Chapter 667: Ice Cloud Fairy Shadow
Yun Che had only interacted with Ye Xinghan once, but all of his performances in the Seven Nations Ranking Battle arena and the Primordial Mystic Ark were enough for Yun Che to see his temperament. After learning that Yun Che was still alive, Ye Xinghan would most likely come to kill him as soon as possible... and he would come in person!
Having just resolved the crisis at Cangfeng Imperial City and Bing Yun Fairy Palace, a greater danger followed. After looking down from the air at the now somewhat calm Bing Yun Fairy Palace, he let out a long breath, summoned the Primordial Mystic Ark, and returned to Cangfeng Imperial City.
However, he did not notice that in the extremely distant sky, a pair of ice-crystal-like beautiful eyes had been silently watching him. Only after he left did these eyes finally withdraw their gaze. Her face, shrouded in icy mist, slightly rippled. She was dressed in white, ethereal like an immortal, and the ice spirits floating around her body were even clearer and purer than the most perfect crystal in the world.
"Master, the outcome of Bing Yun Fairy Palace is completely different from what we expected," the blue-clad girl beside her said. Her voice was filled with joy, because she knew that although the white-clad woman had made a vow in her heart, she still couldn't let it go completely. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come here again today, taking the risk: "But the palace master of Bing Yun Fairy Palace turned out to be a man... Although it was he who resolved the danger, and it was somewhat unavoidable, I still feel it's a bit... strange."
"If he can indeed let Bing Yun Fairy Palace safely pass through this calamity, what does it matter whether he is male or female?" the white-clad woman said lightly. "The Ice Cloud Art and the Ice God Divine Art can also be cultivated by men. The rule of Bing Yun Fairy Palace that only accepts female disciples is merely a form of self-protection."
"Anyway, it's strange. All the men in our Yin Xue Realm, except for Senior Brother Hanyi, are utterly detestable," the blue-clad girl pouted her tender pink lips, then asked curiously, "Master, you were staring at that person called Yun Che just now. Is there something strange about him?"
"..." The white-clad woman slightly turned her eyes. "He bears the Ice God Divine Art and has reached the sixth level, yet he can also burn Golden Crow Divine Flame. Ice and flame coexist in the same body — the extreme cold of the Ice God's power and the violent Golden Crow flame. Yet his profound energy is extremely stable, without any sign of disorder... it's too unusual."
The white-clad woman's crescent brows furrowed slightly... as if she was puzzled. And at her level, there were few things in this world that could puzzle her.
"Ah? The fire he used to burn that purple-clad man to death was really Golden Crow Divine Flame? I thought it was an illusion," the blue-clad girl showed surprise. "That means this continent actually has a legacy left by the Golden Crow? Hmm... if the Golden Crow Sect of the Yan Shen Realm finds out, they will definitely send people here immediately."
"..." The white-clad woman remained silent.
"Master, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly become so serious?" the blue-clad girl asked, looking at her.
"..." The white-clad woman closed her eyes slightly, as if trying to concentrate. "Do you feel... that someone is watching us from somewhere?"
"Ah?" The blue-clad girl's mouth opened wide, then she immediately shook her head. "How could that be... How could anyone in this plane discover our existence? Master must be having an illusion."
"..." After a moment, the white-clad woman slowly opened her eyes and said softly, "Perhaps..."
At this moment, the ice spirits around her body suddenly became chaotic. Her immortal-like body under the icy mist trembled violently. A mouthful of bright red blood sprayed without warning from between her lips, staining a large area of her cloud-white sleeve red.
"Master!!" The blue-clad girl exclaimed in shock, hurriedly supporting the white-clad woman's body. "How... how can this be... Didn't it flare up just half a month ago? Why so soon again..."
With a light brush of her cloud sleeve, an icy radiance flashed, and all the bloodstains disappeared in an instant. But her face under the icy mist gained an unusual paleness, and even the trajectory of the dancing ice spirits became chaotic. The white-clad woman steadied her breath, yet her voice remained as indifferent as smoke: "My life source is injured, beyond remedy. To have lingered on for a thousand years is already a blessing of fate. There is no need for sorrow or resentment."
Her words implied that she had begun to feel the end of her life. Tears immediately flooded from the blue-clad girl's eyes: "No... Master cannot resign like this... Master was injured so heavily a thousand years ago, and the Realm King had a way... This time, the Realm King will surely have a way too... Or... I... I will go beg the Yan Shen Realm..."
"Don't talk nonsense!" the white-clad woman scolded softly. Since spitting blood, within just a dozen breaths, the profound energy aura on her body had weakened by more than half. She glanced at the boundless snowy region below, sighed lightly, and said, "Let's go. The atmosphere here is turbid and will accelerate my injuries..."
"I thought I had completely let go, but in the end... after all, it is like my child... Perhaps before long, I will not be able to resist coming again."
She took the blue-clad girl's arm, and her body slowly rose until it disappeared into a soundlessly appearing profound formation.
And as the profound formation disappeared, at the place where they had been staying, the figure of a girl with waist-length blood-red hair and eerie light in her pupils slowly emerged.
"Yin Xue Realm?" The girl let out an extremely low snort. "Hmph! No wonder the Ice God Divine Art felt vaguely familiar... So it's the 'Ice Phoenix God-Sealing Canon' without the Ice Phoenix Soul!"
"How interesting." She let out a seemingly amused low laugh, then her body turned into a phantom and completely disappeared from there.
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The moment he appeared above Cangfeng Imperial City, an unusual energy fluctuation made Yun Che frown deeply, and his gaze instantly swept southward... On the land that had been destroyed by his "Yellow Springs Ashes," there were even more severe traces of destruction. The already heavily sunken ground now bore a huge pit over a dozen miles wide! Although it seemed to have been a long time ago, the pit still retained traces of profound energy at an extremely high level.
That seemed to be... the aura of the Sovereign Xuan Realm!
"Lord Consort! You're back!" On the city wall, Feng Yunlie, who was covered in injuries but still holding the front line, shouted in surprise and excitement when he saw Yun Che. The surrounding Cangfeng soldiers also raised their heads, their eyes trembling with excitement... as if looking up at a god.
Yun Che descended from the air and asked, "General Feng, what happened over there? What occurred while I was away?"
Feng Yunlie quickly replied, "About half an hour after you left, another Divine Phoenix army came from the southwest at an extremely high speed, and they brought a large number of flame warhorses and flying profound beasts..."
"What?" Yun Che's brows sank. "Why didn't you send me a sound transmission!"
"At that time, Her Majesty sent several sound transmissions to you, but each time it failed," Feng Yunlie said. "Lord Tianxia guessed that you might be in a place with a sealing barrier, so you couldn't receive the sound transmissions..."
Sound transmission failure... sealing barrier? Yun Che was stunned, then immediately thought of the Bing Yun secret ground where he and the Bing Yun women had stayed for an entire hour, where the successive palace masters of Bing Yun Fairy Palace rested in peace. Could it be...
"But you don't need to worry, Lord Consort," Feng Yunlie said excitedly. "Just as those Divine Phoenix troops were about to attack, an incredibly powerful hero appeared — one who is just as formidable as you, and this hero is..."
Boom!!
Something was violently blasted open, and then a voice that Yun Che was extremely familiar with — rough, deep, but clearly choked with tears — rang out: "Brother-in-law... Brother-in-law... Brother-in-law!!"
This was Xia Yuanba's voice. In this world, only Xia Yuanba would call him "brother-in-law." Yun Che's heart suddenly surged. He turned around and looked at the figure rushing toward him... Before he could even get excited, he was first startled.
Because the already massive Xia Yuanba... had grown a whole size larger than three years ago, making Yun Che's eyes twitch violently.
Boom!!
Under his "fright," Yun Che subconsciously dodged. Xia Yuanba missed his target and crashed into the corner tower with a loud bang, smashing it to pieces. Xia Yuanba turned around and burst into loud sobs: "Brother-in-law! You really aren't dead... That's great... Senior Sister Xueruo said you were back... I... I... I thought I would never see you again..."
"My life is too tough to die so easily." Yun Che looked at the even larger Xia Yuanba and said with a smile. He walked over and patted his arm... The muscles his hand touched were as hard as refined steel. "Yuanba, we haven't seen each other for three years, and you've... grown again. Alright, stop crying. From now on, as long as you don't see my corpse, don't believe I'm dead."
"I... I... Mm!" Xia Yuanba wiped his tears forcefully, grinned, nodded quickly, and laughed with immense effort: "Right... shouldn't cry! Brother-in-law is perfectly fine, nothing at all. I should be laughing. I should have known long ago that brother-in-law is the luckiest person in this world... how could he die so easily."
Cang Yue, Tianxia Diyi, Xiao Yun, and Tianxia Diqi had also come out. They watched Xia Yuanba, who possessed terrifying strength that could annihilate the Divine Phoenix army with a single punch and exuded a majestic pressure all over, yet was crying like a child in front of Yun Che, and then laughing and crying because of Yun Che's words. The stark contrast left Xiao Yun and the others dumbfounded.
Cang Yue glanced at their expressions and smiled softly: "My husband and Yuanba grew up together since childhood. They are extremely important family to each other. Their bond is so deep that it's enviable... No matter how powerful their strength becomes or how high their status rises, this will never change."
Compared to Xia Yuanba's physical changes, what shocked Yun Che more was undoubtedly the change in his aura. The profound energy aura emanating from Xia Yuanba was so thick that Yun Che could hardly believe it. He stared at Xia Yuanba and asked, "Yuanba, what level is your profound force now?"
"This..." Xia Yuanba laughed somewhat sheepishly. "I might not believe it if I say it, but I seem to have already... reached Sovereign Xuan Realm, Level Six." Then he quickly emphasized, "It's true, I absolutely didn't lie to you!"
"He really didn't lie to you," Mo Li immediately followed up. "His current profound force realm is indeed Sovereign Xuan Realm, Level Six!"
Yun Che: "~!#￥%......"
In the Yao Huang City of the Huan Yao Realm, Yun Che had seen many Emperor Lords and was well aware of the concept of "Sovereign Xuan Realm." He knew how great the difference was between each level of the Overlord Xuan Realm, and how vast the gap between minor realms in the Sovereign Xuan Realm could be. A single Overlord Pill that could help someone break through the King Xuan bottleneck to become an Overlord Emperor was a supreme treasure-level pill even in Yao Huang City. Breaking through the bottleneck from Overlord Xuan to Sovereign Xuan was an unimaginable "harder than ascending to heaven" for ordinary people...
And Xia Yuanba, in just three short years, had crossed from the mid-stage of the Overlord Xuan Realm... to the mid-stage of the Sovereign Xuan Realm!
Such a growth rate could not be described even by ten thousand "inconceivable." If figures like the masters of the Sacred Grounds knew, they would probably be jealous enough to vomit eight liters of blood.
Seeing Yun Che's dumbfounded expression, Xia Yuanba said weakly, "I didn't expect my profound force to increase so quickly either. Master said it's because of the Overlord Emperor Divine Meridian... I only gradually realized that the Overlord Emperor Divine Meridian is actually this amazing."
"..." Yun Che twitched the corner of his mouth and said through his thoughts in a low voice: "Mo Li, you once said that the Overlord Emperor Divine Meridian belonged to the War God's profound meridian in ancient times..."
Mo Li: "??"
"You also said that the Evil God and the Desolate God were transcendent existences among the ancient gods... But I possess the Evil God's profound meridian, the Desolate God's divine art, and even Dragon God's Blood, Dragon God's Marrow, Dragon God's Soul, Phoenix bloodline, Golden Crow bloodline... Over the years, I have endured the most brutal spatial storms and absorbed a massive amount of power in the Sea of Death Fire... I always felt my growth speed was heaven-defying!!"
"But now I feel like the Evil God and Desolate God are nothing but weaklings compared to Yuanba's Overlord Emperor Divine Meridian!" Yun Che said through gritted teeth. Xia Yuanba's terrifying growth speed... even he couldn't help but be jealous.