Xu Changqing left the Portable Space and returned to the stone house. Just as he pulled open the door to head outside, he heard a soft "pitter-patter" from beyond it.
At the same time, the rotten scent of wet earth mixed with dead leaves rushed toward him on a wave of chill.
"Rain?"
"And the first rain of autumn!"
"Wait it out. It'll be over soon anyway."
Autumn rain was mostly made up of brief showers and rarely lasted long.
Thus, Xu Changqing stood in the doorway, watching the scene outside with great interest.
Fine rain fell like silk, slanting down from the dark clouds and pattering against the roof with a soft rustling sound.
The spirit plants in the fields had already been soaked by the dense rain threads. Droplets hung from their leaf tips, then came rolling down in a rustle whenever the wind blew, splashing into tiny sprays upon the ground.
The distant scenery was wrapped in a thin veil of rain and mist, its outlines blurred. He could only vaguely make out bare tree trunks and mountain ranges rising and falling into the distance.
The air was faintly cold, but not bone-piercing, carrying only the chill of autumn.
As he watched, Xu Changqing seemed to gain an insight. He instinctively circulated his cultivation art, drew upon the golden and Water Spiritual Power within his qi sea, and tugged at the endless autumn rain outside.
In an instant, dozens of hair-thin streams of water spiraled above his right palm, forming a translucent "dewdrop" that looked round and crystal-clear.
At that moment, he suddenly understood something. The dewdrop in his palm trembled slightly, and an extremely thin layer of white frost formed out of thin air before melting away in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only