Who... exactly are you?

"A fifth-tier cultivation method?"

It was not just the onlookers who were shocked.

Lin Tian's and Su Zhiyuan's expressions changed drastically as well!

After all, the highest-grade cultivation methods their Lin Household and Su Household possessed were merely upper-grade third-tier methods!

Before a fifth-tier cultivation method, they were no different from fireflies before the bright moon, utterly beyond comparison!

And according to that young expert,

Xue Qing'er actually intended to teach Su Ying a fifth-tier cultivation method!

Su Zhiyuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Everything that had happened today

had severely tested how much his heart could take.

First, he and Lin Tian had come within a step of death.

Then, he had worried about his daughter's safety.

Now, his daughter had suddenly gained a master.

And right off the bat, a fifth-tier cultivation method!

What had happened to this world?!

Su Zhiyuan could hardly conceal his disbelief!

He and Lin Tian were clearly prominent experts in this region!

Why did it now seem that their powerful peak Foundation Establishment cultivation amounted to nothing?

They were top experts at peak Foundation Establishment!

At this moment, Su Zhiyuan and Lin Tian were both beginning to question their lives.

Still, they continued to pay close attention to what the two were saying.

A fifth-tier cultivation method might be excellent, but if it would harm Su Ying's body, she absolutely could not cultivate it!

Meanwhile,

as she listened to Lin Yu, Xue Qing'er's delicate brows furrowed slightly, her mind turning constantly.

Their Clear Frost Manor's cultivation method was unsuitable for Su Ying?

How could that be possible?!

The Clear Frost Instruction was a top-class, upper-grade fifth-tier cultivation method!

She herself had cultivated the Clear Frost Instruction since childhood, which was how she had attained her Nascent Soul cultivation!

Her constitution was unsuitable for cultivating it?

She had never heard of such a thing.

Yet, for some reason,

when those words came from the youth before her, she found them convincing.

"Why do you say that?"

Xue Qing'er could not help asking Lin Yu.

Although this did not quite fit her usual behavior.

In the past, if a stranger had dared question her, she would probably have struck immediately with an icy expression.

But today, Xue Qing'er found that she had no inclination to attack.

Even her tone had softened considerably.

"Actually, you should be able to notice it yourself."

"This icy cultivation method can indeed keep making you stronger."

"But at the same time, it will strip away the emotions that originally belonged to you."

Lin Yu shook his head and calmly stated the truth.

The Clear Frost Art was an extremely overbearing cultivation method. While practitioners rapidly increased their cultivation, they would also suffer the intrusion of its icy presence!

As time went on, almost all of a practitioner's emotions would be completely frozen!

Hearing this, Xue Qing'er froze.

Yes.

Had this cultivation method truly never affected me?

Xue Qing'er's thoughts drifted back to many years ago.

Back then, she had still been an innocent, carefree little girl.

However, her master's untimely death had forced her to encounter Clear Frost Manor's cornerstone cultivation method ahead of time.

The Clear Frost Art!

Three simple words, yet laden with weight!

Her outstanding talent had swiftly made Xue Qing'er the heir to the position of manor lord!

Xue Qing'er's cultivation had also far surpassed that of her peers.

With the combined support of the Clear Frost Art and the previous manor lord's inheritance,

Xue Qing'er had become the youngest Golden Core expert in Clear Frost Manor's history in one fell swoop!

Then, at record-breaking speed, she had broken through to peak Golden Core and inherited the position of manor lord!

Now, Xue Qing'er's cultivation had long since broken through the shackles of Golden Core.

She was already a genuine Nascent Soul expert!

Yet, as her cultivation continually grew,

Xue Qing'er's disposition had also rapidly changed from innocent and carefree to icy cold.

Even merely standing before her, one could feel the icy Qi surrounding her.

But everyone took it for granted.

Because the strong were lonely by nature!

Even Xue Qing'er herself seemed to have long grown accustomed to this coldness.

Perhaps this was the price of gaining strength...

Until just now, when she heard Lin Yu's words.

A ripple had suddenly stirred in Xue Qing'er's previously tranquil state of mind.

"I..."

Xue Qing'er wanted to speak, but did not know where to begin.

She knew Lin Yu had spoken the truth.

But things had already come to this. What could she do?

Cold all day long, with loneliness as her lifelong companion-perhaps that had always been her fate.

Actually, Xue Qing'er had once happened to hear a supreme elder of the manor mention it.

Certain seventh-tier fire-attribute pills might be able to counteract this side effect of the Clear Frost Art.

But seventh-tier pills...

Even to their Clear Frost Manor, they were like tales from the Arabian Nights!

Clear Frost Manor's treasure pavilion held only a few fifth-tier pills.

Seventh-tier pills, and specifically fire-attribute ones at that.

Such things were simply impossible to obtain...

At this thought, Xue Qing'er's eyes dimmed somewhat, her gaze lowering slightly.

She had already grown accustomed to this kind of life.

Why?

Why did he have to remind me...?

"All right, it isn't as though there's no solution."

"The same goes for you and that little girl."

"Once this cultivation method's side effects are resolved, both of you can cultivate normally."

At that moment, Lin Yu's voice reached Xue Qing'er's ears.

"R-really?"

Hearing Lin Yu say this, Xue Qing'er raised her head, her beautiful eyes shifting as she asked dazedly.

Having been affected by the Clear Frost Art for so many years did not mean she did not want to resolve it.

It was simply that she truly had no way to do so through her own strength.

Now that she heard Lin Yu say this, a little more hope immediately appeared in Xue Qing'er's gaze as she looked at him.

Although she truly felt it was absurd to place her hopes in a youth who looked so young.

Yet she found herself deeply reluctant to part with the reassuring strength Lin Yu gave her.

It seemed she would instinctively believe everything Lin Yu said.

"Could you have seventh-tier pills... no, that's simply impossible."

Xue Qing'er said with a bitter smile.

Something even their Clear Frost Manor had no ability to obtain.

How could this youth possibly possess it...?

"Seventh-tier pills, I indeed don't have any here."

Lin Yu had just taken a look inside his immortal abode.

He truly had never stored pills as low-grade as the seventh tier.

The very lowest-tier pills he kept in his immortal abode were eighth-tier.

And they were all pills with extremely bizarre effects.

As for normal pills, he did not have many even of the ninth tier...

After all, these lower-realm pills were truly of little use to him.

They were too weak.

Aside from certain ones with rather special effects that could prove useful at critical moments,

the rest were like chicken ribs-hardly worth keeping, yet a pity to discard.

Hearing Lin Yu's answer, Xue Qing'er sighed softly inwardly, her beautiful eyes lowering slightly.

It seemed she really had expected too much.

She had actually hoped that a youth could solve a problem no one in Clear Frost Manor had been able to resolve for countless years...

She was truly asking far too much of him.

Yet Lin Yu's next words made Xue Qing'er's eyes widen, her face filled with disbelief!

"Stay here. Before I return, help me protect the Lin Household and the Su Household."

"When I return, the Clear Frost Art's problem will be resolved."

"If you encounter danger, crush this jade token."

As his words slowly faded, Lin Yu took a step forward, his figure gradually disappearing into the void.

His voice reached Xue Qing'er's ears, somehow carrying a sense of reliability and trust.

"Who exactly... are you?"

Xue Qing'er lightly bit her red lip with her pearly teeth, gazing at the pure white jade token that had appeared in her palm as she murmured.