Ling Qixuan truly hadn’t expected the major endeavor he’d spent half a year on would fail for this reason.

He had thought it was Si Han who had shamelessly sought help from Tianyao Holy Land over such a trivial matter, completely abandoning the dignity of a national ruler—what a disgrace. It turned out the disgraced one was Lu Xingzhou.

No, why did you bring the Tianyao Saintess when you were trying to curry favor with the Dragon Emperor?

In fact, even if Long Qinghuang and Ye Tinglan had come in person, they might not have understood the Ice City incident. The only person in the world who could have resolved this incident in advance was Dugu Qingli, with her “Ice Frost Unity” ability, which allowed her to penetrate the ancient solid ice to operate below.

Then, paired with a formation master to stabilize space and purify the demonic aura.

And indeed, this was precisely the combination that came, as if by fate.

Ling Qixuan truly felt a sense of “heaven abandoning me, not my fault in battle,” and was utterly bewildered.

Speaking of which, if Dugu Qingli had come, it was actually part of their contingency plan: “We did consider that if Tianyao Holy Land investigated and found that Miss Dugu had to handle it, that would also be a good thing. She would likely come to Bingyu Sect to consult us, and then we could ambush her, capture her, and the Ice Demon could directly descend using her body. But you went to Hanlan Sect, and then directly to Si Han, completely ignoring us… I wonder where we showed a flaw to lead to this.”

Lu Xingzhou said, “There was no flaw. It’s just that I suspected the matter was related to the Ice Demon, so naturally, I needed to avoid any forces associated with it.”

Ling Qixuan said, “There’s another thing that surprised us. The King of Beihai is incredibly powerful; normally, he shouldn’t be a match for two Rank One cultivators. You should have been captured by the King of Beihai as well… Even if you could escape, you’d certainly be injured and disheveled, and we would have ambushed you outside, easily capturing you. But we could never figure out how you suddenly disappeared from the ambush, and how you directly determined it was us.”

Dugu Qingli said, “When the yamen investigate cases, they often get clues from beggars on the street. So did we.”

Ling Qixuan: “?”

Jiang Yuan slowly woke up: “?”

Lu Xingzhou coughed dryly: “Alright, we understand the whole story. Now I just want to know, if you had captured Qingli, how would you have made her transform into the Ice Demon?”

Ling Qixuan fell silent.

Flames flickered in Lu Xingzhou’s hand.

“No, no,” Ling Qixuan trembled with fright. “I’ll take you there.”

Led by Ling Qixuan, everyone returned to the grand formation where Dugu Qingli had once resonated with the Ice Demon.

It was in this formation that Dugu Qingli had first sensed the Ice Demon’s presence, seeing its red eyes and hearing its piercing demonic sounds.

However, looking at it now, the structure of the formation had some differences from before. The previous formation resonated with the essence of chilling ice; because of the spatial fluctuations below, transmitted in layers, there was a certain probability of resonating with the Ice Demon below. Ling Qixuan himself communicated with the Ice Demon this way, and so did Dugu Qingli.

But this was only communication and resonance; it was far from enough to achieve the Ice Demon’s descent.

The current formation patterns, however, exuded an evil sacrificial intent. Many corpses lay around, impaled by ice pillars, their blood flowing out to converge in the center. The bloodstains had solidified into dark brown, looking extremely gruesome and terrifying.

Iron chains were even prepared on the central ice pillar, seemingly intending to bind Dugu Qingli there, making her the main sacrifice for this evil ritual.

Dugu Qingli’s eyes finally showed anger: “Ling Qixuan, you’re asking for death!”

Ling Qixuan: “…I’m already dead.”

Lu Xingzhou flicked a finger, and a cluster of red lotuses ignited on Ling Qixuan’s ghostly soul. Ling Qixuan screamed and writhed in pain on the ground.

Yuan Muyu stood up from her wheelchair, walked to the central ice pillar, and placed her hand on it.

Ji Wenchuan, who was following at a distance: “So, what are you pretending for, dammit…”

Yuan Muyu closed her eyes and sensed for a moment, then suddenly said, “Activate the formation.”

Lu Xingzhou kicked Ling Qixuan: “Open the formation!”

Ling Qixuan’s eyes were full of venomous hatred, but he said nothing, activating the core of the formation.

These people were so conceited; they dared to provoke the Ice Demon. It would be best if it truly appeared and slaughtered them all.

An icy blue light emanated from all around, and the central ice pillar grew brighter and brighter, its strange patterns sparkling.

Yuan Muyu closed her eyes, her spirit delving deep into resonance.

Gradually, like Dugu Qingli before her, she saw what appeared to be palaces beneath the distant ice, and within the palaces, what seemed to be dungeons. A pure white monster was chained below, its appearance unclear, only crimson eyes visible through the dense ice mist, evil and ferocious.

Seeming to sense someone’s “peeping,” the red eyes flashed, and terrifying divine soul power directly surged into Yuan Muyu’s spiritual platform. The soul-chilling voice echoed in her sea of consciousness: “Die!”

Yuan Muyu suddenly opened her eyes, her long hair moving without a breeze.

Invisible ripples seemed to explode deep beneath the ice, the demonic abyss violently vibrated, the ice mist churned, and chains clanged.

“Even if you are Wuxiang, sealed here, how much can you exert? A dry bone in a tomb, putting on airs. Sacrifice me? Are you worthy?” Yuan Muyu’s voice reverberated above and below the ice: “In my eyes, you are merely an object of法則 reference, a source of demonic intent.”

“Rumble!” The ice bottom, unfathomably deep, seemed to tremble again.

“The demonic abyss is profoundly cold, extreme yin without yang; this is also the underworld,” Yuan Muyu murmured to herself: “I understand now.”

The Ice Demon roared and screamed madly, but the chains grew heavier, no longer able to rip and tear as before.

It wasn’t that the chains were reinforced, but that a tiny bit of the extreme yin and extreme cold essence from the demonic abyss, which had condensed over eons, had been stolen from the space. The external force that the Ice Demon could wield was reduced.

The Ice Demon was dumbfounded. After all that, a thief had come?

The Ice Demon roared in fury: “You… who are you…”

“Your martial uncle.” Yuan Muyu’s hand left the ice pillar, cutting off the connection with the Ice Demon.

The Ice Demon raged wildly, rattling its chains, but it was just impotent fury.

Lu Xingzhou and the others watched Yuan Muyu like she was a celestial being, their hands clasped. They saw that her face was very pale; the brief confrontation had almost exhausted all her mental energy.

But her sparkling eyes shone brightly, clearly indicating a huge gain.

Ling Qixuan looked as if he had seen a ghost: “You… you…”

Yuan Muyu glanced at him: “Do you really think I form alliances with just anyone? When I allied with you, it was always to use you as a stepping stone to comprehend the essence of extreme yin. If I could capture the Ice Demon, all the better, but unfortunately, it’s a bit too strong, even sealed I can’t do it… I’ll come back for it after I break through to Qianyuan.”

Ling Qixuan opened his mouth, unsure what to say.

The embodiment of ice and frost法则 he worshipped was, in some people’s eyes, merely a “heavenly material and earthly treasure,” to be used for comprehension or even “capture and plunder.”

From this perspective, she ought to be the demon lord.

But then again, the “Yan Jun” who came to Bingyu Sect for the alliance last time didn’t say that. They seemed worried about the Ice Demon, fearing it might come out and wreak havoc, a completely different mindset… Ling Qixuan couldn’t help but blurt out, “When you came to Bingyu Sect last time, were you playing a trick on me? Was it necessary?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt foolish. What was so strange about Yan Jun deceiving people? Whether it was necessary or not didn’t matter.

But Yuan Muyu was even more confused than he was: “What ‘last time’? I’ve never been to your Bingyu Sect.”

Ling Qixuan: “?”

Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli both turned their heads.

Yuan Muyu transmitted her voice from afar: “Yinfeng.”

Elder Yinfeng jumped: “Here.”

“What did he just mean?”

“Th-that, Judge knows more clearly about this matter. Th-this subordinate only cooperated with Judge’s actions.”

“…Then it’s nothing.”

Yuan Muyu secretly glanced at Lu Xingzhou, then said: “This formation is entrusted to your Western Department to guard. After I achieve Qianyuan, I will deal with it again.”

Elder Yinfeng breathed a sigh of relief: “Yes.”

“That…” Lu Xingzhou asked with some hesitation, “You allied with Bingyu Sect for the Ice Demon…”

Yuan Muyu hummed: “As for rebellion, that’s only a small part of it. You know my true intention isn’t rebellion.”

“Then why did you ally with Chanü Hehuan Sect?”

Yuan Muyu glanced at him, but didn’t answer, merely saying: “I’m tired and need rest. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

Lu Xingzhou said: “Aren’t you going to ask me about that ‘last time’ at Bingyu Sect?”

“What’s there to ask? Since it’s related to you, then you found someone to impersonate me. Someone strong enough to fool Ling Qixuan and capable of looking like me could only be Ye Tinglan, of course.”

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

Ling Qixuan was dumbfounded.

So the Yan Jun from last time was the Tianyao Saint Lord disguised? Was the Saint Lord, the number one person in the world, playing house?

Yuan Muyu sat back in her wheelchair and gently glided away as if on a rocking car: “Ye Tinglan is quite clear about her own positioning. She’s just a stand-in… well, just a fake.”

Dugu Qingli looked at her retreating figure and asked Lu Xingzhou: “Do I need to uphold Master’s dignity?”

Lu Xingzhou couldn’t give an answer.

What dignity could you uphold? Even together, you couldn’t beat her.

Today’s Yu was very subversive… or rather, it shouldn’t be called subversive, but a return to the original ambitious Yan Jun, who had achieved the status of a demon overlord in just a few years, instead of the previously muddled or erratic behavior.

Lu Xingzhou had always said he was just adding icing to the cake, which wasn’t entirely humble. For the Yan Luo Hall, he might be an important support, but Yuan Muyu was always the strongest core.

He had fallen in love with such a Yu; who could love a madwoman?

Seeing Yuan Muyu leave, Elder Yinfeng began to set up guard formations. Lu Xingzhou collected his thoughts and let out a long sigh: “Let’s go. We’ll rest at Bingyu Sect and also see what good things they have there.”