105: Chapter 105 Bai Chen's Assistance, Parents' Unparalleled Talents!

Stimulated by that icy Spiritual Qi, he actually felt much more comfortable.

The Hunyuan True Essence circulated on its own, slowly absorbing and fusing with this pure cold qi, becoming even more peaceful and steady.

...

In the days that followed, Ye Chen's life gained a new activity—strolling through the Snow Valley.

He kept Bai Chen's warning in mind, only moving within a few miles of the wooden hut.

Every day he walked through the snow, feeling the bitter cold and loneliness of the world while circulating the Hunyuan One-Qi Art.

He guided the icy Spiritual Qi into his body, allowing it to blend with his own true essence.

At first, walking was difficult; the cold wind was like a knife, and every step required true essence to resist.

But gradually, he adapted to the environment, his steps became steady, and his control over his true essence became more refined and meticulous.

Under the constant tempering of the icy Spiritual Qi, the quality of the Hunyuan True Essence seemed to have improved slightly once more.

His affinity for ice-attribute Spiritual Qi also increased.

Sometimes, he would see Bai Chen standing alone atop some snowy peak.

Facing the biting cold wind, he would stand for hours at a time, as if merging into one with this world of ice and snow.

At other times, Bai Chen would disappear for several days, his whereabouts unknown.

Ye Chen never asked questions, focusing only on his own recovery.

One day, Ye Chen was meditating under a sheltered ice rock when he suddenly felt something and opened his eyes.

On the snow not far away, a giant wolf stood, its entire body snow-white except for its four paws and eyes, which were icy blue.

The giant wolf's size was comparable to a tiger, and its aura was chilling; it had actually reached the Middle Stage of the Third Rank!

It was staring at Ye Chen with a cold, scrutinizing gaze.

Ye Chen's heart tightened as he slowly stood up, secretly on guard.

His injuries were not yet healed, and his true essence had not recovered; he stood no chance against a Middle Stage Third Rank Yao Beast.

Just then, a white figure appeared silently in front of Ye Chen; it was Bai Chen.

He didn't even look at the icy blue giant wolf, simply waving his hand gently toward it.

The ferocious light in the giant wolf's eyes instantly vanished, replaced by a docility that bordered on awe.

It let out a low whimper, turned, and after a few leaps, disappeared into the vast snowy plains.

"It's an 'Icefield Wolf' from this area. I have already warned them not to come within ten miles of the wooden hut. This one was likely just curious and meant no harm."

Bai Chen said indifferently, as if he had just shooed away a fly.

Ye Chen breathed a sigh of relief, while his awe for Bai Chen's strength grew even deeper.

Repelling a Third Rank Yao Beast with a wave of the hand—such a feat was likely something many Sect Elders would find difficult to achieve.

"Your recovery is acceptable. Tomorrow, you can begin attempting to repair the Meridians in your right arm and re-refine that sword of yours."

Bai Chen said as he turned and walked toward the wooden hut.

Repairing his right arm? Re-refining the ice scar sword? Ye Chen's heart stirred, and he quickly followed.

Back at the wooden hut, Bai Chen took out a strange piece of jade about the size of a palm, crystal clear throughout, with what looked like snowflakes falling inside.

And a foot-long, silver-gray branch that was neither metal nor wood.

"This is 'mystic ice jade marrow'; it can reshape Meridians and strengthen bones, making it perfect for your use. This piece of 'Void Gazer Cold Ironwood' is hard in texture and contains a trace of spatial properties. It can be fused into your sword to improve its quality, perhaps even adding a hint of air-piercing cold light."

Ye Chen looked at these two treasures.

Even if his knowledge wasn't extensive, he knew these two items were surely incredibly precious; even Elder Li might not be able to produce them.

"Senior, this is too precious, this Disciple..."

"I'm giving it to you, so take it," Bai Chen interrupted, his tone still flat.

"The material of your sword is acceptable, but the refining method was crude. It's already barely able to carry your true essence and Concept."

"The reshaping of the Meridians in your right arm requires this jade marrow as a Foundation to return to its original state, or even become stronger. Begin; I will protect you."

Ye Chen said no more, burying his gratitude in his heart.

He first picked up the "mystic ice jade marrow."

The jade was cold to the touch but not bone-chilling; instead, it had a warm, moist feel.

Following Bai Chen's instructions, he wrapped the jade marrow in Hunyuan True Essence and slowly pressed it against the bandages on his right arm.

The moment the jade marrow touched his skin, it actually softened on its own.

Like a living liquid, it slowly seeped through the bandages and merged into the flesh, blood, and bones of his right arm.

A strange sensation—cold with a slight stinging itchiness—came over him.

He could "see" through internal vision the pure energy transformed from the jade marrow.

It was spreading, reconnecting, and widening along his broken and withered Meridians, bit by bit, and merging into his bones, making them more translucent and resilient.

The process was slow and painful, but he could feel his right arm being revitalized.

At the same time, Ye Chen took out the ice scar sword, which had been damaged in battle and whose spiritual light had dimmed.

There were several fine cracks on the blade, caused by clashing head-on with the Golden Flame.

He held the piece of "Void Gazer Cold Ironwood" in his left hand, wrapping it in weak Hunyuan True Essence as he attempted to refine it and extract its essence.

Bai Chen watched quietly from the side, occasionally flicking his finger.

A speck of ice-crystal-like light would sink into Ye Chen's right arm or the piece of cold ironwood, helping them fuse and refine better.

...

Three days later.

The bandages on Ye Chen's right arm had been removed.

The newborn arm had fair, lustrous skin with a faint jade-like sheen; when he clenched his fist, it was filled with power, even tougher and more flexible than before the injury!

The mystic ice jade marrow had not only repaired the injury but had also tempered his right arm.

And the ice scar sword was also completely renewed. The blade remained deep blue.

But many fine silver patterns had appeared inside it.

Overall, it was more slender and sharp, and within the cold qi it emitted...

...there was a faint sense of spatial cutting; its rank had clearly improved significantly.

Ye Chen held the sword in his hand, feeling it fit perfectly, like an extension of his arm.

"Thank you, Senior, for the grace of remaking me!"

Ye Chen sheathed his sword and bowed deeply to Bai Chen.

This time, it was not just saving his life, but also granting him a stronger Foundation and assistance.

Bai Chen accepted his bow calmly and said,

"Since you have mostly recovered, there are some things you should know."

Ye Chen's heart tightened, knowing Bai Chen was about to get to the main point. He waited quietly.

"I saved you partly out of appreciation for your talent, but more so because of some Karma you carry."

Bai Chen's gaze seemed to pierce through Ye Chen's body.

Looking at the Ice Lotus Imprint deep within his Wheel Sea, as well as that Dark Red Ember.

"Do you know anything about your parents?"

Ye Chen's whole body shook violently, and he suddenly looked up, a light of unprecedented intensity erupting in his eyes.

"Senior knows about my parents? They... where are they now? Are they alive or dead?"

The word "parents" was like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up massive waves in Ye Chen's heart.

Since his earliest memories, this was an obsession buried deep in his heart, never spoken of to anyone, yet pursued at every moment.

The Ye Family of Qingyun City had looked after him well, but they were not his biological parents.

He only knew that when he was still an infant, he was entrusted to the old head of the Ye Family by a mysterious woman who was gravely injured and dying.

Leaving behind the name "Ye Chen" and an ordinary jade pendant, she passed away.

Who was that woman? Where did she come from?

Who were his parents? Why did they abandon him? All of this was a mystery.

Now, hearing the word "parents" from the mouth of the mysterious and powerful Bai Chen, how could Ye Chen not be excited?

He stared intently at Bai Chen, his voice trembling in a way he hadn't even noticed: "Senior... knows?"

Bai Chen looked at the fire that had suddenly ignited in Ye Chen's eyes.

In those calm, waveless eyes, a trace of extremely complex reminiscence seemed to flash by, but it quickly returned to being as still as an old well.

"I know some, but not all."

He said slowly, his gaze becoming distant again, as if piercing through the wooden hut to look back at endless years past.

"Your background involves a great deal, touching upon a secret from a distant era, and is even related to a catastrophe that swept across several provinces and nearly shook the very Foundation of the Human Race."

"A catastrophe?" Ye Chen's heart tightened.

"About three hundred years ago, the Demonic Path titan 'Netherworld Sect' united several evil forces and launched a war against the righteous Sects, known to history as the 'War of Demon Slaying.' In that battle, rivers of blood flowed, countless Sects were wiped out, and powerful experts fell like rain."

"In the end, several top Sects led by the Tianyun Sword Sect, the Shenxiao Sect, and the Fanyin Temple joined forces and paid a heavy price to suppress the Netherworld Sect. Its mountain gate was destroyed and its remnants scattered, but it was not completely wiped out."

Bai Chen's narrative was calm and steady, yet it made Ye Chen feel as if he were seeing that tragic era of mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and the booming of Daoist arts.

"The Netherworld Sect... is the Sect that the ruins in the Hundred Herbs Secret Realm belonged to?"

Ye Chen asked.

"Correct. The damaged altar and netherworld token you and Leng Ningshuang found in the Secret Realm are precisely the remaining traces of the Netherworld Sect. This Sect's Legacy is eerie; they excel at controlling ghosts and manipulating yin baleful energy. It is rumored that their Sect's core hides the secret to communicating with the Nine Serenities and obtaining forbidden power."

"Although it was suppressed back then, its remnant force, 'Shadow Fiend,' has always lurked in the shadows, never giving up on its plot for restoration. Your repeated encounters with Shadow Fiend assassinations are likely not accidental; they may be related to the Bloodline flowing within you."

Ye Chen's pupils contracted sharply. "My Bloodline? Could it be that my parents are..."

"Your father's surname is Ye, and his name is Lingtian. Your mother's surname is Lin, and her name is Suxin."

Bai Chen slowly spoke the two names.

Ye Lingtian! Lin Suxin!

Ye Chen repeated the names silently. These two unfamiliar names now felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, causing his breathing to quicken.

"Ye Lingtian was a peerless Prodigy who was famous throughout Qingzhou and several surrounding states back then. He did not come from the Tianyun Sword Sect, but was a mysterious Loose Cultivator. His cultivation reached the heavens, his sword dao was unparalleled, and he possessed a peculiar Cultivation Technique suspected to be an ancient Legacy."

"It could encompass, evolve, and suppress many attributes, sharing a similar wonder with the Hunyuan One-Qi Art you Cultivate... perhaps they even share the same source."

Ye Chen's heart shook violently.

His father also Cultivated a technique similar to the Hunyuan One-Qi Art?

Was it no coincidence that he had obtained this Incomplete Manual?

"Lin Suxin came from an ancient, reclusive Family—the Ice God Valley. This clan has passed down a supreme ice-attribute Bloodline and Cultivation Technique for generations. Their strength is unfathomable, and they rarely appear in the world. Your mother was the Saintess of the Ice God Valley in that generation, possessing peerless talent."

Ice God Valley? Saintess?

Ye Chen thought of the mysterious Ice Lotus Imprint in his Wheel Sea. Could it be...

"Your parents met three hundred years ago during the War of Demon Slaying. They fought side by side and fell in love. Because of his unique technique and formidable strength, your father, Ye Lingtian, shone brilliantly during the war and became one of the main forces against the Netherworld Sect."

"Your mother, Lin Suxin, also performed great feats with the secret arts of the Ice God Valley. However, because of this, they were seen as a thorn in the side of the Netherworld Sect, especially by the 'Shadow Fiend'."

Bai Chen's voice remained calm, but Ye Chen could hear a trace of heaviness in it.

"In the Late Stage of the War of Demon Slaying, the Netherworld Sect's mountain gate was breached and their Sect Master was executed, but several supreme treasures fundamental to their Legacy went missing. One of them was rumored to contain the Netherworld Origin power and might even hide the secrets to breaking through to a higher Realm."

"There were rumors at the time that this treasure was obtained by Ye Lingtian. Whether it was true or false, no one knows. But since then, the Shadow Fiend's pursuit of your parents never stopped and only became more frenzied."

Ye Chen clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.

He could imagine the immense pressure his parents must have endured.

"About twenty-five years ago, around the time you were born, your parents decided to conceal their names and flee to a distant land to escape the Shadow Fiend's endless pursuit and to protect that potential treasure from falling into the hands of the Evil Path."

"They entrusted you to the trustworthy Ye Family of Qingyun City to be raised, hoping you could stay away from the conflict and grow up safely. They themselves acted as decoys to lead the pursuers away."

"And then? Are they... still alive?"

Ye Chen asked the question he cared about most in a raspy voice.

Bai Chen was silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head.

"Unknown. Since then, no one has seen Ye Lingtian or Lin Suxin again. There are rumors they fought to the death and their bodies were lost in an ultimate ambush by Shadow Fiend experts."

"There are also rumors that they used some secret method or that supreme treasure to escape into a forbidden land or Secret Realm, their life or death uncertain. But the Shadow Fiend has clearly not given up; they have been searching for your parents' whereabouts."

"As well as... that treasure that might be lost out there, or their Bloodline descendant—which is you."

The truth was like a heavy hammer smashing into Ye Chen's heart.

His parents' fate was unknown, powerful enemies surrounded him, and from birth, he had carried such a heavy destiny and crisis.

No wonder the Shadow Fiend would repeatedly try to assassinate him at any cost; it wasn't just because he had ruined their plans in the Secret Realm.

It was even more because of his identity as the 'son of Ye Lingtian and Lin Suxin'!

"That supreme treasure... what exactly is it?"

Ye Chen pressed further.

"Unknown. There are many rumors. Some say it is the Netherworld Sect's protective Divine Artifact, the 'Nine Nether Yellow Springs Map'. Some say it is a 'Reincarnation Seal' containing the laws of the Netherworld Dao. Others say it is a supreme Cultivation Technique that leads directly to the Great Dao."

"But as for what it specifically is, I'm afraid only your parents and the highest levels of the Shadow Fiend know."

Bai Chen said.

"The peculiar ember of life on you and that Ice Lotus Imprint are likely related to what your parents left behind. The ember might originate from your father's Legacy."

"The ice lotus is clearly a manifestation of your mother's Ice God Valley Bloodline. Your ability to open a Wheel Sea while in the Meridian Opening Realm and successfully Cultivate a miraculous art like the Hunyuan One-Qi Art is inseparable from these two special Bloodlines and legacies you carry."

So that was it!

Ye Chen realized.

The various peculiarities on his path of Cultivation, his Aptitude for cultivating both ice and fire, and his compatibility with the Hunyuan One-Qi Art all actually originated from his parents!

He felt a sense of warmth and pride from the blood connection, yet his heart twisted with pain over the misfortune his parents might have suffered.

Furthermore, a towering hatred rose within him for the persistent Shadow Fiend.

"Senior... were you an old acquaintance of my parents?"

Ye Chen looked at Bai Chen and asked the doubt in his heart.

Bai Chen knew so much and was so powerful; he was definitely no ordinary person.

Bai Chen did not answer directly, only saying indifferently.

"I once met your father and discussed the sword dao with him. I can also be considered an acquaintance of your mother. Entrusted by others, I must be loyal to their affairs. I promised your parents."

"If the day came when they could not return, I would inform their offspring of their background once they reached adulthood and possessed a certain level of self-protection, and... look after them slightly."

"Entrusted by whom?" Ye Chen pressed.

"An old friend." Bai Chen was clearly unwilling to discuss the matter further and changed the subject.

"Now, you know your Origins. The Shadow Fiend will never let you go. Even within the Tianyun Sword Sect, it may not be safe. Elder Wang He of Golden Flame Peak is narrow-minded and vindictive. After the battle on the Heavenly Punishment Platform, he hates you to the bone and will surely find an opportunity for revenge."

"Furthermore, you carry clues to the suspected Netherworld treasure and have shown amazing potential. The Sect's higher-ups and even other forces will likely take an interest in you, whether to recruit, use, or... spy on you. Your path is destined to be anything but smooth."

Ye Chen took a deep breath, suppressing the churning thoughts in his heart.

The news of his parents made his heart surge, but what Bai Chen said was the reality.

He was being hunted by the Shadow Fiend from the outside, and Golden Flame Peak was watching him like a tiger from within.

There might even be other unknown covetous eyes. He had to become stronger as quickly as possible, strong enough to face all of this.

"This Disciple understands." Ye Chen's eyes became firm once more.

"The debt for my parents' suffering is irreconcilable. The enemies of the Shadow Fiend must be slain. My own Dao also requires brave and diligent progress. No matter what lies ahead, I can only move forward."

"Very good."

A nearly imperceptible flicker of approval seemed to flash through Bai Chen's eyes.

"Your injuries are seventy to eighty percent healed, and your cultivation has stabilized at the Early Stage of the Fourth Level of the Wheel Sea Realm due to breaking through after being pushed to the limit, with an even firmer Foundation. Although this place is quiet, it is not a place to stay for long. You need to return to the Sect to face the coming situation."

"Regarding the matter of the Netherworld Sect ruins, the Sect already has a plan. When the Secret Realm opens next time, they will certainly organize an exploration. Since you have been selected, you need to prepare for it. In those ruins, you might find some clues about your parents from back then, or perhaps... it may be related to that supreme treasure."

"This Disciple will certainly give his all."

Ye Chen said in a heavy voice.

Exploring the Netherworld ruins was not just for the Sect's mission, but even more for finding traces of his parents.

"Before you leave, I will teach you three sword techniques. These sword techniques were created by me in my early years. Although they are not top-tier, they emphasize Concept over form. They may share commonalities with the 'Nirvana' and 'Return to the Void' Concepts you Cultivate. You can comprehend them and integrate them into your own sword dao."

As Bai Chen spoke, he pointed his fingers like a sword and tapped the air.

In an instant, three completely different Sword Intent phantoms condensed and evolved at his fingertips.

Though there were no fluctuations of True Essence, they contained a charm that pointed directly to the Great Dao, instantly imprinting themselves into Ye Chen's Sea of Consciousness.

The first form was named 'Silent Snowfall'.

The sword strikes without a shadow, its coldness restrained. In total silence, it freezes life and returns it to nirvana.

It emphasizes 'stillness' and 'silence'.

The second form was named 'Icebound for a Thousand Miles'.

The Sword Intent unfolds, freezing all things and solidifying time and space. In extreme cold, everything returns to eternal deathly silence.

It emphasizes 'sealing' and 'stopping'.

The third form was named 'Guixu Attraction'.

This form is the most profound. It is not a direct attack but uses Sword Intent to draw out a trace of the 'Guixu' Dao rhyme to disrupt, delay, and weaken the opponent's Dao and laws, creating an opportunity for a fatal strike.

It emphasizes 'attraction' and 'disruption'.