Chapter 157

A refreshing, cool blue sea stretches endlessly. There, the pure white harp seal, Sima Mantian, splashes around, swimming excitedly.

“Ow~ Ow~ The whole world is a sea of water, ow! So much fun!”

No sign of his natural enemy, the polar bear, or the massive ice continent. All that exists is the sea.

Splash~ Splash~.

While happily swimming and making joyful noises, he noticed something white floating on the water’s surface.

“Ow? What’s that?”

It was his disciple and the young lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, the polar bear(?) Seol Mo Dan.

“Eh! Ehh!? Po, polar bear! Snap out of it, ow!”

Startled, the harp seal Sima Mantian shook the limp polar bear Mo Dan awake.

“Ugh… Ugh… Big brother… I’m not a polar bear. I’m a white wolf.”

“Ehh!? I thought you were a polar bear, ow!”

Surprisingly, Seol Mo Dan wasn’t a polar bear. He was a white wolf that inhabits cold regions.

To the harp seal, whether it’s a polar bear or a white wolf, both are natural enemies, so it’s all the same.

“Ah, anyway! What happened? Why are you floating in the water, huh?”

And the truth that came from the white wolf Seol Mo Dan’s mouth was shocking.

“Grr… It’s because of the lilies… The North Sea Ice Palace has completely melted due to reckless warmth.”

“Whaaaaat!?”

Thi, this place was the North Sea Ice Palace!?

As I was shocked, another sorrowful cry reached my ears.

“Waaah~ Big brother! Sima Mantian! The North Sea Ice Palace has completely melted!?”

The princess of the North Sea Ice Palace, the little white wolf Seol Wonhwa, clung to the remnants of what was once the palace, a small piece of ice, shivering and crying.

Truly, the tears of the North Sea Ice Palace!

I could only look at the siblings who had lost their home overnight with a stunned expression.

“Ow… Ow… Ow…”

Tears streamed down the white wolf Mo Dan’s face, wetting his soft cheeks as they fell into the sea that had become his homeland.

“Grr… Wonhwa… The North Sea Ice Palace… The Arctic fox… The Arctic expedition team… All of them…!”

“Mo Dan… For someone as proud as you to cry-!”

It was almost on the level of Vegeta’s tears.

The white wolf Mo Dan, whose head hurt from crying, staggered and collapsed, and the harp seal Sima Mantian hurriedly supported him with a determined face.

“Snap out of it! You can’t lose consciousness, ow!”

“…Please, big brother. Help the North Sea Ice Palace. Intervene in the lilies for me.”

The white wolf Mo Dan stretched out his trembling, soft hand towards the harp seal Sima Mantian.

“If we leave it like this, the relentless warmth will melt all the ice in the world, turning it into a sea of water. Someone has to stop them.”

The harp seal Sima Mantian firmly grasped the trembling hand of the white wolf Mo Dan.

“Alright! I get it! I’ll intervene in the lilies! Stay conscious-!”

“…Save the North Sea Ice Palace… Save Wonhwa.”

Thud-.

With those words, the white wolf Mo Dan slumped like a wet rag.

“Polar beeeear-!!”

“…Again, I’m not a polar bear, I’m a white wolf.”

The white wolf Mo Dan, not a polar bear, slightly opened his eyes to correct, but.

“That’s right! Big brother is a proud white wolf! Waaah! The ice!?”

The white wolf Wonhwa, clinging to the ice, also cried out, but.

That wasn’t the important part.

“Ahh- I’ll do it. I’ll intervene, I said-!!”

The important part was that the harp seal Sima Mantian was incredibly angry.

“Everyday yuri! Incest yuri! Weak yuri! Age gap! Reverse age gap! Yuri! VTubers! Soft! TS yuri! This one- That one- All of them!”

A single harp seal sings of destruction towards the sky.

“I’ll corrupt all the females! Owowowowow-!!”

…And as usual, you know how it goes. He wakes up from the dream.

‧

‧

‧

The sound of birds chirping and warm sunlight fills Sima Mantian’s room.

I blinked my eyes and came to my senses.

And as I slowly lowered my gaze to the pleasant scent and something soft and smooth in my arms.

A golden-haired, youthful master with a blushing face.

“…If you’re awake, let go.”

Wang Miaoyang was glaring at me while being hugged in my arms.

It seems I grabbed her in my sleep when she came to wake me up.

I rolled my eyes and slowly released my arms from around Wang Miaoyang’s small, soft back.

“Um… Hey… Master?”

Wang Miaoyang, who had slipped out of my arms and straightened her clothes, sighed with a face still flushed.

“Sigh… I was worried when you didn’t come for morning training…”

She raised her small fist and gave me a no-questions-asked knuckle sandwich.

Thud-!

“Ugh!?”

Not a bad start to the day.

***

In a secluded corner of Zhongnan Mountain, hidden by formations, lies the Jeonjin Sect.

Eyes as clear as amethyst.

A twelve-year-old beauty with long black hair tinged with a faint purple, though not as striking as her captivating eyes.

Ma Yang practiced the Jeonjin Sword Technique with a wooden sword.

“…When is this auntie coming back? It’s worrying.”

She was waiting for her master, who had left and hadn’t returned yet.

Her master, Ma Xuan, often went down the mountain to gather food or daily necessities, but she had never left the sect unattended for so long.

Moreover, the sect consisted only of Master Ma Xuan and disciple Ma Yang.

Ma Yang had to wait alone in the humble estate they called a sect.

“Sigh… I hope she didn’t really go to find the Heavenly Escape Sword Technique.”

The Heavenly Escape Sword Technique – a legendary sword technique from Taoist lore.

It’s said that the sword immortal Lü Dongbin learned it from the Fire Dragon True Person, a dragon, during his travels, and it has the power to cut through demonic energy.

A martial art that exists only in stories. That’s what Ma Yang thought of the Heavenly Escape Sword Technique.

Though her master seemed to think differently.

“To rebuild the sect, we need money and people. What good is finding some sword technique? The Jeonjin Sect didn’t fall because our martial arts were weak…”

As Ma Yang muttered to herself to ease her loneliness.

“Practicing while talking to yourself and slacking off. I must have been away for too long.”

A familiar voice came from the gate, and Ma Yang turned around in surprise.

A graceful woman with neatly tied hair and faint wrinkles around her eyes, Ma Xuan, entered through the gate.

Carrying a baby wrapped in cloth.

Ma Yang’s eyes widened, and she pointed at the baby with a trembling finger.

“Uh… Did you give birth to that, Master?”

At her disciple’s absurd suspicion, Ma Xuan’s eyes narrowed.

“Of course not. I wasn’t even gone that long.”

“No! You were gone for a really long time this time! I was so worried… Anyway!”

Ma Yang cut herself off, her face red, and Ma Xuan sighed tiredly.

“Sigh… Don’t act like a child. You have a junior sister now.”

“Huh? A, junior sister?”

Ma Xuan carefully handed the baby in her arms to Ma Yang.

“She’s a descendant of Patriarch Wang Chongyang. Her surname is Wang (王), her given name is Mei (美), and to signify that she’ll live like family with you, her senior sister, she shares the same Yang (陽) character. Her name is Wang Mei Yang (王美陽).”

Ma Yang looked down at the baby quietly squirming in her arms as she listened to her master. A beautiful little girl with shining golden hair.

“Ooh… Ooh…”

A child as radiant as the sun, fitting for the name Yang (陽).

Ma Yang slowly repeated Wang Mei Yang’s name.

“Wang… Mei Yang…”

Wang Mei Yang wouldn’t remember, but that was the first meeting between Ma Yang and Wang Mei Yang.

The beginning of their bond.

And because that meeting was so dazzling.

Ma Yang didn’t notice that the look in Ma Xuan’s eyes as she gazed at Wang Mei Yang was slightly different from usual.

‧

‧

‧

Thirty years later. Ilwol God Sect’s seventh elder, forty-two years old.

Ma Yang woke up from sleep, her purple-tinged sword and disheveled long hair.

Silky hair cascaded over her fair skin and ample chest. Beautiful amethyst eyes glinted with a gloomy light.

“…What a crappy dream.”

To dream of the master she killed with her own hands. And with good memories as the backdrop, no less.

Ma Yang rubbed her throbbing head and admired the portraits of Wang Mei Yang hanging in her room.

It made her feel a little better.

And sensing her owner had risen from the bed, the Ten Thousand Swords’ Dragon Abyss let out a cry and flew over.

Keeeng~ Keeeng~ Eng eng!

(Master! Let’s go for a walk! A walk!)

“I’ll wash up first. Wait.”

Ma Yang entered the bathroom and looked at her reflection in the water before stepping into the bath prepared by the maids.

“……….”

A beautiful woman stared back, no matter who looked.

“…I’m not hurt.”

The face of that damn brat Sima Mantian came to mind, and she splashed the water with her foot before sinking in.

A pretty bad start to the day.