Chapter 2716 — A Visit to Tang Zhi

"Even the Heartless Art can be broken through?" Wei Zhao was still somewhat puzzled. She had cultivated the Heartless Art, yet she could still go on loving Zhang Lifeng—that really was quite remarkable.

"That… who can say?" White Leader said. "Perhaps the legends are a little off."

Wei Zhao nodded. That was the only explanation there could be.

At the foot of the mountain in Snow Valley, a patrolling disciple discovered a Jeep Wrangler slowly making its way into Snow Valley's territory. Seeing this, the disciple immediately stepped in front of the Wrangler and raised one palm, signaling it to stop.

"This is the territory of Snow Valley. If you are travelers or explorers, I ask that you go no further!" Though the patrolling disciple's words sounded courteous, they carried an irresistible authority.

"So this is Snow Valley?" Xiaofen looked delightedly at the patrolling disciple who had appeared before them. The road here had been utterly deserted, and she had nearly begun to think they had gone the wrong way.

"This man is standing in the midst of ice and snow wearing only a thin white robe? Isn't he cold?" Liu Xinlan said, also rather surprised.

"I'll go have a look!" Kang Xiaofeng said to the two women. With that, he opened the car door and got out.

But the moment Kang Xiaofeng stepped out, a piercing cold wind struck him in the face, and he could not help but shiver. He hastily turned up his collar and said, "Hello, you must be a disciple of Snow Valley? The three of us are on our way to Snow Valley. Might you show us the way?"

"On your way to Snow Valley? Who are you people? What have you come here to do?" The valley-patrolling disciple was somewhat taken aback, for Kang Xiaofeng and his companions looked nothing like cultivators—they had not the slightest air of cultivators about them, and looked far more like tourists.

"We've come to visit an old friend," Kang Xiaofeng said.

"Visit an old friend? What old friend of yours could there be here?" the disciple asked, puzzled.

"Tang Zhi, of course. My girlfriend and she have been friends since childhood. We've come together to see her…" Kang Xiaofeng explained.

"What?! You've come to visit Elder Tang?" At the name Tang Zhi, the disciple was startled, and his expression changed at once from indifference to deference. "The three of you, please follow me. But you will need to wait in the guest rooms—I must go report this first!"

"Of course, no problem. Thank you!" Kang Xiaofeng said politely. Though Tang Zhi seemed to be a person of great consequence here, Kang Xiaofeng would not make things difficult for these ordinary patrolling disciples.

Kang Xiaofeng went back to drive the car, and followed the patrolling disciple to Snow Valley's guest rooms, where they settled in to rest for a while, while the disciple went off to report the truth of the matter. Naturally, he did not report to Tang Zhi, but directly to the Grand Elder!

Although Tang Zhi held a very high position in Snow Valley, the Grand Elder, in order to prevent Wei Zhao from coming to find Tang Zhi and affecting Tang Zhi's cultivation, required that anyone who came here seeking Tang Zhi must first pass the Grand Elder's review and approval.

The patrolling disciple went through Elder Zhang, the elder on duty, to summon the Grand Elder. Indeed, Elder Zhang was on duty again today—only, kind as Elder Zhang was, he did not dare openly defy the Grand Elder's orders.

"You mean to say these three outside are all friends of Tang Zhi?" After hearing the patrolling disciple's report, the Grand Elder furrowed her brow. "One man and two women? It isn't Wei Zhao, along with that Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, come again, is it? Elder Zhang, come with me to have a look. If it is them, just send them away!"

"Yes, Grand Elder," Elder Zhang said hastily.

So the Grand Elder and Elder Zhang came to the guest rooms and saw Kang Xiaofeng, Xiaofen, and Liu Xinlan. The Grand Elder breathed a sigh of relief—so long as it was not that Wei Zhao who had come, all was well. Her one fear was that, at Wei Zhao's urging, Tang Zhi might leave Snow Valley and cultivate no more, and then she would lose far too much.

"The three of you, this is our Snow Valley's Grand Elder!" Elder Zhang introduced her to Kang Xiaofeng and the others.

"Greetings, Grand Elder!" Kang Xiaofeng's tone was respectful, but inwardly he was unimpressed. So this was the old shrew Shen Yushu had spoken of—she certainly did look like someone hard to get along with.

"What is your purpose in coming here?" the Grand Elder asked, coming straight to the point.

"We simply haven't seen Tang Zhi in a long time, and only wished to come and see her. We have no other purpose," Kang Xiaofeng said respectfully.

"Oh—then there is no need to see her. Tang Zhi is at a critical moment in her cultivation, and I do not wish her to be forever recalling the past. Seeing you, she might think of Wei Zhao, and that would cause her great pain and hinder her cultivation. If she were to lose control and suffer cultivation deviation, the consequences are more than you or I could bear." The Grand Elder waved her hand, her mind already made up.

"What? Cultivation deviation?" Kang Xiaofeng was startled. He had never imagined that even a single glance at Tang Zhi could cause cultivation deviation—that was far too frightening.

"That is so. Since you are all Tang Zhi's friends, there is no harm in my telling you in detail." The Grand Elder's brows drew slightly together. "No doubt you already know that when Tang Zhi began her cultivation, she ought to have taken the Forgetfulness Herb draught, but she did not take it—she gave it to Wei Zhao instead. And so, in her cultivation, certain obstacles have arisen…"

Here the Grand Elder could not help but sigh. "What Tang Zhi cultivates is the Heartless Art. To harbor love in one's heart hinders cultivation, and the process of cultivation becomes unbearably painful! If she cannot forget Wei Zhao, then she will go on suffering. Should she lose control and suffer cultivation deviation, at the least she will lose all her power, and at the worst her body will burst and she will die!"

"What! Her body could burst and she could die?" Kang Xiaofeng, Xiaofen, and Liu Xinlan all stared wide-eyed in shock.

"Naturally. In the world of cultivation, losing control and having one's body burst asunder is commonplace." This was no lie the Grand Elder told them—such things truly did happen. She had merely exaggerated Tang Zhi's situation somewhat.

In those years, the Snow Ancestor who founded the sect had created the Heartless Art amid just such suffering, and she had not burst asunder either. But she had grown through her pain, which made her situation somewhat different from Tang Zhi's—she had never obtained love, whereas Tang Zhi had.

And yet the circumstances of their cultivation were much the same. Tang Zhi would not burst asunder either; at worst she would suffer greatly and advance more slowly.

"This…" Hearing all this, Kang Xiaofeng hesitated…