Qingxian asked

Chapter 416 Xu Qingzhu's Choice (First Update)
Within the Pure Yang Myriad Realms Map, at the Zhongshan Dojo.

Xu Qingzhu was in seclusion in her quiet room, comprehending the true meaning of the "Innate Freezing Technique" instilled in her by her father. Around her, the air condensed into tiny ice crystals, each one like a miniature frozen world, radiating absolute chill.

Suddenly, her heart trembled. The causal thread that was connected to the Heavenly River Dao Sect in the dark sent a violent and painful tremor through her, like a string about to snap.

She suddenly opened her eyes, and in those clear, cold eyes, she instantly saw the tragic scene of dark clouds looming over the city and stars shattering in front of the Tianhe Dao Sect's mountain gate.

"The sect is in trouble!" Xu Qingzhu suddenly stood up, and the Daoist aura of freezing cold erupted uncontrollably around her, instantly turning the entire quiet room into an ice cave, with thick layers of mysterious ice condensing on the walls.

Without the slightest hesitation, she flashed and appeared in the Star Gazing Hall where Feng Wu was.

"Mother, the sect is in imminent danger, I must go back!" Xu Qingzhu's voice was clear and cold, but it carried a hint of anxiety that she could not hide.

Feng Wu looked at her, a complex expression in her eyes. She sighed softly and said, "Qingzhu, this is the message your father just passed down."

As she spoke, she lightly tapped her fingertip, and a gentle light containing Xu Qing's will entered Xu Qingzhu's brow.

"Qingzhu, this is destiny, and also calamity. If you stay in the Pure Yang Heavenly Realm, with the fortune of this realm and the imprint of my Dao Fruit, you will be safe and sound, impervious to all calamities. If you insist on going, what awaits you ahead is a perilous danger with nine deaths and one life, or even... the danger of your Dao perishing."

Her father's voice was calm and indifferent, devoid of any emotion, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself. But beneath this calm lay a profound meaning: to let her choose her own destiny, and a barely perceptible trace of her father's worry.

Xu Qingzhu's delicate body trembled slightly, and she fell silent.

She knew that her father had proven himself indestructible and that his words carried on, and that his warnings were not alarmist, but rather the clearest insight into her future destiny.

Staying means absolute safety. Her path will be clear, and under her father's protection, her future achievements are limitless.

Going there would mean stepping into a deadly trap set up by a higher-level being; it would be like throwing an egg against a rock, or a moth drawn to a flame.

The hall was silent, except for the tenderness and worry in Feng Wu's eyes as he quietly watched her.

After a long while, Xu Qingzhu slowly raised her head. In her clear and cold eyes, there was no more anxiety or hesitation, only an unprecedented clarity and determination.

“Mother,” she bowed deeply to Feng Wu, “please tell Father that I understand his meaning. However, I must go.”

Feng Wu said softly, "Why? Do you know that although your father is now indestructible, the creation of a new universe has consumed a huge amount of his essence, and he is currently in the most critical period of slumber and recovery. He cannot easily use the power of his original body, otherwise it would affect the foundation of the entire universe. The warning he can give you is already the limit."

"I know." Xu Qingzhu's lips curled into a cool yet resolute smile. "Father gave me a choice, and that is his greatest trust in me. If I choose comfort, I can certainly preserve my body and spirit, but my Dao heart will be shrouded in shadow and develop an irreparable rift."

She slowly straightened up, her gaze seemingly piercing through the barriers of the Pure Yang Heaven Realm, looking towards the distant sect that was suffering.

"What do we seek in order to attain enlightenment? It is a clear mind and a clear conscience. The Tianhe Dao Sect has taught and imparted knowledge to me, and I have my teachers and fellow disciples. Now that they are in dire straits, if I were to sit idly by for my own safety, what kind of path would I be cultivating? What kind of heart would I be refining?"

Her voice grew louder and more resolute, and the aura of freezing power surrounding her became even purer and sharper under this unwavering will.

"This world has never lacked clever people who know how to protect themselves and weigh the pros and cons. But if everyone did that, when darkness falls, who would light the first lamp?"

“There will always be some people who do things that others see as ‘foolish,’ ‘unwise,’ or ‘knowingly impossible.’ They may fail, they may perish, but it is precisely these small acts of ‘doing the impossible’ that give hope to the world and allow the great path to continue moving forward. This is my daughter’s way!”

Feng Wu listened quietly, her worry gradually turning into relief and pride. She seemed to see Xu Qing's shadow in her daughter.

“Go,” Feng Wu stepped forward and smoothed a strand of hair at her temple, “do what you believe is right. Your father… will be proud of you.”

"Thank you, Mother." Xu Qingzhu bowed again, then turned around without any hesitation, transforming into a streak of ice-blue light, resolutely breaking through the barrier of the Pure Yang Myriad Realms Map and heading towards the perilous and murderous Taixu Universe.

……

Deep within the void, at the core of the primordial universe.

A barely perceptible ripple stirred within Xu Qing's sleeping Daoist thoughts.

He "saw" his daughter's resolute back and "heard" her resounding declaration of her Daoist heart.

A long, drawn-out sigh, filled with relief and emotion, echoed through the chaos.

"Foolish child... Foolish child..."

In his thoughts, there was no blame, no disappointment, only endless praise and a trace of unspeakable tenderness as a father.

"As expected of Xu Qing's daughter..."

"The path to enlightenment is not about being good at calculations. True strength lies in daring to draw your sword in desperate situations, daring to go against the current, and daring to protect the path in your heart. Without such qualities, even the most talented person will ultimately be nothing more than a passerby on the path of enlightenment."

"Qingzhu, you have made your choice. So, as your father, I will protect this last glimmer of hope for you."

With a slight movement of his Daoist thoughts, a wisp of barely perceptible "life" aura, containing the origin of his Chaotic Dao Fruit of Life and Death, crossed the endless void and silently merged into the depths of Xu Qingzhu's true spirit, transforming into a final protective mark that even she herself was unaware of.

...In front of the Tianhe Dao Sect's mountain gate.

"boom!"

With a final, deafening roar, the dazzling starlight band of the "Heavenly River Upside Down" formation finally shattered completely under the influence of an incredibly thick gray divine light!

The starlight fell like shattered glass, each drop carrying the lament of the Heavenly River disciples.

"puff!"

Sect Master Su Qinghe coughed up a mouthful of blood, the Heavenly River Token in his hand shattered into pieces, and he crashed heavily onto the square in front of the mountain gate like a kite with a broken string, his aura extremely weak.

The Five Elders of Tianhe fared even worse. The First Elder, Guo Taiyue, had his protective magic weapon, the "Mysterious Water Tortoise Shell," smashed to pieces, and half of his body was corroded by divine light, leaving him a bloody mess. Elder Zhong's natal flying sword was broken into several pieces, and his primordial spirit was injured, causing him to faint.

Chongshan, the once spirited chief disciple, was now covered in blood, one of his arms missing, and was being tightly bound by two elders of the Supreme Dao Sect with black chains. His body and mind were broken, and he was on the verge of death.

The reinforcements from the Chunyang Dao Sect had already been intercepted by the Taishang Dao Sect's ambush halfway there, and were now suffering heavy casualties and barely able to protect themselves.

The entire Tianhe Dao Sect is in grave danger, on the verge of destruction.

The Daoist Wuxiang descended slowly from the warship with an expressionless face. Behind him, countless cultivators from the Supreme Dao Sect surged forward like a tide, their eyes filled with greed and bloodlust.

"Su Qinghe, I'm giving you one last chance: surrender, or die." The Wuxiang Daoist looked down at him, his voice icy.

Su Qinghe struggled to raise his head, his eyes filled with defiant rage: "In my Tianhe Dao Sect, there are only disciples who die standing, not cowards who live on their knees! You lackey, if you have the guts, then slaughter us all!"

"Very good." A murderous glint flashed in the eyes of the Formless Daoist as he slowly raised his hand.

In that desperate moment, when death was about to descend.

An indescribable, absolute chill, capable of freezing time and space, descended without warning!
It's not a decrease in temperature, but a change in the laws governing it.

The Wuxiang Daoist's raised hand froze in mid-air. The sinister smiles on the faces of the advancing Taishang Dao Sect cultivators solidified, their figures frozen as if a pause button had been pressed, remaining motionless in their forward-rushing posture.

Even the gray divine light that pierced through heaven and earth seemed to be frozen like a waterfall, suspended in the air, its destructive Daoist aura covered by a thin layer of ice crystals, ceasing to flow.

The wind stopped, the clouds settled, the sounds disappeared, and even the light seemed to become viscous and slow.

At this moment, the entire space-time where the Heavenly River Dao Sect is located was completely frozen!

A figure in ice blue, like a goddess emerging from an ancient glacier, quietly appeared before the gate of the Tianhe Dao Sect.

She was dressed in white, her black hair flowing freely, her face as serene as the moon, and deep within her eyes lay an absolute silence capable of withering all things.

“Saint…Saintess?” Su Qinghe raised his head with difficulty, his cloudy eyes reflecting that familiar yet unfamiliar figure, filled with unbelievable shock.

The moment all the surviving Tianhe disciples saw that figure, their hearts, which had been filled with despair, felt as if they had seen the first ray of dawn rising on an icy plain in eternal night!

"It's the Holy Maiden Qingzhu!"

"The Holy Maiden is back!"

Xu Qingzhu ignored the gasps of the crowd. She simply watched the scene before her, the Wuxiang Daoist frozen in mid-air, and the countless hideous faces behind him.

She slowly raised her hand, and a wisp of pale blue, chilling air, seemingly capable of freezing the soul, gently drifted out from her fingertips.

However, this seemingly casual flick of the finger made her already fair face turn even paler, and a trickle of bright red blood slowly flowed down the corner of her mouth.

With her own power, she froze a vast expanse of spacetime to fight against the "Supreme Ruthless Divine Light" that contained the will of three giants from the ancient celestial realm. Even though she had already obtained the true teachings of the Great Dao of Freezing, the price she paid was far beyond imagination.

But she did not back down in the slightest.

"Does the Supreme Dao Sect think my sect has no one to rely on?"

Her voice was cold and clear, yet like the sharpest icicle, piercing into the depths of the soul of every frozen enemy.

At this moment, all the disciples of the Tianhe Dao Sect, gazing at that aloof figure standing alone between heaven and earth, single-handedly turning the tide, felt their last trace of doubt and confusion vanish completely.

Awe, reverence, and a deep sense of identification welled up in my heart like a tide.

She is no longer merely Daojun's daughter.

She is the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly River Dao Sect, a goddess of the Nine Heavens who brings hope amidst despair.

(End of this chapter)