#jin seolran

[naksushadows]

“You cannot grasp water but it is inside the soil. You cannot touch fire but it is inside the tree.

You cannot hold the wind but it is resting on the rock. If you let them be, they will exist everywhere.

The faint, blue light makes me sigh. My white breath turned into snow and tears. I could not let them drop and hid them, despite knowing that they will fill up once again.

I am a fool who dares not shed a single tear.” – Words Of The Heart by Master Seo Gyeong

[draqonsblues]

i will always always love the trope on how naksu and uk have their agenda to do the "right thing" even if it requires sacrifices (in this case, them being together) AND MIND YOU THEYVE BEEN WRONGED FOR THEIR WHOLE LIFE AND TO THINK THEY STILL HAVE THE WILL TO DO THE RIGHT THING

[yangsejongs]

alchemy of souls: okay so this is naksu in mudeok’s body

me: ok cool makes sense

alchemy of souls: but mudeok is actually jin buyeon so it’s naksu as mudeok in jin buyeon’s body

me: ok that’s a lil more convoluted but cool

alchemy of souls: but naksu is actually cho yeong so it’s cho yeong as naksu as mudeok in jin buyeon’s body

me: ok...i’m still following kind of

alchemy of souls: hey so we kinda lost cho yeong as naksu as mudeok in jin buyeon’s body and now have jin buyeon who looks like naksu who is really cho yeong but she forgot

me: ok...what

alchemy of souls: hey so jin buyeon who we thought was jin buyeon and mudeok is actually jin seolran so cho yeong as naksu is sharing a body with jin seolran so jin buyeon is not real probably. we don’t know who this body belongs to actually lol

me: ok cool wait what the FUCK????

[kalena-henden]

Let’s throw out all our previous assumptions and look again at what happened 200 years ago.

Things we know:

Jin Seolran and Master Seo subdued the firebird to stop the drought and created the Jin vault as its prison

Jin Seolran did the tansu dance to refill the big lake and rivers and also created powerful ice stones (yes, plural)

Ice stones were used to create many magical relics, including soul ejectors which came to used to perform the alchemy of souls

The Great War broke out as the Choi family vied for power

Many people willingly and unwillingly switched bodies due to the alchemy of souls

Master Seo destroyed all but one (known) ice stone 

All other magical relics were collected and imprisoned in the Jin vault

Mage Choi was permanently locked in a prison created by Jin Seolran

Jin Seolran was dying

Master Seo loved Jin Seolran but did not send his hidden ‘love letter’

Hypothesis:

JIN SEOLRAN WAS IN LOVE WITH 'MONSTER' MAGE CHOI AND LOCKED HIM AWAY FROM THE WORLD TO SAVE HIM & MASTER SEO DID NOT CONFESS HIS LOVE FOR JIN SEOLRAN BECAUSE HE KNEW IT WAS UNREQUITED.

Like innovative technology today, sorcery can be used for good or it can be used for evil. The philosophy of Songrim that any use of sorcery is bad comes from its founder, Master Seo. He created a whole school to train mages with his values to try to keep the peace. He also allowed himself to be banished by the King. Master Seo is a rule follower. Like present day Seo family member, Yul, was Master Seo only willing to bend the rules and not break them? Would Master Seo really be willing to break the rules to save the woman he unrequitedly loves, Jin Seolran?

However, Jang Uk thinks there is nothing wrong with using sorcery to save a loved one. His philosophy is use whatever means necessary, as long it doesn’t hurt others in the process. Jang Uk also doesn’t believe everyone labeled a ‘monster’ truly is one. Instead of killing them, he will fight to keep them apart from the world if they can’t live in it. Which brings us to the odd choice of Jin Seolran locking a single Choi mage in a prison that Naksu immediately notes does not seem like a prison instead of killing him. The Choi family is blamed for starting the Great War in their pursuit of power. Their family was demoted and exiled. What if Mage Choi was Jin Seolran’s lover and in trying to find a way to save her created the alchemy of souls? What if his family got ahold of this spell and used it for their own means to gain power? What if he did succeed at saving her but both of them became ‘monsters’ in the process? What if, to keep the peace, they locked themselves together in the expansive alternate dimension ‘prison’ with the official story being that he was being punished and she ‘died’? 

While the story has alluded that Naksu/Cho Yeong and Jang Uk are the next incarnation of Jin Seolran and Master Seo, there doesn’t seem to be a one-to-one correlation between the people 200 years ago and the people in the present. First off, Cho Yeong is not from the Jin family and Jang Uk is not from the Seo family. However, there are many descendants of the Jin, Choi and Seo families in this story. To even get these two in position to be the next incarnations, the alchemy of souls spell had to be done successfully twice (Bueyon was brought back from the dead in utero and Jang Uk was conceived via a soul shifter) and unsuccessfully once (Buyeon trapping Naksu’s soul). Naksu only gained access to divine priestess powers by being in Jin Buyeon’s body. While Master Seo and Jang Uk both have King’s Star power, they are complete opposites. Jang Uk saves monsters, ardently confesses his love, and breaks rules like its his job. The Choi family and Naksu ended up in exile after the alchemy of souls was used in their family. Seo Yul has unrequited love for Naksu the way Master Seo had unrequited love for Jin Seolran. The same elements are there but they are mixed-and-matched differently. So the ending should be different too.

Predictions:

Seo Yul will be the leader of Songrim. 

Even though Master Seo was effectively banished from the capital, it’s interesting that the whole Seo family resides far away as well. Honestly, smart, wise, rule following Seo Yul seems like a much better match to lead the school his ancestor started. In the beginning, I mistook him for Park Jin’s nephew due to their interactions. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Songrim is a school without students with Danggu in charge. 

The Jin vault and its relics will be destroyed.

This vault is a Pandora’s box waiting to spring open. Master Lee has been going around the kingdom destroying all the relics he can find that are outside of this vault. Jang Uk has also destroyed quite a few of the relics that have been removed from the vault. I find it odd that Master Seo with his extraordinary powers didn’t destroy more of these relics and instead helped horde them together giving the Jin family alot of power. It’s why they always need someone powerful to defend it. Tying the women down to only marry men with no assets of their own. But if the vault and its relics were destroyed, it would keep Daeho safe with no chance for power hungry mages to use the relics to take over the kingdom. So if Choyeon didn’t need to defend the vault anymore and Danggu stepped down from leading Songrim, they could put down the things that have burdened them most of their lives and happily get married. Also, it would free up Danggu to become the businessman he is meant to be. 

Jang Uk and Cho Yeong will be free to live in the world together.

If fate went to this much trouble to make them the next incarnations of Master Seo and Jin Seolran, I think it’s to fulfill what their predecessors could not. It’s the universe’s second chance to get it right. Before there was unrequited love, death, and exile. Now there should be reciprocated love, life, and acceptance in society. The two biggest differences between then and now is Uk and Yeong love each other and the crown prince is on their side. These two factors could turn the tide. I’ve seen the theory that they could be appointed Gwanju which makes sense because they are the most powerful protectors the kingdom could have and they now have the trust of the crown prince (aka future king). These two have led traumatic lives cut off from their place in society. They deserve to heal and finally become a part of it.

I am an eternal optimist but I am bracing myself for a tragedy. As long as the Hong Sisters make it make sense, I will respect the ending. 

[marthe-with-an-e]

Legitimately just stood in the park today and thought about the Jin SeolRan/ Jin BuYeon/ MuDeok/Cho Yeong/Naksu situation.

Like 3 bodies. 200 years. 3 souls. 2 families. 5 identities.

SeolRan has always been there. BuYeon was never born, was never a person. MuDeok is a peasant who died in childhood. Cho Yeong’s identity was always hidden. Naksu is a ghost.

They all share a mother and a sister. They all died. They’re still here.

Idk I just feel so fucking crazy about this.

[my-drama-heart2406]

I see so many people defending the lazy writing, and defending Naksu's arc by saying that she left being an assassin so she doesn't need to use her sword.

So I'm going to explain.

We're not sad that Naksu didn't get to use her sword (okay maybe a little sad). What we're sad about is we didn't see her using powers at all.

In season 1 Naksu was trapped in a powerless body as Mudeok. But she needed no saviour. She was no damsel in distress. She was fearless, shrewd and manipulative. She was cruel teacher who went so far as to manipulate the crown prince and all of Jeongjingak to make Jang Uk level up.

Many people are saying that she's like that because of the amnesia, so she's still bright and innocent. Jang Uk was bright and innocent in the first season, that doesn't mean he wasn't badass. I was really happy that they were giving us the grumpy- sunshine again, but in the other way. But people need to know that, for a girl to be a bright ray of sunshine, she doesn't need to be a damsel in distress.

And till 4 episodes it was really good. She had approached Jang Uk in order to get out of confinement. Saying that she was pregnant in front of the whole unanimous assembly was such a Naksu move. She dealt through inexplicable pain, because being free and with the man she loved was worth the pain. That was Naksu. Then it all went downhill.

Season 1 ep 19 ended with both of them losing their powers. But we were all so happy because they were happy and together and it tied the story up.

So Naksu now has great powers of a priestess, but she uses them only once to kill Jin Mu. And he's not even really dead. And Jang Uk kills Jin Mu in the end. Do you think that's fair. I wish Jang Uk kept Jin Mu alive after burning everything and Yeong sucked the life out of him with her new powers. Or better, Uk and Yeong burned down the whole thing together. That is what we're talking about. And people complaining that she doesn't want any fighting or violence anymore. Why is she off monster hunting with her husband then?

Let's talk about all the other problems.

In 30 episodes Dang gu got all but 2 fighting scenes.

They completely forgot that Jin Cho Yeon was also a priestess.

The crown prince had a lot of role to play, but they completely forgot that he also had magical powers.

NAKSU USING HER PRIESTESS POWERS!!

The only person who had any sort of proper fighting scenes was Jang Uk, and those were not enough. I love Jang Uk and Lee Jae Wook very much. He was the king's star. Everyone forgot that. He deserved more and better fighting scenes.

I'm not angry with Jang Uk's 8 episode long healing arc. Naksu's healing arc in season 1 was 18 episodes. I'm angry with them showing only push and pull romance and nothing else. 8 episode of only drama and romance in 10 episode fantasy show.

And then when Naksu remembers her memories. I knew she was going to pull back, and Jang Uk was going to chase, but that lasted all 2 min. They were together, then she remembered, she pulled back, he chased, then he recognised her. This all happened in just one episode. Something that could have and should have taken 3. They show an all powerful priestess and then give her 5 min screen time. Then they got married, were lovey-dovey, then somebody died, then they didn't die, then Jin Seolran came, fighting and burning, and guess what, again one episode. We were all waiting for this big epic battle which was well...

I feel like if they went the traditional route to make a 16 episode second season that would have done justice to the characters and the story.

See I'm happy that we had a happy ending. Very very very happy. But Alchemy of Souls was supposed to be an epic fantasy. And they spent a total of 10 min on the epic and fantasy part.

And to all who are defending the story. Do you think, if it was actually a satisfactory ending, you would need to defend it at all?

[jesusisabtsstan]

Some of u guys were expecting cho yeong to become a God level assassin after getting her memories back which is not realistic at all. She trained all her life as naksu to get to the level she was and when she became "mudeok" she kept complaining about how weak the body was. naksu was described as a very tall and strong looking woman. If u watch her fight against park jin in s1, she was almost as tall as him. Cho yeong in s2 still has buyeon's body. She also hasn't trained in 3+ years.

Cho yeong as mudeok (in s1) even with all her memories was willing to forget everything, move on and marry jang uk, why is it not in character for Cho yeong in s2 not to want to go back to that kind of life and choose to live peacefully when shes loved by so many people??

And it's not like current cho yeong is weak. She literally has jin seolran's powers and she's still one of the most powerful women in the world. She just doesn't fight like she used to.

I'm not saying you have to love the ending but it just looks like some of yall are trying to find a reason to complain about the show

[herroyalbubbliness]

Alchemy Of Souls- The Finale

An Emotional Whirlwind

Photo Credit: IG @tvn_drama

We explore the concept of monsters. Are humans not the greatest monsters? The human vices of greed, the maddening desire for power, and stopping at nothing to claim it even if we are destroyed in the process.

Is power dangerous or is that determined by the nature of the one who wields it? Leadership Vs tyranny. For example, Jang Uk and Jin Mu. Jang Uk broke records in achieving the highest points of power and the ice stone power rebirthed him and filled him with even power. And yet, even in his grief, he continued to use the power to protect the people he loved and cared about. When you take a look at Jin Mu on the other hand, that at every turn was a tyrant through and through unleashing havoc on the innocent to feed his ego and placate his insecurities.

Nature Vs Nurture. Jang Uk while having a tragic background having lost his parents, and being constantly insulted initially for his lack of powers and "illegitimate" birth had people who showered him with love which he also received and they helped to ground him. And whenever he behaved badly or almost deviated, they brought him back. Jin Mu on the other hand with a tragic background too who was also shown love but refused it and instead preferred to remain paranoid, selfish, and greedy in his thirst for power.

I really loved how everything was tied up in the ending which I had been very anxious about. It turned out to be one of the most poignant, pleasing and satisfying conclusions to a story I've ever seen and didn't seem like fan service either. Hong Sisters said they would give us the happy ending we craved but we will work for it first, haha. I have to say every tear I shed as my heart was ripped out and my chest hurt was worth it and I'll do it all over again.

Every tragic moment was handled with care, and respect and rang true to the nature of the characters and their motivations that honestly if they had remained dead, my broken heart would have understood. It didn't seem like let's kill off some beloved characters so we can have a bunch of tragedies. The scene where Park Jin had to close the door out of responsibility to the people he vowed to protect while damning his wife to her inevitable death juxtaposed with remembering her love and reassurance in full support of this decision, was twisting the knife in my heart.

These people were members of high society and status with power and riches at their disposal and yet when it came to it, they were willing to lay down their lives in service to their people. Powers and riches aren't dangerous on their own, however they reveal who a person is. Lady Jin who gained my respect as she resolved to protect the dangerous relics to her last breath. And I did sympathize with her. There is a Yoruba saying that translates to a dead child as better than a lost child. This is not meant literally as both tragedies, I wouldn't wish on my enemy. It means a dead child, one knows the child is in the grave while with a lost child, one rests not knowing where or what condition the child is in. I'm glad she found some closure in the end with the revelation that Bu-yeon was reincarnated as Jin Seolran and she came to a place of acceptance and could finally show her second daughter the love and respect she had always deserved and craved from her mother.

Master Lee is a strategic chess player, always observing and taking notes. And I believe his being a soul shifter gave him the nuance that was needed to be able to see the whole situation clearly from a perspective that wasn't clouded by the prejudice against soul shifters (and rightfully so).

"Only the impossible can do the impossible" - Lestat

He had gone through an impossible experience (shifting souls without going wild) and could believe the impossible now from reincarnation to star-crossed lovers being happily together to resurrection, rebirth and more. I believe Jang Uk and Cho Yeong's decision to focus on doing what needed to be done to save their world and their marriage which Master Lee said was them declaring their love to the skies were key moments that must have touched Jin Seolran as she could relate to both instances through her personal experiences which may have played a part in her breathing life again into Cho Yeong.

Sacrifice in a time of uncertainty is a recurring theme that beats a drum throughout the finale from Maidservant Kim having to sacrifice her life to help Lady Jin to Lady Jin preventing the unleashing of dangerous relics to Park Jin having to sacrifice his wife to Jang Uk watching the love of his life he just reunited with slipping away and having to do what needs to be done at the same time to Bu-yeon/Jin Seolran that had to wait for years to save humanity before finally reuniting with her love. It sure shows what can be accomplished when a community of people who love the other person and have a common goal can do it. They are almost unstoppable.

This truly felt like a finale as the cinematography looked epic, especially in the scene of the final destruction of the firebird. It made sense that the Firebird will die at the lake where the sky, water, and ice met. And I love that it ended at the Lake Gyeongcheondaeho where it all began where Naksu had fought Songrim and Bu-yeon had discovered the ice stone before she was pushed to her 'death'. This was a beautiful full-circle moment and Cho Yeong was right there with Jang Uk albeit not physically present.

Jang Uk proved what I've always known about him when he gave the plaque to the  Crown Prince. He had never cared for seeking more power nor did he desire a political position. And I love when he told Jin Mu, he would see what it's like for someone with the power to gain even more power as he took control of the Firebird to which Jin Mu burst into a regretful and maniacal laugh in agreement as he burnt to a crisp, said the weak ones die. I found his death satisfying. He had suffered at the hands of Naksu although not as long as I would have liked and was consumed by the very power he had destroyed many lives for. I call it poetic justice.

I love that Naksu went by her birth name Cho Yeong. It signified her rebirth, redemption, her freedom from the shackles that had been placed on her, a new dawn with the love of her life, and her rediscovering and reclaiming who she really is and not the labels (murderer's daughter to assassin) people had tagged her with. She was finally shedding the masks she had been forced to wear and had to wear for survival sake and could finally be her true self both inward and outward. It was also her acknowledging her roots, heritage and the family that had brought her into this world. And I thought it was fitting that the very blade that had been a string on her when she was a puppet was now wielded by Jang Uk fully in control and with one primary purpose in mind to protect her with his life. She let go of Jang Uk as her pupil which was her saying there is only one thing I want you to be, my husband, partner, lover, protector. Naksu had been his master, and Cho Yeong is his wife in her true essence.

This is the power couple I had looked forward to seeing and more. And Jang Uk being her light & Cho Yeong being his shadow, I cannot think of a better symbolism. Even as Naksu/Mudeok, she was always with Jang Uk, loyal to the core and doing everything both possible and impossible to make sure all of his potentials was unleashed. She was the shadow that caused his light to spark, shine and have an impact. And from the first day he saw her beautiful blue eyes, just as light casts every shadow, he protected her (even when he had no powers yet), not allowing anyone else to see his shadow (her being a soul shifter). One could also say as Naksu/Mudeok, she was like a shadow of herself (stripped of her power/purpose, living in another's body), and in her journey with Jang Uk (light), she became her true self. As Bu-yeon, she had absorbed the wraiths (demons/darkness) around him which was the price he paid for being the bearer of the ice stone and warmed his cold body reigniting his light.

I love that Seo-Yul became a master and redefined the requirements to be a mage rather than being defined by the status quo now by passion, character, and good energy also leveraging Cho Yeong's inherited divine powers. In the end Naksu and So-i were wronged by the systems in place and never stood a chance so Seo-Yul overhauling the systems was the best way for him to honor So-i's memory, sacrifice & death and his love & friendship he had found with Naksu/Mudeok now Cho Yeong. Because maybe if So-i and Naksu had an opportunity like this and weren't used by people like Jin Mu all her life, they could have led a different trajectory in a life filled with love, purpose, and fulfillment. Cho-yeong would have never had to become Naksu and maybe her family would have never been ripped apart from her in the first place. It's a thing of immense joy to see that Cho-yeong now has the influence, powers and opportunity to contribute to such a worthy cause. It feels right.

The ending was perfect in every way as Cho Yeong's eyes lit up in blue and Jang Uk felt it and smiled. With her divine powers, she has the vision. She is still calling the shots and Jang Uk is more than happy to submit and do the job as he told her to stay close to him (as his shadow) while he took care of the cat.

[tansu-bomb]

Is Jin Mu casually predicting his end in Gwido?

Seo Gyeong created Gwido & Jin SeolRan fortressed its entrace/exit. Jang Uk can now round up all of Jin Mu’s soul-shifter underground organization in Gwido. And Naksu, with Jin BuYeon’s powers, can imprison Jin Mu there for all of eternity so he perpetually suffers at the hands of those soul-shifter wraiths and can never, ever escape.

Sounds like a cathartic ending to me.

[the-wayside]

Jin Seolran chose Yeong and Uk because she knew that they, despite the contrary, would what is right, not what is selfish, the same as she did. They both live by Yeong's treaty, "it is better to die than to do nothing." Suffering is pain, but to allow it hurt you without fighting is the worst thing you can do.

So with Yeong representing the last soul shifter and Uk, the child who should never have been, shouldn't exist in this world. That is their suffering. There is no place for them now that the world has moved on, and for the world to thrive and evolve, the alchemy of souls has to stop. In that world, there is no place for them. Nor is there a place for those of the previous generation. It has to be a complete cleanse and rebirth from the lies and corruption. Every single elder had a part in it, which why they all must go, not just Park Jin or Kim Dojoo if that is the case. This is why if we get a sad ending, I will be heartbroken for the series, but I'll understand it.

[rubylane]

tbh after the trauma the hong sisters gave us in part one, i dont even care that the firebird plot was anticlimatic so long as that happy ending was served 

HOWEVER. i have thoughts about how the episode could have been improved upon ( in my opinion )

not revealing park jin, kim doju, and jin hogyeong being alive until the end

jinmu’s death needed to be a little more excruciating imo, deserved to see janguk fuck him up a little more but i get why they didn’t

have the firebird behave as more of the actual threat they’d been building it up to be: have more damage done to the towns, show more serious injuries occurring with danggu and co., have the entire group practically crawling to show up at the constellation basin; have jang uk suffer more injuries ( even tho this would hurt me LMAO ) and have it be a near death thing bc quite frankly, it was a little too easy; and then after the firebird is defeated, have buyeon / seolran pass out with the panic of her ‘dying’ from exhaustion and no longer having use for the body. 

with all of the above, this would’ve left us in a state of Stress and added more tension necessary for a final episode

THEN do a time jump with the Happy future and whatever and let us be confused for a minute before setting up the flashbacks that give us answers as to: how park in, kim doju, and jin hogyeong ended up being saved, and the scene where buyeon / seolran gives naksu control over the body again

honestly the time skip was just fine imo, but very rushed and it felt like there were very few scenes for jang uk and cho yeong so maybe a preview of them capturing other relics in a montage kinda style before hitting us with the tree scene + the ending scene with the cat relic

[naksushadows]

Tales of Jinyowon - Chapter 1 - heaven_habib - 환혼 | Alchemy of Souls (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

For those who like fanfics, I recommend "Tales of Jinyowon"

The writer manages to explore the essence of the characters and the canon of the story very well.

And since the story takes place after the events of the end of the drama, she is writing about Cho Yeong's psychology and the divine powers she inherited from Jin Seolran.

PS: The fanfic is written in ptbr but just use the translator in Chrome and translate it to your language.😊 It's really worth it and it's still in progress.

[jahe]

based on short preview of ep 18 (which will aired tonight), i think naksu energy only appears when she is inside the vicinity of ice stone energy. or in the lake gyeoncheondaeho, which probably contain energy from the rain water that jin seolran called when daeho was in bad drought (which later also produced ice stones).

that’s why when naksu was inside the lake, she can pull her sword. and she acknowledge that the power is hers. none of the mage will mistaken their own energy, won’t they?

then when she was inside the relic/mirror, her energy appeared for a while and broke the mirror. her power probably seeped out along with buyeon’s since other relics acknowledge it as ‘the blind girl’ ‘the ice stone’ when the mirror was shaking.

but again, she was sure the energy is hers even for a bit.

or in this part where the basin’s water sucked her energy in and open the constellation roof(?), aside she is the decendant of constellation mage.

and then the 18th ep preview:

only soul shifter able to use their energy inside the barrier, which probably made from the ice stone (whatever might happen, is the ice stone destroyed or buyeon died--i hope not!).

meanwhile, i think these two are when buyeon shown her energy, since naksu never remember it.

or probably confused since it overlapped with the action of ‘feeding energy’ like this one. which makes sense if buyeon taking back her energy that stolen by the soul shifter then naksu can misread it as her feeding off the shifter’s energy.

and maybe like taking two birds with one stone, buyeon indirectly feeding naksu.

need to wait for episode 18 tonight to make it sure what happen with the ice stone, if the barrier comes from it or other way.

disclaimer: my analysis could be wrong.. and i will update it after ep 18 aired.

edit: yes. it turned out her power works when she is inside the vicinity of ice stone power, but sadly we still have to wait if her power is actually back after this. if it only works under the shield or not since she is still hanging around janguk in the next eps preview.

[naksushadows]

Lead couple behind the camera in two parts with great chemistry 🤍

[naksushadows]

“To the light that has saved the world, I shall now return your shadow. A light that embraces the shadow will never be lost in darkness.” – Jin Buyeon / Jin Seolran

[kalena-henden]

Okay but Park Jin doesn't understand subtlety or prophecy at all; he didn't understand the real meaning of Master Seo's love poem either. He was wrong about almost everything he did to keep Jang Uk 'safe'. Do you really believe him now?

Master Seo was a King's Star-level mage which means he probably was invincible & immortal while he had the ice stone within him, like Jang Uk. However, he gave the ice stone to Jin Seolran to save her so he must have removed it from himself. 

Jin Seolran didn't use the ice stone, dying shortly after, but the ice stone remained in the Jin vault for safe keeping. Master Seo started Songrim, trained Master Lee & died of old age which would mean removing the ice stone didn't kill him. Removing the ice stone just made Master Seo mortal again. If Jang Uk removed the ice stone to give to Cho Yeong, then he wouldn't die but would be able to be killed while trying to defend his love. 

I'm not going to speculate if this will be a happy or sad ending because it feels like a coin toss at this point. But I don't think removing the ice stone will kill Jang Uk, it will just make him vulnerable. And what's a story without stakes.