43: Chapter 43 Going Astray in Cultivation? I think you're just lacking a man.

Before the Ice God Palace, the howling winter winds could not disperse the deathly silence that had frozen solid.

Xu Chen stood a mere foot away from Bai Ningbing, so close he could clearly see his own reflection in her pupils.

The millennia-deep chill emanating from her did not make him retreat an inch. Instead, like snow meeting a raging fire, it quietly melted away under the faint, wispy aura of Hongmeng Purple Qi surrounding him.

Bai Ningbing stared fixedly at this outrageously bold man before her.

No one had ever dared to stand this close to her.

And no one had ever dared to look at her with eyes that seemed to see through everything, tinged with pity and mockery.

She was the lofty Empress of the Frozen Plains, a Dao Severing King who made countless cultivators tremble in fear. Yet before Xu Chen, she felt the layer of ice named 'Majesty' around her being chipped away bit by bit, revealing the most fragile and vulnerable truth within.

"A medicinal catalyst?"

Bai Ningbing took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging energy and blood within her. Her voice was cold, as if emanating from the deepest hells.

"Do you know," she said, "the last person who dared speak such words to me now has grave grass three zhang tall?"

Though she spoke threateningly, the weakness in her tone was unmistakable. The blue mark between her brows throbbed violently, as if on the verge of shattering.

"I know you're anxious, but don't be in such a hurry."

Xu Chen paid no mind to her killing intent. Instead, he extended a finger and, with utter naturalness... poked her shoulder.

"Hiss—!"

The female disciples of the Ice Palace below collectively drew a sharp, shocked breath.

Who was that? That was the Palace Lord! And that man dared poke the Palace Lord with his finger?

"Just look at you."

Xu Chen retracted his finger, wearing an expression of exasperation, like a frustrated teacher facing a disappointing student.

"Your body is trembling, your meridians are spasming, you can barely maintain your protective spiritual energy, and yet here you are, still putting on airs with me?"

"If I'm not mistaken, the cultivation art you practice should be the legendary 'Supreme Oblivion Record,' correct?"

Hearing those words, Bai Ningbing's pupils contracted sharply.

This was the secret, non-transmittable technique of the Ice God Palace. Apart from successive generations of Palace Lords, no outsider could possibly know of it.

"How do you know?" she asked instinctively.

"Not only do I know you cultivate the 'Supreme Oblivion Record,' I also know you've practiced it incorrectly."

Xu Chen placed his hands behind his back, circling halfway around Bai Ningbing like an old master physician diagnosing a patient, his gaze sharp as he scrutinized her up and down.

"The 'Supreme Oblivion' emphasizes 'forgetting emotions to achieve impartiality, attaining emotions to then forget them.'"

"It means to transcend emotions, not to turn yourself into a rotten block of wood devoid of all feeling."

"But you, in your pursuit of a breakthrough, forcibly severed your seven emotions and six desires, sealing your heart within millennia-old ice. You think this is a firm Dao heart? Wrong! Utterly wrong!"

Xu Chen stopped before her, looking directly into her eyes, each word precise and potent:

"This is called self-deception."

"The harder you suppress, the fiercer the rebound."

"And now, well done. Yin and Yang are imbalanced; solitary Yin cannot flourish. The cold energy within you is no longer just spiritual power; it has become a poison, devouring your vitality."

Bai Ningbing's face grew paler and paler, her body trembling more and more violently.

Because every single word Xu Chen spoke struck precisely at her fatal weakness.

This was exactly her current predicament.

She wanted to refute him, but found she had no grounds to do so.

"So what?"

Bai Ningbing gritted her teeth, a flash of stubbornness in her eyes. "This is the Dao of my Ice God Palace. It is not for an outsider like you to comment!"

"Dao?"

Xu Chen scoffed and shook his head.

"Stop making excuses for your failure."

He suddenly leaned in, closing the distance between them until their breaths were almost mingling.

"Palace Lord Bai, let's speak plainly."

"All this talk of qi deviation, of cold poison attacking the heart—why make it sound so mysterious?"

A mischievous smile curled at the corner of Xu Chen's mouth as he loudly proclaimed, in a voice loud enough for all present to hear:

"To put it bluntly, you have an excess of Yin energy. You're... pent up."

"In simpler terms..."

"You're just lacking a man!"

Boom—!

The impact of these words was even more terrifying than Dark Elder's slap earlier.

The entire plaza of the Ice God Palace instantly fell into a deathly silence.

All the female disciples' mouths hung agape, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

Lack... lacking a man?

In the Ice God Palace, where men were viewed as filthy impurities, someone actually dared to say such treasonous, shocking words right to the Palace Lord's face?!

Even Jiang Liuli, watching the drama unfold from within her carriage, couldn't help but cover her face.

"Husband, that's just... too blunt, isn't it?"

As for Bai Ningbing herself, the person in question, she froze completely.

Her originally pale, paper-white face flushed a deep crimson at a visible speed. Not from shyness, but from rage! Utter, humiliated fury!

She, the dignified master of the Ice Palace, pure and chaste her entire life, was actually being publicly slandered by this scoundrel as... yearning for a man?

"You... you shameless wretch!"

"Vulgar!"

"Scoundrel!"

Bai Ningbing trembled with anger, the magnificent curves of her chest heaving violently as if about to burst.

Her Dao heart, which had already begun to loosen, was instantly flooded with rage under the stimulus of these deeply insulting words.

"I... I will kill you!"

"I must kill you! Tear you to pieces! Grind your bones to dust!"

Only by killing this person who had defiled her purity could she wash away her shame and stabilize her Dao heart!

Boom!

The last thread of reason within Bai Ningbing snapped completely.

She no longer cared about her internal injuries, nor even if her body might explode. She frantically burned her origin essence blood, forcibly unleashing the full power of a Dao Severing King.

"Ice Seal... Three Thousand Li!"

With a shrill, furious cry from her...

A terrifying cold wave, one that could make heaven and earth change color, erupted instantly with her at its center.

This was no longer a probing attack, but a true, desperate, life-risking strike!

The space within a hundred-mile radius instantly froze solid, even the air turning into icy shards. Countless ice dragons surged from the ground, roaring as they charged toward Xu Chen.

She would drag this foolhardy man down to hell with her!

"Tsk, getting flustered."

Facing this heaven-and-earth-destroying attack, Xu Chen showed no trace of panic.

He remained standing in place, not even making a move to dodge.

Looking at the woman whose face was twisted with rage, yet held an added, tragic beauty because of it, he helplessly sighed.

"Though it's the truth, it really does hurt one's pride."

"But..."

Xu Chen's eyes focused slightly, the slovenly aura about him vanishing in an instant.

"Sometimes, a festering wound won't heal unless the pus is squeezed out."

"Since you want to fight, I'll play with you."

"Perfect timing to let you learn what is meant by... a husband's authority!"

Before his words had even faded...

The overwhelming cold wave and ice dragons, carrying an aura intent on annihilating everything, completely engulfed Xu Chen.