Chapter 380: Entering Ice Cloud
Before coming to the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, Yun Che had imagined many possibilities, but he absolutely never expected that this powerful and mysterious Supreme Palace Master would actually want him to become a disciple of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace!
If Yun Che agreed, then he would be the first male disciple in the history of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace!
And from the reactions of Gong Yuxian and Xia Qingyue, they had not known about this beforehand.
Yun Che's heart began to stir. For his own part, he originally had no grievances or entanglements with the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, but because of Xia Qingyue and Chu Yuechan, there was destined to be countless ties between him and the Bing Yun Fairy Palace. He was currently no longer part of the Cangfeng Mystic Palace, belonging to no sect or clan, and could freely join the Bing Yun Fairy Palace. After joining, he and his wife Xia Qingyue would both belong to the same sect, and their interactions from then on might also have fewer constraints. Even more, after finding Chu Yuechan in the future, it might be possible for her to return to the Bing Yun Fairy Palace.
But these were all secondary.
The most crucial point was... the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, from top to bottom, was entirely female! Moreover, when selecting disciples, the Bing Yun Fairy Palace not only valued talent but also placed extremely high demands on appearance. Combined with the effect of the Ice Cloud Art, every disciple of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace had icy skin and jade bones, cherry lips and snowy faces. Any one of them outside was a peerless beauty unmatched among thousands. The number one beauty of Cang Feng had almost always come from the Bing Yun Fairy Palace! In this regard, the Bing Yun Fairy Palace was undoubtedly a paradise that men dreamed of!
If the Bing Yun Fairy Palace openly recruited male disciples, there was no doubt: the entire Cang Feng would experience a major earthquake.
And now, this paradise of men's dreams was opening its doors to him... and for the first time in history to a man!
As a man with perfectly normal physiology and psychology, it was absolutely impossible for Yun Che to say he wasn't excited! But his face remained exceptionally calm, and his voice was very flat as he asked, "Junior has no sect or clan currently, so joining the Bing Yun Fairy Palace is not unacceptable. However, junior needs to first know: after entering the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, what do I need to do, and what can I gain?"
Feng Qianhui fully understood the allure of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace to men. Seeing Yun Che's reaction so calm, she felt approval inwardly and said, "After joining our palace, you don't need to do anything deliberately. You don't even need to follow the sect rules, nor do you need to stay in the Bing Yun Fairy Palace at all times. You can come and go freely. There are only two things you need to do... First, do not commit heinous acts under the name of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace. Second..." Feng Qianhui paused, her expression becoming exceptionally serious: "In the future, if the Bing Yun Fairy Palace encounters a calamity, I hope you will, as a disciple, do your utmost to protect the Bing Yun Fairy Palace."
Having said this, Feng Qianhui stopped. Yun Che, who had been listening, raised his head in surprise and then tentatively asked, "That's... it?"
"Yes, that's it!" Feng Qianhui said calmly. "As for what you can gain... Since you are a disciple of our Ice Palace, you can practice all our palace's profound arts, including the Ice Cloud Art, Ice Heart Art, Ice Snow Shadow Step, Ice Cloud Thirteen Swords... and the Ice God Divine Art! As for sect resources, I allow you to use them freely. You may enter forbidden grounds of the sect as you wish! If you encounter difficulties or problems you cannot solve, the sect will also do its utmost to help you... So, will you join our Bing Yun Fairy Palace and become its first male disciple?"
Yun Che opened his mouth but was stunned speechless for a long time.
Originally, Yun Che's biggest hesitation about joining the Bing Yun Fairy Palace was the "shackles" of the sect. Every sect had its rules, and as a special sect, the Bing Yun Fairy Palace's rules were much stricter than those of other sects. Joining would normally mean restrictions on freedom of movement.
But Yun Che had never expected that Feng Qianhui would allow him to disregard the rules and come and go freely... meaning he could come when he wanted and leave when he wanted, ignore anyone's words, yet still use any resource of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace and practice all its core profound arts. The two conditions Feng Qianhui proposed were practically no different from no conditions at all.
Such treatment was like a pie falling from the sky... gain everything, give nothing!
Breaking a thousand-year rule of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace to accept him as a male disciple, yet offering such treatment—Yun Che's feeling was only of endless unreality. Beside him, Gong Yuxian's face showed deepening astonishment, and she wanted to speak several times but held back with great effort.
After pondering for a while, Yun Che asked seriously, "Senior, junior really wants to know: why have you made an exception to let me join the Bing Yun Fairy Palace and given me this kind of treatment?"
Feng Qianhui smiled faintly, "Because of your strength, potential, influence, and immeasurable future. Also, although your actions can be somewhat extreme, you place great importance on relationships. I believe that if you become a disciple of our palace, should a great calamity befall our palace in the future, you will definitely protect it with all your might... Is this explanation satisfactory?"
Feng Qianhui's tone was calm and sincere, and her gaze was like a pool of clear water. Yun Che saw no impurity, pretense, or hypocrisy in it. This time, Yun Che did not hesitate—and found no reason to hesitate. He nodded, "Good! Thank you, Senior, for your high regard. Junior Yun Che is willing to join the Bing Yun Fairy Palace and become its disciple. But before entering the Ice Palace, junior has one request... Although junior has no sect, he already has a master. Without my master's permission, it is not convenient for me to formally take a master and enter the sect."
"Hehe." Feng Qianhui smiled faintly. "No matter. With your talent and strength, there is no one in our palace worthy of being your master. You don't need to take anyone as your master; you can enter directly. If you are interested in our palace's profound arts, Qingyue can teach you directly."
However, in Feng Qianhui's view, Yun Che had the Phoenix bloodline and was fundamentally unsuited to practicing ice-type profound arts, and Yun Che would not divert his energy to learn ice-type profound arts that were completely opposite to his Phoenix flame.
With things having come this far, if Yun Che still refused, even he would think himself a fool. He knelt on one knee and said respectfully, "Junior Yun Che is willing to join the Bing Yun Fairy Palace and become its disciple. From now on, I will share honor and disgrace with the Bing Yun Fairy Palace. If the sect encounters trouble, Yun Che will immediately return to the sect and do his utmost to protect it."
"Good!" Feng Qianhui nodded heavily, deep relief flickering in her eyes. She raised her finger and pointed in the void. Instantly, a small ice crystal appeared at her fingertip and flew toward Yun Che. When it touched the back of his hand, it disappeared directly into his body like melting snow. "This is the unique 'Ice Cloud Soul Crystal' of our Bing Yun Fairy Palace. With the Ice Cloud Soul Crystal on your person, you are an official disciple of our palace! At the same time, the Ice Cloud Soul Crystals of every Ice Cloud disciple can sense each other—this is the mark of being a disciple of our palace and identifying fellow sect members! The Ice Cloud Soul Crystal does no harm to the body. If one day you wish to leave the Bing Yun Fairy Palace, you can remove it yourself at any time."
As the Ice Cloud Soul Crystal entered his body, Yun Che quickly felt a resonance from Gong Yuxian and Xia Qingyue.
Having come to the Bing Yun Fairy Palace with questions, he had now become an official disciple of the Bing Yun Fairy Palace!
Such an outcome left Yun Che with a somewhat surreal feeling.
"Yun Che, now that you have entered our Bing Yun Fairy Palace, as the Supreme Palace Master, there are some things I need to warn you about," Feng Qianhui said.
Yun Che nodded, "Please instruct me, Supreme Palace Master."
Feng Qianhui was silent for a short while, then spoke with a serious expression, "I have heard that during the Cang Feng ranking battle two years ago, Ling Kun, an elder from one of the Four Sacred Grounds—the Tian Wei Sword Domain—publicly invited you to join the Tian Wei Sword Domain. You did not agree at the time, but you kept Ling Kun's sound transmission imprint... I want to know, is there any possibility that you might join the Tian Wei Sword Domain in the future?"
Yun Che pondered, wondering why Feng Qianhui would bring this up. Because of the deceased Yun Canghai, the deceased Xiao Ying, and his biological parents, Yun Che already held a deep hatred for the Tian Wei Sword Domain. However, with his current ability, he had no qualifications to contend with the Tian Wei Sword Domain, so he could not reveal this hatred to anyone. He remained calm and said hesitantly, "The Tian Wei Sword Domain is, after all, one of the Four Sacred Grounds, the pinnacle of the Tian Xuan Continent. Everyone who cultivates the profound under heaven dreams of entering one of the Sacred Grounds. Although junior values freedom, if I encounter a bottleneck in the future, I might consider entering the Tian Wei Sword Domain to seek a breakthrough."
Feng Qianhui fell silent, then sighed softly and said, "If you truly have the opportunity to enter one of the Sacred Grounds in the future, that would indeed be your fortune and destiny. However, of the Huangji Sacred Domain, Supreme Sea Palace, and Sun Moon Divine Palace—if you have the chance to choose any of these three, you may. But the Tian Wei Sword Domain—you must never enter."
"Why?" Yun Che asked in surprise.
"Your talent is extremely high, and your temperament is exceptionally suited to pursuing the extreme of the profound path. You have also been accompanied by great fortune. Your future is immeasurable. However, although the Tian Wei Sword Domain is a Sacred Ground, it is filled with countless filth and danger. I will never allow my disciple to be tainted by the defilement of the Tian Wei Sword Domain and ruin a lifetime of prospects!"
Feng Qianhui's words shocked Yun Che: "Supreme Palace Master, could it be that there is a special grievance between the Bing Yun Fairy Palace and the Tian Wei Sword Domain? Your disciple has very rarely come across the name 'Tian Wei Sword Domain' and has never heard any evil rumors about it... I beg the Supreme Palace Master to enlighten me."
Feng Qianhui looked deeply at Yun Che, a struggle flickering deep in her eyes. She knew well what an olive branch from a Sacred Ground meant to a profound practitioner—it was the highest pursuit on the profound path in the Tian Xuan Continent. Without a sufficiently strong reason, no one could refuse such an offer.
After a long hesitation, Feng Qianhui sighed inwardly and finally said, "Do you know that a thousand years ago, the Tian Xuan Continent did not have four Sacred Grounds, but five Sacred Grounds?"
"Five Sacred Grounds?" Yun Che was surprised again. He had only ever heard of the Four Sacred Grounds, never of any "Five Sacred Grounds." Moreover, the time of the Five Sacred Grounds was a thousand years ago. For a sect's development, a thousand years is not a very long history, especially for powers at the level of Sacred Grounds. A thousand years should not have been enough to be forgotten, yet Yun Che had never heard of a fifth Sacred Ground.
"A thousand years ago, besides the Huangji Sacred Domain, Supreme Sea Palace, Sun Moon Divine Palace, and Tian Wei Sword Domain, the Tian Xuan Continent had another Sacred Ground-level power. Its name was the 'Eternal Night Royal Clan.' The five major powers were collectively called the Five Sacred Grounds."
...