45: Chapter 45 A Tale of Two Extremes (Part 1)

Inside the Cold Jade Bedchamber, the cold mist that never dissipated all year round seemed to have met its nemesis, currently churning and receding violently.

On the massive ten-thousand-year mystic ice bed, Bai Ningbing lay quietly.

The snow-white palace dress that symbolized the dignity of the Mistress of the Ice Palace had long since been reduced to tatters scattered on the floor; at this moment, she was left with only the last bit of undergarment to cover her modesty.

Set against the deep blue cold jade, her ice-like skin and jade-like bones were blindingly white, as if sculpted from the purest snow in this world.

Yet at this moment, this perfect, delicate body was trembling uncontrollably.

Even in her unconscious state, waves of erupting cold poison continued to torture her nerves. A layer of crystalline white frost had condensed on her eyebrows, hair tips, and even her long eyelashes.

Xu Chen stood by the bed, looking down and admiring a scene capable of making any man's blood boil.

It must be said that the environment of this Extreme North truly nurtures beauty.

Even in this near-death state, Bai Ningbing remained breathtakingly beautiful. Especially that proud asset of hers, which rose and fell violently with her painful breathing, as if it would break free from its restraints and spring out at any moment.

"Tsk, with such a good figure, why Cultivate anything else? Why must you Cultivate yourself into a block of ice?"

Xu Chen shook his head and reached out towards her brow.

The moment his fingertip touched her, a bone-chilling cold instantly spread along his finger up his entire arm, even attempting to invade his heart meridian.

"What an overbearing cold poison."

Xu Chen snorted coldly. The Hongmeng Creation Art circulated within his body, and his golden Qi and blood burned like a furnace, instantly forcing the cold energy back.

"Mmm..."

Feeling that scorching temperature, the unconscious Bai Ningbing let out an unconscious murmur, her body instinctively leaning towards the heat source.

"Don't rush, I'll cure you right now."

Xu Chen took a deep breath, his expression becoming serious.

Bai Ningbing's situation was much trickier than Jiang Liuli's. Jiang Liuli had an Innate severed meridian and was passively obstructed; whereas Bai Ningbing had gone wrong in her Acquired cultivation, actively cultivating herself into a dead end.

To save her, one must first break the balance within her body and use absolute high temperature to forcibly melt that frozen Dao Heart.

This was akin to setting a fire on a ten-thousand-year glacier.

The process was destined to be intense, and also... painful.

"System, redeem [Nine Yang Divine Fire Seed]."

Xu Chen silently chanted in his heart.

To deal with this level of cold poison, relying solely on his own Pure Yang Qi would work, but the efficiency was too slow. He needed a more potent remedy.

【Ding! 2000 Family Luck points consumed, redemption successful!】

A formless and colorless fire seed, yet emitting a terrifyingly high temperature, appeared silently in Xu Chen's Dantian.

That was a Heaven and Earth Exotic Fire, specialized in countering Yin cold.

"Mistress of the Ice Palace, wake up."

Xu Chen reached out and unceremoniously patted Bai Ningbing's cheek, which was frozen to a pale blue.

"The treatment is about to begin. If you fall asleep at a time like this, it could cost you your life."

Under Xu Chen's slightly rough awakening, Bai Ningbing finally struggled to open her eyes.

Those eyes that were originally indifferent were now bloodshot, filled with confusion and pain. When she saw the man before her and realized her own state, a surge of extreme shame and indignation instantly welled up in her heart.

"You... how dare you..."

She wanted to get up, wanted to kill, but found she didn't even have the strength to lift a finger. The cold poison within her body was like chains, pinning her firmly to the bed.

"Alright, stop glaring."

Xu Chen pressed down on her struggling shoulders, his scorching palm pressing directly against her ice-cold skin.

"Sss—"

It even emitted a faint sound similar to water droplets hitting a branding iron.

Bai Ningbing shuddered, drawing in a sharp breath of cold air.

"Listen, your 'Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotions Record' has collapsed. You are now like an ice bucket filled with gunpowder, ready to explode at any moment."

Xu Chen leaned down, their faces only inches apart. He could even see a tiny version of himself in Bai Ningbing's pupils.

"If you want to live, behave yourself."

"Next, I am going to channel the Exotic Fire into your body to help you recast your Meridians."

"This process will be very painful, and also... very hot."

A somewhat cruel arc curled up at the corner of Xu Chen's mouth.

"Mistress of the Ice Palace, you will have to endure it."

"No... I don't need..."

Bai Ningbing just wanted to refuse, but Xu Chen didn't give her the chance to speak at all.

His right hand suddenly reached out, fingers spread wide, covering directly over Bai Ningbing's flat and cold lower abdomen—the very headquarters of the cold poison, her Dantian Qi Sea.

Boom!

The Nine Yang Divine Fire Seed was activated by Xu Chen, turning into an extremely overbearing heat flow that, following his palm, rushed violently into Bai Ningbing's body.

"Ah—!!!"

A shrill, miserable scream instantly echoed throughout the entire bedchamber.

Bai Ningbing arched her body violently, convulsing intensely like a shrimp out of water.

Pain! It was too painful!

That feeling was as if someone had poured magma into her blood vessels.

The ice spiritual energy she had cultivated for over a hundred years began to crazily resist and fight in the face of this Exotic Fire, as if it had encountered its natural predator.

The collision of ice and fire turned her body into a battlefield.

Every inch of her Meridians was tearing, and every drop of blood was boiling.

"Bastard... kill me... quickly, kill me..."

Bai Ningbing cried out in pain, her arrogant and cold face already covered in tears and snot; where was there any trace of the dignity of the Mistress of the Ice Palace?

At this moment, she was just a weak woman struggling in pain.

"Kill you?"

Xu Chen held down her thrashing body with one hand, while the other began to undo his own clothing buttons.

"How could I bear to kill you?"

"I said before, I am here to save you."

"Since simple spiritual energy transfer is too painful, let's switch to another method to help you share the burden."

Xu Chen's gaze became as deep as a wolf's.

He looked at the woman beneath him, flushed from pain and drenched in sweat.

That extreme contrast, the sense of brokenness of a high-and-mighty goddess falling from her pedestal and struggling in the mud, completely ignited the flame in his heart.

"Bai Ningbing."

"Your Dao is unfeeling, is ice-sealing."

"Then today, I will use my Dao to break your ice!"

Xu Chen hesitated no longer and pressed his body against hers.

The moment their skin touched.

"Sss—"

Both of them drew in a sharp breath of cold air simultaneously.

To Xu Chen, Bai Ningbing's body was as cold as a piece of ten-thousand-year mystic ice, chilling to the bone when he pressed against it; while to Bai Ningbing, Xu Chen was a burning inferno, so hot that her Soul was trembling.

Extreme cold and extreme heat.

Two diametrically opposed sensations produced a violent chemical reaction in this instant.

"Hot... so hot..."

Bai Ningbing's miserable scream gradually changed in tone.

As Xu Chen's body covered hers, the Exotic Fire that had been ravaging her body seemed to have found an outlet, beginning to flow along the surface where they were in contact.

Although the pain still existed, within this pain, an indescribable... pleasure unexpectedly arose.

That was the instinctive joy of a frozen body finally receiving warmth.

"Endure it."

Xu Chen bit her earlobe, his voice hoarse and low.

"This is just the beginning."

"The taste of 'Heaven and Hell of Ice and Fire' is not something just anyone can enjoy."

As the words fell.

He gave her no more time to adapt and directly launched the final offensive.

In that moment.

The ten-thousand-year iceberg finally welcomed its first eruption.

Outside the main hall, the wind and snow continued.

And inside the bedchamber wrapped in layers of Restriction, a battle of conquest and redemption was proceeding in full swing.

The originally high-and-mighty and arrogant Mistress of the Ice Palace was now gripping the back of the man she once viewed as an ant, her fingernails almost embedding into his flesh.

She was trembling, crying, and begging for mercy.

But her body was greedily demanding that sole warmth.

Just as Xu Chen said.

She was not suffering from Qi Deviation.

She was truly... lacking this bit of "Yang Qi."