# Chapter 248: The Night Before the Heavenly Lake
"Are you alright?" Chu Yuechan tried to make her voice sound cold and hard, but with his body pressed tightly against hers, the warm, familiar scent completely disrupted her heartbeat. Even as she desperately tried to circulate the Ice Heart Art, she could not calm herself.
During those five months, she had been held in his arms almost every moment. The physical contact between them had become so familiar that she couldn't be more accustomed to it. In fact, during that time, she had unknowingly adapted to and inexplicably enjoyed this sensation... But the voice in her heart told her that back then, it was because she was completely paralyzed and could only rely on his care and protection. Now, however, it was different... She had already committed a grave mistake with him, and she absolutely could not continue down this path...
Yun Che pressed his entire body weight onto Chu Yuechan, appearing completely limp and half-dead. In an extremely weak voice, he said, "I'm... fine... Little Fairy... don't leave me..."
"..." Chu Yuechan could not speak. Every syllable of Yun Che's weak voice touched her heart, making her endure a feeling of heartache as sharp as needles. She could neither push Yun Che away nor comply with him. She could only stand there silently, embracing him... During this time, she forced herself to harden her heart several times, but in the end, she could not bear to push him away.
In the dead of night, with only the two of them here, no one else would see or disturb them. He was also severely injured... So, let's just indulge one last time—this was the reason Chu Yuechan kept telling herself, continuously comforting and persuading herself.
Until, to check on Yun Che's current injuries, she quickly circulated her Profound Force through his body once...
Bang!!
Yun Che, who had been lying on Chu Yuechan, was shoved away, his back slamming directly into the wall behind the bed. The pain made Yun Che grimace and hiss: "Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."
"How dare you pretend to trick me!" Chu Yuechan's face was covered in frost, her eyes filled with anger as she spoke coldly. However, now that she knew his injuries had not worsened but had instead greatly improved, her heart immediately relaxed. Though her face showed anger, in her heart, there was a sense of relief she would never reveal. And this feeling also caused a slight panic within her... because this was an emotion she should never have.
Yun Che reached back to rub his back, looking pitiful as he said, "Because I was afraid my Little Fairy would really just leave like that. Little Fairy, I know you've been..."
"Don't say another word!"
Chu Yuechan's chest heaved. She coldly interrupted Yun Che, turned around, and her voice was only icy and ruthless: "Everything that happened between you and me was a mistake. I have almost forgotten it, and I ask you to forget it all as well! If you cannot forget, treat it as an illusory dream, and never think of turning it into reality."
Yun Che: "..."
"The matter between us will never be known to anyone else. If you don't want to cause further complications, never reveal the six layers of the Ice Cloud Art you have obtained... You are Qingyue's husband. If you don't want her, and the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, to be ridiculed by the world and dragged into an abyss of moral depravity... then give up all thoughts of me..."
Chu Yuechan closed her eyes. The ice spirits around her body drifted chaotically: "After leaving Tian Jian Villa, we will never see each other again."
After uttering these final words, Chu Yuechan disappeared from Yun Che's sight, leaving him standing there quietly, watching the few ice spirits that had not yet fully dissipated...
"Sigh." After a long time, Yun Che lay back on the bed, letting out a long sigh. He brought his hands to his nose and could faintly catch the scent of her, as pure as an ice lotus.
"It seems you didn't get what you wanted." Mo Li said with a tone of schadenfreude.
"You wouldn't understand." Yun Che tilted his head and muttered, then sighed again, thinking about Chu Yuechan's last few words... Ridiculed by the world... Dragged into an abyss of moral depravity... These phrases deeply stimulated his nerves.
Xia Qingyue was his wife.
And Chu Yuechan was Xia Qingyue's senior aunt, as well as half her master.
Such a transgression of moral principles would undoubtedly invite strange glances and public criticism... Especially when it involved the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, considered almost sacred in the Cang Feng Empire.
Even setting aside whether Chu Yuechan had genuine feelings for him as a man, this chasm alone—as the head of the "Ice Cloud Seven Immortals" of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace—meant she would never bear the consequence of disgracing the thousand-year reputation of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace to cross it.
Therefore, no matter how she felt inside, severing all ties was her only choice.
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The ranking battles for both the main arena and the subsidiary arena had concluded. The rankings of over five hundred sects had all been decided.
First place: Cangfeng Imperial Clan, Second place: Bing Yun Fairy Palace, Third place: Tian Jian Villa, Fourth place: Xiao Sect, Fifth place: Fen Tian Gate. After this ranking result was announced, it caused an unprecedented uproar in the Cang Feng Empire's Profound Realm. The names of Yun Che and Xia Qingyue, a young man and woman only seventeen years old, had spread to every corner of the Cang Feng Empire within a few days, and then rapidly spread to the other six nations.
The ranking battles of the Cang Feng Empire had always been a focus of attention for other countries. The results of this year's battles also brought a considerable shock to other nations, forcing them to remember the names Yun Che and Xia Qingyue.
Regarding Yun Che's origins, experiences, his deeds at Cangfeng Mystic Palace, and his performance in the ranking battles... countless versions had been fabricated and circulated among the common people. Especially his battle with Xia Qingyue, which was described in exaggerated, earth-shattering terms, as if it were a battle between gods and demons... Other stories even included his romantic, deeply moving relationship with Princess Cang Yue...
If Yun Che were to walk down any street in any city of the Cang Feng Empire right now, he would be so shocked by his own rumors that he would have a seizure on the spot.
To some extent, Yun Che had underestimated the influence of the ranking battles. In the peaceful Tian Jian Villa, he was completely unaware that outside, his name and various exaggerated, bizarre legends were spreading everywhere.
After the ranking battles ended, the various major sects left one after another. In the end, only the top ten sects, including Tian Jian Villa, remained. Having fought tooth and nail to break into the top ten, all for the sake of entering the Heavenly Lake Secret Realm, no one was willing to miss this opportunity.
The time for the Heavenly Lake Secret Realm's opening was drawing closer and closer.
After Yun Che woke up, his recovery speed increased severalfold. He had not gone anywhere in the past two days, focusing entirely on recuperation. Given his injuries on the Sword Discussion Platform that day, no one would believe that he had not only woken up but that his wounds had healed by seventy or eighty percent.
The night before the Heavenly Lake Secret Realm's opening.
Ling Yuefeng stood under an ancient tree in the courtyard, silently gazing at the waning moon in the sky. His clothes were already damp with night dew, indicating he had been standing there for a long time.
"Sigh." Ling Yuefeng suddenly let out a long sigh.
"Yuefeng, don't overthink it. The matter is over; thinking about it any further is useless. This time, it's not that we were weak, but those two people were unexpectedly strong. We did not lose unjustly."
Xuanyuan Yufeng walked over, speaking softly to console him.
Ling Yuefeng had been in a daze, staring at the waning moon, lost in thought, and had not noticed when Xuanyuan Yufeng approached. A complex expression flashed through his eyes, and then he turned around, sighing, "Since our ancestor shook the world with the Heaven's Might Absolute Sword and founded Tian Jian Villa, it has been over twelve hundred years. Our position as overlord has never been shaken. Yet, in my generation alone, I have... Though I try day and night to face it with equanimity, I still cannot let it go. I deeply feel I have failed our ancestors and failed Tian Jian Villa's thousand-year legacy."
"Don't say that," Xuanyuan Yufeng consoled. "You succeeded to the position of Villa Master at a young age, shouldering all the heavy burdens of this great manor. Today marks your twenty-first year in office. Over these years, I have walked with you, watching the manor grow stronger day by day. Yun'er and Jie'er, under your guidance, far surpass what you were at their age. These are things we can both take pride in. Although the result of this ranking battle did not meet our wishes, the ranking battle only measures... Once the matter of sealing the demon is finished, you and Yuefeng can take Yun'er and Jie'er back with me to the Tian Wei Sword Domain for a visit. Just think how delighted the Ninth Elder will be to see you and his two grandsons! Once this rift between you is mended, the Ninth Elder might even visit here often to see you and his grandsons. Tian Jian Villa will benefit greatly from this. If Yun'er and Jie'er can receive the Ninth Elder's personal guidance, their strength will advance by leaps and bounds."
Xuanyuan Yufeng finally managed to calm her own out-of-control emotions and nodded slowly: "...Alright. Once Yuefeng returns, I will speak with him."
"That's good." Ling Kun smiled, then casually asked, "When I came here, I saw Yuefeng hurrying off to the southeast. Is there something urgent?"
"He went to..."
Xuanyuan Yufeng's voice suddenly stopped short. She jerked her head up, her face turning stiff and ugly: "Southeast? You said... southeast?"
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