Chapter 284: Yuechan's Ice Heart
Northern border of Cang Feng, Ice Extreme Snow Domain, Bing Yun Fairy Palace.
With the existence of sound transmission talismans, news naturally travels faster than people. While rumors about Yun Che were spreading like wildfire throughout the Cang Feng Empire, another focal point was on everyone's lips... that being the Bing Yun Fairy Palace!
To the people of the Cang Feng Empire, the Bing Yun Fairy Palace was an incomparably sacred existence. Its mystery and sanctity even surpassed that of the Tian Jian Villa. In people's perception, those within the Bing Yun Fairy Palace were all fairy-like figures, transcending the mundane world, pure as snow and ice without blemish. The fairies of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace were fantasies that no man ever dared to hope of touching.
But now, a fairy from the Bing Yun Fairy Palace... and the foremost of the famed Ice Cloud Seven Immortals, was actually pregnant! Rumor had it that she was pregnant with the child of a younger generation!
One could imagine how this would thrust the Bing Yun Fairy Palace into the center of public discourse. To the thousand-year reputation of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, this was an indelible "stain," not an exaggeration to call it a profound humiliation.
When Chu Yuechan and the other five returned to the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, the Ice Cloud Palace Master was already waiting there in person.
Gong Yuxian was over one hundred and seventy years old this year, but she appeared to be only thirty or forty. She wore a long, trailing robe of pure white snow, her face as cold as ice, her eyes like swords of frost. Her expression was frozen and still, devoid of any emotional fluctuation. But the cold light that flashed deep within her eyes betrayed the anger in her heart.
At her side stood five women dressed in identical snow-white garments. Each had skin like ice and snow, faces like snow lotuses, stunningly beautiful enough to captivate entire cities. It could be said that any disciple chosen at random from the Bing Yun Fairy Palace could astonish an entire city with her beauty. These five were the other five members of the Ice Cloud Seven Immortals, alongside Chu Yuechan and Chu Yueli.
Chu Yueli and the other four returned, only to find the Palace Master herself coming out to "welcome" them. Her heart skipped a beat. Glancing at Chu Yuechan beside her, she stepped forward and said, "Disciple Yueli pays respects to Master."
Gong Yuxian slowly nodded, her expression still icy, but she paid her no further heed. Her gaze fell upon Xia Qingyue, and a hint of softening finally appeared on her face: "Qingyue, come here."
"Yes, Palace Master."
Xia Qingyue approached Gong Yuxian. On her arm was still tied that black silk ribbon.
Gong Yuxian reached out and placed her hand on her chest. After a brief moment, she revealed a faint smile: "Very good. At the age of seventeen, you have already achieved the initial stage of King Xuan. This is your fortune, and also the fortune of our Fairy Palace. It seems there is no need to hesitate further regarding the selection of the next Palace Master. For the next six months, you must go into secluded cultivation at the core of the Ice Extreme Snow Domain to stabilize the surging profound energy within your body."
"Yes, Palace Master," Xia Qingyue replied calmly. To Gong Yuxian's explicit indication that she would be the next Palace Master, she neither refused, showed panic, nor displayed any hint of surprise. Her indifference was as if she had just heard an utterly ordinary statement.
The atmosphere was very cold. The five immortals beside Gong Yuxian had not spoken a single word, all looking at Chu Yuechan with complex eyes. At this moment, Gong Yuxian's gaze finally fell upon Chu Yuechan. After a brief glance, she turned around: "Yuechan, come with me."
Chu Yuechan silently descended and followed behind Gong Yuxian without a word.
"Sister..." Chu Yueli called out, her heart full of worry.
This was an ice palace filled with candlelight and spirit tablets. Every name written on the tablets had once shaken the world, and these were naturally the predecessors of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace throughout its history.
"Kneel!" Standing in the center of the ice palace, facing the numerous spirit tablets of the predecessors, Gong Yuxian's heart surged as she commanded coldly.
Chu Yuechan knelt to the ground, her eyes like ice and mist: "Master..."
"You still have the face to call me Master!" Gong Yuxian turned around, her voice furious: "Do you know that the thousand-year reputation of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace has been ruined because of you! You have been my most proud disciple in a hundred years, surpassing everyone in comprehending both the Ice Cloud Art and the Ice Heart Art. I was always vigilant, guarding against a disciple breaking the precept. Qingyue's marriage, which was merely a matter of form, was already my bottom line... But I never imagined that the first to break the precept would be you! And you have committed a great wrong that has become known to the entire world, bringing shame upon the Fairy Palace!"
Chu Yuechan closed her eyes and said mournfully, "Disciple knows the error... Disciple will bear full responsibility for the mistake she has made."
"Bear responsibility? How will you bear it? Even if you commit suicide before the predecessors to atone, you cannot make up for your great mistake!" Gong Yuxian's brows were furrowed, clearly furious to the extreme: "Speak! Whose... whose illegitimate child is this?!"
Chu Yuechan's gaze instantly became hazy, but she did not hesitate and softly uttered that name: "Yun Che."
Gong Yuxian's body swayed, trembling all over with rage: "Wretch! Truly a wretch! You actually... you actually really did become pregnant with a younger generation... you... you..."
Gong Yuxian was so angry she could not speak. Although the rumors said she was pregnant with Yun Che's child, Gong Yuxian had refused to believe it! Given Chu Yuechan's temperament, doing such a thing was already inconceivable, but no matter what, it could not be with a younger generation. She had never imagined that the rumors were completely accurate!
Gong Yuxian pointed at the spirit tablets and said sternly, "Kneel before the predecessors now and swear! Immediately get rid of this child, and then never leave the Bing Yun Fairy Palace for the rest of your life!"
"No..." Chu Yuechan shook her head. Her jade hand rested on her lower abdomen, shaking forcefully. Her face showed a plea that Gong Yuxian had never seen before: "This is his and my child. Disciple is wrong in a thousand ways, but the child is innocent. Please, Master, spare this child. As long as Master allows disciple to give birth to this child, disciple is willing to never disobey even half a word from Master for the rest of her life... I beg Master to grant this!"
"You!" Gong Yuxian's body trembled, shaking all over: "Even at this point, you are still so stubborn and unrepentant! My most proud disciple in this life, actually... actually... Fine! Do you really think that if I don't make you abort the child, you can smoothly give birth to it? Do you know why our Bing Yun Fairy Palace has never allowed disciples to marry? The claim that love affects the cultivation of Ice Cloud Art is purely an excuse. The main reasons are, first, it will cause the Ice Cloud Art to be transferred to others! Second, cultivating Ice Cloud Art makes the body's internal organs icy cold. Although conception is possible, at most two months later, the fetus will freeze to death in the womb! Furthermore, this place is located in the extreme northern region of the Cang Feng nation, bitterly cold all year round. Even without Ice Cloud Art, the fetus will still freeze to death! Whether you abort the fetus or not, the result will only be one!"
Chu Yuechan was stunned, staring blankly for a long time. Suddenly, she raised both hands, one finger pointing at her dantian, the other at her heart. Two clusters of ice-blue light suddenly flashed, and then a massive amount of cold air surged out from Chu Yuechan's body, carrying a large swath of ice mist.
Gong Yuxian was greatly shocked and rushed to Chu Yuechan's side in an instant, but it was already too late to stop her... At this moment, Chu Yuechan's upper body was swaying unsteadily, her face deathly pale, but her expression was one of complete ease. Gong Yuxian's eyes trembled as she watched the dispersing ice mist. She knew everything was beyond recovery. Along with anger and shock, the greater part of her heart was filled with confusion and pain. She said with a pained voice, "Yuechan, why are you doing this... What kind of love potion did that Yun Che give you?!"
Chu Yuechan's lips slightly curled, as if she was trying to form a faint smile. She said softly, "He didn't give me any love potion... but he gave me a period of time I cannot forget, and during that time, he made me truly feel like a woman..."
"During those five months, I had lost all my power, my entire body was crippled. It should have been the darkest, most helpless, most desperate time, but he made everything different from what I had imagined. I couldn't walk, so he carried me. Even in the face of the greatest danger, he refused to put me down. I couldn't eat, so he fed me. Every mouthful was adjusted perfectly, not too hot, not too cold. I had lost my strength, so with one hand he protected me, and with the other he cleared all obstacles, sheltering me from wind and rain... For five whole months, he never once showed even a hint of impatience, never for a moment thought of abandoning me as a burden. Unconsciously, I began to enjoy this feeling, relying on him for everything. In what should have been the most helpless and desperate moment, I was wishing this state would never end..."
"In the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, one day was like ten days, ten years like one day, decades like one day... There was only ever snow and ice and the Ice Cloud Art. Every day passed in repetition. But during that time, he made me know the joy of living, made me truly feel for the first time that I was a woman... The reason I insisted on going to the ranking battle was because after leaving him, his shadow was in my heart every moment. I told myself it was to see him one last time and then sever my feelings, but the truth was, I just wanted to see him... I wanted to see him..."
Gong Yuxian's chest heaved violently. She let out a long sigh and said mournfully, "A fated calamity, truly a fated calamity! The predecessors said that love between man and woman is the most poisonous poison in this world... not a single word wrong! It is precisely this love that made you defy the sect rules for a younger generation, bring shame upon the Fairy Palace... even waste the Ice Cloud Art you painstakingly cultivated for decades for him! You... you..."
"I don't regret it... I will never regret it." Chu Yuechan's eyes were blurry with tears. "I only regret that until he was gone, I truly understood many things... He is already dead. This is the only bloodline he left in this world, the continuation of his life. As his woman, even if it were not just the Ice Cloud Art but required my life, I would definitely keep this child, just to repay everything he gave me during those five months... I beg Master to grant this... I beg Master to grant this!!"
Gong Yuxian weakly sat down in the chair behind her, her face seeming to have aged many years in an instant. Looking at Chu Yuechan kneeling there, radiating sorrow and determination, her heart was heavy beyond measure. She reached out her hand, held it in the air for a long time, then said in a voice of utter weakness, "Stand up... stand up... Just pretend that I, Gong Yuxian, have never accepted you as a disciple... From now on, you are no longer a disciple of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace. Leave here immediately, leave the Ice Extreme Snow Domain, forget everything about this place, and go wherever you wish. From now on, you and the Bing Yun Fairy Palace will have no further connection whatsoever..."
Gong Yuxian's tears suddenly gushed out. She knelt before Gong Yuxian, heavily knocked her head on the ground, and said tearfully, "Master raised me, taught me, like my own mother... Yet I have committed a grave error, causing you pain and anger, and bringing shame upon the sect. I know my sin is unforgivable... Master's nurturing grace, the Fairy Palace's fostering kindness, Yuechan... I can only repay in the next life!"
"Don't say anything more." Gong Yuxian turned her face away: "Go... Every moment you stay here, your body will be invaded by another trace of cold... If you don't want to harm the fetus in your womb, then go quickly... And go quietly, don't disturb anyone, go as far away as possible... I never want to see you again."
"Thank you, Master, for granting this." Chu Yuechan knocked her head again, stood up, slowly stepped back a pace: "Master, please take care of yourself. Yuechan... can no longer be by your side..."
With these words, Chu Yuechan stepped back a few more steps, then gritted her teeth and hurried out of the ice palace, her snow-white figure quickly disappearing into the icy, snowy world.
Gong Yuxian finally turned her head, looking in the direction Chu Yuechan had left. Beneath her eyes were two deep trails of tears.
After a long time, she finally calmed her mind, her expression returning to indifference, and she transmitted her voice solemnly: "Hanxue, come in."
As her voice spread out, a woman who looked twenty-five or twenty-six soon entered. Feng Hanxue, the seventh of the Ice Cloud Seven Immortals, at the sixth level of the Heavenly Xuan Realm, was also the youngest among them.
"Notify all disciples to gather at the Bing Yun Main Hall. I have several major matters to announce."
"Yes, Palace Master."
The major matters Gong Yuxian had to announce were three: First, announce that Chu Yuechan was expelled from the Bing Yun Fairy Palace; Second, Xia Qingyue would join the Ice Cloud Seven Immortals, replacing Chu Yuechan as the foremost; Third, all disciples of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace currently outside were to be recalled, and from that day forward, the palace would enter a three-year seclusion, receiving no outside visitors, accepting no new disciples, and no one was permitted to go out unless necessary.
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