#559 - Let's put down all our dignity.

Jun Wuxie felt a strange sensation in his heart.

Someone had tampered with the Ice Cloud Tower's cultivation methods, but who was it?

In which era were the Ice Cloud Tower's cultivation methods tampered with?

Was it a calculated move from the very beginning, or did it happen during a certain period of inheritance?

What was the purpose of the person who secretly plotted against the Ice Cloud Tower?

Judging from the problems that arose after cultivating the modified methods, that person likely wanted to control the Ice Cloud Tower and turn the entire organization into a plaything in their hands.

However, over the long years, the Ice Cloud Tower had been very peaceful. Apart from this incident, they had not encountered any major crises in the past.

This was very strange…

He snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at the bronze coffin in the distance, which lay there quietly.

A faint halo of soul light floated near the coffin, as if it could dissipate at any moment. It was a wisp of the Witch Goddess's true soul.

"That bronze coffin…"

Before he could finish, Ye Qingxue took over the conversation: "She didn't lie to you. She is indeed the leader of the ancient Witch Clan, and evil thoughts arose within her. Her true soul is weakened to the point of near-dissipation in the struggle against those evil thoughts."

Jun Wuxie was stunned and looked at the faint light of the true soul, saying, "Is there a way to eliminate the evil thoughts?"

"Eliminating the Witch Goddess's evil thoughts is not difficult, but her true soul has formed a special symbiotic relationship with the evil thoughts over the long years. This is also why the evil soul hasn't completely obliterated her true soul. In a while, I will put aside the matters at hand and take her true soul to the Town Suppressing Pagoda to help her slowly recover. Once the true soul has recovered to a certain extent, the symbiosis can be forcibly broken and the evil soul can be annihilated."

Jun Wuxie nodded, looking somewhat absentmindedly at her masked face.

"Is there anything else?"

Ye Qingxue's tone was calm, like a waveless ancient well or a desolate starry sky.

"Nothing."

The word "Nannan" was stuck in his throat, and he ultimately didn't call it out.

He felt a sense of emptiness in his heart.

The little girl he had cherished back then could never return to his side.

Why were she and Ye Qingxue the same person?

How much he wished they were two different people.

That way, one day in the future, he might still be able to find her, hold her hand like before, take her to eat delicious food, and she would look at him with a happy face, her eyes shining brightly as she said, 'Big brother is the best, the best…'

"Mm."

Ye Qingxue gave a faint "Mm" and turned to walk towards the Town Suppressing Pagoda.

Jun Wuxie prepared to return to the outside world. As he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped and looked at Ye Qingxue, who was about to enter the Town Suppressing Pagoda, and said, "That mask, I hope you can return it to me, after all, you are not her…"

Ye Qingxue suddenly stopped, standing in front of the Town Suppressing Pagoda with her back to him.

Her aura remained very calm, without the slightest fluctuation.

Jun Wuxie couldn't sense any emotion from her. At this moment, he actually felt relieved.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt relieved, but immediately followed by an unusually heavy and uncomfortable feeling.

The relief was that the peerless woman before him had truly let go of everything from the past, so he didn't need to be conflicted or treat her as Nannan.

She wasn't, she wasn't that little girl, not the Nannan in his heart.

She wasn't Nannan… but his Nannan would never return.

He would never see that little one again, never…

"This mask, after all, is something I have worn, and even if I don't want it anymore, I will only destroy it."

As she said this, she took off the mask from her face.

Jun Wuxie saw the mask slowly turn into light and smoke in her hand, rapidly dissipating.

"Ye Qingxue!!"

Jun Wuxie rushed over, and his anger burned uncontrollably at that moment.

But he was still too late.

The mask disappeared, turning into light and smoke in her hands, before his eyes.

"You…"

He pointed at Ye Qingxue's back, his whole body trembling.

"You're right, I'm not her."

She said calmly, took a step forward, and her body disappeared into the Town Suppressing Pagoda.

Jun Wuxie slowly retracted his hand in the air, clenching it tightly into a fist, the back of his hand covered with veins.

He didn't know how long he stood in front of the Town Suppressing Pagoda.

His heart felt as if a blank space had been carved out of it.

He couldn't find Nannan's shadow in Ye Qingxue, and for him, she was no longer her.

Then she was no longer the attachment he felt for Nannan in his heart. Only that mask, only that mask was!

But now, that mask, it was gone, destroyed by Ye Qingxue…

Even after leaving the Eternal Life Shrine, Jun Wuxie's mood hadn't recovered.

At this moment, inside the Town Suppressing Pagoda.

Ye Qingxue stood in the vast void, her black hair fluttering slightly.

She still wore the bronze mask on her face…

The Vermilion Bird, golden eyes slightly raised, glanced at her.

She was speechless at the scene of mutual harm that had just taken place.

The two of them were clearly very steady people, how could they suddenly become as impulsive as children, and still be sulking!

However, in this game, the princess seemed to have won completely.

…

At the same time, in front of the Zhuxian Sword Sect mountain gate of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Mu Yuning and the other three, their ice-blue clothes stained with blood, looked at Mu Xuelan and Mu Yunxi, who held ancient swords, with anger and disbelief.

"You! Do you intend to deceive your masters and destroy your ancestors?"

Her face was pale, her eyes reddened, and her heart was filled with icy coldness.

"Xuelan, Eldest Senior Sister has always been very fond of you. Although we were somewhat ruthless in that matter, how can you attack us?"

Mu Yushu questioned in shock and anger.

"Yunxi, the sect raised you and cultivated you, yet you are also opposing the sect and drawing your sword against us, you!"

Mu Yurou's eyes were red with anger.

The two people before her were the most talented in their sect, the ones they valued the most, one the Tower Master, the other the Holy Maiden.

But now, they were standing on opposite sides.

Didn't they have any feelings for the Ice Cloud Tower?

"Yes, you are very fond of me, using the method of forcing me to kill my own child to be fond of me, using the Wind Calamity Cave to be fond of me, saying I am lowly is also being fond of me. Then, what is wrong with me now repaying you with my sword?"

Mu Xuelan's cold and indifferent voice made Mu Yuning and the others' hearts even colder.

"Xuelan, for the sake of the many years the sect has nurtured you, come back to the sect with us, save your sisters and disciples, do you really have the heart to watch them destroy their bodies, or become playthings of those people?"

Mu Yuling contained tears, her tone already carrying a plea.

"Save?" Mu Xuelan said coldly, "Why has the Ice Cloud Tower come to this point today, don't you know in your hearts? Why should I be responsible for the disasters you have caused?"

"You…" Mu Yuning pointed at her, and said in a trembling voice, "How could you become like this!"

"Isn't it good that I am like this?" Mu Xuelan said indifferently, "My realm is rapidly improving, and my strength is getting stronger and stronger. On the other hand, you, how many years has it been, and it is difficult to make progress, haven't you thought about the reason?"

"Xuelan, let's not be angry, okay? If you resent us in your heart, we can apologize to you, come back with us, okay?"

Mu Yurou persuaded.

Clang!

What responded to her was the sound of a sword.

Mu Xuelan threw the Bi Yuan ancient sword in her hand, and her slender hand drew across the void.

The ancient sword groaned, instantly evolving into a sky full of sword energy, instantly freezing hundreds of miles, and the air solidified.

"Leave, otherwise don't blame us for being impolite!"

Mu Yunxi held Shuang Ning in her hand and drew across the air, frost flowers blooming, heavy snow falling, and bone-chilling cold enveloped the area.

"You!"

Mu Yuning trembled with anger and turned to leave.

Mu Yushu, Mu Yurou, and Mu Yuling took a deep look at Mu Xuelan and Mu Yunxi, sighed very sadly, and followed them away.

When their figures disappeared into the sky, the icy sword intent released by Mu Xuelan instantly dissipated.

The Bi Yuan ancient sword fell to the ground with a clang, and her body swayed.

"Mother…"

Mu Yunxi hurriedly stepped forward to support her.

"Yunxi, we have committed the act of deceiving our masters and destroying our ancestors today…"

Her eyes were complicated and painful.

Mu Yunxi shook her head gently: "It is for the future of the sect…"

She knew her mother's feelings for the sect, and for the four guardians.

Even if they had once forced her into a desperate situation, that was how they treated her.

But she knew that her mother could not forget the many years of cultivation and love they had given her.

…

Outside the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Mu Yuning and the other three looked back at the Zhuxian Sword Sect, just watching quietly.

"Xuelan, she swung her sword at us, she swung her sword at us…"

Mu Yuning looked at the wound on her body, her whole person seemed to have lost her vitality.

"Don't blame her, it's us who are sorry for her, chilling her heart…"

Mu Yushu shed tears, regretting in her heart, why were they so cruel in the first place?

"Since the Ice Cloud Heart conceived her, we have been holding her, accompanying her, watching her grow up, cultivating her to become a Holy Maiden, a Tower Master, we regarded her as our own…"

Mu Yuning choked, she just couldn't accept that Mu Xuelan betrayed them for a man, the deeper the love, the deeper the hatred, so she forced her like that.

Now that she thought about it, she felt that she might have really been wrong.

"Eldest Senior Sister, what do we do now, what about the sect?"

Mu Yushu, Mu Yurou, and Mu Yuling's eyes were dim.

"What do we do, what about the sect?" Mu Yuning wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "The sect will not and cannot be destroyed! We must strive to get that little… that bastard's help! He just hates us for treating Xuelan like that back then, as long as we put down our posture, as long as the posture is low enough, it is possible to get his help!"

“Then… Senior Sister, how should we implore him?”

Mu Yuning said resolutely: “To get him to save the sect, we must abandon all our inner insistence and do our best to please him. Being a slave or a servant is a small price to pay; it’s the sect's only hope!”

“Senior Sister, are you willing to do this?”

“At this point, whether I’m willing or not is no longer important…” Mu Yuning smiled sadly and said, “This is reality; no matter how cruel, we must face it. The sect's eternal foundation and the lives of hundreds of thousands of disciples rest on our shoulders. Junior Sister, let’s go. From here on, we abandon all our dignity and beg that man…”

“Alright!”

Mu Yushu, Mu Yurou, and Mu Yuling wiped away the tear stains on their faces. Their eyes became firm and resolute. They took out a void talisman, tore through the void, and disappeared with Mu Yuning outside the Great Zhou City.