Chapter 291: Ice Prison Sect

To reward Lu Xingzhou with an opportunity to be intimate with "Yuan Muyu," they were using a wheelchair for this trip to the Ice Prison Sect.

Previously, when traveling from Hanlan City to Shadow Moon City, Lu Xingzhou claimed his custom wheelchair flew slowly and insisted that Mister carry him instead. In reality, after returning to the Heavenly Sword Sect for re-refinement and modification, the wheelchair no longer flew slowly at all. It was simply because their relationship at the time didn't allow him to hold Mister while riding the wheelchair, so it was more convenient for Mister to carry him.

Now, things were different. Their relationship had become intensely intimate, so naturally, they could embrace while riding the wheelchair together, giving the wheelchair another chance to be used.

Ye Tinglan sat on the man's lap, leaning comfortably in his embrace, leisurely admiring the landscape. The thought of flying in a wheelchair seemed amusing, but it was actually quite pleasant when doing it. At least it was a proper mode of transport, better than some people flying on a handkerchief.

Ye Tinglan didn't need the wheelchair's wind shield and removed it directly. The incoming wind softly brushed against her face through the gaps in her mask, cool and refreshing. With a good view and a comfortable "human seat," Ye Tinglan leisurely enjoyed the scenery, not even noticing when the young man's hand subtly began to creep upwards.

By the time she noticed, Lu Xingzhou had already been "steering" for quite a while.

Ye Tinglan irritably slapped his wandering hand. "In broad daylight, what kind of behavior is this?"

Lu Xingzhou winced at the pain but refused to let go, instead resting his chin on her shoulder and chuckling. "The Lord of the Underworld wouldn't talk like that. If you truly want to impersonate her, you'll have to shed that 'Mister' demeanor."

Ye Tinglan's eyes flickered. "Oh really? So the Lord of the Underworld wouldn't let you treat her this way?"

Lu Xingzhou chuckled. "Isn't this Madam rewarding me with a chance to take liberties with the Lord of the Underworld..."

It must be said, when the Holy Lord lets loose, she can be even more playful than a demoness. Lu Xingzhou had experienced this multiple times recently. This was clearly a deliberate blasphemy of the Lord of the Underworld, absolutely a malicious act of revenge against that runaway "brat sister," maliciously allowing her to be "played with" by her "former subordinate."

He wondered if Yuan Muyu would be furious to death if she knew.

But as for whether the Lord of the Underworld would allow such treatment... she wouldn't allow him to "steer" in that manner. However, sitting in her embrace was something that had happened before.

Ye Tinglan leisurely said, "I can imitate her 'dead vixen' tone from back in the day very well, but so many years have passed. You'll have to tell me what she's like now."

"Now... she's cold and severe, with more majesty. That old way she used to be... I haven't seen it in a long time."

"Your tone, are you nostalgic?"

"Compared to a perpetually stern, 'don't-come-near-me' expression, who wouldn't miss a boss who used to smile and laugh?"

Ye Tinglan nodded, roughly getting into character. Her tone became severe: "Touch me again, and I'll chop off your hand."

The tone was severe, but the content was too hard to take seriously. Lu Xingzhou, instead, burst out laughing.

Ye Tinglan grunted twice but still didn't swat away his wandering hand; instead, she comfortably leaned further into his embrace. For a moment, neither of them spoke, enjoying the decorum of flying while embracing each other in broad daylight.

Anyway, even if someone happened to see them, it would be the Lord of the Underworld being held in someone's arms and fondling her chest. What did that have to do with the Heavenly Yao Holy Lord?

Ye Tinglan remained quite calm about it.

As for Lu Xingzhou, he had originally thought that holding "Yuan Muyu" and having his hand on the place he had yearned for for so many years, he would feel incredibly excited or a mix of emotions. But in reality, he found that he didn't feel much...

Perhaps it was because he knew it was fake? The real Yuan Muyu couldn't possibly be this big, which only further reminded him that it was fake?

Perhaps, but he really hadn't thought much about Yuan Muyu. His mind clearly understood that this was Mister.

The fact that the Heavenly Yao Holy Lord was willing to let a man play with her like this was already top-tier in terms of excitement. If there was anything to be nostalgic about or feel, it should be the affection belonging to Ye Tinglan, not Yuan Muyu.

Amidst their differing thoughts, the Ice Prison Sect was now below them.

The Ice Prison Sect was located in the northwest of the Tian Shuang Kingdom, near the Frozen Moon Cold River. However, due to the long border, it was quite far from Hanlan City, where many stories had unfolded, as they were on opposite sides, east and west.

It was even further from the small city in the central-south where the two had been secluded.

The Demonic Path in the Tian Shuang Kingdom was far more rampant than in Daqian. The Ice Prison Sect directly established its mountain gate and widely recruited disciples, regardless of their background or origin.

Since there wasn't the same level of organizational power as in Daqian, it wasn't easy for the various orthodox sects to suppress demons. They couldn't attack independently, and allied forces each had their own agendas, with no one willing to exert the most effort for fear of being backstabbed. For resources, the so-called orthodox sects of the Tian Shuang Kingdom weren't very righteous in many matters, not to mention other demonic sects lurking in the background, eyeing them greedily.

It was one thing for National Ruler Si Han to unite various sects and forces against the demon race, but suppressing demons internally would create a host of problems. Si Han simply not only didn't suppress the demons but also secretly colluded with them, using them as an external "butcher's knife." Their conspiracy had lasted for many years.

As the National Ruler with the strongest power and influence in the Tian Shuang Kingdom, even if the Ice Prison Sect didn't exactly see Si Han as their king, there was still a certain "big brother" vibe to him, and he commanded respect. After all, the Demonic Path respects strength.

While the unscrupulous couple were still sightseeing in the air, Dugu Qingli, with Si Han's recommendation, stepped into the Ice Prison Sect's mountain gate.

"National Ruler Si sent a message via talisman, saying Miss Dugu would be visiting. I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly." Ling Qixuan, the Sect Leader of the Ice Prison Sect, personally came out to greet her at the mountain gate. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes when he saw Dugu Qingli's appearance. He very politely invited her into the sect as a guest: "Please come in, Miss."

Dugu Qingli, pure as ice in her heart, genuinely didn't detect any malice or sense of danger from the other party, so she proceeded up the mountain.

She did feel a bit strange about it.

The education of Heavenly Yao disciples from a young age, including that of her originally aloof and upright master-sister, had always emphasized absolute opposition to the Demonic Path. Dugu Qingli felt that befriending Lu Xingzhou, a "former demonic practitioner," was rebellious enough. She had never imagined that she would step into a demonic sect's mountain gate alone as a guest, and surprisingly, not feel even a trace of hostility.

Forget about befriending a former demonic practitioner, now her aloof and upright master was already being intimate with one...

Demonic practitioners' judgments were always precise. The Ice Prison Sect actually gave Si Han so much face, being able to communicate so politely... This made the white-haired girl, who had mentally prepared for countless bloody battles with demonic forces, extremely uncomfortable.

In fact, a few days prior, while investigating "demonic sects allied with the Underworld Hall," Dugu Qingli had clashed with the Ice Prison Sect and even killed some of their disciples. Yet now, in Ling Qixuan's demeanor, it seemed he didn't care about the deaths of one or two underlings; it didn't even count as a minor disagreement.

The callousness of the Demonic Path was evident.

Upon reaching the main hall, Ling Qixuan gestured for a subordinate to serve tea, then politely asked, "I hear Miss Dugu is a direct disciple of the Heavenly Yao Holy Land... May I ask the purpose of your visit to my Ice Prison Sect?"

Dugu Qingli replied directly, "To be frank, I originally came to investigate the demonic sects allied with the Underworld Hall."

Ling Qixuan's cheek twitched. Could she really be so blunt? Everyone knew the Heavenly Yao Holy Land and the Underworld Hall were rivals. What did she intend by coming to them like this? He then asked, "Since you've stated it so openly, I presume you're not here to lay blame?"

"No," Dugu Qingli replied directly. "During my investigation, I found that your esteemed sect seems interested in researching the formation of the Frozen Moon Cold River and the secrets of the ice and cold here. For thousands of years, many people have studied this, but ultimately gained nothing, including our Heavenly Yao Holy Land, so most gave up. Few people continue this research now. Well, I am personally very interested in this matter, and I wonder if your esteemed sect could share any findings?"

Ling Qixuan didn't respond immediately, instead staring absently at Dugu Qingli's white hair and blue eyes.

Dugu Qingli frowned slightly. "Sect Leader Ling."

"Oh," Ling Qixuan said politely. "Please forgive my rudeness, Miss. Your appearance seems to be related to the 'Ice Chill Body' mentioned in our sect's ancient texts?"

Dugu Qingli nodded. "It should be. Since your esteemed sect has relevant ancient texts, do you know the cause of this physique?"

Ling Qixuan hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Unknown. We only know of the existence of such a constitution; it's considered a type of innate sacred body. Miss, your talent is exceptional."

Dugu Qingli simply watched him, saying nothing. She had already stated her purpose, but the other party hadn't answered her core question yet.

Instead, Ling Qixuan said, "As for our sect's exploration of the Frozen Moon Cold River... in truth, limited by our strength, we haven't delved much deeper than others. The information we've obtained is extremely limited, I'm afraid it will disappoint you, Miss."

Dugu Qingli said, "You found an active ancient dragon bone. How is that not delving deeper than others?"

"That was just an accident. Our strength wasn't sufficient to control it, and in the end, National Ruler Si still took possession of it, didn't he...?"

"Then, Sect Leader Ling, could you share some of this so-called 'limited information'? Even shallow information might offer some points of reference."

Ling Qixuan said, "What we know is that a vast number of ancient ruins are buried beneath the glacier. What has been discovered so far is but a drop in the ocean. There might even be a massive ruin hinting at the collapse of some ancient immortal kingdom."

Dugu Qingli remained silent. This point was also recorded in the Heavenly Yao Holy Land's ancient texts, being the result of previous generations' exploration and speculation. Of course, the speculative component was larger, as there was no concrete evidence.

However, the recent unearthing of what was suspected to be an ancient dragon bone provided significant corroboration for this speculation.

If there was a dragon, were there more? Were there aggregations of other higher life forms? Did cities and political powers exist? Was the dragon's death due to war?

Previously, her master wanted to acquire this dragon bone to conduct more research related to it. Since the Ice Prison Sect was the first to discover this dragon bone, they had likely already completed all the research they intended to do. Furthermore, continuing research on controlling dragon bones was not the Ice Prison Sect's specialty, which was why they did Si Han a favor, leading to a series of subsequent events.

In other words, the Ice Prison Sect must have had some judgment regarding the origin of this dragon bone, but they seemed unwilling to disclose it. Currently, their conversation was going nowhere; it was useless.

Dugu Qingli thought for a moment, then finally probed, "It is said that the establishment and even the purpose of your esteemed sect are related to a certain ancient ice demon? Is the formation of the Frozen Moon Cold River connected to this demon?"

Ling Qixuan narrowed his eyes, staring at Dugu Qingli without speaking.

Dugu Qingli subconsciously reached for her sword hilt.

Yet she still didn't detect any malice from Ling Qixuan. He seemed merely lost in thought, appearing even more perplexed than Dugu Qingli herself.

Just as she felt they were at a stalemate, with both parties unable to delve deeper into the core subject, a report suddenly came from outside the gate from an Ice Prison Sect disciple: "Sect Leader, the Lord of the Underworld from the Underworld Hall has arrived outside the mountain gate with an attendant."

Dugu Qingli was astonished. Ling Qixuan even stood up incredulously. "The Lord of the Underworld just came to establish an alliance a short while ago. Why would she personally visit again for no reason? Are you sure it's really the Lord of the Underworld?"

A transcendent being doesn't just come out personally for diplomacy all day long when they have nothing better to do. Ling Qixuan's first reaction was that it must be an imposter.

"I will go out and see... Um, Miss Dugu, could you perhaps step aside for a moment? If it truly is the Lord of the Underworld, it might be disadvantageous for you."

"You're actually being quite good to me?" Dugu Qingli suppressed the strange feelings in her heart and moved to another location with the Ice Prison Sect disciple.

Along the way, she secretly peeked outside the mountain gate. She saw the familiar Lu Xingzhou walking beside "Yuan Muyu," swaggering up the mountain amidst Ling Qixuan's cautious and fawning demeanor.

*Master, are you addicted to impersonating Yuan Muyu? Not enough to do it in front of me, now you're wearing the mask and doing it in front of outsiders...*