The winds of the far north carried ice dust accumulated over hundreds of millions of years.
They roared as they swept in, unleashing an unceasing howl.
It was as if some ancient behemoth had always been here, gnawing at the edge of the world.
The outline of the half-collapsed Wall of Despair flickered in and out of sight amid the overwhelming blizzard.
It resembled a white spine struggling against total prostration.
Zong Shen had temporarily shut down the Dawn Canopy to conserve energy, while also carrying out the final inspection and maintenance before the third phase.
He stood atop the towering battlements.
The cloak behind him snapped violently in the wind.
Yet it was nearly torn to shreds by gusts fierce enough to rip through refined steel.
Without the protection of the light barrier, the wind outside truly was powerful.
Yet he remained as immovable as a mountain, standing perfectly still.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the dense, frozen eternal night and frenzied curtain of snow stretching before him.
It fell upon a place so distant that time and space themselves became blurred.
That place had once been the land of elven glory, but was now a lost forest buried beneath the dust of time—Oldgrowth Forest.
Vereesa Windrunner's circumstances reflected in the lake of his heart with the clarity of falling snowflakes, yet without causing the slightest ripple.
This was not mere magical observation, nor did it rely on the cold prompts of the Strategy Module.
Rather, it stemmed from a deeper connection, as well as a precise grasp of fluctuations in the soul.
He had known, in the days before the trial began, that Vereesa had entered that perilous ancient forest.
At the same time, he knew that she was facing dangers far beyond expectations.
There were no