Chapter 260: Midwinter (Part 2)

Chapter 260: Midwinter (Part 2)

Countless dust-sized ice crystals floated around Xirui, shimmering like stars in the sky. From time to time, rainbow-colored light refracted, bouncing and reflecting endlessly among the crystals, weaving together to form a colorful, dreamlike mist.

The Little Fairy danced gracefully, letting out joyful laughter from time to time. Her figure became faint and flickering within the increasingly dazzling, thick light mist. This greatly piqued her interest, and she began to draw Mana from Xirui—spinning it into threads, weaving it into a net. She tried to catch this mesmerizing rainbow world in her net.

The light passed through her net without any hindrance. But this did not discourage her; she stubbornly continued to cast her net out. With each throw, the threads of Mana passed through the ice crystals. The Mana within some crystals gradually entangled with the threads, using these threads as a link to part, join, gather, and scatter.

As they parted, joined, gathered, and scattered, the light mist also rose and fell, shifting restlessly. This soon caught the Little Fairy’s attention. So she gave up chasing the light and shadows, focusing instead on finding those ice crystals that could entangle with her threads, and weaving them one by one into her net. As she wove, a crystal-clear, gauze-like ribbon gradually took shape.

The wind at the outer edge of the tornado grew more violent, while the center became even more tranquil. The once chaotic light mist now had order through the Little Fairy’s efforts, coiling and drifting around Xirui like a swimming dragon. The Little Fairy sat upon the dragon’s head, commanding it to continue devouring the endless ice crystals. As it devoured, the dragon’s head also snaked upward, climbing higher and higher.

Xirui looked through the world in the mirror. There were no stories like the ones her brother had told, nor the all-encompassing acceptance her sister had spoken of. What existed here were only endless reflections, endless sounds of the wind. The wind sounds interpreted each reflection for her, whispering the secrets hidden by the ice and snow.

To hear the whispers in the wind clearly, to learn more secrets, Xirui increased her Mana surge once more. Accompanied by a long, drawn-out howl, the rotating wind wall spun even more urgently, and the fine ice crystals falling from the sky became denser. The Little Fairy excitedly rode the rainbow dragon, charging toward this sky full of ice crystals. And so, this swimming dragon gradually solidified into substance, its body flowing with strange lights and dazzling colors.

As the swimming dragon took form, the Little Fairy was no longer content to just sit back and enjoy the results. The dragon beneath her let her experience a power that felt like moving her own arm and fingers. This was not only Xirui’s power, but also her own. Her spirit filled every corner of the swimming dragon, and the Mana constantly gathering within the dragon’s body seemed to become a part of her.

She was just a Little Fairy who had not yet come of age. Because she liked the sweet, soft scent on Xirui, she spent most of her time hiding on Xirui’s person. Under the influence of Bran and Whisper, they interacted with each other without any defenses. Although they had arguments, it never affected their friendship, nor the spiritual exchange and Resonance between them.

She was also there when Xirui experienced her Awakening. Along with her curious peeking, her spiritual mark was left on the core of the ability. But they were both still muddled, still interacting according to their own living habits. Only now did she finally get a chance to put it to use.

From unconscious play to conscious use, and finally to moving it like her own arm and fingers. In this moment, she understood the meaning of power. With her shrill, joyful cry, the swimming dragon soared into the sky. Stimulated by this, the whirlwind accelerated again.

When a strange serpent appeared among the clouds, beginning to scatter a biting cold, Zoya had already met up with Harvey and Sander, and was leading them in a quick retreat.

The sudden burst of chill from behind made her look back. Within the vortex-like clouds, a strange snake was visibly growing at a rapid pace.

The tornado was even larger now, with trees and stones struggling and being flung out from within it. Fortunately, the wind was still only swaying in place, but how long could this state last? Could Xirui really control such a force of nature?

This was truly a terrible experience. She wanted to go back and look, but ultimately gave up. Perhaps she could still resist the chill, but that wind was not something she could merge into.

It was better to get away from here, protect these young White Wolves, and incidentally bring these two somewhat useful Scholars back.

Feiyu was already out of sight. She believed that sensing the danger, he would only go to find Danny and Bran first.

She only hoped that the whirlwind would continue to stay in place, and if it had to move, it better not come toward Northland City. Moreover, she believed that with such a big commotion, Bran couldn’t possibly be unaware. Since he hadn’t appeared, it meant everything was still under control.

Zoya only guessed half right…

When that whirlwind first rose into the sky, Bran had already sensed it. He sat holding Huahua on the spire of the High Tower, commenting in a tone of someone who had seen it all—nothing special.

He watched the development of the situation with the mindset of watching a show, afraid only that the show wouldn’t be exciting enough. How could a newborn Little Wizards understand grand momentum, understand the power of nature?

But he was wrong. His understanding mostly came from birth, the self-assuredness from his jumbled memories. His understanding of nature mostly came from articles in books, beautiful to read but not personal insights. Although flashy, most were utterly useless. To this world, he was still an outsider.

His Sister, his younger sister, and many people around him were originally products of this world. They needed no fancy words, no self-righteous surface understanding; they just needed to trust their intuition and follow the unseen guidance.

The show was getting more and more interesting, more and more spectacular, but Bran gradually couldn’t sit still.

Yet a thought lingered in his mind: this wind probably wouldn’t come this way, so there was still more show to watch…