Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 36

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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 36
Well…… I was somewhat taken aback.
But since Muk Jin-ha said the victor would receive a Merit Badge, I had to give my all.
Whoosh!
I moved swiftly using the Seolpung Step Method to close the distance, then unleashed my blade at Namgung Min.
In that moment when my inner energy was depleted and my arm went limp, she lost her grip on her sword and stumbled.
I pressed my blade against the underside of Namgung Min’s chin as she fell.
“Continue?”
“…… I yield.”
The ending was anticlimactic, but perhaps she’d simply exhausted every technique at her disposal.
Namgung Min acknowledged her defeat with frustration etched across her face.
“To neutralize me without even condensing Yin-cold Energy for an attack……!”
“Fearsome…… a martial art I’d never wish to face again.”
Then, that student who’d offered such creative interpretation of the Ice Technique earlier shouted again.
I glanced over to see who it was.
It was Pung Seung, the one who’d watched the entrance exam with me and enthusiastically narrated Eun Hyun’s demonstration.
‘He just collapsed from exhaustion on his own!’
His account was completely wrong from start to finish.
“Indeed, that must have been it!”
“I couldn’t keep up with the speed at all……!”
“Ho, your martial art is truly mysterious.”
For some reason, the students accepted his explanation.
Some even expressed genuine admiration.
…… Was this actually fine? Did the Ice Technique normally have such an image?
“Wow, that was incredible! Do you think I might be able to withstand the Ice Technique by the time I graduate?”
“Of course—the Northern Sea Sword forged in Hok Han is in a class of its own!”
Never mind So Un perhaps not being able to see through it.
Even Maeng Ryung-ji believed Pung Seung’s nonsense?
I hadn’t even used the Ice Technique.
“Luck was on my side. If we faced each other again, who knows what would happen.”
I didn’t see the point in explaining the Ice Technique or any of that.
Better to let them misunderstand like this than have the students react angrily the way Namgung Min just had, questioning why I didn’t use it or treating me with contempt.
So I left it uncorrected.
“For Buk Geuk Seong Hwang to raise his daughter this way…… ”
Muk Jin-ha frowned slightly.
But he handed me the Merit Badge as promised.
It was the same size as the one I’d found at Jang Chang Guan.
“Thank you!”
“Hmm, unfortunately it wasn’t much of a demonstration.”
Well, I’d actually spent the entire match looking like I was reserving the Ice Technique.
I’d meant to show something in that final critical moment.
But it ended so anticlimactically, what could I do?
Still, since I’d won, Muk Jin-ha waved me down from the Demonstration Arena without further comment.
Then he called up the other students.
He deliberately paired children from different dormitories against each other.
After watching the demonstrations between Pung Seung and Sun Mu-hyuk, Paeng Ho and Maeng Ryung-ji, and Namgung Ah-yeong and Jung Ha-rin,
I finally understood what Muk Jin-ha had wanted.
‘Ah! The Inbon Guan students have some bite to them.’
Though Sun Mu-hyuk met Pung Seung for the first time, he fought desperately, trying to drive his blade home any way he could.
And Maeng Ryung-ji—needless to say—unleashed a brutal momentum throughout.
Jung Ha-rin appeared mild-mannered, yet she still left scratches across Namgung Ah-yeong’s face.
Students without inner energy competed with those also without it.
The demonstrations continued until the Life-and-Death Martial Demonstration class ended.
Nearly everyone who fought had far more serious injuries than those in my match with Namgung Min.
Muk Jin-ha seemed particularly pleased with Maeng Ryung-ji and Paeng Ho’s especially fierce demonstration.
“You worked hard, Ryung-ji. You got a good hit on the Paeng Family’s young heir?”
“Damn it. If that boy had just been a bit more familiar with the axe, I’d have lost! Still much to improve.”
“Next. Myung Seong from Hwasan and you—that pairing interested me.”
Gu Won-ui?
I was curious about his unique swordsmanship and wanted to watch closely.
Clang!
Overwhelmed by Myung Seong’s strength, Gu Won-ui lost his grip on the sword in an instant.
“Hmm…. Good. That’s enough for today.”
The moment the hour was up, Muk Jin-ha declared the lecture concluded with the precision of a blade.
“Master, might you have any guidance for us?”
Paeng Ho gathered his courage and posed the question to Muk Jin-ha.
“None.”
He refused outright.
It was a stark contrast to Paeng Jung-geol, who examined each student carefully, offered personalized instruction, and even conducted supplementary study circles.
“A true martial artist walks the line between life and death, awakening to their own insufficiency through that path. Instruction merely guides you toward the place of death.”
“I see….”
“Once you’ve reached a minimum level of competence, I’ll take you to a real hell—not these parlor tricks. For now, focus on sharpening your senses.”
Muk Jin-ha glanced at me for a moment, then locked eyes with several others—Paeng Ho, Un Cheon, and a few more students.
What was that? Had he noticed someone with sparse practical experience?
…He didn’t catch on that I wasn’t concentrating when fighting Namgung Min, did he?
Whoosh!
With that, Muk Jin-ha vanished at tremendous speed using Light Footwork.
“Paeng, would you mind if I requested a martial demonstration?”
Even after the Master left, the students voluntarily challenged one another to matches.
Since it was our first real demonstration at the academy, an odd excitement lingered in the air.
“Miss Maeng, if I may presume…”
Maeng Ryung-ji was immensely popular.
Not only our dormitory students but also several from Ji Jeong Guan approached her in admiration.
‘Didn’t I fight rather well myself?’
Yet somehow I had no popularity.
I hadn’t displayed any flashy techniques, but I had still defied expectations and defeated Namgung Min.
Thanks to Pung Seung, everyone had misunderstood it as some mysterious Ice Technique.
“Say, wasn’t that girl looking this way?”
“How could that be?”
For some reason, everyone only stole glances at me; not a single person wanted to actually spar.
Even Namgung Min’s side only had her two followers attached.
Given that no one was requesting matches with her either.
It didn’t seem to be just about flashy techniques.
“I’m going ahead.”
Of course, I didn’t mind at all.
It wasn’t as though I’d been left without a dance partner at a party.
Besides, I could always spar whenever I wanted.
“Where are you going?”
“To do menial labor.”
I preferred to use any spare time earning work instead.
I waved goodbye to Maeng Ryung-ji, surrounded by sparring requests, and headed for Geun-haeng Gak.
“Director, how many points are Merit Badges typically worth?”
I’d earned another badge today, so I asked the director to convert them to Merit Points for me.
“You’ve already earned one of these?”
The director answered in genuine surprise that this size was worth ten points.
Hmm? That’s quite a lot for something given so easily.
If I could just collect Merit Badges during classes, wouldn’t I hit five hundred points in about a year without needing to do menial labor?
“So it seems. Is there any interesting work today?”
Of course, I was eager to raise my Merit Points as quickly as possible.
I took a simple copying task as the director recommended.
“Why do you like menial labor so much anyway?”
“If there’s Merit Points and a goal to reach, why wouldn’t I want to fill it?”
“We can make food ourselves if we need to eat.”
When I returned after working through lunch, Maeng Ryung-ji frowned.
It wasn’t about food—she just didn’t understand.
If there’s a level to raise, you just raise it, that’s all.
I’d have worked hard anyway, even without the Heated Yang Pill.
“Everyone seems tired today.”
In any case, the afternoon class was the Comprehensive Martial Theory Lecture.
Je-gal In entered the lecture hall in the same neat appearance as the first class.
“I see you’ve had a Life-and-Death Martial Demonstration. So the Director insists on scheduling my lecture right after that class? Well, it doesn’t matter. As I said last time, good students sleep well anyway. I’d rather not bother with retests, so please just pass the exam on your first try!”
He continued teaching without much enthusiasm.
“What is Righteous Cultivation? Why is it called Righteous Cultivation?”
“A martial art that achieves Late Blooming?”
“That’s true for most, yes. But we don’t distinguish between Righteous Cultivation and Unorthodox Cultivation purely by achievement speed. There are martial cultivation methods within Righteous Cultivation that accumulate inner power quickly, even if their purity is lower.”
Despite his tone, the content itself was genuinely fascinating.
“You cannot forcibly draw energy from somewhere else or artificially amplify it. Instead, you must build your inner power step by step, just as a stream becomes a river and then a sea, only then can it be called Righteous Cultivation. And equally important! Balance matters—you must attune your energy so it’s neither too hot nor too cold, maintaining harmony in your body. That’s what we call the Righteous Path.”
Though it seemed only I was listening with interest.
It wasn’t surprising that Maeng Ryung-ji was dozing off.
Glancing to the side, I could see even Eun Hyun’s eyes beginning to close.
“To summarize Energy Circulation Methods: Righteous Cultivation follows Following Heaven, Unorthodox Cultivation follows Strange Gate, and Demonic Cultivation follows Reversing Heaven. Even something like the Sacheon Dang Family’s secret cultivation, where the source of power isn’t self-accumulated inner strength, would be classified as Unorthodox Cultivation by this framework.”
This sounded like it might be on the exam?
I wrote in my notes: Righteous Cultivation, Unorthodox Cultivation, Demonic Cultivation across the columns.
Achievement speed, Energy Circulation Method, source of power, and danger level across the rows—I drew a table and took notes diligently.
“Whew! I’ve finally covered today’s material.”
As the lecture went on, his speech grew increasingly hurried.
“Starting tomorrow, we’ll be taking applications for Elective Classes, yes? I hope you all thought about what I mentioned last time. Anyone interested in the Mechanism Array Technique? If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask!”
Je-gal In wasn’t taking questions about the lecture content.
He simply jumped ahead to what he wanted to say.
At least, unlike the first lesson, he didn’t abruptly drag us to the Mechanism Array Technique, so that was something.
‘So Elective Class applications are tomorrow.’
This was my first time hearing about it.
It seems the senior students apply at the same time.
Unlike my dormitory friends, who looked utterly bewildered and lost,
the students from Cheon Myung Guan and Ji Jeong Guan naturally avoided Je-gal In’s gaze.
Unlike Muk Jin-ha, who was completely neglected, their dormitory supervisor apparently had explained things to them.
“Oh! You there, student!”
I had plenty of questions, but I sat still without raising my hand, afraid of being dragged into the Mechanism Array Technique class.
Je-gal In was pointing at me.
“…?”
What? I didn’t raise my hand.
My face hardened, thinking he meant to drag me into that class regardless.
Fortunately, that wasn’t it.
“Oh, yes!”
Surprisingly, So Un, sitting next to me, had her hand raised.
Surviving as the Heiress of the Northern Sea Ice Palace with Limited Time (Serialized)
Author | Sahyang Noru
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
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
© Sahyang Noru 2026
This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under 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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