The Ice Palace sat atop the highest peak of the Inner Sect, a monolith of translucent white jade that pierced the cloud layer. It was a place of deadly silence, where the wind froze before it could howl.
Li Ye did not walk in. He was carried, suspended in a sphere of telekinetic ice energy controlled by Ye Qingyu, like a trophy in a display case.
They bypassed the grand halls and servant quarters, descending deep into the mountain's core. The temperature dropped with every meter. Frost formed on Li Ye's eyelashes, sealing his eyes shut until he forced them open with a surge of Qi.
They entered a vast, circular chamber carved directly into the glacier. In the center lay a pool of liquid that did not freeze, despite the air being cold enough to snap steel. It glowed with a terrifying, deep azure light.
[SYSTEM WARNING] [LOCATION: MILLENNIUM ICE SPIRIT POOL] [TEMPERATURE: -150°C] [EFFECT: RAPID CELLULAR REGENERATION / EXTREME PAIN]
The sphere of energy vanished.
SPLASH.
Li Ye dropped into the pool.
"GAHH!"
The scream was torn from his throat instantly. It wasn't water; it was liquid agony. The cold didn't numb him; it burned. It felt as if millions of microscopic needles were piercing every pore, drilling into his bone marrow.
But then, the healing began. The Ice Spirit Liquid invaded his whip wounds, his torn chest, and the deep branding marks from the dungeon. It froze the dead flesh, caused it to slough off, and stimulated the rapid growth of new, pristine tissue.
Li Ye thrashed, grabbing the edge of the pool. His knuckles turned white.
"Stay in," Ye Qingyu's voice echoed from above.
She stood on the rim of the pool, looking down at him. She had discarded her heavy outer robe. Now, she wore only a thin, form-fitting dress of white silk that clung to her damp skin in the humid cold of the cavern. The fabric was practically transparent in the glow of the pool, revealing the shadow of her long, shapely legs and the curve of her waist.
"The liquid is forcing the poison out," she observed, her violet eyes clinical. "If you climb out, the process stops, and you will be a cripple forever."
Li Ye gritted his teeth, forcing himself to sink back up to his neck. He glared at her through the rising mist.
"You enjoy this," he rasped.
"I enjoy efficiency," she corrected. She walked around the perimeter of the pool, her hips swaying with a mesmerizing, regal rhythm. "You absorbed the Frost Palm energy from Han Ruoxue. A mortal body should have shattered. Instead, you integrated it. And then you shattered a Golden Bell."
She stopped directly in front of him.
"Stand up," she commanded.
"I'm naked," Li Ye said.
"I am a master of the medicinal arts. Flesh is flesh," she said dismissively. "Stand up. I need to inspect the meridian pathways."
Li Ye paused. Then, a dark smirk curled his lips. You want to look? Fine.
He stood up.
The azure liquid cascaded off his body. He was fully exposed.
His physique was a testament to violence. Broad shoulders, a tapered waist, and muscles that looked carved from rock. The fresh pink scars from the whip crossed his chest like war paint, contrasting with the older, white scars of his past life.
And below his waist... despite the freezing cold, he was heavy. Thick. The System's reconstruction had left him well-endowed, a weapon of a different sort.
Ye Qingyu did not look away. She did not blush. Her gaze started at his face, traveled down his neck, over his chest, paused at his dantian, and then lingered on his groin.
"Impressive vitality," she noted dryly, as if commenting on a particularly robust horse. "Most men would have shriveled into themselves in this temperature. Your Yang energy is... stubborn."
"It's waiting for a challenge," Li Ye said, holding her gaze.
"Silence."
Ye Qingyu stepped onto the surface of the liquid. She didn't sink. She walked on the water until she was inches from him.
"The Frost Palm works by reversing the flow of the Heart Meridian," she lectured. "I need to see if you have damaged your core."
She raised her hand. Her fingers were long, slender, and tipped with nails like clear glass.
She placed her hand on his wet chest.
Her touch was colder than the water.
Li Ye hissed through his teeth. Her palm was soft, but the energy radiating from it was sharp. She slid her hand down, tracing the center line of his torso. She pressed into his solar plexus, then lower, over his abs.
She wasn't being gentle. She was probing. Pushing into the muscle to feel the energy flow beneath.
"Here," she murmured, pressing just above his navel. "There is a knot of Fire Qi. From the pills?"
"Yes."
"Foolish," she scolded. "Mixing Fire and Ice without a medium is suicide."
She moved her hand lower.
She cupped his package.
It was shocking. She didn't hesitate. She simply grabbed him, weighing his manhood in her cold hand as she checked the root of his cultivation.
Li Ye's breath hitched. The sensation of her cold, smooth hand on his most sensitive area, combined with the danger of her presence, sent a jolt of electricity straight to his brain.
He hardened instantly in her grip.
Ye Qingyu raised an eyebrow. She didn't let go. Instead, she squeezed slightly, testing the density.
"Primitive," she sneered, though her eyes betrayed a flicker of fascination. "A biological reaction to stimulation. Men are so simple."
"It's not simple," Li Ye growled, looking down at her hand. "It's hunger. And right now, you're the only meal in the room."
Ye Qingyu laughed softly. It was a terrifying sound.
"You think you can eat me?" She looked up, her face inches from his. "I am the Ice Empress. I am half a step into Core Formation. To me, you are a tool. A test subject."
She released him, flicking her hand as if shaking off dirt.
"Turn around."
Li Ye hesitated, the throbbing in his groin demanding release, but the killing intent in her eyes keeping him in check. He turned.
She placed both hands on his back, on his kidneys.
"I am going to inject a stream of True Yin Essence," she said. "If your body rejects it, your kidneys will explode. If you absorb it, your cultivation will stabilize."
"And if I explode?"
"Then I will have the servants clean the pool."
Thump.
She pushed her Qi into him.
It felt like she had stabbed him with icicles. The energy rushed into his kidneys, colliding with his own Qi.
[SYSTEM ALERT] [EXTERNAL ENERGY INTRUSION: HIGH PURITY YIN QI.] [SOURCE: YE QINGYU.] [PLUNDER OPPORTUNITY?] [ANALYSIS: HOST IS TOO WEAK TO PLUNDER ACTIVELY. PASSIVE ABSORPTION INITIATED.]
Li Ye roared, gripping his own thighs. His body turned red, then blue, then red again. The steam rising from his skin grew thick.
"Hold it," Ye Qingyu commanded, her voice ringing in his ears. "Circulate your Qi. Do not fight the cold. Submit to it."
Submit.
The word triggered Li Ye.
I submit to no one.
Instead of letting her energy dominate him, he grabbed it. He used the Blood-Drinker's concept of suction. He pulled her Qi deeper, dragging it into his dantian, forcing it to merge with his own.
Ye Qingyu gasped softly. She felt a tug—a suction on her palms. He wasn't just accepting the energy; he was trying to steal it.
"Greedy," she whispered.
She didn't stop him. She increased the output. She wanted to see his limit.
For ten minutes, they stood there—him naked and trembling, her fully clothed and dominant, their energies locked in a silent, violent struggle.
Finally, Li Ye's body stabilized. A layer of black grime—impurities forced out of his marrow—floated on the water surface.
Ye Qingyu withdrew her hands. She stepped back, walking on the water to the edge of the pool.
"Adequate," she announced.
She picked up a robe from a nearby table and threw it at him. It landed on his head.
"Cover yourself. You look ridiculous."
Li Ye pulled the robe off his face. He wrapped it around his wet body. He felt exhausted, but stronger. His wounds were gone, replaced by faint pink lines.
"What now?" Li Ye asked, stepping out of the pool.
"Now?" Ye Qingyu turned to leave, her silhouette framed by the glowing tunnel. "Now you rest. Tomorrow, the real experiments begin."
She paused.
"Oh, and Li Ye?"
"Yes?"
"Do not think I didn't notice your reaction earlier," she said without looking back. "If you ever try to touch me with that filthy thought in your mind, I will cut it off and freeze it."
She walked away.
Li Ye watched her go, the sway of her hips burning into his memory.
He looked down at himself. He was still hard.
"She touched it," he whispered to the empty cavern. "She touched it, and she didn't recoil."
He sat down on the cold stone floor, activating the System.
[QUEST UPDATE: CONQUER THE ICE EMPRESS] [PROGRESS: 1% (PHYSICAL CONTACT ESTABLISHED)] [ATTRIBUTE GAINED: MINOR ICE RESISTANCE.] [NOTE: HOST YANG FIRE IS DANGEROUSLY HIGH. THE TOUCH OF THE 'EXTREME YIN' BODY HAS TRIGGERED A POTENT REACTION.]
Li Ye leaned his head back against the wall. He needed to vent. But there were no women here. Only ice.
"Fine," he muttered, closing his eyes and forcing his mind into meditation. "I'll store it. Let the pressure build."
When the dam finally broke, Ye Qingyu would drown.
The Next Morning: The Garden of Statues
Li Ye was awoken by a bucket of ice water.
"Up."
Standing over him was a maidservant. She was beautiful, pale, and completely emotionless. A puppet of the Ice Palace.
"Mistress awaits you in the Garden."
Li Ye dressed in the simple white training robes provided. They were thin, offering no protection against the bitter cold of the palace.
He followed the maid to an open-air courtyard suspended over a mile-drop cliff.
The "Garden" was not filled with flowers. It was filled with ice statues.
Dozens of them. Men. Women. Beasts. All frozen in poses of agony or combat.
Ye Qingyu sat in a pavilion at the center, sipping tea. She looked fresh, ethereal, and utterly detached from the horror of her decor.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" she asked as Li Ye approached.
"They look... lifelike," Li Ye commented, touching the face of a frozen warrior.
"They are," Ye Qingyu said calmly. "These are the failures. Disciples who tried to learn my arts and lost control. Intruders who thought they could steal from me."
She set her cup down.
"Today, you will learn the [Ice Heart Mantra]. It is the foundation of my power. It requires you to stop your own heart for ten beats to reset your circulation."
She threw a scroll at him.
"Read it. Memorize it. Then execute it."
"And if I fail?" Li Ye caught the scroll.
Ye Qingyu gestured to an empty plinth near the edge of the cliff.
"Then you will make a fine addition to my collection. I think a kneeling pose would suit you."
Li Ye unrolled the scroll. The text was complex, filled with diagrams of meridians he didn't know existed.
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS] [TECHNIQUE: ICE HEART MANTRA (INCOMPLETE)] [GRADE: EARTH (HIGH)] [FLAW DETECTED: THE MANTRA ACCUMULATES YIN POISON IN THE LIVER. LONG-TERM USE CAUSES STERILITY AND EMOTIONAL DEATH.]
Li Ye narrowed his eyes. She was teaching him a flawed technique? Or was the flaw inherent to her cultivation?
"Problem?" Ye Qingyu asked.
"This technique," Li Ye said, holding up the scroll. "It kills the emotions. It makes you a machine."
"Emotions are a weakness," Ye Qingyu replied. "Love, hate, fear—they are distractions. To reach the Dao, one must be cold."
"Is that why you're alone?" Li Ye asked boldly.
The air in the garden froze. The wind stopped.
Ye Qingyu stood up. She moved instantly, appearing in front of him. She grabbed his throat, lifting him off the ground.
"You have a loose tongue," she hissed, her face inches from his. "Do not presume to know me."
Li Ye choked, clawing at her wrist. Her grip was like iron.
"I... I can fix it," Li Ye gasped.
"What?" She loosened her grip slightly.
"The flaw," Li Ye wheezed. "The Yin Poison in the liver. I know... you feel it too. Every full moon. The cramps. The coldness that won't go away."
Ye Qingyu's eyes widened. She dropped him.
"How do you know that?"
Li Ye massaged his throat, coughing. "I told you. I can see the knots."
He looked up at her.
"The Mantra is flawed, Empress. You are freezing yourself to death from the inside out. That's why you haven't reached Core Formation yet. Your body is rejecting the final step."
Ye Qingyu stared at him. For the first time, her mask of indifference cracked. He had struck a nerve. A secret she had hidden for twenty years.
"Prove it," she whispered.
"Let me modify the technique," Li Ye said, standing up. "I will practice the modified version. If I die, you get a statue. If I succeed..."
"If you succeed?"
"If I succeed, you owe me a favor."
Ye Qingyu looked at him, then at the empty plinth, then back at him.
"One hour," she said. "Modify it. If you explode, try not to stain my floor."
She sat back down, her hands trembling slightly in her lap.
Li Ye sat in the snow, opening the scroll. The System whirred to life.
[TASK: OPTIMIZE 'ICE HEART MANTRA'] [INTEGRATING: 'CELESTIAL PLUNDER' PRINCIPLES.] [SOLUTION: INTRODUCE A 'YANG' CYCLE TO CIRCULATE THE POISON.]
Li Ye grinned. He wasn't just going to learn her technique. He was going to make himself the cure she desperately needed.
And once she needed him... the conquest would truly begin.