On the small island in the middle of the ice lake, Zi Yu was utterly stunned.
She had been imprisoned here. Following the methods her master had taught her, she had connected with the artifact left behind by the sect's Founding Ancestor at this location, hoping to summon the Ancestor who had disappeared thousands of years ago to stand up for her.
Because her master had told her that if there was anyone in this world who could rescue her from this dire situation, it could only be the Ancestor.
But her master had also said that ever since the Founding Ancestor left Ice Heart Valley three thousand years ago, she had never been heard from again — her whereabouts completely unknown. Over these three millennia, Ice Heart Valley had faced several crises. During those calamities, her master had also attempted to communicate with the artifact and send a message using the method the Ancestor had left behind, but no response had ever come.
Many of the sect's higher-ups believed that the Founding Ancestor had likely perished somewhere in the Star Realm; otherwise, why would she never have returned?
Even her master herself could not be certain whether the Ancestor was alive or dead.
Zi Yu's attempt to reach out through the artifact and send a message to the Ancestor was an act of sheer desperation — a final, hopeless effort.
She had never imagined that someone would actually receive her message and come rushing to this place. What shocked her even more was that the person who arrived was a man!
Wasn't the artifact left by the Founding Ancestor? Wasn't the Ancestor a woman? Then who was this man? Zi Yu was completely bewildered, unable to make sense of it.
Just as she was puzzling over Yang Kai's identity, his voice came again from across the ice: "Miss Zi Yu, may I come closer to talk? Conversing from this distance might attract unwanted attention."
Zi Yu suppressed the tremor in her heart and replied coolly, "If you can endure the cold here, then come."
Yang Kai smiled faintly and launched himself toward the center of the ice lake.
In the next instant, he was standing on the small island. He looked carefully, and a familiar face immediately came into view.
It really was her!
Yang Kai found it strange too. He had encountered this woman named Zi Yu just a few days ago, when she had been surrounded by cultivators from the Passion Inquiry Sect. After he had stepped in to save her, she hadn't even thanked him. On the contrary, after Fan Xin and the others had introduced themselves and explained their origins, she had fled in wariness.
He just couldn't figure out why she had ended up imprisoned in this forbidden ground once again.
"It's you!" The moment Zi Yu saw Yang Kai's face, she cried out in shock. But apparently realizing her voice was too loud, she quickly clamped a hand over her lips, her beautiful eyes trembling slightly as she whispered, "How can it be you?"
She certainly remembered Yang Kai. After all, they had crossed paths only a few days ago, and he had even intervened to save her. But what she simply could not understand was how this man, whom she had met only once, had managed to come to Ice Heart Valley's forbidden ground without being detected.
"Miss Zi Yu, there's no need to be afraid. I harbor no ill intentions toward you!" Seeing her guarded expression, Yang Kai promptly took a step backward. "I came here on someone's behalf!"
"On someone's behalf? Who?" Zi Yu asked warily.
Yang Kai smiled gently. "Take a look at this."
As he spoke, he reached out and tossed a command token toward Zi Yu — the very one Bing Yun had given him.
Zi Yu caught it with suspicion, gave Yang Kai a puzzled glance, and then examined the token carefully.
In the next instant, Zi Yu's body shuddered. Her eyes went wide, a strange light flickering in them, her face a mask of disbelief. With barely contained excitement, she gasped, "This... this is the Ancestor's aura!"
She did not recognize what the token was, but the aura lingering upon it could not be forged — it was identical to the aura on the artifact the Founding Ancestor had left behind at this location all those years ago.
She jerked her head up and stared at Yang Kai in shock. There was joy in her eyes, but also a hint of nervousness as she asked, "The person who sent you here... could it be..."
"Shh!" Yang Kai raised a single finger to his lips, his expression cryptic and knowing — a look that said everything without saying a word.
Zi Yu was overjoyed. She clutched the token tightly, her voice choked with emotion as she said, "I knew it. I knew it! The Ancestor is safe and sound. Master, you can finally rest easy."
Her train of thought veered unexpectedly back to her master — though who her master actually was remained unclear.
As she spoke, she produced a communication bead and began channeling her divine sense into it, intent on sending a message.