Chapter 143: Winter Curse [PART 3]
In the Golden Edge Sect, Wang Xiuying was celebrated as a once-in-a-generation prodigy, blessed with exceptional talent and a rare saint body. But what appeared to be a blessing actually concealed a terrible curse. Her Winter Curse Saint Body contained yin energy so pure and concentrated that it frequently manifested physically around her without warning.
The true nature of her condition remained hidden until a devastating incident. One ordinary day, as a maid attended to the young Xiuying, the winter curse suddenly materialized. In an instant, the unsuspecting servant was completely encased in ice, transformed into a frozen statue where she stood. The tragedy forced the sect master to acknowledge the danger his daughter posed to herself and others.
With a heavy heart, Xiuying’s father banished her to a secluded cave, appointing only a single caretaker – Liu Meiling – to tend to her needs. The sect had initially believed the yin energy would naturally dissipate as Xiuying matured. Instead, it only grew stronger, with incidents of uncontrolled manifestation becoming increasingly frequent.
If they didn’t find a solution soon, a true disaster was inevitable.
The sect master had devised one potential solution: arranging Xiuying’s marriage to someone possessing a pure yang body. Such a union might harmonize the opposing energies, balancing Xiuying’s overwhelming yin with complementary yang.
"But Xiuying didn’t want to get married to the person her father had chosen," Meiling continued. "She secretly sneaked onto my flying boat as I was departing for this mission. I only discovered her when we were already halfway here, so I decided to bring her along. To be honest..."
"Blah-blah-blah, no one cares. Get to the point," Elder Huang interjected impatiently, cutting through Meiling’s explanation.
Meiling cast an irritated glance at the elder before resuming. "As I was saying, we didn’t do this intentionally," she insisted.
"So what? You still did it. How do we unfreeze him?" Elder Huang demanded, summoning flames on her open palms.
"You can’t do that!" Meiling cried, grabbing the elder’s wrists to stop her.
"Why not? It’s just ice, isn’t it? Can’t we melt them out?" Elder Huang asked, confusion replacing her anger.
Meiling facepalmed in exasperation. "Weren’t you listening to anything I just said?"
"No, you kept on yapping about that girl, so I didn’t think it was important," Elder Huang admitted bluntly.
Meiling sighed deeply. "If you try to interfere with the yin balance in the ice, it will simply shatter. While Xiuying might survive because of her physique, the Grand Elder almost certainly wouldn’t."
"Then how do we get him out then?" Elder Huang pressed, desperation edging into her voice.
"That’s the thing. You don’t," Meiling replied.
"This is not the time for jokes," Elder Huang snapped, her patience clearly wearing thin.
"It’s true. You don’t have to free him – once the yin energy calms down, the ice will melt naturally," Meiling explained.
"And how long will that take?" Elder Huang asked, anxiety evident in her tone.
"Usually, it takes about a day or two, but..."
Elder Huang quickly interjected, "But what?"
"Well, those timeframes were when she just froze small parts like her fingers or her hand. It’s the first time I’ve seen her freeze such a huge area," Meiling admitted.
"So in short, you’re saying that you don’t know?" Elder Huang clarified, her expression darkening.
Meiling nodded reluctantly.
"You want us to wait indefinitely for the Grand Elder to get out of that thing?" Elder Huang asked incredulously.
"Hey, I’m also a victim here," Meiling protested. "I sneaked out the sect master’s daughter when she was supposed to be meeting with a young master from the central continent, and now she’s turned into a block of ice!"
"Do you think I care about your problems?" Elder Huang snapped back.
"Hey, everyone, calm down," Elder Guo intervened, attempting to restore order.
"You stay out of it!" both women shouted at him simultaneously.
He sighed deeply. "You really should look at this," he said, his voice suddenly serious.
"What is it?" they demanded in unison, turning toward where he was pointing.
"Oh no," Meiling whispered, the color draining from her face.
The massive ice block imprisoning Xiang Yu had begun to show signs of cracking, thin fractures spreading across its crystalline surface like a spiderweb.
...
"Is that supposed to happen?" Elder Huang asked, her voice rising with alarm as she watched the cracks spreading across the ice’s crystalline surface.
"Umm... I don’t think so," Meiling replied, her eyes widening with growing concern.
"What do you mean ’I don’t think so’?" Elder Huang demanded.
Her mind raced frantically. This was really bad—what would the sect master do if she found out about this.
As these thoughts swirled through her mind, the ice continued fracturing. The cracks spread like lightning across the frozen prison, each new fissure announcing itself with an ominous cracking sound that grew louder and louder with each new addition.
"Oh no, it’s the sun!" Meiling suddenly exclaimed, her face paling with realization.
"What do you mean?" Elder Guo asked.
Meiling spoke rapidly, her words tumbling over each other in her haste to explain. "Since Xiuying was always kept in the cave, her yin energy remained stable when it manifested and would dissipate smoothly," she explained. "But now that we’re outside, the sun’s yang energy is interfering with the stability of the yin energy, causing it to start melting."
She gestured frantically at the fracturing ice. "But since the sun isn’t distributing the yang energy evenly, the instability is causing the ice to crack!"
"So what do we do now?" Elder Huang asked
"We have to maintain constant conditions for the ice and reduce external influence as much as possible," Meiling replied, her eyes darting around as she sought a solution. Her gaze settled on Elder Guo.
"Shantian, your attribute is earth, right?" Without waiting for his response, she continued urgently, "Quick, use it! Enclose the ice in earth so it isn’t directly facing the sun!"
When Elder Guo hesitated, she pressed him harder. "What are you waiting for? Do it quickly!"
Elder Guo scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I’m still in Foundation Establishment," he admitted reluctantly. "My qi emission isn’t strong enough to build such a structure."
"What?" Meiling exclaimed, having momentarily forgotten about this. Her mind raced desperately—what options remained? How could they save both Xiuying and the Grand Elder?
Another sharp crack resonated through the air as a new fissure formed deep within the ice block. Meiling’s panic intensified, her breathing becoming shallow as she frantically considered and discarded potential solutions.
Suddenly, all three cultivators froze as the ice made a different sound—not the slow creaking of gradual fracturing, but a sharp, crystalline note of imminent collapse. Their eyes widened in unison as the massive ice structure, instead of continuing its gradual deterioration, shattered instantaneously into millions of glittering fragments that exploded outward in every direction
...
[Same time tomorrow]