As the other side receded into the blizzard, their silhouettes paling and then completely fading.

The members of the Profound Music Palace who were left to the side suddenly were left in an awkward position as they failed to join either side and now that one left were left along with the one they knew expected their support they never gave.

Wu Long, meanwhile threw the man he held on the ground before him, a spear appearing in his hand.

“You’ve served your purpose, so I guess I will go easy on you. I wanted to return to you the gift you so generously provided, but that Guandao Spear sadly perished in the Supreme Master Pavilion, bear with this one”

Wu Long chuckled as Guo Dinshan’s eyes revealed fear and unwillingness. His decisions during a certain banquet that long became a distant memory surfacing and flashing before his eyes as a spear blade with a tiny crack in it swiftly drew a graceful arc, and there were no thoughts anymore.

Qiu Yilao and Grand Elder Gan approached Wu Long from behind, sending light ‘hmph’ snorts to the Profound Music Palace on their way. Though the latter’s snort was not nearly as modest as the former’s as the muscular old man showed outright disdain.

The Music Dao cultivators turned their eyes away at that, the leaders signaling retreat with slightly awkward gestures.

“Phew~… you almost gave me a heart attack, Daoist Wu”

Qiu Yilao spoke, still feeling a light shiver from the tension before. Her eyes falling on the rapidly cooling down corpse with a look seemingly saying ‘was this worth the risk and trouble?’, since Wu Long’s “unfinished business” with the man seemed to end awfully fast and seemingly with not much emotions.

“Hahaha, you lack guts, Palace Master Qiu! Personally, I liked it!”

Grand Elder Gan laughed causing the lady to slightly roll her eyes.

“Haa~ I don’t know if I can be called the Palace Master at this point…”

She lamented, leaving behind the Sect’s territory and the traitors causing the members splitting in two seemingly taking its toll on her.

“Hmm, I cannot know what you are going through, Palace Master Qiu… but the Brilliant Sun Temple still recognizes you and your members as the official Frozen Garden Palace”

Grand Elder Gan touched his beard in thought, causing her to widen her eyes and look at the large man with a slight shock, as this was the first time she saw him being so considerate.

“Thank you, Grand Elder Gan. Your support has been invaluable. The Frozen Garden Palace, and I, Qiu Yilao will not forget this favor”

“Hahaha! No need for such formalities, Palace Master Qiu! We’re allies now, so it is natural to support one another. Who knows, maybe it will be us being rescued by you later. Hahahaha!”

Qiu Yilao lightly smiled, highly doubting that but still appreciating the words, then turning to Wu Long.

“Daoist Wu, I have to thank you for containing this beast wave that was unprecedented in both size and intensity, you have saved a lot of lives.

And…”

“Palace Master Qiu, Grand Elder Gan is correct, we’re allies now so don’t worry about the details.

Not to mention I did not do so without my own reasons, so it is not like I acted out of completely selfless and altruistic motives. You still remember my proposal, don’t you?”

Wu Long chuckled, causing Qiu Yilao to gasp and turn to the disciples who participated in the Winter Forest Hunt, whose eyes on the handsome man she was talking to were speaking volumes about their impressions of him, especially the group of most talented Core Disciples that went into the crevasse with him, as they were whispering and giggling with their fellow disciples, excited looks on their faces.

His proposal which completely left her mind in the midst of this chaos and turmoil exploding into her thoughts.

“Hah! I see… while you leave the decision to us you won’t refrain from swaying the opinion in your favor”

A wry smile touched her lips as suddenly the whole situation seemed funny to her, the turmoil weighing on her shoulders abruptly lifting.

While the others were fighting off unprecedented dangers of this Demonic Beast Wave, wrapped in a serious conflict, the schemes, conspiracies and intrigue, this man was thinking of impressing and wooing a whole sect of maidens.

This discrepancy which both puzzled and fascinated her made her worries seem small and insignificant to herself after introspection, realizing the farce of it all and how miniscule this trouble could be in the eyes of others.

And his indifference to the situation she was in, while seeming inconsiderate, strangely consoled her far more than any words of consolation or empathy.

Grand Elder Gan looked at both of them interchangeably, his eyes widened with bewilderment and confusion as he could swear that just a minute or so ago the woman in front of him was going through the worst trial of her life, losing her precious Sect’s legacy, failing her ancestors and dropping into the depths of the abyss known as despair.

‘Hah, Dual Cultivators sure are different… or is it just him?’

He thought finally looking at Wu Long with both incredulity and respect.

Meanwhile Wu Long shrugged his shoulders with an innocent smile, Hua Ziyan standing by his side covering her mouth as she started giggling.

This time Wu Long truly needed rest and recuperation as there were quite a lot of things that added to his condition deteriorating.

He also had a lot of gains to go through, both material and not.

But there was no time for that at least until they reached relative safety of the Yin Yang Unity Palace, so they started getting ready to leave.

The guest Sects invited by both Great Sects bid their farewells, as the group moved toward the Tingren Kingdom, leaving behind the Eversnowing Valley.

There were only around 1600 members of the Frozen Garden Palace in total, with 922, her and Xue Bing included, remaining on the side of Palace Master Qiu.

Brilliant Sun Temple’s delegation which traveled with them to ensure that the other side will not ambush them when they are not together had around a hundred members.

And the Yin Yang Unity Palace had the same 10 members it came with.

This small army of a bit over a thousand moved swiftly, since there were no lower-level cultivators or less skilled ones from smaller Sects.

During the trip, Qiu Yilao could see that Wu Long was always surrounded by her Sect’s disciples, slowly becoming numb to that sight.

Besides, she saw that while there was initially a gloomy cloud over the remaining members of the Frozen Garden Palace, it gradually got cleared in interactions with him.

She could also see Xue Bing around him quite often, which did surprise her, since she was a special case.

This trip took a little over two weeks, the spring outside of the Eversnowing Valley already in full bloom, until they finally reached the Spiritual Land lush with green, a familiar to Wu Long and Hua Ziyan mountain towering in the distance.