Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 3

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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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Episode 3
Tianwu Academy?
I knew that much—it was a martial academy under the Wulin Alliance that taught martial arts.
Admission was difficult, but graduation was far harder.
Once you left Tianwu Academy, they said you had a guaranteed path to advancement within the Wulin Alliance.
“I’ve heard of it, but… not a single student from the Northern Sea has ever gone there, have they?”
The Northern Sea Ice Palace had long been cut off from the Wulin of the Central Plains.
Whether to find my elixir or not, over the past seven years, Father had increased his exchanges with the Central Plains, even visiting the Wulin Alliance himself.
But since no disciples had gone there directly, we didn’t know the details so well.
“That’s right. If you go, you’ll be the first.”
Father nodded with a grave expression.
What was he talking about? An academy, out of nowhere?
Of course, the marriage thing was just my own conjecture and anxiety.
But this topic had appeared so suddenly after we’d been discussing my constitution that I couldn’t get a grip on what was happening.
“What would I find there? Do they award decent elixirs for good grades?”
“Of course they do!”
…Wait, they actually give out elixirs at the academy?
I’d only thrown out the question casually, but Father clapped his hands and broke into a bright smile.
Now that I thought about it, I did recall hearing the name Tianwu Academy when I’d asked Central Plains merchants about elixirs.
They said the Xiaotian Pills the academy distributed to its students regularly were not inferior to those of the Shaolin Temple.
‘Do they even have the Extreme Yang Elixir?’
What I’d heard was only vague rumor.
But if Father, who had attended gatherings of the Wulin Alliance and met with numerous masters and the academy’s martial instructors, was recommending I go… then there must be something worthwhile there.
“It’s not just elixirs. Three of the Ten Supreme Masters are instructors there, so you’ll be exposed to diverse martial teachings.”
“Ah…”
Father continued his explanation about Tianwu Academy.
After the Great Righteous War ended, the Nine Factions and the Five Great Families—the major orthodox powers—became the driving force, establishing the academy to exchange martial arts and nurture the next generation.
The great sects and families sent masters, disciples, martial techniques, weapons, and elixirs to the place, displaying their influence.
‘Ah, so that’s how they gathered such precious elixirs. It seems to be a more influential place than I thought.’
Even if not Ten-Thousand Year Lingzhi, there should be ways to extend one’s lifespan, right?
As I cocked my head in thought,
Father’s face broke into a knowing smile.
“When I was your age, I was burning with desire to set out on the Martial Tournament Journey. You must have been bored with no worthy rivals your own age up here in the Northern Sea?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
I was a pacifist by nature, but the mood called for a nod of agreement.
“Go show those frog-in-the-well Central Plains upstarts a thing or two. Clean house with their elixirs and techniques!”
“Frogs in the well, you say…?”
“If you go this year, you’ll be the same cohort as Changcheon Geomwang’s second son. I hear the Huashan Sect is also sending the First Disciple of their sect leader.”
The Jegal Family, the Namgung Family, the Huashan Sect.
Vague images of long-haired handsome men from my childhood drifted to mind.
So, I would compete against such promising prodigies, achieve results, and obtain elixirs.
It didn’t sound particularly easy.
“The master of the Beast Palace is sending his child this time too. You’re so strong that I’m not worried at all, but the Beast Palace master seems to hope that we, who hold one of the axes of the southern Wulin, would let our child enter alongside his.”
“The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace?”
“Yes. His martial talent is said to be exceptional. Though, of course, not comparable to yours.”
I’d been listening quietly to Father’s words when I faltered.
Wait—the martial talent of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace master’s child is exceptional?
The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace was located in the south of the Central Plains, the complete opposite of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, and was a sect that practiced Extreme Yang Martial Arts.
‘Ah!’
Only then did I fully grasp Father’s intention for bringing up the academy repeatedly.
It wasn’t that he’d found an elderly master who had perfected the pinnacle techniques of dual extremes.
Rather, Tianwu Academy was the place where promising prodigies likely to become such masters would all gather.
So if I went to Tianwu Academy,
I could both display my own exceptional abilities to obtain elixirs and extend my lifespan,
and it would also be an appropriate place to pursue a natural meeting with a man trained in Extreme Yang Martial Arts.
In other words, he wanted me to befriend promising young men there…? That was what he was suggesting?
And he saw such potential in the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace master’s son?
I wondered why he was beating around the bush with all this talk about the academy when
it seemed he’d found it difficult to speak of such delicate matters directly to his daughter.
“I understand perfectly, Father.”
No words needed to pass between father and daughter—the meaning had already come across clearly enough.
I was grateful the knowledge from my past life was there; without it, I might have missed his drift entirely.
“I’ll go to the Academy. I’ll study hard with those friends, take the elixir, and try everything I can.”
Besides, the path he’d laid out for me felt exactly right.
I’d been dizzy at the thought of having to marry just to survive.
Free romance at the Academy? Nothing could be better.
Father broke into a broad smile.
“With you, I’m certain you’ll make a name for yourself throughout the Central Plains!”
And so I made my decision to go to the Academy.
“One more thing—I know you’ll be careful anyway, but it would be best to keep your condition to yourself. No matter how peaceful the age, there’s nothing good that comes from such knowledge spreading.”
Father spoke gravely, fingers pressed to his lips.
I nodded in agreement.
Now that I thought about it, in some martial arts novels I’d read, patients with the Gu Yin Severed Meridian were coveted like living elixirs.
Absorbing a woman’s life force through Draw Yin Supplement Yang to gain tremendous inner power—that had been a cliché of the old martial arts tales.
* * *
“Sureo! Knock down all the young masters from the Nine Factions!”
“Sister, I’ll follow you next year!”
On the day we set out for Tianwu Academy, the palace attendants I’d grown close to like family came all the way to Binggyeol Lake to see me off.
A low rumble escaped the bear we kept, its eyes gleaming with reluctance.
I wished I could take this creature along too, but that was impossible.
I reached over and stroked the bear’s head thoroughly, then waved goodbye.
“Take care of yourselves. I’ll visit during the holidays!”
How much I would have grieved if marriage had meant leaving forever?
I had to solve this terminal condition at the Academy and come back.
I mounted my horse nimbly and set off with Baek Ung Dae-ju.
I’d wandered plenty through nearby ice peaks and gorges, but this was my first time venturing all the way to the Central Plains.
Father had Baek Ung Dae-ju, whom he’d trained personally and taken with him on every trip to the Central Plains, accompany me as both escort and guide.
“Will there be anything dangerous on the road to Luoyang?”
Tianwu Academy was located in Luoyang, Henan Province, more than a month’s hard ride from the Northern Sea.
I was worried enough about the yin force building inside me, but external threats were a concern too.
Reading martial arts novels, the protagonist’s party always seemed to run into bandits or water outlaws on the road, and I found myself growing anxious.
Of course, Baek Ung Dae-ju was among the top five masters in the Northern Sea, and I could handle common bandits myself.
Still, I had no real sense of how strong others actually were.
Unlike what I’d read in novels, it wasn’t easy to gauge someone’s realm at a glance.
Sure, I could tell when someone like Father clearly operated at a different level.
And I could spot the difference in bearing between those who’d never studied martial arts and those who had.
But in reality, the lines between first-class martial artist and peak master weren’t as razor-sharp as in stories—judging strength on sight alone was far from straightforward.
How often did encounters with bandits demanding tolls or quarrels with evil sect masters actually occur?
‘Public order in the Northern Sea is quite good, though…’
I didn’t know much about the Central Plains.
Perhaps because of my terminal condition, Father had spared me the heavy responsibilities and burdens placed on promising prodigies of Wulin families.
He’d left me to live like a cheerful supporting noble lady in a romance fantasy novel—free to do as I wished.
That said, I had still trained diligently.
Yet the lack of real combat experience was something I couldn’t help but worry about.
“There’s nothing particularly dangerous, but…your appearance will draw considerable attention, miss. Some caution would be wise.”
Baek Ung Dae-ju wore an expression questioning why I’d asked such a thing, then paused.
Ah, that too.
My silver hair and blue eyes would certainly stand out in the Central Plains.
“Do lawless ruffians appear often? But if I’m always traveling with you, there shouldn’t be any real trouble, right?”
At his words, I tensed up and gripped the reins firmly.
“It shouldn’t be a matter of concern. Even petty thugs would scatter the moment you looked their way, miss.”
That much, then?
Now that I thought about it, merchants from the Central Plains had mentioned that I gave off a cold impression when we first met.
Perhaps it was because I’d trained in the Extreme Yin Internal Art.
“Truly skilled opponents are rare, and those with pride won’t act recklessly. As long as you don’t single-handedly march into some bandit den and challenge their leader to a duel in front of his men, there’s no reason to draw your sword between here and Luoyang.”
Baek Ung Dae-ju threw in a jest.
That was hardly likely.
He assured me that though we’d face some inconveniences—sleeping out in the open now and then—there wouldn’t be any truly dangerous situations.
And so one day passed, then two, then ten, then a fortnight.

Baek Ung Dae-ju was right.
Riding on horseback without any clear sense of where we were had its tedious moments.
Yet an entire month passed without any serious trouble arising.
We encountered no martial artists from the evil sects.
At the inns, men occasionally approached us with flattery about my appearance or questions about where I came from, but they were always pitiful specimens.
They’d scatter like leaves the moment I rested my hand on my sword hilt and narrowed my eyes.
Were the wild beasts eyeing our provisions actually more threatening than they were?
Though even those creatures would bolt the instant we drew near.
“We should rest in that village tonight.”
As we traveled south, the weather grew warmer and settlements appeared with greater frequency.
The village before us was the largest we’d encountered so far—almost grand enough to be called a city.
We wasted no time entering the grandest and most promising inn on the main road.
“Miss, is there anything you’d like to eat?”
We climbed to the upper floor, claimed a spacious table, and I began surveying the menu.
“Bamboo leaf tea, white spirits, glazed meat, fish fragrance pork, thin noodles…….”
“Leave it to me, and I’ll order for us.”
The cuisine of the Central Plains differed from Northern Sea cooking, so I couldn’t easily make sense of what was what.
I rattled off names of dishes I recalled from novels in my past life, but Baek Ung Dae-ju scolded me, asking where I’d picked up such knowledge from merchants.
I’d hoped to taste fresh fish and fruit that we couldn’t find in the Northern Sea.
But whether such things were scarce here as well or simply Baek Ung Dae-ju’s preference, chicken dishes arrived instead.
“Oh, this is delicious.”
“I’m glad it suits your palate.”
Though the cooking method differed from Northern Sea style, the taste wasn’t unfamiliar.
I inquired about what this dish was called, what other delicious foods existed here,
and whether Luoyang had many fine inns, all while savoring the meal.
“Aaaagh!”
Had barely a quarter hour passed?
Just as I’d gotten halfway through my food, a boy’s scream pierced from the inn’s entrance.
“Ah, so you were here!”
“Tsk, you couldn’t have gotten far before we caught up.”
I turned my attention toward the commotion and found six men with swords at their waists surrounding a boy who looked to be about fourteen.
“Hmm?”
One of them grabbed the boy by the hair and lifted him.
Then promptly punched him in the face.
What on earth—have they gone mad?
“Ow, aagh! Aagh!”
Then they threw him to the ground and multiple grown men began kicking the child.
“Why, why are you doing this, sir?”
Not just I, but the innkeeper, the waiters, and other patrons nearby were visibly shocked.
Someone mustered the courage to try stopping the collective beating of the child.
“Just mind your own business and carry on. We’re simply apprehending a thieving brat.”
“No! It’s not true!”
But the man who’d first lifted the boy answered in an indifferent tone.
The other five paid no attention and continued kicking and striking the boy.
“How ungrateful for all the master has done for you!”
“You thought a wretch like you could steal the young master’s pendant and escape?”
“No, it’s originally mine! Neung Gwang Geom gave it to me……!”
The boy curled into a ball, clutching his bundle and enduring the assault.
Whether the stolen object was in the bundle or not, when the martial artists tried to seize it through force, he refused to relinquish it.
“Just slit this bastard’s wrist already…….”
“Hick!”
“Aaagh!”
An exasperated man drew his blade menacingly.
Everyone on the inn’s first floor recoiled in terror.
“This damned…….”
I could stand by no longer.
Whoosh!
With a curse escaping my lips, I leapt down to the first floor, intending to send every last one of them flying.
“Wh-what’s this?”
But the moment all eyes turned toward me,
‘Wait, should I really curse at them? Still, it’s rare for someone from the Ice Palace to venture into the Central Plains…….’
The thought suddenly struck her: she had to maintain dignity as the young lady of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
Even her father’s demeanor was completely different when it was just the two of them playing together versus when he faced the palace’s attendants.
And she’d heard that when he attended the Wulin Alliance in the Central Plains, he always presented himself with a sternness befitting his reputation.
If his daughter carried on like some common ruffian, wouldn’t that bring shame upon his name as well?
“Ahem. No matter what wrongs this child may have committed, is this truly how men of the martial world should conduct themselves?”
Clang!
She batted the sword away lightly.
And rebuked the men in measured, refined tones.
“You little…… ugh!”
She subdued the man who’d been beating the Boy the hardest.
“Cough!”
Then blocked the path of what appeared to be their leader.
Surviving as the Heir to the Northern Sea Ice Palace: A Terminal Condition (Serialized)
Author │ Sahyang Noru
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ JPlusmedia Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, Ace TechnoTower 8th, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Sahyang Noru 2026
※This work is published by JPlusmedia Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. No part of this content may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this restriction 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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