After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 102

The biting cold wind, carrying snow flurries, struck their faces, bringing with it an icy chill that cut to the bone. The night in the Soul Burial Mountain Range was silent and vast, broken only by the crunch of snow underfoot and the occasional, suppressed groans from the wounded, shattering the dead silence of the ice plain.

The teams from the Profound Cloud Sect and the Jade Water Pavilion pressed on through the night, carrying the exhaustion and gravity of having survived a disaster. They hastened away from the collapsing ruins of the Ice Soul Profound Palace. Everyone’s mood was complex: there was the grief of losing fellow disciples, the elation of gaining valuable opportunities, and, more profoundly, a deep worry about the uncertainties of the future.

Following closely beside Elder Mu Yun, Ye Li silently circulated the 《Netherworld Emperor Scripture》. The extreme-cold spiritual energy slowly flowed within her body, healing her injuries while also continuously adapting to and solidifying her newly breakthrough cultivation at the peak of the mid-stage Spiritual Palace Realm. In her Sea of Consciousness, the two fragments of the Reincarnation Mirror had begun to fuse, forming a larger, blue mirror shard whose edges flowed with starlight, emanating a more majestic and stable primal energy fluctuation.

The memories and information brought by the new fragment were still being absorbed and digested. Fragmentary clues about the “Corrosion World” prophecy and the “Land of Returning Ruins” weighed heavily on her mind like massive stones. Ling Hao and the others’ betrayal was indeed hiding a deeper layer of darkness. She felt as though she were standing on the edge of a great vortex, and a slight misstep would plunge her into an abyss of eternal doom.

Yet, the newly unlocked abilities of the Reincarnation Mirror also provided her with greater confidence. “Space-Time Stasis,” though it had severe after-effects, was a genuine life-saving trump card in a critical moment; “Mirror Projection” was extremely useful for reconnaissance and deception; and the faint perception of “Karmic Lines,” though blurry, gave her a profound, mystical grasp of the connections between herself and the people around her. She could vaguely sense a very clear karmic line connecting herself to Qin Yixuan, who was not far away. This line seemed to have grown stronger and brighter after the life-and-death trial within the Profound Palace.

She turned her head to look at Qin Yixuan. The other girl was walking with the support of a Jade Water Pavilion senior sister. Her face was still pale, but her breathing had stabilized considerably. As if sensing Ye Li’s gaze, Qin Yixuan also looked over. In the moonlight, her eyes were as clear as water. Though marked by fatigue, they held an indescribable depth and… divinity? Their eyes met for a fleeting moment and then separated. Neither spoke, yet a silent understanding flowed between them.

After nearly a night of travel, as the sky began to lighten with the pale glow of dawn, the group finally found a relatively secluded, sheltered mountain valley. They decided to halt temporarily, tend to the wounded, deal with the captives, and also digest the gains from their trip to the ruins.

Elder Mu Yun personally set up concealment and defensive formations, enveloping the entire valley. Only then did everyone truly relax, as exhaustion surged over them like a tide.

Ye Li found a clean patch of snow, sat cross-legged, and prepared to continue consolidating her cultivation and meticulously study the subsequent part of the 《Ice Emperor Sealing Heaven Art》 she had just acquired—this was found in a hidden compartment that quietly opened in the ice platform beneath the Reincarnation Mirror fragment on the altar. It was a blue bone slip, neither metal nor jade, cool to the touch, upon which the complete cultivation method of the 《Ice Emperor Sealing Heaven Art》 was imprinted with divine sense, spanning from the Spirit Initiation Realm all the way to the Immortality Realm, along with several accompanying, tremendously powerful divine abilities!

This 《Ice Emperor Sealing Heaven Art》 actually had many complementary aspects to the main cultivation technique, the 《Netherworld Emperor Scripture》, as if they originated from the same source yet each had its own focus. The 《Netherworld Emperor Scripture》 emphasized foundation and primal source, being profound and vast; while the 《Ice Emperor Sealing Heaven Art》 leaned towards killing and sealing, being overbearing and absolute. If she could integrate its essence into her own system, her combat power would undoubtedly reach another level!

Just as her consciousness sank into the bone slip, beginning to comprehend its profound mysteries, a slight energy fluctuation suddenly emanated from the Jade Water Pavilion camp where Qin Yixuan was located, not far away.

Qin Yixuan was seen holding the Azure Sea Moonlight Pearl in her hand. The pearl was emitting a soft, pure blue light that subtly resonated with the rising sun in the sky. She closed her eyes in concentration, seemingly engaging in some deep communication with the precious pearl. Gradually, the blue light intensified, finally condensing before her into virtual scriptures composed of ancient water-patterned symbols!

“That is… the lost chapters of the 《Nine Heavens Profound Water Scripture》?!” The Elder leading the Jade Water Pavilion team exclaimed in shock, his face filled with excitement and disbelief. “The upper half, which was rumored to have been lost for ages! It… it was actually hidden inside the Azure Sea Moonlight Pearl, requiring the purest Profound Maiden Primal Source to activate?!”

The other Jade Water Pavilion disciples also gathered around, looking at the floating virtual scriptures with fanaticism and reverence. The 《Nine Heavens Profound Water Scripture》 was the Jade Water Pavilion’s foundational technique, but only the lower half had been passed down. The upper half had been lost to the river of history, which had greatly diminished the technique’s power and made it easy to encounter bottlenecks when cultivating to advanced realms. Now that the upper half was recovered, it was undoubtedly an immense boon for the entire Jade Water Pavilion!

Qin Yixuan slowly opened her eyes, a flash of realization crossing her gaze as she looked at the scriptures before her. It turned out that when her master gave her the Azure Sea Moonlight Pearl, she had meaningfully said that the pearl was destined for her and concerned the future of the sect. Now, it seemed, this “destiny” lay here. The trace of sacred primal source awakened within her was the “key” to unlocking this lost inheritance!

She dared not delay, immediately focusing her mind to memorize and comprehend the ancient scriptures. The content was profound and extensive, far surpassing the version she was currently cultivating, involving deeper mysteries of the Great Dao of Water, and even touching upon the primal source of creation and life. As she read deeper, the dormant trace of sacred primal source within her was once again activated, resonating with the scriptures and allowing her understanding of the technique to improve at an astonishing speed.

In the mountain valley, in two different locations, the two young women were immersed in their respective opportunities.

On Ye Li’s side, the profound mysteries of the 《Ice Emperor Sealing Heaven Art》 flowed through her mind like a clear stream. She discovered that the several great divine abilities recorded in the technique—such as “Ice Seal Ten Thousand Miles,” “Absolute Zero,” and “Sealing Heaven Seal Art”—were terrifyingly powerful, but also demanded extremely high spiritual energy consumption and control. Especially the final move, “Ice Emperor’s Descent,” rumored to freeze space and time when cultivated to mastery, was practically a forbidden art.

She attempted to combine the techniques of extreme-cold control from the 《Ice Emperor Sealing Heaven Art》 with the primal source energy of the 《Netherworld Emperor Scripture》. A tiny ice crystal quietly condensed on her fingertip. This ice crystal was no longer pure spectral blue, but its interior seemed to have starlight flowing within, and its exterior was surrounded by wisps of sealing energy. The surrounding air was instantly frozen, and even light seemed to undergo subtle distortion.

“Truly profound…” Ye Li praised in her heart. This was only a preliminary fusion; if she could master it completely, the power of her “Star Silence” sword move would surely surge.

Time quietly slipped away during the cultivation. By the time Ye Li had initially grasped the first three layers of the 《Ice Emperor Sealing Heaven Art》 mental method and comprehended the advanced version of “Profound Ice Shield,” called “Ice Emperor’s Protection,” as well as an instant-cast control divine ability named “Frost Condensation Finger,” the sun was high in the sky.

She let out a long breath, her breathing deep and even, and the divine light in her eyes became more restrained and profound. After this trip to the ruins and a brief period of settling, her strength had achieved a qualitative leap. Not only had her cultivation improved, but more importantly, her combat methods and reserves had greatly increased.

She stood up, stretched her limbs, and looked towards the Jade Water Pavilion camp. Qin Yixuan had also just finished her comprehension. The blue light around her slowly receded back into the Azure Sea Moonlight Pearl, and the virtual scriptures vanished. Her complexion was noticeably better, and the aura around her was more harmonious and translucent, subtly giving a feeling of integration with the surrounding water elements—a sense of natural flow and the Dao. Clearly, the upper half of the 《Nine Heavens Profound Water Scripture》 had brought her immense benefits.

Their eyes met once more.

Qin Yixuan walked over first, a faint, genuine smile on her usually cold face: “Congratulations to Junior Sister Ye for the great increase in cultivation. It seems your gains were substantial.”

Ye Li could also sense the purer, vaster water spiritual energy fluctuation on Qin Yixuan, and nodded: “Senior Sister Qin is the same. Congratulations on acquiring the complete inheritance.”

Having gone through life and death together, and having each gained a major opportunity highly compatible with themselves, the relationship between the two had subtly grown closer. There was less formality and more natural familiarity.

“I owe this to Junior Sister Ye,” Qin Yixuan said softly, her tone sincere. “If not for what happened in the Profound Palace… I probably wouldn’t have been able to activate the latent power within me, let alone obtain this lost inheritance.”

“It was a lucky coincidence, and also due to Senior Sister’s own profound reserves,” Ye Li responded calmly. She paused, looking out at the vast, snowy mountains beyond the valley, her tone becoming slightly serious: “After this incident, the Shadow Demon forces have surfaced, and their designs are massive. Gao Sheng and Shi Long’s actions also indicate deep hidden dangers within the sects. Things are likely to get turbulent from now on.”

Qin Yixuan also put away her smile, her delicate brows slightly furrowed: “Indeed. The Shadow Demon Emissary escaped and will surely bring more powerful enemies. Furthermore, the news of me obtaining the complete 《Nine Heavens Profound Water Scripture》 probably won’t be kept secret for long, and the Jade Water Pavilion might become a target then.” She looked at Ye Li, “Junior Sister Ye, our two sects may need to unite even more closely to face this.”

This was exactly what Ye Li had been thinking. Relying solely on her personal strength or that of a single faction of the Profound Cloud Sect to counter the hidden Shadow Demon forces and internal traitors would undoubtedly be extremely difficult. Forming an alliance with the Jade Water Pavilion, especially maintaining a good relationship with Qin Yixuan, who possessed the Goddess Primal Source and infinite potential, was crucial.

“Senior Sister is absolutely right,” Ye Li nodded. “After returning to our respective sects and reporting the situation, we can discuss the alliance in detail.”

The two exchanged a few more insights on cultivation, primarily complementary verifications on the understanding of water (ice) elemental laws, finding themselves mutually beneficial.

At this moment, Elder Mu Yun and the Jade Water Pavilion Elder finished their discussion and summoned the group.

“Everyone,” Elder Mu Yun’s expression was solemn. “Although a formation has been set up here, this is not a place for long stays. The Shadow Demon forces are mysterious and unpredictable; we cannot guarantee they lack tracking methods. We must set off immediately and return to our respective sects. The wounded will be protected by us, and the captives must be strictly guarded, especially Shi Long, who needs to be taken back to the sect for severe interrogation!”

“During the return journey, we must be extra vigilant to guard against sneak attacks. Ye Li, Junior Niece Qin, you two must stay close to us and not act independently.”

“Yes!” Everyone responded in unison.

Soon, the team set off again. This time, their speed was faster, and the atmosphere was even more tense. Everyone understood that while the exploration of the Ice Soul Profound Palace was over, the storm it had ignited was only just beginning.

Ye Li and Qin Yixuan walked side-by-side, following behind Elder Mu Yun and the Jade Water Pavilion Elder. They did not speak much, but an invisible trust and understanding had already been established.

Ye Li touched the bone slip in her storage ring that contained the 《Ice Emperor Sealing Heaven Art》, and then sensed the more complete Reincarnation Mirror fragment in her Sea of Consciousness. Her gaze towards the Profound Cloud Sect became sharp.

“Situ Kuang… Shadow Demons… and Ling Hao… no matter what your conspiracy is, I will definitely uproot you all! The enmity of my previous life will surely be repaid in this life!”

The wind and snow continued, but the young woman’s Dao Heart was firmer than the ten thousand-year profound ice. The Divine Hall inheritance and the unique opportunities gained by each foretold that the winds and clouds of the Northern Region, and indeed the entire Spirit Realm, were about to be stirred by the rise of these two young women.