Chapter 1342 - 1342: Identity Verification

Following the group, Jiang Cheng arrived before a towering giant tree.

In the Primordial Immortal Realm where Immortal Power is overflowing, colossal trees that would need thousands of people to encircle are everywhere.

Looking at the massive tree in front of him, with lush branches and leaves that could support tens of thousands living on it, Brother Cheng thought to himself, could it be that your Ice Palace is built up on the tree?

But with a casual sweep of his senses, there were no other people or buildings on the tree.

Right after that, he saw Venerable Linjing, Venerable Lanmiao and the other six Venerables all crouch down at the same time.

The six of them gathered around a seemingly inconspicuous Snow Feather Grass under the tree, channeling Immortal Power while chanting different Spells.

Brother Cheng suddenly understood.

"So you actually live inside a Secret Realm, and the entrance to that Secret Realm is on this Snow Feather Grass?"

"Now that's really well hidden!"

Just when he thought that Snow Feather Grass was going to reveal a shiny, sparkling Secret Realm entrance, that stalk of grass unexpectedly drifted away from its original spot.

The roots of the Snow Feather Grass left the soil without raising a single speck of dust, looking crystal clear, carrying a hint of holy charm.

And beneath the Snow Feather Grass, a long narrow hole appeared.

Sect Leader Jiang swept it with his senses and immediately discovered that it was long and winding, reaching who knew how deep into the ground.

Along the way there were arrangements that blocked Divine Thought, though they couldn't stop his Holy Soul's probing; in the end he found a whole cluster of palaces down below.

In the very center there really was an Ice Palace.

"So you actually live underground?"

"That's kind of low-status, you know!"

The women didn't answer.

They just continued chanting their special Spells.

After a short while, that Snow Feather Grass was plugged back into its original spot.

Brother Cheng, standing off to the side, still hadn't figured out what they were doing, but he was deeply shocked.

So what were they just doing?

Were they just doing it for nothing?

Right at that moment, a tiny speck of dust, completely unremarkable, swiftly drifted to the group.

Then that speck of dust suddenly flared with light.

One figure after another flashed out from inside it and quickly grew to ordinary human size.

Brother Cheng almost spat blood.

He finally understood: turns out that so-called Ice Palace was actually built inside a speck of dust.

And just now, with the Spells and the Snow Feather Grass, they were probably just contacting the people inside.

If you don't go through this "protocol verification," outsiders can't enter their Ice Palace at all.

As for that underground palace cluster he sensed earlier, that was probably just there to throw others off.

If an enemy invades and even manages to find the Snow Feather Grass, in the end what they destroy is just a fake Sect address.

Once he figured it out, he couldn't help but offer ten thousand bows to the founder of this Ice Palace.

Your level of caution is a hundred times higher than Cyan Bear Daoist Venerable's!

Is that really necessary?

And sure, "A Mustard Seed Contains Mount Sumeru," but having a Sect of over a thousand people built inside a speck of dust is way too cheap, isn't it?

That's just downright pathetic, okay?

While he was secretly grumbling, a calm, cool female voice rang out from the center of the crowd.

"You're back."

Venerable Linjing, Venerable Lanmiao and the others all smiled as they went up to greet her.

"Palace Master!"

"Greetings, Palace Master!"

"This time we ran into a huge incident..."

"Cyan Bear Daoist Venerable's Cave Mansion got destroyed by some unknown person, and a lot of Demon Race died too!"

The Palace Master was slightly startled when she heard this.

However, she didn't immediately ask for details.

Instead she raised her sharp eyes and looked toward Jiang Cheng's direction.

"Why is there a stranger's aura here?"

She seemed to have a complete grasp of everyone here, and there was a faint displeasure in her tone.

"Didn't I tell you not to bring strangers over casually?"

Venerable Lanmiao and the others hurriedly explained.

"Palace Master, he's also an enemy of the Cyan Bear Evil Demon, and he's a Venerable as well..."

At this moment, Jiang Cheng finally met the Palace Master's gaze.

The instant they looked at each other, this guy couldn't help laughing out loud.

The Palace Master of this Ice Palace really was that old acquaintance from the Ice Realm he'd guessed—Gong Qing.

His former exclusive personal Advisor.

"You..."

Gong Qing's gaze froze; the way she looked at Jiang Cheng was filled with barely concealable astonishment.

This kind of expression was something no one had ever seen on her before.

In their impression, the Palace Master was always as calm as a block of ice.

Everything fell within her calculations; nothing could surprise her, let alone make her lose composure.

"I knew it, this guy definitely has a problem!"

Venerable Linjing immediately condensed a Purple Crystal Longsword, ready to capture Brother Cheng.

"Stop!"

Gong Qing's demeanor quickly returned to normal.

"You all go down first."

"I have questions for him."

Uh, what?

All the women were stunned. What did that mean?

What could she possibly need to ask that had to be asked in private and not in front of them?

However, Gong Qing's position in their hearts seemed to be extremely high, so in the end the women filed in one after another, entering that speck of dust.

In the end, only Jiang Cheng and her remained outside.

"Long time no see, Advisor Gong. Looks like you're doing pretty well!"

Brother Cheng greeted her with a squinty-eyed smile.

Gong Qing took a step back, the clear, icy eyes filled with wariness and scrutiny.

"Who are you?" she asked coldly.

Brother Cheng's face was full of speechlessness. Didn't you already recognize me?

Advisor Gong's mind was far more complicated than ordinary people's; every matter in her head would probably be sorted through countless times, considering every angle.

If it were some other old acquaintance seeing him again, they would've rushed over and hugged him long ago.

But for her, she had to verify his identity first, in case someone was impersonating him.

"I'm Jiang Cheng, Jiang Junsuai, satisfied now?"

"Which Jiang Cheng?"

"What do you think?"

Brother Cheng was half laughing, half crying.

"Of course the Jiang Cheng from the old True Ice Realm. So have I passed identity verification now?"

Gong Qing was like an emotionless verification machine, not relaxing in the slightest.

"Then tell me, how did you get to know me?"

Jiang Cheng forced himself to be patient and began to recall.

"Back in the True Ice Realm, you were being hunted down and then you ran into me."

"And where in the True Ice Realm was that?"

Brother Cheng thought carefully. "It was called Feihong Territory or something like that."

The fact that he could remember this place name was already very rare.

Mainly because this name shared a character with Feixian Sect, so it left a bit of an impression on him.

Gong Qing pressed further: "Which location in Feihong Territory, which realm?"

Brother Cheng tried to think again, but unfortunately his brain's hard drive simply didn't have that data because he'd never saved it back then.

"I really can't remember. Give me a hint, will you?"

Gong Qing shook her head.

She didn't make a move immediately, but continued asking questions to verify him.

"What was the name of that Realm's Realm Master?"

Brother Cheng very righteously stated that he couldn't do this question.

"Some no-name nobody. How could I possibly remember?"

"Aside from Ice Origin Valley, the strongest force in the True Ice Realm..."

"I know, it's the Ice Palace!" After failing two questions in a row, Brother Cheng hurriedly raised his hand to抢答.

"Who was the Ninth Elder of the Ice Palace?"

Brother Cheng let out a sigh. "Can you please ask some questions that humans can actually answer?"

"Today is the how-manyth day since you and I met?"

"I'm crap at math, so whatever, think what you like!"