A warm light could be seen flickering in the cold veil of Cold Flake Valley, a bubble of pale orange being licked by the howling winds.
Iron Mountain Quarry Settlement's Convoy traversed through the cold.
As the bubble-like light began to shine paler and paler...
"Everyone, brace yourself!"
"...!"
In response to Dawn's call, Heart Tethering Maiden quietly acknowledged her and began to wrap herself in bundles of string.
Forming something like a cocoon of red string, Maiden readied herself in the cocoon.
The people within their carriages also heard Dawn's order. They shifted themselves closer to the floor of their carriages, shifting closer together, and they found something to hold on to.
Around each beast's neck was a Dao Art medium. Each began to shine a warm glow as a soft light embraced the myriad beasts.
Crack!
A sharp noise rang through the air.
Looking up, Dawn saw a crack in the bubble-like veil, winding through the pale veil like roots.
Cold seeped in through the cracks and through the convoy, the howling intensified, and the roots began to spread.
"And so it falls apart—."
Boom!
A thunderous noise filled the air as the bubble-like veil shattered.
Like thunder, the noise faded as abruptly as it arrived, melting into the howling of the wind.
Dao Art — Hallowed Shine!
In just a breath's time, Dawn was lit aflame with a golden-orange light.
The glorious blaze was immediately swept in the howling winds, yet no matter how hard the wind blows, this flame would not go out.
"...!"
Dawn steadied herself in place, not letting the howling winds throw her off the carriage.
"Such ferocity!"
Though she exclaimed, her voice could not be heard over the howling around her.
Shaking off her daze, Dawn pressed a hand on an ornate object beside her.
Resembling a black lusterless tortoise, it was one of the four Dao Art Mediums of the convoy's protection method—Four Corners Defensive Array.
The four Dao Art Mediums resembled four of the Celestial Beasts.
On the right side of the convoy was a blue dragon, the back of the convoy had the vermillion bird, while the left side had the white tiger.
The tortoise in Dawn's hands began to emanate a heavy pressure, as did the other Dao Art Mediums.
Qi was drawn into the tortoise's mouth, filling it with an abundant amount of Qi.
This Qi was naturally that of Cold Flake Valley's expelled Qi.
'Winter', 'cold', 'ice', and other suchlike terms could be affined to this Qi; properties of 'wind' and 'sound' were also present in this Qi.
The Four Corners Defensive Array utilised Qi to create a protective barrier, recycling external Qi as the foundation of its power.
I other words, the howling winds become the fuel for the Dao Art, turning the Qi of the winds against itself.
Although Cold Flake Valley accumulated all sorts of Qi from the world, the means it did so was not understood by Dawn nor Silver Extreme.
'I could only imagine that this is like the breathing of a large beast, or a phenomenon caused by a greater amount of Qi...'
'Regardless, such a phenomenon is terribly powerful. I wonder where the source of these outbursts is?'
As these thoughts rose in her mind, the tortoise was full.
It closed its maw and began to shine dimly.
After a few breaths' time, the other Dao Art Mediums began to shine as well.
"It is ready."
Saying so, Dawn instilled her own Qi to activate the Dao Art.
Erupting from the tortoise was a formless force, a shockwave that blew away the cold; the other Celestial Beasts, too, erupted with a formless force.
The Four Corners Defensive Array was activated, and the protective power of the four beasts combined to recreate that bubble-like veil.
"It is done..."
Dawn breathed out turbid air. As she let Hallowed Shine come undone, her skin's complexion turned pale.
'Breathless... I have depleted so much of my Qi...!'
Calming her breath, she leaned back against her seat.
"Are you alright, Dawn?"
"Senior?"
"Yes. How are you faring out there?
"I am doing well... Just a little exhausted, is all..."
"I understand. You have my gratitude for bearing through it all."
Dawn hummed to herself in acknowledgement. She stood up and leapt out of her seat.
"None of the other carriages seems to—"
"Aargh—!"
A low groan resounded throughout the convoy.
Not one of the dull howls from outside the bubble-like veil, but a human groan of pain.
Alerted, Dawn did not hesitate to make her way to the source of that noise. Similarly, Heart Tethering Maiden unfurled her cocoon of ropes, sending them towards the source—
Boom!
Rumbling throughout the cold air was a thunderous sound.
Looking up, the bubble-like veil shattered abruptly, and howling flooded into one's ears.
"The Dao Art!"
As streaks of white and cold wisps surged through the convoy, one of the carriages burst apart.
Chunks of meat, sprays of blood, and torn wood flew through the air.
Caught in the stream of howling winds, the substance of meat and wood began to break down into nothing more than flakes.
The Dao Art Mediums assigned to that carriage remained resilient, especially the pale white tiger.
"A Spirit!?"
The harbinger of this destruction soared to the sky. A vortex of grey ash swirling around its body.
Though its body was mostly obscured, it resembled something long and slender.
"Dawn!"
"...!"
Shaking her head free from its daze, Dawn felt the cold permeate her body and activated Hallowed Shine, once again.
Like a flickering flame in an intense snow storm, the Dao Art was barely holding of the cold.
Heart Tethering Maiden also wrapped herself once again as she lashed out towards the sky.
"The carriages...! The veil is down...!"
Turning around, Dawn tried to return to the front of the convoy, where the Dao Art Medium representing the black tortoise stood; she was intercepted by a heavy pressure falling upon her.
Looking up, it was as if the world was falling upon Dawn.
White. Cold. Winter.
That was all that she could describe as a vortex of grey ash fell towards her.