As soon as Fang Yi approached the bamboo house, he felt an intensely cold presence, as though it would freeze all things.
Of course, it had no effect on Fang Yi. A sweep of his own presence kept it at bay, but the bamboo house Ying Xuanzi had painstakingly prepared wasn't so lucky.
Layer upon layer of frost covered it.
Fang Yi pushed the door open and entered, only to see Ying Huanhuan slowly floating in the air. Her ice-blue hair spread out behind her, glimmering faintly with an icy sheen as a chill quietly filled the air.
At the same time, waves of ice-blue power swept outward like ripples.
Fang Yi pointed a finger, and Origin Energy swept out around him. A pill furnace enveloped Ying Huanhuan, steadily absorbing the chill erupting from her body.
"An awakening?"
Ying Xuanzi also entered. At the sight of Ying Huanhuan's condition, even his expression, which had always remained unchanged when Mount Tai collapsed before him, began to shift.
He had anticipated this long ago, but he hadn't expected it to come so soon.
He had long since prepared himself. No matter who Ying Huanhuan had been in her previous life or whose memories she awakened, she was still his daughter.
But now that it was truly happening before his eyes, he still couldn't remain calm.
And this power was no simple thing...
Fang Yi let the sweeping cold wind blow through his long hair. He wasn't worried that Ying Huanhuan would change too much after awakening as the Ice Master.
Ying Huanhuan was a special case. Even after awakening, her current personality would remain dominant. What worried him was that her awakening might attract the Yimo's attention.
If so, he would have to speed up his plans.
And now that he had discovered he could refine a Yimo King's power into pills, he needed to free the Great Desolation Tablet as soon as possible.
With the Great Desolation Tablet standing guard over the Dao Sect, even the Yimo wouldn't dare come lightly.
And.
It seemed he also needed to take Huanhuan to the far north, retrieve the Ice Ancestral Talisman as soon as possible, and raise her strength as quickly as he could.
"Xiao Yi..."
"Father."
Just then.
Ying Huanhuan suddenly opened her eyes. Her once-clear, lively eyes were now ice-blue, and her voice carried a hint of grievance and panic.
"I... don't think I'm myself anymore."
Ying Huanhuan's voice was tearful. She had been making good progress toward her second origin.
Then she suddenly felt a terrifying chill burst forth from her deepest depths.
The second origin she had just opened was instantly filled by some of that power, and many more memories appeared in her mind.
Scene after scene appeared before her, seemingly from a vast war, along with numerous methods of cultivation and martial arts.
It was as though she were living someone else's life.
And this person had no name...
But in those scenes, everyone called her.
Ice Master!
"Hold your breath and focus! They're only memories. Don't let them trouble you. Your previous life was your previous life, and this life is this life!"
Fang Yi appeared in an instant before Ying Huanhuan and extended a finger. He closed his eyes, and his Mental Energy immediately poured into it, sending the power of the Supreme Heart Demon Scripture into Ying Huanhuan's mind.
But the memories were too vast. Fang Yi couldn't forcibly seal them away without hurting Ying Huanhuan.
He said in a low voice, "No matter who you are, I'll stand with you!"
"Focus. Remember, you're Ying Huanhuan. Those are only memories of the past. Treat her as memories, not as yourself!!"
"You'll always be you!"
Ying Huanhuan's panicked heart immediately calmed at Fang Yi's voice. Following his guidance, she constantly reinforced the thought that she was Ying Huanhuan.
She forcibly shut out the memories that threatened to erode her sense of self.
Seeing this, Fang Yi.
His Mental Energy immediately formed a cage, entangling the emerging memories and locking them firmly inside, leaving only the many cultivation methods and martial arts.
Then he slowly opened his eyes and met a pair of exceedingly beautiful eyes. Compared with the ice-blue ones from before, these were prettier.
"I..."
Ying Huanhuan looked at Fang Yi, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say. Suddenly, she threw herself at him.
Fang Yi caught her around the waist. The softness of her slender waist beneath his hand left him dazed for a moment.
The girl's lovely waist was as slender as a willow branch.
He also felt the lingering fear of Ying Huanhuan in his arms. He patted her back and comforted her. "It's all right. This is a good thing."
Fang Yi wasn't wrong. It really was a good thing. Many people would have given anything to be reincarnators.
Of course, the Ice Master was a special case. After all, she was a Reincarnation Stage expert who had once comprehended the Supreme and had even been the most likely to enter the Ancestor Realm.
Even the Heavenly King Hall was no match for her.
"A good thing, a good thing! I'll show you a good thing! When I turn into that Ice Master, I won't like you anymore. Let's see if you still think it's a good thing!" Ying Huanhuan heard Fang Yi still calling it a good thing.
She didn't want to become someone else. In her exasperation, she bumped her head against Fang Yi's chest several times.
"Ahem, ahem~"
Ying Xuanzi coughed twice. Were these two ignoring him again?
And what was all this about not liking him anymore?
Was that the point?
The point was the Ice Master!
"Wait. You said you were the Ice Master in your previous life?" Ying Xuanzi looked at Ying Huanhuan. He had long known she was a reincarnator, but everyone at the Reincarnation Stage was a reincarnator; the only question was whether they could reincarnate successfully.
Many reincarnators even had their spiritual essence worn away during reincarnation, making it difficult for them to return.
So Ying Xuanzi hadn't been too worried. Besides, when one died and one's Dao vanished, all karma disappeared with it. Grudges from a previous life almost never carried over to a reincarnator.
Doing so would make one the common enemy of everyone at the Reincarnation Stage. After all, who could know whether they might fall one day?
But the Ice Master was different.
Although he didn't know exactly what had happened in that ancient battle, the enemies in that battle hadn't been ordinary martial artists.
Those grudges ran far deeper.
"How come neither of you seems surprised that I'm a reincarnator?" Ying Huanhuan rose from Fang Yi's arms.
She saw that Fang Yi wasn't surprised at all, while Ying Xuanzi was only surprised that her previous life had been the Ice Master.
"We've known you were a reincarnator for a long time."
"And you didn't tell me!" Ying Huanhuan punched Fang Yi fiercely, but her charming face wore the expression without the slightest hint of ferocity.
There was only cuteness.
Ying Xuanzi rubbed the spot between his brows. "Wait, we're discussing something important!"
"The Ice Master!"
Ying Xuanzi repeated the name.
"So what? Junior Sister Jiang is the reincarnation of the Lord of Life and Death," Ying Huanhuan said instinctively.
But after she spoke, both Ying Huanhuan and Ying Xuanzi froze.
The Dao Sect naturally had legends of the Eight Ancient Masters as well. In ancient times, both the Ice Master and the Lord of Life and Death had been disciples of the Symbol Ancestor.
"No wonder, no wonder your Reincarnation Seal reacted to Yinyin's back then, Huanhuan."
Ying Xuanzi looked at Fang Yi. He had previously thought that Ying Huanhuan was, at most, a descendant of the Lord of Life and Death, or the reincarnation of an old friend.
He hadn't expected her to be the Ice Master.
But Fang Yi had brought Jiang Yinyin back. Could it be that the boy had known all along that Ying Huanhuan was actually the Ice Master's reincarnation?