At the top of an extremely icy mountain, winds that would freeze average Mental Nourishing cultivators blew year-round. The entire mountain was a world of white, with grey clouds hovering above and making the world somewhat dull and dark.
And yet, around this extreme mountain, several buildings and paths could be easily spotted. There was even a wall circling midway around the mountain. The white and blue wall had complex, yellow formations, creating a boundary that prevented people from flying in a column soaring straight skyward around them. This formation was also used as this sect's defensive formation.
In a room atop this mountain, an elderly woman with white hair opened her eyes from meditation. Her eyes, an icy blue, and her indifferent expression were the exact image of a detached immortal.
Even when the woman was elderly, she didn't have many wrinkles, just a few at the corners of her mouth and eyes. Beyond that, though, one could perfectly see that this woman once had an extremely beautiful visage.
The woman slowly stood up, her simple, white robe rustling lightly. Once she walked outside, she saw a man standing at the entrance. The man's expression was similarly cold and handsome, beautiful long black hair falling freely behind him. His blue, indifferent eyes made his temperament look even colder.
"Why are you here?" The woman asked, her voice soft and pleasant like cold water flowing at the end of winter.
The man looked at the woman and spoke calmly. "Sect Leader Bai, the competition for resources will begin shortly. How is the holy daughter's preparation ongoing?"
The woman looked at the man's face for a few seconds, lightly asking. "Bing Chen, is that the reason you interrupted my closed-door cultivation?"
Bing Chen's expression didn't change. "The holy daughter arrived long ago in our sect. You've been protecting her for some reason, but she needs to put in her weight. Otherwise, the resources she had consumed would've been wasted."
The woman remained indifferent. "Your ambitions are not low. While we are strong, we are not a sect that bothers with the mundane."
Bing Chen's eyes flickered for the first time, a flash of exhaustion fleeting for less than an instant. "Sect Master Bai, without involving ourselves in mortal matters, we won't have resources left. Our sect has always been quite careful when nurturing talents, always finding the best elites. However, the Holy Daughter's appearance had created a stir. Even you, who are usually detached, should've noticed that there are far more people trying to join us lately."
Sect Master Bai looked toward one of the nearby structures, and then she asked. "Why did that happen?"
Bing Chen internally sighed. "Isn't it because they've been ensnared by the Holy Daughter's beauty? While it is not bad to increase our disciples, we are starting to be quite tight on resources."
"So." Sect Master Bai glanced at Bing Chen. "What are you suggesting?"
Bing Chen answered lightly. "First, we need to participate in that competition. Send the Holy Daughter and show others that we have not become muddled. With her strength, winning the competition should be no problem."
Sect Master Bai didn't speak, her blue eyes lightly glancing at him. "Then?"
Bing Chen paused here, and Sect Master Bai, as if knowing what he wanted to say, asked with a faint, indifferent smile. "Are you trying to pair our Holy Daughter with that Prince?"
Bing Chen didn't deny it. "Yes. The Scarlet Sun Empire is rich in resources, covering land far beyond ours. If we enter a marriage partnership, we will expand our resources several times over."
Sect Master Bai asked. "What if the Holy Daughter denies it? You know how she is. With her personality, there would be a higher chance of offending the Prince than not if they met."
Bing Chen couldn't help but sigh. "Sect Master Bai, she listens to you. I can only hope that you can guide her properly."
"Listens to me…" Sect Master Bai repeated those words, as if savoring them. "You are quite confident in those words. Sadly, I must disappoint you. She and I have a cooperative relationship. Nothing beyond that. The times she appeared to help us were because of the payment we offered her." She said blandly. "Her sense of belonging is… faint."
"Faint?" Bing Chen squinted. "The last time, you said it was nonexistent."
"Even an iceberg can melt if exposed to the light of the sun daily." Sect Master Bai spoke. "Regardless, I won't force her to do anything. She has helped us plenty already. Go ask her yourself if you want to use her strength."
Then, she turned around, her white robes and hair fluttering with the wind as she reentered her abode.
Bing Chen paused for a moment and shook his head. Extending his foot, his body was covered by snow, and he covered the distance in an instant, arriving at the front of the simple courtyard where it snowed day and night.
He walked slowly, his shoes making little to no sound, and after turning right, he arrived at the snowy, open space. Even when he saw her often and practiced ice-related cultivation techniques, dulling his emotions, he couldn't help but pause.
In the middle of the white garden sat a peerlessly beautiful woman. Her facial features, as if carved by a goddess from the most exquisite piece of sacred ice, showed absolutely no emotion as she sat cross-legged with her eyes closed.
Behind her, long platinum-blonde hair reached the ground, entangling a bit with the two massively large silver phoenix wings on her back. Three captivating phoenix tails encircled her legs, while the shadow of the Moon constantly shone behind her.
Her pale, pink lips; nose; long, silvery eyebrows and eyelashes; and peerless facial features completed the very meaning of a cold and aloof beauty.
Before Bing Chen spoke, the woman's eyelashes fluttered gently as she opened her eyes. A pair of eternally emotionless, blue, icy irises were revealed, only adding to her temperament.
"Grand Elder Bing."
The woman spoke, as if her words were worth a thousand pounds of gold each.
Bing Chen reacted faintly and recollected his thoughts. "Cecile Dravory, there will be a tournament soon. We want you to participate."
"Not interested," Cecile answered flatly, closing her eyes again.
Bing Chen, even with his lack of emotions, couldn't help but have his lips twitch. 'Can you at least hear what I wanted to say? Why are you closing your eyes again? Are you trying to kick me out?'
"Holy Daughter, the resources you consume are not cheap. This tournament will give you the means to gain stronger and rarer resources."
Cecile, who had remained unmoved, opened her eyes once more. "Speak."
Bing Chen nodded. "Next year, a tournament to battle for resource mines, secret realms, and terrain will occur. We will battle our neighboring sects, and if the experts we send win, we will take over those resource points. Among them, there is the [Thousand Ice Seal] Secret Realm, from where we can collect many resources that will help the sect and you."
Cecile pondered in her head, her expression not even twitching, as if she had frozen her features in time. "Strength?"
Bing Chen, already accustomed after so many decades of interaction, answered. "The strongest who can participate is a Third Level Transcendence Realm Cultivator."
Cecile nodded and closed her eyes again.
Bing Chen's lips twitched. "Are you going then?"
Cecile opened her eyes, somewhat annoyed. 'Didn't I just nod? Why is he asking? Can't he understand me as Yasenia does?'
"Yes. Participating."
Bing Chen sighed in his mind. He felt a bit drained after interacting with her. Even among the very cold people in their sect, Cecile ranked undoubtedly at number one! He even wondered if she had practiced some emotion-severing technique.
"Alright, then let's go."
"Hm?" Cecile blinked, a flicker of confusion flashing in her icy blue eyes. "Now?"
Bing Chen nodded. "The earlier we leave, the better. It will take us around 7 months to arrive. We can use the rest of the time to properly settle down."
Cecile pondered and nodded, her folded wings stretched a little and flapped lightly, making her body fly a few meters above. Then, she called in her gorgeous, cold voice. "Fylia."
Cold wind gathered below Cecile, and as she descended, she sat sideways on the back of the majestic creature. Bing Chen looked and nodded. "Your ten-eyed Qilin is a really beautiful beast."
Cecile didn't answer, gently patting the mane of the spirit beast. Since she arrived, she had never shown her Phoenix Beast Form. Therefore, she didn't clarify that Fylia was not her contracted beast, but her contracted spirit.
Of course, there were sharp-eyed people who knew, but since Beast Humans could also contract spirits, they didn't say anything.
Fylia spoke to Cecile through their link, her voice soft and gentle. 'Where are we going, Cecile?'
Cecile spoke to her, blurting out an endless stream of words. 'We are going to participate in a tournament. The maximum strength of the people who can participate is Third Level Transcendence. Therefore, I am quite confident in winning. The two of us are really strong, after all. If we win, we will earn resources, allowing me to train more quickly. Say, do you think we are keeping up with Yasenia? I wonder how she is doing. Do you think she has given birth? Also, since the tournament is seven months away, I wonder which part of the [Waves And Peaks World] it is? Ah, right, I need to call Clara as well.'
"Clara."
A second later, a slim and cheerful woman with mid-length white hair, silver eyes, and beautifully tanned skin appeared wearing her maid attire and holding a bow. "You called, Miss?"
Cecile nodded and began bombarding her with words again, explaining everything in detail and a bit more. Fylia and Clara exchanged glances silently.
Bing Chen looked at the beast and maid and sighed. 'With someone as cold as Cecile as their master, I wonder how they can understand her orders so clearly?'
Shaking his head, he turned around and spoke lightly. "Let's go."
A few moments later, Bing Chen guided Cecile, who was elegantly mounting Fylia with both her legs to one side, to the flying ship belonging to the sect.
When Cecile appeared, many eyes turned toward her, the grand majority showing endless awe and respect, as if they had seen their goddess arrive. Only a few looked at her with a touch of jealousy and resentment.
After all, her appearance was quite sudden, and her ascent to Holy Daughter trampled over many others. Cecile, of course, was as oblivious as ever. After all, our Moon Phoenix girl was not cold and indifferent; she was just unbothered by her surroundings.
"We greet Grand Elder Bing. We greet the Holy Daughter."
Bing Chen nodded lightly, activating the flying ship's formations, while Cecile continued looking ahead dazedly. Outwardly, though, she appeared as cold and unapproachable as ever.