My disciples are all villains.

The ice was 10,000 feet deep, and the freezing wind blew for tens of thousands of miles.

There was no light and no sound.

In this frozen world, the coldness would seep into one's bones and marrow.

Even cultivators like Yu Shangrong and Su Heng were unable to endure the endless cold.

With his body temperature, Su Heng managed to melt a hairline crack on the ice, but as soon as the water droplets fell, they were frozen into ice again. He released his energy to protect himself; if this situation continued, he would be crushed into mincemeat by the ice. He found he could mobilize very slight Primal Qi and could still use Voice Transmission. Most of the Primal Qi had been blocked by the ice that encased him; it was as though he had been cut off from the outside world. However, he was a Thousand Realms Whirling cultivator; he could survive for a long time on his internal breath.

At this time, Su Heng sent a voice transmission to Yu Shangrong. "You won't live for long…"

Similar to Su Heng, Yu Shangrong was completely encased in ice. He had lost all mobility; he could not even smile. He had tried to break the extremely thick layer of ice but failed. In order to do so, he needed enough Primal Qi. It was unfortunate he was cut off from most of the Primal Qi in the block of ice.

Yu Shangrong replied through voice transmission, "You should feel lucky. If the sea beast didn't freeze us, you would've died under my sword."

Su Heng replied, "You're still so stubborn in this situation. The ability to freeze is very rare. If I'm not mistaken, that sea beast earlier is a beast king. The Black Water Mystic Cave has been a dangerous place since ancient times. There are all kinds of fierce beasts in here. Once you encounter a fierce beast strong enough to break through the ice, you're doomed to be food in its stomach…" He continued to say, "Thousand Realms Whirling cultivators aren't afraid of being frozen. It won't be long before I break the ice. As for you, you won't be able to break the ice. You can stay encased in the block of ice and… Y-you… How did you do that?!"

Buzz!

A weak golden sword energy hovered in front of the duo.

Buzz!

Su Heng did not finish his words; he was dumbstruck.

In the endless darkness, there was no doubt the light gave them hope.

"Y-you… H-how did you do this?!" Su Heng kept asking.

Yu Shangrong ignored Su Heng. Instead, he continued to try and mobilize the Primal Qi in his surroundings.

Su Heng asked again, "How did you manage this?"

This was the experience and insight Yu Shangrong had gained from the swordless path. Without relying on objects, he learned to turn everything into swords with his Primal Qi and was learning to turn nothing to swords as well.

Swoosh!

The energy sword disappeared, and darkness returned again.

It was impossible to manifest a stronger energy sword under these circumstances, let alone break the ice.

Yu Shangrong ignored Su Heng. He closed his eyes, resisted the bone-chilling cold, and began to cultivate. Only by cultivating could he live longer. Soon enough, a faint warmth radiated from his Dantian's sea of Qi to resist the cold.

At this time, Su Heng sent another voice transmission. "It seems like I've overestimated you. You won't be able to live if you continue like this…"

Yu Shangrong continued to ignore Su Heng.

Following that, Su Heng also closed his eyes and began to mobilize the remaining Primal Qi he had left in his Dantian's sea of Qi to cultivate.

…

In a small village north of the Dark and Light Alliance in the black lotus domain.

Shen Xi bowed and called out, "Pavilion Master. The BTC has sent people to the Evil Sky Pavilion. Li Xiaomo fought with the other party for a while and got injured. However, Mister Second arrived in time and fought with the other party above the Heavenly Moat before they fell into the abyss…"

Lu Zhou opened his eyes and frowned slightly. "Do you know who's the culprit?"

"It must be Duan Xihua's men! When I went to get Yan Zhenluo, I saw Su Heng. Li Xiaomo fought with him before, and from his description, I'm sure it's Su Heng!" Shen Xi said.

Lu Zhou closed his eyes and silently chanted the mantra for the power of sight.

Lu Zhou only saw darkness. The surroundings were quiet as well.

'Where's this? The Black Water Mystic Cave?'

Since he could use the power of sight on Yu Shangrong, it meant that Yu Shangrong was not dead.

Based on his understanding of his second disciple, he knew although his second disciple seemed stubborn and arrogant, in fact, his second disciple knew his limits and could make very accurate judgments in the shortest time. This kind of innate talent had helped his second disciple to walk out of the Melilot Graveyard and pass through tens of thousands of miles of dangerous land when his cultivation base was damaged. He knew his second disciple did not live until today because of luck.

Lu Zhou opened his eyes. Then, he looked at Shen Xi and said, "Tell me about Duan Xihua…"

Shen Xi nodded and said, "Duan Xihua has been in the BTC for at least 3,000 years now. When he first joined the BTC, he only had three Birth Charts. From being a blackguard, he climbed his way up until he became the Second Elder of the BTC. He currently has no less than eight Birth Charts. Now that Shi Youran, the First Elder is dead, Duan Xihua has become the leader of the other elders…"

Lu Zhou asked, "What are the stances of the conservative and the liberal factions?

"Needless to say, they don't get along at all. The Tower Master is more of a conservative. He prefers to keep to the captive plan. However, with the loss of the BTC's monopoly of the red lotus domain and the recent controversy with the WTC, many people have switched to supporting the radical faction… It really depends on the Tower Master's attitude, but the Tower Master rarely makes his stance clear," Shen Xi explained.

"Who else in the BTC is a match for Duan Xihua?" Lu Zhou asked.

"The Third Elder and two judges, with Jiang Jiuli being one of them. Jiang Jiuli has always been very diplomatic. Although he's weaker than Duan Xihua, his ability to survive isn't to be underestimated. The Tower Master also thinks highly of him," Shen Xi said.

"Are there no outstanding people among the ordinary members in the Upper Tower of the BTC who can break the balance?" Lu Zhou asked.

"No. If there's an outstanding talent, they would be immediately recruited by the high-ranking officials. Yan Zhenluo, whom you want me to bring out of the BTC, is one of those who take a neutral stance. However, being neutral isn't exactly good. On the contrary, it made him the target of everyone's bullying," Shen Xi said.

There was a reason why people would look for support or congregate in groups. Without support, one would definitely be bullied.

"Although Duan Xihua from the radical faction, he never confronts his opponents head-on. He prefers to scheme and sow discord. In other words, he's a two-faced person," Shen Xi said indignantly.

"Xia Zhengrong actually kept someone like that in the BTC?" Lu Zhou asked.

Shen Xi sighed. "There are advantages and disadvantages to that. Duan Xihua is highly capable. As long as he doesn't threaten the Tower Master's position, the Tower Master will turn a blind eye to the things he does."

Lu Zhou nodded. With Shen Xi's description, he had a vague understanding of Duan Xihua. "In that case, I'll kick him out of the BTC…"

…

Five days passed in just a blink of an eye.

During these five days, Lu Zhou would check in on Yu Shangrong and observe his condition. However, it was all dark.

Lu Zhou finally stopped cultivating in the morning. He leaned against the window to look at the rising sun.

At this moment, Shen Xi rushed over and fell to one knee before he said, "Pavilion Master, a red flying chariot has been spotted in the northeast…"

Upon hearing the commotion, Yu Zhenghai and Zhao Hongfu rushed over.

"Master."

"Pavilion Master."

Shen Xi continued to say, "If I'm not mistaken, that red flying chariot belongs to the WTC's Lan Xihe. Since she dares to ride on that ostentatious flying chariot, I'm afraid she came prepared…"

Zhao Hongfu said, "The WTC's Lan Xihe. I think I've heard of this name before; it seems like she's quite powerful?"

"It's more than that. Up until now, no one has defeated her…" Shen Xi said.

Lu Zhou said, "This Lan Xihe truly does have some abilities…"

Shen Xi was speechless. His meaning was to leave and avoid the WTC. Let the WTC and the BTC fight while the Evil Sky Pavilion reaped the benefits.

Shen Xi was about to speak up when a blue-clad woman flew over and said, "My master invites Senior Lu onto the flying chariot…"