Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 85

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 85
And so all the students recovered their Internal Energy.
Eun Hyun and I each pocketed ninety Merit Points as payment.
The eighteen students whose Mountain Empty Poison hadn’t yet lifted had all eaten the mushrooms, and we split their points in half.
“Merit Points this substantial…”
Eun Hyun, who had been painstakingly scraping together two or three points at a time before Yak Seon agreed to look after Okk Yeon Ju, seemed utterly dazed.
“We priced it well. If I’d pushed too hard, they would have said they’d wait the remaining four days—or I suspect they’d have snuck off and eaten the poisonous mushrooms alone.”
The rare genuine Antidote went to auction and fetched a hundred and twenty silver taels.
The basic-grade Antidote we moved at a steep discount at the last moment, yet we still managed to secure Merit Points.
Yak Seon was the one who gave the hint, and Eun Hyun was the one who deciphered the poison-curing poison.
But I’d done all the asking around and the selling, so taking half as commission felt deliciously profitable.
‘Hah—do I have a talent for commerce? If I’d been born into a merchant family like that person I met recently, I might’ve become quite the trader.’
Eun Hyun nodded in admiration at my words.
Rather than resenting the commission rate, he was astonished that I’d extracted Merit Points from the students at all,
and grateful that I’d passed half of it to him.
‘A true merchant knows when to invest.’
I used twenty of the Merit Points I’d earned this time to buy a Lesser Heaven Pill.
Yak Seon sighed as he had before, saying it wouldn’t match the efficiency of a Greater Heaven Pill,
but I needed Internal Energy immediately if I was going to win the survival competition.
The Lesser Heaven Pill let me perform Qi Circulation right away and made the Internal Energy my own.
Since I had no idea when or how the survival competition would start, I always carried the Restoration Pill I’d bought earlier.
It would be nice if I could sell trap-setting equipment too.
I asked at the smithy about it, but the commissions required too many Merit Points and took too much time, so I gave up.
And I should invest in excellent human resources as well!
“Thanks to So Un picking out the mushrooms, I saved a lot of trial and error—should I share some of the profit?”
When I returned to Inbon Hall that evening and brought it up with So Un,
“No, it’s fine! Seol picked out a sword for me anyway, didn’t she? I’ve been at the Academy a long time, so I’m not in any rush.”
“Hmm… all right then. I’ll help you once during the Hunting Expedition.”
Since she declined,
I decided to keep the Merit Points and help her with martial strength once instead.
* * *
Four days passed like that.
The students who’d recovered their Internal Energy threw themselves into martial training with renewed vigor,
and those who’d always been able to use Internal Energy clashed blades with them in the same spirit.
“Ahhhhh! We’re finally leaving the Academy!”
“Freedom!”
Despite having been warned by Paeng Jung Geol that this wasn’t about hunting animals,
the fact of leaving after a month confined indoors seemed to delight them.
At the time appointed by the Martial Instructors, all fifty-seven of us lined up in four columns in front of the main gate,
waiting with bated breath for the doors to open.
“Heh heh, the first month at the Academy seems to have been quite enjoyable.”
Then the Academy Headmaster appeared.
“Gasp—Headmaster!”
“Seon Gak Master!”
Good grief, where did he spring from?
Given what had happened at the last Entrance Ceremony,
the students flinched and scattered in alarm.
“No need for alarm. This is merely my first visit to greet you since this is the first event held outside the Academy. Now then, you’ll be enjoying the Hunting Expedition—best not to overexcite yourselves from the start.”
“Yes…!”
“We shall conduct ourselves with honor as Tianwu Academy students!”
Yet instead of reprimanding them, the Headmaster smiled with warmth as he strolled among the students.
He passed beside me as well, and the silk of the Buddhist robes he wore still felt strangely out of place, so expensive and refined.
“Well, it’s no wonder they’re brimming with energy. For all the students to free themselves from the Mountain Empty Poison is unprecedented.”
The Headmaster said he’d placed methods of detoxification throughout the Academy but no one had properly used them until now, clicking his tongue,
and praised this cohort as being clever, his gaze settling briefly on Eun Hyun and me.
Between the loud cheering within the Academy grounds and the shift in Merit Points, it seemed the Headmaster had come to know of it.
“Th-thank you!”
“We shall do our best!”
Beyond us, Seon Gak Master made eye contact with the children who’d recovered their Internal Energy late and smiled at each one.
Despite him being the very one who’d administered the Mountain Empty Poison in the first place,
The children were captivated by that magnanimous face and moved to gratitude by his words.
“Then, go safely and return well!”
When the Academy Headmaster flicked his fingers, the middle gate and main gate swung open together with a great crash.
“Hurray!”
“Yes!”
The new students happily streamed out of the Academy.
A few steps past the gate, some of them marveled aloud with dangerously exuberant phrases like “We’ve escaped!” and “We’re free!”
The Martial Instructors did not stop them.
Heo Gong and Paeng Jung Geol led the way, the students followed behind them, and Muk Jin Ha came along at the rear, present yet invisible.
Apart from Je Gal In, every Martial Instructor who taught the lessons shared by all the new students had come along.
But they simply watched the children with the contented demeanor of ordinary teachers.
“Where are we going?”
“The direction is north.”
Gu Won answered my murmured question.
North of the Academy lay Luoyang City, but rather than entering it, the path skirted around the walls and continued straight upward.
“It’s more straightforward than I expected.”
“Tell me about it.”
I’d anticipated that during the journey they might make us race using Lightness Skill and punish stragglers.
Or that we might be fitted with iron rings on wrists and ankles and weighted with bundles on our shoulders.
Instead, the Martial Instructors let the students walk with unencumbered bodies at an easy pace.
Perhaps because we hadn’t formally learned Lightness Skill during Basic External Work lessons?
“We’re heading into the mountains, aren’t we? I hope there’s a wild jungle with ferocious beasts!”
“There’s no jungle in Henan Province.”
“Anywhere is fine! Let’s hunt animals and hunt people too!”
Maeng Ryeong Ji’s voice was naturally boisterous, but today at the mention of hunting, she seemed unusually animated.
“The air is so fresh once we’ve left the Academy!”
“We could move a bit faster, though.”
“This time, I’ll show my true strength!”
Others like Ju Pyeong Sam and Seon Mu Hyeok, who had recovered their Internal Energy, were equally spirited.
In particular, Dan Ri Hyang seemed to be itching to demonstrate something.
The Academy Headmaster had even come out to see us off himself—didn’t that make anyone anxious?
I’d thought perhaps only our Dormitory friends were so lighthearted, but that wasn’t quite it.
From the Cheonmyeong Hall contingent, Nam Goong A Young was chattering merrily beside Nam Goong Min.
And Paeng Ho’s group kept breaking into hearty laughter over something or other.
The Jijeong Hall group was said to have a naturally reserved atmosphere, but even their students showed undisguised excitement on their faces.
We walked for several hours like that.
The children showed no signs of tiring.
Today they even seemed to enjoy eating their Grain-Avoidance Pills.
“I think it’s good to set up camp around here.”
As if we’d be walking more tomorrow, Paeng Jung Geol stopped the students as the sun began to set and prepared the camp.
“Oh, I wish we’d brought flint!”
“Fire’s nothing—we’ll light it in a moment!”
Maeng Ryeong Ji kindled a flame in an instant with her flint.
“D-did you light it with the Fire Technique?”
“There’s no such thing!”
The children marveled and took the embers.
See, so I wasn’t the only one imagining lighting fire with the Heat Yang Technique.
“Don’t wander off! Starting tomorrow, I’ll let you hunt to your heart’s content!”
At Paeng Jung Geol’s command, the students went obediently into their tents.
But even inside, the children chattered on.
“By the way, have all of you hunted before?”
“I haven’t.”
“I’ve caught a few things with a bow, but…”
“It’s simple! When the prey charges at you like this, just swing your Axe!”
“What if it runs away?”
“Chase it!”
Surprisingly, quite a few of the students had no hunting experience.
Maeng Ryeong Ji taught them the basics of facing wild animals with sword and Axe.
But no matter how I tried to run through pleasant hunting scenarios in my mind,
I kept seeing the Seon Gak Master’s gentle smile from this morning replaying itself over and over in my thoughts.
Paeng Jung Geol had been so explicit about it being a manhunt, yet everyone seemed perfectly at ease. I couldn’t fathom why.
‘What if I wake up tomorrow already trapped inside some ceremony?’
But mercifully, my anxiety proved unfounded this time.
I slept soundly through the night, and nothing unusual occurred.
“Four to a boat!”
The next day, we arrived at the river.
Surviving as the Buk Hae Ice Palace’s Terminally Ill Young Mistress (Serialized)
Author | Sahyang Noru
Publisher | Kim Ju Hyeong
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae Hyeok
Address | 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Acetech 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 no part of its contents may 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.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————