Chapter 938: Divine Realm Opportunity
Yun Che calmed his mind and focused his spirit, circulating the Desolate God's Power to its fullest while releasing just a trace of the Heavenly Poison Force. His palm slowly moved down from Mu Bingyun's heart, all the way to her lower abdomen, then slowly moved back up, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter throughout the process.
The poison on Mu Bingyun was potent, but far inferior to the poison on Mo Li, and also far inferior to the demonic poison on Hong'er. However, back then, the demonic poison on Hong'er was only a shallow trace, likely just contaminated and not yet spread, before being sealed within the Eternal Pivot, so he had purified it effortlessly with a casual gesture.
But the poison on Mu Bingyun... according to Mu Xiaolan, she had been poisoned a thousand years ago, yet had never been able to expel it. To have survived for a thousand years, she must have relied on countless spiritual treasures to forcibly prolong her life. And over an entire millennium, it was easy to imagine how much the poison had spread.
Unsurprisingly, the poison had not only fully invaded her soul body but had also formed a Poison Spirit.
Moreover, it was a high-level Poison Spirit such as he had never seen before.
He had seen many Poison Spirits before. Any poison capable of generating a Poison Spirit was a high-level lethal toxin. Back when he followed Yun Gu in practicing medicine across the Cang Yun Continent, he had encountered dozens of cases of Poison Spirits. When he had expelled the poison for Chu Yuechan, the cold poison she had suffered had also produced a Poison Spirit... but those were all low-level Poison Spirits, possessing only the most basic consciousness.
However, the Poison Spirit generated by the poison on Mu Bingyun clearly possessed a fairly advanced consciousness, even having a special independent life force. Moreover, it had been born from Mu Bingyun's life meridians and was completely connected to them. If the Poison Spirit died, she would surely die as well. Conversely, if Mu Bingyun died, the Poison Spirit would not perish; instead, its life could become truly independent.
Thus, to expel the poison from her body, the Poison Spirit must first be eliminated, and to eliminate the Poison Spirit, its connection to her life meridians must first be severed.
"Hoo... this is really troublesome."
Yun Che muttered softly. Then, he raised his right hand, igniting Phoenix Flame in his palm, and hovered it above Mu Bingyun's heart. Slowly, he pressed it down until the Phoenix Flame, wrapped in Desolate God's Power, infiltrated her body.
Then, Yun Che became completely still, his entire body motionless, save for beads of sweat slowly trickling down his forehead.
Maintaining this posture for a full half hour, Yun Che's eyes suddenly snapped open, and both hands rose simultaneously.
Hiss!!
With an extremely obscure, piercing shriek, a flame suddenly leaped from Mu Bingyun's body, rapidly twisting into a fierce and terrifying fiery silhouette.
Poison Spirit!
The Poison Spirit struggled and screeched desperately, trying to escape from Mu Bingyun's body. But a Poison Spirit was, after all, just poison. No matter how advanced, it was nothing before the purifying power of the Heavenly Poison Pearl. Yun Che's left hand shot forward like lightning, grabbing the Poison Spirit in his palm... Instantly, the Poison Spirit was enveloped in green light, completely dissipating in a flash, utterly annihilated.
But Yun Che did not breathe a sigh of relief; instead, his expression shifted slightly.
This is... Golden Crow Flame!?
This Poison Spirit, and the carrier of the poison she was afflicted with... was unmistakably Golden Crow Flame.
What is going on here?
The person who had severely injured and poisoned Mu Bingyun a thousand years ago... was someone possessing the divine power of the Golden Crow!
Yun Che had long known that there were people in the God Realm who could use Golden Crow Flame. Mo Li had once mentioned a place called "Yan Shen Realm," where those who inherited the three supreme fire-type divine powers—Vermilion Bird, Phoenix, and Golden Crow—were gathered, each forming their own sect.
Could it be that the Yan Shen Realm and the Yin Xue Realm were... hostile to each other?
These thoughts flashed through Yun Che's mind. He immediately refocused, starting from Mu Bingyun's heart meridian, slowly purifying the flame poison while infusing her with Heaven and Earth aura.
Outside the Cold Snow Hall, the sky darkened imperceptibly. Three full hours had passed, and there was still no movement from within the hall. Mu Xiaolan had paced back and forth countless times, becoming more and more anxious with each passing moment, unable to find a single moment of peace. She worried whether Yun Che could truly save Mu Bingyun... and even more, she feared that this lewd, despicable, and foul-tempered person might take advantage of Mu Bingyun.
Murong Qianxue and the others also waited outside the hall, none of them leaving. Everyone's heart was filled with trepidation. If everything was true, then the person lying inside the Cold Snow Hall... was the founding ancestor of all of them!
This was no small matter.
Inside the Cold Snow Hall, Yun Che's hand finally moved away from Mu Bingyun's body. He let out a heavy breath, sweat pouring from his forehead, and his whole body was covered in frost crystals formed from frozen perspiration.
Three hours was absolutely insufficient to expel all the poison from her body. However, the poison in her heart meridian had been mostly purified and would not spread further for a short time. Moreover, with the rich and pure aura of Heaven and Earth, her whole body had already recovered a sufficiently dense vitality.
Yun Che dispersed the frost crystals from his body and plopped down onto an ice chair behind him. These three hours had not drained much of his physical strength, but the mental strain had been considerable. After taking a few deep breaths, he suddenly muttered to himself, "So even immortals from the Divine Realm can be this lazy—awake for so long and still refusing to get up."
"..." As soon as he spoke, the white-clad woman on the ice bed slowly opened her eyes. In the palace formed of ice, two glimmers appeared, colder and purer than snow and jade.
She sat up, raising her jade-like arm, her gaze sweeping across the back of her hand before settling on Yun Che. She spoke softly, "Who exactly are you?"
Her voice was as gentle as falling snow, yet as indifferent as a clear spring—no surprise, no joy, no excitement. Though it was a question, it was as calm as a statement.
"That's a question I should be asking you first." Yun Che was inwardly astonished by Mu Bingyun's reaction. A person who had endured the agony of flame poison for a thousand years, always teetering on the edge of life and death, upon waking to find the poison weakened and her vitality restored, should have been overjoyed. But she remained so calm and detached, as if her emotions had been frozen.
And her calmness was different from Chu Yuechan's icy indifference when he first met her, keeping everyone at arm's length. Her gaze, though devoid of warmth, was not cold; her voice, though emotionless, was exceptionally soft, like a spring breeze—yet one dared not approach, for fear of the slightest desecration.
"Are you really the Mu Bingyun who founded the Bing Yun Fairy Palace a thousand years ago?" Yun Che asked directly.
Mu Bingyun stood up from the ice bed. As her white robes fell, a fleeting glimpse of snow-white skin on her jade-like legs shimmered past. She turned her gaze toward the hall's entrance and said softly, "It seems that Xiaolan has told you many things."
Her words were an implicit confirmation.
"A thousand years ago, when I left, I had already resolved to sever all ties with this world. I never thought I would never truly let go, that I would return here, and thus gain a new hope for survival. Perhaps this too is a destined opportunity."
"You..." Yun Che had never seen anyone whose emotions could be so flat—especially such a stunningly beautiful woman. He probed, "You were on the verge of death just now, and I saved you. Why don't you seem happy or excited?"
Mu Bingyun turned her gaze, looking at him quietly. "These years, I have been waiting for death every day. I have long since grown indifferent to life and death. Suddenly having a hope to live again, I instead feel a bit lost."
Yun Che: "..."
"But being able to live is certainly good." Mu Bingyun's voice was ethereal, and finally, a trace of the slightest flicker appeared in her eyes.
"I have answered your question. Now, should you tell me who you really are?" Mu Bingyun's probing gaze met his directly. "Back then, I was severely injured and had lost all my profound power. I could not expel the lethal poison in time, and it invaded my heart meridian and soul body. It was beyond remedy. Even in my Yin Xue Realm, there was nothing to be done."
"But you, clearly a person from the lower realm, took only a few short hours to heal me to this extent. If this were not happening to my own body, I would never have believed it. Yun Che, you are indeed no ordinary person."
Yun Che leaned forward, surprised. "How do you know my name?"
"In recent years, feeling that my end was near and with lingering concerns, I came to the Bing Yun Fairy Palace three times with Xiaolan. The first time, the palace was facing a calamity. The second time, you had already become the new Palace Master. Back then, I sensed that you had forcibly cultivated the Ice God Divine Art while also possessing the incompatible Golden Crow Divine Flame, and I realized you were extraordinary. Today is the third time, and you have surprised me again—your profound power has leaped from the King Xuan Realm to the Sovereign Xuan Realm in just two years."
"..." Yun Che was slightly stunned. Mu Bingyun had actually come to observe the Bing Yun Fairy Palace twice before... and had even taken notice of him!
"Such a rate of growth is already impressive even in the Yin Xue Realm, but on a planet like Lan Ji Star, with its low laws and sparse, murky aura, it might be considered nothing short of miraculous. Moreover..." A crystalline, snow-like glimmer flashed in Mu Bingyun's icy eyes. "Even the ancient divine object, the Heavenly Poison Pearl, has acknowledged you as its master."
Yun Che shot up from the ice chair. But in an instant, he realized he had let his guard down, and it was too late to cover it up. He could only say, somewhat helplessly, "Fine... you win."
Damn it! I was so busy staring into her eyes that I let my focus slip!
This woman—why does she have such beautiful eyes! So infuriating! Absolutely infuriating!
"It seems that indeed is the Heavenly Poison Pearl." In those snow-like eyes that could dim the stars in the sky, a trace of genuine astonishment finally flickered.
"Rest assured, I will not tell anyone about this. You saved my life; I would not do anything to harm you." Before Yun Che could even warn or plead, Mu Bingyun spoke on her own initiative. She closed her eyes, and the entire Cold Snow Hall seemed to dim slightly. "Since it is the Heavenly Poison Pearl, it appears that my life can truly be extended."
Although he had mentally prepared himself, being directly recognized by Mu Bingyun—or more accurately, having the Heavenly Poison Pearl "flushed out" by her—still left him somewhat frustrated. He couldn't help but ask, "Fairy Mu... you have surely never seen the Heavenly Poison Pearl before, right? Moreover, as far as I know, even in your Divine Realm, there are only legends about the Heavenly Poison Pearl; no one has ever actually seen it. Why would you immediately assume that I was using the Heavenly Poison Pearl to expel your poison?"
Mu Bingyun said softly, "It was just a sudden conjecture that flashed through my heart and soul. The poison on my body has existed for a thousand years. I know better than anyone how terrifying it is. Even my older sister could do nothing about it. Yet you, in just a few short hours, achieved this much. I couldn't help but think of that legend from the ancient era."
"..." The corner of Yun Che's mouth twitched. It seemed that in the future, when healing others of poison, he would need to be more careful, to slow down as much as possible—if he could purify something in ten breaths, he would drag it out for ten or fifteen days! But the poison on Mu Bingyun was too virulent, and her life hung by a thread; he simply could not hold back.
Facing only her back, Yun Che's mind finally settled slightly. His eyes shifted subtly, and he finally couldn't hold back and said, "Fairy Mu, I am completely confident that I can purify all the poison in your body within a month. After that, your damaged vitality and profound power should also recover quickly. However, I am not saving you for nothing... I have a condition."
"Please speak." Mu Bingyun's voice remained very soft and gentle, like a snowflake carried by the wind.
"I want you... to take me to the Divine Realm!" Yun Che looked up, suppressing his excitement as he spoke.