Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 65
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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 65
Merit Points were only awarded after submitting a report on the Nine-Fold Underground Heaven expedition.
Besides, I needed to add the newly discovered sections to the map as well.
I volunteered to handle the report writing and submission, then stopped by the Library Pavilion for a moment.
While I was at it, I copied down the passages mentioning Eternal Fire from the binding texts, as well as sections about the physician and his master’s background and whereabouts, before heading to the Student Council.
“Hmm? Back so soon? Was there nothing in the chamber you explored today?”
“There was one Formation technique.”
“Really? So places like that still exist. And you broke through it so quickly—that’s impressive.”
“Someone in our group recently started studying Formation techniques. I benefited from their work, that’s all.”
Even though we’d spent nearly an extra hour because of that, Je Gal Mun Yu marveled at how we’d returned early.
“……Your report writing is quite neat too. How about it—wouldn’t joining the Student Council suit you?”
“Ha, thanks for the compliment.”
My formatting really was rather excellent.
After Je Gal Mun Yu finished reading the entire report, he examined the spoils.
He said there was a high likelihood that items like the Vase wouldn’t be recognized for Merit Points.
But he found the Decorative Cabinet intriguing.
“It’s a Formation made with the Eight Trigrams. You said it sucked you in? Is there something special about the stone?”
“If the Je Gal Clan patriarch asks me about it, what should I do?”
“……It’s not my area of expertise. The patriarch will investigate it himself.”
“Should I award Merit Points for this?”
“Let’s see. Since you explored one more chamber, I’ll add about a hundred points.”
He explained that the final Merit Point amount would be determined directly by Gwan Ju if he was at the Academy, or by other Martial Masters within two or three days if he was absent.
One hundred base points plus an additional hundred made two hundred total.
Divided among four of us, that came to fifty points per person.
Geun Haeng Gak Ju had mentioned that you could earn about fifty Merit Points per person for going down to the third basement level.
Cleaning the first level and solving a simple Formation technique for fifty points wasn’t bad.
I’d made a big gain from the martial match with Jin Young Hu, but ordinary chores required nearly an hour of work to earn two or three points.
“So from now on, I just need to leave entry records behind when I go, right?”
“You’re thinking of going again?”
“Of course.”
Even if I earned a hundred points each time, I’d need to go at least fifteen more times.
Until I became somewhat accustomed to it, I’d perform the first-level tasks as I had today.
But I was already planning to venture down to the second and third levels as well.
Coordinating schedules with four people meant I couldn’t go every day, but I’d need to go down at least three or four times a month to afford the Great Heaven Pill before the holiday break.
“……Alright, work hard at it.”
Je Gal Mun Yu smiled and gave me sincere encouragement.
* * *
While waiting for the Merit Points to be finalized, I kept up with small two- and three-point chores between classes and training.
I cleaned the Administrative Building, hauled water, and copied texts.
Copying work only gave about two points, but since I wrote quickly, the efficiency wasn’t bad.
Oh, I also received one Merit Badge worth ten points.
During Paeng Jung Geol’s basic External Martial Arts class.
Until then, I’d only done running through the Academy wearing Iron Rings on my wrists and ankles.
But now we were starting the Pan Gu Opening Heaven Divine Art—a martial technique where we’d wear Iron Rings while lifting a pole inside the Muscle Forging Pavilion.
Recalling my gym experience from my past life, I trained earnestly.
After he said my form was perfect and asked me to demonstrate, he gave me the badge.
And then came the first Herbal Studies class.
“I already had a word with this one here. You’re both studying Herbal Studies because you each have a patient you want to treat, yes?”
“Yes, Master.”
“I can’t be bothered explaining useless herbal knowledge—you’ll memorize it on your own. During our class time, we’ll focus on making medicines to treat your patients. You have no objections, I presume?”
Eun Hyun and I went to the Medicine Hall, and Yak Seon let us into the medicine-making space behind the counter.
There were no desks or blackboards at all.
He’d simply brought two chairs for us to sit on in the space where he worked.
Yak Seon seemed to have no lesson plans or anything of that sort.
“Is that acceptable?”
Naturally, Eun Hyun was overjoyed.
“Of course it is. Now you tell me about that patient’s symptoms!”
Eun Hyun spoke with great emotion about that friend, the daughter of a wet nurse.
Her name was Ok Yeon Ju, and she was twelve years old.
Hmm……She probably wouldn’t look like a woman yet.
“I’m always sickly. When I stand in sunlight, my spine goes numb, so I can’t go outside during the day. My hands and feet are cold to the touch, but my sensation is so dull that I don’t even feel a needle prick. The physicians who took my pulse said it was extraordinarily slow and irregular.”
What? A vampire? Can’t stand in sunlight?
I have the Nine Yin Cold Meridian myself, and yet I live without pain thanks to the White Tiger Decoction.
With a condition like that, she’d be trapped in bed, unable to do anything.
“Hmm, this is a graver illness than I thought. Have you or any physician tried any medicines on her?”
“I’ve seen perhaps thirty physicians, but nothing worked.”
Yak Seon’s brow furrowed.
“If nothing’s improved, at least tell me what’s gotten worse.”
“Yes. The White Tiger Decoction didn’t help much. Yeon Ju complained of severe thirst, so I tried it, but within a day her face turned pale as white paper and her pulse became thread-thin. Her lips stiffened until she could barely speak, and I had her vomit up every medicine she’d taken. Only then did she recover.”
Eun Hyun said that after that, she stopped trusting physicians and studied herbal medicine herself.
“Did you try the Four Reversal Decoction?”
“Ah, yes, someone did prescribe that. Her hands and feet became slightly less cold, but it didn’t cure her.”
“Hmm…”
Yak Seon asked Eun Hyun several more questions.
Whether she could eat properly, sleep well, if her menses had begun, and if they were regular.
Eun Hyun couldn’t answer more than half of them properly.
“Tch! What do you even know!”
“Eun Hyun is not a physician—how could she observe such details?”
“I’ll send a letter!”
Fearing Yak Seon might change his mind, Eun Hyun added hastily.
“Never mind the letter. Bring her here yourself.”
“You mean directly to the Academy?”
“Yes. I have my suspicions, but to know for certain, I need to take her pulse. What I can confirm now is only True Cold False Heat, so continue giving her whichever works best among the Four Reversal Decoction, Aconite and Ginseng Middle-Warming Decoction, and True Warrior Decoction. Tell her to come during the holidays or at the Festival of Martial Arts.”
Eun Hyun was taken aback.
She had never imagined Yak Seon would offer to see her personally.
“Ah, but if I’m to leave, you’ll need to earn some Merit Points. Outsiders can’t enter the Academy, and I can’t go out without special circumstances unless I’m accompanying Gwan Ju. If you say you can raise about a thousand points, I’ll go with you for about ten days, and we’ll take her pulse at the Black Darkness Hall.”
So he was extracting Merit Points from Eun Hyun too?
At those words, Eun Hyun’s eyes, which had shown no interest in Merit Points until now, suddenly lit up.
“I’ll manage it somehow.”
To gather a thousand points in one semester, would this girl have to descend into the Nine-Fold Underground Heaven?
“Then we’ll have your friend take her pulse and write a prescription, and this semester we’ll first make some Severed Pulse Syndrome medicines together. It’s rather interesting.”
“…Yes. I’m grateful simply to receive your direct guidance.”
True, Eun Hyun’s nursemaid’s daughter is pitiful enough.
But my own survival comes first.
Yak Seon explained to Eun Hyun that there was a patient with the Nine Yin Cold Meridian in Buk Hae,
and said they would gradually gather the medicinal materials he had in mind and learn how to handle them.
“First, today it’s Aconite. Since you’ve brought it, you know what it looks like.”
And saying today was for herbal preparation,
he retrieved ten Aconite roots that we and Eun Hyun had purchased in Luoyang.
“I’ve already removed the salt content. You don’t have any cuts on your hands, do you? If you do, make sure it doesn’t touch them.”
“Ah, yes.”
“The characteristics are… look, memorize the Herbal Property Song at the front of that book by next time.”
Claiming explanation was a bother, he boldly skipped the theory entirely.
“Check the table of contents and go to the Aconite section—there’ll be three preparation methods. Follow them exactly.”
He was sending us straight into practical work… wait?
“You mean we’re to do it ourselves?”
“Yes. It’s all written out, isn’t it?”
He gave no instruction at all, simply ordering us to practice on our own.
Yak Seon scolded us harshly for not starting at once, demanding to know what we were waiting for.
Surviving as the Doomed Young Lady of Buk Hae Ice Palace (Serialized)
Author | Sa Hyang No Ru
Publisher | Kim Ju Hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae Hyuk
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ⓒ Sa Hyang No Ru 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and the 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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