Chapter 1148: Ice Jiao Clan

At midnight, Xue Shichun closed his eyes and focused his mind. Treating the rake in his hand as a sword, he suddenly opened his eyes and swung it so fast it created wind, every movement precise and orderly. Even the master rakers of Muxue City, upon seeing Xue Shichun's movements, would express admiration, for Xue Shichun's technique far surpassed theirs.

But Xue Shichun felt this was still far from enough.

"Not fast enough, not fast enough," he thought, "I need to be faster, even faster!"

The rake left streaks of afterimages as he swung it, until he was finally breathless with exhaustion, using the rake to support himself and barely managing to stand, maintaining the dignified posture of a sword cultivator.

"Daoist Lu having me practice raking techniques must have a deeper meaning," he mused. "It can't just be about teaching students how to use a rake."

Xue Shichun gazed at the rake, whose handle bore the imprint of his hands, his mind adrift. "A rake, a rake..." Then, a flash of insight struck Xue Shichun, and he understood.

"That's it! How could I not have thought of this?" he exclaimed. "When I swing the rake, its nine prongs attack the enemy simultaneously. Doesn't this subtly align with the principles of 'One Sword Transforms into Ten Thousand Swords' and 'Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin'?"

"For a rake to embody these two seemingly opposite sword techniques at the same time," he pondered, "could it be that these two sword techniques actually share common ground?"

"Daoist Lu must be hinting at this!"

With this thought, Xue Shichun's mind cleared, and he waited at Lu Yang's room door early in the morning to express his gratitude.

"Thank you for your guidance, Daoist Lu," he said. "I've comprehended it."

Lu Yang, who had stayed up all night with Immortal Bu朽 and was now feeling dizzy, looked at him blankly. "Wait, what did you comprehend?"

"Excellent, it's good that you've comprehended it," Lu Yang said, trying to sound composed.

***

At Hunter Shi's home.

Shi Yi had a very long dream. He dreamt he fell into an ice hole and was swept away by a turbulent underground river. Logically, falling into an underground river should have made him feel extremely cold, but instead, he felt unusually warm, as if he had been born to live there.

Shi Yi suddenly opened his eyes to find himself standing outside in the icy, snowy landscape, his upper body bare, yet feeling no cold.

"Huh? How did I get here?"

Shi Yi felt an itch on his arm. He instinctively scratched it and realized something was wrong. He looked down to see several ice-crystal-like snake scales growing on his arm!

"Dad, look at my arm!" Shi Yi quickly ran into the house to find his father. His father was a famous hunter, and though a mortal, he was formidable, having trapped and killed qi-refinement level one or two demonic beasts.

Hunter Shi was splitting firewood. When he saw the snake scales on Shi Yi's arm, his axe slipped from his grasp and fell into the snow.

"Alas, have you finally awakened?" he sighed.

"Dad, what's happening to me? You know, don't you?" Shi Yi asked. Seeing his father's reaction, Shi Yi couldn't help but realize his father seemed to have long anticipated this day.

"Does this have something to do with my mother?"

Shi Yi had never met his mother since he was young. Although his father said she died in childbirth, Shi Yi always felt his father's tone was off when he spoke of it, as if there was a hidden truth.

Hunter Shi told Shi Yi to go inside and put on some clothes. The father and son then sat at the table.

"Son, I originally intended to take this secret to my grave," Hunter Shi said, taking a puff from his hand-rolled cigarette. "But since you've inherited your mother's bloodline, there's no longer any need to hide it from you." He then began recalling events from twenty years ago.

"Twenty years ago, I was out hunting and found a woman in the snow. She was as beautiful as a fairy. Seeing that she was severely injured, I brought her back. After she awoke, she was very hostile towards me. Gradually, as we interacted more, her attitude softened considerably, and she was no longer hostile. She told me she was in the Void Refinement stage, but her cultivation was very unstable. She had been attacked during an outdoor training session, which led to her severe injuries and unconsciousness.

"You must have guessed the fairy's identity by now. She is your mother, Bing Wu. Later, we fell in love over time, and you were born. Our family of three lived a sweet and happy life. Unfortunately, good times don't last. Your mother's clan arrived, intending to take her away, and to kill both me and you. That's when I learned your mother wasn't human, but belonged to the Ice Dragon Clan."

"The legendary Ice Dragon Clan that breathes mist into ice?" Shi Yi's body trembled violently.

"Yes, and your mother was the Saintess of the Ice Dragon Clan," his father confirmed, "the Ice Dragon most likely to transform into a true dragon in a thousand years. Her marrying me and giving birth to you violated a tribal taboo, representing ill omen. It was your mother who threatened to kill herself; only then did the Ice Dragon Clan spare our lives, yours and mine. The scales on your arm are the symbol of the Ice Dragon Clan. I thought you would never awaken your bloodline in this lifetime and live a peaceful life; that was your mother's wish. But to my surprise, you've finally awakened the Ice Dragon bloodline."

Shi Yi clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his flesh, his knuckles turning white. "Where is my mother?!" he demanded.

Hunter Shi sighed. "She's probably imprisoned in the Ice Dragon Clan's forbidden grounds. Before your mother left, she specifically warned me," Hunter Shi continued, "to make sure you never thought of rescuing her. Even the high-ranking figures of Muxue City show deference to the Ice Dragon Clan. How could you possibly contend with them?"

Shi Yi remained silent, his heart bleeding, deeply aware of his own weakness.

"Alright, it's time for class," Hunter Shi said.

***

The Ice Dragon Clan possessed an ice sculpture in the form of a dragon, carved so realistically it seemed alive. Suddenly, a dragon scale on the ice dragon statue flickered, and the clan member guarding the sculpture immediately reported the situation to the clan leader.

The Ice Dragon Clan Leader was currently trying to persuade a breathtakingly beautiful woman. "Bing Wu," he urged, "marry my son obediently. With the combination of the strongest bloodlines, perhaps your child will be born with dragon blood."

"Daydreaming!" the stunning woman coldly refused.

Just then, a subordinate came to report. The Ice Dragon Clan Leader was somewhat surprised to hear about the flickering dragon scale on the ice dragon statue. "Oh," he mused, "has another clan member been born?" He had not heard of anyone in the clan being pregnant.

He came to the ice sculpture, performed a divination, muttering incantations, and his expression turned displeased. "So it's the bastard child Bing Wu left outside," he growled. "To think that bastard child actually awakened our clan's bloodline! How preposterous! It's an utter defilement of our clan's bloodline."

"Bing Wei, Bing Wu, where are you?" he called."Sir!" responded two voices.

Two flood dragons appeared and knelt before the clan leader.

"Go to Muxue City and kill that bastard child named Shi Yi.""As you command!" they replied.

Bing Wei and Bing Wu were trusted confidantes of the Ice Dragon Clan Leader and also blood brothers. They were at the late-stage of the Spirit Transformation realm, and together, they were unmatched by anyone below the Integration stage.

"That bastard child is right here," they reported.

Bing Wei and Bing Wu found out Shi Yi's whereabouts: he was learning fist techniques and raking methods at a martial arts school.

"How pathetic," Bing Wei scoffed. "Mortals' horizons are so limited. They try every possible way to make themselves stronger, but in the end, they just learn some useless tricks at a martial arts school."

Bing Wei and Bing Wu were extremely arrogant. They swaggered into the martial arts school, having no qualms about killing someone in public. In fact, killing Shi Yi publicly would only serve to display the might of their Ice Dragon Clan.

They kicked open the martial arts school's door and arrogantly scanned the group of students. The students were holding rakes, grunting and laughing, practicing some inexplicable movements. Shi Yi was among them, sweating profusely and training diligently.

The students all looked at Bing Wei and Bing Wu. The two dragons, thinking how pathetic the martial arts here must be, were about to speak when their eyes widened. "Xue... Xue..." they stammered.

How could the Killing Star, Xue Shichun, be here?!

Xue Shichun frowned as he looked at the two Ice Dragons, a hint of displeasure on his face. "Who are you," he asked, "and what are you doing here?"

The moment Bing Wei and Bing Wu saw Xue Shichun, they froze. The Ice Dragon Clan inherently feared no cold, but at that moment, they felt like mere mortals, as if a bucket of icy water had been poured over them from head to toe. Fawning smiles appeared on their faces. They gradually backed away, and went to pick up the door they had just kicked open, attempting to restore the wooden door.

"We heard that the martial arts school's door was about to break," Bing Wei stammered. "And indeed, it's so old and poorly maintained that it broke with a mere touch. We'll fix it right away."