Two days had passed since Shin, and the Lantis Republic first landed in the Alliance's temporary base. These two days were crucial for the congregation, particularly the Azure Dragons that served as mounts, to recharge and rejuvenate their bodies. The other Spirit Venerates and Spirit Emperors that joined in the flight were also relaxing in their respective abodes, drinking tea amidst the calm before the storm. On the outside, the Alliance members, particularly those from the Kori Federation, were working overtime as per Shin's request. Just like the Prince of the Lantis Republic, they too realised the urgency of the situation. The sooner they dealt with the Black Masks, the better.
And well… After the two days, the Alliance was finally ready to launch the first attack.
Flying high above the skies, over fifty figures levitated silently, observing the white terrain down below. At this altitude, everything was just a patch of white. Snow continued to fall down softly, while the winter winds turned the gentle snow into a blizzard tempest. Trees were swayed down as if doing the limbo and the routine avalanche would decimate the land beneath the cliffs.
"This is quite bad..." Shin muttered from the confides of Heigui Xuegang protective shell. By his side, Lady Seph, Bingbing and the Azure Dragon Lord Zishen, all wore tense faces. They weren't certain about Shin's prospects of completing the deed, mainly when the weather was this bad.
Lady Seph was the first to break the silence. "Shin, don't you think that you should wait for a few more days? It's far too dangerous to attempt to change the weather when it's this bad..."
"Master, this is still considered average for this region..." Shin repeated what he'd heard from Yeunghi, Macron and basically everyone familiar with the region. "Tomorrow might be worse than today, and the day after it might be a complete hailstorm. No one can really tell. So, it'll be better for me to just change the weather now..."
"If you say so..." Lady Seph folded her arms with an unsatisfied scoff. A radiant golden light broke out from her core as two angelic empyrean wings burst forth from her back. An equally beautiful halo graced the crown of her head as bits of golden aura fell down from her rejuvenated body. Once again, the Divine Healer had merged with the Iofiel Angel, boosting every single aspect of her healing and support skills. "Either way, I'll be here to prevent you from exhausting your mana. [Rise]."
A divine voice, wholly detached from an average human's, emerged out of Lady Seph's mouth. Golden spheres of hallowed light forced their way into the young man's body, giving him a seemingly endless source of pure mana. Just like Elrin's Sacramental Boost, Lady Seph's Divine Words was one of the world's top auxiliary skills. She could boost someone's physical state, heal someone back to perfect health and even paralyse those that were weaker than her, just by saying the words. In this case, all she needed to do was watch Shin as he prepared to attempt the impossible.
Shin closed his eyes, peering deep into his Spectre Soul. The Celestial Dragon, who had been slumbering for the longest time, reappeared back into the world. It pivoted its head around, carefully observing the snow that fell from the heavens. Being Shin's Spirit, it was acutely aware of what its master was trying to accomplish. Scales emerged out from Shin's healthy white skin as the Celestial Aura flowed out from his pores. What Shin was about to attempt would unquestionably take a toll upon his mortal body. If he wanted to hold out even for just a millisecond longer, he'll need all the support that he could get.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!
The familiar siren's wail pierced through the eardrums of those that stood beside the young man. The Azure Dragon's Shard, Shin's fourth spiritual ability that greatly enhanced his attacking powers and mana output, appeared behind the young Prince's back. Its appearance had made the atmosphere a hundred times tenser as the elements danced about with euphoria. However, Shin wasn't done...
"Senior Zishen! Now!" The Prince cried.
It was no coincidence that Zishen and Lady Seph were selected to travel with Shin. Both of their skills were needed for the Prince to guarantee his plan's success. The Azure Dragon Lord smiled and raised his opened palms towards the burning shard. Even though it had long assimilated with Shin and was part of the Celestial Dragon's spiritual abilities, the Azure Dragon Lord did once have a connection to his very own claw. It was simple for him to transfer a bit of his own mana into the Spirit Lord's own Spectre Soul.
"ARRRRGGGGGGGHHHH!!!" Shin screamed out with an agonising cry. The shard on his back was getting heavier by the second, and the mana within his Spectre Soul was being overwhelmed by the spiritual energies sent by the Tier 9 Spirit Beast. Shin's blood started to boil and his face turned red-hot. The Prince felt like he'd been placed into a furnace, with nowhere to escape to. However, he had to hold on…
Shin's pores all opened up, as the consistently repeated the Hymn of Origin. Zishen's mana was being rapidly converted into Shin's own and the Domain of Dreams filled with the Celestial Dragon's aura spread out far and wide. Unknown to the change, the grey clouds kept pumping down snow at a constant rate, while the winds continued to churn out new blizzards.
The world was still in the midst of its endless snow, powered by the Winter of the West. In essence, as long as the weather was cold, the snow would continue to fall. If winter never left, the whole region surrounding the Illusory Canyon would continue to be covered with the white, cold slush. However… That was about to change…
Snap!
Shin's fingers crossed each other. The energy that was stored within his Spectre Soul was released out in droves, and the Domain of Dreams stretched to over five kilometres wide. Mana was drained out of Shin's body at an astonishing rate. His four limbs turned extremely heavy, and his face was contorted into a weird shape. If not for Lady Seph's blessing and the Celestial Dragon's spiritual body enhancement, Shin was certain that his body wouldn't last a minute with the pressure. Though, all his suffering was worth it…
Pom…
A ripple spread out from the top of Shin's cranium, spreading out throughout the firmament. The white pieces of heaven that fell from the skies all turned into pure water droplets. The winds that tormented the poor lands were all morphed into gentle breezes that wouldn't harm a single fly. The Domain of Dreams broke down the weather changing it to suit Shin's liking, and well… There was nothing that anyone could do about it.
"One second… Two seconds… Three..." Shin mentally counted the amount of time he needed to sustain this state. His eyes were gleaming with divine azure light, and his fingers were already shaking. It was hard to control the immense mana outflow and prevent his soul from getting too drained, but he had to do so…
At the same time, the ground was bustling with activity. Numerous figures leapt out from their hidden positions with their weapons in hand. With the blizzards gone, the scouts were able to move around in the rain with impunity. Their movements were sharp and quick, taking what little time they had to sweep through the entire region. They had prepared for this mission for quite some time now. The scouts knew all of the hot areas that had to be scoured.
Uniformly, the Alliance members broke through regions that were deemed unbreachable by the weather, desperately looking for any clue of the Black Masks' base. They even brought highly trained Gryphons, which had been reared for the sole purpose of pursuit. Not even the Spirit Emperors were spared for the menial task. Yeunghi, Jimga… They were all flying about the skies with their weapons pointed at the ground.
"Damn… Changing the weather… is… hard..." Shin bit down on his lip, sending a line of crimson life down onto the floor. Lady Seph's Iofiel Angel immediately noticed Shin's injury and sent a radiant golden wave to mend the broken lip.
"Shin, concentrate! Don't harm yourself!" Lady Seph swam within the dense domain and placed her handkerchief in Shin's mouth. Alas, the Prince could hardly hear her. His mind was completely fuzzy just by the outpour of mana, and his soul was wailing in agony.
No matter how much of a wonder kid Shin was, he was still a Rank 50 Spirit Lord. Changing the weather was something that only Spirit Saints could do with ease. Not only was his forty ranks short, but Shin was also using the infant power of the recently promoted Celestial Dragon that hadn't fully grown yet. Though he could change the weather, it was only for a meagre fifteen minutes. Any more and his Spectre Soul would face irreversible damage.
Sweat trickled down Shin's entire being. In no time at all, the man looked like he'd just ran a marathon even though he'd been standing still for less than thirty seconds. The spiritual energies that surrounded him became denser by the second and the brightness of the shard was ever bright. Zishen was careful not to send too much mana into Shin's body, but the young man was like a thirsty hippo, greedily sucking as many spiritual energies as he could.
"Mmmm, my Prince… You have to endure..."
The first few seconds were always the hardest. The wailing pain and agonising screams that Shin's joints echoed didn't wane at all, but at least he could get used to it. Bit by bit, the searing pain in his body got a little more bearable, and the mana outpour that shouldn't usually occur was being standardised.
"I… I'm… fine..." Shin muttered out, while Bingbing held onto his hand.
"Yip, Shin! You're doing great!" The young girl spurred him on like a cheerleader.
"Yeah… Please, Master… Zishen… Keep an eye out for the signal..." Those were the last words that Shin said before finally closing his eyes, and entering into a state of absolute concentration.
On the surface, the search continued to intensify. The Spirit Emperors cleared ploughed through the snow at drastic rates. One Spirit Emperor destroyed half a mountain, just to check for any clues of the Black Masks. The other scouts did simple movements, like diving in and out of caves. However, no matter how menial the task, the search progressed at an exceedingly fast pace. They were all connected via a communication network, developed through the use of Aether Crystals. Once a region was deemed to be clear, the scouts would instantly move to the next one and repeat the process all over again.
It was all going exceedingly well… until…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
Jimga, the Tyrant Sword, swung his colossal blade down upon the gigantic mountain that stood just a hundred kilometres north of the Illusory Canyon. Normally, once a hill took a cleave by the dominant Sword Emperor, it would crumble down into nothingness. Yet, instead of falling down, it was Jimga's sword that dissipated.
"This..." Aghast, the Spirit Emperor leapt back. What he'd hit, wasn't a mountain that was made of earth and strengthened by mud. Instead, it was an entire force field that shielded a complete mansion within!
"Bingo..." A wry smile crept up Jimga's lips as his eyes flashed with joy. Using the flare that was handed down to all scouts, the Spirit Emperor launched the beacon into the sky, alerting everyone of his new discovery.
"Shin! That's the signal! You can stop now!!!" Bingbing grabbed onto Shin's wrist and hollered right into his ear.
As if waiting for this moment, Zishen and Lady Seph moved. Zishen halted his mana influx into the shard and instantly focused on rejuvenating Shin's Spectre Soul. Lady Seph did the same, but her focus was more on the physical side. The Domain of Dreams laced with the Celestial Dragon's aura was instantly recalled, and the weather reverted back to its original state. The winds of winter returned, and the light drizzle became a massive snowstorm. Many of the scouts weren't ready for the drastic weather change, but Shin didn't really care. What mattered was...
"So… We've finally found it..."
✵✵✵
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