Chapter 365. Killing Two Birds With One Stone (1)

She got me there...

The moment Zhou Xuchuan heard Leng Yuefei's words, he felt conflicted. He could understand what the North Sea Ice Palace Master was thinking.

"This won't be bad for you in any way."

There was no change in Leng Yuefei's expression.

There was no smile of repentance, nor any earnestness to save the North Sea from crisis. She was as cold as ice.

Is she really the leader of the North Sea?

Zhou Xuchuan sighed inwardly and turned around again. "I'll listen to what you have to say. However, if you're hiding anything like you did with the artifact earlier, I'll turn back, so keep that in mind."

"Of course. I swear on my name as the North Sea Ice Palace Master." Leng Yuefei nodded. Her hair flowed down with her movements, making her mysteriousness even more brilliant.

"Sword God, as you've seen, the North Sea is suffering from a famine due to the abnormal climate. The beautifully blooming flowers and plants that have adapted to the cold and the vast inland sea are frozen."

It was already a barren land. After several years of the bitter cold, nothing could grow on the land anymore. Even the special plants boasting strong vitality couldn't withstand the abnormal climate.

A pure white god of death had descended upon the North Sea.

It wasn't filled with the greatness of nature, but its terror.

It was truly the epitome of a natural disaster.

"The rivers froze, so it was impossible to catch fish, clams, and seaweed. As a result, every animal, large and small, that depended on the fish ended up starving, leaving people with nothing to eat.

"This disaster started with the artifact, the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence."

"Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence? That Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence that only appears in legends?" Zhou Xuchuan raised his voice in surprise.

"Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence...?" Luo Xiaoyue tilted her head as if she didn't know what was going on.

"It's a treasure created by the Great Nature of the North Sea," Leng Yuefei kindly explained to Luo Xiaoyue.

"Do you know what an Ice Essence is?"

Luo Xiaoyue was momentarily taken aback by the direct question of a great senior in the

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and one of the Six Empyrean Overlords, but she answered without hesitation.

"Ah, yes," she said, "The accumulation of cold aura... that is, I understand that it's the amalgamation of frigid yin qi's essence that solidified like ice."

"That's right. If an ordinary person or even an ordinary martial artist were to consume an Ice Essence, their soul would freeze on the spot. However, for someone from the North Sea who cultivates a Frigid Yin Art like the Ice Desolation Art, it's more valuable than any treasure."

"And when that Ice Essence absorbs the qi of the North Sea over countless years, it becomes the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence," Zhou Xuchuan added to Leng Yuefei's explanation.

"So you're pretty knowledgeable."

Leng Yuefei looked at Zhou Xuchuan curiously.

The Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence was a legend of the North Sea, so it was surprising that a person of the Central Plains with little contact with the North was aware of it in detail.

Because I saw it in the Dark Heavens Association's Archive records,

Zhou Xuchuan thought. The Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence was also one of the elixirs on the Archive's list. However, due to geography and other complicated circumstances, no research on it was conducted.

"If it's that great, won't it be better to take it rather than destroy it?" Luo Xiaoyue asked curiously.

"That question is what caused the current situation." Leng Yuefei's beautiful eyebrows narrowed slightly. "As you can see, the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence contains enough aura to change the climate just by revealing its appearance.

"It's not something that the human body can handle, and on the contrary, it even absorbs the Frigid Yin True Qi that martial artists exude as if it were absorbing the aura of the North Sea.

"The problem is that some tribes of the North Sea do not agree."

Even the basic Ice Essence was priceless in terms of value, so the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence was priceless beyond words. Even though the tribes knew that it was a poison, they couldn't give up their desire for it.

The thought of "what if" lit a fire in their frozen hearts.

"So, is this what you meant?" Zhou Xuchuan finally understood the situation. The tribes of the North Sea had surrounded the artifact.

In other words, they were in a civil war.

It was a truly troublesome problem for the North Sea Ice Palace.

They had to deal with the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence as soon as possible, but it wasn't easy because the tribes of the North Sea were blinded by greed. They wanted to subdue them right away, but the North Sea

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was full of powerful experts, which meant that it was easier said than done.

"Sword God, I, too, want to resolve this issue as soon as possible."

There was more to lose in war than to gain. If the limited food supply were to run out, it would be a huge blow to the North Sea Ice Palace. They were equally anxious.

"Therefore, I request your cooperation. We should join forces with the North Sea Palace and return the Ten Thousand Year Ice Essence to the bosom of the North Sea.

"If you lend me a hand, I will help you in the decisive battle against the Dark Heavens Association, and I will also open the Ice Palace's treasury and give you a proper reward.

"Providing you with ascendent techniques is a given, I will also pledge to provide you with the military funds that your Martial Alliance sorely lacks. I promise this on my name."

Leng Yuefei looked at Zhou Xuchuan.

Zhou Xuchuan stared deeply at her for a long time, then sighed.

Answering the call of the North Sea was a trap.

Leng Yuefei had deliberately concealed the North Sea's predicament.

If I had heard the situation while I had been in the Central Plains, I would have rejected it due to the time constraints. It doesn't matter how sweet the offer is...

This was a situation no different from a civil war in the North Sea. No one knew when it would end, so had he known, he would have rejected it without a word due to the burden.

However, that was exactly why Leng Yuefei had concealed the true story and showed only the outer facade. In fact, since she hadn't really said anything, she wasn't really lying, making it difficult to protest.

Zhou Xuchuan had no idea whose idea this was, but it was really clever.

"If you want, you can make a decision after seeing the reward," Leng Yuefei said, her tone conveying the composure of an emperor.

Did they prepare something so attractive that I can't refuse?

Zhou Xuchuan's worries didn't last long. He was helpless, like a fish that had been baited by a fisherman.

"The offer..." Zhou Xuchuan trailed off and then. "I will accept it."

"

Wheeew!

"

Instead of Leng Yuefei, the higher-ups of the Ice Palace breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that there had been more than one person concerned about Zhou Xuchuan's decision.

"In return, I'll accept the rewards from the treasury in advance."

"That doesn't matter. We have some free time before we go on a campaign, so feel free to choose in the meantime."

Even though the negotiation concluded smoothly, Leng Yuefei's expression remained the same. She was like Little Ghost.

"However, the techniques of the Ice Palace are excluded. Moreover, you can only take three technique manuals with you."

"Four manuals."

"...You are greedy for a warrior at the apex, Sword God."

"Four manuals."

"

Hmm...

"

More than eighty percent of the warriors of the North Sea had learned Frigid Yin Art-based martial arts. However, it wasn't that they didn't learn martial arts of different natures whatsoever, especially if such arts were techniques considered one of the best in the Central Plains and were a shame to miss even in the North Sea.

Even if one had refrained from learning such techniques, they could be leveraged as currency in an emergency, so it was a shame to just give it away.

Leng Yuefei also seemed to be having trouble, so she turned his gaze to the side and asked for advice from her aides.

"How unscrupulous. This shameless brat..."

"Look here. It's three manuals. Three. Moreover, you can even look through them before you choose. And there are even treasures within the treasure you can add."

"One more manual?"

"I thought Daoists don't have any material desires?"

"They say that the people of the Central Plains are greedy, but really..."

The aides exchanged opinions in low voices.

Of course, even if they lowered their voices, they couldn't avoid the ears of the Absolute Master.

After a while, a decision was made.

"This is driving me crazy... Fine! Four manuals!"

"Good! Bayarlalaa! Four manuals!"

For reference, "bayarlalaa" was the Tatar word for "thank you."

Zhou Xuchuan's journey to the North Sea was extended. In order to inform the Martial Alliance of the situation, he decided to send a letter.

After handing the letter to a female warrior of the Ice Palace, Zhou Xuchuan followed Leng Yuefei to the North Sea Ice Palace's treasury.

As he was going down the underground stairs, Zhou Xuchuan touched the clear and transparent wall and asked, "Is this also marble?"

"No, it's ice," Leng Yuefei answered immediately.

How curious. That foul-tempered uncle would love to see this palace.

Gan Yezi's face flashed across Zhou Xuchuan's mind. He had been too busy negotiating with the North Sea Ice Palace Master and never really had the time to look around. Now that he could afford to do so, he realized that the North Sea Ice Palace truly was a bizarre place.

First of all, the inside wasn't as cold as he thought. On the contrary, it felt warm.

"According to what our investigations uncovered, that material is thanks to a certain nature formation under the palace."

"A nature formation?"

"I'm not quite sure about the details either.[1] It's such an old story, and since it's something that involves the very foundation of the palace, not even the Palace Masters are privy to the entire story."

"Then, what's with this ice?"

Thump, thump thump.

Zhou Xuchuan asked while tapping the ice wall with the back of his hand.

It was strange that the ice inside the Ice Palace didn't melt even though it was warm.[2]

"You're more like an explorer than a martial artist."

"Curiosity is the starting point of all discoveries."

"What an old saying."

The spiral staircase also turned into ice at some point. Strangely, it was as bright as the starry night sky.

Even without a torch, they could see clearly ahead.

After going down for about half an hour, the endless staircase finally ended.

A door made of ice greeted them.

"We greet the Palace Master."

Well-trained North Sea guardswomen stood in front of the door. As soon as they saw Leng Yuefei, they immediately prostrated themselves.

"We've come to take the treasures of the treasury. Open the door."

At Leng Yuefei's command, the ice door opened wide. The inside was also filled with structures made of ice.

"There's no time limit, but since I, as the Palace Master, have my duties, I hope you'll choose as quickly as possible."

This wasn't just any room, but the Ice Palace's main treasury. The North Sea Ice Palace Master had no choice but to personally monitor him while he was here.

Above all, the only person in the North Sea who could deal with a monster like the Sword God was the Palace Master.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Zhou Xuchuan's eyes sparkled.

Since the situation has already turned out this way, I'm going to take my time finding things that suit me.

It didn't matter whether the Palace Master's work piled up or not. He planned to read all the secret manuals so that he wouldn't regret his choices.

The only place where he could move around in the treasury was in front of a bookshelf, where the secret manuals were organized. Leng Yuefei was monitoring nearby, so he couldn't read any other information or pieces of history.

Zhou Xuchuan ignored the gaze he felt right next to him and took out the secret manuals from the ice bookshelf.

There really is a lot, huh...

It seemed that the scale of the North Sea's invasion of the Central Plains was quite large back then.

Martial arts of the Righteous and Evil Factions were a given, as there were even demonic arts and blood arts among them.

However, the level varied greatly. In addition to ascendent techniques, there were also third-rate or second-rate ones.

While Zhou Xuchuan wanted to just make decisions while looking at the names, he could only take out a limited number of manuals, so he checked and chose carefully.

After about an hour, Zhou Xuchuan seemed to have made up his mind and chose four secret manuals. He then showed them to Leng Yuefei.

"Are you done?"

"Yes."

"I'll say it again, I won't tolerate any changes in your decision. Please keep in mind that you won't be able to report back after this."

"Fine. Instead, can you let me use a private training ground for a while?"

"That won't be a problem, but it'll only be for five days at most. You know as well as I do that the Palace doesn't have much time left, right?"

If Leng Yuefei had been more emotional, she might have even frowned and scolded him.

"I just want to warm up before going to war, so that's more than enough."

"If that's the case, then of course we could find you a training hall." Zhou Xuchuan nodded, seemingly satisfied with Leng Yuefei's answer. His face was filled with anticipation.

Good, I've finally filled in what's lacking.

1. She talks in the third person in the way WW is trying not to use, "This woman, as expected, doesn't know the details." It's very hard to translate. ☜

2. I should have referenced this earlier, but the reason it's just Ice Palace here and not North Sea Ice Palace is because they're in the North Sea. The only time it gets specified as the North Sea Ice Palace while they're in the North Sea is when it's used as its official title in relation to another force area. ☜