Chapter 659: Ice Cloud Bad News (Part 2)

At that moment, the doors to the bedchamber opened, and Yun Che and Cang Yue emerged side by side. Cang Yue's eyes were red and swollen, clearly indicating she had been crying profusely earlier. However, her face was no longer pale; a faint blush now graced her cheeks, adding a captivating radiance to her noble demeanor. Even her eyes sparkled with a vibrancy far greater than before.

The others quickly went to greet them. Dongfang Xiu eagerly asked, "Your Majesty, you're awake... Is there any discomfort?"

Cang Yue smiled faintly. "I'm fine now; there's no need to worry."

She turned to Tianxia No. 1, Xiao Yun, and Tianxia No. 7, calling out their names accurately. "Elder Brother Tianxia, Xiao Yun, and Seventh Sister, welcome to the Azure Cloud Nation. You are my husband's friends, and should have been received with national honors. Instead, you've witnessed such a chaotic scene, for which I feel deeply apologetic."

Cang Yue's demeanor had changed considerably from three years ago. Her every gesture no longer conveyed a gentle and delicate nature, but rather an elegant blend of nobility and majesty. The aura of an empress, rapidly cultivated under three years of immense pressure and countless decisive actions, exerted an invisible pressure that Tianxia No. 1, Xiao Yun, and Tianxia No. 7 all felt. Xiao Yun quickly waved his hands. "Your Majesty... uh, Sister-in-law, there's no need to be so polite with us... If there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to tell us."

Xiao Yun's nervousness made Tianxia No. 7 secretly pinch him. Then she said with grace, "As expected of Elder Brother Yun's wife, truly extraordinary. My husband is right; Sister-in-law doesn't need to be polite with us. The Azure Cloud Nation is in peril now, so if there's anything we can do to help, please just command us."

"Brother Yun has shown great kindness to all three of us. If you have any commands, we will not hesitate, even if it means death," Tianxia No. 1 said without hesitation.

Cang Yue smiled faintly. "Thank you all... and thank you for taking care of my husband during this time."

"Yue'er, you're still weak; you should rest properly. I'll handle the rest," Yun Che said, concerned.

Cang Yue gently shook her head. "My body is perfectly fine. Although the Divine Phoenix Army was annihilated by my husband's divine power, the crisis in the Imperial City is not yet over. The Divine Phoenix Empire must have been alerted, and within twelve hours, a large army will surely gather at the city gates again. Our warriors and citizens also need to be organized and comforted. Now is not the time for me to rest."

"Don't push yourself."

"With you here, I fear nothing," Cang Yue said softly. There was no longer any weariness or gloom on her brow; not even a trace of solemnity remained, only profound warmth and contentment. Because she had lost nothing, and because Yun Che was by her side, she felt as if she possessed the whole world, with no further desires or grievances.

Cang Yue issued consecutive orders for troop deployment, and the Azure Cloud Imperial City quickly entered a state of renewed preparation for battle.

The sky began to dim slightly, and dusk was approaching. During this time, Yun Che gradually learned about the current situation of the Azure Cloud Nation from Dongfang Xiu and Qin Wushang... It could only be described as "unspeakably tragic."

A full ninety percent of the major cities had been occupied by the Divine Phoenix Empire, and some had even been extensively burned, with over fifty million Azure Cloud citizens perishing in the war... and this was merely a conservative estimate. In their haste to conquer Azure Cloud, the Divine Phoenix Empire's cruelty and maliciousness were indescribable... Perhaps in the Divine Phoenix Empire's eyes, even though Azure Cloud people were human, they were merely insignificant, lowly lives.

Countless more people were displaced and homeless... The once peaceful and prosperous Azure Cloud Nation was now on the brink of utter destruction... its very survival hanging by a thread.

"Divine... Phoenix..." Yun Che muttered these two words, his teeth clenched so tightly that blood almost seeped from between them.

"Is there truly no response from the Heavenly Sword Villa?" Yun Che asked.

"Alas, no." Dongfang Xiu sighed, slowly shaking his head, his face filled with sorrow. "The late Emperor and Her Majesty personally wrote letters to Heavenly Sword Villa nine times, seeking assistance. But Heavenly Sword Villa ignored all of them, not even offering a perfunctory explanation. The Divine Phoenix Empire is too powerful; perhaps their fear of being embroiled and facing national annihilation is understandable... But even if they had just sent a few powerful experts to protect Her Majesty..."

"Understandable?" Yun Che sneered. "This isn't just about the thousand-year promise between the Azure Cloud Imperial Family and Heavenly Sword Villa... it's a national disaster! When a nation faces disaster, anyone with a shred of spirit would use everything they have, including their lives, to resist! Heavenly Sword Villa... the esteemed top profound cultivation sect in the Azure Cloud Nation, who should be leading the Profound World to form the strongest resistance, has instead disregarded their family's honor and the nation's peril for their own safety... Every Azure Cloud warrior who remains in the Imperial City and rushes to the battlefield today knows that the only consequence of staying is death, yet they still do so without hesitation! Those so-called Heavenly Sword disciples... are not even comparable to our most ordinary Azure Cloud warriors!!"

"Indeed... if the Profound World were united, it would be the strongest resistance force. Alas... alas..." Qin Wushang looked up, his voice equally desolate. "It's a pity they possess greater power and longer lifespans than ordinary people... yet they fear death even more. Wherever the Divine Phoenix Army went, those local powers and families who had once reigned supreme rarely resisted. They were often the first to surrender to the Divine Phoenix Army, even proactively offering enormous bribes... simply to survive and preserve their family's foundation. Even the Xiao Sect was like this... The Sect Master and elders of the Xiao Sect, who once held absolute power in the Azure Cloud Nation, not only failed to resist when the Divine Phoenix Army arrived, but actually went twenty miles outside their sect to greet them, groveling before the Divine Phoenix Army..."

A national calamity exposed the true ugliness of these high-and-mighty powers. Indeed, they possessed profound energy far exceeding ordinary people, enjoyed a prosperity ordinary people dared not even dream of, and had longer lifespans... yet they had long since lost the courage that should have flowed in their veins.

"As the strongest sect in a nation, to act this way in the face of national disaster... is simply despicable," Tianxia No. 7 said indignantly.

"Indeed, if that were our clan... even if we managed to preserve ourselves after the nation's fall, I would look down upon my own family," Tianxia No. 1 said expressionlessly.

"Prefect Dongfang, how are my grandfather and little aunt doing?" Yun Che calmed his mind and finally asked. He hadn't seen Xiao Lie and Xiao Lingxi in the Azure Cloud Imperial City, and he was worried about their safety, but he had held back from asking, fearing an answer he didn't want to hear.

Dongfang Xiu smiled faintly. "Don't worry, about two years ago, Her Majesty had Prefect Qin personally escort them to Floating Cloud City. Floating Cloud City is located in the easternmost region; its land is barren and the city is small, so it should have been the safest place, untouched by the war... However, to our complete surprise, the Divine Phoenix Army actually sent a force of over 200,000 troops directly towards Floating Cloud City."

"What!" Yun Che shot to his feet, his expression instantly darkening.

"Haha, no need to worry." Yun Che's reaction was entirely expected by Dongfang Xiu. "The Lord of Floating Cloud City, acting on Her Majesty's orders, withdrew the defensive troops and surrendered proactively. The Divine Phoenix Army did not kill a single person in Floating Cloud City, and their horses didn't even enter the city; instead, they dispersed and stationed themselves around its periphery. Her Majesty sends them a sound transmission every seven days, and they have remained safe this entire time."

As if a massive boulder had been lifted from his heart, Yun Che slowly sat down, his entire body drenched in cold sweat.

Xiao Yun's expression flickered, and he finally couldn't hold back. "Big Brother, the grandfather and little aunt you just mentioned, are they... are they..."

Yun Che turned his head and smiled faintly. "That's right..." He stood up again. "I'll go bring them here right away so you can have a family reunion... Grandfather will be very... happy and excited to see you."

"Ah... good, good..." Xiao Yun nodded somewhat dazedly, his hands trembling with nervousness. Grandfather... Little Aunt... relatives... his true blood kin...

The thought of finally seeing his grandfather and little aunt, whom he worried about day and night, and the realization that he could now do something to make his grandfather truly happy, filled Yun Che with an uncontrollable urgency. Although they were safe in Floating Cloud City, only by his side would they be truly secure. He rose, preparing to leave and find a place to use the Primordial Profound Ark, but just as he moved, Dongfang Xiu suddenly called out, "Yun Che, there's something I've deliberated on, and I think it's best to tell you sooner rather than later. Otherwise... the consequences could truly be unpredictable."

Dongfang Xiu's grave tone made Yun Che pause. He looked at Dongfang Xiu and said seriously, "Please speak, Prefect Dongfang."

"It's about the Frozen Cloud Asgard."

"Frozen Cloud Asgard? What happened to Frozen Cloud Asgard? Was it also affected by the war?" Yun Che frowned slightly. He hadn't forgotten that he was still a disciple of the Frozen Cloud Asgard.

Dongfang Xiu slowly shook his head and said, "Although Frozen Cloud Asgard didn't mobilize to resist the Divine Phoenix Army in the past three years, they continuously sent us their millennium's worth of accumulated resources, including spirit medicines, profound attack artifacts, profound crystals, and profound arrays... providing us with immense assistance. The ability to hold the Divine Phoenix Army at Heavenly Tumble Pass for three full months relied on thousands of profound attack crystals containing wondrous profound arrays, supplied by Frozen Cloud Asgard. We never dreamed that, in the face of national disaster, it would be the Frozen Cloud Asgard, with whom we usually had the shallowest ties, who would pour out all their strength, even risking their foundations, to help us."

"...What exactly happened there?" Yun Che asked. He vaguely felt that Frozen Cloud Asgard's unwavering efforts must have been because of Xia Qingyue.

"Six months ago, Fairy Bingyue, Xia Qingyue, sent a sound transmission to Her Majesty. It was only a few short sentences, stating that Frozen Cloud Asgard had suddenly suffered a great calamity, and would no longer be able to assist the Imperial Family in the future, advising Her Majesty to take care."

"What?" Yun Che's heart tightened, and he stepped forward quickly. "What happened after that? What exactly did Frozen Cloud Asgard encounter?!"

"No one knows." Dongfang Xiu shook his head. "After that, Her Majesty tried every method, but could no longer reach anyone from Frozen Cloud Asgard. With the war escalating and Azure Cloud in grave danger, Her Majesty simply had no time to attend to other matters... We currently have no idea what has become of Frozen Cloud Asgard."

"Could it have been attacked by the Divine Phoenix Army?" Xiao Yun immediately asked.

"No, that's impossible." Yun Che shook his head decisively. "The Extreme Ice Snow Region, where Frozen Cloud Asgard is located, experiences perpetual bitter cold, and the ground is covered in ice and snow. It's definitely not a suitable place for an army, especially the Divine Phoenix Army who fear the cold. Furthermore, apart from Frozen Cloud Asgard, there are no cities or even residents there, so Divine Phoenix would have no reason to attack it."

The Thousand-Year Calamity?

Yun Che suddenly recalled those four words Grand Palace Master Feng Qianhui had told him long ago. These weren't just words, but a thousand-year prophecy concerning the life and death of Frozen Cloud Asgard. Feng Qianhui had also frankly admitted that the reason she allowed him to enter Frozen Cloud Asgard as a male disciple was entirely to deal with the "Thousand-Year Calamity" prophecy.

What exactly happened to Frozen Cloud Asgard... Could that "Thousand-Year Calamity" prophecy have truly come to pass?!

And six months had already passed since Xia Qingyue's sound transmission mentioned the "sudden great calamity"... a full six months!

A deep shadow instantly fell over Yun Che's heart. Today was his first day back on the Profound Sky Continent, and what he received was not tearful reunions and joyful gatherings, but one grave piece of news after another.

"I'm going to Frozen Cloud Asgard immediately!" Yun Che said, his brow furrowed. Xiao Lie and Xiao Lingxi were at least safe in Floating Cloud City, but Frozen Cloud Asgard... if he didn't go immediately to see what had happened, he wouldn't be able to rest easy.

"More Divine Phoenix troops will surely arrive today. Remember to send me a sound transmission at the first sign. I have my profound ark, and I can return instantly!"

"Go on, don't worry. We're here, and nothing will go wrong," Tianxia No. 1 said, nodding with a somber brow.

Yun Che could no longer wait. He quickly focused his profound energy to send a sound transmission to Cang Yue, who was personally deploying the battle strategy in the adjacent hall. He then rushed out of the room, flashed into the sky, summoned the Primordial Profound Ark, locked onto the general direction and distance of Frozen Cloud Asgard, and with a spatial screech, disappeared with the ark.