Chapter 97. The Entire World is My Home (18)
The one-eyed man vomited blood, having suffered severe internal injuries from Woo-Moon’s blow. However, he glared not at Woo-Moon but behind him for some strange reason. His eyes were full of rage and hatred.
‘Hmm? What’s going on...?’
Woo-Moon quickly focused on his senses.
“Huh?!”
Woo-Moon was so startled that goosebumps spread over his entire body. He turned around and saw a beautiful woman emerging from the forest's shadows. She appeared to be in her thirties and she was wearing a white robe.
She approached them with light footsteps.
Although time had left a few marks on her features, she was just as beautiful as Si-Hyeon, Ma-Ra, Hyeon Yu-Yeon, and Ha Yeo-Seol.
However, the part that made Woo-Moon more nervous than anything else was the aura exuding from her. The Aura of the Absolute was something that only Absolute Masters of the same level as the Palm Martial Emperor or the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor could display.
“Master!”
Woo-Moon figured out who the Absolute Master approaching them was from Ha Yeo-Seol’s shout.
‘I've heard of her. The only reason this person isn’t a member of the Eight Heavenly Martial Emperors or the Six Rising Challengers is that she isn’t from the Central Plains. She would not lose in any way to any of them! The Palace Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, Otherworldly Ice Fairy Ah Hee!’
Woo-Moon realized with a shudder just how accurate the rumors of gangho could be.
‘I can’t be one hundred percent sure because her cultivation is higher than mine, but she definitely doesn’t seem to be lacking in any way compared to Grandfather!’
A white film seemed to form around Ah Hee. The cold radiating from her body was so bone-chilling that it was causing frost and fog to form in the area around her even though the weather was warm.
She seemed to be a lifeform born from the Glacial Qi itself, almost glistening as she slowly walked toward the one-eyed man.
As she stepped forward, she addressed Woo-Moon, “Impressive little one, I’m sorry, but I'm afraid his life is not for you to take.”
If it were the past, Woo-Moon would have been oppressed to the point where he wouldn’t have been able to move or respond. However, having gained a substantial amount of experience with Absolute Masters through his battle with the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor, he was able to free himself from her pressure fairly quickly.
“And why would that be?”
“Oho~”
Ah Hee’s eyes lit up once again, just like when she had first seen Woo-Moon.
“How audacious. Still, I’ll forgive your transgressions, since you saved my disciple. This person was originally a member of the North Sea Ice Palace. This is just him acting out of spite against me after I kicked him out.”
In other words, she was telling him not to interfere as it was a palace matter. However, Woo-Moon still had another question.
“But that doesn’t still explain why Lady Ha, of all people, was the target.”
Although plenty of other disciples of the North Sea Ice Palace were there, the one-eyed man had specifically aimed to kidnap Ha Yeo-Seol from the beginning. Woo-Moon was sure of it, as he had been watching from the very beginning.
The one-eyed man sneered at Woo-Moon’s words, his mouth full of blood.
“That little bitch is the Palace Lord’s da—”
He couldn’t finish his sentence as Ah Hee lightly waved a hand, creating an ice spear out of thin air that stretched out long enough to pierce through his heart.
Crackle!
The one-eyed man was instantly killed by the ice spear, and his body was turned into a block of ice by the formidable Glacial Qi.
For some reason, Ah Hee’s mood suddenly changed as she glared at Woo-Moon.
“Although I planned on letting your transgressions go as you saved my disciple, it seems you insist on making me angry. Fine, take a single palm from me. If you survive, I’ll let you live.”
At the same time, Woo-Moon suddenly felt an ocean of bloodlust envelop him!
He cursed his own curiosity. Just why had he opened his mouth?!
He mustered every ounce of qi within his being.
‘This is quite the predicament. Is this even something I can survive?’
While still surprised by the fact that Woo-Moon, whom she had thought to have been an ordinary waiter, was a much stronger martial artist than she was, Ha Yeo-Seol hurriedly knelt down and beseeched her master.
“Please, Master! Please, for my sake, please show mercy!”
Sadly, no matter how much she begged, Ah Hee ignored her. A palm imbued with Glacial Qi struck the air in Woo-Moon’s direction.
Crackle!
A horrifying amount of Glacial Qi gathered in the air around her palm, freezing the very space before her and forming a wave of pure ice that flew toward Woo-Moon.
“Ugh!”
‘There’s only one thing that can block that!’
A brilliant golden light erupted from him as all of the qi in his body rushed toward the blade of his sword. A golden shield immediately formed before him—it was Woo-Moon’s best defensive technique, Impenetrable Golden Wall!
BANGBANGBANGBANG!
A heavy explosion resounded as Ah-Hee’s Divine Frozen Soul Palm and Woo-Moon’s Impenetrable Golden Wall collided head-on.
For a split second, it seemed as though Woo-Moon would be able to hold on.
However, blood quickly began to flow down the corner of Woo-Moon’s mouth as his feet dug into the ground. He was getting pushed back.
‘I have to hold on!’
Woo-Moon knew that the moment he couldn’t hold on and the Impenetrable Golden Wall dispersed, the horrifying chill of the Divine Frozen Soul Palm would cover him and turn him into a block of ice, just like that one-eyed man.
One zhang, two zhang, three zhang, four zhang, five zhang... ten zhang! He continued to get pushed back, unable to hold his ground.
Not only did he leave a deep furrow in the ground, as if he was tilling it with a plow, but the ground and the trees around him also froze completely.
Although Ah Hee had the leisure to attack once more, she didn’t bother to do so. Rather, she simply observed Woo-Moon’s Impenetrable Golden Wall with a curious gaze.
‘What an interesting technique. To think it combines defensive qi and a curtain of sword qi... Just whose disciple is he?’
Crack!
Woo-Moon was pushed back more and more, meeting a number of trees with his back in the process. He was only able to stop himself after knocking down fifteen trees.
“Cough, cough!”
Copious amounts of blood spewed from his mouth.
At that moment, a black shadow jumped out and grabbed Woo-Moon before quickly disappearing. It was Ma-Ra.
“Oho! There are quite a few interesting talents in the Central Plains, I see. That little one’s killing arts have reached a pretty high level, too.”
Although Ma-Ra had already gotten a considerable distance away, Ah Hee was naturally able to take both her and Woo-Moon’s lives with a single thought. However, she felt rather amused by the situation, so she just shrugged and let them go.
“Master!”
Slightly bloodied but otherwise unharmed, the other disciples of the North Sea Ice Palace appeared alongside ten members of the Gold Sword Squadron. Although they had momentarily fallen into crisis, the Gold Sword Squadron reinforcements had fortunately arrived quickly, able to move with haste due to their proximity to the Justice Coalition.
Ah Hee calmly nodded at the Gold Sword Squadron member’s greetings before turning to her disciples.
“What happened to those who attacked you?”
“They all fled when they found themselves at a disadvantage,” Jeong Gyeong said.
“The Justice Coalition is tracking them. It won’t be long before we can catch them all,” a member of the Gold Sword Squadron added.
Of course, Ah Hee didn’t think that the Justice Coalition would be able to succeed. The North Sea Ice Palace had been trying to catch those bastards for quite a long time to no avail. They weren’t all that incredibly strong, but they certainly were good at running away.
‘I guess I should at least take comfort in being able to kill that brat.’
Ah Hee suddenly turned to a large tree. Behind it hid Yu Cho, who had been hiding from view since earlier in the battle.
He had chased the one-eyed man as soon as he freed himself of his opponent, in order to save Ha Yeo-Seol. When Woo-Moon appeared, however, Yu Cho hid himself to observe the situation.
In the end, he was able to witness Woo-Moon’s incredible martial skills.
‘That bastard...I thought he was just a waiter! How the fuck did he end up blocking an attack from the North Sea Ice Palace Lord?! If it was me... could I have done something like that? Just what sort of bastard is he?! He looks as if he’s the same age as me!’
Woo-Moon’s performance served as a huge shock to Yu Cho, who had always prided himself on being the best.
Although she was aware that he was hiding from the very beginning, Ah Hee saw no reason to expose him, and certainly would not lower herself to greet him. She ignored him and walked away.
“Come. Let’s go back to the palace.”
“Understood, Master!”
Ha Yeo-Seol was crying, guilt-ridden at Woo-Moon having to suffer so greatly because of her. She reluctantly turned to leave.
Before leaving, the North Sea Ice Palace Master lightly waved her sleeve. The one-eyed man’s body, now a large block of ice, shattered into pieces.
Even though the members of the Gold Sword Squadron were looking for him, it was only after all of the North Sea Ice Palace members had left that Yu Cho appeared. Then, after giving a quick excuse as to why he disappeared, he and the others returned back to the Justice Coalition.
Woo-Moon’s figure was strongly engraved in Yu Cho’s mind. It was the same for Ha Yeo-Seol and... even the North Sea Ice Palace Lord Ah Hee as well.
In particular, Ah Hee had a faint smile on her face.
‘To think he didn’t die after my attack. I didn’t even hold back, either. It’s a truly incredible feat for someone so young. In a way, you could even say that I lost that exchange. What an outstanding talent.’
She was someone who had a strong inclination to appreciate talented youngsters. Thus, she wondered just how strong Woo-Moon would become in a couple of years.
***
As Ma-Ra fled with Woo-Moon on her back, a clink sounded from the frozen sword that he was still gripping...as it shattered into pieces.
Whenever Woo-Moon would leave to go practice alone at night, he would always make sure to move as quietly as possible so as to not wake Ma-Ra or Eun-Ah. As he had learned many things from watching Ma-Ra’s killing arts while living together, he had gotten so good at moving quietly that it was difficult for even Ma-Ra to sense it.
This time as well, Ma-Ra only realized that Woo-Moon had left when she opened her eyes in the morning.
Figuring out that he had gone out to practice, she entered the nearby mountains to search for him. However, by the time she found him, he was in dire straits, so she didn’t even hesitate for a second before jumping to save him.
She could feel his temperature dropping on her back.
Deciding that emergency treatment was the priority, Ma-Ra scanned the terrain around her and entered a valley, eventually finding a cave. Fortunately, there was no smell of rotting flesh or signs of wild animals.
She found a suitable place to lay Woo-Moon down before stripping him and preparing to stimulate and clear his acupoints.
She gathered qi in both hands and began to massage and prod various points across Woo-Moon’s entire body with her palms and fingers, stimulating the meridians of his entire body and imbuing him with qi. Because of the elaborate and strenuous nature of the massage, sweat soon began to flow, drenching her clothes.
The qi of the Forbidden Divine Art was circulating by itself, naturally fighting off Ah Hee’s Glacial Qi from within Woo-Moon’s body. Ma-Ra’s acupoint massage bolstered this effect, allowing Woo-Moon’s internal injuries to heal faster and driving out the Glacial Qi.
“Ugh...”
Woo-Moon was dazed for a moment after opening his eyes. Shaking off the haze, he quickly realized his situation and was flustered.
“W-What are you doing, Ma-Ra?!”
Well, it was only natural that he was flustered. That Ma-Ra was massaging him all over his body was one thing, but he was stark naked, not a single thread covering him.
“Acupoint massage.”
Although he was extremely flustered, he immediately understood what Ma-Ra was doing from her calm and collected answer. With that, he also remembered what had happened earlier—blocking Ah Hee’s palm, then being saved by Ma-Ra and losing consciousness in the process.
“I-I’m okay now. Thank you, Ma-Ra.”
Although a small—no, a large part of him wanted to feel more of her soft touch, Woo-Moon stopped Ma-Ra as he thought he would not be able to stand it anymore. He hurriedly put on his clothes.
“Face red again.”
“Oh, yes. Your massage was effective, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
Woo-Moon had to look away before responding, somewhat unable to face Ma-Ra after having all of him not only exposed, but massaged by her.
At the same time, he circulated his qi throughout his entire body. Fortunately, all of his internal injuries were now more or less recovered. Although he had only told Ma-Ra he was fine out of embarrassment, in actuality, Ma-Ra’s massage had really been helpful in healing all of his injuries.
Woo-Moon felt quite moved by her actions.
“Now then! Let’s go back, Ma-Ra!”
By now, the day was already ending. The whole ordeal had started in the morning, but it had taken Ma-Ra the whole day to help Woo-Moon recover.
***
When he arrived back at the pavilion, the Distinguished Swords all gathered around Woo-Moon—some worried, some elated, and some angry after having looked for him all day.
“What happened, Uncle? We were worried!”
“What a relief! Did anything happen? Did you and Lady Ma-Ra go off somewhere? Are you hurt?”
“Hmpf! At least you came back now, Uncle.”
Of course, it went without saying that Eun-Ah was first among those to welcome Woo-Moon back.
“Mew! Mew, mew!”