Chapter 10

Lin Du’s master, Yan Ye, is the 98th-generation disciple of the Supreme Sect and the current sect leader’s senior uncle. Although younger than the sect leader, he is rumored to be a swordsmanship master whose sword qi can freeze all of Zhongzhou.

This is the only description of him mentioned in the text.

However, the plot didn’t reveal that Lin Du’s master is actually a… exhibitionist.

Aside from the outer robe, which seemed hastily put on, he was likely not wearing anything underneath. Lin Du glanced downward and saw his lean and powerful calves as he sat cross-legged.

Lin Du turned away, saying, “Master, maybe you should put on some pants.”

Ju Yuan, shivering from the cold despite being at the pinnacle of the Huiyang realm, still felt the strange effects of this frigid land. His breath turned into white mist.

“Uncle Master, I’ve brought the person here. May I leave now?”

Yan Ye responded with a nod and snapped his fingers. Lin Du felt as if a chaotic snowstorm had begun. As the snowflakes began to settle, the dark-colored figure gradually came into focus.

With white hair, dark robes, and gray eyes, he was exceptionally tall with broad shoulders and long legs, a narrow waist, and a powerful build. His gaze from above was devoid of any emotion, as if he were looking at an ice sculpture. He then extended a hand and placed it on her head.

Lin Du let out a muffled groan, feeling a cold energy rushing from her head down to her internal organs and meridians.

“Ah…,” Yan Ye’s tone was flat and clear as ice. “Heaven-grade Ice Spirit Root, damaged heart pulse, over half of the lungs congested, congenital weakness. How did you manage to survive until thirteen?”

Before Lin Du could answer, Yan Ye answered himself, “Forget about the rest. The heart pulse is the hardest to heal. But don’t worry, since you are my destined disciple, I will certainly heal you. Those useless people who only eat and live off their fortune likely can’t afford you. Just follow me from now on.”

Lin Du obediently replied, “Thank you, Master.”

“What’s your name?”

“Lin Du.”

“Which ferry?”

“To save others, save oneself first.”

The child did not look up when speaking to the elder. Yan Ye’s hand, still on her head, descended and pulled out the peach twig holding her hair in a bun. Her long hair fell freely, but he paid no mind. He traced along her defined jawline with his icy hand, gripping her delicate chin and forcing her to look up.

“A dirty little thing.”

He looked at his young disciple’s excessively dark eyes with amusement. When her eyes, half-lidded, showed a brief fierceness, it vanished in the instant she looked up, leaving only a pure sense of detachment and weariness.

“Do you think your master is different from what you imagined?”

Lin Du thought that was probably true. Her gaze met his grey eyes, which lacked any frivolity, and she couldn’t understand why he was so different from the others she had encountered.

“Since ‘to save others, save oneself first,’” the man suddenly exerted force, snapping his fingers to break the ice surface. Water instantly surged out and quickly began to form a thin ice layer. Before Lin Du could react, her body was treated like a hammer, breaking through the thin ice and plunging into the icy spring.

In her panic, she grabbed the edge of the thick ice cave and clung on tightly, trying to climb up.

“Let’s see if you can save yourself first.”

Yan Ye crouched down and forcefully pushed Lin Du’s hands away from the ice cave.

Lin Du cursed inwardly before being violently swept down by the suddenly rushing water.

The bone-chilling cold penetrated every pore, causing her entire body to tremble with the cold.

She tried to swim against the current, but the force of the water pushed her further down. Her body was too weak to break through the thick ice layer.

As suffocation, cold, and tremendous impact hit her one after another, Lin Du couldn’t even sense the system’s responses, but she didn’t have the luxury to worry about that.

She absolutely could not die at the hands of her cruel master.

One day, she would throw this perverted master, who doesn’t wear pants, into an ice hole and thoroughly wash his brain, to see what kind of nonsense was inside.

She had no idea how far she had been pushed. Lin Du had completely run out of oxygen, her lungs felt as if they were about to burst, and the spiritual energy in her dantian was rampaging, yet the cold energy pouring into her meridians only made it denser.

In the extreme suffocation, Lin Du’s consciousness began to blur. In a daze, she noticed that the impact seemed to have faded. She looked up and saw that she was getting further away from the ice surface. Even though it was night, there was still light in this strange land of Luoze. Through the gentle flow of water, she could see the frozen, transparent ice surface.

She had to get up.

Instinctively, Lin Du tried to move upwards, kicking with her legs. She didn’t even notice that the tightness in her lungs had eased somewhat.

When she finally touched the solid ice surface, she realized her waist pouch had been washed away, leaving only her fists usable.

Lin Du gritted her teeth, cursing her cruel master a thousand times in her mind. She then raised her fists and struck the ice surface hard.

The ice surface remained unaffected.

She felt the cold light energy in her dantian becoming even denser. She tried to channel her spiritual energy, letting it extend from her central meridian to her arms and then to the back of her hands. With all her strength, and just as her dantian was about to be exhausted, she gathered her energy and punched heavily at the ice surface.

The punch was not very powerful due to the resistance of the water, but strangely, as soon as the ice surface touched her glowing white fist, it seemed to automatically make way for her.

Lin Du took advantage of the opening and broke through the water’s surface. Fresh air rushed into her lungs.

She had never realized how wonderful and smooth breathing could be. For a moment, she didn’t notice the figure standing by the ice surface.

Yan Ye was somewhat surprised, or rather, quite astonished.

He had expected the child would never find her way out and had planned to pull her out once she could no longer hold on. He didn’t expect her to make it out on her own.

Her black hair, thoroughly washed away, still floated in the water. The child was pale, breathing heavily, and trembling all over—not from the cold, but from exertion.

He simply pulled her onto the ice surface and quickly dried her frost-covered hair with his hand.

Lin Du was still gasping for breath, with no reaction. She lay on the ice, utterly exhausted. Her wet clothes dried instantly, sticking to her overly thin body.

His large hand once again rested on her head, and familiar spiritual energy flowed back into her body.

“Actually, you’re much more useful than I thought.”

Yan Ye said softly, “Stop breathing heavily. It’s not good for your lungs, which you just cleared. You’re safe now, so take it slow and breathe with me.”

Lin Du was very small and thin, and her chest’s rise and fall was barely different from that of a cat.

Seeing she wasn’t recovering quickly, Yan Ye sighed and took out a pill, “I’m not sure if the medicine’s potency has changed, but take it anyway.”

A cool pill was placed on her lips. She hesitated, not opening her mouth, and slowly sat up, looking at her cruel master.

Even though she understood he likely used this method to clear her lungs, she still couldn’t help but curse.

“Master’s methods of teaching are truly unique.”

Yan Ye chuckled, “I haven’t seen anyone for five hundred years. If it weren’t for destiny, I wouldn’t have seen anyone until I ascended.”

“Little disciple, you must understand, as a hermit of the mountains, it’s common to be alone and unclothed for better cultivation and to merge with the heavens.”

He could see clearly that the person in front of him, despite her young age, had experienced much. Her eyes held a sense of melancholy, as if she cared about everything yet nothing at all, wanting to engage with the world while staying detached.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. This little brat needed to be properly tested so she would understand that others could influence her too, not just the other way around.

“Remember, when anyone can crush you, whether it’s your master or anyone else, you should always stay vigilant.”

Lin Du realized she had been too careless. Her arrival here felt like a game, never considering the hidden dangers of the cultivation world.

These things came too quickly and too easily, making them seem simple, suspended in the air, until Yan Ye forced her into the turbulent ice river.

At least her mind was clear now.

“Thank you for your guidance, Master.”

Yan Ye smiled, “However, from now on, those things I said earlier don’t count.”

“Because now, you have me to protect you.”