"So… so cold!" Paimon had just climbed out of a snow pit and immediately felt a bone-chilling cold.
Under this cold, she even forgot to complain about Yu Jin throwing her out.
Paimon turned her head to look at the others and found that they were also shivering. It seemed the cold at the summit of Dragonspine was indeed severe.
Lumine huddled, exhaling a puff of pure white mist. She was looking around, trying to see if there was any scarlet quartz on the mountaintop.
When one door shuts, another opens. Lumine scanned her surroundings and saw a faint crimson amidst the pure white snow.
She didn't hesitate, and her dull sword instantly appeared in her hand. She darted forward, leaving a striking gash in the snow.
"Crunch!" The scarlet quartz was not a hard substance to begin with, and under Lumine's full-force attack, it instantly shattered into countless fragments.
Then, a swirling crimson breath enveloped Lumine. A gentle, lingering warmth emanated from this red breath, dispelling the cold from the Sky.
"Everyone, come quickly!" Lumine waved to the group, then actively ran over.
"Ha! I'm alive, I'm alive!" Paimon came to Lumine's side, extending her two short arms as if warming herself by a fire.
"Oh dear, what a terrible climate, my skin has gotten quite dry." Lisa breathed into her hands. Such a low temperature was a first for her.
"Where's Yu Jin?" Albedo gathered by Lumine's side. He glanced around and noticed that, apart from them, Yu Jin was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm here!" Just as Albedo finished speaking, Yu Jin's voice came from the Sky.
Everyone looked up and saw a black shadow appear in the blurry, flying snow. The shadow grew larger and clearer—it was Yu Jin descending from the Sky!
"Bang!" Yu Jin landed, kicking up a large amount of snow. Then, he swept his hand, unleashing a fierce wind even more turbulent than the mountain's summit gusts.
Both the kicked-up snow and the thick, millennia-old accumulated snow were swept away by this fierce wind.
"Ah~, what a strong wind!" Paimon cried out loudly, covering her face. With such a strong wind, she feared she would be blown to who-knows-where again.
However, she quickly realized that the wind wasn't as strong as she had imagined. The gale, strong enough to lift the unknown depths of thick snow, blew past Paimon, but the imagined scene of herself flying into the air didn't happen.
In fact... was this wind even a little warm?
Paimon loosened her small hands that were tightly covering her face. She opened her eyes. What greeted her was the brownish-hardened earth; under who-knows-how long of freezing cold, the earth had long become as hard as steel.
Paimon's gaze shifted upwards, and then she saw Yu Jin with his arms crossed, and above his head, the Golden Tree swaying in the wind.
"Ta-da! Adventurers' Guild's combat expert, Yu Jin, is here!"
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Yu Jin struck a pose, flexing his biceps in front of everyone, while the Golden Tree Sapling on his head kept shaking as if cheering him on.
Moreover, Mint leaves kept falling around him—Lanssangx had run over at some point.
As for why she was scattering Mint leaves? One could only say that in the harsh environment of Dragonspine, only Mint could still grow.
"..."
"Forget it, I'm not playing anymore." Yu Jin flexed his muscles, realizing he wasn't strong enough to burst his armor, and combined with the strange looks from the others, he gave up on showing off.
He stopped his actions, took down the Golden Tree Sapling from his head, and came to the others' side.
"Phew! It's quite cold here. Do you know the origin of that big pillar?" Yu Jin reached out his hand, mimicking Paimon's actions to feel the warmth emanating from Lumine.
Actually, he didn't feel anything; Yu Jin was very insensitive to temperature.
"Not sure."
"It's my first time at the summit of the snow mountain too."
Lisa and Albedo both shook their heads. It was their first time at the summit of Dragonspine, and they didn't know the origin of that conspicuous large pillar.
"Never mind that for now! The warmth from the scarlet quartz is fading fast!" Just as Yu Jin was wondering, Lumine, surrounded by everyone, spoke up.
The crimson breath swirling around her was growing dimmer, looking like it wouldn't last much longer.
"I'll make a fire." Albedo said, taking out some bottles and jars from the leather pouch at his waist.
These were all alchemical materials he carried with him, and it was no difficult task for Albedo to concoct them into a combustible agent.
However, just as Albedo was about to begin, Yu Jin stepped forward and interrupted him.
"No need for such trouble."
Yu Jin looked at the Skyfrost Nail before him, with huge blue-white ice chunks frozen around it. Even after enduring that warm gale, these solid ice formations showed no signs of Melt.
"Crackling!"
The continuous crackling sound of countless Burning firewood rang out, and a huge wave of heat emanated from Yu Jin.
This heat rapidly diminished, and by the time it swept past the others, it had transformed into a warm current, like a gentle spring breeze.
Yu Jin's toes lifted from the ground, slightly hovering in the air. The light around him twisted, whether due to the extremely high temperature or some other reason, was unclear.
Raising his hand, Yu Jin saw that the melted part on his gauntlet was more extensive this time than ever before.
Taking a deep breath, his fiery breath, spewing sparks, hit his faceplate and curled back. The temperature was so high that even Yu Jin, who was insensitive to temperature, felt a hot current brush against his face.
"Woohoo, Burn!" Yu Jin stretched out his arms, and the flames that had been Burning within his body began to Burn on his skin.
The flames were not very large, and their color was a common fiery red. However, within those leaping flames, all possibilities were contained.
This was the primordial fire, which swept away darkness and brought forth all creation.
"Boom!" The small flames covering Yu Jin suddenly boiled. They surged upwards, transforming into tongues of fire, rushing towards the Skyfrost Nail not far away.
As soon as the flames left Yu Jin's body, they became blurry and distorted. Wherever the flames passed, the space undulated, just like the space around Yu Jin's body.
In this situation, light and sound were also twisted beyond recognition. Everyone could only see large expanses of fiery red surging from Yu Jin's body.
That fiery red enveloped the Skyfrost Nail, and the mist from the melting ice drifted through this blurry space into the distance.
Lumine rubbed her eyes, trying to discern what this fiery red was, but unfortunately, she saw nothing.
She knew this was fire, an untouchable fire.
Things from the Sky could no longer maintain their original form under this fire. Whether it was the glowing blue mist or the textured pillar of the Skyfrost Nail, both were consumed and burned away in these flames.
The flames burned them, and also devoured their power. As the flames returned, they grew a bit more vigorous.
The blur vanished, and the giant stone pillar that had stood in the distance was also gone.
Lumine sniffed, smelling the scent of earth, the smell of the land renewing itself, anticipating new life.
Lumine lifted her foot, and a faint footprint appeared in her sight—the iron-hard frozen soil had Melted.
The sound of Burning firewood faded from her ears, followed by a stable tranquility.
"Huh? The wind is lighter?" Paimon said in surprise. Dragonspine had always been generous with fierce winds, especially at the summit.
Since coming to Dragonspine, Paimon's ears had been filled with the howling of strong winds. Now that it had suddenly become quiet, she was indeed a bit unaccustomed.
But now, why was the wind so light?
"Not only will the wind lessen, but the temperature of Dragonspine will also gradually rise in the future."
In Yu Jin's perception, the wind from Mondstadt entering Dragonspine would no longer turn into the icy, turbulent gales it once did. Instead, they would carry the warmth of the wilderness, gradually melting this long-frozen high mountain.
The wind was lighter, the Sky was no longer cold, it was time to plant things.
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