Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 66

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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 66
Wow, they expect me to teach myself this thoroughly?
It was absurd, but I did what I was told.
Since I knew how to read a table of contents, Eun Hyun and I found the White Aconite Preparation section.
Just as Yak Seon said, three processing methods were written there.
The Black Aconite Preparation, which gently softened the medicinal properties using black beans and licorice juice.
The White Aconite Preparation, which reduced irritation further by peeling and smoking.
And the Baked Aconite, which was roasted over direct fire or buried in sand to extract other components while condensing only Yang Qi.
Reading the explanation, I saw that Ok Yeon Ju’s Si Yeok Tang would contain Black Aconite Preparation.
My medicine, it seemed, would use Baked Aconite.
“I think we should brew the black beans and licorice first.”
“Yes. Starting with the Black Aconite Preparation…”
“The pot is large enough—we should make everything at once.”
I read through the text and grasped the general sequence.
It wasn’t much different from watching textbooks during science class in my past life and conducting experiments, or watching cooking videos and making recipes.
It was easier than reading all sorts of poetic texts, conjuring incantations, and implementing them through martial techniques.
“All at once?”
“That’s the most efficient way, isn’t it?”
Eun Hyun was slightly surprised, but agreed with my assessment that it wouldn’t be confusing.
We set black beans and licorice in separate pots and began drawing out their essences.
At the same time, we started blanching the Aconite for the White Aconite Preparation.
“The blanching takes almost half an hour.”
“We need to watch it continuously.”
Eun Hyun said he’d never processed Aconite before, yet he showed me how to rotate the herb root evenly to cook it through.
Though it took a long time.
Watching the herbs, then watching Eun Hyun’s delicate face—it wasn’t tedious at all.
“I hope Ok Yeon Ju feels better soon.”
“Your friend must be suffering quite a bit too. I hope this treatment works this time.”
When I expressed concern for Ok Yeon Ju, Eun Hyun offered me comfort in turn.
“We won’t be able to finish this semester. There are other materials needed, and I think I’ll have to make a trip to Gu Jung Hwang Cheon.”
“To Gu Jung Hwang Cheon?”
“You know of it?”
“I’ve only heard rumors that the Murim Alliance sent people to investigate the site of the Heavenly Palace and never returned. I don’t know if it’s true.”
We talked about my treatment for Gu Um Jol Maek.
Is it really that dangerous a place?
Tch. If saving a life puts me in danger, then it’s all for nothing anyway.
If possible, it would be good to find Man-nian Hwali.
“Still, if I have to go, then I’ll go.”
“If it’s possible, I’d like to accompany you.”
He said he’d go with me even though he wouldn’t have time to visit Ok Yeon Ju—I was grateful for the sentiment alone.
I replied that I’d be glad to have him come along and continued with the experiment.
“That should do it.”
The aroma had turned pleasantly nutty, and it was cooked just right.
Perhaps because I’m a patient with Jol Maek Jeung?
Since I’d been sensitive to heat and cold from childhood, I could feel through Qi Sense how the warmth seeped carefully all the way through to the core.
After peeling the skin and smoking it by slicing it lengthwise thinly, the yellowish color turned truly white.
“Ah, so that’s why it’s called White Aconite Preparation.”
I processed the remaining Aconite in sequence.
For the Black Aconite Preparation, since the black beans and licorice had each been reduced to essences, I put them in a pot with the Aconite and began heating again.
While heating that, I roasted the Baked Aconite buried in sand.
The Baked Aconite definitely seemed to retain the most Yang Qi.
“Huh? What’s this? You’ve already finished the White Aconite Preparation?”
Yak Seon, who had been making other medicines without explaining anything, belatedly examined the processed Aconite I’d set aside.
“Generally, Aconite must be completely cooked through to every bit of the root core, or the toxicity… huh? You did it right?”
He seemed ready to cut a cross-section to check and find fault.
But I had already thoroughly cooked it all the way to the center.
“Hmm! The White Aconite Preparation is simple enough. The temperature control for the Black Aconite Preparation is far trickier. One must have patience and cook it slowly over a low flame!”
“Yes, it’s cooking now.”
……!
With the Black Aconite Preparation as well, Yak Seon failed to catch any mistake.
“If you miss the moment when the water reduces, the bottom will scorch and the mixture will degrade!”
The water hadn’t even begun to boil yet, but he’d given his warning anyway.
His temperament really was peculiar.
Why not teach from the beginning?
“You’re working on Baked Aconite, I see. That’s not simple either.”
The Baked Aconite buried in sand would begin to swell, and shortly after, its surface would crack as the Yang Qi inside condensed—or so he explained.
The key was to let the Yang Qi condense sufficiently, then end the work at the precise moment the cracks began to form.
“Now!”
He cautioned us to be careful, since the aconite buried in sand wouldn’t be visible.
But I could sense the exact moment the Yang Qi finished condensing.
And right on cue, Eun Hyun pulled the aconite free.
“……What are you?”
Yak Seon looked a little startled.
Heh, this really is like making magical medicine—surprisingly fun.
“Wasn’t it said that as your student, I should become a cadet you need not be ashamed of?”
“Since you’ve given me the opportunity, I must work hard.”
Eun Hyun and I exchanged modest bows together.
“Stop that—Seol, you don’t even know what Aconite is used for, so hurry up and memorize the medicinal properties!”
Yak Seon scolded us, apparently embarrassed.
* * *
After all the boiling, cooling, and cutting of the Black Aconite Preparation, we laid out all the aconite pieces in a row and began drying them.
“To think you’d finish it all in a single day……Tsk, well done.”
Yak Seon looked genuinely surprised, but eventually acknowledged our success.
He was the kind of old man who accepted students into his herbal studies classes and, while a bit stubborn, knew how to give credit where it was due.
“Then next time——”
“Wait, please! I have a question.”
“Why do you have so many questions every time?”
As Yak Seon turned to head into his room after the lesson, I quickly stopped him.
Of course I had to ask.
I’d started attending these lessons precisely so I could ask whatever I wanted once we grew closer.
“Do you happen to know anything about a physician named Wang Yak Ro?”
“How would I know that?”
I immediately mentioned the physician’s name that I’d found in Gu Jung Hwang Cheon and asked if he knew anything.
He grumbled that he couldn’t possibly know every physician in the Central Plains.
True to form, for all his gruff affectations, Yak Seon couldn’t bring himself to ignore his student’s words.
I seized the moment when he hesitated and poured out the story of Wang Yak Ro and his patient in rapid succession.
Once interest took hold, he’d listen intently—I knew this.
“……You’ve written something down?”
“Yes. I believe I’ll need to request the full text from the Academy after my Gong Jeok Chi measurement is complete.”
Yak Seon didn’t answer; he simply began reading the journal.
“May I look at it too?”
Eun Hyun was curious as well, so I added what the place Gu Jung Hwang Cheon was and which era the records seemed to date from.
I’d really dug hard to find that out.
The Eung Seong Jeol turned out to be a festival day from the Later Tang, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era.
“Bu Yo Ja?”
But remarkably, Eun Hyun, who had been reading the text, recognized something.
“What’s that?”
“It’s another name used by the Cultivator Heui I. After the Cultivator received the name Heui I from the Song Dynasty’s founder, that was a name he used before.”
Ah…… so that’s who it was!
“The physician who left this account had Cultivator Heui I as his teacher?”
Unlike me, Yak Seon’s eyes showed he knew something.
I gestured at Eun Hyun to explain, and after a moment’s hesitation, he spoke.
Centuries ago, there was a Daoist named Chen Tuan, most famously known by the name Cultivator Heui I.
Before Zhao Kuangyin, who would become the Song Dynasty’s founder, ascended to the throne, he wagered on a game of go against Chen Tuan, with Huashan as the stake—and won.
Later, when Zhao Kuangyin became emperor, he honored that old wager; during the Song Dynasty, Huashan and all the farmland below it were exempt from taxation.
“Whoa, so this physician’s teacher was the first Daoist of the Huashan Sect?”
“Not the Huashan Sect as it exists now. Before Master Hao Datong founded the current Huashan Sect, many Daoists had dwelt on Huashan for cultivation.”
“I see.”
“……If he was a disciple of Cultivator Heui I, then he was no mere charlatan.”
Yak Seon’s demeanor shifted, apparently because the physician was a disciple of someone whose name was known to history.
“Still, I can’t discern anything from this copy alone! I’ll need to read the medical text that lies within the formation you discovered.”
“……!”
“Don’t get your hopes too high. Just knowing that Man-nian Hwali exists somewhere in Kunlun won’t help us find it. There’s no guarantee it’s even still there after all this time.”
I’d only asked on the chance that he might know something about Wang Yak Ro.
And then Eun Hyun had uncovered his master’s true identity.
Now Yak Seon was saying he would read through that medical text in its entirety—the one that had been nearly incomprehensible to me.
It was far more than I’d dared hope for.
I bowed my gratitude several times over before leaving the Medicine Hall.
Two days later.
At last, the final appraisal results for the ornamental cabinet containing the formation came through.
Surviving as the Buk Hae Ice Palace’s Fated Young Lady (Serialized)
Author | Sajang Noru
Publisher | Kim Joo Hyung
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ⓒ Sajang Noru 2026
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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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