While Yu Nianzhen and his group were hiding in a cave in the Fair Plum inn, the Ice Palace region was not calm.
Initially, the nascent soul realm cultivators who wanted to capture Bing Lan werenāt discouraged when they couldnāt trace the teleportation residue when they escaped.
After all, Yu Nianzhen and Bing Lan were only in the origin tempering realm.
No matter what, their qi was only enough to teleport within the Ice Palace region.
However, things were beyond their expectations.
After seven days of searching, their efforts didnāt yield any results.
They had even posted wanted notices, but no information had come out.
At the moment, everyone was at a loss, but no one wanted to give up.
"Shall we buy news from the border guard faction?" An elder of the Ghost Valley asked.
He was worried that others would find Bing Lan first.
If that happened, their Ghost Valley would have to fight or give up.
Although they werenāt afraid of others, it was best to avoid fights if they could.
At least, they needed to have Bing Lan in hand before they got embroiled in fights.
"Letās buy." The Ghost Valley nascent soul realm cultivator comprised.
With a helpless sigh, the elder rushed toward the border guard arena, planning to buy all the news he could.
Unfortunately, the Ghost Valley was not the only one that thought of the border guard arena.
When the Ghost Valley elder arrived at the border guard arena, there were already several people who were waiting to buy the same news.
āThis is not good.ā The elder thought and sighed again.
However, there was nothing he could do.
There was no way to interfere with the business of the border guard faction so he could only hate and sigh.
.....
Despite the unease in the Ice Palace region, the Taoist ceremony between Xuan Dong and Bing Mei happened as planned.
The Ice Palace sect and the Thunder God Temple formed an alliance but all these were superficial.
Because Bing Mei was only thirteen, there was no bridal chamber and Xuan Dong would have to wait for eight years.
However, eight years was an instant for cultivators.
He didnāt really care about the bridal chamber and both went into seclusion after the ceremony.
However, things took a turn for Bing Mei.
As soon as she changed out of her ceremonial robes, she was summoned to the palace masterās cave.
When she arrived, Shui Qingqing was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room.
Her eyes were closed and her presence perfectly meshed into heaven and earth.
Looking at her, Bing Mei was a little unsure if she was a live person or a part of heaven and earth.
However, she soon came to her senses and shook her head.
"Bing Mei has received the palace masterās summon." She said and bowed to Shui Qingqing.
Without raising her body, she waited for the palace master to speak but Shui Qingqing remained silent for a long time.
When she finally opened her eyes, Bing Meiās body was a little uncomfortable and annoyance filled her heart.
āThis damned woman.ā Bing Mei cursed but nothing showed on her face.
"Meiāer, you are young but you should understand why I married you to Xuan Dong."
"Bing Mei is naturally grateful. Without brother Dong, Bing Mei will have a hard time overcoming her physiqueās outbreak."
"Mmmm." Shui Qingqing nodded and looked at Bing Mei appreciatively.
"Meiāer, come here. Master will pass to you a better cultivation technique."
"Thank you, master." The young girl said and eagerly rushed toward the palace master.
When she was less than a metre from Shui Qingqing, she sat cross-legged and closed her eyes.
Shui Qingqing looked at her and sighed.
If possible, she didnāt want to use Bing Mei.
However, Bing Lan had escaped and the divine sense mark she left on her had been erased.
More importantly, there was no guarantee that Bing Lan was still chaste.
In that case, it was better for Shui Qingqing to grasp what she already had.
After she seized Bing Mei, she would have several thousand years to find Bing Lan and take revenge on her.
"Regulate your breath and open your sea of consciousness." Shi Qingqing said and Bing Mei didnāt hesitate.
She obediently adjusted her condition and opened her sea of consciousness.
Soon after, she felt something enter her sea of consciousness and a complex technique entered her mind.
Without her urging, her qi began to circulate according to the technique and a smile curled her lips.
However, she didnāt break her concentration.
She actively aided the technique and familiarised herself with the circulation route.
"Thatās good." Shui Qingqing said excitedly and a trace of malice flashed in her eyes.
After nine dozen cycles, a stream of icy qi entered Bing Meiās body and her body began to change drastically.
Her meridians expanded, her dantian widened, and the rest of her body began to strengthen.
Before she could adjust to the changes, a flood of qi entered her body but her dantian was a bottomless pit.
It swallowed all the qi and her cultivation skyrocketed.
Within a few moments, her cultivation rose from the origin forging realm and broke through to the qi transformation realm.
Soon after, it rose from the first level of the qi transformation realm to the first level of the origin tempering realm.
However, the rush didnāt end there.
When she broke through to the origin tempering realm, her origin began to shake violently.
Although she had the same physique as Bing Lan, their origins were different.
Bing Lanās origin was an orchid but Bing Meiās was a staff.
The staff wasnāt like Xuan Keās martial arts staff but like a magic staff for conducting ice qi.
At this time, the staff shook vigorously and bursts of pain spread from her dantian to every inch of her body.
However, Bing Mei didnāt give in to the pain.
Instead, she gritted her teeth and endured.
When she saw this, Shui Qingqing was impressed.
She thought she would have to use some means to keep Bing Mei awake but didnāt expect the girl to have such immense willpower.
āIt may not be bad to seize her.ā Shui Qingqing thought and doubled her efforts.
She continued to transfer her qi into Bing Meiās body and the young girl continue to endure.
After enduring for three days, nine holes appeared around her origin.
The holes floated in the void and each seemed to hold a small world.
āIt succeeded.ā Shui Qingqing was elated and she heaved a sigh of relief.
One of the reasons she wanted to seize Bing Lanās body was because Bing Lan had already cultivated to the origin tempering realm.
This meant Bing Lan had already opened her treasure worlds and Shui Qingqing could easily transfer her origin treasures.
Fortunately, Bing Mei did not let her down.
Although she hadnāt cultivated her treasure worlds, she didnāt resist Shui Qingqing and cultivating the treasure worlds turned out well.
āI can now transfer my origin treasures.ā Shui Qingqing thought and then frowned.
Cultivating the treasure worlds in Bing Meiās body took a lot of qi of Shui Qingqingās qi.
Originally, she could have retained her nascent soul realm if she seized Bing Lanās body.
Unfortunately, Bing Meiās cultivation was too low.
At the moment, the qi could only push Bing Meiās cultivation to the peak of the origin tempering realm.
However, Shui Qingqing wasnāt too worried.
Since she had already cultivated to the nascent soul realm, her mental state was there and recultivating was only a matter of accumulating qi.
In less than ten years, she would definitely return to the nascent soul realm.
āFirst things first.ā Shui Qingqing thought and drove out all her distracting thoughts.
A moment later, she carefully extracted her first origin treasure and transferred it to the first treasure world in Bing Meiās dantian.
The treasure sunk into the small world and the previously dark hole shone with an icy light.
At the same time, Bing Meiās qi ocean began to churn and the qi collapsed on itself.
After the collapse, the quantity of qi decreased by half but its quality improved by more than half.
āThe quality of qi should be even better after her ice marrow physique awakens.ā Shui Qingqing thought gleefully and her mood became a little urgent.
In the next short while, she transferred the remaining treasures and the rest of her qi.
When that was done, she adjusted her condition and took a deep breath.
Without nostalgia, her soul abandoned her body and entered between Bing Meiās eyebrows.
Shui Qingqing had prepared for a long time and didnāt make any mistakes as she flew into Bing Meiās sea of consciousness.
Her plan was to quickly devour Bing Meiās soul and seize her body.
Although Bing Meiās cultivation was forcibly raised, her soul was only that of an origin-forging realm cultivator.
As a nascent soul realm cultivator, Shui Qingqing didnāt pay attention to it but she quickly regretted her arrogance.