Outside the barrier, Nian Shi's cold triumph curdled into sharp frustration. He felt it immediately—a shift in the energy of the Phoenix barrier.
The violent tremors that had promised an imminent collapse began to steady. The spider-web cracks of void energy, which had been spreading so enticingly, slowed their advance and then… stopped.
The barrier, which had been flickering like a dying star, now burned with a renewed, steadied intensity. But it was a different kind of power now. The fierce, sacrificial flames of the Phoenix were still there, but they were now interwoven with something else: an ancient, unyielding, and immovably stable energy.
It was an aura of absolute defense, of earth and water and primordial fortitude.
Nian Shi's silver eyes narrowed, his temporal senses reaching out. His frown deepened into a scowl of disbelief.
