Know Your Immortal Bones Lack Cold and Heat

The Immortal Court had been peaceful and stable for tens of thousands of years.

This sudden upheaval had rippled across the three great immortal mountains and eight divine palaces, nearly sparking a catastrophe that would have jeopardized the three realms.

Now that the disaster had been extinguished for over two months, the various divine palaces remained shaken.

The immortal lords and maids appeared far more diligent than before.

“With things running so seamlessly, it seems the Immortal Court will be tranquil for another ten thousand years.”

Transcendence expressed great anticipation for the foreseeable “quiet years” ahead, having only recently returned to the Immortal Court.

“Indeed. Thinking about it now, the one the Heavenly Dao favors most must be you.”

Yun Yao leaned half-jokingly against the desk in the Fate Palace, swirling the clear wine in her jar.

She gazed out of the open wooden window at the distant mountains, the bright moon, and the cool breeze.

The moonlight and mist shrouded the river’s surface, where the lamplights shimmered—unchanged for ten thousand years.

She took a light sip and turned back. “You dislike trouble, so you rarely encounter it. I am the most carefree by nature, yet I am forever bound by the ethics and rules of the world. And Calamity…”

Her voice trailed off into her wine, like a leaf cast into a river, causing only a slight ripple.

Silence lingered around the desk for a moment. Neither of them took up that particular thread; instead, with the unspoken understanding of tens of thousands of years, they bypassed it in unison.

Transcendence spoke first: “I heard from that little maid in your palace, Yun Qiao, that you went up to the Ninth Heaven a few days ago. When you returned, you were covered in profound frost and were confined to your bed for a month before you could get up?”

“…”

Yun Yao’s eyelashes swept down. “She loves to speculate wildly; it never happened.”

“Is that so?”

Transcendence took the wine jar from her hand with a half-smile and shook it between them. Upon the jar’s surface, a layer of chilling white frost actually manifested.

“Then what is this?”

Yun Yao instinctively brushed her fingertips over it.

It was something she couldn’t hide—a frosty chill that even her immortal power could not suppress.

“Given your cultivation, I can think of nothing that could wound you to this extent except for the Heavenly Cold Jade atop the Ninth Heaven—a substance cold enough to freeze an entire world.”

Transcendence placed the wine jar back, his smile fading.

“Does the disappearance of that coffin in your hall have something to do with this?”

“You know well that under the power of the Heavenly Dao, he likely will never return. Why pay such a heavy price just to preserve a soulless body?”

Transcendence sighed. “The Heavenly Cold Jade never melts in ten thousand years; the chill it has left in your body will accompany you until your eternal demise. The immortal path ahead is long, yet you must suffer the bone-eroding cold every night just to keep his corpse intact. Is it worth it?”

Yun Yao finally raised her eyes. “There are some people and some things in this world that simply cannot be measured by whether they are ‘worth it’ or not.”

Transcendence gazed at her in silence for a long time. Finally, he dissolved a thousand words into a single smile. “Fine. Then this cup is to your ‘not measuring’.”

After three rounds of wine, even gods fall.

Transcendence left with a simple “Take care of your Saint Lord” and drifted away on a cloud crane. This left Yun Qiao and a newly ascended little maid in the Fate Palace to tidy up the woman slumbering by the desk.

Seeing Yun Qiao move a burning charcoal brazier to Yun Yao’s side, the new maid widened her eyes in curiosity. “Do the Divine Lords need to warm themselves by a fire too?”

“Divine Lords don’t, but our Saint Lord does.”

Yun Qiao sighed dejectedly, as if remembering something. She gestured for the little maid to hand her the black crane-feather cloak and draped it over the sleeping woman.

“After all, among low-ranking immortals, who would dare go to the Ninth Heaven to debate the Dao with Heaven itself?”

The little maid moved closer to the desk. “What was debated?”

“One might say… whether she could borrow a piece of jade from it.”

“Ah… eh?”

The little maid was full of curiosity, but before she could press further, the woman slumbering by the desk reached out and gripped her wrist mid-air.

She jumped in fright and tried to pull away, but saw Yun Qiao signaling her with a look.

The little maid suppressed her panic and looked cautiously at the Saint Lord, whose face was as beautiful as a hibiscus. She saw the lady’s willow-leaf brows slightly furrowed and her lips parted slightly, as if murmuring a name in her dreams.

She wondered who the Saint Lord was dreaming of, for a person of her stature to show such a wronged, sorrowful expression.

After escaping, the little maid couldn’t help her curiosity and asked Yun Qiao: “I heard from the immortal lords that Saint Origin is the most powerful deity in the three realms, the Saint Origin who governs all rules. Does she have worries too?”

Yun Qiao remained silent for a long time, eventually looking up toward the Ninth Heaven.

“The one who governs all rules in the world is the Heavenly Dao, not the Saint Lord.”

“It is just that the word ‘love’ has always existed outside the rules of heaven and earth.”

On the day Yun Yao descended to the lower realm, she did not disturb any palace or hall. Only Transcendence came to see her off.

“You won’t live the leisurely life of the Immortal Court and insist on descending to experience mortal suffering,” Transcendence sighed incessantly. “If Father God had assigned the duty of ‘Teaching and Salvation’ to you back then, wouldn’t we all be happy?”

“Teaching?”

Knowing it was a joke, Yun Yao still retorted: “Throughout history, I have only taken one disciple, and his name now shakes the Immortal Court. Are you sure you want me to act as the world’s mentor in your stead?”

Recalling the tragic “Master-Disciple Bond” she had heard of through rumors, Transcendence grew tense for a moment and immediately admitted his mistake: “Never mind. As expected of Father God, he always had tens of thousands of years of foresight. For the stability of the Immortal Court and the three realms, this job is not for you.”

Yun Yao gave a light scoff. “If anything happens in the Immortal Court, send a divine message to me.”

Transcendence turned slightly serious. “Is it truly a journey you must take?”

“The immortal life is long; what is there that ‘must’ be?”

Yun Yao thought for a moment, and for some reason, the corners of her lips hooked up. “It is just that… only there did I feel I truly lived.”

Transcendence looked wordlessly at Yun Yao’s sleeve. He knew that beneath it, she wore a semi-transparent ring of ice-jade that emitted a terrifyingly cold air.

It was the only thing she planned to take from the Immortal Court.

Transcendence sighed softly. “What if you cannot find him?”

Yun Yao paused for a moment.

“…Then I shall wait.”

“Wait until when?”

“Wait until…” Yun Yao smiled lightly, “within the three realms, in the midst of the unseen, the moment he wakes and calls to me for the first time.”

“Senior Martial Aunt!!”

“Waaaah, Senior Martial Aunt, you’re finally back!!”

Upon her return to Qianmen, the call she was waiting for did not arrive, but the enthusiastic “bear hugs” at Fengtian Peak were certainly not lacking.

Faced with Ding Xiao, whose face was a mess of tears and who was rubbing her face against Yun Yao’s front, Yun Yao felt helpless yet amused. “I only went on a long trip; I didn’t die.”

“Waaaah… but Fifth Grandmaster… Fifth Grandmaster said three months… I waited for so many three-month periods—and I never saw you! Waaaah—”

Across the teary-eyed Ding Xiao, Yun Yao felt a bit guilty. She looked up and caught the gaze of Mu Jiutian, who was standing a few yards behind her.

“Alright, there were some delays in the middle, and I didn’t clarify in advance. It was my fault…”

Patting Ding Xiao, Yun Yao watched as she wiped her tears and stood up, nodding righteously. Yun Yao jokingly tapped her forehead.

After calming Ding Xiao down, Yun Yao walked over to Mu Jiutian.

“Had enough fun and finally remembered to come home?” Mu Jiutian seemed a bit huffy, though he was accustomed to hiding it with a smile. “How long do you plan to stay this time? Three months?”

Pretending not to hear the jab about “three months,” Yun Yao picked up a tea cup from the table. “This time, I’m not leaving.”

Mu Jiutian raised an eyebrow, seemingly disbelieving as he looked her over. “What kind of shock did you receive to change your nature? When have you ever been able to stay still in the sect?”

Yun Yao’s expression as she held the cup faltered for a tiny moment, but she quickly smoothed it over without a trace. “In the past, the Qianyuan Realm was quite unsettled, and I was busy being a hero. Now… I just want to live in a quiet corner and worry about a few idle matters at the gate. Naturally, I’m not leaving.”

“That’s fine. Every day you’re outside the gates is a day I have to worry,” Mu Jiutian waved his hand. “The sect underwent some reorganization recently; many isolated peaks were taken back or reallocated. However, your Tianshan Peak was kept. I’ll have Ding Xiao take you back to look around.”

Yun Yao’s gaze flickered slightly.

She wanted to ask what had become of Mu Hanyuan’s isolated peak, but ultimately, the question did not leave her mouth.

Ding Xiao immediately popped up beside them, pushing aside He Fengming who was sheepishly stepping forward. “Great! I’ll take Senior Martial Aunt! I know the way!”

Upon her return, Yun Yao found that Ding Xiao talked even more than before. Likely having held back for too long, she was eager to gossip about every single detail of Qianmen, from top to bottom.

The chatter continued all the way to the base of Tianshan Peak.

Initially, Yun Yao was patient. Whether intentionally or not, she wanted to hear even a tiny bit of old news about that person from these old acquaintances, even if it was just a passing mention.

However, things did not go as she wished. Ding Xiao did not mention a single word about him.

It was as if she didn’t care at all.

—If Yun Yao didn’t remember that Ding Xiao and He Fengming hadn’t even come to see her off when she left because she had stabbed Mu Hanyuan atop the peak, then she might have actually believed she didn’t care.

Could Mu Jiutian have told them something?

Yun Yao thought, and turned toward Ding Xiao tentatively. “Are you finally not angry with me anymore?”

“…The junior brother who came to help me sweep last time suggested it, and I agree the mountain feels empty; we should plant some—eh?”

Ding Xiao, who had been speaking excitedly, turned back. “Me? Angry at you, Senior Martial Aunt? Why would I be angry?”

Met with Ding Xiao’s utterly innocent expression, it was Yun Yao’s turn to feel helpless and amused. “When we came down from the peak back then, you wouldn’t say a single word to me. If you saw me from afar, you’d turn and leave even if we were ten yards apart. Has the anger vanished so cleanly now?”

“The peak?”

Ding Xiao’s gaze grew even more bewildered. “I remember the peak… that was the territory of the Sword-Hanging Sect, wasn’t it? That’s all the way at Two Realms Mountain. Did I ever accompany you there, Senior Martial Aunt?”

Yun Yao’s smile froze.

If Ding Xiao was acting right now, the bewildered look on her face was far too real, enough to make Yun Yao’s heart sink.

“Ah, I remember now!” Ding Xiao clapped her hands. “Are you talking about the time we went to the peak together to watch the immortal sects’ public trial of that demon?”

“Demon?”

Hearing Ding Xiao’s calm, detached, and indifferent tone—as if she were mentioning a stranger—Yun Yao felt her heart being gripped tighter and tighter.

She softened her voice and asked, “Then do you still remember… what that demon’s name was?”

Ding Xiao’s expression grew more puzzled. She tried to recall for a moment and shook her head. “A demon is just a demon; what name would they have? Senior Martial Aunt, have you been away for too long and remembered something wrong?”

Yun Yao was frozen in place.

She gripped the ice-cold jade ring on her finger in disbelief, her voice trembling. “Then… what about Mu Hanyuan?”