Her body was snow-white, her silver hair cascading to her ankles. Her original Bei Yuan Sect disciple robes had transformed into thin ice gauze. On her exquisitely beautiful face, her phoenix eyes and lips were as crimson as if stained with blood.
Though alluring, this beauty was like a man-eating flower, exuding a sense of danger from the very core of her being.
Qi Yu tilted her head back, gazing at the pale sky above the Evil Cold Hell, her hands gathering chilling power.
Her form began to grow, absorbing all the power of the Evil Cold Hell into her body, and she tore open the sky of the Evil Cold Hell with her bare hands.
In an instant, the winds and clouds of the Three Realms changed, and the earth shook.
The Yin ice in the Evil Cold Hell spread outwards at a visible speed, freezing everything it touched.
The ghost envoys of hell and the purgatorial fire could not escape the clutches of the Yin ice.
A vast amount of chilling power surged into Qi Yu's body.
The Underworld was already weakened due to the decline in human faith, losing much of its incense. Many powerful Underworld ghost immortals had become feeble, unable to obtain the spiritual energy converted from believers.
Qi Yu easily devoured the ghost immortals of the Underworld, released countless evil spirits, left the Underworld, occupied Buzhou Mountain, and declared herself king.
At this moment, several hundred years had passed in the cultivation world.
Qi Yu outwardly changed her name to Feng Ying Huo, annexing Buzhou Mountain, which had become the Evil Cold Hell, for her own use, and publicly recruited fierce ghosts, vengeful spirits, and demons.
These fierce ghosts, vengeful spirits, and demons regarded Qi Yu as their master, revering her as the Ice Demon. A massive barrier enveloped the entire Buzhou Mountain.
The entire cultivation world was in a state of panic.
On the other side.
The Bei Yuan Sect.
Over these past few hundred years, the Xuan Yue Sect had gradually declined and was annexed by the Bei Yuan Sect, merging the two mountain peaks into one.
Deep within the mountain stood the barrier of the Qilin clan.
And in the main hall of the Bei Yuan Sect.
Li Yu and Yu Zhen sat facing each other, playing a game of chess with white and black pieces.
"Father, Mother," Ling Ruo, disguised as a man in a white robe with pipa sleeves, ran in from outside, whining and shaking Yu Zhen's arm, "Father, Mother, look at Si Qing. He has nothing to do, but he won't accompany me to admire the flowers."
"Is that so?" Yu Zhen coldly withdrew her arm. "Ling Ruo, at your age, cultivation is what matters. Don't always drag Si Qing to those frivolous places. Practice calligraphy more. Your handwriting is too terrible. If people see it in the future, won't they laugh at you?"
Upon hearing this, Ling Ruo suppressed the spoiled words she had intended to say, then curtsied and replied, "Yes."
Li Yu held a white chess piece, his expression unchanged. "Ling Ruo, if there's nothing else, you may leave."
"..." Ling Ruo's pretty face turned cold, and she turned to leave. As she reached the doorway, Li Yu stopped her.
Li Yu frowned and looked at her. "For a young lady to disguise herself as a man all day is one thing, perhaps for convenience. But why do you not bow when leaving your parents? How can you be so ill-mannered?"
"Daughter did not..." Ling Ruo knelt down, wiping away tears.
Li Yu's voice was indifferent. "Your father does this for your own good. In the future, whether inside or outside, remember to call us Father and Mother. Conduct yourself with propriety and do not be rude. Go and kneel under the scorching sun for three hours to reflect properly. Do you understand?"
Ling Ruo knelt and replied that she understood, then walked out with a grim expression, gritting her teeth in her heart.
After Qi Yu gave up her primordial essence, she indeed gained control of this body as she wished.
Li Yu, Yu Zhen, Si Qing, and even the people of the Bei Yuan Sect had indeed forgotten about Qi Yu as per the agreement between the Heavenly Emperor and Qi Yu, treating her as their own daughter or elder sister.
However, not a single one of them treated her well!
Because the Heavenly Dao had altered everyone's memories by only replacing Qi Yu's face with her face and Qi Yu's name with her name, she had spent years imitating Qi Yu, learning her disguise, her eating habits, and everything according to Qi Yu's ways.
But what was the result?
Yue Zhi Yin's senior and junior disciples treated her with distant politeness.
Si Qing was extremely indifferent towards her. Yu Zhen and Li Yu did not dote on her much; instead, they were very strict, allowing no mistakes in her conduct.
Otherwise, the lightest punishment was kneeling, and the most severe was public reprimand and corporal punishment.
She had approached the Heavenly Emperor about this matter several times, but the Heavenly Emperor always said that there were Heavenly Dao restraints on the oath made with Qi Yu. Yu Zhen, Li Yu, and the people of the Bei Yuan Sect could not possibly remember Qi Yu; she was overthinking things.
He even thought that Yu Zhen and Li Yu's strictness towards her was for her own good.
Ling Ruo clenched her fists tightly, truly infuriated!
In the training grounds of the Bei Yuan Sect.
Ling Ruo knelt in the center of the bustling area, her face flushed, whether from the sun or from shame.
Si Qing walked past her, glanced coldly at her, then withdrew his gaze and strode towards the main hall where Yu Zhen and Li Yu were.
Yu Zhen's face lit up with excitement upon seeing Si Qing return. She hurried over, "Si Qing, Si Qing, you're back. How was it? Did you find anything out?"
Li Yu set up a barrier inside the hall with some caution.
"I didn't find anything," Si Qing sat on the couch and poured himself a cup of tea. "I couldn't find my elder sister's trace anywhere... I didn't dare to ask too directly in the divine realm, and I couldn't get anything out of the Heavenly Emperor. Alas."
Li Yu frowned. "Since that's the case, don't inquire about it for now."
He said this while rubbing his temples.
Ever since he returned to his true form, two sets of memories had appeared in his mind.
In the first set of memories, he had a daughter named Qi Yu. In the second set of memories, he had a daughter named Ling Ruo.
The events that occurred in both sets of memories were the same, with no differences at all, only the appearance and name of the daughter were different.
But for some reason.
Li Yu felt that... the girl named Qi Yu should have been his daughter, and this Ling Ruo had a problem.
It wasn't that she had a problem.
How to put it, he just couldn't like her.
Li Yu was not the only one experiencing these dual memories. Among those they knew of, Si Qing, Yue Zhi Yin, Qi Nian, Sui You, Chi Ming, Qi Yan, Ming Lou, Feng Ming Xi, and Feng Si Qian all had them.
"But I have a headache," Si Qing also felt a headache due to the dual memories, rubbing his temples with his thumb. "I don't know who that Ling Ruo outside is. I feel like she's not my sister at all."
"Forget it, let's not talk about that." Yu Zhen poured a cup of tea for both father and son. "Have you heard about the Ice Demon of Buzhou Mountain?"
"Yes, I've heard. That Ice Demon is incredibly powerful," Si Qing downed his tea in one gulp. "She tore a hole in the path of hell and devoured many evil spirits and ghost immortals. The Underworld was severely damaged, and the evil spirits from the eighteen levels of hell have all come out. It's a catastrophe."
Yu Zhen sighed. "That Ice Demon is truly formidable. Her cultivation is not ordinary."
Li Yu pursed his lips.
Just then, there was a sudden knock on the door from outside.
Li Yu called out, "Enter."
Ming Lou rushed in, bowed, and said, "Master, Mistress, something terrible has happened. A new inner disciple of our Bei Yuan Sect named Ling Sheng, because she trespassed into Buzhou Mountain without authorization, has been captured by the Ice Demon!"
Ling Sheng was a female disciple who had joined two years ago, with only Qi Refining stage cultivation. She usually played best with Ling Ruo.
Yu Zhen and Li Yu frowned. Li Yu asked, "When did this happen? Disciples who haven't reached the Foundation Establishment stage are not allowed to undertake missions without authorization. Doesn't Ling Sheng know this!?"
"Alas, who knows," Ming Lou said anxiously. "Master, what should we do?"
Yu Zhen stood up.
Si Qing stopped Yu Zhen. "Let me go. I'll go and assess the situation, and then we'll discuss how to rescue her."
Li Yu nodded, placed his hand on Si Qing's shoulder, and said, "The Ice Demon is cold-hearted. Si Qing, you must be extremely careful on this trip. Do not be rash."
Hearing this, Si Qing nodded.
Meanwhile.
Within Buzhou Mountain.
Qi Yu rested her forehead on her hand, her crimson phoenix eyes slightly narrowed. She pinched the chin of the woman before her and curved her lips coldly. "You are called Ling Sheng? An inner disciple of the Bei Yuan Sect?"
"Yes..." Ling Sheng knelt on the ground, trembling, looking at Qi Yu, whose silver hair was as white as snow, her skin pale, and her body as cold as ice. She shivered. "Great Ice Demon, I know I was wrong. I will never dare to step foot in Buzhou Mountain again. I was wrong, I was wrong..."
"You, a waste who has been at the Qi Refining stage for two years, have no courage to come to Buzhou Mountain on your own accord," Qi Yu tightened her grip on Ling Sheng's chin slightly. "Who sent you to Buzhou Mountain? Tell me yourself, or must I force you to speak?"
"It was, it was my senior brother Ling Ruo!" Ling Sheng immediately confessed. "My senior brother Ling Ruo said that the ghosts on the outskirts of Buzhou Mountain are not difficult to capture, and he also said that after I come in, I can bury this in the Buzhou Mountain area."
As she spoke, she presented a talisman with both hands, looking at Qi Yu with a terrified expression.
Qi Yu narrowed her eyes, about to speak, when an evil spirit approached from nearby to report.
It said that a disciple of the Bei Yuan Sect was seeking an audience outside.