Within the millennium cold underground palace of the Huangji Sect, Li Zhaojun was bound by chains, suffering agonizing pain. The more she thought of Ye Fan, the greater the harm from the chains.

Qing Lian stood at a distance watching her beloved disciple, feeling somewhat resentful towards her lack of progress.

"Knowing it's painful, why still think? Cultivating immortality, shouldn't you have even the basic self-control? This Qiankun Lock is the most secret treasure of the Huangji Sect, used to punish disciples with a distracted mind. It's more than appropriate to use it on you!" Qing Lian said with a fierce expression.

Li Zhaojun cried out in pain, demanding, "Master, didn't you say you would bless us?"

"I said I would bless you, but we also have to see if he can pass the ghost gate. That brat ruined your cultivation, and now you've only beaten him severely injured. The person isn't even dead yet; how could I be willing?" Qing Lian clenched her fist.

Li Zhaojun suddenly felt a painful betrayal. Her trusted master was acting in front of her, pretending to bless her and Ye Fan, only to deceive her into the underground palace and bind her with the Qiankun Lock. She couldn't escape the palace, let alone see Ye Fan, yet worried about Ye Fan being blamed by the Huangji Sect for hurting Elder Yuan's grandson.

"It's all my fault for hurting him..." Li Zhaojun felt overwhelming guilt, even wishing to end her life, but Qing Lian wouldn't let her die so easily.

"Wait, someone will come. By then, everything between you and him will be over, and you'll be left disgraced. Even that brat will give up on you." Qing Lian suddenly uttered something incomprehensible to Li Zhaojun.

On further thought, Li Zhaojun's heart sank as if falling into an icy pit. Could it be that her master intended to bring another man to violate her?

Li Zhaojun shouted, "Master, what are you saying?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Wait here. The person meant to come will arrive soon. This place is surrounded by ice chambers. Without the mechanism, the ice outside can't be opened. But it's transparent here; I want him to watch as his beloved is gradually tormented until his heart dies!"

Qing Lian's face was terrifyingly wrathful at this moment.

Li Zhaojun shook her head in disbelief. Is this still the master she trusted? She always treated her master as family, took her words to heart as wisdom, but now realized her master only wanted her Spirit Root and talent to revive Xuanyue Palace through cultivation. The master-disciple relationship didn't matter at all.

"Master, let us go." Li Zhaojun's voice was filled with a hint of pleading.

"Absolutely impossible!" Qing Lian retorted angrily. "I must pretend to be respectful and yielding before Fa Ying. Even when she wanted to take you as a disciple, I had to reluctantly agree. I coax that vixen Wu Ding, making her think I harbor no murderous intent. As long as I bring Ye Fan here, he will give up on you. As a cultivator of the ancient martial faction, he has an obsessive perfection for relationships, and would rather relinquish everything to get you. But if you are impure, that brat will surely forget you and return to Earth to live with his other women!"

Li Zhaojun still couldn't believe these venomous words came from her master, willing to ruin her reputation for the sake of her cultivation plan.

"Master, I beg you one last time, bless us!"

This time, Qing Lian ignored Li Zhaojun's plea and turned to leave the ice chamber, but heard "rumble rumble" sounds. The earth seemed to shake, countless ice blocks fell from above, nearly burying her.

"Damn it!" Qing Lian cursed, as even with her Golden Core stage cultivation, the ice chamber was unbearably cold. She almost couldn't hold on and needed to reach the upper layers for warmth.

All the way up, the ice chamber's path was long. When Qing Lian finally reached the entrance, there were a fat and a thin person rubbing their hands at the cold entrance that overwhelmed them.

The two were Yuan Mo and his chubby junior Cheng He, beaten and injured by Ye Fan.

"Master Qinglian, you've come out. Is Sister Yun Zhao inside?" Yuan Mo and Cheng He, injured by Ye Fan, were left almost unfit for cultivation beyond the Qi Cultivation Stage.

Qing Lian took out a green leaf-like treasure from her storage bracelet, saying, "Place it on your head to resist the cold, but remember, this treasure can only resist the cold beyond the second step."

"Alright, alright."

Yuan Mo and Cheng He wore sly smiles. This time they got Fa Ying and Qing Lian's approval to have their way with Li Zhaojun, but knew their own cultivation was far inferior. Li Zhaojun could easily crush them like ants with a mere flick of her finger.

But now Li Zhaojun was bound by the Qiankun Lock, which limited her cultivation.

"You go first, make sure to wait at the second step. If you take too many steps, you could freeze into ice sculptures." Qing Lian was heading to bring Ye Fan, so he could personally watch Li Zhaojun's "destruction", but she couldn't help reminding them.

Even with her Golden Core cultivation, Qing Lian couldn't stay long at the bottom of the ice chamber, let alone Yuan Mo and Cheng He, who were only at the Qi Cultivation stage.

"Understood, we'll head down now!" Yuan Mo said with a sneaky grin.

Qing Lian frowned, realizing Yuan Mo wasn't material for great things. She took out two pills, handed them to Yuan Mo, saying, "If you can't endure, take this pill, which allows you to stay in the ice chamber for three quarters. But from the second step to the very bottom, you'll roughly have a quarter of an hour. You'll have to measure yourselves."

In the Pan Gu secret realm, one hour is eight quarters, one quarter is also fifteen minutes. A round trip requires half an hour, and the pill lasts only forty-five minutes.

"It's enough, we know what to do. We'll wait for Master to open the ice chamber before heading down."

Yuan Mo and Cheng He were excited, knowing fifteen minutes was enough to "get things done."

Qing Lian waved them off, heading towards the Huangji Sect's main hall. Before reaching the hall entrance, she felt an explosive force surge toward her. Despite attempting to block with Spiritual Energy, she was pushed back several steps, spitting blood.

"Such strong cultivation, no wonder he's the Sect Master of the Diyuan Sect. Even my cultivation gets hurt. That brat Ye Fan in the hall, he must be dead by now." Qing Lian's blood-laced smile was cold.

Meanwhile, Ye Fan remained unharmed because Wu Ding and Elder Wu were escorting him, with fellow Tianxuan Sect disciples shielding him from spiritual wave injury.

Wu Ding said, "Junior Brother, we shouldn't stay here; let's head to the back mountain."

Wu Ding shielded Ye Fan as they exited the hall, just in time to see the approaching Qing Lian.

Qing Lian quickly swapped her expression for a pleasant smile, saying, "Ye Fan, is it really you? Zhao Jun has been waiting for you below for a long time."

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