Chapter 968: Risking Life, Jade Falls Ice Soul (Part 2)
Regarding the "Voice of Zhou Tian" of the Xuan God Convention, it brought about a long-lasting and enormous upheaval in the Eastern Divine Region. Outside the Eastern Divine Region, the largest Western Divine Region, as well as the Southern and Northern Divine Regions, naturally also received the news and experienced no small amount of commotion.
Under the far stricter conditions of this Xuan God Convention compared to previous ones, even for the Bing Huang God Sect, the supreme ruler of the Yin Xue Realm, the number of disciples eligible to register was extremely small, and they were mostly concentrated in the Ice Phoenix Temple. Among the Thirty-Six Ice Phoenix Palaces, the total number of eligible disciples was less than a hundred, and all were barely at the edge of qualification.
The great opportunity from the Zhou Tian Pearl caused those in the Yin Xue Realm who were eligible to register to be irrepressibly excited. But they also understood all too well that no matter how hard they tried, they could never obtain the qualification to enter the Zhou Tian Divine Realm... Breaking into the top thousand among the younger generation of the entire Eastern Divine Region, as profound practitioners of a mid-rank star realm, was nothing but a fantasy for them.
It was also because of this Voice of Zhou Tian that the Bing Huang Realm was a bit less desolate than usual. A large portion of attention was directed toward the Xuan God Convention, which was destined to be extraordinary thirty months later.
"Younger Disciple Yun, open the door. Master wishes to see you."
Standing before Yun Che's training room, Mu Xiaolan called out rather impatiently. The "Voice of Zhou Tian" from that day had clearly dealt him a heavy blow. Mu Bingyun had thought that after he calmed down, he would take the initiative to seek her out for a solution to turn things around. But five days had passed, and Yun Che remained utterly motionless. Moreover, judging from his aura, he had stayed in the training room for the entire five days, not taking a single step out.
"Younger Disciple Yun... Yun Che... Hey! Open the door! Master is calling you!"
Mu Xiaolan's voice grew louder, but the stone door of the training room remained tightly shut, completely silent.
"If you don't open the door and Master gets angry, I won't take care of you! Hurry up and open the door to see Master!"
"Hey!!"
Boom!!
A streak of blue light slammed against the stone door. Mu Xiaolan stamped her foot in a huff and turned to leave.
"Where is Yun Che?" Seeing Mu Xiaolan return alone, Mu Bingyun asked in surprise.
"Hmph," Mu Xiaolan pouted. "I called him for a long time, but he ignored me. And I even said it was Master looking for him... So infuriating! How dare he act so arrogant just because Master dotes on him? Infuriating, infuriating!"
"..." Mu Bingyun's eyes shifted slightly, and she said softly, "Although Yun Che's words and actions are wilder than most, he is not someone who disregards propriety. Could something have happened?"
"Xiaolan, come with Master to take a look."
"Oh."
Mu Bingyun personally came to the training room where Yun Che was. As she approached, a strange aura caused her brows to twitch sharply. Her figure swiftly closed in, and with a flash of blue light, she pushed open the training room's door.
"Ah!" The moment the training room door opened, Mu Xiaolan let out a startled cry.
An extremely chaotic, blizzard-like aura of icy cold surged out from the training room. The source of this chaotic aura was clearly a blue human figure within the room.
The figure's body flickered with a somewhat violent blue light. The entire body was covered in a thick layer of ice, completely motionless. The facial features were no longer distinguishable, and only the rough outlines of the torso and limbs could be made out.
"Ah... he... he..." The only person who could be in this training room was, of course, Yun Che. But what now appeared before Mu Xiaolan was an ice sculpture continuously emitting chaotic cold air, and this chaotic cold clearly carried the scent of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill.
Mu Xiaolan was somewhat stunned. She stammered, "He... could it be that he forcibly took that Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill?"
Mu Bingyun's snow-like face turned cold. She waved her hand, and the stone door of the training room slammed shut instantly. Her figure flashed to Yun Che's side. She extended her right hand, spreading her long, slender fingers that seemed carved from ice and snow, and gently and quickly placed them on Yun Che's body.
"H-He... is he still alive?" Mu Xiaolan asked with some trepidation. Even she absolutely wouldn't dare forcibly swallow a Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill. And Yun Che had taken it himself. With his mortal body... the consequence of such an action was nothing but certain death. Moreover, a full five days had passed.
By now, his entire being, inside and out, should have completely turned into ice powder...
Although she wasn't particularly fond of Yun Che, she didn't exactly hate him either... The key point was that Master still doted on him.
When she asked this question, she didn't expect an affirmative answer. But immediately, she saw Mu Bingyun's expression suddenly change. From extreme gravity, it became somewhat strange, and then gradually showed deeper and deeper surprise, as if she had seen something she couldn't believe.
"Master, what's wrong with him?" Mu Xiaolan asked even more cautiously.
"He... is still alive." Mu Bingyun's tone carried a strange inflection.
"Ah?" Mu Xiaolan was stunned.
"Moreover, although his meridians are somewhat damaged, his profound veins..."
Ding...
Before Mu Bingyun could finish her words, the ice layer covering Yun Che suddenly cracked with numerous fractures, then scattered chaotically. Before it even hit the ground, it was carried far away by the air currents.
The ice fell, revealing Yun Che's body... On the surface of his body, profound energy flickered with a faint blue light. Since all his clothes had long turned into ice powder, when the ice layer shattered, his entire body was completely naked in the sight of Mu Bingyun and Mu Xiaolan.
"Ya—" Mu Xiaolan's beautiful eyes widened instantly, her lips parted wide. A scream had barely begun when Mu Bingyun stopped her in a low voice: "Don't make a sound."
Mu Xiaolan hurriedly covered her lips, her body turning around like lightning. A blush spread from her cheeks to her neck in an instant, and her breathing became panicked and rapid. After a long while, she spoke with a trembling voice: "H-He... he didn't... wear..."
"He didn't die, and he is still continuously absorbing the medicinal power of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill."
Mu Bingyun's voice was very soft, but carried deep astonishment. She waved her hand, and a layer of icy mist descended, covering the lower half of Yun Che's body. Then she took two steps back: "Xiaolan, turn around."
Mu Xiaolan carefully turned back, but still didn't dare to raise her head to look at Yun Che. She whispered timidly, "H-He... is he really okay?"
"Although it's extremely unbelievable, he is indeed in no danger." Mu Bingyun didn't say much, but her brows remained furrowed, and her eyes held deep confusion. From Yun Che's internal aura, she could sense that all the meridians in his body must have suffered severe damage not long ago... probably within these few days. That was the inevitable consequence of forcibly taking the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill. But when she examined Yun Che's entire body, she found that the damage to his meridians was actually very minor.
How could such severe meridian damage heal to this extent in such a short time... Moreover, the medicinal power of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill was still impacting his body even now.
"This... how is this possible?" Mu Xiaolan's face was full of disbelief. "Even if I directly swallowed a Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill, I would die quickly. And him... five days have already passed. Ah! His profound power!!"
Only then did Mu Xiaolan notice that the profound energy aura emanating from Yun Che was actually at Sovereign Xuan Realm, Level 8... and it was nearing the late stage.
"Not only is he safe, but his condition has become stable, and he has completely controlled the medicinal power of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill." Mu Bingyun said, "Judging from the aura of the medicinal power, he has absorbed and refined about eighty percent of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill's energy. In a few more hours, he will have absorbed all of it."
Another doubt flickered through Mu Bingyun's heart... How fierce was the medicinal power of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill? If a profound practitioner at the early or middle stage of the Divine Origin Realm could absorb and refine it sufficiently, their profound power cultivation could increase by at least one minor realm.
Medicinal power that could elevate even divine-path profound power by a minor realm... Yun Che had now absorbed more than eighty percent of the medicinal power, yet his profound power had only increased by three minor realms in the Sovereign Xuan Realm??
This was absolutely against common sense.
Could it be that under his forced absorption and refinement, the earlier medicinal power had been largely scattered and wasted?
Mu Bingyun hovered in the air, setting up a colorless and formless isolation barrier to cut off all factors that might disturb Yun Che. Her gaze also fixed on Yun Che.
His Heaven Poison Pearl, his combat power at Sovereign Xuan Realm comparable to Divine Origin Realm, his forcible refinement of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill with a Sovereign Xuan body... things kept happening on him that astonished her and even overturned her understanding. There was still twenty percent of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill's medicinal power left unabsorbed. She wanted to witness with her own eyes what changes that twenty percent would bring to Yun Che.
In silence, three hours slowly passed. Yun Che's expression remained exceptionally calm, and the aura on his body became increasingly steady. As the last of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill's medicinal power was gradually absorbed and refined, the icy blue light covering his body completely disappeared.
Yun Che's profound energy aura finally settled at the late stage of Sovereign Xuan Realm, Level 8.
By the time Mu Bingyun and Mu Xiaolan arrived, Yun Che's aura had already been driven to the late stage of Sovereign Xuan Realm, Level 8. And after continuing to absorb and refine the final twenty percent of the medicinal power, he still hadn't broken through to Level 9.
This result caused a long-lasting wave of turmoil in Mu Bingyun's heart and soul.
The absorption of the final twenty percent of the medicinal power took place under her perception. Yun Che's control over the medicinal power was almost perfect, with virtually no waste. If twenty percent of a Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill's medicinal power could be absorbed and refined to this degree by a Sovereign Xuan Realm, Level 8 profound practitioner, it would definitely be enough to directly break through to Sovereign Xuan Realm, Level 10.
But on Yun Che... it didn't even amount to half a minor realm improvement.
Could it be that his profound veins... or his profound energy laws were different from ordinary people!?
After a full five days, the medicinal power of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill was finally completely absorbed. Although the medicinal power was fiercer than Yun Che had anticipated, in the end, the danger had passed.
Profound power forcibly elevated by medicinal pills was ultimately not stable enough and required a considerable amount of time to settle. Yun Che felt his newfound profound power, opened his eyes, and met Mu Bingyun's gaze directly.
"Palace Master, I'm sorry for worrying you." Yun Che said apologetically. He had sensed it when Mu Bingyun and Mu Xiaolan arrived, but he simply hadn't been able to divert his attention at the time.
"...But it seems you weren't acting on blind impulse either." Mu Bingyun gave him a deep look, her eyes complex. She had lived in the Divine Realm for thousands of years, and her cultivation stood at the very peak of the entire Yin Xue Realm, yet she was repeatedly unable to understand the things that happened to Yun Che.
"Did you really... swallow the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill?" Mu Xiaolan still couldn't believe it.
"That's right. As expected of a divine pill from your Divine Realm, its effects are truly extraordinary." Yun Che lifted his hands, saying as he stood up. A single Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill had elevated his profound power from Sovereign Xuan Realm, Level 5 to the late stage of Level 8 in just five days. A pill with such effects had never appeared in the Tian Xuan Continent, not even in myths and legends.
As he stood up, the icy mist Mu Bingyun had previously spread over him also dissipated.
"Waaah—"
Mu Xiaolan suddenly let out an earth-shaking scream and tightly covered her eyes. Mu Bingyun turned around, closed her eyes, and said, "Put on your clothes first."
"~!@#$%^..." Only then did Yun Che realize that his body was completely bare. His previous clothes had turned to ice powder under the medicinal power of the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill, leaving not even a single strip of cloth. He hurriedly grabbed a set of clothes from his Heaven Poison Pearl and hastily put them on, a bit flustered.
"Yun Che! You big scoundrel! Lewd scoundrel! You actually... defiled Master's eyes! Ah—unforgivable!"
"I didn't do it on purpose." Yun Che stole a glance at Mu Bingyun and defended himself in a low voice. "The Palace Master didn't say anything. On the contrary, you... you took advantage of me, and yet you still have the nerve to yell at me."
"Who... who took advantage of you! You clearly sullied Master's and my eyes!" Mu Xiaolan was so angry she was baring her claws, and if not for Mu Bingyun being present, she would have wanted to rush at Yun Che and fight him.
"Alright, Xiaolan." Mu Bingyun said softly, "Yun Che, don't tell anyone about taking the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill. Forcibly elevating profound power with medicinal power—the greater the elevation, the greater the hidden danger. It must be stabilized as soon as possible. For the time being, try to cultivate quietly as much as possible."
"Okay." Yun Che nodded.
"The Star-Picking Stone gifted to you by Mu Su Shan can greatly assist in cultivation. You'll know once you try it. If there's anything difficult to decide, you can try sending a sound transmission to me. Try not to make rash decisions anymore... Xiaolan, let's go."
Leaving the training room, Mu Bingyun let out a very soft sigh. Her gaze was distant as she looked ahead, not knowing what she was thinking.
"Master, didn't you already obtain a dimension stone to send Yun Che back to the Tian Xuan Continent? Why didn't you tell him about it?" Mu Xiaolan asked in confusion.
Mu Bingyun shook her head. "He risked great danger to forcibly take the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill, just to elevate his profound power as much as possible in a short time, hoping to have the qualification to enter the Zhou Tian Realm thirty months from now. His determination to find that person is so strong that he's disregarding his own life. There's no way he would return to the Tian Xuan Continent just like that. That dimension stone should be returned to the First Palace."
"But thirty months to reach the Divine Tribulation Realm is absolutely... is impossible no matter what."
"Rather than forcibly shattering his illusions, it's better to just follow his obsession," Mu Bingyun said slowly. "After all, he hasn't entered the divine path and doesn't know the difficulty of divine-path cultivation. After a longer time, when he truly realizes it's impossible, he might change his mind."
"Xiaolan," Mu Bingyun turned her immortal-like silhouette to look at her only disciple, who had been accompanying her these past few years. "In these years, due to being plagued by the fire poison, I failed to teach you properly and instead have been taken care of by you. Now that I am safe and sound, starting today, I will devote more energy to your cultivation. And I will not take on any other disciples for a hundred years. I hope you won't blame me for being strict at that time."
Mu Xiaolan's lips parted, and tears immediately filled her eyes. She hastily bowed: "Xiaolan being able to meet Master and always stay by Master's side is already a lifetime's honor. As long as Master doesn't dislike it, Xiaolan is willing to serve Master for this life..."
"Silly child." Mu Bingyun smiled faintly and shook her head, helping Mu Xiaolan up. "You are a girl, and moreover the little princess of the Sitong Family. In the end, you will marry and inherit the family estate. How can I keep you by my side forever?"
"The Sitong Family Head sent you to the Bing Huang Realm to avoid burying your extraordinary talent. I have instead delayed you in these years." Mu Bingyun looked to the north and said softly, "The Xuan God Convention is approaching. The Great Realm King has decided to select personal disciples in advance, and it will surely involve the Minghan Heavenly Lake. Your profound power hasn't yet reached the Divine Soul Realm, so enduring the cold there would be too difficult. But after all, it is an extremely rare opportunity. It would be a pity to miss it. So for this period, strive for it."
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(End of chapter)