There are no ancestors at all; I made them all up.

Chapter 169 An Unprecedented Assassination Attack! [Second Update]

The glaciers stand tall and majestic, the wind howls like knives.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Outside Zhenyuan Xuan Palace, the white-feathered demon soldiers on guard duty fluttered their wings slightly, sending out a low warning signal.

In the distance, figures appeared silently on the distant ice hill, peering at the frozen palace from afar.

Inside the hall, Lu Zhao received the report. His expression was calm and composed, but he showed no surprise. He simply muttered, "Since the location has been reported, it must have been leaked from some point. It's only natural that wolves would come attracted by the smell of blood."

“What do you mean by common sense?” the Ice Soul Girl said, quite displeased. “I’ve been here so many times, and it’s always been peaceful and carefree. But as soon as you two arrive, this place becomes overcrowded!”

Lu Zhao looked embarrassed and didn't know how to respond. He just held a communication talisman and quickly communicated with the spies of the Marquis's mansion. After a moment, his brows furrowed even more: "Since Yang Yunling left Luojia Mountain, she has disappeared without a trace. This woman's understanding of illusion and reality has reached a state of perfection. If she deliberately hides herself, she is indeed difficult to find."

Ao Yu then said, "Hiding his head and showing his tail, he doesn't seem like a good person."

As he spoke, his gaze turned to the main hall, where Chen Qing was meditating with his eyes closed in the prepared protective array. The aura around him was sometimes intense and sometimes light.

"I don't know what profound technique Junior Brother has comprehended. Since today, I have felt my heart pounding with fear, as if some powerful being is watching me from the side!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhao's heart skipped a beat: "You dragons have very strong intuition. If your perception is not due to your junior brother's comprehension, then there must be a powerful person coveting it!"

Ao Yu, however, didn't take it seriously: "Could they possibly act against the will of their superiors?"

Dozens of miles away, deep within a cave covered in ice, three groups of people are secretly gathering.

Yuehua Mansion, the Lin family, and the Liu family!
Important figures from all of them fell to Chen Qing, especially Yuehua Mansion, whose power was greatly diminished and which suffered severe suppression after Chen Qing exposed the demon's whereabouts.

The three parties are enemies, yet they are also connected. Once they learn the location of the gambling match through various channels, it is not difficult for them to find each other.

"The Nascent Soul Grandmaster of the Hidden Star Sect has already set off, but the Radiant Dragon Sect has had someone intercept him halfway in order to ensure the smooth running of the duel. This sect has close ties with the royal family and can suppress cultivators with their orders. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would find it difficult to break through in an instant. This is our opportunity!"

The man from the Lin family was an old man with a sinister face. When he looked at the palace in the distant icy canyon, the resentment in his eyes was almost tangible: "The Huanglong Sect sent Yang Yunling here this time to warn and subdue her! Once that Ji Mingzi bows his head and is incorporated into the Yujing system, it will be as difficult as climbing to heaven for us to take revenge! But we cannot die in vain! The Lin family's face cannot be lost!"

The man from the Liu family was a middle-aged man with a cold and stern face. He said in a chilling voice, "We must act before Yang Yunling! Kill him here! Otherwise, once he is defeated by Yang Yunling and taken to Yujing, we will have no chance!"

The person from Yuehua Mansion was none other than the Lord of Yuehua Mansion, who had once met Chen Qing through a projection of himself.

Dressed in a scholar's robe, with a gentle and effeminate air, he now wore a hesitant expression: "Our sect is currently stigmatized for colluding with the demonic path, making our actions quite inconvenient. If we were to act rashly again, we fear we would give others a handle against us..."

"Stigma?" The old man from the Lin family sneered. "This is easy! I can ask the Righteous Law Sect to issue a document, labeling your Yuehua Mansion as 'enduring humiliation and feeding the demon with your own bodies.' This time, killing Jimingzi, who possesses demonic powers, is to set things right and rid the Immortal Dynasty of a great scourge! The rampant demonic energy in the North is a golden opportunity. Who will bother to investigate the source of this demonic energy?"

The middle-aged man from the Liu family clapped his hands and interjected, "Excellent! We can pin everything on the demonic calamity and make Yuehua Mansion the main force in resisting the demons! But is the Zhenglu Sect really willing to do so?"

A glint flashed in the eyes of the elder of the Lin family: "The Righteous Law Sect is more unwilling than anyone to see the laws broken! This child has grown too fast. He was able to be captured by Ru Hui at first, which means he was still restrained by the laws. But in the blink of an eye, he was able to turn the tables and kill her. This means he has comprehended the mystery and mastered the way to break the law! If he is allowed to live, he will surely become a great threat to the foundation of the Immortal Dynasty in the future! This is a struggle for the lineage, and the Righteous Law Sect will never sit idly by! It's just that the Huanglong Sect has temporarily suppressed it. If we take the first step, it will be exactly what they want!"

These words immediately sparked murderous intent.

The Lord of Yuehua Palace finally nodded slowly, the last trace of concern in his eyes disappearing, replaced by cold determination: "In that case, let's proceed as planned. Three Nascent Soul cultivators will send him on his way with a Golden Core cultivator. That would be worthy of his seventh-level cultivation. Such a thing is extremely rare, and he should feel honored."

"Three?" The old man from the Lin family smiled upon hearing this. "You've overlooked one. It seems you still haven't realized the impact his ability to break the law has on the Righteous Law Sect."

Upon hearing this, Lord Yuehua paused for a moment, then said, "That is truly unprecedented."

More and more people are gathering outside, and it's not just these three families anymore.

Some of them harbored ulterior motives, while others simply came to observe.

A group of people from the Xuan Yin Sect also arrived, but the leader was not a Nascent Soul Grandmaster, but a Golden Core Grandmaster. They looked at each other from afar with hatred in their eyes, but showed no intention of getting closer.

Meanwhile, people from the Guanghan Palace and the Taiyin Sect also arrived one after another, but they showed no inclination to intervene.

However, the concentration of so many gazes only made the atmosphere among the Zhenyuan Xuan Palace members even more tense.

The hall was utterly silent for a moment, except for the ebb and flow of Chen Qing's aura, with faint sounds of wind and thunder emanating from his body, indicating that he had reached a crucial stage in his cultivation.

As Ao Yu and Lu Zhao were on high alert, the Ice Soul Girl's glass-like eyes suddenly flashed with a fierce light, and she shouted, "Who?!"

Before the sound had even faded, the chilling aura that had been coiling around him darted toward the shadows of the palace gate like a serpent, and ice crystals suddenly formed wherever it passed!

However, the chilling air, powerful enough to shatter metal and stone, seemed to crash into an invisible wall of water before touching the shadow, silently melting and dissipating, only stirring up ripples. A figure slowly emerged from the center of those ripples.

The newcomer was dressed in a dark, ancient-style robe. His face was no different from that of a human, except for his eyes, whose pupils seemed to contain two swirling pools of cold water, creating a subtle sense of spatial distortion as they flowed.

His gaze lingered on Chen Qing for a moment before turning to the Ice Soul Girl, who looked as if facing a formidable enemy. His voice resounded directly in everyone's minds: "Xuan Shui Palace, Cang Bo. I apologize for my uninvited arrival."

"The Xuan Shui Palace?" Lu Zhao's pupils contracted slightly, and his expression became even more wary. "The Xuan Shui Palace deep within the eye of the far north sea? One of the top three among the hundred races? What brings you here?"

Cangbo said, “I have no intention of being your enemy. I just happened to learn about Fellow Daoist Jiming’s deeds and would like to ask him to spare some time to come to the palace for a chat after he has resolved the trivial matters here. This is not a transaction, nor is it coercion, but simply an invitation.”

"An invitation?" Lu Zhao frowned. "Junior Brother Jiming has no dealings with your palace. This invitation is too abrupt. If you do not explain the reason, please forgive us for not being able to believe you."

Cangbo shook his head slightly and said indifferently, "The reason will be known in due time. To speak of it now would only confuse people. My coming here this time is already an exception. Whether you believe it or not is up to you." After he finished speaking, he really did not explain anything more, as if he had only come to deliver a message and complete a task. As for how the other party chose, it was none of his business.

Regardless of what Lu Zhao and the others were thinking.

Cangbo's gaze returned to Chen Qing, and he murmured to himself, "Unfortunately, we've come at an inopportune time. Fellow Daoist Jiming is currently in the midst of a crucial period of seclusion..."

The moment he finished speaking...

"Buzz!"

Chen Qing suddenly concealed his aura, and then unleashed it with a roar!

A beam of light shot up from above his head, splitting in two in mid-air, transforming into two figures that were both real and illusory!
On the left is a figure surrounded by the misty scent of incense. Although his face bears a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to Chen Qing, he has a dignified and solemn appearance. His eyes seem to hold the lights of countless homes and the prayers of all living beings. Golden flames flow on his robes, exuding an ancient majesty!
The prayers offered in the incense became clearer in an instant—

"To quell the chaos and restore order!"

Its aura was majestic and righteous, subtly echoing the towering figure in the mural behind it, as if it were a deity who had stepped out of the painting where all people worshipped!

"This...this is?!" Lu Zhao exclaimed in horror. "A deity of incense offerings? His projection?"

Ao Yu's eyes widened in surprise. "Sitting in front of the patriarch's portrait to cultivate and comprehend, and as a result, I projected myself into the patriarch's appearance? What kind of cultivation technique is this?"

As the two were surprised, they also looked at the other figure.

The figure on the right is much clearer and more solid, looking exactly like Chen Qing, except that its eyes are a pure, icy color, clear, cold, and indifferent!
As his gaze swept across the void, it seemed as if the void was pierced and analyzed by an invisible force. Ao Yu felt his dragon soul tremble slightly, as if he had been completely seen through!

When that gaze swept across the vast expanse of water, a noticeable fluctuation appeared in the eyes of this mysterious Xuan Shui Palace envoy for the first time!
"The Eye of Ice Soul! He really refined it into the projection?!" The Ice Soul Girl's glassy eyes were filled with astonishment. "Only a few days?! This comprehension and self-control are simply too strong!"

The two projections swayed slightly before disappearing into Chen Qing's body.

Chen Qing then slowly opened his eyes. Deep within his pupils, divine fire leaped on the left and ice crystals floated on the right, flashing by in an instant.

He exhaled a long breath, his aura sharp as a sword, slicing a thin crack in the air in front of him that lingered for a long time.

Three days of quiet meditation not only allowed him to refine the newly acquired supernatural powers and magical treasures to a high level, but also, with the help of the remaining aura of the Hidden Star True Lord and the power of incense offerings, he pushed the two "projections of other self" to a new realm.

At this point, his cultivation at the seventh level of the Golden Core stage was completely solidified, achieving perfect perfection.

"Judging by the time, it's almost time to wake up from this dream..."

His gaze swept over the extra Cangbo in the room, but he did not ask immediately. Instead, he looked at Lu Zhao and Ao Yu and said, "I heard what you said earlier. I am not familiar with Xuan Shui Palace, so I will not go."

Lu Zhao was about to speak when a warning sign suddenly pierced his heart like an ice needle exploding!
Four distinct yet equally vast and powerful Nascent Soul auras descended without warning from the void in the east, west, south, and north!

"Nascent Soul?!"

The people in the hall immediately realized what had happened.

Chen Qing could clearly feel that four extremely intense killing intents were locking onto him!

"Four Nascent Soul cultivators came to assassinate me?!"

"Crack!!!"

The ancient palaces remaining in Zhenyuan Xuan Palace, along with the Xuan ice covering them, were like fragile glass mirrors, instantly covered with cracks!
　The third update will be before midnight...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)