Lin Mu took a deep breath, steadying himself before speaking.

The Ice Drake Elder's gaze was as sharp as a blade of frozen steel, and even though the man had offered him an audience, Lin Mu could tell that every word from this point on would weigh heavily.

There was no room for carelessness, not when the lives of an entire draconic clan and possibly the stability of a dynasty hung in the balance.

"Elder," Lin Mu began explaining everything from the start, his voice steady yet respectful, "I come bearing news of great importance and grave consequence. The abduction of the young Ice Drake was not the work of mere mortals or petty poachers. It was carried out by a sect whose existence should have long been erased... the Ephemera Sect."

The name alone caused a visible shift in the elder's expression.

The calm serenity of his glacial face hardened, and his blue eyes turned colder than the surrounding ice. The faint hum of his aura grew deeper, like a storm building in the depths of a glacier.

"They did not merely capture your kin for its body or blood," Lin Mu continued, "but to turn it into a catalyst, a medium that could manipulate the Ice Dao itself. Using its essence, they sought to create something unnatural.

The research we found showed that a beast of high elemental lineage could be refined to condense its bloodline power, forming a catalyst capable of birthing a Greater Ice Elemental. With it, they could reshape entire regions, call forth endless blizzards, and change the very climate."

The elder's pupils contracted, his six horns shimmering as his aura suddenly flared.

WHOOSH

A freezing wind exploded outward with such intensity that even the air around them crystallized midair. The already cold temperature plummeted instantly, and frost raced across Lin Mu's boots, crawling up his legs like grasping claws of ice.

Little Shrubby growled beside him, fire flaring along his body, but even his flames flickered under the crushing weight of the cold.

SHUA

Lin Mu clenched his fists, his body glowing faintly as he activated the Longgui Bulwark Armor's inner energy, drawing upon its searing heat. A wave of burning red energy pulsed through his body, forming a faint barrier that crackled as ice formed and shattered across its surface.

Still, the Elder's aura was overwhelming. It felt like standing before a blizzard that could swallow mountains whole. Lin Mu gritted his teeth, the heat of his armor barely managing to keep him from freezing solid.

This was the first time he was feeling such cold that it could suppress even the power of the Longgui Bulwark Armor. While his physique could handle it, that didn't mean it couldn't stop the cold entirely.

While Lin Mu might not die, he was still feeling quite cold.

Little Shrubby's flames turned blue from red, as he poured his essence into them, but even then, the frost continued to form on his whiskers and paws. The beast's eyes glowed with effort, but Lin Mu could feel the immense pressure bearing down on them both.

It was not a targeted attack, this was simply the result of the Elder's fury. His emotions alone commanded the Ice Dao, responding to his wrath as though the entire mountain range shared in his outrage.

Then, after several excruciating seconds, the storm ceased.

The elder exhaled heavily, and the biting wind began to settle. The ice stopped spreading, though the air was still heavy with lingering power. He blinked once, and when his eyes opened again, the fury in them had softened into guilt.

"My apologies," the elder said slowly, his voice rumbling like distant thunder muffled by snow. "I did not mean to let my emotions spill over. I have dishonored the courtesy you have shown."

Lin Mu waved a hand dismissively, his armor dimming as the warmth faded. "There is nothing to apologize for, Elder. Your anger is justified. Anyone would rage at hearing that their kin were taken and desecrated."

Little Shrubby let out a small huff, his fur still steaming faintly from the heat he had summoned, but otherwise, he seemed unharmed.

Lin Mu then continued, his tone grave. "That anger, Elder, is exactly why I came. I feared that without the truth, you and your people might be led into a war you did not start, one that would only benefit the Ephemera Sect. If you were to attack the Darkhan Dynasty under the belief that they were responsible, the Sect's hands would remain clean while chaos spread through the land."

The elder's eyes flickered with realization. He understood now the layers of deceit behind the Ephemera Sect's schemes. They were not only cruel but cunning, capable of sowing destruction without ever showing their faces.

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then, the Elder inclined his head slightly, a rare gesture of respect from a being so proud. "You have my gratitude, Lin Mu. Your warning may have spared us from committing a great folly. Few among humans would risk my wrath to deliver such truth."

Lin Mu bowed slightly in response, relief washing over him.

But the moment was short-lived. The Elder's expression turned grim again, his

eyes narrowing as the weight of memory settled upon him.

"Those fiends," he murmured, his voice darkening, "I did not think they still existed after all this time."

Lin Mu's eyes widened slightly. "You... know of them?"

The Elder nodded slowly, his gaze distant, as though looking across the centuries. "I know of the Ephemera Sect. I fought against them during the last great war of the Immortal Realms. That was but a few thousand years ago for me, though by your reckoning, it was ancient history.

But their roots go far deeper, back to the era when this world did not know true peace and was still divided. The last time I crossed paths with their kind before that was nearly eighty thousand years ago."

Lin Mu's breath caught. He had heard of ancient beasts with long lives, but to stand before someone who had personally witnessed the world across such vast spans of time was awe-inspiring.