TGPSAC – Chapter 173

What is the Void? It is the chaotic state at the beginning of the universe.

In mythological terms, it is the time before Pangu created the heavens and the earth.

Wuji begets Taiji. Wuji is the state of the Void. Everything is born from nothingness, so the Void represents infinite possibility.

The Void does not mean there is nothing. On the contrary, it can be understood as the state before things appear. A seed underground has not yet grown; it cannot be seen, so it is nothingness. In reality, it exists, merely waiting to sprout.

Take divination, for example. The hexagrams represent “being,” constantly changing. This is the Dao of the “Void” at work within them.

The space of the Void is filled with the unknown, but also with possibilities. No one can truly explain the Void, and no one knows if the place Nü Zhu reached was truly the Void, or just a place called the Void.

Chi Wan and the others decided to search for it. After several months of sailing, they finally arrived at the Ice Continent. The ship, sturdy as it was, could only break the ice at the very edge. Soon, they had to continue on foot.

They started with three hundred people. As they walked, only a few of them remained.

The others had not died. Every ten li, five people were left behind to guard supplies. Three hundred people could create sixty supply points.

This meant that for six hundred li, as long as they didn’t get lost, they would have supply points, ensuring they wouldn’t starve to death on the way back. With a station every ten li, they could also look out for one another. Chun Gui and the others were among those left behind.

By the time they reached this position, only four of them were left.

Chi Wan, Yu Jiuzhou, Xia Qu, and Yu Xingchen. The four of them had cooperated once before in the Misty Forest, and their martial prowess was a cut above the rest, so it was decided that they would be the ones to enter the Void together.

There was another reason. Chi Wan had anticipated that taking the medicine made from the Gan Huang would improve their internal energy, but she hadn’t expected Yu Jiuzhou’s to reach the Great Achievement stage in such a short time. Furthermore, every time Yu Jiuzhou circulated her internal energy, the toxins in her body dissipated. With Chi Wan’s help, the poison could certainly be cured within three years, not even needing the full ten.

But Yu Xingchen was a different case. Her internal energy had only reached a profound level, and she had been poisoned much more deeply than Yu Jiuzhou. Perhaps due to the difference in their internal energy, the severity of their poisoning also differed.

Without a new Gan Huang, Yu Xingchen would surely die. How would Xia Qu bear it then?

So, Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou decided not to mention this and resolved to enter the Void. Otherwise, Yu Jiuzhou could have just taken the Gan Huang herself from the beginning. Why would she have needed to split it in two?

They were sovereign and subject, but also friends and partners. How could they stand by and watch one of their own die, especially when Yu Xingchen had been with them since she was fourteen?

---

On the Ice Continent, the world was deathly silent. There was nothing but ice. Occasionally, they would encounter a bear, pure white and as tall as a small house, which would chase them, curious about these two-legged creatures that could run so fast.

Chi Wan glanced back at the bear. She had a feeling it was just toying with them. They had trespassed on its territory, and knowing they were in the wrong, she chose not to fight it, instead letting it chase them.

“Your Highness, let’s kill it!” The ancient world had no concept of ecological protection.

But as someone from the modern era, Chi Wan didn’t see the white bear as an auspicious omen, nor did she think it could be hunted at will. However, the creature’s audacity in teasing them with a chase was truly infuriating.

“Still chasing, are you? Fine, I’ll play with you.”

Back when Jiang Weiyang made her first sea voyage, she had brought back a white tiger. If Chi Wan could raise a white tiger, what was there to fear from a white bear?

Chi Wan took out her long spear, thoughtfully removing the spearhead, and leaped forward, brandishing the staff at the white bear.

After three moves, the white bear was enraged.

After fifty moves, the white bear was frightened.

After a hundred moves, the white bear was subdued.

The massive creature slumped onto the ice, looking at Chi Wan pitifully, as if to say, “I give up. If you have the guts, just kill me.”

Chi Wan was amused. Just moments ago, this fellow had been chasing them for fun, clearly enjoying the sight of them fleeing, and now it was trying to act cute.

“Are you going to keep chasing us?” she asked, pointing the staff at the bear. I can handle you.

The white bear shook its head repeatedly, indicating: I wouldn’t dare.

Seeing its compliance, Chi Wan spared it and prepared to leave. But as she took a step, the white bear took one too.

“What are you doing?” she snapped, whirling around.

The white bear pretended to look at the sky, acting as if it knew nothing.

“Don’t follow me anymore.”

Hearing this, the white bear let out a series of howls, as if trying to express something.

“You’re saying you know where we’re going?”

“Wuwu~” It was a bear, so why was it whining like a puppy?

“You want to lead us there?”

“Wuwu~”

Was this for real? She had just given it a beating, so why did it want to help her?

“Wuwu~”

The white bear tried its best to communicate. Despite its limited intelligence, it managed to clearly express its thoughts. From what she knew, a white bear’s intelligence was equivalent to a three-to-five-year-old human’s. This one seemed to be on par with a seven or eight-year-old.

Based on its forceful expressions, Chi Wan understood. “You’re saying that because I could beat you but didn’t kill you, I’m a good person?”

“Wuwu~”

Great. To think that one day she would be called a good person by a bear. How interesting.

Chi Wan raised an eyebrow. “Then lead the way.”

With such a massive bear, even if Honglin’s group saw them, they wouldn’t think they were together. Instead, they would worry about being discovered by the bear and attracting more of them, so they would hasten their departure. This would conveniently reduce the risk of the two parties meeting.

They had followed Honglin after learning she had left with her clansmen and bought a ship, knowing they were headed for the Void. They had immediately set out, following from a distance.

The distance between them wasn’t too great; Honglin and her clan were ahead, and they were behind.

The white bear walked in front, with the four of them following. Xia Qu asked in disbelief, “Your Highness, you can actually talk to a bear? This big white fellow is really interesting.”

Excellent. The white bear now had a name: Dabai.

“I hope it really knows the way to the Void.”

They had been following Honglin’s tracks; otherwise, they would have set out much earlier.

Because of the persistent kowtowing of Chun Gui and the others before Nü Zhu’s body, something new had appeared on her.

One day, Chun Gui noticed that Nü Zhu’s clothes were beginning to decay. Miraculously, Nü Zhu’s body was still perfectly preserved. A body that had remained uncorrupted for thousands of years must have something special about it. There was a pearl in Nü Zhu’s mouth, and it was this pearl that had kept her body from decaying.

But none of them tried to take the pearl. Instead, upon seeing the decaying clothes, Chun Gui found new garments, intending to change them for her. It was then that she discovered a jade disc, about the size of a palm, inside the rotten clothes.

Chi Wan guessed that the jade disc had been sewn into the lining of the clothes. Once the clothes rotted away, the disc was naturally revealed.

Nü Zhu’s body was incorruptible, and to prevent anyone from desecrating it, her subordinates had carved an inscription inside the white jade coffin, hoping that whoever took her body would not disrespect it.

Most people who sought the ancient tree were after the immortality drug of the Void, or for wealth. The jade disc was the key to entering the Void and was also very valuable.

Nü Zhu’s subordinates hoped that whoever found the jade disc would treat their general with respect.

Besides, not everyone would take the body. For those after money, they had already indicated where treasures could be found, making it unnecessary to take the body. At most, they might take the pearl from Nü Zhu’s mouth that preserved her body.

Those seeking to enter the Void, if they couldn’t find the jade disc, would likely not take Nü Zhu’s body either.

Even if they took the white jade coffin, they wouldn’t take her body, since once the pearl was removed, the body would decay and be worthless.

Chun Gui also discovered poison on the body. As long as the body remained intact, the poison would not be released. But if the body was damaged, the poison would surely be triggered.

Furthermore, Nü Zhu’s clothes only began to decay after three months. Few people would wait three months without discarding her body.

This showed that Nü Zhu’s subordinates had made many arrangements to protect her body and had done their utmost. They were a group of people worthy of admiration.

After obtaining the jade disc, they were supposed to set off for the Ice Continent. But although they had a map, the vast, featureless expanse of ice had no landmarks, making it difficult to find the route even with a map.

They could only measure the distance with their steps, calculating based on a scale where one step was half a meter, determining how many steps to take before turning. They also had the tracks left by Honglin’s group ahead of them. With so many people, their trail was obvious.

At this rate, they should reach the Void soon. Miraculously, the path Dabai was leading them on was almost identical to the one on the map. Dabai actually knew where the Void was.

The darker the sky grew, the stronger the wind blew. The frigid wind was like a sharp blade, making their eyes sting. Fortunately, they had covered everything but their eyes.

Chi Wan took out the glasses from her bag and put them on Yu Jiuzhou first. They were the magnifying kind, with decorative frames. After Great Zhou developed glass, she had them made for the aging officials. Now, they were perfect for shielding against the wind.

As the sky darkened, the deeper the blackness, the more eerie it became.

Yu Jiuzhou’s face was stern, her eyes unnaturally calm. The night was the hardest part of the day. It was so cold, unbearably so. Even someone like Chi Wan, whose internal energy had reached the Great Achievement stage, felt the chill.

“Let’s rest.”

Chi Wan gave the word and began to set up a tent. It was a very simple version, only able to accommodate two people, but they needed to stand watch, so resting in pairs was perfect.

For the first half of the night, Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou stood watch while Xia Qu and Yu Xingchen rested.

Chi Wan leaped onto Dabai’s back. Its fluffy fur was soft and warm, probably warmer than inside the tent.

“Come up,” she beckoned to Yu Jiuzhou.

Just as Yu Jiuzhou was about to climb up, Dabai let out a dissatisfied grunt. Chi Wan slapped it. “This is my wife. She’s much more formidable than I am.”

The statement sounded fine at first, but on second thought, something was off.

In terms of martial prowess, Chi Wan was clearly superior. Was she implying that she had a fiercer temper?

Yu Jiuzhou leaped onto Dabai’s back and pinched Chi Wan’s waist. “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Isn’t that a compliment?”

“Hmph.”

Seeing the mischievous smile on her face, Yu Jiuzhou knew that Chi Wan meant exactly what she thought.

Chi Wan chuckled, taking Yu Jiuzhou’s hand as they lay down together, gazing at the pitch-black night sky, which was completely different from the starry sky they had seen when they first entered the ice field.

The deeper they went, the more the night sky became a void of nothingness. The world was shrouded in darkness. If not for their internal energy having reached the Great Achievement stage, which had long since enhanced their vision beyond that of ordinary people, they would have been unable to see at all in the dark.

In the pitch-black world, it felt as if ghouls could emerge from the darkness at any moment. The blackness of their location was unnervingly abnormal.

“Wuwu~” Dabai grunted, signaling for them to sit on its shoulders.

After they did, Dabai took a few quick steps forward. In the distance, there was a flicker of firelight.

“It’s Honglin.” Chi Wan saw them—the people gathered around the fire, and Honglin sitting among them. Here, surrounded by her own people, Honglin no longer needed to conceal herself, and her face was fully visible.

“It seems that even though they left a few days earlier, they haven’t gone very far.”

At first, they had to sail, and if they weren’t far enough apart, they could have been easily discovered. So they had followed from a great distance, thinking Honglin’s group would be close to the Void by now. They hadn’t expected to catch up.

Or perhaps, Honglin had already reached the entrance to the Void but couldn’t find a way in.

“Dabai, have we arrived?”

According to the map, they still had another day’s journey. Chi Wan sought confirmation from Dabai.

Dabai shook its head. “Wuwu~”

“Since we haven’t arrived yet, I’ll go see why they’ve stopped.”

Chi Wan squeezed Yu Jiuzhou’s hand. Dressed in black, she merged with the night and approached like a phantom, stopping behind a pile of ice. She overheard the people complaining.

“We’ve been walking for three months and haven’t seen a thing. Wasn’t the Void supposed to be on the Ice Continent?”

“We don’t even know if the Void really exists.”

“If there’s no Void, where did the medicine come from? And how did we end up like this?”

“We might as well have stayed as we were. This blasted weather is freezing me to death. Even near the fire, I feel like the flames are cold.”

“If you’re cold, go into the tent. Stop talking so much.”

“Why can’t I speak? Didn’t she say she could get the jade disc? Where is it? We told her to go find those people, but she refused.”

“What do you know? That person is the Prince of Great Zhou. If we cause trouble for her, neither the new Mugu nor the old Mugu will have a place for us.”

“So what? The Mugu people don’t know she’s the Prince of Great Zhou.”

“Enough. Honglin checked the white jade coffin. The jade disc wasn’t there. The Prince of Great Zhou didn’t get it either.”

“Was it really not there, or was she just too afraid to snatch it from the Prince of Great Zhou? A useless coward, what right does she have to inherit the name Honglin?”

Chi Wan shifted her gaze to Honglin, who remained silent, as if they weren’t talking about her at all.

It seemed that Honglin, the clan leader, was not well-loved by her people. They were even defiant.

Just when she thought Honglin would endure it, Honglin suddenly stood up. She walked over to the person who had spoken. “You want to know by what right I inherited the name Honglin?”

The person being questioned fell silent, avoiding her gaze.

Honglin smiled sweetly and answered her own question. “It’s because I killed all my competitors, and all who questioned me.”

The next moment, Honglin’s arm shot out, her entire hand piercing through the person’s body. Only then did Chi Wan see clearly that her previously severed arm had been fashioned into a blade. The blade, along with her arm, had impaled the person.

“Honglin!” The person who had tried to mediate stared in shock, calling out her name.

Honglin turned to him with a blank expression. “What is it? Do you also want to ask by what right I inherited the name Honglin?”

“This subordinate wouldn’t dare.”

As he bowed his head, silence fell over the camp. The Honglin clansmen all lowered their heads. Finally, unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere, they rose one by one and went into their tents.

Chi Wan listened for a while longer. Seeing that there was no more conversation in Honglin’s camp, she turned and went back.

Upon seeing Yu Jiuzhou, she recounted what she had just heard. “According to them, it seems they became like this after eating that immortality drug. No, it wasn’t them who ate it, but their ancestor, the one who stole Nü Zhu’s immortality drug.”

That person’s meaning was that without the Void, there would be no immortality drug, and without the immortality drug, they wouldn’t have become like this. Logically, it meant what she had just said. And after several thousand years, was Honglin the nineteenth generation?

“The timeline doesn’t add up.” Chi Wan did some calculations. Even if each Honglin lived for a hundred years, that would be less than two thousand years. Nü Zhu came here four thousand years ago, so the servant must have stolen the drug around that time.

If the first Honglin was the servant, the timeline was off.

“Perhaps the immortality drug really works? Even if it doesn’t grant eternal life, it could extend one’s lifespan by many years.”

Yu Jiuzhou offered a different perspective. Emperors throughout history had been obsessed with longevity. The Imperial Study and the Hanlin Academy had collected many books with related records.

She thought for a moment. “Of the ones I know, the longest-lived was said to have lived for eight hundred years, and several others lived past two hundred.”

This was recorded in books. Whether it was true was hard to say, but since the books were collected by the imperial family and government offices, their credibility was much higher than that of folk legends.

Chi Wan was reminded of two people: Peng Zu, who, according to the Liezi, lived for over eight hundred years, and Li Qingyuan, who lived for over two hundred and fifty years. As for the truth, who knew?

The latter’s authenticity was unknown, but Peng Zu was said to be a descendant of an emperor and was known as one of the founders of the art of health preservation, a Daoist immortal. He was her own ancestor. She didn’t know if others could live that long, but she was half-convinced about her own Daoist ancestor.

“Never mind, that’s not important. Honglin said there was an immortality drug in the ancient tree, but it was more likely a lure to get us to go.”

With them there, the journey through the Misty Forest would be much easier.

---

The next morning, they set out again, following Honglin from a distance.

She didn’t know what time it was, but Chi Wan felt they had been walking for about two hours when Dabai suddenly stopped. She leaped onto Dabai’s shoulder and looked ahead.

She saw Honglin making a gesture of invitation towards her. So, they had been discovered.

“Honglin has found us.”

Chi Wan patted Dabai’s head. “Thank you. You can go now. If fate allows, I’ll take you away from the Ice Continent, give you endless fish to eat every day, and build you an iceberg.”

Dabai shook its large head disdainfully, turned, and walked away without giving them a chance to ask it to stay.

Chi Wan watched its retreating back with amusement, then turned and walked towards Honglin.

Seeing them, the dozens of people from Honglin’s clan stood up in unison, while Honglin came forward to meet them. “I thought you would be later. Now, hand over the jade disc.”

Chi Wan raised an eyebrow. “How did you know we would come?”

“Why wouldn’t I? There is only one Gan Huang. Can it save two people, Prince of Great Zhou?”

“Hmph, the jade disc you speak of, are you referring to those two jade tablets? Can they open the Void?”

How could she admit to having the jade disc before finding the entrance?

“Stop pretending. If you didn’t have the jade disc, would you have come? I arrived here so early precisely to wait for you. As long as you found the jade disc, you would surely come. So why can’t I just wait here for my prey to walk into the trap?”

Honglin was very certain, as if she was sure they had the jade disc.

Chi Wan calmly assembled her long spear, her expression unchanged. “Unfortunately for you, we followed you here. From the moment you left your village, we were on your trail.”

Hearing this, Honglin’s body stiffened. Could she have guessed wrong?

“You took the body. I smashed the white jade coffin to pieces and found nothing. But the jade disc must be in the coffin. If it’s not there, then it must be on Nü Zhu’s body. Where is Nü Zhu? You didn’t find the jade disc on her body? Impossible, the jade disc must be on Nü Zhu’s body.”

Honglin was overly certain, but she couldn’t be sure if they had found the jade disc on Nü Zhu’s body.

As she spoke, Honglin’s clansmen slowly surrounded them, even attempting to move forward and restrain them.

Chi Wan smiled, sweeping her long spear horizontally to force back Honglin’s people. She exchanged a look with Yu Jiuzhou and immediately understood her thoughts.

Yu Jiuzhou took out the jade disc. “The jade disc is here, but where is the entrance to the Void?”

Their stance was the same: either they enter the Void together, or no one enters at all. They had the jade disc but didn’t know the entrance; Honglin knew the entrance but didn’t have the disc.

“It really is the jade disc.” Honglin tried to get closer to inspect it but was forced back by Chi Wan’s spear. The tip of the spear was aimed at Honglin’s throat, not yielding an inch.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to use gunpowder; Chi Wan was more worried about an avalanche. Without gunpowder or firearms, their martial prowess alone was not something just anyone could overcome. But if the gunpowder triggered an avalanche, none of them would escape.

Honglin had no choice but to retreat, finally nodding. “Fine.”

They were all after the antidote. Everything else could be settled after they entered the Void.

Honglin spoke to her clansmen, “Find the entrance.”

Then, dozens of Honglin’s people began prodding the ground with their swords. Half an hour later, one person’s sword pierced the ground, and the area in front of them immediately collapsed, the surface ice all caving in.

They had been testing for a spot that would collapse.

If they had just walked over it, they would have easily fallen. Chi Wan walked to the edge and glanced at the depth of the collapse—it was at least one or two hundred meters deep. Anyone who fell without reacting would likely be smashed to pieces.

“This is the entrance to the Void. Let’s all go down.”

Everyone hammered iron spikes into the ice, then tied ropes to them, securing them tightly before preparing to descend.

Chi Wan took a look and did the same, hammering a spike into the ice. Their spikes were different from the others; they had barbs on them that could catch the buckles on their ropes. The buckle on the other end was attached to their belts.

Then they cleared some of the ice chunks stuck to the soles of their shoes. Because their soles were covered in nails, some ice would inevitably get stuck.

The ice shoes were specially prepared for their trip to the Ice Continent. The dense nails on the soles were better suited for walking on ice, but they needed to be cleaned from time to time.

After these preparations, the four of them grabbed their ropes and slowly descended. A depth of over a hundred meters required caution. Moreover, the ice surface was slippery, making the descent difficult.

Then they took out two hooks, which easily dug into the ice. Combined with the nails on their shoe soles, they didn’t have to struggle to find footholds or worry about slipping; they could step directly into the ice.

For them, the ropes were just a double insurance. With the ice climbing hooks and spiked shoes, as long as they were careful, it wasn’t a problem.

The Honglin clansmen, who were struggling to climb down, were stunned by this sight. How were they descending so effortlessly, while for them, one misstep meant death?

Honglin was speechless. She thought she had prepared thoroughly, but compared to them, she was nothing.

She sneered mockingly, “The Prince of Great Zhou is so afraid of death.”

“Ah!” Before she could finish her sentence, a scream drew everyone’s attention. One of the Honglin clansmen had fallen.

Chi Wan looked away, not indulging her in the slightest. “If you’re not afraid of death, why don’t you just jump?”

Honglin was speechless again.

Amidst the continuous screams of the Honglin clansmen, everyone finally reached the bottom of the chasm. By this time, only two-thirds of Honglin’s people remained. There were already fewer of them than they had seen in the Misty Forest, and now there were even fewer. Honglin really seemed intent on using up all her clansmen!

Chi Wan observed the bottom of the chasm, searching for the entrance. Sure enough, she saw a passage, about four or five meters wide, quite large. Walking in, they entered an ice cave. The cave was a bit smaller, but still about three meters wide.

“You go first,” Honglin said brazenly.

Xia Qu’s fiery temper flared. “On what grounds? We’re already at the entrance. We could just kill you all and go in ourselves.”

At her words, everyone drew their weapons again.

Remembering the martial prowess of these four, Honglin waved her hand and, exasperated, led her people in first.

After walking for about ten minutes, they finally arrived at an ice door. On it was a distinct indentation, clearly a place for the jade disc.

Chi Wan took the jade disc from Yu Jiuzhou and placed it in the indentation. The next second, the ice door opened, revealing what seemed like another world inside.

But the moment the door opened, a cloud of white mist rushed out. She quickly retreated, her toes tapping on the ice a few times to evade it. The white mist hit the faces of the Honglin clansmen, and several more died.

“Soul-Devouring Mist. Anything living that touches it will be consumed without a trace,” Honglin explained.

Chi Wan looked at the few puddles of water on the ground. There was still water left, so how was it “without a trace”? But now was not the time to argue about that.

Honglin was clearly using her clansmen as cannon fodder. She had them enter first again. This time, it was safe. The few who had just died hadn’t even had time to scream before they were gone.

After entering the Void, they found themselves in a palace made of ice. Piles of gold were stacked on the ice floor. Someone immediately went to grab some, only to be stabbed to death by Honglin. “Let me make this clear. If anyone touches this money and causes something to happen, I will kill them myself.”

Chi Wan and the others said nothing. Although Honglin was ruthless, they agreed with her actions. No one knew what would happen if they touched the gold.

The group entered the second palace. As they walked, Chi Wan suddenly realized that the people around her had disappeared.

What was happening? She looked around and saw cars speeding towards her. She quickly stepped back, and a driver yelled at her, “Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

Wasn’t she in the Void? How did she suddenly return to a place she hadn’t even dreamed of for years? A familiar yet strange feeling filled her heart. Had she transmigrated back from the Void?

She shook her head in confusion and started searching for her phone. After searching for a long time, she couldn’t find it. Impossible. A modern person might forget themselves, but they would never forget their phone. This place was fake.

She squeezed her eyes shut, then snapped them open to see Yu Jiuzhou’s worried gaze.

“Chi Wan!” Yu Jiuzhou let out a sigh of relief.

Chi Wan smiled happily. She knew it. She didn’t want to go back to the modern world anyway. With her wife by her side, who would want to go back? Using the modern world as her illusion… they didn’t even consider that she, Chi Wan, was not someone who would go anywhere without her phone!

“I’m fine.” She squeezed Yu Jiuzhou’s hand, and the two of them immediately went to wake up Xia Qu and Yu Xingchen. As it turned out, Xia Qu and Yu Xingchen exchanged a glance, and both of them blushed.

A moment later, Honglin also woke up. Seeing that they had woken up before her, she let out another cold snort. Crazy!

They later learned that the illusions were based on wealth, lust, power, fame, and other things that could stir a person’s deepest desires.

Chi Wan was surprised. Was her deepest desire really to return to the modern world? Perhaps it was because she had obtained everything in this world, but she still thought about how, after she transmigrated, there would be no one left to burn incense for her grandmother. That must be why she wanted to go back.

Including Honglin, only three of her clansmen had woken up. She had wanted to use her numbers to overwhelm them, but now they had more people than she did.

Without a word, they entered the third ice palace. Everyone was stunned by the sight before them. There was medicine, a lot of it, all stored in boxes made of ice.

Chi Wan quickly found the Gan Huang among them. There were three pills. She walked over without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Honglin went straight to the high platform. On an ice pillar on the platform was an ornate ice box. She picked up a hammer to smash it.

“Stop!” Yu Jiuzhou shouted, having seen a line of words on the pillar. “One item per person, the greedy will die.”

The item on the pillar must be the legendary immortality drug. They weren’t seeking immortality. She directly smashed the ice box with her hammer. “Quick, everyone take one Gan Huang.”

She took one first, and Xia Qu and Yu Xingchen each took one as well. Logically, since there were four of them, they could take one more item.

Chi Wan keenly noticed that spiderweb-like cracks were appearing on the walls.

It turned out that Honglin had picked up the entire box containing the immortality drug, intending to take the box and all.

“Let’s go!” Chi Wan grabbed Yu Jiuzhou and ran outside. Just as they rushed out of the palace, a giant python shot out from the pillar on the high platform. With a sweep of its tail, it knocked Honglin out. The people who had entered with her were still inside.

However, the ice box Honglin was holding was knocked to the ground; she hadn’t managed to bring it out. She struggled to go back in, but the giant python had already rushed out and lunged at her.

The four of them didn’t stop. They had already obtained the Gan Huang, which was enough to cure their poison. There was no need to fight the giant python to the death. They had to leave quickly.

They ran swiftly out of the three palaces. Behind them, Honglin also struggled to run out. She knew that even if she couldn’t get the immortality drug, going back in would mean certain death.

The four of them pulled on their ropes and scrambled up the cliff like they were flying. Before they could even steady themselves, the ice surface began to crack again. They could only run quickly towards safer ground.

The giant python’s movements must have caused the ice to crack. The large-scale fracturing could have unknown consequences. They ran towards the outer perimeter without any hesitation.

They were fast, but the cracking ice was faster. In the end, they couldn’t outrun it. They missed a step and fell.

An unknown amount of time passed. Pinned under the ice, Chi Wan twitched a finger. She felt dizzy as she looked around. She had no strength left, and her internal energy was completely depleted.

Cold… so cold.

She was trapped under the ice and couldn’t get up, but she had no strength to break free. Suddenly, her vision went black, and she felt something soft and warm. When she could see clearly again, she was already in the air. It was then that she saw the bear’s face in front of her.

“Dabai?”

“Wuwu~” Dabai patted its chest, then dangled Chi Wan by her leg, as if to say: What happened to you? Are you dead?

Chi Wan, already in a terrible state, was shaken into unconsciousness.

When she woke up again, she was enveloped in warmth. She managed to open her eyes and look around, finding herself in a tent.

A tent?

Her leg was broken, so she could only inch her way out of the tent. Seeing her, Chun Gui immediately rushed over. “Your Highness.”

“How did I get here?”

Chun Gui quickly explained, “We felt the earth shake, so we hurried in to find you. We hadn’t gone far when we saw a bear laying you, Her Majesty, Xia Qu, and Xingchen side by side, and it was about to bury you in the snow.”

Chi Wan was speechless. She never would have thought that after surviving the giant python and the ice collapse, she would nearly be buried by a bear.

“What about Yu Jiuzhou and the others?”

“Rest assured, Your Highness. Her Majesty said you shielded her with your body, so she is fine. As for Xia Qu and Xingchen, they were lucky and also not seriously injured.”

So, she was the only unlucky one?

It seemed so.

Perhaps hearing her voice, Yu Jiuzhou strode over. “Chi Wan!”

She grinned. “It’s alright. We’re all safe.”

As for her leg, she could slowly heal it with her internal energy. Qiu Lai had already treated and set it for her. As a physician, she had used her internal energy to check it and knew it wasn’t a serious injury.

On the way back, Chi Wan lay on a stretcher. The group gathered everyone as they went; not one of the three hundred people was missing. They walked for three or four months before returning to the ship. By then, she no longer needed a stretcher, or even a crutch. As long as she didn’t try to fly, she could walk slowly without anyone noticing her leg had been injured.

It would take several more months to return to Mugu from the Ice Continent. By then, she would probably be fully healed.

On the way back, she used the three Gan Huang pills to create several vials of elixir. Each of them who cultivated internal energy received a vial. The poison in Yu Jiuzhou and Xingchen was completely cured, which was a cause for great celebration.

What delighted Chi Wan the most was that her internal energy, which had been stagnant at the peak of the Great Achievement stage, finally showed signs of advancing. Before they even reached Mugu, her internal energy had reached the Great Perfection stage. The moment it did, the world seemed to move in slow motion. It took her a full month to adapt to this new state.

She felt as if she had entered a profound and mysterious state, a transcendent feeling, almost as if she were about to ascend. Of course, it wasn’t ascension, just a state of having perfected her internal energy. She also felt her body return to how it was when she was seventeen or eighteen. No, her body had reached a state of perfection, so perfect that she no longer seemed human, as if she could leave this world at any moment.

With two vials of the elixir as a foundation, it was only a matter of time before Yu Jiuzhou’s internal energy reached the Great Perfection stage. This trip had not been in vain; they had managed to resolve everything.

When they returned to Mugu, Jiang Weiyang was there waiting for them. They weren’t in a hurry to return to the capital. They had been too rushed on the way there, so Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou decided to enjoy the journey back, not missing a single stop.

On the way back from Mugu, Chi Wan recounted the events on the Ice Continent. Speaking of Honglin, she sighed with some emotion. “Actually, the inscription on Nü Zhu’s jade tablet said that there was no immortality drug. The so-called immortality drug was created by the sorcerers of the ancient Xia dynasty, who were Daoists, by combining medicinal herbs with beast blood. The best version was combined with the blood of a nine-eyed snake, which could greatly extend a person’s lifespan. Even if it couldn’t grant eternal life, it was enough to report back to the ancient Xia emperor. And Nü Zhu was the one guarding the experiment.”

In other words, the so-called Void was actually a laboratory.

“Nü Zhu encountered trouble on her way back with the drug and was buried in Mugu. Her servant stole the immortality drug and consumed it, which resulted in him turning into a snake-like creature. According to the records found by the Embroidered-Robe Guard in Honglin’s village, he should have lived for seven hundred years. The lifespan of each successive generation gradually decreased, and by Honglin’s generation, it had returned to a normal hundred years. Honglin wanted to find the immortality drug to continue her family’s longevity and also to resolve the half-snake bloodline in her body.”

In more modern terms, the immortality drug had modified the first Honglin’s genes, causing all of his descendants to have snake scales. By the nineteenth generation, the benefit of longevity was gone, but they were still half-snake.

In any case, Chi Wan had seen with her own eyes that Honglin was bitten on the leg by the giant python and dragged away. Under those circumstances, it was impossible for her to have survived. And the so-called Void had completely collapsed, so there would be no more Void in the future.

Hearing Honglin’s story, everyone felt a bit wistful. Eternal life was impossible; a long life was already very good.

Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou exchanged a look. Her internal energy had reached the Great Perfection stage. According to records, someone at this level could live for three hundred years. She didn’t know if it was true, but if it was, she certainly hoped Yu Jiuzhou could live that long as well. Fortunately, the elixir had improved Yu Jiuzhou’s constitution, making it perfect as well.

All she needed was time, and as someone who had reached the Great Achievement stage, time was what she had in abundance.

---

Three years after their return from the sea to the capital, Yu Jiuzhou successfully cultivated her internal energy to the Great Perfection stage. She felt the same sensation as Chi Wan.

They often felt as if they were about to detach from this world, as if they were no longer a part of it. As people with a lifespan of three hundred years, they were indeed different from ordinary people.

When Chenchen, who had remained unmarried her entire life, was about to pass the throne to Guiyi’s Kun Ze daughter, they also decided to leave the capital and find a place to live in seclusion for the rest of their days.

After all, their children were old, while their own appearances remained unchanged. They couldn’t let people know that the Emperor and the Prince of Great Zhou did not age.

It wasn’t that they didn’t age. An ordinary person’s lifespan was a hundred years, and they would start to age after forty or fifty. Theirs was three hundred years, so they would start to age after they were over a hundred.

They could watch the dynasty they had personally revived rise and fall. Whether it declined or experienced a resurgence, they would not interfere. The rise and fall of dynasties was a natural cycle. They had saved Great Zhou once; they could not save it a second time.

By the time they were a hundred years old, Great Zhou had entered the steam age. Even as a transmigrator, there was not much Chi Wan could do. Watching Great Zhou decline from its golden age, they could only smile and sigh at the ebb and flow of fortune.

Fortunately, they were always by each other’s side, spending the rest of their long days together.

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