Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 9

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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 9
“In all my years since this academy opened, I never thought I’d see anyone actually hold a Life-Death Match before the Entrance Ceremony even began. Too bad it didn’t work out!”
A broad-shouldered man, built much like Meng Lingzhi, with a massive blade strapped across his back.
He looked to be around my father’s age.
From the context, he had to be the Martial Master, didn’t he?
I clasped my hands respectfully and bowed deeply.
Better show proper courtesy to the Martial Master!
“Greetings, Master.”
“Hmm?”
He stared at me intently, scrutinizing every feature of my face.
“You’re the daughter of the Polar Star Emperor!”
He recognized my identity at a glance.
“Yes, I’m Seol Suryeo, from Beihaibing Palace.”
“Ah, so that’s it. The resemblance is striking, but unlike that brat, you’ve got some manners about you! I’m curious how much of his martial skill you’ve inherited!”
If he knew my father by appearance, he must be an old acquaintance of his.
Because of my Severed Meridian, I’d been holding back my Ice Art as much as possible.
I simply smiled without speaking.
“It’s a shame we didn’t set a new record today, but there’ll be plenty of chances to have a real blood-pumping fight soon enough. No need to worry!”
Of course, the Martial Master didn’t seem particularly concerned.
No one had been worried about that, but he announced it loudly anyway, then gave both Meng Lingzhi and Eun Hyeon hearty slaps on the back.
“Ming Jing’s disciple.”
That’s how he referred to Eun Hyeon.
“Go wait at the Heikapkan. I’ll have Ming Jing brought to you.”
He pointed abruptly at a nearby hall.
Then, practically hoisting Eun Hyeon up by his collar, he vanished in that direction.
What in the world was that?
If he was going to stop it, he could’ve stepped in sooner!
“Is that the Martial Master?”
I whispered the question to Meng Lingzhi.
“That would be Peng Zhongge, the Mad Flame Blade Master.”
She actually knew the Martial Master’s name directly.
I thought it was fortunate to have a sibling who was so well-informed, even coming from as far away as Yunnan.
* * *
I’d only meant to watch casually, but a fight nearly broke out.
Still, somehow they managed to calm everything down, and the situation was resolved.
Meng Lingzhi and I were able to observe how the Martial Master evaluated the other applicants.
“He really does seem to value growth potential highly.”
“Mm. That one barely has any Inner Power and he still passed.”
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that was genuinely entertaining about it.
We stepped out briefly in the middle and went to the heart of Luoyang, wandering through the markets to get some snacks, then returned at the appointed time.
In just that short interval, Eun Hyeon’s reputation had spread, and the crowd had swollen several times over.
“It doesn’t look like Huashan swordsmanship at all.”
“That one’s used the Killing Sword.”
The Killing Sword? What did that even mean?
The scarred older men standing nearby made me feel distinctly uneasy.
But their assessment was decidedly mixed.
Right now he was practically treating it like fighting a child.
In any case, the Martial Contest produced no surprises.
A boy named Ju Pyeongam lost to Eun Hyeon in just six exchanges and dropped his sword.
And Dan Rihyang, who’d overcome the Guanyuan Blade through intense combat, proved no match for Eun Hyeon either.
“The Nine Sects really are on another level!”
“What? Unlike before, he’s not breaking swords this time?”
“The Martial Master must have warned him.”
The main difference was that this time, unlike his earlier matches, he’d shown a bit more restraint in his technique.
After Ju Pyeongam dropped his sword, he’d even asked if the boy wanted to concede, and when fighting Dan Rihyang, he’d deliberately avoided striking at vital points.
The boy had some rough edges, but really, everyone was being too hard on someone with a good heart.
“The Tianwu Gathering this year is going to be worth watching.”
Everyone was buzzing about Eun Hyeon.
But since his opponents had been so weak that he hadn’t even needed to draw on his full strength, I thought it pointless to compare him with anyone at this stage.
Among the other applicants, I’d noticed one boy’s way of wielding the Guanyuan Blade caught my attention personally.
Dan Rihyang showed admirable resolve, falling again and again against Eun Hyeon only to rise once more.
“Well done, all of you! Yes, this is the spirit of a true martial artist—charging forward without hesitation to the very end!”
Peng Zhongge clearly approved of Dan Rihyang’s fierce determination.
After the match concluded, he handed Dan Rihyang what appeared to be a Spiritual Pill.
“A Huiyuan Pill. Take it and rest—you’ll be fully recovered by the Entrance Ceremony.”
……Was that really a Spiritual Pill? What exactly was it?
I’d never heard the name before, but it seemed to be a medicine for restoring one’s original vitality.
That they would go out of their way to give him such a thing—so the masters really do favor those who charge forward without reservation?
‘I should do the same when I face Eun Hyeon.’
I silently resolved on my future conduct for when I would inevitably face a stronger opponent before the masters.
“Hmm, you’ve consumed plenty of such pills already in Huashan, so you hardly need one.”
Yet Peng Zhongge handed a pill to Eun Hyeon as well.
“Eh?”
“All successful candidates for the Tianwu Academy’s Twenty-Second Entrance Examination receive a Xiaotian Pill.”
And that wasn’t even the end of it.
Not just the three who’d fought moments ago, but all the children who’d passed during our absence received pills.
“What is this? Surely they can’t all be Spiritual Pills?”
I asked in surprise.
Do they give them to everyone upon Entrance? Will I receive one on my Entrance day?
“Xiaotian Pills, it seems. Ah—to narrow the gap with disciples from the great sects, they distribute them to those who pass the examination.”
“There’s such a thing?”
Now I understood why Eun Hyeon had bothered taking the test! Such rewards existed?
I stared intently at the Spiritual Pill in Eun Hyeon’s hand, but Meng Lingzhi shook her head, saying it wasn’t worth envying.
“Besides, Xiaotian Pills are easily obtained if you achieve results at the Academy or complete simple missions. My own relatives receive them regularly, and I’ve eaten Rieyang Pills many times.”
Ah……
True—if these were truly precious, everyone would be taking the examination instead of relying on Recommendation Tokens.
For friends like the direct heirs of the Five Great Families, who drink Spiritual Pills as casually as water, they likely meant nothing special.
Even for someone like Meng Lingzhi, they seemed unremarkable.
Still, I wished I could use regular Inner Power instead of Yin Cold Energy.
“For you, Suryeo, you could obtain even the Tianbing Pill and the legendary Daitian Pill! I guarantee it!”
What I actually needed was the Rieyang Pill, but I couldn’t speak of my Severed Meridian.
So I set aside my disappointment and nodded.
‘Still, to distribute Spiritual Pills so freely… they truly are extraordinary.’
Seeing the pills before my eyes kindled my ambition anew.
I resolved to maintain perfect conduct and participate in every opportunity to earn rewards.
“Those who’ve never consumed a Spiritual Pill remain—the rest of you are dismissed!”
As another master offered brief congratulations, Peng Zhongge announced this loudly.
The ceremony ended as quickly as it had begun.
Soon the crowd dispersed.
Eun Hyeon glanced around briefly before following a man dressed similarly to himself.
“Thank you for suggesting I come. It was enjoyable.”
“The pleasure is mine! I caught a glimpse of your true strength, however brief!”
I’d merely restrained him for a moment, yet she spoke of witnessing my skill.
I deferred Meng Lingzhi’s request to fight me properly until after my Entrance, and returned quietly to the inn to recount the day’s events to Baek Ung Daejju.

“The children showed decent character, didn’t they?”
“Well… that is… well… yes, they did well.”
He expressed mild regret that I hadn’t invited him to the testing ground.
As if he weren’t someone who enjoyed a good fight himself.
“How did the Huashan disciples wield their swords?”
“Oh, shall I show you? The observers said it didn’t quite resemble Huashan swordplay. Right—that unaffiliated girl’s martial art was extremely peculiar too.”
Perhaps the techniques of the other successful candidates would have been easier to grasp.
“You remembered a martial art you’d never seen before, just like that?”
I roughly recreated the technique Eun Hyeon had displayed.
I couldn’t channel Inner Power the same way, but the movements were close enough.
“Hmm… strangely, I detect traces of the Sword Style of Jiangluo in the Huashan technique.”
The Sword Style of Jiangluo? The Putuo Sect?
Wasn’t that sect composed entirely of women?
That’s completely unexpected.
He was graceful, true, but he certainly wasn’t a woman.
“The spectators say they’ve seen the Killing Sword technique before, haven’t they?”
“Is that so? I confess I’m not entirely certain which sword form you’ve just demonstrated. Perhaps it’s best forgotten. The truth is, I don’t know all the martial arts of the Central Plains as thoroughly as one might think.”
Even as the foremost master of Central Plains martial knowledge in Beihaibing Palace, Baek Ung Daejju couldn’t claim to know everything.
I nodded and proceeded to display the martial techniques that the Guanyuan Blade had unfolded.
As I spent the remaining days working through technique sequences and various countering methods alongside Baek Ung Daejju, time slipped away.
Before long, the day of the Entrance Ceremony arrived.
Surviving as the Temporary Young Mistress of Beihaibing Palace (Serialized)
Author | Sayang Noru
Publisher | Kim Joo-hyung
Publishing House | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
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© Sayang Noru 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. No part of this content may be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and author.
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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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