Chapter 322: Ice Cloud Palace Master

With a single sword stroke, Yun Che cleaved through the defenses simultaneously erected by the Six Ice Cloud Fairies. His teeth clenched, he officially stepped into the Ice Cloud Asgard, seething with anger. Just then, an enraged roar descended from the sky: "Presumptuous wretch! How dare you trespass into my Ice Palace and destroy my gate... I will not spare you!"

A bone-chilling blizzard howled towards him, forcibly halting Yun Che's advance. Yun Che roared, swung his heavy sword, and instantly dispersed the icy storm. Then, with another swing, he struck at the figure rapidly descending from the sky.

The person before him appeared to be in her late forties or early fifties, exuding an oppressive aura that deeply unsettled him. Her strength surpassed that of Fen Duanhun, Xiao Juetian, and even Ling Yuefeng! She was the most powerful individual Yun Che had encountered in the Azure Cloud Continent to date – a peerless expert who had remained in the Emperor Profound Realm for a full forty years!

This person could only be the Ice Cloud Asgard Mistress—Gong Yuxian!!

Yun Che's already blazing fury intensified. He flashed, manifesting four figures in mid-air, and simultaneously unleashed four Phoenix Smashes, brimming with wrath, relentlessly blasting towards Gong Yuxian. This Ice Cloud Mistress, whose power was unmatched in the world, commanded such respect that even emperors would defer to her and hold her in great awe.

Gong Yuxian's brow furrowed. With a flick of her arm, a pristine white long silk ribbon danced across the air, scattering all four Phoenix Smashes. She waved her arm again, and the white ribbon intertwined into the shape of a snowflake amidst its dance, carrying immense power and icy cold, meeting Yun Che's heavy sword.

The might of the Emperor Profound Realm erupted in the collision, causing the entire Ice Cloud Asgard to tremble faintly. Three overlapping craters burst open on the ground, and the space above them twisted, nearly collapsing. Ice Cloud disciples who were too close were directly flung away by the profound energy's aftershocks, letting out scattered, startled cries.

Yun Che's body somersaulted and landed, his blood surging. In front of him, Gong Yuxian slowly descended, her face clearly showing deep shock. Her gaze lingered briefly on Yun Che's face, then swept over the Dragon Fault in his hand. Her calm eyes emitted a cold light. "At such a young age, you possess such power, and you even wield an Emperor Profound Sword! Could you be an heir from one of the Sacred Lands?"

Gong Yuxian was a figure of immense authority; who would dare to disregard her words? Yet, Yun Che paid no heed. His eyes, like a fierce wolf's bloodshot gaze, fixed intensely on her as he rasped, "Gong Yuxian! Is it true that Chu Yuechan's profound strength was crippled... and that she was expelled from the Ice Palace?! Speak!!"

"Mistress, he's Yun Che! He's not dead!" cried Chu Yueli. Among those present, only she had met Yun Che before.

"Yun Che!?" Gong Yuxian's eyebrows twitched, and expressions of shock and complexity appeared on the faces of all the Ice Cloud disciples. Was he Yun Che? The one who, despite being in the True Profound Realm, had claimed first place in the Ranking Tournament, Xia Qingyue's husband, the one who had gotten Chu Yuechan pregnant, who had caused turmoil in the Azure Cloud Continent... and then supposedly met an unexpected demise at the Heavenly Sword Villa?

To achieve first place in the Ranking Tournament at seventeen and possess True Profound Realm power comparable to the Earth Profound Realm—such accomplishments were enough to astound the Azure Cloud Continent and merit Gong Yuxian's notice. After their brief exchange, Gong Yuxian's heart was turbulent. Her profound strength, reaching the third level of the Emperor Profound Realm, had gained no advantage against Yun Che. Each swing of his Emperor Profound heavy sword unleashed terrifying pressure that felt like a massive boulder pressing on her chest, making it impossible to breathe.

His power was a hundredfold stronger than rumored!

He was likely no weaker than the current Xia Qingyue!

Yun Che was truly a peerless prodigy, and it was no wonder even Chu Yuechan had fallen for him.

"You are Yun Che?" Gong Yuxian was both shocked and enraged. The Ice Cloud Asgard's thousand-year reputation had been tarnished because of him, and it had been forced to close its gates because of him! If Yun Che hadn't supposedly died, she would have longed to leave the Ice Palace and kill him herself. Her brows furrowed as she said, "You're actually alive? And you have the audacity to come to my Ice Cloud Asgard to demand answers? You caused Yuechan to violate our rules and destroyed my Ice Palace's thousand-year reputation..."

"Bah!" Yun Che roared, "What do your damn Ice Cloud Asgard rules have to do with me?! What does your thousand-year reputation have to do with me?! In my eyes, your so-called rules are the most inhumane shackles in this world! And your so-called thousand-year reputation is a colossal joke! Chu Yuechan and I are deeply in love; we share hardships and joys, life and death... What happens between us is none of anyone's business, not even the Heavens themselves! By what right did you cripple her profound strength and expel her from the sect?!"

"Impudent!" Gong Yuxian raged, though she managed to keep her voice steady. "Yuechan is my most cherished direct disciple. I treat her like my own daughter, and I personally taught her the Ice Cloud Arts. While I resent her for tarnishing our sect's reputation, and even wished to personally destroy the bastard child in her womb, how could I bear to cripple her profound strength and expel her from the palace?! The Ice Cloud Arts are a supreme ice-attribute profound art, requiring an 'Ice Heart and Cold Body'. If a woman cultivating the Ice Cloud Arts becomes pregnant, the fetus will freeze to death within two months! This Icy Extreme Snow Region is perpetually frozen, with extremely heavy cold qi. While it's an excellent place to cultivate the Ice Cloud Arts, prolonged exposure to this excessive cold qi is equally fatal to a fetus! Yuechan, for your sake... for the sake of the bastard child you left in her, crippled her own profound strength on the spot and knelt, pleading with me to expel her from the Ice Cloud Asgard!"

"..." Yun Che's mind exploded, instantly becoming a blank canvas. In that empty space, a scene slowly began to form: the little fairy, usually as cold as profound ice, resolutely crippling her own profound strength for their child, kneeling before Gong Yuxian and tearfully pleading...

Previously, though he liked Chu Yuechan and was captivated by her pure and cold demeanor, he never felt he owed her anything. While she had saved him, he had also desperately protected her in the Dragon God's Trial Grounds, and even their intimacy had been to save her life. But at this moment, he knew with absolute certainty that he could never forget Chu Yuechan for the rest of his life. He could never betray the unwavering heart beneath her snow-lotus-like pride, a heart more resilient and pure than a diamond.

Yun Che's face began to twitch, and then he started to laugh—a sad, cold, and mocking laugh. His tone dropped, but the anger in his voice hadn't diminished in the slightest. "Gong Yuxian, I ask you... at that time, was there truly no way to save both the child in her womb and her profound strength, allowing her to remain in the Ice Cloud Asgard?"

Gong Yuxian's expression shifted. Facing Yun Che's eyes, sharp as icy blades, the words she was about to utter caught in her throat, and she remained silent for a long time.

Yun Che said in a low voice, "As long as her profound veins were temporarily sealed with Purple Vein Heavenly Crystals, and the child in her womb was similarly protected by Purple Vein Heavenly Crystals, then neither the cold qi of the Ice Cloud Arts nor the cold qi of this place would ever harm the child! Purple Vein Heavenly Crystals are indeed incredibly precious, but for a thousand-year-old sect like your Ice Cloud Asgard, it's impossible you couldn't produce enough! You, Gong Yuxian, have lived for centuries, your realm at the peak of the Azure Cloud Continent. Don't you dare tell me you didn't know of such a method!!"

Yun Che's words struck at Gong Yuxian's core. Her expression remained calm, but she was speechless in the face of his furious glare.

"Mistress, is this... true?" Chu Yueli asked, her hands unconsciously clenching as she spoke.

"Alas!" Gong Yuxian sighed deeply. "At that time, Yuechan suddenly crippled her profound strength. I had no time to stop her..."

"Nonsense!!" Yun Che furiously interrupted Gong Yuxian. "Even if she suddenly crippled her profound strength and you couldn't stop her... why did you allow her to leave the Ice Cloud Asgard?! How could she protect herself without profound strength? And with her profound strength just crippled, her body would undoubtedly be weak for a long time, let alone being pregnant! If you truly cared for her, treating her as your own daughter, you should have kept her in the Ice Palace, isolated the cold qi with Purple Vein Heavenly Crystals, and with your Ice Palace's protection, she would have been safe until she gave birth to the child! But you insisted on expelling her! All your excuses are utter garbage! What you truly care about is merely your so-called thousand-year reputation! Because only by driving her out of the Ice Cloud Asgard could your reputation be preserved! In the face of this so-called reputation, everything else, even a 'daughter', could be decisively discarded!"

"Utter fabrication!" Gong Yuxian snapped, exasperated. "Though Yuechan crippled her profound strength, her profound energy still remains! With her Emperor Profound Realm profound energy, how many in the entire Azure Cloud Continent could harm her?!"

Yun Che gripped Dragon Fault, and a furious aura erupted from him. "I, Yun Che, am a man who repays kindness and exacts revenge! If your Ice Cloud Asgard had treated Chu Yuechan kindly, kept her in the palace, and protected her until she gave birth to our child, I would have been eternally grateful to your Ice Cloud Asgard. I wouldn't have even hesitated to sacrifice my life for your Ice Palace! But unfortunately, you made a decision that leaves me with no choice but to resent you... Gong Yuxian, you had best pray that on the day I find her, both she and our child are safe and sound. Otherwise, forget being the Ice Cloud Mistress; even if you were the Queen Mother of the West, I would still take your life!!"

Every word Yun Che uttered was menacing. Gong Yuxian's barely suppressed rage gradually spiraled out of control. She stated in a low voice, "Regarding Yuechan's matter, her punishment was certainly not unjust. However, from a human perspective, my handling of it was indeed lacking. Yet, this cannot be your reason to rampage through my Ice Palace! Furthermore, you are indebted to my Ice Palace first! My Ice Palace has stood for a thousand years, and no one has ever dared to be so audacious. If you don't give me a satisfactory explanation for today's events, don't even think about leaving!"

"Explanation?" Yun Che sneered. "You are the one who needs to explain, not I! And I had no intention of leaving immediately anyway! Because I haven't yet made you pay the price for provoking me!!"

Yun Che's profound energy aura exploded, scattering the recently fallen snow into a swirling tempest once more. Dragon Fault swung up, unleashing a "Tyrant's Fury" directly at Gong Yuxian's face. The howling wind and a dragon's roar, seemingly from beyond the heavens, echoed throughout the entire Ice Cloud Asgard.