Chapter 385: Ice Yi Takes Shape

A sword strike from Yun Che, utilizing ninety percent of his strength, was naturally no small matter. Xia Qingyue was forced back over thirty meters, silently watching the slightly disheveled Yun Che. Yun Che put away the Dragon Fault, subtly shaking his mostly numb arm, and said without batting an eye: "I tried it. This stone is indeed very hard. It truly lives up to its reputation as the place the Ice Cloud Ancestor cherished. If this place could be sealed off, it would be the safest spot in the entire Azure Cloud Continent, guaranteed to keep even the whole Heavenly Sword Villa from breaking in."

After speaking, Yun Che turned to face the wall inscribed with the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts, stretched out his hands, and secretly activated the Ice Cloud Profound Arts. As blue light flashed from his hands, ice-blue characters rapidly appeared on the greenish wall.

"I heard that besides the Ice Cloud Ancestor back then, for a thousand years, only my wife Qingyue has been able to comprehend and master the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts. This proves two things: one, my wife Qingyue is incredibly impressive, and it also shows that the Ice Phoenix Profound Art is indeed very profound." As Yun Che's gaze fell upon them, the profound formulas of the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts began to imprint themselves line by line: "Let me have a good look."

"Ice Phoenix Divine Arts – General Formula – Ice, the extreme of water, the extreme of cold. All things under heaven can become ice. Water can condense into ice, blood can condense into ice, qi can condense into ice, profound energy can condense into ice, even mountains and the sky can condense into ice..."

The profound art of the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts seemed simple and direct, yet also infinitely profound. At first glance, it didn't seem like a powerful profound formula at all, but rather an inexplicable repetition. Initially, Yun Che simply wanted to experience this mysterious Ice Phoenix Profound Art, but as the profound formulas entered his eyes, then his heart, and finally his soul, he unexpectedly became completely immersed. His expression grew increasingly serene and absorbed, and eventually, when he was fully engrossed, he unconsciously shut off his six senses, even forgetting Xia Qingyue beside him.

The profound formulas of the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts entered Yun Che's heart through his eyes. In his conscious world, it was as if a voice was slowly reciting the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts' formulas, indelibly carving them into the depths of his mind. Gradually, he felt the Water Spirit Evil God Seed, which had been mostly dormant, suddenly spring to life, as if it had sensed something it craved.

One moment Yun Che was looking relaxed, the next he suddenly entered an ethereal state while gazing at the wall. Xia Qingyue was surprised, but she didn't speak out to disturb him, a profound astonishment etched on her face... The profound art of the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts was incredibly abstruse. It contained the most fundamental, comprehensive, yet also the most challenging rules of ice power. When Ice Cloud disciples first encountered these profound formulas, their only feeling was utter confusion. To comprehend the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts, Xia Qingyue had stayed in the Fourfold Ice Prison for several months, immersing herself in profound ice, gradually grasping the core laws of ice power, and only then mastering the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts.

Yet Yun Che, who was encountering it for the first time and normally used fire profound energy—which was antithetical to ice—had actually entered a state of profound enlightenment just like that!?

The Water Spirit Evil God Seed hummed excitedly within Yun Che's profound veins and began to rotate. At that moment, a ring-shaped mist of ice suddenly gathered around him, then spread out like ripples, creating a gentle, unhurried cold breeze. Soon, a second mass of ice mist condensed around Yun Che, but this time, it lingered without dissipating. Gradually, as a streak of blue light flashed, an ice spirit suddenly appeared within the mist, seemingly alive, and began to flutter around Yun Che's body.

Xia Qingyue's rosy lips parted slightly, and an expression of disbelief flickered in her beautiful eyes... This ice spirit was not an ordinary ice crystal formed from the cold energy of the Ice Cloud Profound Arts, but an Ice Spirit that could only be materialized upon fully comprehending the first stage of the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts!

At this point, less than half an hour had passed since Yun Che began comprehending the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts!

The supreme ice profound art that no one in Ice Cloud Immortal Palace had been able to comprehend for a thousand years, and which even Xia Qingyue, with her exceptional comprehension, took several months to fully grasp... Yun Che had actually completed the introductory stage of it in less than half an hour!

Xia Qingyue stared blankly at Yun Che. She wondered how many more incredible secrets this man, her nominal husband, still held.

In truth, while Yun Che's comprehension ability was certainly not low, it wasn't necessarily higher than Xia Qingyue's either.

However, Yun Che possessed the Water Spirit Evil God Seed within his body.

Ice is a form of water. To comprehend the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts, one first needs an extremely high understanding of the laws of ice. Yun Che, possessing the Water Spirit Evil God Seed, was completely attuned to the element of water, and his understanding of ice laws had reached the absolute peak. Therefore, the threshold and obstacles to cultivating the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts simply did not exist for him!

Furthermore, the speed at which profound formulas are fully comprehended and imprinted into the soul is directly related to one's soul power. Yun Che possessed the Dragon God Soul. Although he couldn't display his full, monstrous soul power due to profound energy limitations, its level was absolutely incomparable to that of ordinary people. With the existence of the Dragon God Soul, it's no exaggeration to say that there was almost no profound formula in the entire Azure Cloud Continent that Yun Che couldn't comprehend or control.

Another half hour passed, and the ice spirits around Yun Che's body grew increasingly numerous, from one to a dozen, then dozens, and finally hundreds... After all the profound formulas of the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts had imprinted themselves into his soul, Yun Che closed his eyes. At this moment, his body silently released a chilling, soul-piercing cold. Simultaneously, threads of ice crystals rapidly extended outwards from various parts of his body. In a short while, these ice crystal threads intertwined around his body, forming a peculiar ice net that grew larger and denser.

At this point, Yun Che had clearly entered an ethereal, selfless state where his six senses were completely shut off. This was the ultimate state of comprehension, and any disturbance was strictly forbidden. Xia Qingyue slowly floated up, watched him silently for a moment, then left without a sound... In such an extreme state of comprehension, one would be completely unaware of the passage of time. It was common for it to last for several days, or even more than ten days. And at much higher levels, this state could even lead to immersion for years, or even centuries.

However, Yun Che's profound enlightenment did not last as long as Xia Qingyue had expected.

Hidden by clouds, the cold moon cast its muted light. As the entire Ice Cloud Immortal Palace was enveloped by the boundless night and fell into a desolate silence, Yun Che finally awoke from his state of profound enlightenment.

*Shatter!*

As he opened his eyes, all the ice crystals around him burst, scattering into broken pieces on the ground. Yun Che stretched out his arms and examined his palms. He felt an indescribable comfort and exhilaration throughout his entire body, as if it had been thoroughly purified by something utterly pure and clean.

"Ice Phoenix Tree!"

With Yun Che's soft incantation, two small ice crystal trees rapidly grew from his palms, spreading dense branches and leaves of ice.

"Ice Phoenix Illusion Mirror!"

*Chime!*

As Yun Che spread his hands, an almost completely transparent spherical barrier entirely enveloped him. Instantly, his cold aura and presence were almost completely cut off, and his voice was utterly silenced. This stealth profound art was infinitely more powerful than the 'Ice Cloud Barrier' cast by the Ice Cloud Profound Arts. As long as he maintained the 'Ice Phoenix Illusion Mirror', Yun Che even believed that it would be difficult for someone two cultivation levels higher than him to discover his hiding spot, even with a deliberate search, within several hundred meters.

Yun Che dispelled the Ice Phoenix Illusion Mirror and muttered softly, "I reached the fourth stage in one go. This Ice Phoenix Divine Arts doesn't seem that hard... It's so much simpler than breaking through with the Star God Broken Shadow or the Great Way of the Buddha."

Yun Che's words—not to mention the other members of Ice Cloud Immortal Palace—if even the Ice Cloud Ancestor were to hear them, she would probably be so enraged that she'd leap out of her ice coffin and spit blood all over him... With the Evil God Seed and the Dragon God Soul, possessing all sorts of cheats that didn't belong to this realm, how could he even have the nerve to say such a thing!

Xia Qingyue was no longer beside him, so Yun Che walked out on his own. Only after emerging from underground did he realize it was already night. The Ice Cloud Immortal Palace was exceptionally quiet at night, and not a single person was in sight.

Although the moon's light was mostly obscured by the perpetually lingering thin clouds, the reflection from the white snow on the ground prevented the light from being too dim. Yun Che suddenly regretted not having asked Xia Qingyue about her quarters during the day. Otherwise... what a perfect opportunity!!

Besides him, everyone in the Ice Cloud Immortal Palace was female, and it was nighttime. Apart from Xia Qingyue, it seemed inappropriate for him to seek out anyone else. Furthermore, Gong Yuxian hadn't yet announced that he was an Ice Cloud disciple, so he figured running into any Ice Cloud disciple could cause a commotion... Shouting for Xia Qingyue right where he stood? That seemed even worse.

What should he do? Should he just wait there until his wife Qingyue came looking for him?

Yun Che stood rooted to the spot for a long time. If this were anywhere else, even one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, he would dare to wander around freely. But here, it was all women... It was really inconvenient to move about in the middle of the night!

Forget it... I'll just go back to the Ice Phoenix Divine Hall.

Yun Che thought with resignation, then turned to head back underground. Just as he took a step, his ears suddenly perked up... To his right, he faintly heard female voices. He quickly strained his ears to listen... It was indeed women talking, and it seemed to be more than one person. The distance was roughly two to three hundred meters.

And among the voices... one seemed to belong to Chu Yueli!

Finding Chu Yueli would naturally make things much easier. Without thinking, Yun Che quickly walked towards the source of the voices... As he approached, the voices grew clearer.

"Yueli, is there still no news of Senior Sister Yuechan?"

"No, there isn't. Sister might be concerned for the child's safety and is living in seclusion in an isolated place, or she might even have left the Azure Wind Nation... Oh, I'm truly worried about her." This was Chu Yueli's voice.

Another voice, gentle as water, said, "Don't worry, Senior Sister Yuechan's profound energy cultivation has reached the King Profound Realm. Even without her profound art, she'll have no problem protecting herself."

"I've never been able to understand why Senior Sister Yuechan would have *that* kind of thing happen with that person named Yun Che? It's really... so incomprehensible." This was a very ethereal voice, seemingly from a young girl.

"Mm-hmm, I really can't understand it at all... Speaking of which, is that Yun Che really that powerful? Why has the Supreme Palace Mistress always wanted to meet him? Does Senior Sister Yueli know?" This voice was almost identical to the previous one; if not for the slight differences in timbre, it would easily be mistaken for coming from the same person.

Yun Che drew closer. He hadn't deliberately concealed his presence, so he was naturally discovered by these Ice Cloud women. Soon, their voices began to address him... However, he had just finished cultivating the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts, and his entire body was emitting cold energy. Coupled with the 'Ice Cloud Soul Crystal' implanted within him, anyone from the Ice Cloud Palace would immediately sense him, naturally assuming he was one of their disciples...

They would never have imagined it was a man approaching them.

"Someone's coming this way. Huh? This aura... it feels a little unfamiliar."

"This aura... it seems to be the aura of the Ice Phoenix Divine Arts. No, that's not right. This profound energy aura is clearly only at the Earth Profound Realm, Level Seven. It can't be Qingyue."

"Everyone, guess which sister or disciple is here?"

"I guess it's Lingxue... No, could it be Su Rou?"

"It seems to be Lülüo... The aura does feel a bit unfamiliar. Could one of the sisters or disciples be deliberately concealing their aura to tease us?"

"Sister outside, come in quickly! If you keep hiding, we'll come out and drag you in."

In front of Yun Che was an ice door that wasn't tightly shut. From beyond the door, the voices of six women could be heard... some clear and cold, some gentle and soft, some indifferent, some pleasingly ethereal. Their subsequent words made it increasingly difficult for Yun Che to bear. He quickly pondered their possible reactions to him, then stepped forward and pushed open the ice door...

He parted his lips, but before the first word could escape, he froze completely, as if struck by lightning...

Before him was a pool of crystal-clear water, so clear one could see the bottom. There was no mist rising from it, so it was clearly not a hot spring. This was the only natural cold spring in Ice Cloud Immortal Palace that would not freeze even under extreme arctic conditions.

Within the cold spring were six bare bodies, sculpted from ice and jade. Their faces were like paintings by immortals, each unique in its beauty, yet all exquisitely divine and picturesque. Their skin, formed from ice and snow, was fair and flawless. Pairs of smooth, jade-like, gracefully slender legs were either bent or straight, drawn together or folded in the water. Twin peaks of snow-white breasts were some like inverted jade bowls, some as full as the moon, and others pressed into elegant curves by their arms... All these details painted a captivating and mesmerizing scene, a magnificent spectacle that could make a man's blood surge almost instantly.