As the Empress of the Dong Empire continued to observe the movements of King Ru Ning in the pool of water, she noticed his strange conduct. It was as if King Ru Ning was talking to the empty space beside him and his troops would also glance constantly to the location of the space.
The Empress of the Dong Empire immediately realized what was happening.
"These humans have a companion that is not reflected in the divine water! Use Enlighten incantation!" she commanded and the elders quickly chanted some series of words.
"PAPA PAKI KIKI KIKI TA!"
The elders started to whisper louder. This chant was meant to reveal the companion of King Ru Ning.
After several breaths, the chants echoed on the entire hall but there were no changes in the water at all!
"Mother, there is nothing." the man said to the empress in a cautious tone.
"Their companion is probably stronger than we have expected. Do it again." The empress demanded.
"PAPA PAKI KIKI KIKI TA!"
The elders chanted louder than the first attempt until another silhouette was finally seen on the reflection of the water. It was just a shadow and not a complete image.
As they looked at the dark figure standing beside King Ru Ning, the shadow also turned his head towards their direction. They could not distinguish whether his eyes were looking at them. But the intensity of the shadows gazed was felt by the empress. The hair in her neck somehow stood straight! A soft gasp out of surprise escaped from her lips.
Then they saw the shadow waved his hands once and the calm water on the pool abruptly formed a bubble.
Boom!
The water unexpectedly exploded!
"Deploy the long-range infantry. Elders, stall their time. Use the wintry incantation!" A decisive order was released by the empress after the explosion of the water in the pool.
She had seen the weapons of the outsiders and quickly assessed that it would be easy to win if they attack in a far distance.
Her worry now lies on the intruder behind the silhouette that she vividly saw. The intruder cannot be underestimated!
Another chant echoed in the hall as the elders started their wintry incantation.
"TUTUTU NANAW BUBUBU NAO!"
The elders looked at the disturbed water in the pool with deep concentration as they repeated their wintry incantation.
~
Meanwhile, King Ru Ning and his troops were still standing outside the border entrance of Dong Empire. The scene at the gate was like a déjà vu. Nobody was guarding the entrance of the border!
But this time, he did not dare to be complacent. As he started giving instructions to his troops, a sudden cool breeze swept through his skin. He glanced at the disciple beside him and saw the man waved his hand in the air.
"What is it?" King Ru Ning was curious about the sudden gesture and asked the disciple.
"There is a slight abnormality of the elements here." the disciple stated as he felt the change of air in the place.
'Elements?' King Ru Ning pondered while the soldiers also felt the sudden coldness and some of the troops started to shiver. There was no wind and the sun was bright but it was abnormally cold!
Just as King Ru Ning was about to say his response, a tiny white object started to fall from the sky. These crystals were scattered and were falling everywhere.
"What is this?" A general asked as he managed to catch some on his palms. Soon the crystal also melted and formed into a water.
"An elemental manipulators. They are using chants to harden the water and turned it into these tiny crystals. That is called snow." the disciple answered.
"Water? But there is no water here!" King Ru Ning said and examined his map once again to confirm that there are no lakes or rivers around the area.
"The water is not here. But the incantation was delivered in front of the water." the disciple explained.
"What is this exactly?" King Ru Ning asked one more time as it was his first time to experience and see such a thing. He started looking around and saw that the road was already filled with the tiny crystalize object.
"This is an attack. A weak one but if the stamina is not strong, this attack can cause death. Possibly, this is a warning?" the disciple stated.
"You seemed to know a lot about this phenomenon. How can we resist this attack and make it stop?" King Ru Ning quickly inquired.
He also secretly pondered that he had made a mistake of not investigating the Dong Empire.
"As long as the endurance is strong, you will survive."
"Can you help us?" King Ru Ning did not hesitate to seek help from the cultivator. He knows his capability and he is aware that such abnormality is beyond his skills.
The disciple did not respond but the snow also evaporated and everything went back to normal.
"Is it magic?" Some of the troops could not help but wonder.
"It is one of the many orders exist in this universe." the disciple obliged himself to entertain their confusion.
"One of the orders? How many orders are there to be exact?" another member of the troops asked boldly.
"Thousands. But there are only three categories in elemental manipulation. The 'Li Gon Manipulation', 'Hu Mok Manipulation', and 'Ha Ngin Manipulation'. This one is under the 'Li Gon Manipulation'. Their cultivation can solidify elements. " the disciple replied.
"Then, which is the strongest?" King Ru Ning joined the questioning out of his curiosity.
"The void." the disciple said and looked at the sky for a long time.
"But you said that there are only three, how come there is a void?" A general asked him again.
"The void is not an order outside the orders and is a myriad vessel. It is capable of nothing and is also capable of everything. Hence it is the strongest." the disciple clarified while his face is still staring at the sky.
The more this disciple supplied them with information, the more clueless the soldiers had become. They did not know what exactly was the man was talking but because he is strong, they did not make any fuss out of what he said.
They just scratch their heads as their head started hurting. King Ru Ning sighed.
"You have broadened our horizon, young man!" he told the disciple and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder.
The man may have been blind but he does not lack knowledge and experience!