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Mu Bingyun walked quickly.
Her white dress swept across the smooth ice floor.
The grand palace was huge, but it was completely empty.
There were no guards at the doors.
There were no servants in the halls.
"Why is this place so empty?"
Jean asked. They were walking down a long, frozen hallway.
"My sister sent everyone away,"
Mu Bingyun answered. Her voice was shaking slightly.
"She is the Realm King. She is supposed to be the strongest person in this world. If her enemies find out she is weak and dying, they will attack us. She hid herself here to protect the realm."
"She chose to suffer alone,"
Qingyue said softly.
"Yes,"
Mu Bingyun nodded.
"The soul poison is terrible. It eats profound energy first, and then it eats the life force. She has fought it for years. But today, the connection broke. I felt her giving up."
"She won't die,"
Sam said. His voice was calm and steady.
"Just take us to her."
They reached a set of massive, heavy doors at the end of the hall.
The doors were made of solid blue ice.
Mu Bingyun pushed them open.
A wave of bitter, freezing air rushed out and hit their faces.
Inside the room, the walls were covered in thick frost.
In the center of the room was a large bed made of pure ice.
A woman was lying on it.
She had long white hair that spilled across the ice.
Her face was incredibly beautiful, looking very much like Mu Bingyun.
But her skin was pale, and dark purple lines crawled up her neck and across her cheeks.
She was breathing very slowly.
The woman opened her eyes.
They were sharp and cold, even through her pain.
"Bingyun,"
The woman said. Her voice was weak, but it still held power.
"Why did you bring strangers here? I gave you strict orders."
"Sister, please listen to me,"
Mu Bingyun said, running to the side of the bed. She took the woman's cold hand.
"These people have a way to help you. The true Phoenix guided them here."
Mu Xuanyin turned her eyes toward the group.
She looked at Jean, then at Qingyue, and finally at Sam.
"Mortals from the lower realm?"
Mu Xuanyin coughed softly.
A drop of dark blood fell from her lip.
"Bingyun, you are foolish. This is a supreme soul poison. Even the great kings of the upper realms can't cure it. A man with a low cultivation base can't help me."
Sam walked closer to the bed and stopped a few feet away.
Sam looked down at Mu Xuanyin.
He could see the dark purple poison moving under her skin.
It was thick and deadly.
But Sam could see something else, too.
He closed his eyes for a brief second and focused his senses.
Deep inside Mu Xuanyin's body, hiding behind the violent ice energy and the deadly poison, there was another presence.
It was dark, quiet, and extremely dangerous.
It felt like a sleeping shadow.
Sam kept his face completely blank.
He knew exactly who was hiding inside Mu Xuanyin's body.
It was Chi Wuyou.
She was the Devil Queen from the Northern Divine Region.
A fragment of her soul was sharing this body with Mu Xuanyin.
Sam thought quickly.
"If I make a mistake, I might wake her up,"
He told himself.
"At my current strength, dealing with Chi Wuyou is impossible. She is far too strong. I can't fight a Devil Queen. I have to be very careful."
"What are you waiting for?"
Mu Xuanyin asked. Her cold voice broke his thoughts.
"If you are going to watch me die, do it quietly."
"I am just looking at the problem,"
Sam replied simply.
He reached into his pocket.
His fingers closed around a small, round object.
He pulled it out and held it up.
It was the Sky Poison Pearl.
The moment the pearl appeared, a bright green light filled the dark, freezing room.
The heavy, cold air instantly felt fresh and clean.
The pearl glowed like a small green star in Sam's hand.
Mu Xuanyin's eyes went wide.
She stared at the green light.
"That aura..."
Mu Xuanyin whispered. She tried to sit up, but she was too weak.
"That is the aura of absolute purification. How do you have such a holy object?"
"It doesn't matter how I got it,"
Sam said.
He stepped closer to her.
"What matters is that it can eat any poison in the universe. Even yours."
"Will it hurt her?"
Mu Bingyun asked nervously.
"Yes,"
Sam answered honestly.
"Pulling the poison out of her soul will hurt a lot. But it is better than dying."
Sam held the Sky Poison Pearl over Mu Xuanyin's chest.
He pushed a small amount of his energy into the green pearl.
It started to spin.
A soft, green mist drifted down from the pearl and touched Mu Xuanyin's skin.
Suddenly, the dark purple lines on her neck started to move.
They twisted and turned like angry snakes.
Mu Xuanyin let out a sharp cry of pain.
Her hands grabbed the sheets tightly.
"Hold her down,"
Sam told Mu Bingyun.
"Don't let her move."
Mu Bingyun pressed her hands against her sister's shoulders.
Jean stepped forward and used a little bit of Phoenix heat to keep the room from freezing completely, balancing the wild ice energy that was leaking from the Realm King's body.
"Just breathe,"
Sam said to Mu Xuanyin.
"Let the pearl do the work."
The Sky Poison Pearl spun faster.
The green light grew brighter.
Slowly, the dark poison began to leave her body.
It came out of her chest like black smoke.
The smoke flew straight up and was sucked into the green pearl.
Sam watched carefully.
He kept his energy steady.
He made sure the green light only touched the poison.
He didn't let the pearl go near the dark, sleeping shadow of Chi Wuyou.
He ignored it completely.
The process took several minutes.
The room was quiet except for the sound of Mu Xuanyin's heavy breathing.
Finally, the last drop of black smoke left her body.
The Sky Poison Pearl absorbed it easily.
The pearl stopped spinning and the bright green light faded back to a soft glow.
Sam put the pearl back into his pocket.
The dark purple lines on Mu Xuanyin's face were completely gone.
Her skin looked healthy again.
Suddenly, a massive wave of cold energy exploded from her body.
The ice bed cracked loudly.
The heavy doors of the room blew open from the force of her power.
Her true strength as a Realm King was back.
Mu Bingyun started to cry.
She hugged her sister tightly.
"You are healed. The poison is really gone."
Mu Xuanyin sat up slowly.
She looked at her hands.
She closed her eyes and felt the energy moving through her profound veins.
It was clean.
It was strong.
The pain that had tortured her for years had vanished completely.
She opened her eyes and looked straight at Sam.
The anger and coldness were gone from her face.
Now, she looked at him with deep respect.
"You did it,"
Mu Xuanyin said. Her voice was strong and clear.
"You actually pulled a supreme soul poison out of my body. A mortal from the lower realm saved the Realm King of Snow Song."
"I am glad it worked,"
Sam said.
He kept his hands in his pockets.
He felt relieved. Chi Wuyou had not woken up. His plan was a complete success.
"You saved my life,"
Mu Xuanyin stood up from the bed. She stood tall and proud.
"You also saved this entire realm. I owe you a great debt. Tell me what you want. Do you want gold? Do you want supreme weapons? Do you want to learn the highest arts of the Ice Phoenix?"
"I don't need any of those things,"
Sam answered.
Mu Xuanyin raised an eyebrow.
"Then what do you want?"
"When we landed here, I told your sister why I came,"
Sam said, looking around the ice room.
"The primordial qi in this world is very thick. I am ready to break through. I just need a place to do it."
"A place?"
Mu Xuanyin asked in surprise.
"Yes,"
Sam nodded.
"I need a quiet place with strong Yin energy. I need a place where no one will bother me while I focus. That is all I want from you."
Mu Xuanyin stared at him for a long moment.
Then, a small, genuine smile appeared on her face.
"You ask for so little, benefactor,"
Mu Xuanyin said softly.
"Very well. You shall have the best place in this entire world. Behind this palace is the Sacred Ice Pool. It is the core of our realm's energy. Only the Realm King is allowed to enter it."
"Are you sure you want to let me use it?"
Sam asked.
"You gave me my life back,"
Mu Xuanyin said firmly.
"The pool is yours to use for as long as you need. I will stand guard outside the doors myself. No one in this universe will disturb you while I am breathing."
"Thank you,"
Sam said.
He turned around and walked toward the door.
The others followed him.
Sam felt a small thrill of excitement.
The karma was settled, his secret was safe, and the path forward was finally open.
It was time to reach the Nascent Soul Realm.