A bone-chilling wind slammed into Kai's face, carrying sharp, icy snowflakes that stung his skin and blurred his vision. The high plateau where he and Fen had just landed stretched out before them—a vast, unforgiving expanse of ice and jagged stone, where towering peaks thrust upward like the spines of ancient beasts. Thick mists swirled around those craggy summits, wrapping them in ghostly veils that shifted with the wind. The cold bit through Kai's clothes, chilling him to the bone.
For a heartbeat, panic clawed at Kai's chest. Had the portal failed? Was this still the Frost Ridge? Was Xu Xe's wrath waiting for them just beyond the mist, ready to strike?
He swallowed hard and forced himself to calm down, focusing on the strange energy in the air. The Qi here was different — alive, vibrant, and infused with flickers of warmth that defied the freezing wind. There were threads of fire interwoven with the cold, crackling beneath the surface like embers under snow. This place wasn't a trap. This was no longer the Frost Ridge. This was something else entirely — the Celestial Archipelago, a new world unlike any Kai had ever known.
Fen wriggled free from his arms, her white feathers puffing up against the chill. She scanned the desolate surroundings with sharp, curious eyes.
"Where are we?" she chirped, her voice light but edged with uncertainty as she tilted her head toward the ruined archway behind them—a crumbling relic almost identical to the one they had escaped in the Frost Ridge, yet somehow altered, as if twisted by a different force.
Kai exhaled slowly, watching his breath swirl in the cold air. "I'm not entirely sure," he admitted, glancing around. "But Lin Shi called this place the Celestial Archipelago. That ancient dragon, Xu Xe, can't reach us here."
"Really?" Fen squinted at him, suspicion flashing in her eyes. "He's powerful, you know. He might find a way. What about the others — your enemies?"
Kai's lips curled into a faint smile, though a shadow still lingered in his gaze.
"They can't follow us either. This is a different world. Can't you feel the difference in the Qi?"
Fen huffed softly, fluffing her feathers as she stepped closer. "I do feel it — strange, weird Qi. Snow everywhere, but there's fire Qi too. Like someone shattered the spiritual flows."
"No one shattered anything," Kai said, chuckling quietly. "This place is supposed to be like this. The fire and ice balance here is natural."
Relief began to wash over him, easing the tension that had been suffocating him since the battle with Lu. The memories flashed vividly — the demon's black flames licking at his flesh, the searing pain from the heavenly sword's backlash. He had outwitted an immortal dragon, escaped the Shen Clan's deadly trap, and saved Fen. Yet the ache of leaving Aina and So Yun behind still pressed on his heart, dull and persistent.
"We can't linger near the portal," Kai said, his voice steady and resolute. "Staying close to an active portal is just asking for trouble."
Fen hopped forward, cocking her head with a teasing grin.
"What, scared the old man will show up?" she quipped. "He's tricky, but if he comes, I'll talk him down."
"He can't follow us," Kai said, recalling Lin Shi's warning about Xu Xe's binding oaths. "Trust me on this."
"I'm not scared," Fen said, but her eyes flicked nervously toward the ancient archway. "You kidnapped me, dragged me into who-knows-where, and now you're painting the lonely old dragon as the bad guy. You owe me an explanation for all this."
Kai grinned, glancing down the plateau. Amid the swirling snow and jagged rocks, he spotted a wide, man-made road. It was half-buried in ice and crumbling from neglect, but unmistakably there — a path someone had carved long ago, leading somewhere beyond the mist and cold.
Flying would be faster, but Kai had something else he wanted to try. From his spatial ring, he summoned a shield. It shimmered with faintly glowing runes, its surface smooth and sturdy. With a thought, he made it hover parallel to the ground.
He stepped carefully onto it. The shield held firm beneath his feet, steady as a wooden plank.
"My first flying artifact," he murmured to himself, a flicker of pride and excitement stirring inside him.
Fen laughed, flapping her wings as she hovered next to him.
"You're seriously flying on that?" she teased. "If the old man saw this, he'd lose it. Oaths or no oaths, he'd smite you."
Kai smiled.
"So, where to now?"
"See that road?" Kai pointed. "We'll follow it down the mountain and see where it leads. We'll figure things out from there."
"Deal!" Fen chirped. Then with a mischievous grin, she added, "Race you to the bottom!"
In a flash, she shot forward, a blur of white feathers against the gray sky.
Kai chuckled and urged the shield forward. It lurched beneath him, nearly throwing him off balance.
This was nothing like the effortless flight he'd felt while fighting Lu, when the sword's power had carried him like wind. That freedom — soaring above enemies, untouchable — was exhilarating. It was the first glimpse of the power Core Formation might grant him. For now, though, he wobbled like a novice, arms outstretched to steady himself, chasing Fen's laughter echoing through the cold air.
The ancient road wound down the mountain, its cracked stones whispering stories of forgotten travelers and lost times. It led onward toward an unknown destination — perhaps civilization, perhaps ruins, or maybe something far worse. Whatever waited at the end, Kai knew the next step was to face it head-on.