After 3 months.
"Finally... I have managed to open the Gate of Healing," Xichen muttered, feeling his blood energy flow endlessly. His physical strength had increased tremendously; although his energy level hadn't changed, he could now fight against those in the Late Stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
The power of the Celestial Tyrant Manual was extremely clear, but it required an enormous amount of treasures to complete each stage. From Strength Training to the Gate of Healing, he had consumed many precious treasures, including the Emperor Awakening Heart Lotus, in addition to 10,000 points used to purchase suitable treasures.
The body refinement stages mentioned in the Celestial Tyrant Manual were as follows: Strength Training -> Flesh Training -> Viscera Training -> Altering Muscle -> Bone Forging -> Pulse Condensation -> Tempering Marrow.
After that came the Eight Gates of Hidden Celestial Stems, which were far more complex and required hundreds of times more resources than the Body Transformation Stages. For this reason, they were extremely difficult to cultivate.
But Xichen did not regret using these points and treasures; it was all worth it. Although he was not invincible, he could fight against people a whole realm stronger than him—and that was no small feat. This gap would only widen in the future as he opened more of the Eight Gates.
During the past three months, he hadn't only trained in the Celestial Tyrant Manual. He had also regularly visited the Ashura Battlefield to master his Profound Arts as much as possible, showing clear improvement. In particular, his complete sword intent was showing signs of advancing toward the Soul Sword.
The existence of the Ashura Battlefield was extremely beneficial to him, especially since time moved much slower there than in the real world, granting him ample time to train properly.
Furthermore, he had used the Immortal-Devouring Demonic Art to devour the fragment of the Phoenix Soul, which helped strengthen his spirit and talents. Thanks to the primordial energy contained within the soul fragment, he had managed to obtain the Divine Stainless Soul.
"These three months have been truly fruitful," Xichen murmured, stretching his body slightly and putting on new, simple white robes with black embellishments in some places. He had grown tired of clothes filled with phoenix patterns.
"Now, I think it's time to visit the Frozen Cloud Asgard with Xue'er," Xichen muttered. Since devouring the Phoenix Soul fragment, Xue'er had been living with him on the orders of the Phoenix Soul fragment—an order Hengkong did not dare to disobey. "I really don't understand why she is so attached to humans, to the point of using what remains of her power to protect them."
Although the fragment had said it would grant him the rest of its power, Xichen had noticed that it had left most of that power on Xue'er's body, along with a small amount of consciousness—a final precautionary measure before disappearing. This was something Xichen didn't fully understand, but he respected it.
After getting dressed, Xichen quietly left his palace, only to see Xue'er playing with Yuechan. They were cheerfully making snowmen, and he was surprised to see a snowman that looked a lot like him.
Xichen stood for a moment at the edge of the marble path, silently watching the scene before him… Snow fell lightly from the gray sky, touching the ground softly like the breath of spirits, cloaking the palace courtyard in pure white. Xue'er laughed lightly as she tried to shape the nose of the snowman, which looked like an exaggerated version of Xichen himself—even the hairstyle and the gloomy look were imitated with playful, childish sarcasm.
Yuechan, contrary to her usual cold demeanor, seemed warmer, standing beside Xue'er helping her, as if she had momentarily forgotten that she was one of the most icy-cold women on the continent.
Xichen sighed softly, folding his hands behind his back. Despite his growing power and his struggles with the Emperor and the princes over the succession to the throne, this simple scene—making a snowman in a white courtyard—made the world seem less harsh, if only for a moment.
He approached with quiet steps, and Xue'er quickly turned around, her face bright with a childlike smile.
"Look! It looks like you, doesn't it? Even Yuechan said so!"
Xichen glanced at the snowman with a complicated expression for a moment, then raised an eyebrow slightly:
"Do I really look... that stupid?"
Xue'er laughed warmly, while Yuechan turned her face slightly to hide a small smile.
"Sometimes, yes," Yuechan said quietly, as if stating an undeniable truth.
Xichen shook his head slightly, then looked directly at Xue'er.
"Would you like to go to the Frozen Cloud Asgard?" he asked in his calm voice, smiling as he ruffled her hair—both of them addicted to that feeling.
Xue'er stopped laughing for a moment, then nodded with clear enthusiasm, even if she didn't fully understand why. As for Yuechan, she looked at Xichen intently… she didn't understand why he suddenly wanted to visit the Frozen Cloud Asgard out of nowhere.
Although she knew Xichen cared deeply for Xue'er and was willing to do a lot for her, she couldn't believe he would travel all the way to the Frozen Cloud Asgard just to let her see the snow.
"Don't look at me like that," Xichen said helplessly upon seeing Yuechan's suspicious gaze. "I'm going there to make a deal, nothing more. I mean no harm. I'm sure they will welcome the deal with open arms upon hearing the information I possess."
"Besides, this is a family trip. I'm thinking of taking things easy, enjoying the scenery and the towns along the way until we reach the Frozen Cloud Asgard with Xue'er and my mother," Xichen added, having decided to invite Zhuqing and Zhuyun to come with them.
Since he had already obtained Xue'er, he didn't really need to take over the empire's rule, but it wouldn't be bad to have one of the continent's strongest empires under his command. This would make many things much easier in the future.
...
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