The group came together in one of the vast dining halls. It was mostly empty this late at night, but a few disciples still wandered around, casting occasional glances toward the muscular Lei Yangming. A few of them even hid behind the corners, and peered around the ice pillars every now and again, and these shy disciples mostly seemed to admire Wu Yulan, and not Lei Yangming.
Ren Weisheng produced a talisman when everyone took a seat, and a translucent barrier enveloped their large table and several paces around it.
“Sound Proofing” was written on the paper talisman, as it burst into flames and turned into ashes.
“I am not going to mince words,” Lei Yangming said. “We are not in a good place.”
Everyone nodded. They knew this already, but which one of them didn’t hope to hear Lei Yangming — the executor of their strategies — say that things weren’t all that bad?
Lei Yangming arranged the tableware and dishes in a particular configuration. A tea pot represented the Frozen Peak Palace, chopsticks formed the glacial walls around it, and a teacup represented the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion Ark.
Lei Yangming darted his finger from the Frozen Peak Palace to the Ark.
“If we try to leave, we can only run into the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion. The glacier, for all its defensive strength, also limits which way we can go,” Lei Yangming explained. “Even if we could disengage and escape, there’s virtually nowhere we can go.”
“Even if we fly toward Snow City, we will need to stop and rest,” Wu Yulan said.
No one mentioned this, but everyone had the same thing in mind. If they were all Nascent Soul cultivators, they wouldn’t have to stop for rest. But even if this was left unsaid, the few Core Formation cultivators of the group felt the weight of the responsibility.
“What if we fly toward the Sun Continent?” Tian Li asked.
“Not possi…” Lei Yangming started, then trailed off.
“Since it is practically suicide, they might not follow us,” Tian Li pointed out. “If we fly slowly, we could let the Qi Recovery Pills absorb, and we might make it.”
Lei Yangming nodded. “It’s not a bad idea.”
“Those elders will definitely follow us,” Zhu Xuelian said. “One of them stepped across the Boundary. Her life is over anyway; she has nothing left to lose. Killing us might be the last service she will do for her sect.”
Lei Yangming frowned and nodded.
“But you can deal with her… right?” Tian Li asked.
Zhu Xuelian nodded. “Assuming she is the only one and alone. But then I won’t be able to fly to the Sun Continent.”
They all frowned at Zhu Xuelian’s reasonable arguments.
“I vowed to destroy them,” Zhu Xuelian pointed out. “They took my words seriously enough to jump into Wu Yulan’s sword. The ocean won’t intimidate them. They’ll come after us with all they have, even if it costs them their lives.”
“You are right,” Xiang Liling said, picking up the Frozen Peak Palace and pouring herself a cup of tea. “You went from Qi Refining to Core Formation in a year. In their minds, a few years from now, you might even cross the Boundary. If that happens, they will most certainly die.”
They considered Xiang Liling’s words thoughtfully, and just as they were coming to the deeper, implied conclusion, Xiang Liling spoke again.
“By you coming here, you have made sure that they will throw everything they have at the Frozen Peak Palace, and turn over the Heavens and the Earth to kill you. No matter what, in their minds, you must die.”
Ren Jinhai sighed and leaned back in his chair.
“So the only choice we have is to return home empty-handed with the Frozen Peak Palace disciples,” Ren Jinhai said. “All those contributions, all our hard work and effort, for nothing.”
No one looked pleased about this, but they nodded.
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This entire time, they were under the assumption that the step before any attempt to escape was to send the Frozen Peak Palace disciples to the central continent.
“About that,” Zhu Xuelian began, and her expression darkened. “Currently, there’s only barely enough energy to send us back.”
Everyone froze at those words, their eyes wide with shock. The stakes just jumped from unfavorable outcome to complete disaster.
“Zhu Xuelian, what do you mean?” Yuan Qiuyue asked. “Did you say we cannot save the Frozen Peak Palace?”
Zhu Xuelian nodded. “That is correct, Qiuyue. There’s only enough for us and maybe a few disciples.”
“What if…” Lei Yangming started. “What if a few of us return and generate the energy…?”
Zhu Xuelian shook her head. “There’s a minimum energy cost involved. Whether I send one of us or all of us makes no difference.”
“You and Wu Yulan can go freely,” Tian Li said. “You said so yourself.”
Zhu Xuelian nodded. “But this amount of energy… even if Yulan and I fought day and night in the formation, who knows how long it will take. And who will draw the Spell Formation?”
Everyone looked at Xiang Liling.
Xiang Liling shook her head. “If you mean that thing at the Galaxy Sword sect… if that was a formation, then I, Xiang Liling, am just a child playing with cinnabar and wasting gold.”
Most of them winced at Xiang Liling’s evocative description of how out of her depth she was.
“Not all is lost,” Mu Jingyu said. “The Galaxy Sword disciples… they are using the Killing Field!”
Everyone’s eyes widened like saucers. Respect, pride, admiration, and hope filled their hearts.
Zhu Xuelian nodded, confirming Mu Jingyu’s words.
“It is not much,” she said. “But Jingyu’s words are true.”
“Who cares if it is not much?” Lei Yangming exclaimed, happy. “Even a little bit is enough. As many as we can save. Whatever it takes…!”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“This formation of yours,” a voice reached them. “I’d like to hear more about it.”
Mu Yanyu stepped into the dome of sound suppression, and Ren Weisheng looked above the table to make sure it was still present. It was.
Everyone cupped their fist and bowed to the sect master of the Frozen Peak Palace.
“This junior gree—“ Zhu Xuelian began.
“Skip the pleasantries,” Mu Yanyu said, taking a seat next to Ren Jinhai and glancing at him briefly with a soft warmth. “What is this formation that can “save my sect”?”
Even blushing, Ren Jinhai swallowed nervously. Everyone was nervous. This was their big secret. No one was foolish enough to believe that even a righteous sect master might not be tempted to steal it from them. Mu Yanyu also did not quite fit the description of a calm and measured sage; on the contrary, they all felt she was ruthlessly decisive and pragmatic.
Zhu Xuelian closed her eyes. She was a sword cultivator, so she found it extremely difficult — practically impossible — to lie. But she could be vague.
“I have a connection to a mysterious land that we believe is the central continent. In that place, I was enlightened and received instructions on how to use a spell to travel there and back in an instant,” Zhu Xuelian said.
“The central continent…?” Mu Yanyu asked, tilting her head. Her hair fell on Ren Jinhai’s shoulder, and Ren Jinhai swallowed nervously again. His eyes half-closed as he took in the scent lingering in the sect master’s hair.
“I have already used this spell once to send all the Galaxy Sword survivors there, esteemed sect master,” Zhu Xuelian said.
Mu Yanyu’s lips parted. Even a pinnacle sword cultivator could be moved by words.
“This is true?” she asked.
Mu Jingyu cupped her fist and bowed her head. “It is true, Master! I swear it.”
Mu Yanyu straightened again. The warmth in her eyes disappeared. The sword force in her gaze caused Zhu Xuelian’s hair to tingle and stand up, as if a thunderstorm were about to descend on them.
“For this spell of yours…” Mu Yanyu whispered, and her words contained the same kind of mysterious force. “What do you need?”
Zhu Xuelian bit her bottom lip. She hesitated. She hadn’t hesitated like this in a long time. Mu Yanyu was intimidating. What she had to say next was even more intimidating.
“Treasures and materials,” Zhu Xuelian said.
Mu Yanyu narrowed her eyes. “How many?”
Zhu Xuelian swallowed.
“A… All of them.”
Dead silence fell on the table. If their hearts were still beating, they didn’t know. They hoped not. The atmosphere was so tense that they feared that even the smallest disturbance might launch Mu Yanyu into a frenzy that would kill them all.
The words Zhu Xuelian just spoke — they sounded exactly like a shameless scam. Scamming a Sect Master!? The guts!!
Xiang Liling wished she could melt into the ice. Lei Yangming wished he could turn into ice. Ren Jinhai wished he could get another close encounter with the bewitching woman — but he also wished this was all a dream.
“All of you,” Mu Yanyu spoke, and her words called them all to immediate attention. It was as if a general had spoken and revealed the Heavenly Mandate.
“Come with me.” After saying this, Mu Yanyu stood up from the table.
Like a group of criminals headed for execution, everyone stood up and followed the sect master. They walked in a delicate and nervous silence — every step echoed in their hearts and everyone wondered if the next step would be their last.
There were stories that unfilial and traitor disciples would be executed on the glaciers; a ritual that was a distant homage to how the sect came to be. And they were headed in that direction, or at least, so they thought.
Mu Yanyu stopped before a large gate, and she took the rings off her fingers and put them in an ice bowl next to the gate.
“Leave your treasures here,” Mu Yanyu said.
No one disobeyed. Every talisman, every sword and spear, every piece of jewelry with even an iota of energy — everything was placed into bowls and racks.
Mu Yanyu pressed her finger against the gate, and through a series of complex motions drew a profound diagram. Then the gate opened, and the blinding glare of gold illuminated them.
“Will this much do?” Mu Yanyu asked.
