Martial Arts Ain’t That Big of a Deal

Within Beihai Ice Palace, much like the other Seven Fiend Gates, there was a martial art passed down exclusively to the Palace Lords for generations.

It was Northern Darkness Divine Art (Bukmyeong Shingong).

Simply put, it was an advanced version of Absorption Great Technique (Heupseong Daebeop).

More accurately, Absorption Great Technique was merely a crude imitation of Northern Darkness Divine Art.

Unlike Absorption Great Technique, which indiscriminately absorbs all sorts of chaotic energies and inevitably causes internal collapse, Northern Darkness Divine Art refines all absorbed qi into Ice Jade Divine Qi.

You couldn’t explain the history of Beihai Ice Palace without mentioning this martial art.

One of its core functions was the ability to transfer internal energy without any loss.

Through this, each generation’s Palace Lord inherited the immense reservoir of qi accumulated by their predecessors.

But what happened to the previous Palace Lord who passed it down?

What they transferred wasn’t simply internal energy—it was the very essence of their cultivated qi.

With such a complete transfer, their enlightenment remained at the level of a Transcendent Realm master, but their body reverted to that of a mere third-rate martial artist.

“Huh. So their lifespan, which was extended through internal energy, doesn’t instantly revert back, killing them on the spot?”

“Tch… What nonsense. The body has already been rejuvenated. While aging speeds up slightly, the lifespan itself remains close to that of an ordinary person.”

Of course, Transcendent Realm enlightenment wasn’t something trivial. Even with only a small amount of qi, one could rapidly regain their former level.

‘Though it likely wouldn’t be that simple.’

When a Palace Lord transferred most of their qi to the next generation, both their essence and energy would take a severe hit.

Reaching Transcendence again wouldn’t be impossible, but it was far from guaranteed.

‘To summarize, it works like this.’

When the Young Lord reaches the Transcendent Realm—or even after reaching it—the reigning Palace Lord passes down the accumulated qi through Northern Darkness Divine Art.

The Palace Lord loses their cultivation and reverts to a third-rate martial artist, while the Young Lord officially ascends to the position of Palace Lord.

“The former Palace Lord, having transferred all their qi, is finally freed. After spending nearly their entire life trapped within the palace, they are at last released into the world.”

Naturally, not every Palace Lord followed this tradition.

Throughout the long history of Beihai Ice Palace, there had been a few cases where, fearing the loss of their cultivation, some Palace Lords abandoned their position without passing down their qi.

Every time that happened, the Ice Palace faced significant turmoil.

Yet, considering it had managed to survive to the present, it seemed they had always found a way to resolve it.

‘This woman… she inherited all the accumulated qi, didn’t she?’

Even Seo-jun was impressed by Baek Seol-hyang’s sheer level of internal energy. In terms of pure volume, she might even surpass Demon Devouring Green Lotus (Sumo Nok So-pyeong).

“Well, I get the gist of it.”

In short, this was Baek Seol-hyang’s situation: