“Senior Su Shan, you…” Mu Xiaolan was stunned.

Mu Sushan stepped forward and said solemnly: "Yun Che, in the history of my Ice Phoenix Divine Sect, no one has ever been able to pass the assessment of the Frost Snow Palace with a profound strength that has not yet entered the Divine Way, not to mention that your score is higher than everyone else! Although there is no possibility of cheating in the Ice Profound Realm assessment, this result will be questioned not only by the people present, but also by the Great Realm King himself. I believe you should also be concerned about it in your heart."

Yun Che: “…”

"So, as the steward of the Frost Snow Palace, I order you to prove that you did not cheat in the Ice Profound Realm assessment, and you cannot refuse!" Mu Sushan frowned slightly, "Because this is no longer a simple matter of the assessment result. If you cannot prove it, not only will you lose the qualification to enter the Frost Snow Palace, you will also be severely punished!"

“Senior Sushan, you you you…what are you doing…ah!” Mu Xiaolan stamped her feet anxiously.

Li Mingcheng immediately laughed triumphantly, looking at Yun Che with eyes full of pity, and most of the other profound practitioners also showed an even more gloating expression. Because this time, it was the chief steward who spoke personally.

“Senior Su Shan is the steward-general of our Hanxue Palace. His status in Hanxue Palace is almost on par with that of the chief palace master. Senior Su Shan’s words are of great weight. Our Ice Phoenix Divine Sect is such a sacred place, how can we allow such scoundrels to defile it! Yun Che, what else do you have to say this time?” Ji Hanfeng asked sternly.

Yun Che took a deep look at Mu Sushan. He did not sense any hostility or targeting from him. Instead, he felt a deep curiosity and exploration.

“Okay, how do we prove it?” Yun Che looked at Mu Sushan and said helplessly.

“Of course, prove it with your strength,” Mu Sushan said with a half-smile, “Li Mingcheng’s suggestion is very good. If you have stayed in the Ice Profound Realm for so long with your own strength, there is no reason why you cannot be Li Mingcheng’s opponent. You can fight with Li Mingcheng, and the result will be clear after five encounters. Li Mingcheng, you are the first person to doubt Yun Che’s cheating, so I will trouble you to identify him.”

Hearing Mu Sushan's "approval", Li Mingcheng was flattered and said quickly: "Disciple will definitely go all out, please rest assured, Senior Sushan."

Then his face straightened, and he turned to Yun Che and said sarcastically, “Come on, Yun Che, just go all out and let me see your strength as the first in the Ice Profound Realm test! I won’t take back what I said just now. It only takes five moves. As long as you can hold out for five moves under my hand, you will win. If you are not cheating, it would be the easiest thing in the world for you to beat me with your test results.”

Yun Che ignored him and continued to look at Mu Sushan: “Senior Sushan, you are of great status. In this place, I naturally have no ability to resist your orders. I really cannot refute what you said just now. But there is one thing I must explain.”

"Oh?" Mu Sushan looked at his expression with interest.

“It’s very simple.” Yun Che said calmly: “If I lose within five moves in my duel with Li Mingcheng, not only will I be deprived of the qualification to enter the Frost Snow Palace, but I will also be subjected to what you call ‘severe punishment’. The consequences are so serious that they are simply chilling. However, if I win, it proves that I did not cheat. Then, all that is happening to me now is groundless suspicion and extremely unfair treatment! Since the Ice Phoenix Divine Sect is so fair and strict, shouldn’t they also compensate me?”

"..." Mu Xiaolan was stunned.

“Hahahaha,” Ji Hanfeng laughed without any scruples. “Yun Che, if you had admitted it earlier, Senior Su Shan might have been able to show some leniency and reduce the punishment. But you are still dreaming of a hundred days when you are about to die. It’s really laughable. I suddenly became extremely curious about how lowly the lower realm must be to have nurtured such a huge joke like you.”

"..." Yun Che glanced at Ji Hanfeng calmly for the second time. "Brother Hanfeng, he is obviously desperate and is trying to hold on." Li Mingcheng laughed.

"Hehe," Mu Sushan smiled lightly and nodded slightly: "I, Mu Sushan, have been in this Hanxue Palace for thousands of years, and I have never met a disciple who dares to ask for 'compensation', let alone a new disciple who has not yet officially entered the palace. However, what you said does make sense, well..."

Mu Sushan stretched out his hand, and a blue light flashed in front of him. In a moment, a three-foot square, flat jade stone emitting a dreamy star-like glow floated above him.

“Pick…Pick the Star Stone!!” Mu Xiaolan screamed almost instantly when this strange stone appeared.

“Pick, pick, pick, pick, pick… pick the Star Stone!!” Ji Hanfeng’s reaction was much worse than Mu Xiaolan’s. He looked up at the dreamy starlight, his jaw almost dropping to the ground in shock.

When he heard the name of "Star-Picking Stone", Li Mingcheng's whole body trembled, his mouth opened wide, and his eyeballs bulged out almost to the point of falling out. The other profound practitioners were half at a loss, while those who knew the name of "Star-Picking Stone" were all dumbfounded and unable to breathe.

Star-picking stone? What is this?

This was the first time Yun Che had heard this name, and the first time he had seen such a piece of jade. But the strange light it emitted proved that it was definitely not an ordinary thing. And judging from the reactions of Mu Xiaolan and the people around her, this piece of jade was obviously something more precious than the "Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill".

"Yes, this is the Star Picking Stone." Mu Sushan smiled and said, "A Star Picking Stone can only be cultivated by being at a height of more than ten thousand feet and bathed in the light of the stars for at least three thousand years. It is a rare and powerful stone that is far superior to the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill. Not to mention the Snow Palace, even the disciples of the Ice Phoenix Palace can't get such a reward. Now, if you can remain undefeated in five moves by Li Mingcheng and prove that you didn't cheat, not only will the Jade Falling Ice Soul Pill be rewarded as usual, but this Star Picking Stone will also be rewarded to you. Are you satisfied with this?"

“Ah? Senior Su Shan, this… this…” Ji Hanfeng’s brain was briefly confused by the shock, but soon, he suddenly realized that Yun Che’s chance of winning did not exist at all. With a mere fifth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, it was impossible for him to even survive a fight with Li Mingcheng. In other words, this amazing reward that was enough to make the Ice Phoenix Palace disciples salivate was simply a feint, purely to shut Yun Che up.

Thinking of this, Ji Hanfeng quickly changed his words and said, "Senior Sushan is really clear about rewards and punishments. Yun Che, even I have never been able to touch a divine stone like the Star-Picking Stone in all my years in the Snow Palace. Senior Sushan is giving you a huge favor. Now, what else do you have to say?"

Li Mingcheng breathed rapidly, and after a long while, he took his eyes off the Star-Picking Stone. He thought to himself: This steward of the Snow Palace not only looks easy to talk to, but is also so generous. It seems that after entering the Snow Palace, I must do more to curry favor with him...

“Okay.” Yun Che nodded and turned to face Li Mingcheng: “Let’s get started.”

Now that things have come to this, there is no point in holding back any longer.

“Yun Che, you…”

“Xiao Lan, come over here.” Mu Xiaolan wanted to say something to Yun Che, but was interrupted by Mu Sushan’s voice. She had no choice but to step back and stand beside Mu Sushan.

She already regretted bringing Yun Che back from the Profound Sky Continent a thousand times.

Alas, he happens to be Master’s savior.

What should I do?

The assessment of the Frost Snow Palace had come to an end, and the assessments of other groups had also mostly ended. More and more people were attracted by the movement here and gathered around. Among them were both profound practitioners who had just passed the assessment and disciples of the Frost Snow Palace who were supervising the assessment and maintaining order.

“Hey! Let me make it clear first, you two are just sparring, you can’t… you absolutely can’t hurt anyone!” Mu Xiaolan shouted. The situation could no longer be stopped, and all she could do now was to try her best to prevent any accidents from happening during Yun Che’s fight. After all, a person in the middle stage of the Sovereign Profound Realm was… too vulnerable to the power of the Divine Dao. If Li Mingcheng was a little more ruthless, he would be either dead or injured.

“Since we are fighting, of course we have to go all out. How can we avoid getting hurt?” Ji Hanfeng said with a serious face, “However, Senior Sister Xiaolan’s words reminded me, Li Mingcheng, Yun Che, this is the Frost Snow Palace. When you two fight, even if you have the upper hand, you must not lose your sense of proportion and kill each other, otherwise you will definitely not be spared! But getting hurt is inevitable. No matter what the result is, no matter how serious the injury is, neither side can pursue it. Otherwise, hey, I’m afraid everyone will look down on you.”

Yun Che was brought here by Mu Bingyun after all. Although he absolutely did not believe that Mu Bingyun would attach much importance to Yun Che, he also did not have the courage to let him die.

But what he meant was that as long as he didn't die, it didn't matter how badly injured he was.

Li Mingcheng understood instantly and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"You... Ji Hanfeng, you did it on purpose!" Mu Xiaolan said angrily.

“Alright,” Mu Sushan stretched out his hand to block Mu Xiaolan, “What Ji Hanfeng said is not wrong. Injuries are inevitable in a fight. If you can’t even get hurt, then the fight is meaningless. Let’s get started.”

Mu Sushan’s words showed that he disliked Yun Che very much. The smile on Li Mingcheng’s face suddenly became more wanton. He stood in front of Yun Che at a leisurely pace and said, “Yun Che, don’t be nervous. Don’t worry. I will be ‘enough’ to show mercy. Show us your weapons. Oh, it’s better to show us all the profound instruments and treasures on you. Anything that can be used to cheat in the Ice Profound Realm must be very powerful. Show them to let a defeated general like me learn from them.”

There was a burst of laughter all around.

“No need.” Yun Che stood there quietly, his entire body calm from head to toe.

“You don’t even need a weapon? That’s right, it’s the same result anyway.” Li Mingcheng laughed. He put his right hand behind his back and stretched out his left hand towards Yun Che: “Come on, you make your move. I’ll give you enough time to gather your strength, but don’t let me down.”

“Heh,” Yun Che smiled, and then put his hands behind his back: “You are the challenger, so of course you should make the first move.”

"Puff..." The laughter around exploded instantly.

“…” Mu Xiaolan covered her face with her hands.

But Mu Sushan beside her kept his eyes fixed on Yun Che, refusing to move his gaze for even a moment, his eyes were filled with deep darkness.

Yun Che's profound energy aura was only at the fifth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. He had confirmed this repeatedly and it was definitely not wrong. Yun Che also had no way of concealing his profound energy under his nose, even with the help of a profound weapon.

However, both his eyes and his aura revealed a kind of confidence and calmness as if he had experienced hundreds of vicissitudes of life and countless lives and deaths. This is also something that he absolutely cannot fake.

This young man...

“Haha…haha…” Li Mingcheng laughed out loud immediately: “A top-notch person like you might not appear once in ten thousand years. It’s really eye-opening. Okay, okay, then I’ll do as you wish.”

With a sinister smile, Li Mingcheng leaped up and lightly brushed Yun Che's chest with his left hand. The moment he made the move, a stream of icy cold air instantly gathered in the space around Yun Che, freezing everything in the space.

He proposed the “five moves” and originally wanted to tease him, but Yun Che’s “pretentious” attitude was really unbearable for him. In addition, more and more people were watching, so this was a good opportunity for him to show his strength and establish his authority in front of the new disciples.

He was going to be defeated in an instant, how uglier it would be!

(End of this chapter)