With the snowy terrain of Starfell Summit, condensing Qi into ice came almost too easily.

  Lauren frowned as she practiced. This doesn’t really reflect my strength. What use will this Sword Technique be if I end up somewhere without ice or snow?

  After mulling it over, she decided she needed to train elsewhere—somewhere harsher, less forgiving. She remembered the Peach Blossom Mountain and Maple Leaf Valley she’d passed on her way up. Either would do.

  So she trotted over to Starfell Hall and knocked.

  “Master.”

  The great doors opened, and Drake appeared.

  “Master,” she said, bowing, “I’d like to spend the next month training in Peach Blossom Mountain. Is that acceptable?”

  Drake gave her a puzzled look. “Why Peach Blossom Mountain?”

  Lauren answered honestly. “It’s too easy to form ice here at Starfell Summit. I want to push myself in an environment without snow.”

  Drake gave a soft snort. “Then you don’t need to travel so far.”

  He raised his hands, weaving seals in the air. A wave of spiritual power bsted out of him, dense enough to make the air shimmer. The aura surged outward, so heavy that Lauren nearly staggered under its weight.

  The entire summit trembled. Ancient formation fgs whipped about violently, though no wind touched them.

  Then, with a groan like the cracking of the world itself, the thousand-year-old iceberg began to melt. A thin trickle of water became a rushing torrent in moments, streaming down the mountainside.

  .......

  Below, disciples paused mid-training as the mountain roared.

  “What’s happening?”

  “Why’s the stream so huge all of a sudden?”

  “Look up! The iceberg—it’s melting!”

  “Starfell Summit?!”

  The cries turned into panic.

  “Impossible! The snow there hasn’t melted in over a thousand years!”

  An elder who had cultivated for more than a millennium stumbled outside, staring up in disbelief. “In all my life, I’ve never seen the ice atop Starfell Summit melt… not once!”

  The excitement quickly soured as reality set in. Water surged thicker and faster, threatening to overflow.

  “If the whole gcier melts at once, the training grounds will flood!”

  “Evacuate! Move everything important!”

  The person in charge barked orders, scrambling disciples to safety. What had started as curiosity turned into chaos.

  Soon even the Sect Master and peak lords gathered.

  “The snow on Starfell Summit… why is it melting now, after a thousand years?”

  “This is wrong.”

  “Master, could Immortal Master Drake be in danger?” someone whispered.

  Gerald snapped, “Nonsense! What danger could possibly touch Immortal Master?”

  “Then why—”

  Gerald scowled. “I’ll see for myself.”

  His body fred with light, and in an instant he shot skyward like a meteor, racing toward the summit.

  .....

  From afar, Gerald could already see the truth: the iceberg was gone, the temples and pavilions gleaming in their true colors, their snow-den roofs finally bare. Streams coursed down the mountainside where gciers had stood for centuries.

  He dared not barge in. Instead, he stopped at a respectful distance and called out, voice carrying effortlessly, “Master Drake, Gerald pays his respects.”

  Lauren tilted her head toward the sound. “Master, it seems the Sect Master is here.”

  “Yes,” Drake said simply.

  With a flick of his sleeve, he drew Gerald the rest of the way, setting him down before them.

  Gerald’s gaze immediately nded on the girl at Drake’s side. She was no longer the scrawny thirteen-year-old he remembered. Now she stood graceful and composed, her eyes bright and clear.

  Back then, her gaze had unsettled him—far too sharp and weathered for a child. Eyes that seemed to carry secrets, and lifetimes of hardship. It was that look which had made him doubt if she belonged in the Thunder Sect at all.

  But now… now she looked every bit the disciple of a righteous sect.

  Perhaps Immortal Master Drake’s decision had been the right one after all.

  ............

  “Gerald, greetings, Uncle Master.”

  “Lauren, greetings, Mr.Gerald.”

  “No need for formalities,” Gerald said with a smile. “Lauren, you’re far too polite.”

  Drake’s gaze was calm. “What brings you up the mountain to see me?”

  Gerald answered quickly, “The sudden melting of the mountain snow worried everyone. I came to check on you, Immortal Master.”

  “Oh, nothing’s wrong,” Drake said lightly. “I simply wanted a change of season. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”

  Gerald nodded again and again, but when his eyes fell on Lauren, he froze.

  When she first joined the sect, she hadn’t even reached Foundation Establishment. Yet now, only three short years ter, her cultivation was pressing up against Core Formation. That kind of progress was absurd.

  Suddenly, Gerald remembered the message his uncle had sent a few days earlier—saying there was a reserved spot in the party entering the Hidden Mist Secret Realm. At the time, Gerald had been puzzled over who it could possibly be for.

  Now, he had his answer. His little junior sister had already earned the qualification.

  Gerald left Starfell Summit in a daze, still shaken.

  Down below, disciples were frantically diverting floodwaters while peak masters waited anxiously for news. The moment they saw Gerald return, they rushed over.

  “Master, is Immortal Master safe?”

  Gerald shook his head. “Yes.”

  Their hearts skipped. “Then why did the mountain snow suddenly melt?”

  Gerald said ftly, “He wanted a change of season.”

  “…”

  That was it? A thousand-year-old gcier melts overnight because he felt like it?

  One brave voice ventured, “But why would Immortal Master Drake suddenly want a change of season?”

  Gerald gred. “How the hell should I know? Go ask him yourself.”

  No one dared. The crowd fell silent, then scattered back to help their disciples hold back the flood.

  The thousand-year iceberg had locked away more snow and ice than they’d ever imagined. With it suddenly loosed, the entire Thunder Sect was drenched in cold, surging water.

  .......

  At Starfell Summit, the transformation was breathtaking.

  Drake maniputed the formation fgs, awakening seeds that had in frozen beneath the ice for millennia. They burst to life, sprouting at a pace visible to the naked eye, blooming into celestial flowers of every hue.

  A peach tree not far away exploded into full blossom, its pink petals glowing with a radiant luster that made it clear it wasn’t of this world.

  In less than half a day, the summit shifted from endless winter into vibrant spring.

  Lauren stood stunned. If he wanted, Master could turn the seasons themselves with a single wave of his hand. Who else in the cultivation world could cim that?

  “Is that all?” Drake asked, almost casually.

  Lauren nodded quickly, her heart swelling with gratitude. Master melted an ancient gcier just so I could practice properly. How could I not give my all in return?

  She bowed. “Master, you didn’t need to go to such lengths just for me. I could’ve trained on another mountain.”

  “That’s fine,” Drake said. “If you ever want to change the season again, just ask your senior brother. He can control the formation pte for you.”

  Lauren blinked. “Wait… you allow us to change the seasons? At will?”

  “Why not?”

  “But Master,” she said carefully, “hasn’t Starfell Summit stayed snow-covered for a thousand years because you love snowy ndscapes?”

  Drake’s expression went ft. “…Who told you that?”

  “My senior brother. Everyone says so.”