Chapter 1817 — Staying in the Snow Valley

"Grand Elder? Just now I..." Tang Yun had meant to ask about the strange thing that had happened to her, but she suddenly remembered the purpose of her visit, and so she forced down her curiosity and said instead, "Grand Elder, Valley Master, Elder Zhang, and all you seniors, I beg you—please give me an Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit first, and I will surely scrape together a billion yuan to pay you..."

As she spoke, Tang Yun was about to drop to her knees! After all, it had taken her no small effort to meet the Grand Elder, the Valley Master, and the others even once; if she let this chance slip by, she feared she would never have another opportunity to say these words.

"Don't—" The Grand Elder hurriedly reached out and caught Tang Yun. Now that she wanted Tang Yun to stay in the Snow Valley, how could she let her kneel and beg over such a trifling matter? After steadying Tang Yun, the Grand Elder said generously, "The Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit is no problem at all, but before that, shall we first discuss another matter?"

"Another matter?" Tang Yun was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding.

"If you would all please come with us to the Snow Valley's council hall and talk it over in detail?" The Grand Elder was calculating in her heart how to make Tang Yun stay; but from the look of things now, using the Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit as the price of exchange to force Tang Yun to stay was not at all impossible.

Admittedly, this was a somewhat despicable act of taking advantage of another's misfortune. It was different from the Ice Palace keeping Feng Xiaoxiao: Feng Xiaoxiao had a special constitution and had to remain in the Ice Palace to cultivate in order to receive effective treatment and preserve her life. Tang Yun was another matter—she had only come seeking medicine, and a single Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit cost no more than a billion yuan. To trade a billion yuan for an inheritor of the Snow Valley was simply a stroke of enormous good fortune!

But despicable or not, the Grand Elder had after all cultivated the Heartless Art from the very beginning, and she had no trace of compassion. In her eyes, only profit and the supremacy of the strong mattered. So although she was polite to Tang Yun, that courtesy rested entirely on the premise that Tang Yun would stay; if Tang Yun refused, then the Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit and everything else were out of the question!

"Very well..." Tang Yun hesitated for a moment, then nodded. She did not know why the Grand Elder had suddenly begun to regard her with such importance, but she supposed it had to do with the earlier upheaval; so whatever had happened before, it was on the whole a good thing.

Together they arrived at the Snow Valley's council hall, and under the astonished gazes of the many Snow Valley disciples, the doors of the hall were shut tight! One had to understand that through the generations the council hall had been forbidden ground to all but the Grand Elder, the elders, and the Valley Master; that these four strangers should now be allowed inside was nothing short of an astonishing marvel.

Yet the Grand Elder did not feel in the least that she was breaking any rule. If Tang Yun stayed in the Snow Valley, she would even be willing to yield the Grand Elder's seat to her. In the eyes of Heaven Rank experts like them, such positions had all become empty things; and at their level of martial cultivation, no one would be jealous of Tang Yun at all, for a thing like constitution could not be envied. Everyone at that height knew that without the right constitution, no amount of diligent cultivation could match the progress of one born with a fine one!

So if Tang Yun joined the Snow Valley, then no matter how formidable she became, she would still be one of the Snow Valley's own, and they would only be glad. Of course, if she joined the Ice Palace, then they could do nothing but burn with envy, jealousy, and resentment!

Everyone took their seats in order in the council hall, while Tang Yun was somewhat nervous and overawed—this was the first time she had ever witnessed such a display. Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, however, had seen no small number of grand occasions and were not at all intimidated.

"Your purpose is perfectly clear to this old woman. You want the Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit—no problem. This old woman can give it to you, and not take a single coin for it. I can even help you prepare a prescription to be used alongside the Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit to resolve qi deviation; used together, the effect is even better!" said the Grand Elder.

"This... thank you, Grand Elder!" Though Tang Yun was rather astonished by the Grand Elder's words, she was still overcome with joy and surprise! After all, Wei Zhao could finally be saved.

"Don't thank me yet—I have not finished speaking!" the Grand Elder said mildly. "What I have promised comes with a precondition. Hear it out, and then decide whether you still wish to make the exchange!"

"Grand Elder, please go on..." Tang Yun felt a faint chill in her heart. Sure enough, there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. But what condition could the Grand Elder possibly want? She was willing to forgo money altogether?

"You must stay in our Snow Valley!" The Grand Elder looked at Tang Yun and spoke word by word: "Stay here, become a cultivator, and I will fulfill my promise!"

"I? Stay here?" Hearing the Grand Elder's words, Tang Yun was not overly surprised, for she had faintly guessed something of it before. Had that bizarre phenomenon not occurred, the Grand Elder would never have agreed to such terms—she probably would not even have shown herself!

And the reason she had agreed to these terms was probably also connected to the strange sign that had appeared on Tang Yun's own body. Could it be... that without realizing it, she had obtained some benefit?

"Exactly!" said the Grand Elder. "You stay in our Snow Valley and become one of the Snow Valley's own—that is the condition of exchange!"

"Grand Elder, do you mean that I can cultivate?" Tang Yun asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Indeed!" The Grand Elder nodded and said, "You stay here, naturally, in order to cultivate!"

"Then... what level of expert can I become?" Tang Yun was tempted—yes, she truly was tempted! If she too could become an expert, then from now on she would no longer be a mere vase, and Wei Zhao would not always have to protect her, this useless burden!

By then, she too could be like Feng Xiaoxiao and stay forever at Wei Zhao's side! Only a cultivator's lifespan could be extended, and this had always been Tang Yun's dream!

"Level? Heh heh, at least the strength of the peak of the late Heaven Rank!" The Grand Elder smiled faintly. "If possible, you may surpass even that and become an even more formidable expert!"

"The peak of the late Heaven Rank?" Tang Yun's mouth fell open in astonishment. Though she had always told Wei Zhao that she wanted to cultivate too, she had never imagined that one day she could become a Heaven Rank expert—and at least of the strength of the peak of the late Heaven Rank at that! But Tang Yun was no fool; after a moment's hesitation she asked, "Did something... happen to me earlier?"

"Exactly. To be frank with you, you have already received the Snow Valley's legacy and become an inheritor of the Mist lineage. An inheritor's cultivation speed is extraordinarily fast, and our Snow Valley will gather the strength of the whole valley to collect rare treasures of heaven and earth for you, to help you raise your strength!" said the Grand Elder. "And once you become an expert of the peak of the late Heaven Rank, your status will equal mine—you will be a Grand Elder of our Snow Valley as well!"

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