A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 227

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 227
* * *
Glub, glub, glub!
With my eyes, nose, mouth, and ears submerged in the frigid waters of Beihai, the world fell into profound silence.
Yet this tranquility was deceptive—far from it being truly calm.
Hong Seol held her breath, her cheeks puffed out, as she gazed downward beneath her feet.
‘There it is!’
A colossal, sleek shadow moved through the deep blue waters of Beihai, causing them to undulate and ripple with each motion.
The shadow grew larger and larger.
Rough, bumpy scales began to rise across what had been a smooth surface.
And then, with a sound like crackling thunder, horns began to sprout from one side.
All of this was happening directly beneath Hong Seol’s feet.
‘Three, two, one…’
Hong Seol counted silently in her mind.
‘Now!’
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! CRASH!
In that instant, an unstoppable, colossal force erupted from beneath her feet, hurling Hong Seol upward, ever upward!
Her heart soared with exhilaration, and an indescribable euphoria flooded through her entire being.
And in the next moment.
A torrent of water, wild and fierce, surged toward the dark, thunderous sky above.
“Gasp!”
Hong Seol found herself above the water’s surface.
Breaking through the cascading waters, the brilliantly white body of the Ice Dragon emerged into view.
The newly born dragon ascended endlessly toward the vast heavens above with tremendous power.
Hong Seol whispered to herself in awe.
‘This is the ascension of the great serpent.’
The birth of the Ice Dragon—a phenomenon that occurred once every thousand years.
“What, what is that!”
“A, a dragon! It’s a dragon! I’ve seen pictures of them in ancient texts!”
“Is it really true that Miss Miao is riding between the dragon’s horns?”
Cries of astonishment echoed from below.
But Hong Seol’s true challenge was only beginning now.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Frost began to form around Hong Seol’s black shoes as she stood upon the Ice Dragon’s head.
If this continued, freezing to death was inevitable.
Soon, she was surrounded by a sea of clouds.
There was no one to call for help.
The voices of the people below had long since faded into silence.
“I cannot fall like this!”
Clenching her teeth, Hong Seol drew upon her yang energy, wrapping it around her entire body as she pressed herself flat against the dragon’s head.
My bare hand wedged between the Ice Dragon’s horns was already frostbitten, turning a deep crimson.
My lips had turned blue from the relentless cold seeping in, trembling uncontrollably.
The air itself seemed so thin that even breathing became a struggle.
But if I gave up now, everything would have been for nothing.
Hong Seol forced a sound from her throat, raw and torn by the bitter cold, and cried out.
“Ice Dragon, I congratulate your ascension!”
The moment the words left her lips, her breath caught even more sharply, whether from tension or the cold.
‘Will the Twelve Beast Martial Art truly work on a dragon?’
A brief silence fell.
The next instant, Hong Seol felt her head ring as if struck by thunder.
– A human speaking to me for the first time in a thousand years!
Wahahahaha!
The laughter, tinged with madness, transmitted directly into her mind.
Like a form of telepathic transmission.
– Explain yourself, child! What is this about?
Hong Seol continued, her voice trembling.
“I am Hong Seol. I am descended from the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace and have mastered the Twelve Beast Martial Art. I have long awaited the day I could speak with the Ice Dragon.”
– How amusing! Tell me then, what did you wish to say?
At those words, Hong Seol clenched her lips and cried out.
“Now that you have ascended, please return the Orb of Accordance to the Northern Ice Palace!”
That was it.
The pearl said to be essential for a great serpent to become a dragon and ascend to heaven—the Orb of Accordance.
For the Ice Dragon of Beihai, the Orb of Accordance was none other than the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak.
This was knowledge contained in the secret manual of the Twelve Beast Martial Art that Hong Seol possessed.
[A thousand-year-old serpent swallows the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak and circles beneath Beihai for a month.
When the time comes, it expels the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak, holds it in its mouth, becomes the Ice Dragon, and ascends to heaven.]
I had read these words many times, but seeing it firsthand felt entirely different.
‘Above all, the pressure emanating from the Ice Dragon is overwhelming….’
I was terrified.
It had been so long since I felt such fear.
I had been consumed with mastering martial arts.
It had been ages since I surpassed the levels of Deng Xiao Xiao and Yang Do Jin.
Despite possessing the finest martial prowess among my peers in Anhui, my body trembled involuntarily.
‘Even Grandfather Nam Goong Ho would struggle to endure such an aura….’
Nor would it be different if any master from the Central Plains were brought here.
Such was the nature of a dragon.
‘To think I can converse with such an Ice Dragon….’
Only then did Hong Seol truly comprehend the power of the Twelve Beast Martial Art.
It was at that moment.
– I refuse.
A petulant voice transmitted directly into my mind.
– Why should I return the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak to the Northern Ice Palace?
A gulp.
The Ice Dragon’s tantrum was expected, but hearing it firsthand felt entirely different.
Nervous, Hong Seol swallowed hard and cried out.
“Because otherwise you won’t achieve a complete ascension!”
– What did you say?
I felt the Ice Dragon’s head flinch beneath me.
Hong Seol seized the moment and pressed on.
“Heaven judges the character of ascending dragons, I’ve heard. If you incur the resentment of humans, you won’t become a true dragon and will fall back to earth!”
– What human would dare resent me!
“Me! I will resent you with all the fury of heaven itself.”
There wasn’t a shred of falsehood in those words.
If I failed to reclaim the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak here and now, the day I’d see Nam Goong Baek again would only grow more distant.
‘I’ll resent you as fiercely as anyone ever could!’
Perhaps sensing the resentment radiating from Hong Seol, who puffed out her cheeks with indignation.
The ground beneath me suddenly shook violently.
The dragon was laughing.
“Ah!”
Startled, Hong Seol instinctively gripped the dragon’s horns.
My body swayed this way and that, but I couldn’t afford to lose focus here.
– Krahahahaha! Threatening a dragon—you’ve got nerve, human!
‘Just as written in the secret texts of the Twelve Beast Martial Art!’
Having barely regained my balance, Hong Seol’s face brightened.
‘The Ice Dragon favors bold and spirited humans, just as the records said!’
Hong Seol’s sharp retort had clearly won over the Ice Dragon’s hearty disposition.
– Very well, I’ll return my orb. Do as you wish!
“Yes, yes!”
Before I could even prepare myself, the Ice Dragon opened its massive jaws wide, releasing the orb.
Whoooosh!
At the same moment, the brilliantly gleaming Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak plummeted below the clouds.
There was no time to hesitate.
“Thank you, Ice Dragon!”
Offering heartfelt gratitude, Hong Seol threw herself after the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak’s trajectory.
* * *
“Look, look at that!”
The moment the dragon’s billowing white form dissipated like smoke toward the heavens.
The sky cleared as if by miracle.
But only for a moment.
From above, a brilliantly gleaming sphere descended toward the Lake.
Splash!
“Ice, it’s ice! The Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak!”
Tremendous chaos erupted among the Beihai warriors aboard the boats.
“What? What’s happening?”
The Beihai warriors inside the Northern Sea Ice Palace pressed themselves against the walls, straining to understand the situation.
The Northern Sea Ice Palace Master and Han Poong Geom of the Snow Wind Squad were no exceptions.
They had both rushed up to the highest Pavilion where Guard Captain kept watch.
“Master! It seems that outsider has truly found the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak!”
“….”
The Master stared intently at a single point without uttering a word.
“It could be a fake.”
Such a scheme was entirely possible from cunning Central Plains people.
In that moment, something extraordinary unfolded before the Master’s eyes.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
From where the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak touched the water’s surface, the Lake began freezing over frantically.
“Master, that is…!”
“It’s the genuine Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak! That’s the power of the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak at work!”
The Master cried out in astonishment.
The entire Lake was now covered in solid ice once more, just as it had been before.
“Waah!”
The warriors of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, finally freed from their confinement, surged across the pristine white ice like a dark tide.
They were rushing toward where the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak had fallen.
And when they arrived there.
“How are we supposed to extract this?”
“Isn’t this just a tantalizing dream?”
The Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak was already buried beneath ice that appeared to be at least ten layers thick.
“Bring the pickaxes, bring the pickaxes!”
Clang!
A pickaxe swung with full force shattered cleanly on the first strike.
As time passed and the weather grew colder, the ice became progressively harder.
Han Poong Geom, who arrived a step too late, spoke gravely.
“Master, what shall we do? In these circumstances, even if the warriors of the Snow Wind Squad wielded pickaxes, they could only excavate five chi per day.”
“Hmm….”
The Master had no clever solution either.
All the martial techniques they possessed carried cold energy.
They could only make this ice harder, not melt it.
‘Yet we cannot simply leave the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak here forever….’
If someone were to melt the ice and steal the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak.
The prestige of the Northern Sea Ice Palace would crumble to dust.
It was at that very moment the Master fell into deep contemplation.
Whoosh!
I descended lightly onto the ice, paper umbrella unfurled above me.
The Northern Sea Ice Palace Master drew in a sharp breath as he watched.
‘It’s as if she just leaped down from a wall as tall as herself.’
To jump from such a dizzying height without so much as blinking—such boldness.
Combined with her lightness of body through refined movement techniques and her exceptional sense of balance.
I had to acknowledge it.
“She is no ordinary talent, that much is certain.”
“You are too kind, Palace Master!”
I bowed respectfully when Han Poong Geom suddenly burst in, his fury reaching a boiling point.
His anger was so intense that even his beard trembled.
“Welcome, you fraud!”
His voice shook with rage.
“How am I supposed to bring the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak back to the palace now, you deceiver?”
“A deceiver? Me?”
I opened my eyes wide in feigned surprise.
“I said I would find the Ten Thousand Year Ice Peak for you—did I ever say I would bring it to you?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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