Chapter 1522 — Take Care of Yourself, and the Twelfth Trialist, Just Like the Eleventh Before Him, Flushed Red with Excitement!

Yu Bing and Zhao Qijiu chose to remain in the Ice Palace and become its outer disciples. Unlike Wei Zhao, and unlike Zhao Qitan, Yu Bing felt no urgency to return now that the Yu family was free of Yu Shan's threat. Besides, Yu Shan had just been injured, and even if the affair had not begun because of him, some responsibility surely lay with him. Yu Bing did not believe Yu Shan would refrain from tattling, and in his anger his grandfather might well punish him!

But to stay and cultivate in the Ice Palace changed everything. Once he broke through to the Earth Rank and returned to his family, all troubles would have subsided, and his succession to the seat of young family head as an Earth Rank master would be a foregone conclusion.

Of the top ten trialists, all except Wei Zhao, Yang Qiqi, and Zhao Qitan chose to stay in the Ice Palace and become its outer disciples! In their eyes, to join the trial merely for an exchange right for heavenly treasures was not worth the trouble.

"Take care!" Wei Zhao patted Yu Bing on the shoulder and smiled. "I cannot interfere with your choice, but if you find no hope of breaking through here, you can come back and find me!"

This was a promise Wei Zhao gave to Yu Bing. Wei Zhao was not a man who promised lightly, but what he promised he generally fulfilled! Once Wei Zhao broke through to the Earth Rank, he might well be able to create Earth Rank masters in batches, and helping Yu Bing raise his strength then would be nothing difficult.

"You too. As for your conflict with the Yu family, I will do my best to mediate for you. For Xiao Ning's sake, I hope you will endure it a while!" Yu Bing nodded and said solemnly.

"Good! If the Yu family does not come seeking trouble with me, I will not provoke them." Wei Zhao said.

"I knew you would say that!" Yu Bing sighed. Whether the Yu family would provoke Wei Zhao of its own accord, Yu Bing could not be sure. He was not yet the young family head and could not decide the affairs of the Yu family.

"Those trialists who will stay in the Ice Palace as outer disciples, follow Xiao Li now to complete your entry formalities, and those who choose the heavenly treasure exchange right, come with me!" Xiao Qing said. "The rewards for the top three of the trial will be selected from the heavenly treasures obtained in this trial and issued as soon as possible."

At this moment Wei Zhao could only bid farewell to Yu Bing. After this parting, none knew when they would meet again, yet the two men merely nodded to each other, with everything understood without words.

The innkeeper led away first those trialists who were staying in the Ice Palace, while Xiao Qing went on to address the remaining trialists who had not prevailed. "The trial is over, and you may all return. But I must remind you of one thing: do not stir up trouble within the territory of my Ice Palace. Once you are out of Ice Snow Spirit Town, do as you please!"

"Yes!" Those trialists nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. How would they dare disobey Xiao Qing's words?

Xiao Qing led Wei Zhao, Yang Qiqi, and Zhao Qitan toward the Ice Palace, while those other trialists all dispersed.

"As for your heavenly treasure exchange rights, will you redeem them now, or go back and discuss before deciding?" Xiao Qing brought the three of them to a reception room on the outer edge of the Ice Palace, then asked. "If you exchange now, just state your request. If you go back, I will give you a token of the Ice Palace!"

"I will not exchange for now. I must return to my family first." Zhao Qitan said.

"Very well, take this. When you need it, you may bring this token to Ice Snow Spirit Town and seek out the innkeeper Xiao Li directly." Xiao Qing handed a strange stone tablet to Zhao Qitan.

Zhao Qitan hurriedly took it and put it away with care.

"Why have you not left yet?" Xiao Qing frowned when she saw Zhao Qitan still lingering here after receiving the stone token.

"I..." Zhao Qitan was taken aback, not expecting Xiao Qing to dismiss him so quickly, but he dared not disobey and could only say hastily, "I will leave right away..."

Zhao Qitan had originally meant to wait for Wei Zhao so they could return together and deepen their friendship on the road, but now that hope was shattered. Still, Zhao Qitan did not intend to leave outright. He planned to wait for Wei Zhao at the inn in Ice Snow Spirit Town.

"I will wait for you at the inn!" After saying this, Zhao Qitan hurried out of the reception room, where Ice Palace disciples were already waiting to escort him down the mountain.

"Ling Yi, Yang Qiqi, what about you?" Xiao Qing asked only after Zhao Qitan had left.

"You speak first." Wei Zhao guessed that what he wanted was likely rather precious in the Ice Palace, and bargaining over it would be troublesome, so it was better to let Yang Qiqi speak first.

"I need a Millennium Snow Lotus as a medicinal primer!" Yang Qiqi said. "I have no heavenly treasures to exchange for it, but I can buy it with money!"

"A Millennium Snow Lotus?" Xiao Qing frowned slightly, but still nodded. "Though it is a little precious, if you were to exchange it with heavenly treasures, I truly doubt you have anything so valuable. But buying it with money is acceptable! Five billion, and if you accept, I will have someone take you to complete the procedure."

Five billion... Yang Qiqi felt dizzy. Although this sum was not large compared to the value of a Millennium Snow Lotus, to Yang Qiqi it was a rather great amount. Five billion, her pocket money from childhood until now plus what she had earned on missions these past years did not even reach a tenth of five billion!

Yet Yang Qiqi desperately needed this Millennium Snow Lotus. Otherwise, her sworn sister Xiao Jiu might well lose her life. So Yang Qiqi gritted her teeth and said, "Very well! I will take it!"

In Yang Qiqi's family, children were raised to be self-sufficient. The family generally did not give much monetary support, providing only a monthly allowance before the age of eighteen.

Therefore, for Yang Qiqi to produce five billion to obtain the Millennium Snow Lotus, she would need to borrow money from her family!

That is right, borrow! Afterward, she would have to complete many more missions to repay the family's loan.

"Take her to complete it." Xiao Qing waved her hand, and an Ice Palace disciple came over to lead Yang Qiqi away to exchange for the Millennium Snow Lotus.

The Millennium Snow Lotus was not, in fact, an ordinary snow lotus, but an extremely rare variety! Common snow lotuses have a flowering season and do not bloom all year round, whereas the Millennium Snow Lotus blooms in all four seasons and grows only on the snow mountains of the far north!

Though precious to the Ice Palace, this Millennium Snow Lotus was not rare there, and its use to the Ice Palace was not great. It was merely a medicinal herb, possessing miraculous effects for prolonging life and curing certain illnesses, but its effect on cultivation was not very significant.

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