Extreme North of Blue Wind, Extreme Ice Snow Region.
A huge ice-blue barrier covered the entire Frozen Cloud Asgard, and twelve people were gathered outside that barrier. Among them, a green-robed man channeled all the profound energy within him and slammed a palm against the barrier.
Bang!!
Blood sprayed into the air, and the green-robed man opened his trembling palm wide... The web between his thumb and index finger was greatly torn, and his entire arm was both in pain and numb. He breathed heavily and said in an enraged and exasperated manner: "What the hell is going on?! A mere Frozen Cloud Asgard, how could they possess a protective barrier of this magnitude... this is impossible!"
"Pavilion Master, should we request an Elder to come as well?" asked a black-robed man behind him.
"Shut your mouth!" the green-robed man roared. "We came personally to this lower place, so if we request assistance from an Elder... what shred of dignity will I have left in the future, huh?!"
"There's no need to be anxious," the purple-robed elder advised in a rather calm voice. "While this protective barrier may be extremely unusual, it also won't last for long and should disappear shortly. At that time, Frozen Cloud Asgard will be completely at our mercy."
"Hmph!" The green-robed man waved his hand and said with a cold smile, "I originally thought this would be an extremely boring mission. But who would have thought that this Frozen Cloud Asgard actually managed to give us a big surprise! It was said that this place had at most three Thrones, but in the end... they actually had nine Thrones, and the Xia Qingyue that the Young Master desires is actually already half a step into the 'Sovereign'... She could actually make one of my fingers experience freezing... and now, such a protective barrier has actually appeared as well...."
"I've changed my mind now! After this barrier disappears, besides Xia Qingyue... All the other women must die!"
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These twenty people attacking Frozen Cloud Asgard were completely unaware that in the air three thousand kilometers above them, there was a pair of clear and cold eyes silently observing them... and the Frozen Cloud Asgard that had been enveloped in the protective barrier.
This woman was as lithe and graceful as a fairy, and her entire body was enveloped in clouds and mist. It was impossible to clearly make out her features, and one could only vaguely see a pair of eyes that were as tranquil as an ancient spring.
"This day has still come, after all." She let out a faint sigh. Her voice was cold but graceful, as if it contained no joy or sorrow.
"Master, you... will act?" Beside her was a young girl with an extraordinary figure, completely dressed in blue. The young girl asked cautiously and respectfully as she looked at her face.
The white-robed woman closed her eyes slightly. "When I left all those years ago, I swore to cut all ties with this place, and no matter what happened afterward, I would count it as fate and not interfere further... Perhaps it's already enough to have persisted for a millennium."
The blue-robed girl bit her lips and gathered the courage to ask, "Then why did Master... choose to spare no cost today... and come to this place? Master is so kind and generous; surely you are still worried about them, right?"
"Humans are not exempt from emotion. So even though I made a vow to myself, how can I be free from worry?" The white-robed woman said in an ethereal voice. "After all, it started because of me... Therefore, witnessing the end will also completely sever all longing and karma I have with it."
"Master, this disciple is extremely curious. All those years ago, you clearly recovered your profound strength and memories, so why did you still leave behind Frozen Cloud Asgard before departing?" The blue-robed girl asked in an inquisitive tone.
"....Back then, my profound strength was completely crippled, and my memories were lost. It was a member of the Eternal Night Royal Family who rescued me from the clutches of a profound beast. Not long after, the Eternal Night Royal Family was destroyed by a band of villains and scoundrels. After I recovered my memories and profound strength, although my heart was filled with hatred, I disliked killing and did not belong to this world. So, leaving behind Frozen Cloud Asgard could be considered my small repayment to this world..."
After saying that, the white-robed woman's voice cut off abruptly. The blue-robed girl was shocked for a moment before she tried to express the situation. "The Realm King has discovered that we left the Snow Song Realm?¹"
"Mn." The white-robed woman quickly swept her eyes downward one last time before turning around and leaving everything behind. "We must return. Do not tell your senior sister that we came here. She has always harbored some resentment for me leaving the Frozen End Divine Art in such a place."
"Yes, Master." The blue-robed girl immediately agreed. "If the Realm King asks, I will just say that we went to the Ice Star Realm to play... Uuu, Master, are we really leaving like this? You clearly only need to lift a finger, and all those bad guys would disappear completely."
The white-robed woman raised her head slightly, but in the end, she shook it gently. "This is their fate. Even if I help them resolve the current calamity, what will follow is only an even greater one. Whether they live or die depends entirely on their own luck... At this point, the Star God Realm and Moon God Realm are engaged in a long and fierce struggle, the Brahma Emperor Realm is acting strangely, and the Flame God Realm is eyeing our Snow Song Realm with greedy and covetous eyes... A great chaos is descending upon us, and although I have the will, I cannot cause more trouble."
"Let's return, then."
"Oh." The blue-robed girl expressed her obedience and followed behind the white-robed lady. Illusory clouds floated around their bodies, as if it were a scene from paradise.
"Master, today I heard rumors that Princess Jasmine of the Star God Realm is still alive... It seems that some Universe Devouring Beast saw her between dimensional fissures... Do you think it's really true? The 'ritual' of the Star God Realm King is only missing Princess Jasmine; if Princess Jasmine is really alive, then the Star God Realm King will be able to..."
"...Do not believe any rumors and empty words you hear. Moreover, what happens with the Star God Realm is not something we should be concerned about." The white-robed lady said in a clear and cold voice.
"Oh, understood. Then Master, where does the teleportation formation you left in Frozen Cloud Asgard lead?" The blue-robed girl asked once more.
"...." The white-robed woman paused for a moment before responding softly. "Perhaps that teleportation formation will be used soon... As for the direction of the transmission, that would depend on her fate... I am also unable to decide that."
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"What a bunch of foolish women! Do you think a mere Heavenly Jade Stone is enough to stop us?! Obediently open the door right now and hand over Xia Qingyue to us, and we might still be able to spare your lives. After all, if our Young Master finds out that we killed so many beautiful women, his heart would surely ache... But if all of you remain stubborn and stupidly obstinate, wait until I blast open this great door, then all of you... will have to die!"
Bang!!
The green-robed man viciously smashed his fist against the great door in front of him, and a huge piercing resonance followed his attack. The explosive profound energy made the space around him tremble violently, but the great door he attacked was left without any deformity.
"Damn it!" The green-robed man retreated a step, his entire arm was trembling, and his wrist was filled with incessant pain. He said with a sinister and dark expression, "Not only does Frozen Cloud Asgard possess this bizarre protective formation... they actually have an entire great hall built of Heavenly Jade Stone! This is simply absurd! This amount of Heavenly Jade Stone, even if it were the Divine Phoenix Sect of the Divine Phoenix Empire, they might not be able to produce it!"
A person half a step into the 'Sovereign' who was only twenty-two years old, a profound protective formation that persisted for seven days and refused to break despite all their efforts... These were things they never imagined possible. With great difficulty, they waited for that profound protective formation to disappear, and when they thought that the lives of the people from Frozen Cloud Asgard would easily fall into the palms of their hands... who would have thought that all of them would take refuge in a great hall hidden underground... And this great hall was actually built completely with the incomparably rigid and firm Heavenly Jade Stone that even Sovereigns like them would have extreme difficulty destroying!
And the great doors that sealed this great hall were at least two feet thick... Heavenly Jade Stone that was two feet thick, even if the twenty of them worked day and night and attacked this door in unison, there was no way they could blast it open in a short period of time.
"I admit that even the Young Master did not know that Frozen Cloud Asgard actually had an entire great hall built solely of Heavenly Jade Stone." The purple-robed elder said solemnly. "Given the strength of us twenty, we definitely won't be able to blast open this door in a short period of time. So it seems we will have to send a sound transmission to inform the Young Master to send a Monarch Elder!"
"That's out of the question!!"
The green-robed man gestured fiercely. "If we, two Sovereigns together with ten other Thrones, cannot come to this tiny Blue Wind Nation and fulfill our mission of capturing a girl and instead request help from an Elder... what face will we have left when we return! Hmph, those people who normally dislike us will mock us until we become dogs!"
"The Young Master's current seclusion will last for at least half a year. During this half-year time, I don't believe... that I am incapable of blasting open this Heavenly Jade Stone!!"
The sound of the hall doors being heavily struck echoed incessantly through the great hall, and each strike was punctuated by a loud and exasperated roar of fury. All the disciples belonging to Frozen Cloud Asgard were trapped inside the Frozen End Divine Hall. However, the Frozen End Divine Hall was exceptionally vast, so the two thousand disciples did not have to squeeze together. Instead, the hall seemed quite spacious... and desolate.
Within the Frozen End Divine Hall extended a transparent ice coffin. And inside that ice coffin lay the still body of an old lady with white hair, and it was clear that she had already passed away. However, her expression was not very serene; instead, it was an expression filled with resentment and heavy, somber hatred.
She was not an ordinary disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard. She was the previous Mistress of Frozen Cloud Asgard and the current Grand Asgard Mistress... Feng Qianhui.
Several Frozen Cloud disciples knelt beside the ice coffin, while ice spirits hovered around them. They repented and wept quietly, and the entire atmosphere inside the Frozen End Divine Hall was one of deep mourning.
"The Thousand-Year Calamity prophesied by our Frozen Cloud Ancestor... In the end, we were unable to hide from it... Cough... cough, cough..." Gong Yuxian's eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
"Asgard Mistress!"
"Asgard Mistress!!"
The Frozen Asgard disciples cried out in alarm, and the two people supporting Gong Yuxian, Murong Qianxue and Mu Lanyi, hurriedly circulated their profound energy and used all their power to suppress her injuries. Gong Yuxian's injuries were extremely severe, and even if she used all her power as a sixth-level Throne to sustain herself, she would only be able to live for a few more months.
"In order to allow Frozen Cloud Asgard to survive this current crisis, the Grand Asgard Mistress did not hesitate to break a thousand-year sect rule and allowed Yun Che to join us as the first male disciple... But in the end... Heaven's calculations are beyond man's calculations..."
"Asgard Mistress...." Jun Lianqie pressed both hands to her chest as she, Murong Qianxue, and Mu Lanyi together suppressed her injuries. After all, their profound entrances had been opened by Yun Che, and their profound strength cultivation had advanced at a tremendous rate. The Frozen Cloud Seven Fairies had all advanced to the Emperor Profound Realm, and the cultivation levels of the three had just surpassed Asgard Mistress Gong Yuxian's cultivation. "Asgard Mistress, please don't be too pessimistic; we are still under the protection of the Frozen End Divine Hall, they can't invade... and there will definitely be someone who comes to save us... We will definitely have a way..."
And as she said these things, these Frozen Cloud Fairies, who were considered celestial beings by the people of Blue Wind Nation, had their vision completely blurred with tears. Because in their hearts, they were well aware that now that things had reached this stage, there was no way anyone would appear to save them. This Frozen End Divine Hall was their only place of refuge... and once those great doors were blasted open, they would truly be forced into a desperate situation.
"They... are Sovereigns... the Frozen End Divine Hall... can stop them for a while... Cough... cough, cough... Qingyue, have you had any news from her?...." Gong Yuxian asked with regret.
Chu Yueli pursed her lips for a moment before responding, her voice low but firm.
"Qingyue informed us that she would go out to train almost a month ago. Since then, we have had no news. She has not returned yet."
Upon hearing this, Gong Yuxian's already weakened eyes trembled slightly. A heavy sigh escaped her lips, laden with worry and fatigue.
"That child... always like this. Too silent, too stubborn." She closed her eyes for a brief moment. "I just hope she is safe."
It was then that something completely unexpected happened.
Without any warning, a male voice echoed within the Frozen End Divine Hall, calm and beautiful, but laden with a presence that made the entire air shudder.
"If safety is the concern, then there is no need for worry. Since I am here..."
Everyone's hearts jumped violently.
The disciples rose in an instinctive reflex, the Frozen Cloud Seven Fairies widened their eyes, and even Gong Yuxian forced herself to raise her head a little, incredulous.
"Who's there?!" Chu Yueli exclaimed.
The space in front of them rippled softly, like the surface of a lake touched by an invisible breeze. A silent fissure opened in the void, without noise, without violence, just a perfect rupture in the laws of the world.
From that fissure, a man stepped forward.
In the instant he appeared, the Frozen End Divine Hall seemed to lose its breath.
Black hair like the starless night fell loose over his shoulders, his skin was flawless, without the slightest flaw, like jade carved by the heavens. His eyes, with pupils as black as a primordial abyss, were at the same time deep and beautiful, like the most precious of immortal jewels. Dark robes adorned with golden traces enveloped his body with a natural elegance, worthy of someone who had never needed to bow to anyone.
There was no oppressive pressure, no aggressive aura. Yet, his simple figure made hearts race and minds waver.
For a brief instant, none of the women could react.
Some disciples felt their faces heat up, others had their breathing involuntarily disrupted. Even those who had cultivated the Frozen Heart for decades felt their emotions tremble like thin ice before the sun.
Before any word was spoken, a familiar figure emerged right behind him.
"Sect Master!"
Xia Qingyue advanced quickly, her normally cold countenance completely taken by concern. In a few steps, she reached Gong Yuxian's side, kneeling without any hesitation.
"What happened? Why was the Frozen End Divine Hall sealed?" She asked, her voice more urgent than ever before.
Upon seeing her, several disciples widened their eyes.
"Fairy Qingyue!"
"You've returned!"
Chu Yueli took a deep breath and responded gravely.
"They came after you, Qingyue. They demanded that we hand you over."
Xia Qingyue's body stiffened for an instant. Her eyes narrowed, cold and lucid, but before she could say anything, Gong Yuxian spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Qingyue... are you alright?"
"I am." Xia Qingyue nodded immediately. "I'm sorry for causing all this."
It was then that Chu Yueli shifted her gaze to the man who was still standing, calm and silent, near the spatial fissure that was slowly closing.
"And who is he?" she asked, cautious.
Xia Qingyue hesitated for a fraction of a second. A faint blush, almost imperceptible, appeared on her normally icy face.
"...He is my husband."
The entire hall plunged into absolute silence.
If before there was shock, now there was pure incredulity.
"Husband?" someone murmured, unable to believe.
Xia Qingyue lowered her head slightly.
"I... broke the sect rules again. I apologize."
Gong Yuxian let out a weak laugh, followed by a tired sigh.
"At this point... worrying about rules is the last thing that should be on all our minds." She turned her gaze to Ren Zu, assessing him with difficulty. "If you are by Qingyue's side, then you are not an enemy."
Ren Zu took a step forward. His gaze swept the hall, the injured disciples, the ice coffin, the atmosphere of contained despair. When he spoke, his voice was calm, almost gentle.
"Since you have sheltered and helped Qingyue for so long, I will save all of you from this calamity....."
The pupils of several people contracted.
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