Seeing Lin Mu's resolve, the elder's eyes narrowed like shards of ice. "You will have your chance, young man. We will bring them to you."
They discussed every detail until the faint glow of midnight shimred across the icy dos. The stalactites glittered like stars suspended in crystal. Finally, as the plan took its final form, everyone rose from their seats.
Daoist Chu and Monk Hushu were the first to leave.
They were accompanied by two Ice Drakes, each in their massive true forms, guiding them through the tunnels that led deeper into the mountain range. Their task was to set up the teleportation points that would link with Lin Mu's central array. Each node needed to be carefully aligned to match spatial frequencies across the frozen terrain.
Elyon too departed soon after, his body lting into the shadows cast by the crystalline walls. One of the younger Ice Drakes followed him silently. His mission was to set up darkness seals along the periter, subtle alarms that would detect the slightest movent of intruders, be they invisible, ethereal, or masked by illusion.
anwhile, Lin Mu stayed behind in the central hall with the Elder.
He was the anchor of this web, the one responsible for creating the core teleportation array that would link to every nest across the mountains. The glowing formation spread across the icy floor beneath him as he worked, weaving runes of spatial linking, adjusting their angles, and channeling immortal qi into the intersecting nodes.
The Elder Ice Drake watched him in silence, his eyes gleaming with quiet fascination. "Your understanding of space... it surpasses many cultivators I have seen, even among immortals of old."
Lin Mu simply smiled faintly as his fingers danced over the runes. "It is a path I've walked for a long ti. Sotis, it feels like the only thing that keeps moving forward."
As he spoke, the air shimred, and from the corner of the hall appeared Little Shrubby, stretching lazily. Two more figures flickered beside him, two serpentine shapes, the Twin Serpents of Yin and Yang, their scales glimring like silver and obsidian threads under moonlight.
Lin Mu gave them a nod. "You can roam the outer ridges. If you sense anything strange, return imdiately."
The twins hissed in unison, their bodies coiling together before vanishing into thin air, slipping through the icy halls like shadows.
When they were gone, the Elder's calm expression changed to one of astonishnt.
His eyes widened as he stared at the spot they had disappeared from. "Those twins... what bloodline do they carry? Their aura is beyond anything I have ever seen. Even my own blood trembled for a mont."
Lin Mu blinked in surprise, not expecting such a reaction. "You can feel that too?"
The Elder nodded gravely. "Their presence carries a pressure close to that of a Primordial Beast. Few living creatures can make an Elder Ice Drake's bloodline react, yet those two managed it. I cannot even identify their lineage. It is as if their existence defies the patterns of ordinary beasts."
He paused, looking back at Lin Mu with a thoughtful expression. "No wonder you possess such potent Beast Qi. To bond with creatures like those... it is no small feat. You walk a path between man and beast, and it shows."
For a brief mont, the elder's eyes flickered with a mix of awe and curiosity. "But there is sothing else. I sense a faint trace of draconic blood within you. Not of a minor dragonic beast, but sothing older. You carry the scent of ancient might."
Lin Mu froze for a mont before realizing what he ant. He smiled slightly. "I do not have a dragon bloodline. But I think I know what you're sensing"
He turned his gaze toward Little Shrubby, who was lying on the icy floor with a relaxed expression. The feline flicked his tail and spoke through their bond, reminding Lin Mu of sothing he had nearly forgotten.
Lin Mu's eyes widened slightly. "Ah, that's right... the Bloodline Crystal of the Azure Dragon. When I saved Lady Kang, I ended up absorbing a fraction of it." The Elder's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. "The Bloodline Crystal... of an Azure Dragon?" His voice trembled slightly, his usual composure shaken. "Do you understand what that ans, child? The Azure Dragons were one of the great Primordial Dragon Clans. Their essence alone can alter the fate of a beast or man who carries it. No wonder your presence feels so strange. You are a convergence of several forces that were never ant to coexist."
The temperature in the room shifted subtly, the icy air now tinged with a faint hum of excitent or perhaps, awe.
The Elder slowly leaned back, his tone softening. "It seems the heavens favor you, Lin Mu. To carry such a legacy, and yet walk among mortals, is a rare fate
indeed."
Seeing how stunned the Elder was, Lin Mu reckoned telling him that he had also consud the Bloodline Crystals of the Vermillion Bird and the White tiger might be too much for him. So he kept it to himself for now.
Lin Mu lowered his gaze for a mont, his thoughts briefly flickering to the countless paths that had led him here, the trials, the years of solitude, the
burdens he carried.
Then he looked up again, calm and steady. "Perhaps. But for now, that favor must serve a purpose. The Ephera Sect will not escape this ti."
The Elder smiled faintly, the glint in his eyes like sunlight reflected on ice. "Then we are of one mind."
Outside, the mountain range lay silent under the eternal frost. But deep within the heart of the glacier, a quiet storm of preparation was underway; arrays being drawn, runes being hidden, and a network of ancient power coming alive under Lin Mu's hand.
The night stretched long, yet no one rested. For when dawn arrived, the hunters would be waiting and for the first ti, the Ephera Sect would find themselves the prey.
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