The Ice Spirit Clan's Past (1)

"He's gone."

Mu Lingling's voice rang out, interrupting Hong Lingyue's daze.

"I know."

A smile appeared on Hong Lingyue's charming face. "This is our victory. Next, we'll see what we can take from the Three Great Societies."

"Are you all right?"

Mu Lingling glanced at her and asked with a frown.

Hong Lingyue did not look quite like the composed New Student Alliance Leader she had been before.

Hong Lingyue gave a bitter smile. "I'm fine. I expected this much of a blow."

Yes. From the moment she invited Bai Ye, she had prepared herself to be struck down. She just had not expected the blow to come so swiftly, far beyond her expectations.

He had instantly defeated Luo Lin, subdued He Yao without taking a scratch, and made Baili Yue willingly admit defeat through intimidation alone.

Such a record was a blow to every new student present.

Before arriving at the Northern Azure Spiritual Academy, who among them had not been a proud prodigy? Who had not imagined making a name for themselves at this academy and looking down upon all their peers?

Yet, not to mention the Senior Students, even among their own class, there was such a monstrous genius.

It was truly despairing.

"Expected?" Mu Lingling looked at her expression. She clearly did not look as though she had expected it, but that was normal. Mu Lingling felt the same way.

Only, the blow she had suffered was somewhat lighter than Hong Lingyue's.

Her gaze flickered. "Perhaps this is what a true prodigy is. Being qualified to look up to someone like him is already something remarkable."

Hong Lingyue's small mouth parted slightly as she watched Mu Lingling say those words, surprise evident in her eyes.

She did not know whether it was an illusion, but why did she feel as though Bai Ye had won over quite a few new students' hearts merely by coming out once?

Take Mu Lingling before her. She was usually such a proud poison genius, yet there was now a trace of admiration in her tone.

Or rather, if Bai Ye wanted to recruit people now, then with a single word, this girl would probably join him without hesitation and become one of his most loyal supporters.

Comparisons really did drive people mad.

Even after working so hard, Hong Lingyue had only managed to build a good relationship with Mu Lingling. As for the powerful new students on her level, they basically admired her to some degree, but they were ultimately unconvinced.

Sure enough, in this world, strength was what spoke.

After Bai Ye's performance, not only Mu Lingling, but even Hong Lingyue herself could not help developing similar thoughts.

"Phew." She exhaled, steadying herself before speaking to Mu Lingling. "Come on. It's time to have a proper talk with the seniors."

Elsewhere.

Bing Xueran moved swiftly, yet she always kept her speed within a reasonable range.

Even with Bai Ye circulating the Ice Void Art at full force, he could only barely keep up with her. He could tell that Bing Xueran had already restrained herself.

That was only natural. After all, this woman was a Heavenly Sovereign, no matter how one looked at it. In this situation, she was clearly going easy on him.

Moreover, as Bai Ye watched the ice crystals dispersing around Bing Xueran, he could sense that the gap between her Ice Void Art and his was not a matter of mastery, but a difference in the arts themselves.

Simply put, Bing Xueran's Ice Void Art was clearly more advanced than his. The Ice Void Art he cultivated was more like a simplified version of hers.

As an analogy, it was roughly the difference between the Yan Tian Scripture and the Yan Tian Art.

The Ice Void Art he currently cultivated was already a Middle Grade Divine Rank Spiritual Art. Anything above that would be high grade, or perhaps even beyond the limits of Spiritual Arts altogether.

This movement art was not simple.

The two moved quickly. Before long, they crossed more than half of the Northern Azure Spiritual Academy, passed those highly distinctive buildings, and arrived in a quiet, secluded area.

The instant he approached, Bai Ye keenly noticed the change in temperature. Simply put, this place was colder than the other regions of the Northern Azure Spiritual Academy.

For those who cultivated Cold Attribute Spiritual Energy, this was an excellent cultivation environment.

"This is where I live. No one usually comes here to disturb me, so we can speak freely."

The moment they landed, Bing Xueran introduced the place to Bai Ye. Her tone was fairly gentle, and Bai Ye could hear a faint hint of familiarity within it.

"The reason I asked you to step in and suppress that conflict between the new students and Senior Students was also because the Tai Cang Dean asked me to. The Northern Azure Spiritual Academy's rule is freedom. As teachers, they could not personally interfere, so they could only ask a student with sufficient standing to handle it. Their original choice was Li Xuantong, but when they heard you had returned, they came to find me."

As she led Bai Ye toward the Small Courtyard in the distance, she explained the reason behind that request.

"Why change candidates? Li Xuantong should carry more weight than I do."

Bai Ye voiced his question.

"It's simple. Asking Li Xuantong would be a favor, but asking me was an exchange."

She pushed open the gate to the Small Courtyard. Its layout was similar to Jin Chong's place. "When I first came to the Northern Azure Spiritual Academy, I owed the Tai Cang Dean a favor of no small significance. I never had the chance to repay it. By coming to me, he was simply settling that debt."

"So you used something you were already going to tell me as part of the exchange?"

Bai Ye followed her into the Small Courtyard and sat beside her at the stone table in the courtyard, smiling as he spoke.

Bing Xueran helplessly shook her head. "I knew I couldn't fool you. You're as clever as that damned father of yours."

Listen to how familiar that sounded.

If their ages had not made it impossible, Bai Ye might have suspected this woman had once had something going on with his father.

"I wasn't the one who had something going on with him."

As though she had seen through his thoughts, Bing Xueran pushed a cup of tea she had poured toward him and spoke casually.

"If not for your mother, you should be calling me Aunt."

Bai Ye raised a brow at those words, intrigued.

"Tell me more."

Bing Xueran rolled her eyes at him. "Simply put, my biological elder sister was once engaged to your father. But your father brought your mother back from who knows where, so that engagement naturally came to an end."

He brought your mother back from who knows where...

Since she had said that, it meant Bing Xueran did not know his mother's true identity.

That made sense. Luo Yuwei, the Saintess of the Yan Tian Sect—according to Luo Tianshen's account, she had died in the Five Spirits Slaying Heaven campaign alongside the destruction of the Yan Tian Sect, personally killed by the Ice Spirit Clan's Holy Son at the time.

And who had that Holy Son of the Ice Spirit Clan been?

His father.

Then his father had returned to the Ice Spirit Clan with his mother. No one knew that this woman was Luo Yuwei, the supposedly dead Saintess of the Yan Tian Sect. They only knew her as Bai Yu, the wife of the Ice Spirit Clan's Holy Son.

Bai Ye guessed that very few people in this world knew about it.

Aside from his family, Luo Tianshen was probably the only one who had guessed some of the truth from Bai Ye's Cold Attribute Spiritual Energy.

"Is your elder sister still alive?"

With that thought, Bai Ye asked.

"Of course she's alive." Bing Xueran sounded somewhat displeased. "She's alive and well."

Hiss—

Sure enough, the Ice Spirit Clan was absolutely not a good place. All the love and grudges involving his parents were there, and the people of their generation had become peerless experts. He had better stay far away from that place.

And besides...

Bai Ye discreetly observed Bing Xueran beside him, already prepared to call for Elder Sister Ling Xi.

"Don't worry. Your father practically watched me grow up. I won't do anything to you."

Bing Xueran sat across from him. As a Heavenly Sovereign, her senses were extraordinarily sharp, and she immediately caught his watchful gaze.

"I have no interest in interfering in the matter between my elder sister and him. The only reason I'm protecting you is because of the friendship we shared back then."

There was actually much more Bing Xueran could not bring herself to say. For instance, her elder sister, who had secluded herself within the Ice Spirit Clan and never married, had never let go of her feelings for Bing Yan. Or that if Bai Ye appeared before her now, she might dote on him as if he were her own son simply because of her feelings for Bing Yan.

At times, Bing Xueran found it baffling. They had grown up together as childhood sweethearts, but one had feelings while the other did not. Her elder sister had loved that man for her entire life, yet always buried those feelings in her heart without saying a word. If it had simply ended without resolution, perhaps that would have been a kind of happiness. But her elder sister was stubborn. Even when watching Bing Yan smile with Bai Yu, she would rather endure it than cry her heart out and completely let go of that love.

Bing Yan's death seemed to have taken away all her attachment to the mortal world. From then on, she hid alone in the most secluded place within the Ice Spirit Clan and became someone apart from the world. Only because she still had Bing Xueran as her younger sister did she retain her last trace of worldly warmth.

That man—just thinking of him made her angry.

He truly was outstanding, but what use was that if he could not become her brother-in-law?

As she looked at the faintly familiar features between Bai Ye's brows, Bing Xueran grew increasingly irritated. Maybe she should just beat this brat up to vent her anger.

Killing intent.

Bai Ye narrowed his eyes and had his Divine Soul confirm the conditions for synchronizing with Yan Meng.

The reason he had not brought Yan Meng with him was not just because he did not want her to hear his parents' secrets. More importantly, he had sent her to Ling Xi, so that if anything happened, he could call for backup immediately.

"Phew~"

Fortunately, Bing Xueran had cultivated her temperament for many years, and she was able to suppress that impulse.

She decided it was better not to tell Bai Ye any of those things. As Bing Yan's younger sister, speaking of such matters to his son felt rather awkward.

It would be better to wait for an opportunity and let her elder sister tell him herself.

"Now you don't need to beat around the bush and probe into my relationship with your parents. If there's anything you want to know, ask it while you can."

Bing Xueran took a sip of tea and spoke calmly.

Bai Ye smiled and shook his head. "There's a lot I want to know, but there isn't much you can tell me. So just tell me everything you can."

Hearing that, Bing Xueran set down her teacup and looked at Bai Ye, her beautiful eyes momentarily distant.

Truly, this child's personality was far too much like his parents'.

Then she smiled faintly and gently exhaled.

"In that case, I'll tell you some things you should want to know."

She considered her words for a moment, paused for several seconds, then said, "You may already know some of this, so if I repeat anything, you can stop me."

Bai Ye did not respond. He simply listened attentively.

After waiting for two seconds, Bing Xueran's voice softly sounded once more.

"Your father was the previous Holy Son of the Ice Spirit Clan, while your grandfather was once an Elder of Punishment in the Ice Spirit Clan. Both of them... have now passed away."

"You were born in the Sin Domain, so I imagine you are more interested in why your parents entered the Sin Domain."

Bai Ye knew the specific reason for this very clearly, but he did not know the process in between. Bing Xueran's account should tell him what the apparent truth of the matter had been in his parents' plan.

"As for this matter, its root lay with your grandfather, while the incident itself began with the current Clan Leader of the Ice Spirit Clan—the Martial Realm Matriarch."

As she spoke of the past, Bing Xueran's tone carried a trace of melancholy.

"In those years, the Ice Spirit Clan could be described as declining. Though it still stood among the upper ranks of the Great Thousand World, compared to the other ancient clans and superpowers, it had already fallen far behind."

"At that time, your father was also hailed by the outside world as the hope of the Ice Spirit Clan. He rose to fame at a young age and was an unmatched prodigy. While still young, he had already entered the ranks of Heavenly Sovereigns, becoming one of the few Spirit Grade Heavenly Supremes within the Ice Spirit Clan, and was even considered the most likely candidate to break through the shackles of the Immortal Grade."

Such talent placed him among the very best of his generation's prodigies.

"But tall trees catch the wind. There would always be petty people willing to disregard the future of the clan and stir up internal conflict. Yet your father had never feared such things. From losing his father in childhood to climbing to the position of Holy Son alone, one could imagine what methods he possessed. But there were always unexpected turns."

"Do you know anything about the Martial Ancestor causing havoc in the Ice Spirit Clan long ago?"

Facing Bing Xueran's question, Bai Ye nodded. "A little."

"The world only knows that the Martial Ancestor fought three Heavenly Sovereigns alone, caused havoc in the Ice Spirit Clan, and became famous across the world. But they do not know why those three Heavenly Sovereigns all came from outside the Ice Spirit Clan, or why the other Heavenly Sovereign elders within the Ice Spirit Clan did not act. No matter how much the Ice Spirit Clan had declined, it still had several Spirit Grade Heavenly Supremes. Family shame should not be made public. Unless there was no other choice, why would they pay such a great price to invite outsiders?"

Bing Xueran's voice contained mockery and regret.

"Because your father held all of them back by himself."

"From the moment the Ice Spirit Clan began preparing for battle, your father had already stood against the Old Ancestor..."