Chapter 1
I am a madman.
Blood-Chasing Mad Demon, Dokgo Jin.
That's my name.
“Blood-chasing” (追血), because I chase blood.
“Mad” (狂), because I'm crazy.
“Demon” (魔), because I walk the path of heresy and evil.
Though people of the world grandly call me the Blood-Chasing Mad Demon (追血狂魔), I simply call myself the Mad Demon.
Who'd use a nickname coined by idiots?
But if those idiots feared me because of my nickname, I figured that was all the better, and so I lived under the name Mad Demon.
That life wasn't so bad.
*
“Young Palace Master! We have a serious problem!”
“…What is it?”
“The B-Blood-Chasing Mad Demon has forced his way in!”
“What…?”
Baek Seorin, daughter of the Ice Palace, trembled.
“W-Why is the Mad Demon here?”
“I don't know! The warriors of our palace are doing everything they can to stop him, but it seems he'll be here any moment…!”
Baek Seorin bit her nails.
‘Of all times, he had to come while Father was away….’
“Young Palace Master! You should get away for now…”
“No. If the rumors about him are true, there'd be no point in running.”
“Young Palace Master!!”
Baek Seorin grabbed her cherished sword and stood.
“…Withdraw the warriors of this palace. There's no point in resisting him.”
“Are you sure?”
Baek Seorin glared at the warrior with bloodshot eyes.
“How could one who bears the blood of the Ice Palace tell a lie?”
“…I spoke out of turn. I'll withdraw the warriors.”
“…”
When the warrior left, Baek Seorin let out a sigh.
‘Why has the Mad Demon come here…?’
This, too, was something the one who would inherit the Ice Palace had to endure.
Just as she tried to steel herself, gazing down at the sword her father had bestowed upon her—
KWA-BOOM!!!
The warrior heading out of the main hall was sent flying back with a deafening crash.
“Cough, cough. Damn, dust.”
“…”
Hearing a gruff male voice beyond the dust, Baek Seorin tensed and gripped her scabbard tightly.
“…Are you Senior Mad Demon?”
“Senior? I'm no martial artist.”
“…”
Seeing the hulking man emerge through the dust, Baek Seorin swallowed dryly.
His unkempt hair stuck out in every direction.
His muscles swelled taut, blazing red as if they might burst at any moment.
And when she saw the enormous executioner's blade, as massive as his body, Baek Seorin was certain.
That man was none other than the Blood-Chasing Mad Demon, one of the martial world's most wanted men.
The Mad Demon looked at Baek Seorin, red light blazing in his eyes.
“Are you the Ice Palace Lord?”
“…Pardon?”
“You're a bit small for the Ice Palace Lord. Let's have a wager match.”
“W-Wait a moment. I'm not the Ice Palace Lord.”
“Huh?”
Clop. Clop.
With each step the Mad Demon took toward Baek Seorin, she backed away.
“D-Don't come any closer.”
“Stay still. I can't see you well.”
“I-I said don't come closer!”
CLANG!
The instant Baek Seorin drew her sword, the Mad Demon's executioner's blade struck it away even faster.
Her sword went flying and lodged in the wall, quivering.
“Eek!”
“Hmm…? You're a woman.”
The Mad Demon narrowed his eyes and looked at Baek Seorin.
“That's right…. Come to think of it, the Ice Palace Lord had a daughter. My apologies. The Tang Clan poisoned me recently, and my eyesight's a little blurry.”
“…”
As Baek Seorin silently glared at him, clutching her aching wrist, the Mad Demon spoke.
“Could you answer me? I can't see, so I might just take a swing at you.”
“…Why have you come to the Ice Palace?”
“I'm looking for medicine.”
“Medicine…?”
Baek Seorin stood, clutching her wrist.
As she checked where her sword had flown, she stalled for time.
“…What medicine of the Ice Palace do you mean…?”
“Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade. I need it.”
“Y-You can't be serious! That's the sacred treasure of our Ice Palace!!”
“A sacred treasure is worthless if it goes unused. That's why I came to use it… but the Palace Lord isn't here. This is troublesome….”
“…”
Watching the Mad Demon continue muttering to himself, ignoring what she said, Baek Seorin felt both bewildered and afraid.
The Mad Demon was as brutal as his epithet suggested.
Yet at the same time, he spoke with courtesy, and Baek Seorin felt the dissonance of hearing human speech from a beast that couldn't understand a word.
Just then, the Mad Demon, who had been stroking his chin, opened his mouth.
“…Do you perhaps lack the authority?”
“What authority…?”
“The authority to hand over the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade.”
“…No one but the Palace Lord can touch that object.”
“When do you think the Palace Lord will return?”
“…I don't know.”
“You don't know…. That's a problem. There's not much time left until the deadline….”
“…”
Maybe, since his eyesight was poor, a surprise attack could work?
Just as Baek Seorin stealthily began to gather her inner energy—
CRASH!
“Eek!”
The Mad Demon stomped his foot.
“I told you my eyesight's blurry, didn't I? I never said my senses were busted too. This demon is in an exceptionally good mood, so I'll let it slide this once. Don't try any underhanded tricks.”
“Y-Yes….”
“Do you feel sorry?”
“Pardon?”
“You just tried to use a very underhanded trick on me. Don't you think that was cowardly?”
“…I'm ashamed.”
“Then do you feel sorry toward me?”
“…Since Senior Mad Demon barged into our palace without permission…”
“I asked if you're sorry?!!!”
The Mad Demon shouted in irritation, and Baek Seorin trembled all over.
“Y-Yes! Yes…!”
“Then you'd be willing to hand over the sacred treasure to me. Right?”
“…”
“Right?!”
“Y-Yes, that's right….”
“Thank you. Then I've received the sacred treasure from you fairly, so please don't come after me. If I spot any pursuit squad chasing me, I'll cut off every last one of their arms. Understand?”
“…Yes.”
“Good. You're a well-behaved girl.”
The Mad Demon dropped the coin pouch hanging at his waist onto the floor.
Thud.
“Use that to treat any injured warriors and repair the buildings I destroyed. I stole it from the Tang Clan, so it should be worth a decent amount.”
“…Thank you.”
“The sacred treasure seems to be beneath this floor. Am I right?”
“…How did you know…?”
“Didn't I tell you? My eyesight's blurry, but my senses aren't busted. With yin energy leaking out like that, how could I not know?”
“…”
“I'll cover the damage from breaking a little of the floor with that pouch too. Then I'll see you another time.”
“Pardon?”
Baek Seorin asked again, unable to understand what the Mad Demon meant.
But her question was soon answered.
The Mad Demon raised his foot high and stomped down on the floor.
KABOOM!!
“This thing sure is hard to break.”
“Um… Senior Mad Demon…”
“Ah, I told you I'm not your senior!”
“…Mad Demon, Great Hero.”
“Great Hero feels a little awkward too, but it's better than Senior. Go on.”
“Are you planning to break the floor…?”
“I am.”
Baek Seorin's face went pale.
“T-There's a secret staircase leading down below. Please go that way. If you break the floor, the Ice Palace could collapse!”
“Didn't I ask your permission?”
“No… I mean…! If the inner palace collapses, the entire Ice Palace….”
“Ah, I don't know. This way seems faster, so I'll just do it.”
“No… wait!!”
Before Baek Seorin could raise her voice in frustration, the Mad Demon had already stomped down once more.
KUGUGUNG!!!
“Oh, it finally broke.”
“I… I don't know… Father….”
“Then I'll see you next time.”
The Mad Demon leaped through the cracked ice.
And a little while later.
KUGUGUNG!!!
With a deafening roar, the Ice Palace gradually tilted.
“…”
Watching the inner palace collapse, Baek Seorin muttered,
“Mad Demon, you son of a bitch….”
The impact of the inner palace collapsing opened the coin pouch the Mad Demon had left behind, spilling its contents all over the floor.
The pouch he'd given her was filled with nothing but cheap feather needles used as hidden weapons.
*
“Heh heh, so this is the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade….”
After leaving the Ice Palace and finding a quiet inn, Dokgo Jin gazed with satisfaction at the blue orb in his hand.
Even though a master of Dokgo Jin's caliber was using his inner energy to somewhat suppress the yin energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade, it still emitted such potent yin energy that a thin layer of ice formed on his hand. It was unquestionably worthy of being called the Ice Palace's sacred treasure.
“Hmm…. This should be enough.”
For the Mad Demon, who practiced the extremely yang Nine Yang Divine Art (九陽神功), yin energy was essential.
But there was no way women would be drawn to Dokgo Jin, the embodiment of strife who brought bloodshed wherever he went, and since it hadn't been a major problem until now, he hadn't paid it much mind.
Not until he crossed paths with the Tang Clan.
“…You bastards.”
Remembering the Tang Clan, based in Sichuan, Dokgo Jin ground his teeth.
As veins rose across his body and his qi and blood began to run wild, Dokgo Jin calmed himself again.
“Phew….”
One of the many poisons the Tang Clan had used on Dokgo Jin was a poison that further intensified extremely yang energy.
Since Dokgo Jin already practiced an extremely yang martial art, at first he was pleased that his yang energy had grown stronger. But as his qi and blood increasingly ran wild and his madness worsened, he decided he couldn't go on like this and went to the Ice Palace.
Because he had heard about the Ice Palace's sacred treasure, the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade.
“…With this, I might achieve a yin-yang constitution and ascend to immortality. Heh heh heh.”
After making that nonsensical remark, the Mad Demon looked around.
If anyone interrupted his meditation from this point on, his qi and blood could become unbalanced and he might even suffer qi deviation, so he remained alert.
As he circulated his inner energy and spread his senses, he felt every living thing nearby.
From the page dozing downstairs to the ants in a distant place.
“…”
The Mad Demon drew in his inner energy, placed the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade in his palm, and sat cross-legged.
“Phew….”
Exhaling deeply, he drew inner energy from his dantian and began circulating it through his body.
After completing a major circulation according to the formula of the Nine Yang Divine Art he had learned, he began slowly absorbing the yin energy he felt at his fingertips.
When his fiercely hot yang energy met the frigid cold emanating from the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade, the two forces began clashing violently inside his body.
‘Guh…. Was there really this much yin energy?’
As the yin energy coursed through his body, seeming ready to freeze every meridian, Dokgo Jin hurriedly drew up more yang energy and warmed the meridians again.
Then the yin energy from the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade passed through the other parts of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and extended toward the final two channels, the Conception and Governor Vessels.
‘What the hell…. Where are you going?!’
Feeling the yin energy hurtling toward Baihui Point at the crown of his head and Huiyin Point between his legs, Dokgo Jin faced a choice.
There were many reasons the two acupoints were called the Life-and-Death Gates, but they were so named because they were directly linked to one's life; a mishap there could prove fatal.
Realizing he might die here, not merely suffer qi deviation, Dokgo Jin checked the yang energy within him once more.
‘My yang energy isn't enough…. Was the sacred treasure's yin energy really this powerful?!’
In the end, Dokgo Jin made his choice.
Since he had to choose one or the other, he decided that surviving took priority, even if yin energy consumed his Huiyin Point, and sent all his yang energy to Baihui Point at the crown of his head.
‘Even if I become impotent, I'll survive first…!’
After burning away all the yin energy headed for Baihui Point with his own yang energy, Dokgo Jin began stimulating Baihui Point in order to survive.
The yin energy from the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade was fiercely stimulating Huiyin Point, which had been blocked by stagnant qi. So he would smash through the stagnant qi blocking Baihui Point with his yang energy and complete a major circulation.
‘Guh…!’
Unbearable pain consumed Dokgo Jin's body, and in the despair of wanting to die right then and there, he pounded away at Baihui Point without end.
‘Please…, please…!’
Just as Dokgo Jin was about to give up on everything amid unending agony—
‘Ah…!’
The stagnant qi in Baihui and Huiyin Points shattered, and his true qi began a major circulation.
As his perception of the world reached a new level and he reveled in a sense of omnipotence, seeing everything differently—
KWA-KWA!
‘M-Madness!’
The yin energy from the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade passed through Huiyin Point and absorbed all of Dokgo Jin's yang energy.
‘Guh…!’
At last, the yin energy completed its circulation through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, stabilized, and settled in his dantian.
Dokgo Jin lost consciousness.
*
“Ugh….”
Dokgo Jin came to with a hoarse voice, and the first thing he saw was the stagnant qi expelled from his body.
And above it, he saw a snow-white arm.
It was slender, with skin as smooth as a newborn child's.
The instant he saw it, a thought flashed through Dokgo Jin's mind.
‘Could it be… I achieved a complete physical transformation (換骨脫胎)?!’
Then his memories gradually returned.
He remembered opening the Life-and-Death Gates by unblocking the Conception and Governor Vessels.
“Kahahaha! At last, I… huh?”
He laughed with bubbling joy, then realized his voice sounded a little different.
Just as he reached up to touch his neck…
“Why is this here?”
Dokgo Jin looked at the bare breasts on his body—a woman's breasts.
“…I became a woman? This Lord did?”