Chen Wentian headed back to Ten Thousand Flower Valley and met up with the ice sisters. They had a couple of days to spare before the planned meeting at Glacier Palace and he let them try out Summer and Winter's Eternal Sutra. They were all excited about the ability to use ice arts again and even more so about the fire arts. This meant they would be able to fully utilize their dual attribute spiritual energy!
The six of them gathered at the top of Snow White Plum Peak, on the cultivation platform. The Frozen Netherworld Jade array was ignored for the first time as the girls sat around Chen Wentian, staring unblinkingly at projected the text of the secret art into the air.
After they finished reading the ice arts portion, they immediately began to meditate and absorb the new insights. Because they had already cultivated the Eternal Winter Sutra, the complete version of Winter's Snow Dance was memorized in a few minutes. It also did not take long for them to try it out. It was like a fish returning to water. Everything made sense and their spiritual energy surged.
Woosh!
The snow flurries around the platform turned into a thick snowstorm and the temperature plummeted. Five sets of gleaming ice swords appeared in their hands in a flash. They were solid, unbreaking, and filled with icy power.
"Wushuang!" Xu Lanyi cried as she brandished her sword.
"Lanyi!" Song Wushuang replied, leaping towards her, an attack already on its way.
Seeing the two of them spar, Su Xue and Su Yue nodded to each other and they started to exchange blows as well.
"Ready?" Chen Wentian asked Li Yuechan as he stepped in front of her with a sword in hand.
"Master, please instruct me." She bowed and dashed forward, launching a powerful stab at his head.
The storm increased in intensity as three pairs of fighters exchanged blows and sword strikes. Icicles flew and shattered. Sharp blades flashed in the dim light and clashed together in a deadly dance.
The girls were about the same in terms of mastery of the ice art prior to losing their virginity. They went one by one through the four stages they had previously mastered, reviving the muscle memory established from years of arduous training.
1st Stage, Ice Sword. This allowed them to form hand-held weapons with ice that were as strong as metal. Being struck by an ice weapon also had the effect of leaving frost residue and cold energy.
2nd Stage, Arrows of Ice. This allowed them to launch icicles of varying sizes at their opponents from a distance. It expended a lot of spiritual energy but it was a powerful ranged attack.
3rd Stage, Frozen Carapace. This gave them the ability to cover their bodies in a protective layer of ice. This was separate from their spiritual aura and could shield their bodies even if their aura failed.
4th Stage, Icy Marrow. This was a temporary powerup that drastically increased the quality and intensity of their icy energy and this made their first three stages much more powerful.
The 5th Stage was Cold Snap, the sixth was Blizzard. After these were Winter Solstice, Polar Vortex, Ice Age, and Eternal Winter. Each stage provided a massive increase in power and profoundness of ice energy. These could not be reached quickly and required patient cultivation and study.
Zhou Ziyun had comprehended the Ice Sword stage but her spiritual sea did not contain much ice attribute spiritual energy or extreme amounts of yin. Her ice attack had the correct form and concepts but little power.
In contrast, the power displayed by Li Yuechan and her sisters was a sight to behold. Their colorful dresses fluttering against a backdrop of snow-covered mountains and icy gusts showcased exactly why the art was called Winter's Snow Dance!
The wind and snow eventually settled down and the five women returned to their seats in a semi-circle around Chen Wentian.
"You girls were amazing!" He praised, "How are you feeling?"
"Great, best day ever!" Xu Lanyi exclaimed.
"Sure, sure," Song Wushuang chuckled, "Master, my ice powers feel much smoother to use and quicker to activate than before."
The twins nodded in agreement.
"Good, good." Chen Wentian said, "I think with your dual attributes, you'll also be able to practice Summer's Blazing Fist without much issue either. Both are quite good immortal arts and I see no problems with them."
The twins hugged each other happily while Xu Lanyi and Song Wushuang laughed together. The only one that was silent was Li Yuechan. She had a thoughtful look on her face so they waited for her to speak.
"Master…" She finally said, "I'm really thankful for the complete art. But… will you also teach this to Glacier Palace?"
Chen Wentian expected her question and the other implications that came with it and he had already prepared an answer. Zhou Ziyun's words reminded him that Gong Liyun was a manipulative and dangerous woman. Gong Liyun probably guessed his relationship with his disciples and wanted to force thousands of women on him to see how he would react. He wouldn't take her bait but he wouldn't mistreat those women either.
"Girls, I've thought a lot about this and I've decided on a few things." He said, "Firstly, all of the Glacier Palace disciples will be allowed access to the complete art. Those that are virgins will be given only the first seven stages of Winter's Snow Dance. Those that have lost their virginity will be given all ten stages. Those that are able to find dual cultivation partners will be given the entire secret art so that they can both practice it."
Their reactions were good so far so he continued. "Second, I won't be accepting them as my disciples. I may make an exception for Long Yifei but not the others. They will be responsible for learning and cultivating on their own. You five are also not allowed to waste time teaching hundreds and thousands of them."
"But master, how will they learn correctly without anyone to guide them?" Li Yuechan argued.
"Yeah! What's up?" Xu Lanyi also piped up.
"It sounds harsh but they are not my problem." He replied, "Look, only you are my responsibility, not them. I saved them from a terrible fate and freed them from a horrible master. They can reorganize their sect to address the past wrongs. I will still act as administrator for both sects since that is my duty but I am not going spend time to teach them."
His tone was firm and they understood he had made up his mind. Li Yuechan and Xu Lanyi looked disappointed while Song Wushuang and the twins were neutral.
"Next, speaking of the two sects, my design for them is that the women who lost their virginity will be allowed to choose their dual cultivation partner from the remnants of Divine Blazing Mountain. The men chosen will have the strict requirement that they must divorce all their other wives and marry the Glacier Palace disciple."
They looked at him in confusion so he explained, "The dual cultivation section of the secret art is not useful for you since you all have dual attributes already. The dual cultivation sutra actually is mimicking dual attribute spiritual energy when extreme yin and extreme yang combine. It is a must for those women to find a dual cultivation partner but I also need to place restrictions on the men. For those men left out, I will not allow them access to the fire portion secret art."
"Lastly, I know you may still be somewhat unsatisfied so I will give you all an incentive to work hard on your cultivation. For each of you, when you have mastered the tenth stages of both Winter's Snow Dance and Summer's Blazing Fist, I will lift my previous restriction on you. At that time, you can choose to accept disciples as you wish and you can also form a branch sect if you want to."
He paused and looked at each of them. "I care about you. You're all the best disciples anyone could ever want. I want you all to break through to the immortal realms and be by my side for a very, very long time. But for that to happen, you must first be selfish and take care of yourself. Do you understand?"
His words were sincere and they heard it clearly. They understood their place in his heart and they no longer had any hesitation.
"Yes, master!"