way to endure any cold? It’s a legend handed down from the North Sea.”

After being dazed for a moment, the Ice Palace Princess remembered one thing.

“Really? You?”

Geommugeuk told her honestly. He didn’t want to make excuses and leave her with an unpleasant feeling.

“Yes, I took the Eternal Snow.”

The sword dance was confirmed. When the Ice Palace Princess opens her eyes as wide as possible, how big they are.

It was a legendary elixir that was passed down through generations.

It is the pinnacle of elixirs that have the effect of making you strong against the cold, and it allows you to easily accept not only the cold but also any cold-attributed energy.

“Did the Eternal Snow really exist?”

Even the Ice Palace Lord considered it to be a legendary elixir. A mystery that exists but does not.

“I was lucky and got the chance.”

The Ice Palace Master shook his head firmly.

“Eternal snow isn’t something you can get just by luck.”

If that were the case, the spirit would not have become a legend.

The person who got it is the leader of the Demonic Cult?

But that little cult leader saved the ice palace. Was this a coincidence? The mastermind behind this was after the ice palace report, but how did he end up here with the little cult leader who got rid of that mastermind? Was this all just a coincidence?

Or is it that we are standing face to face like this in the inevitable flow of fate?

“Come in.”

I walked slowly down the hallway made of ice. At the end of the hallway was a large space, which was the Ice Palace.

Everything visible, from the walls and ceiling to the floor and cabinets, was made of ice.

This was different from the other reports. Surprisingly, the treasures were all in ice. They were frozen in different sizes, as if they were wrapped in ice bricks.

The ice was so transparent.

That’s why the weapons piled up in the ice looked like they were floating in midair.

The sword dance was the first time I had seen such a mystical spectacle.

“It’s really cool.”

The ice palace owner smiled.

“Even a moderate amount of heat can’t melt it easily.”

It’s hard to get here, but even if you do, it won’t be easy to get the treasure out of the ice.

She wondered what the Black Swordsman wanted from this place.

He pointed to one of the swords among the treasures in the ice piled up in front of him.

“Could that sword be the Hancheonshin Sword?”

“That’s right.”

It was a legendary sword that was said to have doubled in power when used by someone who had mastered the Ice Sword.

“That thing next to it is a shredding knife.”

“You really have great insight into the military.”

Not only that, there were many other new recruits stored there. They were things that the North Sea Ice Palace had collected over a long period of time.

Still, Binggungju could sense it.

‘I wouldn’t choose the sword.’

Although she didn’t draw the Black Magic Sword in front of her, she could feel that the sword that Geommu-geuk was holding was better than any other sword here.

Indeed, Geommugeuk was surprised and impressed by each and every weapon, but did not choose it.

Beside it, jewels were floating in the air. The jewels contained within small pieces of ice looked even more mysterious.

Among the jewels, there were some that were truly expensive. Jewels that made the finest Pidogju and Yamyeongju floating next to them look shabby.

But the sword dance just passed them by. Of course, he walked slowly in case the ghost reacted.

The two beads that Bigwi had obtained so far were not among the precious ones. They were abandoned and hidden.

So I expected it to be proudly placed among these precious jewels, but the coffin didn’t react at all. How great would it be to be proudly placed on top of these treasures?

Next, there was a place where elixirs were displayed.

There were many elixirs that were difficult to obtain even if you had money. Even the least effective ones were so precious that people wanted to take them even in their dreams.

There, too, the sword dance performance passed. Instead, I looked around carefully here and there so as not to give the impression that I was looking for something special.

“Is there anything you want?”

“If there is something I am drawn to, I will try to choose it, but there is nothing as of yet.”

I looked around the place where all the weapons, elixirs, and all kinds of utensils were displayed, but the statue did not respond.

‘Wasn’t there anything in the North Sea Ice Palace that the Bigwig could absorb?’

I thought maybe it wasn’t reacting because it was in the ice. But there was nothing I could do about it. Everything here was in the ice. Please melt it all, because it couldn’t be done.

Just when he was about to give up, Geommu-geuk’s eyes caught sight of a large mural painted on a wall in the distance. It was a large white dragon ascending to the sky, visible from afar.

The sword dance walked towards it.

And when he got near the mural, the ark responded in his arms.

The sword dance was startled. He had never expected that the mirror would react to the mural.

When I looked closer, I could see why. The mural wasn’t just a painting.

The white dragon held a blue jade in its place, and a red jade in its eyeball. That wasn’t all. There were also jade of various colors embedded in its claws and various parts of its body.

And among those jades, there was also a white jade. The watch was responding to it.

‘It’s Baekjeong (white-eyed)!’

If I hadn’t come here to see the mural, I would never have discovered it.

Who on earth would hide these things and why?

It was something he couldn’t know right now. He just hoped that one day he would find out since he had become this connected to her.

The sword dance spoke to her.

“May I choose one of the jades embedded in that mural?”

Naturally, the Ice Palace Lord was surprised. He probably didn’t expect her to ask for the jade embedded in the mural.

“Do you want the Yeouiju?”

“no.”

What Geommugeuk was pointing to was the white jade embedded at the end of the tail.

“Give me that tail.”

Although the white jade was precious, it was nothing compared to the treasures we had seen before.

“Can I ask why you want that in particular?”

“At our school, we often use metaphors like a sleeping dragon or an ascending dragon. However, I always want to live as the tail. In order to not forget that feeling, I want to have that white jade.”

The Ice Palace Princess still had an expression on her face that said she couldn’t understand.

She flew up and grabbed the white jade that was stuck in the wall and came down.

No matter how much she looked at it, it was just white jade.

“Is this really okay?”

“Yes, that’s enough. And just looking around the Ice Palace was a very valuable experience for me.”

Geommugeuk, who received the white jade, put it in his bosom.

Since she didn’t know what Baekok meant, Binggungju misunderstood it like this.

‘You don’t want to bother me.’

Then, we can’t just let it go like this. The Ice Palace Princess said something unexpected.

“I am not enough.”

If you weren’t going to come in the first place, you wouldn’t have come. Now that you’ve come this far, I can’t just give you a piece of white jade and send you away after saving the Ice Palace.

The Ice Palace Master went to where the elixir was. He took the ice from the highest point of the piled elixirs and poured it down into the empty water.

“Anyway, only you can take it.”

As the power of the Ice Palace Potion was injected, the ice melted and small beads appeared. At first glance, it looked like ice frozen into beads, but this was the pinnacle of the North Sea elixir.

Man-geuk-bing-jeong (ice essence of all extremes).

It was said to be the best elixir among elixirs with cold properties, but because it had such extreme energy, only those who had taken the Everlasting Snow Fruit could take it.

“May I accept this precious thing?”

“If you don’t eat, you’ll be frozen here forever.”

Even though Geommugeuk possesses more internal energy than anyone else in the martial arts world, he is still thirsty for internal energy.

It takes a lot of internal energy to practice the Nine-Handed Martial Arts, and it requires the use of the Time-Space Transfer Technique to practice it. To Geommu-geuk, internal energy was time itself. To him, internal energy was the power to protect everyone.

“Take it quickly.”

“Then I will accept it gratefully without any further refusal.”

Geommugeuk took Mangeuk Bingjeong right away.

It was really cold. If my body had not been able to withstand the cold due to the effects of the eternal snow, I would have frozen to death the moment I swallowed it. No, I wouldn’t have been able to swallow it in the first place.

The great energy of the Man-geuk-Bing-Jing swept through the blood vessels of the Geommu-geuk. It swept like a mad north wind, but the opponent’s body had already overcome even the mad wind.

After carefully controlling the true energy several times, the energy of the Wan Geuk Bing Jeong gathered in the dantian and became pure internal energy.

Up until now, I had vaguely thought that my internal energy was the best in this martial arts world, but now I could be sure of it. My internal energy must be the most. I wasn’t happy that my internal energy had increased. I was happy that I could raise my level of Shicheonbisul and Guhwamagong a little faster.

Today’s Ice Palace was a series of surprises. I didn’t know it would melt the Ice Palace so quickly.

That’s why the third favor was easier to decide on.

“Choose one more.”

“This alone is enough.”

“There are three reasons why I am giving you three gifts.”

“For what reason?”

“The first is a reward for revealing the truth about Wonju’s death and eliminating those behind it.”

Yes, I understand up to that point. Because he was the one who saved the ice palace.

“The second one made me look back.”

I could tell by the sword dance. It was because he told me that his daughter was still standing. It was because of the gratitude he felt for reconnecting with his daughter, whom he had lost forever.

“The third is a gift given in advance.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ll know someday. What I mean.”

It was an investment for my daughter.

When Hanseol becomes the Ice Palace Lord, this sword dance will become a heavenly horse. I ask you in advance. Please take good care of the North Sea Ice Palace and my daughter. If that is a favor for one treasure, it will be cheap.

The sword dance guessed her mind. That’s why it accepted her heart for her daughter.

“Then I will choose one more.”

Geommu-geuk looked around the place once more. This time, he chose it more carefully because it wasn’t a gift for himself.

“Then I’ll take this as the remaining one.”

The thing that Geommugeuk chose was a wine glass.