77: Liyue's persuasion, Master's choice

Li Yue hurriedly kowtowed, her eyes turning red.

Chu Ye withdrew his hand and said no more, turning to leave the Ice Hall and leaving the space to the Revered Master and Disciple.

The hall doors closed, isolating the inside from the outside.

Only then did Li Yue rise from the ground and walk to the ice bed. Seeing her Revered Master's increasingly pale face, her heart felt like it was being pierced by a knife.

She took a deep breath, knowing that any weakness at this moment would be of no use.

"Revered Master," Li Yue's voice was very soft, yet it carried an undeniable sense of reality, "Guanghan Immortal Palace... has fallen. It wasn't breached by an army, but... it was dismantled from its very Foundation."

She began to recount everything, from Chu Ye's appearance to the exposure of the Heavenly Mandate Marriage Fate Physique, then to the failure of the joint siege of the Central Region, the crushing power of Madam Hua Yu's True Immortal realm, and the humiliating process of her being poisoned and forced to sign a blood pact... as well as the cruel reality that the lives and "purity" of everyone in the entire Immortal Palace now hung on a single thought from Chu Ye.

"He isn't making a request, Revered Master; he is giving a choice. Survival, with the possibility of gaining unimaginable opportunities; or, perishing together with the last of Guanghan Immortal Palace's dignity."

Li Yue's tone was almost cold, yet it carried a deep sorrow, "And if we choose the latter... we might be able to end it all with death, but what about the tens of thousands of Disciples in the Immortal Palace?"

"The poison in their bodies hasn't been removed. With just a single thought from Chu Ye... the ten-thousand-year reputation of Guanghan Immortal Palace will completely collapse in the most unsightly way, becoming a laughingstock."

Immortal Master Cold Moon listened quietly, her hollow eyes gradually focusing, her fingers curling slightly under the ice quilt.

When she heard the words "True Immortal," her pupils constricted suddenly.

"True Immortal... Truly?"

Her voice carried a tremor of disbelief. The Peak of the immortal path and a True Immortal seemed like a step away, but in reality, it was like a heavenly chasm.

Successive Palace Revered Masters of Guanghan Immortal Palace, including herself, had exhausted their heart's blood but failed to cross it.

"It is absolutely true. Madam Hua Yu, the former leader of the Myriad Spirits Heavenly Sect, has already entered the True Immortal realm with Chu Ye's help."

"His abilities... are far beyond our imagination. Resources, Cultivation Techniques, and even Heaven-Defying Medicinal Pills that help people break through realms..."

Li Yue's voice grew lower, a trace of complexity flashing across her face, "Although I am currently... controlled by him, my cultivation... has indeed improved. The immortal fate he spoke of is likely not an illusion."

She grasped Immortal Master Cold Moon's cold hand, her voice choking with emotion: "Revered Master, live on. Even if it's humiliating, even if we carry shackles... only by living is there hope."

"The heritage of Guanghan Immortal Palace needs someone to continue it. I... cannot hold it up alone."

Immortal Master Cold Moon listened quietly, her hollow eyes gradually focusing, her fingers curling slightly on the ice couch. Word by word, with difficulty but clarity, she said: "Dignity... is the Dao. It guards Guanghan's eternal heavenly rules and protects the hundred-generation reputation of Guanghan Immortal Palace. If dignity is lost, then Guanghan Immortal Palace is dead."

"Dignity?"

Li Yue smiled miserably, "Revered Master, I once thought dignity was the Dao, the bone, something etched into the Bloodline."

"But under Chu Ye's methods, my proud bones were crushed, my dignity was trampled, and I even learned how to beg for mercy, how to please him beneath him..."

Her voice choked, and tears finally fell: "I didn't keep my dignity, but I kept a glimmer of vitality for Guanghan Immortal Palace."

"Revered Master, Chu Ye's strength is far beyond our imagination. Resistance will only lead us, along with the Immortal Palace, to total destruction."

Immortal Master Cold Moon closed her eyes, a drop of cold liquid sliding from the corner of her eye, quickly freezing into frost.

Only Li Yue's low sobbing and the subtle cracking of the ice remained in the hall.

After a long time, Immortal Master Cold Moon reopened her eyes. In those empty eyes, struggle, humiliation, resentment, despair... all finally turned into a dead-water-like silence, with a faint but firm desire for "life" and "possibility" deep within.

After a long while, she opened her eyes, her voice raspy yet calm: "Go then. Today, I shall follow you in striving for the path against the obstacles to 'life' and 'possibility' for Guanghan Immortal Palace."

"...Call him back."

Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, yet she used all her strength, "Tell him... his conditions... I... agree."

"Revered Master..." Li Yue looked up suddenly, her voice so choked it was barely a sentence, "I... will... protect it."

Li Yue trembled all over, tears streaming down again, but this time they were a mix of sorrow and a hint of relief.

She knew that her Revered Master's final pride had, in the end, been broken for the sake of the Immortal Palace and for her.

Immortal Master Cold Moon nodded slightly, her gaze becoming hollow again, as if she had returned to that frozen state of slumber.

After learning that Cold Moon was willing, Chu Ye wasted no time and came to sign a blood pact with her.

When that drop of essence blood containing the Origin thoroughly underwent Fusion with the contract, turning into an indelible brand that sank deep into Immortal Master Cold Moon's Divine Soul.

She clearly felt that an absolute, suffocating connection had been established. At the same time, Chu Ye did not delay.

He flipped his palm, and a pill the size of a Dragon's eye, with nine wisps of swirling purple mist on its surface, appeared out of thin air. A dense aura of vitality and purifying Dao charm instantly filled the air; it was precisely the top-tier healing sacred medicine rewarded by the System—the [nine revolutions soul returning pill].

"Open your mouth," Chu Ye commanded.

Immortal Master Cold Moon slightly parted her lips as told. The pill melted the moment it entered her mouth, turning into a warm current that surged into her limbs and bones, rushing straight to her Dantian and Sea of Consciousness.

Wherever the medicinal power passed, it was like the warm spring sun melting ten-thousand-year-old ice.

The bizarre Gu insect that had tortured her for years, as difficult to eradicate as a marrow-deep cancer, let out a silent shriek under the wash of this majestic and pure vitality and purification power. Its body quickly shriveled and dissolved, finally turning into a wisp of black Qi that was completely forced out of her body, and subsequently refined into nothingness by a casual stroke of True Fire from Chu Ye.

At the same time, the various pill toxins, hidden injuries, and the Foundation damaged by long-term resistance against the Gu insect were rapidly repaired and nourished under the miraculous effect of the nine revolutions soul returning pill.

"Ugh..."

Immortal Master Cold Moon couldn't help but let out a suppressed moan of relief.

For the first time in years, she felt her body was so "relaxed." That omnipresent sense of weakness, the faint stinging pain, and the gloom over her Divine Soul were completely washed away like by a cleansing rain.

Surging vitality flowed through her Meridians, a long-lost sense of power was returning, and even the long-stagnant cultivation Bottleneck showed faint signs of loosening.

She looked inside her body in disbelief, then looked at Chu Ye again. Aside from the awe and submission brought by the blood pact, there was a deeper sense of shock and fear.

She knew better than anyone how terrifying and stubborn that Gu insect in her body was; even at her Peak, she had been helpless. Yet in this youth's hands, it was solved as easily as brushing away dust.

Such methods had already far exceeded her scope of understanding.

"How do you feel?" Chu Ye's voice pulled her back from her shock.

"Thank you... Your Highness." Immortal Master Cold Moon lowered her head, her voice trembling slightly. This form of address held a few more layers of complex and difficult-to-describe emotions than when she had signed the contract just now, "I have never... felt so good."