343: Chapter 343 The Water Moon Fairy's Choice

"So cold... help... help me..."

Fairy Shuiyue's vision began to blur, and her thoughts became sluggish.

She felt as if she had fallen into a ten-thousand-foot ice cave, or perhaps sunk into a bottomless deep sea; all around her was endless darkness and cold, without a glimmer of light or a trace of warmth.

At the very instant she was about to lose consciousness completely and her Primordial Spirit was about to be extinguished.

A figure appeared before her as if by teleportation.

Without any superfluous words, a large hand pressed directly against the Mingmen point on her back.

Boom!

If it could be said that Fairy Shuiyue's body contained polar glaciers that had not melted for ten thousand years, then the power transmitted from this palm was the most blazing midday sun!

A surge of scorching, masculine, and vast sea-like blood energy, accompanied by pure Dao Laws, instantly flooded into her body.

This power was both overbearing and gentle; wherever it passed, the rampaging Weak Water chilly Qi vanished like it had met its natural enemy, making 'sizzling' sounds as it rapidly melted away.

Her nearly solidified blood began to flow again, and her stiff Meridians regained their elasticity.

Fairy Shuiyue felt a warm current instantly spread through her entire body, warming her from the soles of her feet all the way to her crown.

It was the comfort of a long drought meeting sweet rain, and even more so, the relief of surviving a catastrophe.

Her consciousness instantly cleared, and her previously blurred vision refocused.

She subconsciously raised her head and met Lu Yuan's eyes, which were inches away.

Those eyes were as deep as ever, yet they held an extra touch of heart-pounding majesty and all-seeing wisdom.

The distance between the two was extremely close; she could even smell the faint, reassuring masculine scent on Lu Yuan's body.

Lu Yuan slowly withdrew his palm and stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at her.

"The Three Thousand Weak Water Physique, a tribulation every hundred years—it is the ultimate manifestation of Yin and Yang imbalance.

If I had been half a moment later, your Primordial Spirit would have turned into ice crystals; you would have died, your Dao vanished, and even gods would have found you beyond saving."

Lu Yuan's voice remained calm, without the slightest ripple, but each word was like a clap of thunder exploding in Fairy Shuiyue's ears, making her scalp tingle.

Her eyes widened, her pupils contracted violently, and she looked at Lu Yuan with total disbelief, the shock in her heart like crashing waves.

"You... how did you know?!"

Fairy Shuiyue's voice became sharp and trembling due to shock.

This was her greatest secret!

The Three Thousand Weak Water Physique was both her talent and her curse.

To hide this secret, she had expended countless efforts; even the eldest Disciple closest to her in the Tianshui Pavilion knew nothing of it.

In this Xuanhuang Realm, she had never breathed a word of it to anyone.

Why could this Lu Yuan... see through it at a single glance?!

He even got the hidden pattern of the 'hundred-year tribulation' exactly right!

Fear, shock, shame, doubt... countless emotions intertwined, leaving the usually socially adept Fairy Shuiyue somewhat at a loss; she could only sit slumped on the ground, staring up at this man who seemed like a god or a demon.

Tianshui Pavilion, Main Hall.

The originally luxurious and exquisite furnishings in the hall were now covered in a layer of faint white frost.

The air seemed to have solidified; every breath brought out a thick cloud of white mist. It was the extreme chill rampaging, as if even space itself was to be frozen by this cold originating from the depths of the Soul.

Lu Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, his green robes fluttering in the cold wind, yet remaining completely unstained by dust.

He had just withdrawn his hand from Fairy Shuiyue's fragrant shoulder, and a trace of bone-piercing cold still lingered on his fingertips.

His expression was indifferent, as if this stunning female cultivator—renowned in the Xuanhuang Realm and the dream of countless male cultivators—was nothing more than a plant waiting to be pruned in his eyes.

"I can save you."

Lu Yuan's voice was calm and steady, yet it exploded like thunder in the deathly silent hall.

He lowered his eyes slightly, looking at the beauty whose face was as pale as paper, and continued: "Not only can I help you pass this tribulation, but I can also completely uproot the flaws of your Physique caused by the Profound Yin Severed Meridians. But the price is..."

He paused, his gaze revealing an unquestionable dominance: "You must become my woman, and the Tianshui Pavilion must merge into my Qingyun Dao Sect."

These words were blunt, naked, and without any disguise.

Hearing this, Fairy Shuiyue's delicate body trembled violently.

Her body, already stiff from the extreme cold's erosion, was now teetering on the brink of collapse.

She slowly raised her head, and her beautiful eyes, which usually looked like water or song, were now filled with struggle, humiliation, and a deep sense of powerlessness.

She looked at the overbearing and powerful man before her.

Lu Yuan, the mysterious Old Ancestor of the Qingyun Dao Sect, a peerless and ruthless figure who had recently risen to fame in the Xuanhuang Realm.

His power was unfathomable, and his methods were terrifying.

If she agreed, she, Fairy Shuiyue, the dignified master of a pavilion and a Profound Immortal expert, would become a mere dependent of another. Even the foundation of the Tianshui Pavilion, which she had founded and spent countless efforts managing, would be handed over to someone else.

For the proud and arrogant her, how was this any different from a humiliating disgrace?

If she didn't agree...

*Cough...*

Fairy Shuiyue suddenly covered her mouth and coughed lightly; a trace of bright red blood seeped through her fingers and dripped onto her white skirt, a shocking sight.

It was a sign of damage to her heart's Meridians.

The extreme Yin chilly Qi inside her body, like a maggot in her bones, began to stir once again.

This onset was more violent than any before.

It was a pain that felt as if it would freeze and crack her Soul; the chilly Qi flowed backward through her Meridians, heading straight for her Purple Mansion Nascent Soul.

She could clearly feel her flame of life flickering under the erosion of this cold current, like a candle stub in the wind.

She gave a bitter laugh, a touch of desolation appearing on her exquisite face.

Did she have a choice?

If she died and the Tianshui Pavilion lost her, a Profound Immortal, in this Cultivation World where the strong prey on the weak, it would be swallowed up in an instant by the surrounding predatory forces, and her Disciples would become meat on someone else's chopping block.

Furthermore...

Fairy Shuiyue raised her blurred eyes and re-evaluated Lu Yuan.

This man radiated an aura that made her heart pound yet feel a strange longing.

It was the Chaos Qi that was most Yang, most masculine, and encompassed all things. For her, who suffered deeply from the torture of extreme Yin chilly Qi, Lu Yuan was like the blazing sun in winter, possessing a fatal attraction.

Facing a peerless expert like Lu Yuan, if she could become his woman, perhaps... it was also a kind of Opportunity?

In this world where the strong are respected, relying on the powerful was fundamentally the way of survival.

Even a Profound Immortal was nothing but an ant before an even greater power.

Under the dual assault of the threat of death and her instinctive longing, the defensive line in her heart finally collapsed.

Fairy Shuiyue slowly closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling slightly as two lines of clear tears slid down her cheeks, instantly turning into ice crystals.