41: Chapter 41 The Extreme Cold Ice Palace: Men and dogs are not allowed inside?

The Extreme North Ice Plain, a Forbidden Ground for life.

As far as the eye could see, only one color remained between heaven and earth—a desperate, ghastly white.

Glaciers that had not melted for ten thousand years pierced the sky like sharp swords, and fierce gale winds, mixed with blade-like snowflakes, relentlessly cut through every inch of space. The temperature here was extremely low; ordinary Cultivators, without Magic Treasures to protect them, would likely be frozen into ice sculptures in an instant.

However, today, this desolate ice plain welcomed a rude intruder.

“Roar—!”

Nine Ancient True Dragons pulled a golden carriage, their bodies engulfed in blazing flames, like a falling sun, forcefully carving a path through the ice and snow. Wherever they passed, ice and snow melted, and mist steamed, creating a warm thoroughfare in this land of extreme cold.

“Achoo!”

Outside the carriage, Dark Elder, who was driving, couldn't help but sneeze and shiver.

Although he was a Quasi-Emperor, long immune to heat and cold, the chill of this Extreme North Land was somewhat peculiar, seemingly able to penetrate directly into the Divine Soul, making his old bones feel a bit chilly.

“Young Lord, we have arrived.”

Dark Elder sniffed and respectfully said to the inside of the carriage, “The crystal palace floating on the Peak of the ice mountain ahead should be the Extreme Cold Ice Palace.”

Inside the carriage, Xu Chen was holding Jiang Liuli for warmth.

Hearing Dark Elder’s words, he lifted a corner of the curtain and looked out.

A thousand zhang ahead, a magnificent palace, carved entirely from ten-thousand-year-old mystic ice, floated silently in mid-air. The palace was surrounded by dazzling aurora, beautiful as a dream, yet exuding an aloofness and arrogance that pushed people away from a thousand li.

“Tsk, what a grand undertaking.”

Xu Chen praised, “This entire palace is made of Mystic Ice Marrow. If it were dismantled and sold, it could probably buy half of Central Continent.”

Jiang Liuli poked her head out, looking at the crystal-clear palace, a hint of admiration flashed in her eyes, but then she frowned.

“Husband, this Ice Palace seems to have a very strong defensive Formation around it, and...”

She pointed to a huge stone tablet standing at the palace entrance.

“Look at that.”

Xu Chen followed her finger.

On the ten-zhang-tall ice monument, two lines of murderous characters were carved in a flowing, powerful script, like swords, revealing a resolute determination to cut down all men in the world:

“Extreme Cold Forbidden Ground, trespassers die!”

“Men and dogs, not allowed inside!”

Seeing these eight characters, Xu Chen’s face instantly darkened.

Men and dogs?

What kind of ridiculous rule was this?

This was blatant gender discrimination! A great insult to his dignity as the Young Master of the Imperial Clan!

“A fine Extreme Cold Ice Palace indeed.”

Xu Chen sneered, dropping the curtain. “It seems this Palace Mistress Bai, not only has a cold body, but her heart is cold too.”

“Since that’s the case, I have an even greater obligation to help her ‘warm up’.”

“Dark Elder!”

Xu Chen’s voice came from inside the carriage, carrying a hint of lazy domineeringness.

“Drive the carriage over.”

“This Young Master wants to see if this so-called Forbidden Ground can stop my carriage wheels.”

“Yes!”

Dark Elder responded, shaking the reins in his hand.

“Roar—!”

The Nine True Dragons let out an earth-shattering roar, pulling the golden carriage, wrapped in rolling wind and thunder, and charged directly towards the Ice Palace gate.

...

Before the Ice Palace mountain gate.

Two rows of female Disciples, dressed in snow-white long dresses and wielding cold ice swords, stood ready. Each of them had a beautiful face, but their expressions were as cold as ice, like emotionless ice sculptures.

When they saw the dazzling golden carriage rushing towards them like the sun, the Senior Sister leading them changed color dramatically.

“How dare you!”

The Senior Sister shouted sternly, her long sword drawn from its sheath, pointing to the sky.

“Who dares to trespass into my Ice Palace’s Forbidden Ground?!”

“Didn’t you see the stone tablet at the entrance?! Men and dogs are not allowed! Retreat immediately, or you will be killed without mercy!”

As her voice fell, dozens of female Disciples behind her simultaneously drew their swords.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Dozens of cold Sword Qi shot up into the sky, converging into a huge ice wall, attempting to block the carriage’s path.

However.

Before that Imperial Carriage, which symbolized the supreme prestige of the Ancient Xu Family, this meager resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

“Scram!”

Xu Chen didn’t even show his face, merely exhaling a single word from inside the carriage.

But this one word was mixed with the pressure of his recently Breakthrough Great Power Peak cultivation, and a hint of the Origin deterrence from his Hongmeng Creation Body.

Boom—!

The sound wave was like thunder, instantly shattering the ice wall.

Dozens of Ice Palace female Disciples felt as if their chests had been struck by lightning, all grunting in unison, their bodies staggering backward. Some with weaker cultivation directly collapsed to the ground, a trace of blood spilling from the corners of their mouths.

“You...”

The Senior Sister barely managed to support her body with her sword, looking at the carriage suspended in mid-air with a face full of horror.

Just a single shout had repelled all of them?

Who exactly was this person?

“Who am I?”

The carriage curtains slowly parted.

Xu Chen, dressed in a purple-gold robe, holding Jiang Liuli in his arms, walked out with an indifferent expression.

He stood on the carriage shaft, looking down at the disheveled female Disciples, a mocking curve playing on his lips.

“I am the one who came to save your Palace Mistress’s life.”

“Save someone?”

The Senior Sister was startled, then a trace of disgust and vigilance flashed in her eyes.

“Nonsense! The Palace Mistress is in secluded cultivation, why would she need your help?”

“Moreover...”

Her gaze swept over Xu Chen. Although she was impressed by his appearance, her face immediately grew uglier when she remembered the palace rules.

“You are a man!”

“Our Ice Palace’s ancestral teachings state that all men in the world are fickle and impure!”

“If you don’t retreat now, when the Palace Mistress comes out of seclusion, she will surely tear you to pieces!”

Hearing this, Xu Chen was so amused he laughed.

“Impure things?”

He pointed to his face, handsome enough to alarm the Central Committee, and then to the priceless Imperial Robe he was wearing.

“This Young Master is called handsome and dashing, elegant and unrestrained.”

“Have you little girls, who haven’t seen the world, been in this ice cellar for too long, and your brains are frozen silly?”

Xu Chen shook his head, too lazy to waste words with these brainwashed Disciples.

“Let me tell you, I don’t have time to play games with you.”

“Your Palace Mistress is currently suffering from Qi Deviation, with cold Qi attacking her heart. If she isn’t treated soon, in less than three hours, her Meridians will shatter, and she will die.”

“This Young Master passed by this place and, out of great compassion, wanted to lend her a hand.”

“If you dare to obstruct me again...”

Xu Chen’s eyes turned cold, and his Aura instantly became sharp.

“Then don’t blame me for cleaning up your sect on behalf of your Palace Mistress!”

“Presumptuous!”

Although the Senior Sister was inwardly surprised, her instinct to uphold the palace rules made her lose her reason.

“Activate the Palace Protection Grand Formation!”

“Kill this arrogant madman!”

Buzz—!

At her command, the entire Ice God Palace suddenly trembled violently.

Countless complex Formation patterns lit up on the ice mountain. The cold Qi within a hundred li radius was instantly drained, condensing into a thousand-zhang-long cold ice giant sword, suspended above the Nine Heavens, its tip pointing directly at Xu Chen.

Quasi-Emperor level Formation — Myriad Ancient Mystic Ice Formation!

This was a grand creation left by the Ice Palace Ancestral Master back then, capable of slaying Great Powers and severely injuring Kings!

“Hmph, stubborn and unyielding.”

Facing the giant sword capable of destroying heaven and earth, Xu Chen showed no fear; instead, he impatiently picked his ear.

“Dark Elder.”

Xu Chen spoke indifferently.

“Smash it.”

“Yes.”

Dark Elder, who had been hidden in the Void Realm, finally revealed his figure.

A gray-robed elder appeared out of thin air in front of the carriage. He looked unremarkable, like an old man next door, but the hand he raised seemed to be supporting the entire firmament.

“Break!”

A glint flashed in Dark Elder’s cloudy old eyes, and his withered palm gently pressed downwards.

Rumble!

A pitch-black, sky-covering giant hand, emanating terrifying Imperial might, appeared out of thin air.

That giant hand displayed no fancy Divine Abilities, merely pure power overwhelming everything.

“Crack!”

The seemingly unparalleled cold ice giant sword, before this black giant hand, was like a fragile icicle, instantly crushed to smithereens!

Immediately after, the giant hand continued its momentum, heavily striking the Ice Palace’s defensive light barrier.

Bang!!!

An deafening roar.

The Palace Protection Grand Formation, reputed to be able to withstand thousands of troops, didn’t even last for a single breath before it exploded, transforming into a sky full of shimmering light rain.

The entire ice mountain shook violently, as if a magnitude 12 earthquake had occurred.

The stone tablet at the entrance—that eyesore inscribed with “Men and dogs not allowed inside”—was directly shattered into dust by the aftermath of this palm strike.

“Pfft—!”

With the Formation broken, the Senior Sister presiding over it and the group of female Disciples all spat out a mouthful of blood, flying backward like kites with broken strings, falling in disarray.

At this moment.

The Ice Palace’s main gate was completely open.

The crystal-clear palace, like a maiden stripped of her armor, was defenselessly exposed before Xu Chen.

“Now, may I enter?”

Xu Chen stood on the carriage, looking at the terrified female Disciples below, who looked as if they had seen a devil, and showed a benevolent smile.

“Remember.”

“Rules are made for the weak.”

“And before me...”

Xu Chen flicked his sleeve. The Nine True Dragons pulled the carriage, swaggering over the pile of shattered stones and entering the Ice Palace square.

“I am the rule.”