Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 25

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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 25
I hugged my wrist pitifully.
“Me, sir?”
“Hmm, you do look a bit weak, though…….”
Peng Zhongge glanced back and forth between Meng Lingzhi and me, noting that even to the eye our forearms differed in thickness by a factor of two or more.
I’d grant him keen observation and good instincts, but my raw strength wasn’t anywhere near that level!
“Still, sometimes appearances can be deceiving……. Just try it and see.”
As if I possessed some sort of combat-honed, compressed muscle.
Given the martial world’s culture of prizing the virtue of pushing people beyond their limits,
if I became known for strength greater than I possessed, my body would suffer and the risk of injury would only increase.
I’d been trying my best to feign weakness.
“Yes, understood.”
A mere student had no choice but to obey when a teacher commanded it.
I fitted two Iron Rings onto each wrist as instructed and attempted to march in place.
‘Hmm……? This is manageable?’
But it was far easier than I’d expected.
Though not in ring form, back at the North Sea I’d trained with weights on my shoulders that were far heavier than this.
“Hngh!”
But if I pulled this off effortlessly, the expectations would skyrocket.
I began deliberately staggering about, making my body movements suggest I was in great distress.
“I—I’ll wear two as well and run!”
Remarkably, Dan Lixiang’s hand shot up.
Without being called upon by Peng Zhongge, she was volunteering to don two Iron Rings and run of her own accord.
“Oho?”
Peng Zhongge looked intrigued and accepted her request.
“I’ll do it too!”
“I’ll take two as well!”
Once one person stepped forward, students from across the Dormitory began stubbornly insisting they’d also add extra Iron Rings out of pride.
“I’m going to wear three!”
Even among those already called upon, some began volunteering to take on more weight.
“Ha-ha-ha! Excellent, excellent! Now that’s the spirit of a recruit. This year’s bunch is brimming with nerve!”
Peng Zhongge declared that if anyone got injured it was their own concern, and that from tomorrow onwards everyone must use the same weight without fail.
Yet he gladly accepted the students’ reckless bravado.
“Any of you confident enough can try wearing Lead Rings on your limbs—the first to complete ten laps wearing them gets a Merit Badge!”
I, who had been planning to start only with the easiest progression, perked up at the mention of a Merit Badge.
Lead Rings? Made of lead?
“Would it be acceptable if I simply tried them once?”
I asked carefully.
“Of course it would!”
Peng Zhongge pulled out a Lead Ring from beneath a pile at the bottom of the container.
“Agh!”
A Peng Family Youth rushed forward first to try it on.
But to his shock, he not only failed to fasten it around his wrist—he dropped it entirely.
“Ha-ha-ha! These aren’t ordinary Lead Rings. They’re Black Heavy Lead Rings—forged from Meteoric Iron processed from Heavenly External Rare Stone, with only the heaviest Black Essence extracted and used in their construction.”
So that explained it.
He revealed that these were no mere lead.
It seemed to be some kind of alloy, though admittedly I had no curiosity about the composition.
“Let me try lifting one—ugh!”
“How are we supposed to put these on!”
Myeongseong and the other students approached out of curiosity.
But they either couldn’t lift the Lead Rings at all, or held them briefly before staggering and having to set them down.
I too tried lifting one cautiously to gauge its weight.
Certainly, it felt at least ten times heavier than the Iron Rings.
‘……But I can lift it?’
Yet they’d dropped theirs immediately like that?
Were they all being careful, as I was, not to have their abilities overestimated?
I set the Lead Ring down discreetly and glanced around nervously.
For some reason, Peng Zhongge’s gaze had sharpened.
‘He didn’t see that, did he?’
I turned my head away sharply.
Saying they’d give me a Merit Badge didn’t mean I could wear it and run every day starting today—it just meant it might be possible eventually.
‘Well, never mind. I suppose he suggested two because that shouldn’t cause any real damage.’
I took my eyes off the Lead Ring and fastened two Iron Rings on each wrist and ankle, then limbered up my body.
When I tried the heavier weights, confidence bloomed—I could definitely manage this.
“If I cheat and use Inner Qi, it’ll be twenty laps!”
Peng Zhongge gave a light warning to the children who possessed Inner Qi that they couldn’t use it.
Once everyone had finished putting on their weights, we began running around the Academy.
“Seol Suryeo, you doing alright?”
“So-so?”
It was a bit heavy, but not so much that running felt impossible.
Since the weights didn’t wrap around my entire limbs, I was slightly worried about straining ligaments and tendons.
But halfway around the first lap, I’d already figured out how to distribute the impact.
“Huff, huff…….”
I wasn’t actually struggling much, but every time I passed Peng Zhongge, I made a show of laboring.
In truth, running with Iron Rings and two swords strapped to my waist wasn’t entirely effortless either.
“Ugh—argh! Master Peng! I’m sorry! Could I, could I please switch to just two Iron Rings?”
“A fallen soldier does not rise again. Do you think you’ll throw down your Combat Talisman and quit?”
Right—this is what happens when you get cocky and insist on wearing three of them.
The spirited Peng Family Youth was nearly collapsing.
But Peng Zhongge wouldn’t let up.
‘Still, isn’t his spirit a bit too weak?’
His weights were 1.5 times heavier, sure, but his muscle mass had to be at least three times mine.
It made me wonder if the Hebei Peng Family actually trained quite gently after all.
“Huff, huff…….”
“What are you doing! Run faster!”
“Yes……! Ugh!”
Whenever someone tried to slow to a walk and rest, Peng Zhongge—who’d been pacing nearby—would challenge them, swinging his saber.
The Iron Rings were heavier than expected; Myeongseong, who’d been eyeing his chance to rest, barely managed to draw his sword and block Peng Zhongge’s blade.
But something went wrong with his strength—he squeezed his eyes shut and winced in pain.
“Ah, quite the ordeal, isn’t it.”
After we’d all completed ten laps.
We were gasping for breath, and our limbs ached considerably.
So just like the others, I collapsed onto the Training Ground, sprawling on my back.
“You’re running with plenty of ease, I see. Try this for another day or two, and once you’ve adjusted, add another Iron Ring.”
“Excuse me?”
……Peng Zhongge was determined to increase my training intensity.
“It’s only by frequently surpassing your limits during training that you can truly break through walls in a Life-Death Combat!”
The children who’d worn Iron Rings as Peng Zhongge recommended came staggering back to the Training Ground, frayed and worn.
Those who’d overdone it with the Lead Rings……well, they arrived practically shredded, collapsing to the ground.
“I, I think I’m dying.”
Myeongseong complained that every joint in his tendons felt snapped.
“Those of you who wore three Iron Rings today will keep wearing three! A true martial artist must be responsible for their own words!”
Peng Zhongge seemed deeply satisfied watching them.
“……Understood, sir.”
Their personalities began to show through after such punishing training.
From watching him thrust spears in the Spear Training Hall, Myeongseong’s raw power seemed greater than Namgoong Min’s.
Yet Namgoong Min, dripping with sweat, never once sat down—he remained standing upright, teeth gritted, never uttering a word of complaint.
“Ah, and Namgoong Ayoung, Pungseung, Uncheon, Seon Muhyuk, Jeong Harin, So Un…….”
After waiting for the last arrivals, Peng Zhongge called out the names of roughly ten Students.
Ah, so the Way of Emptiness disciple’s name was Uncheon.
Apart from him, Namgoong Ayoung, and Pungseung—who was apparently some collateral branch or relation of the Moyong Family—the rest were all friends from our Dormitory.
“You’re all being forcibly enrolled in the举泰山會.”
“Sir?”
The Students naturally had no idea what that was.
“Nothing special—just think of it as a club that trains every morning. I’m serving as the master instructor, but usually you’ll be lifting rocks together with the seniors.”
“Ah……!”
“The Academy’s scheduled External Martial Arts training time is woefully insufficient, after all. Of course you’ll do assignments and train on your own, but there’s a certain pleasure in gathering together and lifting rocks as a group!”
So basically a morning exercise club?
The Academy has clubs?
“How often…….”
“An hour every day!”
“Pardon?!”
The children whose names had been called looked stricken.
Some even tried to refuse, insisting that once they reached a certain stage in their own sects, they halted external martial arts training to focus on Inner Qi.
“I’ve taken those tendencies into account reasonably, and I’ve only called those who haven’t even met the bare minimum. The rest of you can spend your free time building Inner Qi, swinging a sword, or whatever else you like!”
Peng Zhongge cut off their complaints with a stern voice.
Well, an extra hour of training each day wasn’t that much, really.
After all, we’d come to the Academy wanting to grow stronger; having the instructor take special time with underperforming students seemed like a good thing.
It seemed the Central Plains had far more sects that prioritized Inner Qi than I’d realized.
Indeed, the martial arts of the North Sea Ice Palace leaned heavily toward Inner Qi, and many palace disciples considered freezing a lake more impressive than shattering a boulder.
I was something of an oddity—focused on external martial arts out of concern for my constitution, guarding against an excess of Yin-Cold Energy.
“If you lot don’t graduate, do you know what happens?”
Ah, I’d been curious about that myself.
“You’ll be stuck in this Academy for life, no better than the Director’s slaves!”
Peng Zhongge warned them with a grave expression, saying he was helping them escape early.
There was supposedly a senior who’d failed to graduate for an entire ten years.
Whether it was truth or jest, I couldn’t have said.
* * *
After the first basic external martial arts class ended, no small number of students lay sprawled across the Training Ground, claiming they lacked the strength to rise.
Those who could use Inner Qi simply circulated their Qi and managed to move about.
But the others gulped down water and could barely support their trembling legs.
‘Oh dear, what am I to do.’
Eun Hyeon in particular looked so forlorn that his face seemed frightening.
“Perhaps we should do martial combat practice in the evening? I’d like to see you deflect my attacks when you’re in perfect condition.”
“That suits me fine.”
I wanted to show him being pierced and marked even at one hundred percent strength.
Instead, I suggested he rest now and that we meet again when the sun was setting.
Whether it was because today’s morning external martial arts class was expected to be taxing, or for some other reason,
there were no afternoon classes scheduled—just instructions to fill in elective courses or do Foundation Running later.
“At last you’ll finally taste some real food, Suryeo!”
“Is it all right to just take it?”
“Of course!”
For lunch today, we’d eat meat instead of Grain-Avoiding Pills.
Last night, Meng Lingzhi had gone hunting instead of Foundation Running and caught rabbits and a deer.
She’d offered it to me last night too, but I’d already eaten my Grain-Avoiding Pill.
“I meant to give it to you this morning, but you left so early.”
“Eun Hyeon asked me to help with something.”
This morning had been rather busy too.
In any case, today I’d stop by the Dormitory to eat, then come back down to do Foundation Running, and meet Eun Hyeon afterward—that seemed like the plan.
Meng Lingzhi, barely resting at all, frowned as she watched Eun Hyeon stand and swing his sword.
“Help him? A disciple of the Nine Great Clans, no less?”
“He’s handsome.”
“…….”
The furrow between Meng Lingzhi’s brows deepened slightly.
So Un, who’d been listening, looked flustered and asked me back,
“Miss Suryeo, are you… fond of Master Eun Hyeon?”
“Fond of him? We only just met a few days ago.”
I simply meant he was handsome.
I’d left the door open for Yin-Yang Harmony with all my classmates and seniors and juniors alike.
That was a matter for the future, once I’d mastered Extreme Yang Martial Arts and grown strong enough to receive my Yin Energy.
Most of my fellow students were still children and didn’t even look like men yet.
“When you see something beautiful, doesn’t it lift your mood? You just naturally become a little more forgiving.”
“Is that… how things work?”
“…Wouldn’t you do better looking in a mirror?”
So Un and Meng Lingzhi didn’t understand.
As if my face and someone else’s were the same thing.
“I do wish you’d hurry and start taking elective course applications. From what I can tell, Master Nungwang is the most revered here at the Academy.”
“Y-yes. I’d love to learn from Master Nungwang soon too.”
Eun Hyeon was certainly the most refined-looking boy among our cohort.
But I’d always preferred the rustic beauty type.
I haven’t seen the senior students’ faces yet, but I doubt any of them would surpass Gwak Docheon.
Will the Academy Director assign me more cleaning duty?
“Ah, that’s right. Meng Lingzhi, there’s something I’m genuinely curious about.”
In the midst of our idle chat, I realized this was precisely the moment to ask something important.
Young Eun Hyeon’s appearance hardly mattered anyway, and Gwak Docheon—who was clearly past forty despite his youthful face—was equally irrelevant from that perspective.
There was someone far more significant.
“What is it?”
“Is your brother handsome?”
He was, after all, husband candidate number one.
Someone else at the Academy might acquire and master the balanced martial arts of Yin and Yang.
Or I might discover a better treatment method.
But wasn’t it most likely that the Young Palace Master of the Wild Beast Palace, who had trained in Extreme Yang Martial Arts since childhood, would reach the highest level?
Surviving as the North Sea Ice Palace’s Short-Lived Young Lady (Serialized)
Author │ Sa Hyang Noru
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Sa Hyang Noru 2026
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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