15
— — —
Paeng Jung-geol’s jaw dropped.
He truly hadn’t expected me to use my internal energy to attack him.
‘Has no one ever challenged him like this before?’
I thought it was the perfect textbook solution, but he seemed far more surprised than I had anticipated.
“Hahahaha! You got me. There certainly wasn’t a rule against doing that!”
*Whoosh—*
Still, he didn’t try to pick a fight over it.
Paeng Jung-geol laughed heartily, tossed me the pouch containing the antidotes, and took the severed piece of his sleeve in exchange.
I opened the pouch right there and confirmed that all three antidotes were inside.
“Hmph. The Namgung Clan is impressive indeed. To have another student pass the Long Spear Pavilion... you two are the second group.”
“The Namgung Clan?”
“That Sword Dragon fellow only took what was his and wiped his mouth clean, but his younger sibling is a bit better. I like it!”
I wondered why he was suddenly bringing up the Namgung Clan.
“...So, my older brother also passed the Long Spear Pavilion.”
Namgung Min’s face stiffened coldly.
Since she was the second child of the Azure Heaven Sword King, it seemed her older brother had passed the same test at the Academy several years ago.
“Indeed. Tsk, if I had known, I wouldn’t have needed to say there were three medicinal pellets. Hmm... choosing to yield the medicinal pellets to student Seol Sool-ryeo was also a good choice. Did you calculate that I am least accustomed to Ice Arts?”
Anyway, this Mr. Paeng Jung-geol talks too much.
What do I care about stories from the past?
Unless a compliment comes in the form of a medicinal pellet, it doesn’t hold much meaning.
Worried that he might blurt out the fact that there were only two pellets in the Long Spear Pavilion’s pouch, I quickly cut him off.
“Thank you for your kind words. You two should eat your antidotes quickly. Shouldn’t we also check if our friends have safely obtained theirs?”
I performed a fist-and-palm salute to Paeng Jung-geol and urged the two of them while handing over the antidotes.
Both Myeong-seong and Namgung Min had followers who traveled with them.
If one is a disciple of a major sect, shouldn’t they look after such people?
“Thank you, Miss Seol. I am grateful for your guidance, Master.”
Myeong-seong obediently took the antidote.
“...Thank you. However, please retract the praise regarding the Namgung Clan and myself. I am far from reaching my brother’s level. If it weren’t for Seol Sool-ryeo, I wouldn’t have been able to pass the Long Spear Pavilion.”
Namgung Min insisted on clarifying that it wasn’t her own achievement.
“Hm?”
At her words, Paeng Jung-geol’s expression shifted.
Although I was the student who had cut his sleeve at the end, the two of them had fought well during the three-on-one spar, and given his preconceived notions, he seemed to have assumed that Namgung Min had led the effort to find the antidote in the Long Spear Pavilion.
‘I would have thought the same.’
Even I had expected to just ride their coattails when the teams were first decided, so I didn’t feel any sense of injustice.
Isn’t the Namgung Clan the undisputed number one clan under heaven?
‘More importantly... he isn’t going to give us any separate rewards, is he?’
Even after receiving the antidote, I glanced at Paeng Jung-geol, but he only seemed surprised and didn’t look like he intended to give anything else.
Well, since no one was injured, it would be strange to give out Small Return Pellets anyway.
“Excuse me, Master Paeng. Is it possible to obtain additional antidotes if I challenge the other martial arts masters as well?”
If that were the case, I would have no choice but to secure them myself.
I had thought about helping the other children in exchange for something if it were possible.
“Ah, no! That won’t do! Each student can only challenge one martial arts master, and only once!”
Paeng Jung-geol recited a rule that I highly suspected he had just made up on the spot.
“Is that so? That is a pity... I thought it would be an opportunity to learn from various masters.”
“Hah! The others are busy trying to find a way to detoxify, yet you are already being greedy!”
He reassured me by saying there would be plenty of opportunities to have instructional spars after entering the Academy.
Honestly, I figured it wouldn’t be allowed, so I wasn’t that disappointed.
“Yes. I will keep it in my eyes for today and look forward to the next opportunity. Ah, why don’t you two also go and request a spar from the martial arts masters?”
“Ah...”
“Master, I wish to challenge you!”
At my words, the students who had been peeking over while fighting among themselves began to move.
Some ran straight to the masters to challenge them, while others asked students who had already consumed their antidotes for help.
After all, except for the three of us in our group, no other student had fought a master yet.
“E-excuse me, Miss Seol.”
Then, a child approached me.
“Yes?”
“Hiccup! I apologize.”
I had only answered normally, but the unknown student was startled and ran away.
What is wrong with them? Is this someone who has strange prejudices against the North Sea Ice Palace? I’m not going to eat them!
“Excuse me, Miss Seol...”
Another student approached.
Not alone, but with five others.
“Since you have already recovered your internal energy, you have the antidote you received from the master, right?”
“I do.”
I showed the pouch containing the extra antidotes slightly.
I had hidden one without Myeong-seong or Namgung Min knowing, but since many people had seen this one, I couldn’t hide it entirely.
“Are you here to fight me?”
Did they think it was better to challenge me than a master?
That seemed like a rather interesting thought, so I immediately placed my hand on my sword.
“Aaah, no, that’s not it!”
“We wouldn’t dare think of such a thing!”
They waved their hands and vehemently denied it.
If they weren’t here to fight, then what?
Surely they wouldn’t be shameless enough to just ask for it for free...
“Would you be willing to sell it to me? I can offer you ten silver taels!”
As I stared at them silently, one of them made a plausible offer.
Ten silver taels?
The North Sea doesn’t have a very active monetary economy.
But in the Central Plains, silver taels are the currency used for high-value transactions.
I knew that a single silver tael could support a commoner’s family for over a month.
Of course, the price structure is very different from the modern world.
The price gap between daily necessities and luxury goods is huge.
Even though merchants from the Central Plains sometimes bought North Sea furs for a few silver taels, the fact that they were willing to offer ten taels so easily meant this child was clearly from a very wealthy family.
“Hmm...”
“I’ll give you twelve taels!”
As I toyed with my lips without answering, another child who had come with them shouted.
“I’ll give you fifteen!”
“Hey, I’ll give you thirty!”
Ho, the price keeps going up?
As expected of children from wealthy backgrounds, the scale of the money they spent was different.
‘Should I sell?’
My heart wavered for a moment, but it’s not as if I’m short on money.
I glanced at Paeng Jung-geol.
If I say I’m selling the remaining antidotes, he wouldn’t just take them away, would he?
However, even after seeing things head toward an auction-like situation, Paeng Jung-geol didn’t stop it.
He was merely watching me with a very intrigued look in his eyes.
“I’m not selling for now.”
That attitude actually gave me more confidence.
I said firmly.
“Ah...”
The child who had proposed the trade looked disappointed, and Paeng Jung-geol wore a surprised expression.
As expected, even if they paid thirty silver taels, it would have been a profitable trade for him.
“Let’s talk after we’ve attended the Academy for a few days. It’s not like having no internal energy will cause a huge problem right away, is it?”
As of now, I don’t know exactly how much inconvenience it will cause to attend the Academy for a month or two without internal energy.
Based on what has been revealed, just dormitory access?
But surely it would be difficult to keep up with the classes.
I had a feeling that as I went through daily life at the Academy, the value of the antidote would rise above thirty silver taels.
‘I’ll wait and see, then sell it for more.’
Of course, I didn’t want to incur unnecessary grudges.
I shifted the focus to the Academy and the masters.
“It’s a pity I only have one extra antidote. If I could have obtained more from the other masters, I would have fought alongside you.”
It was something I could say because I had already received the answer that it was impossible from Paeng Jung-geol.
“Ha... I am grateful just for you saying that.”
The naive child nodded with a disappointed look.
A few others tried to offer prices after that, but as I said, I had no intention of selling today, no matter how much they offered.
“Ugh!”
I turned my head to see a master who had been challenged tossing a student aside quite cleanly.
Paeng Jung-geol hadn’t attacked the young student blindly, but it seemed the standards weren’t consistent for everyone.
There were cases where children who had recovered their internal energy after watching me formed groups to challenge them, but unfortunately, no other student had received an antidote from the masters after our group.
— — —
* * *
— — —
I wandered around until all the students returned, watching their challenges.
The students who had consumed the antidote sat down with relaxed faces, while those who hadn’t obtained one looked completely devastated.
From what I heard, it wasn’t simple to obtain the antidotes even in places that were intuitively marked, like on top of pavilions or under trees.
Some had to dig under a tree for a long time to find a pouch.
Others found that the pillars of a pavilion were so slippery that it was impossible to climb them without light-foot skills.
“I don’t know what kind of oil they smeared on it, but I tried to climb it several times and failed. When I tried to break the pavilion, a Wudang disciple suggested we pile up rocks next to it.”
In the case of the Pure Heart Pavilion where Maeng Ryeong-ji went, it was a structure that could be climbed if you used your head just a little bit.
Perhaps that was why it only contained one antidote.
Maeng Ryeong-ji said she had snatched it up immediately.
Even though it was the Wudang disciple who came up with the idea, since Maeng Ryeong-ji was the one who moved the rocks and climbed up herself, there was no reason for her to yield it.
“Ugh... a mechanism formation where spears pop out. If it had been me, I might have died... I’m glad I was stuck in a place that wasn’t too difficult.”
So-woon mentioned that the Dark Moon Pavilion, where she had gone, also had mechanisms of its own.
However, there were no real dangers there; she said that once Gu Won-ui accurately struck the fourth target with a hidden weapon, a pouch simply popped out.
There were two antidotes inside, and she said Gu Won-ui had arbitrarily excluded the collateral branch of the Murong Clan and distributed the antidotes to So-woon and a disciple of the Qingcheng Sect instead.
“Everyone managed to secure their own share. That’s a relief.”
Of course, even if they hadn’t managed to secure their own, she wouldn’t have handed out the spares or the ones meant for auction.
If the children I had grown close to before entering the Academy hadn’t obtained any, I would have felt a bit uneasy, but everyone had managed to find an antidote somehow.
‘It seems he didn’t have much trouble finding his, either.’
Seeing him standing silently at a vague distance, it appeared that Eun-hyun had also neutralized the Energy-Dispersing Poison without issue.
“Fifty-six, fifty-seven... Everyone is here. Head to your respective dormitories!”
Paeng Jung-geol, who had been checking the number of students chattering in confusion, shouted.
Is the entrance ceremony over with this?
“That’s the dormitory, right?”
I asked Maeng Ryeong-ji, pointing toward the flags on the mountain.
But before Maeng Ryeong-ji could answer, Paeng Jung-geol provided the explanation.
“Those recommended by the Five Great Clans are to go to the Heavenly Mandate Pavilion, and those who brought tokens from the Nine Great Sects are to go to the Earthly Righteous Pavilion!”
Paeng Jung-geol, himself a member of the Hebei Paeng Clan, shouted with a voice full of pride.
Ah, so there are multiple dormitories?
“And everyone else is to go to the Human Foundation Pavilion. Dismissed!”
They’re openly classifying us by these standards?
The phrase “everyone else” left me with a strange feeling.
Paeng Jung-geol looked toward the children who had sat at our table earlier—the ones who had entered the Academy through the examination—before speaking.
“Ah.”
He added a separate instruction for Eun-hyun, who was standing in an ambiguous spot mixed in among them.
“You are to go to the Earthly Righteous Pavilion.”
For a moment, I thought I caught Eun-hyun’s eye.
“Yes.”
He nodded without a word.
I suppose they prioritize background over recommendation tokens?
“Sool-ryeo! Let’s go!”
Maeng Ryeong-ji draped her arm over my shoulder.
The students who had recovered their internal energy all used light-body techniques as if to show off, excitedly racing up the mountain.
Surviving as the Heiress with a Limited Time Left in the Arctic Ice Palace (Serialized)
Author │ Musk Deer
Publisher │ Kim Joo-hyung
Published by │ J-Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ #401, 11, Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th)
E-mail │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒMusk Deer 2026
※ This work is published by J-Plus Media Co., Ltd. under a 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 publisher and the author.
Violations may result in criminal or civil legal liability.
0 Comments