No matter what time it was, the Cold Palace would always look icy and unwelcoming. Even the scorching afternoon sunlight seemed to turn pale-white when it shone into the palace. The palace seemed to contain the chill of winter. Towering statues stood silently in various corners in the palace. Layers of vermillion doors separated the majestic inner palace from the outside world.
She Yu felt anxious.
Her relationship with Bei Shuisheng was rather good, so she could visit and leave the Cold Palace as she wished. Bei Shuisheng seldom meet visitors. Without his permission, no one could get near the Cold Palace.
Even so, every time she came to the Cold Palace, she still could not help but feel nervous. The sick and frail Bei Shuisheng had a pair of eyes that looked as if they could see through the world.
After She Yu passed through the vermillion doors, she came to the huge and spacious inner palace that was devoid of people.
In the face of the imposing palace, her petite body made her look insignificant.
Bei Shuisheng sat beside a door basking in the sunlight. Only sunlight from the midday sun could shine into the palace. Every day at this time, Bei Shuisheng would put down all his work and bask in the sunlight while sipping tea.
"You have come."
Bei Shuisheng’s voice was always so comforting, like a breeze blowing in her face.
"Sir, good afternoon," She Yu replied as she kneeled on a praying mat outside the inner palace.
She did not know why she had been summoned to the Cold Palace.
Bei Shuisheng smiled. His face was sickly white. Furthermore, since he stayed in the Cold Palace for such a long period of time, it was very hard for him to see the sun, causing his entire body to look pale and weak. One would not be able to link this person to the "Sick Tiger of the God Nation."
"It has been a very long since I last chatted with you." Bei Shuisheng took an empty cup and poured some tea into it. Following which, he pushed the cup of tea through the doorway to She Yu. "So how are you? How have you been recently?"
She Yu respectfully took the teacup and replied, "I’m still the same. Nothing much has changed."
"Time passes really fast. So many years have passed unwittingly. If my memory serves me right, you belonged to the first batch of seeds." Bei Shuisheng sighed.
She Yu did not understand what Bei Shusheng was trying to say. Therefore, she replied with prudence, "Yes."
"Then we started serving His Majesty at around the same time. When His Majesty found me, he initially wanted me to join the seeds. It’s a pity my body was too weak, and His Majesty dropped the subject." Bei Shuisheng continued, "You are the only one left from the first batch of seeds, right?"
"Yes," She Yu’s hands froze.
These so-called "seeds" were a group of elites who were cultivated by the Blood of God from a young age. Most of them were orphans, and they began to practice blood spiritual force at an early age. At that time, the Blood of God’s training system for blood spiritual force was still at the initial stage. They had tried various training methods and even passed the task to the Beast Venom Temple. Eventually, the Beast Venom Temple developed a mature training system for blood spiritual force.
The competition among the seeds was extremely brutal and devastating.
The Holy Emperor valued the seeds very much. He felt that they were the cornerstones of the Blood of God. They had done a lot for the Blood of God, and their loyalty for their nation was unparalleled.
When the Blood of God was just starting out, the seeds were used as soldiers, they fought at the front line, and they did not let the Holy Emperor down.
Due to this, the death rate of the seeds was terrifying. She Yu was the only survivor of the first batch of seeds.
She Yu’s position in the Blood of God was a special one. She was viewed as the princess of the God Nation, which was why she was addressed as "Her Highness."
However, that period of time wasn’t exactly a beautiful memory for She Yu. All of her companions and rivals were gone, and she was the only one left.
She Yu did not know why Bei Shuisheng would talk about this matter.
Bei Shuisheng’s gaze was fixated on She Yu’s face. Even though she had put a lot of effort on her make-up, Bei Shuisheng could still tell that she looked wan and sallow. He sighed in his heart and asked, "When was the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] cast on you?"
She Yu was overwhelmed with shock as her petite body trembled violently. With a pale-white face, she asked, "How.... how did you know?"
"Previously, when you came and asked me about the Heart of God, I knew there was something up with you. However, I was still not too sure at that time. The [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] is a profound spell that not many people know about. I only recalled the details after reading about it when I was bored. I didn’t expect that I would witness it with my own eyes. If you were the flower master, why would you ask me about the Heart of God? You were so anxious only because you’re the flower slave," Bei Shuisheng replied calmly.
Bei Shuisheng’s voice was calm like water, but it was able to stupify She Yu. However, she was able to calm down very soon, feeling as if she had been relieved of a burden.
She was not fearful, but rather, bitter. Even if His Majesty knew about it and wanted to punish her, so what? She had been searching for solutions to release herself from the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art], but to no avail until now.
She had no more hope left in her heart.
Bei Shuisheng continued, "Initially, I thought it was done by His Majesty. However, after I asked His Majesty, I realized he had not studied the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] before. War God Ye and Red Devil joined the Blood of God not too long ago, so they definitely don’t know anything about it. Was it Palace Master Nangong?"
At this point in time, She Yu had already calmed down. She shook her head and replied, "Sir, thank you for your concern. The [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] was not cast by someone else. I am just reaping what I have sowed."
"You did it to yourself?" Bei Shuisheng was startled.
He thought of something, and his dull eyes lit up abruptly as he asked, "The flower master and the flower slave have swapped positions?"
"Yes." She Yu’s eyes dimmed.
"I see…" A look of realization dawned upon Bei Shuisheng’s face.
He was amazed by She Yu’s talents. The [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] was profound and unpredictable. Out of the many spells of the God Nation, it was one of the most mysterious ones. He had not expected She Yu to be able to learn it. He certainly also had not expected her to encounter the rare event of the flower slave and flower master swapping positions.
Bei Shuisheng slowly digested the shock he felt. After a while, he asked, "May I know who the other party is?"
She Yu hesitated for a while and blurted out two words, "Ai Hui."
Bei Shuisheng’s face was filled with astonishment. His body froze, looking as if someone had cast a freezing spell on him. After a long while, he exhaled deeply. There was still a remnant of shock in his eyes. He then muttered, "So it’s him, so it’s him…"
He absolutely had not expected the other party to be Ai Hui.
"When did you cast the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] on him?"
"In Central Pine City."
The last tinge of doubt that Bei Shuisheng had disappeared. He recalled that when the blood catastrophe first broke out, She Yu was near Central Pine City. He was slightly amazed at She Yu’s foresight and courage. To be able to see Ai Hui’s potential and cast the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] on him without any hesitation at that time was not something that ordinary people could do.
Bei Shuisheng was even more surprised that Ai Hi could swap positions with She Yu even though he was the one whom the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] had been cast on.
This incident verified one idiom, which was that only a powerful dragon was capable of crossing the river!
When Bei Shuisheng raised his head, his facial expression had already regained its composure. "There might be hope for you."
She Yu’s mind jolted as she cried out in alarm. She could no longer maintain her composure. With a trembling voice, she said, "Sir, enlighten me."
However, Bei Shuisheng turned silent once more. After a while, he replied with a solemn tone, "There is a chance that this solution might fail. I can’t promise you anything."
"At this point in time, even if the solution has only one percent chance of success, I’m still willing to try it." She Yu smiled sadly.
Sorrow arose in Bei Shuisheng’s mind. He definitely knew how tragic the fate of a flower slave would be. He understood what She Yu was feeling now. Suddenly, he changed the topic and said, "General Ye and Palace Master Nangong have been kidnapped by the Dread and Judgement divisions."
She Yu, who was unprepared for the news, was dumbstruck. After a while, she returned to her senses and cried out in alarm, "What happened?"
She was utterly shocked by this extreme news that suddenly came to her. Ye Baiyi and Nangong Wulian’s importance to the God Nation was second only to Bei Shuisheng’s. Ye Baiyi had trained six god divisions and 12 blood divisions by himself. Nangong Wulian’s Beast Venom Temple affected various aspects of the God Nation. Other than the miraculous Heart of God and the research on Blood refinement, Beast Venom Temple also cultivated various species of blood fiends and blood plants.
These two important figures had been kidnapped!
She did not dare to imagine how devastating this news would be for the God Nation!
The situation at the front line was going so well, yet how had they committed such a foolish mistake?
Upon hearing this news, She Yu was dumbstruck. For a period of time, she fell into a stupor.
"His Majesty can’t accept such heavy losses. After his battle with An Muda, His Majesty has yet to recover from his injuries, so he can’t save the two of them personally. Red Devil is stationed at the border of the Jadeite Forest and can’t leave his post to save them. When His Majesty asked me for my opinion, I thought about it and recommended you," Bei Shuisheng muttered.
She Yu was stunned and thought she had heard Bei Shuisheng wrongly. She shook her head and replied, "Sir, you should know about my strength. This matter is of utmost importance, and I am incapable of handling it even though I really want to offer my help…"
Bei Shuisheng smiled. "We will talk about your strength later. Initially, I thought that Palace Master Nangong was the one who cast the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art] on you and that if you saved him, he would release you from the spell. However, now that I know the other party is Ai Hui, I feel truly surprised, but that does not mean you have no chance of surviving."
She Yu looked as if she was listening to a story. Bei Shuisheng seemed to be certain that she could save Ye Baiyi and Nangong Wulian. If the one in front of her wasn’t Bei Shuisheng, she would have stormed off in a huff after hearing such absurd words. The Dread Division and the Judgement Division were filled with experts, and Wan Shenwei and Ximen Caijue were powerful entities. Her strength paled in comparison to theirs.
With a relaxed tone, Bei Shuisheng said, "Just like what I previously said, I don’t know whether or not this method will work."
A magnificent golden box, cast entirely out of gold, appeared in his hand. Beautiful decorative designs were engraved on it. Clearly, it had been forged by a reputable blacksmith.
Bei Shuisheng pushed the golden box through the doorway.
Countless doubts ran through She Yu’s mind. She did not know what Bei Shuisheng was up to. She took the golden box and carefully opened it. The interior of the golden box was lined with a black silk fabric that resembled flowing water. A resplendent piece of transparent crystal laid inside.
Inside the crystal, there was a drop of golden liquid.
She Yu seemed to have thought of something as her brain buzzed and went into a daze.
"His Majesty has bestowed you with a drop of God’s blood. The Heart of God, which was inspired by God’s blood, has yet to be completed, and there are still many flaws with it. You will develop a telepathic connection with the Heart of God. Perhaps you can rouse Ye Baiyi? All our combat divisions will be under your command. I believe you can bring Ye Baiyi and Nangong Wulian back. As for how God’s blood will affect the [Life and Death Flower Sacrificial Art], I currently don’t know. However, I am really looking forward to see what will happen."
Bei Shuisheng smiled at She Yu with a warm look in his eyes.