Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 57

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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 57
“That’s not it.”
I denied it firmly.
Wi Jong Haeng’s failure to win the auction might have been the reason Jin Yeong Hu learned my name, but that was hardly the whole story.
“It’s because of someone like me that the young lady had to face off against the master and…….”
It really wasn’t fair to blame Wi Jong Haeng for all of this.
We weren’t even that close to begin with.
But he seemed to have convinced himself that I was fighting in order to repay him for the beating he’d taken.
“It’s not because of you. I’m just fighting because that bastard rubbed me the wrong way, that’s all.”
I made my denial perfectly clear.
Yet somehow, after hearing those words, Wi Jong Haeng’s eyes widened, and his eyelids began to turn red.
“Not out of mere private sympathy, but because you won’t overlook injustice……. I see…….”
Tears streamed down Wi Jong Haeng’s cheeks.
He wiped them away with his sleeve and opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
“All this time…… even while serving with the Gongdong Sect, I’ve never once thought about what righteousness truly means. I, Wi Jong Haeng, am ashamed to say that I’ve simply swung a sword without even knowing what I was doing, merely because my parents pushed me to it.”
Well, yes.
……So that was it?
It was hardly information I’d been curious about.
What grand aspirations could you really expect from a fifteen- to twenty-year-old? Unless you’re in some unusual situation like mine, you’re just doing what your parents tell you to do.
That’s how it is for most people.
“Only today have I truly begun to reflect on why I study the blade.”
Still, I supposed it was a good thing.
Adolescence is when you’re supposed to agonize over these pointless questions anyway.
If I’m being honest…… there was no real need for him to tell me all this.
But if it helped his own growth, then it was something to celebrate.
“……All right then. Think it through carefully, and be reborn as a true swordmaster…… no, a true wielder of righteousness.”
I offered my encouragement halfheartedly.
Just then, a cloud that had been blocking the sun drifted past.
And Wi Jong Haeng’s tears sparkled in the setting light.
He opened and closed his mouth several times without speaking, then clenched his teeth tightly.
“Thank you, young lady!”
I turned away quickly, eager to get back to my jerky.
If I kept looking at his face, I’d never escape.
As I climbed the mountain, I waved my right hand slowly once behind me.
* * *
Back at the Dormitory, nearly everyone I passed asked me the same question.
“So Un, is it true you’re dueling Jin Yeong Hu from the Gongdong Sect?”
The moment I crossed the threshold of Inbon Hall, Gu Won was waiting with the question already on her lips.
“Young lady Seol, is it true you’re fighting Jin Yeong Hu at the Martial Hall?”
Yeon Mu Jin, the senior who’d taken on the role of representing Inbon Hall, practically leaped out of the common room the instant she heard my voice.
Opening the Martial Hall must have been quite the event, then.
Only a few hours had passed since I’d declared the duel, yet the rumor had already spread like wildfire.
At this point, there probably wasn’t a soul in the Academy who hadn’t heard about it.
“It just kind of happened that way.”
I gave the same answer to everyone who asked.
“Please, you have to win!”
“Damn that bastard. Why does he always start trouble with the Inbon Hall students? If you shatter his confidence this time, he won’t dare show his face again.”
Their excitement was intense, but for a different reason than Wi Jong Haeng’s.
Judging by the way they ground their teeth, it seemed quite a few of them had been challenged in the same manner, formally dueled, and then had Merit Points they’d earned through Near-Walking stolen from them.
They all threw their support behind me with everything they had.
They all cheered for me with all their might.
“Young lady, about that jerky I mentioned…….”
“Oh, would you care for some walnuts?”
“Right, you haven’t gotten access to the gourmet shop yet, have you? I have some yellow wine I’ve hidden away — would you like some?”
Perfect timing.
As So Un handed me the jerky, the others began sharing the snacks they’d been keeping hidden.
I declined the alcohol, but I accepted the rest of the food gratefully.
Bolstered by the support of so many students,
the next day, I walked out through the inner gates of Cheonmu Academy and stepped onto the duel platform in the space known as the Martial Hall.
‘Why are there so many spectators?’
In my past life too, I wasn’t a baseball player, but there were fans who followed every single game.
I’d thought there might be one or two earnest enthusiasts who wanted to watch a minor duel at Cheonmu Academy.
But more than twenty people seemed to have rushed here from Luoyang since early morning.
“Who do you think will win?”
“Jin Yeong Hu, surely. His opponent is just a new cadet, after all.”
“But she’s the daughter of Buk Geuk Seong Hwang. This is the first time a Post-Qi Realm Student has come from Buk Hae Ice Palace, and they say her martial skill is quite considerable—surely they wouldn’t have sent her to Cheonmu Academy otherwise?”
“Well… but isn’t her experience far too limited?”
So what he’s really saying is, she’s a genuine duel fanatic?
Word had apparently spread through the Martial Hall staff and workers.
They knew something of both Jin Yeong Hu and myself.
“She might be weaker than expected. They say the Master of Buk Hae Ice Palace rules like a king in the north, and if this Golden Leaf has been so treasured, she surely never endured rigorous training.”
“What martial family thinks like we do? She probably grew up consuming every elixir imaginable.”
“At any rate, it’s exciting. They say when Buk Geuk Seong Hwang takes the field, all the Demonic Cult members freeze in place—we might see quite a spectacle today.”
What world’s Buk Hae Ice Palace has its master ruling like a king?
Some rumors were completely baseless.
Yet others seemed plausible enough, and eavesdropping on them was rather entertaining in its own way.
“They say she defeated Namgung Cheon’s younger brother.”
“They say she condenses invisible Qi and uses it.”
“I’ve been wanting to witness the Ice Art for myself—this works out well.”
The academy students too took their places and murmured among themselves.
At first I thought there were fewer of them than commoners.
But as the time approached, students poured out toward the Martial Hall like a flood.
There seemed to be more of them than the people who gathered to hear some performance—over a hundred, surely?
They should be sleeping instead. Why come watch this?
Setting aside the students, I noticed a few unfamiliar instructors observing the duel platform as well.
Eun Hyun didn’t come? Namgung Min is over there….
The four from the Quick Sword class whom Gwak Do Cheon had asked to observe my duel were clustered together.
‘Ugh.’
Glancing about to see who among the people I knew had come to watch, I accidentally caught eyes with Wi Jong Haeng.
It was just yesterday evening that I’d seen him with tears glistening in his eyes.
Surprisingly, he was still gazing at the duel platform with those round, wide eyes, and now he raised both arms, clenching his fists tightly.
Was he cheering for me?
Thinking that was probably the case, I turned my gaze away.
‘Hmm?’
One handsome man I’d never seen before caught my eye.
Huh, there was another good-looking man at the academy?
“Is that lady from Buk Hae Ice Palace….”
Was he a senior who kept a trailing entourage like Namgung Min or Myeong Seong?
He was surrounded by many students.
‘That one’s also quite…?’
Besides those, I noticed one more man—his clothes were shabby, but his features were planted in quite favorable proportions.
Though we call them the Nine Schools and One Faction collectively, the Nine Schools and the One Faction have somewhat different feels.
I wondered if there was someone from the Gongdong Sect at Cheonmu Academy as well.
“Why are you looking around so much? There’s no use backing out now that you’re here!”
Just then, Jin Yeong Hu, who had arrived late on the duel platform, sneered.
No, logically speaking, that’s the kind of thing you say when you arrive early and wait.
I came out early myself—what nonsense is this?
“I thought you’d run away since you didn’t show up.”
“Kyahahaha! From now on, just seeing Seol’s hair will make you run!”
I’d been goaded appropriately enough, but from outside the platform, Maeng Ryeong Ji shouted.
“You barbarian bastards…!”
“Is that all you know how to say? Even the bears I raise in the north speak with more variety than that.”
Jin Yeong Hu’s mouth grew more crude.
The spectators who’d come from Luoyang frowned.
“But what are they fighting about?”
“I don’t know either. Jin Yeong Hu probably started this nonsense on a whim again, didn’t he?”
“Ah… so it’s like that again.”
The seniors who knew Jin Yeong Hu to some extent seemed to understand.
But he, conscious of the murmuring, pointed at me accusingly.
“This barbarian bastard disrespected the Gongdong Sect, one of the pillars of the Nine Schools and One Faction!”
“I’m genuinely curious—does Gam Suk Province have no auction culture? Even in Buk Hae, which everyone dismisses as backwater, auctions are held from time to time.”
“You, you bastard!”
Even if he were stupid, he wouldn’t be that stupid.
The seniors’ guess had been right—this was pure provocation.
There was no misunderstanding here that conversation could resolve, not from the start.
He and I drew our swords simultaneously.
“I’ll teach you your place!”
Slash!
Without any probing, Jin Yeong Hu rushed forward with surprising speed and swept his blade horizontally in a wide arc.
A technique form that cleaved through the forward space in a semicircular trajectory—broad in attack range.
The Sword Energy infused with his Qi was fierce, too.
He meant to attack at full strength without even a hint of probing first.
‘Interesting.’
Yesterday I’d received exactly three Medium Sword strikes.
Downward cut from above.
Horizontal slash from left to right.
And diagonal slash from upper right to lower left.
The first technique form Jin Yeong Hu deployed fell into the second category—a horizontal slash variant.
What had Gwak Do Cheon said about Jin Yeong Hu again?
That he was foolish? Slow-witted? Lacking in adaptability? Something along those lines.
And yet.
Was he really adhering this rigidly to textbook patterns?
‘Then I should look for the opening when he swings.’
Without difficulty, I selected option one—the most suitable answer among the four Medium Sword counter-strategies.
Surviving as Buk Hae Ice Palace’s Youngest Daughter with Limited Time (Serialized)
Author | Sa Hyang Noru
Publisher | Kim Ju Hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae Hyeok
Address | 401, Ace Techno Tower 8th, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
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ⓒ Sa Hyang Noru 2026
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and the content may not be used in any form or manner without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this shall 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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