Chapter 383: First Success of the Ice God Art
Under ninety percent of Yun Che's strength, the power of a single sword strike was naturally extraordinary. Xia Qingyue was forced back ten zhang away, silently watching Yun Che, who looked somewhat disheveled. Yun Che put away the Dragon Gate Sword and, without any trace, shook his arm that had gone numb by more than half. With a calm face and steady heartbeat, he said, "I've tested it. This stone is indeed very hard. No wonder it was the place favored by the Ice Cloud Ancestor back then. If this place can be sealed off, it would practically be the safest spot in the entire Cang Feng Empire. I guarantee that even if the entire Tian Jian Villa came, they wouldn't be able to break in."
After saying this, Yun Che faced the wall engraved with the Ice God Divine Art, extended his hands, and silently activated the Ice Cloud Art. As a blue light flickered between his hands, ice-blue characters quickly appeared on the cyan wall.
"I've heard that aside from the Ice Cloud Ancestor of the past, over the past thousand years, only my Qingyue wife has been able to comprehend and master the Ice God Divine Art. This proves two things: first, that my Qingyue wife is truly extraordinary, and second, that the Ice God Divine Art is indeed quite profound." As Yun Che's gaze swept over the text, the mystic art of the Ice God Divine Art began to imprint into his mind line by line. "Let me take a good look at it."
"Ice God Divine Art — General Formula — Ice, the extremity of water, the extremity of cold. All things in the world can become ice: water can freeze into ice, blood can freeze into ice, qi can freeze into ice, profound energy can freeze into ice, mountains and even the firmament can freeze into ice..."
The mystic art of the Ice God Divine Art seemed simple and straightforward, yet also profoundly abstruse. At first glance, it didn't seem like a powerful mystical art at all, but rather a seemingly meaningless rambling. Initially, Yun Che only wanted to get a glimpse of this mysterious Ice God Divine Art, but as the mystic art entered his eyes, his heart, and his soul, he found himself unknowingly immersed in it. His expression grew calmer and more engrossed. Eventually, when he was fully absorbed, even his six senses unconsciously shut down, and he forgot about Xia Qingyue beside him.
The mystic art of the Ice God Divine Art entered his mind through his eyes. In Yun Che's consciousness, it felt as if a voice was slowly reciting the art, firmly engraving it into the sea of his heart. Gradually, he sensed that the water-element Evil God Seed, which had been mostly dormant, suddenly became active, as if it had caught a whiff of some scent it craved.
Just a moment ago, Yun Che had been looking relaxed, but in the next instant, he suddenly entered an ethereal state while staring at the wall. Xia Qingyue was shocked. She did not disturb him, but a deep astonishment appeared on her face... The Ice God Divine Art was incredibly profound, containing the most fundamental, comprehensive, yet hardest-to-grasp rules of ice power. When Ice Cloud disciples first encountered this set of mystic arts, their only feeling was "incomprehensible." Xia Qingyue had to spend several months staying in the fourth layer of the Ice Prison, immersing herself in the profound ice, before she could gradually comprehend the core laws of ice power and successfully master the Ice God Divine Art.
But Yun Che, on his very first encounter, and with his profound energy being fire-element, which was contrary to ice, had actually entered a state of enlightenment!?
The water-element Evil God Seed hummed excitedly within Yun Che's profound veins and began to rotate. At that moment, a ring-shaped ice mist suddenly formed beside him, then spread outward like ripples, bringing a gentle but persistent cold wind. Soon, a second ice mist gathered around Yun Che again, but this time, the mist did not dissipate for a long time. Gradually, with a flash of blue light, an ice spirit appeared within the mist and, as if alive, flew around Yun Che's body.
Xia Qingyue's pink lips parted slightly, and an unbelievable light flickered in her beautiful eyes... This ice spirit was not an ordinary ice crystal condensed from the cold energy of the Ice Cloud Art, but the ice spirit that could only be formed when the first realm of the Ice God Divine Art was fully comprehended!
And at this moment, it had been less than half an hour since Yun Che began studying the Ice God Divine Art!
The supreme ice mystical art that had remained uncomprehended by anyone in the Ice Cloud Fairy Palace for a thousand years, and even Xia Qingyue, with her exceptional comprehension, had taken months to fully understand—Yun Che had achieved the entry-level stage in less than half an hour!
Xia Qingyue stared blankly at Yun Che. She didn't know how many more incredible secrets this man, who was nominally her husband, still held.
In truth, if it came to sheer comprehension, Yun Che was certainly not lacking, but he wouldn't surpass Xia Qingyue.
However, Yun Che possessed the water-element Evil God Seed.
Ice is a form of water. To comprehend the Ice God Divine Art, one first needed a high-level understanding of the laws of ice. And with the water-element Evil God Seed, Yun Che was completely attuned to the water element, achieving the ultimate extreme in understanding the laws of ice. Thus, the thresholds and obstacles for cultivating the Ice God Divine Art simply did not exist for him!
At the same time, the speed at which the mystic art was fully comprehended and imprinted into the soul was directly related to one's soul power. Yun Che possessed the Dragon God's Soul. Although his profound energy limited him from displaying excessively abnormal soul power, its level was far beyond that of an ordinary person. With the Dragon God's Soul, it was no exaggeration to say that there was almost no mystical art in the entire Cang Yun Continent that Yun Che could not comprehend or master.
Another half hour passed. The ice spirits around Yun Che gradually increased in number—from one to over a dozen, then to dozens, and finally hundreds. After the entire set of the Ice God Divine Art had been imprinted into his heart and soul, Yun Che closed his eyes. At that moment, his body silently released a bone-piercing, soul-chilling cold. At the same time, threads of ice crystals began to extend rapidly from various parts of his body. Before long, these ice crystal threads interweaved around him, forming an increasingly larger and denser strange ice net.
By now, Yun Che had clearly entered a state of complete self-forgetfulness, closing off all six senses. This state was the ultimate limit of comprehension and must not be disturbed. Xia Qingyue gently floated up, silently watched him for a while, then left without a sound... In this extreme state of enlightenment, one would completely lose track of time. It was perfectly normal for it to last several days or even over ten days. And at higher levels, such a state could unknowingly continue for years or even centuries.
However, Yun Che's enlightenment did not last as long as Xia Qingyue had expected.
The moon was hidden behind cold clouds. When the entire Ice Cloud Fairy Palace was enveloped in boundless night and had fallen into a cold silence, Yun Che finally woke from his state of enlightenment.
CRACK!!
As his eyes opened, all the ice crystals around him shattered, scattering into a pile of broken ice on the ground. Yun Che stretched his arms, looked at his palms, and felt an indescribable comfort and refreshment throughout his entire body, as if his entire being had been thoroughly purified by something utterly pure and clean.
"Ice God Tree!"
With a soft murmur from Yun Che, two small ice crystal trees rapidly grew on his palms, spreading dense branches and leaves of ice.
"Ice God Illusion Mirror!"
Ding!!
As Yun Che spread his hands wide, an almost completely transparent spherical barrier enveloped him entirely. Instantly, the cold energy and aura radiating from Yun Che were almost completely isolated, and sound was completely blocked. This concealment profound skill was countless times more powerful than the "Ice Cloud Barrier" executed with the Ice Cloud Art. With the "Ice God Illusion Mirror" extended, Yun Che even believed that even if someone two levels above him in cultivation deliberately probed, within a hundred zhang, they would find it extremely difficult to detect his hiding place.
Yun Che withdrew the Ice God Illusion Mirror and muttered quietly, "Reached the fourth realm in one go. This Ice God Divine Art doesn't seem all that difficult... Compared to the breakthroughs with Star God Remnant Shadow and the Great Dao Pagoda Art, it's far too simple."
If anyone else in the Ice Cloud Fairy Palace had heard this remark, let alone the Ice Cloud Ancestor, even she would probably have been so infuriated that she would have jumped out of her ice coffin and spat blood at him... With the Evil God Seed, the Dragon God's Soul, and various other cheats that didn't belong at this level, he still had the nerve to say such things!
Xia Qingyue was no longer by his side. Yun Che walked out on his own. Upon leaving the underground, he realized it was already night. The Ice Cloud Fairy Palace was eerily quiet at night, and not a single person was in sight.
Although the moon was mostly obscured by the thin clouds that never dissipated throughout the year, the reflection of the ground's white snow provided enough light that it wasn't too dim. Yun Che suddenly regretted not asking clearly where Xia Qingyue's chambers were during the day. Otherwise... what a perfect opportunity!!
Everyone in the Ice Cloud Fairy Palace except him was female, and it was nighttime. It seemed inappropriate for him to seek out anyone other than Xia Qingyue. Moreover, Gong Yuxian had not yet announced that he was a disciple of the Ice Cloud Palace, so if he accidentally ran into an Ice Cloud disciple, it might cause chaos... Standing there loudly calling for Xia Qingyue? That seemed even worse.
What should he do? Should he just stay here and wait until his Qingyue wife came looking for him?
Yun Che stood still for a long time, not moving. If this were any other place, even one of the Four Sacred Grounds, he would dare to wander around. But here, there were only women everywhere... It really wasn't convenient to move around in the dead of night!
Forget it... I'll go back to the Ice God Temple.
Yun Che thought helplessly. Just as he turned to head back underground, he took one step and then perked up his ears. From the right side, he faintly heard women's voices. He quickly strained to listen... They were indeed women speaking, and it seemed there was more than one person. The distance was probably around two to three hundred zhang.
And among those voices... one seemed to be Chu Yueli's!
If he could find Chu Yueli, then things would be much easier from there. Without a second thought, Yun Che quickly walked toward the source of the sound... As he got closer, the voices became clearer.
"Yueli, any news about Yuechan Senior Sister yet?"
"No, none. My sister is probably hiding away in a secluded place, worried about the safety of her child. She might have even left the Cang Feng Empire... Sigh, I'm really worried about her." This was Chu Yueli's voice.
Another gentle, water-like voice said, "Don't worry. Yuechan Senior Sister's profound strength is at the King Xuan realm. Even without her profound arts, she can definitely protect herself."
"I've never been able to understand how Yuechan Senior Sister could have... that kind of incident with that person named Yun Che. It's really... hard to comprehend." This was an ethereal voice, as if from a young girl.
"Mhm, mhm, I really can't understand at all... Speaking of which, is that Yun Che really that powerful? Why does the Supreme Palace Master want to see him? Does Yueli Senior Sister know?" This voice was almost identical to the previous one, except for a slight difference in timbre, which made it easy to mistake for the same person.
Yun Che walked closer and closer. He wasn't deliberately hiding his tracks, so he was naturally discovered by these Ice Cloud women. Soon, their voices began to turn toward him... However, having just practiced the Ice God Divine Art, he was radiating cold energy, and because he had been implanted with the "Ice Cloud Soul Crystal," any member of the Ice Cloud Sect would immediately sense it, naturally assuming he was some Ice Cloud Fairy Palace disciple...
And they would never imagine that it was a man approaching them.
"Someone is coming this way. Huh? This aura... seems a bit unfamiliar."
"This aura seems to be from the Ice God Divine Art. No, the profound energy aura is clearly only at Earth Xuan Realm, Level 7. It can't be Qingyue."
"Guess which sister or disciple it is?"
"I guess it's Lingxue... No, maybe it's Su Rou?"
"Could it be Green Vine? The aura really does seem unfamiliar. Could it be that some sister or disciple is hiding her aura to play with us?"
"Out there, sister, come in quickly. If you keep hiding, we'll have to come out and catch you."
In front of Yun Che was an ice door that wasn't fully closed. Behind it came the voices of six women... Some were cold, some gentle, some indifferent, some melodious and ethereal. Their later remarks made Yun Che increasingly uneasy. He quickly thought about how they might react to him, then stepped forward and pushed open the ice door...
He opened his mouth, but before the first word left his lips, his entire body stiffened as if struck by lightning...
Before him was a pool of crystal-clear water, showing the bottom. There was no steam above the pool, so it was naturally not a hot spring. This was the only natural cold spring in the Ice Cloud Fairy Palace that never froze even in the extreme polar cold.
In the cold spring were six jade-carved, ice-sculpted naked female bodies. Their faces were as if painted by immortal brushes, each with its own unique charm, but all were stunningly beautiful like fairies, elegant and picturesque. Their skin was like snow and ice condensed, dazzling white and flawless. Pairs of smooth, slender, beautifully proportioned legs were curved or straight, together or apart. Towering snowy peaks were like inverted jade bowls, or full as the moon, some squeezed by arms into graceful curves... All of this painted a scene that could captivate the soul and make a man's blood nearly burst in an instant.