Zong Shen slowly opened his eyes.
His consciousness withdrew from that vast three-dimensional blueprint.
Returning once more to the Winter Throne Hall where he currently stood.
Everything before him felt both familiar and unfamiliar.
The dim blue radiance within the hall had yet to fully fade.
The air still carried a chilling presence.
He lowered his head slightly and looked at his hands. He could clearly sense that an indescribably deep connection had formed between himself and the colossal entity beneath his feet.
It was not a simple relationship of control and submission.
It was closer to a state of symbiosis, an extension of his will.
The entire fortress obeyed him as readily as his own limbs.
With a slight thought, without needing to speak, the translucent crystals in the hall's dome adjusted their brightness in accordance with his will.
The brilliant daylight from before dimmed into a faint glow like polar midnight.
The light fell upon the Order Frost Crystal Guards bowing in salute, causing their dark-blue crystalline bodies to refract scattered flecks of light, making them seem like stars.
"Rise."
Zong Shen's voice rang through the hall.
At his command, all the Order Frost Crystal Guards straightened in perfect unison.
The pale golden light in their eyes flickered steadily.
They looked like the most loyal soldiers, silently awaiting orders.
More than half the screens on the circular control console had lit up.
The flowing data and Runes upon them were so complex that they made one's eyes swim.
Yet to Zong Shen's current senses, they were exceptionally clear and orderly.
The direction of energy flows, the structural integrity of every area, the dormancy levels of the weapon systems, and the power consumption of the environmental maintenance modules...
A vast amount of information streamed into his consciousness.
Zong Shen