Bing Long's earlier speculation had been correct. Ancestor Bing Yun had not perished — she had left that world behind and ventured into a broader sky. And now, she stood alive and breathing right before Yang Kai!
Ice Heart Valley could be considered Su Yan's sect, and Bing Yun was the founding ancestor of Ice Heart Valley. Once Yang Kai had grasped her origins, he felt an immediate surge of warmth toward her, the tension and guardedness melting away.
Though Bing Yun's expression remained as cold as ever, a hint of softness had crept into her beautiful eyes. Even for someone of her standing, encountering a fellow traveler from her home star domain in a place like this was an exceedingly rare experience.
"Sit down. This Empress has many questions for you." Bing Yun gestured toward a chair nearby.
"Yes." Yang Kai cupped his fists and obediently walked over and sat down.
Over the next hour, Bing Yun asked Yang Kai a great many things about the Ice Heart Valley on Chilan Star, and Yang Kai naturally recounted everything he knew in detail — including his relationship with Su Yan and every encounter he'd had within Ice Heart Valley, holding nothing back.
When he finished, Bing Yun fell silent for a long while.
After all, the Ice Heart Valley on Chilan Star was something she had founded. Though she had long since come to the Star Boundary and hadn't returned in tens of thousands of years, the emotional bond had never been severed by the passage of time or the gulf of distance.
Upon hearing that the current Ice Heart Valley had only a single Void King Realm first-stage cultivator, Bing Yun couldn't help but sigh.
Back in her day, Ice Heart Valley had been the supreme power on Chilan Star — a name that commanded respect even across the entire Heng Luo Star Domain. Powerhouses had emerged from its ranks in endless succession. Tens of thousands of years later, the sect had fallen to such a state. It was impossible not to feel a pang of sorrow.
But she was, after all, a powerhouse of the Emperor Realm's third stage. Her state of mind was far beyond ordinary, and she understood that no sect lasted forever, no force remained standing indefinitely. She had been gone for tens of thousands of years, and yet Ice Heart Valley had managed to endure and carry on its legacy — that alone was a testament to the efforts of the younger generations.
"Senior, how did you leave your home star domain and come here?" Yang Kai asked, noticing her somewhat melancholic expression. He quickly changed the subject.
Bing Yun pressed her lips together in a faint smile. "It was a matter of fortune and chance. I entered a secret realm, and when I emerged, I found myself in the Star Boundary. And you?"
Yang Kai scratched his head. "A few friends and I used the Star Emperor Token left behind by the Star Great Emperor to forcibly tear open a passage."
"The Star Great Emperor?" Bing Yun's elegant brows drew together slightly, a gesture that was remarkably lovely.
Reading her expression, Yang Kai realized that the Star Great Emperor hadn't yet risen to prominence when she had left. He offered a brief explanation. When he finished, Bing Yun nodded. "To think that even a place like that could attract the attention of a true powerhouse. Though I've never heard of this Yang Yan you speak of."
"I have no idea where she is now, or what her cultivation and status are," Yang Kai said with a rueful laugh.
Since arriving in the Star Boundary, he hadn't gone out of his way to seek information about Yang Yan, but he had truly never heard of anyone by that name among the great powers — at the very least, she wasn't one of the Ten Great Emperors.
At the thought of Yang Yan, Yang Kai also recalled little Lin Yun'er. When Yang Yan had left the Dark Star all those years ago, she had taken Lin Yun'er along with her. After all this time, he wondered how the girl was doing.
Back then, she had still been a scrawny little thing with messy hair. After all these years, she must have grown into a fine young woman by now.
"If fate wills it, you will meet again," Bing Yun said gently.
Yang Kai nodded with a solemn expression. Fate was a mysterious thing — impossible to explain, impossible to grasp. When fate hadn't arrived, even desperate pursuit would come to nothing. But when it had, the farthest reaches of the world could shrink to arm's length.
That Yang Kai had encountered Bing Yun here in the Silent Void Secret Realm was itself an act of fate.
"Oh, that's right, Senior. You called me here today — is there something you need?" Before coming, Yang Kai had been somewhat apprehensive, unsure of what the Ice Heart Pavilion Master he'd never met could possibly want with him. But now the worry was gone. He felt completely at ease.
"It's difficult to find a Dao Origin Realm alchemist on this island. You are likely the last one this Empress will be able to locate. I simply want to ask — if I provide you with sufficient materials, how long would it take you to advance?" Bing Yun said.
"Advance to the high-grade Dao Origin Realm alchemist level?" Yang Kai raised his eyebrows, catching on to what she was after. "Senior, you want me to refine some kind of spirit pill?"
"That's right. The pill this Empress intends to refine is of considerable grade. If your alchemist level is too low, I cannot guarantee a sufficient success rate."
"What pill does Senior wish to refine?" Yang Kai asked.
"The Hundred-Turn Emperor Essence Pill!"
Yang Kai's eyebrows shot up at this.
He was an Emperor-grade alchemist, so he naturally knew what the Hundred-Turn Emperor Essence Pill was for. It was a pill designed exclusively for Emperor Realm powerhouses to recover their Emperor Essence. A single low-grade Emperor Essence Pill could restore roughly ten percent of an Emperor Realm cultivator's power in a short time. A mid-grade one could restore twenty percent, and a high-grade thirty percent — all in an astonishingly brief window.
However, because Emperor Realm cultivators typically possessed vast reserves of power, they rarely had need for such pills under normal circumstances. Coupled with the difficulty of their refinement, these pills had never enjoyed much of a market.