‘Her Aura has grown much stronger.’ Luna noticed the subtle change in her sister’s overall presence.

  Back when she was training her body, the monks often mentioned that if you wanted someone to grow stronger, you give them trials. Those trials would then either give the person a reality check or force them to give up. Or, in some cases, force them to work harder. The former was easy while the latter needed unbroken determination as its key tool.

  Knowing Lena, Luna was 100% sure that ticked the determination box. She was a true warrior, one heavily inspired by their father who wasn’t even a Feng by blood. Just like her, Lena carried his Will and therefore his unbroken determination that usually made them fierce. It was responsible for her incredible strength despite having been a second gate user for not even more than a year.

  “What exactly did you encounter that made you go so far?” Luna’s question hung in the air. For a while, only the creaking sound of the burning wood could be heard inside the shelter.

  Len then drew a deep breath and all the terror in her mind subsided. Having her mind violated was something an ascender should be trained for. She nodded and opened her mouth to break down the details of her experience here.

  “It has me trapped in a mental prison for weeks. Unlike you, I’ve been living the same day over and over since I got to this level. I remember falling from the sky and creating a beacon for the others. It was only after felt weaker that I realized something was wrong. The cursed creature was feeding on my zenshi, you see. To break out, I decided to freeze the whole damn thing. It took me some time to gain full control of my power but I succeeded and broke free of the loop.”

  “Then attacked the first creature I saw. I think it was a cursed Tyrant.”

  ‘Wow, you make it sound like it was easy to beat.’

  “Easy as it may sound, our battle was in fact a legendary one. The world was twisting and turning as I encountered a beast so powerful. I was unsure if I was going to win. But, thanks to my trusted weapon, I was able to kill a cursed tyrant or a general,” Lena explained the rest with an energetic tone. She made sure to add some intensity as if she was narrating a novel or something.

  Luna’s eyes rolled. Why did she have to be dramatic all of a sudden?

  “What a great story. I’m sure they will make a whole movie based on your experience,” Luna said, not bothering to hide her sarcasm.

  “They should call it…Empress of Ice part one.” Len giggled. Slowly, her humanity was returning. This was the real Lena when she wasn’t keeping up with the theatrics.

  “So you’re planning a trilogy? How fantastic, Ghost of Winter.”

  “Exactly. The third part will be a bit erotic, the audience must know that…”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Luna quickly raised her voice and cut her sister off. She knew what she was about to say.“Shut that damn dirty mouth of yours!” she pointed at her sister.

  A lewd smile appeared on Len’s face. “Che! Look who’s blushing. I haven’t said a word but your perverted mind has already gone that far.”

  ‘This…this vile brat is willing to say such at a time like this. Can’t she read the room?’ Luna pouted. Her face turned even redder.

  “Do…Don’t say stuff like that. We already have a lot of things to do.”

  Len shrugged. “We always have a lot to do. Gods…can’t we just be normal for once? I want to talk about boy bands and stuff.” She groaned and looked up. “I’m turning nineteen and I’ve never gone to prom. Let alone kiss a guy. They always fear me, even when I give them signs. Do you think I should try doing cute things?”

  ‘You’re asking the wrong person, Sis.’ Luna stared at her sister blankly. This was the Lena she had grown up with. Often unserious and quirky. Her serious side usually felt like an alter ego.

  “Gods, why am I so powerful?” Lena cried.

  Yep. Lena had recovered completely.

  “Damn it.” Luna hissed out a curse and curled up to keep warm. “I can’t believe I was worried sick about you a few moments ago.”

  “Come on, dearest sister. In the worst of moments, the least you can do is keep a positive mindset. You know, when last I saw you, I was glad because I knew you were safe. However, I didn’t know I would be more glad to see you here.”

  Luna blushed at her sister’s words. “A..Anyway…I just wanted to know how you got stronger. Everything about you feels different…don’t tell me you opened the third gate already?”

  Len shook her head. “Not really. I also can’t explain it properly, but something about this level makes me feel connected to it. It feels like an extension of my Aura. Here, my wounds heal faster and my powers have a greater scale than usual. I’m like a fish in its natural habitat. I’m much more…”

  ‘So that explains how she was able to stay incorporeal for a long period of time.’

  “How much exactly?” Luna was more curious now.

  “Enough for me to control the blizzard and keep my fog transformation longer. I don’t know how to get to the specifics, but my entire body feels like it’s so much more here.”

  ‘Incredible.’ Luna listened as the gears in head moved to look an explanation.

  “My guess is you have a connection with the god of the seas or the deity that caused this snowstorm in the first place. Maybe through your Aura.”

  Len frowned at Luna’s statement.

  “How should I know about them? I don’t know much about the gods in the first place. It was always you who was interested in mythology.”

  “But we took the same class.”

  “Yes, we did. But we had different interests, dearest sister. I do understand what you mean because zenshi has always been a remnant left behind by the gods.”

  ‘By the gods? I don’t think so.’ Luna retorted. The gods weren’t the ones that created zenshi.

  In Luna’s eyes, every human possessing zenshi was a bottleneck cultivator. They will never know what lies beyond the fourth gate unless someone finds a way to break that layer.

  In other words, zenshi was created to keep humans alive without letting them get too powerful.

  ‘Storm Rider mentioned that the two powers conflicted. But how? How does divine energy conflict with life energy.’ If Luna could sense zenshi then she would’ve tested it out and see how exactly they conflicted with each other.

  All humans had qi, it was life. It existed in all living things, in the air, and all around them. The reason why ascenders could still sense Qi was simply because life essence still lived in their bodies. They were still alive so they had normal levels of Qi in their bodies. Black Ether mainly attacked the Qi. But for the case of ascenders, the zenshi protected that Qi and made them immune to infection.

  “Exactly.” Luna continued. “ Your Ice Domain is either connected to the God of Seas, or his Servant. It's most likely the first one.”

  “Maybe.” Len sighed and crossed her arms. She hummed in thought. Then faced Luna.

  After some silence, Lena opened her mouth after noticing something. “The zenshi of your suit is no longer entering your body. Is the suit dead?”

  “No, I simply found no need to keep it on always.”

  Len forced another sigh and her expression turned serious as she glared at the flame. “This flame wasn’t created using zenshi, was it? I feel the Aura behind it but it feels more pure than anything I’ve ever felt.”

  She put her hand over the fire. It was very warm. When she tried to use her zenshi, there was a spark of energy when the silver-white flames collided with the golden flames.

  Luna paled on seeing the spark. Of course, Len was no idiot, even though she liked being one when around Luna. Her observation skills were very good.

  But Luna didn’t expect her to catch on this fast.

  “Your limiter is off. There is more to all of this. Am I right?”