Chapter 343 Eversnowing Valley
As they went into the room, Sui Luxiao stopped for a while and hesitatingly looked at him before opening her mouth to speak.
"To be honest, this visit may turn out not as pleasant"
"I know, which is why I was surprised you decided to do it, even though it makes sense"
Wu Long nodded. It was natural for her to want to visit her former sect, but it had little hope of being a pleasant experience as the relationship between former disciples and their sects tended to be strained in most cases, though there of course were exceptions.
"Mm... I just want to pay my respects before officially becoming a member of the Yin Yang Unity Palace"
She smiled. It was a tying up of loose ends of sorts.
"I know"
He nodded, reassuring her.
"Yes, Sister Luxiao, don't worry, we are with you!"
Wu Mengqi smiled to also make her feel better, with Bi Rui nodding in support and Sui Luxiao smiled back with delight at being able to be by his side, and being a part of such a warm and supporting Dao Family as well.
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In the morning the group consisting of Wu Long, Song Minfu and five heavenly beauties approached the Spiritual Lands of the Frozen Garden Palace.
It was already winter, but the temperature was seemingly colder as they approached the place.
"Is this the famous Eversnowing Valley?"
Bi Rui asked with curiosity as the air was filled with natural Cold Qi.
"Yes, it is the valley of perpetual winter"
Song Lingfei nodded in an elevated mood.
"Is that something the Frozen Garden Palace did?"
Yu Huan asked as the idea of a perpetual land of winter was rather grand for a single sect to be able to pull off.
"No, the Frozen Garden Palace was founded in this place, but the historical records pre-dating the Empire show that it was always a land of winter"
Song Minfu shook his head as he was once interested in the topic as well.
"It has to do with the Dragon Vein of this Spiritual Land, much like a human Spiritual Root, there can be variations to it. In this case it naturally produces Cold Spiritual Qi instead of regular one, so the whole land is constantly encased in ice and snow"
Wu Long explained while breathing in the cold air and the young alchemist nodded, as this explanation sounded a lot more plausible while the others also listened closely. Song Minfu expressed surprise as this was the first time he heard the actual reason for the phenomenon.
By the time they approached the place, they were already long since noticed by the sect protectors who immediately notified the higher-ups of their arrival and let them through without any trouble.
Wu Long noted that the Sect Protectors were all in the Revolving Qi Realm, which was consistent with Sui Luxiao's description of this sect as a small-scale group of elite members type, as it required a special and rare talent to cultivate their techniques.
They did not have a set disciple admission period, taking in disciples whenever one with aptitude and wishing to join appeared. They also had a tradition of sending out Sect Elders on travels who found young orphans with aptitude from around the three continents, whom the sect would then adopt. Presumably, it was how the sect's current Prime Disciple, Xue Bing came to her current position.
Their Elders were all in the Foundation Building and Core Formation Realms instead of Revolving Qi Realm, with all five of their Grand Elders in the Core Reformation Realm. This was something even other Five Great Sects could not boast of. However, their small numbers was what likely prevented them from claiming that first spot in the rankings of the five sects.
They started climbing a mountain on a moderate slope, and after traveling for some time at a speed only cultivators could keep, approached a highland valley lodged in between icy peaks. It would take mortals weeks of travel, but for them it only took a few hours to approach the gates.
Once through the gates though, the sect architecture did not differ that much from other sects, only built warmer.
They were greeted by a Grand Elder surrounded by seven Elders.
"Greetings, Your Imperial Highness, Your Highness, and dear guests of our Frozen Garden Palace...!?"
The Grand Elder's gaze circled through the visitors until it fell on Sui Luxiao who bowed cupping her fists.
"Greetings, Grand Elder Wen Mei, I hope you have been doing well"
Song Minfu returned the greeting, as Song Lingfei made a polite greeting gesture alongside her father.
Wen Mei nodded with a smile and her gaze turned to Sui Luxiao.
"It has been a long time, Grand Elder Wen. I know I shouldn't..."
Sui Luxiao said with a slightly guilty expression as she has not visited this place ever since she left, even though there was a reason for that, while the Grand Elder's expression turned into a kind smile.
"Welcome, Luxiao. It is nice to be able to see you"
"... Grand Elder... I..."
"Hahaha, no need to be so humble. There may be some noisy ones but this old woman is not so strict about rules"
The Grand Elder shook her head to Sui Luxiao's timid objection, as the latter's eyes widened at the words. Wu Long's expression also became softer as he saw that not all of the sect would give her the cold shoulder.
Leaving one's sect usually was like burning all bridges, especially for a place like this where the member numbers were relatively low and thus the effort put into each disciple was that much more generous.
The fact that she was not ex-communicated was already a great treatment, but the attitude the Grand Elder showed now was something almost unheard of, since there was usually bound to be bad blood during the process. It was the reason Wu Long did not doubt her description of the rather colder reception she might receive.
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