Before Leon could leave, he suddenly sensed an enormous force descending from the sky. He immediately summoned a Nihility Barrier large enough to cover the entire group in that split second.
Swoosh~!
A vast amount of cold air smashed into the ground, causing the cold yin mist outside the crescent moon-shaped ice mountain to billow chaotically in all directions.
Then, as if they found a vacuum, the cold yin mist and the sudden rush of air was drawn towards the crescent moon-shaped ice mountain.
The pulling force was weak at first, but it grew fast exponentially. The cold yin energy and air rushed up the crescent moon-shaped ice mountain before the curve sent the force back into the sky.
Time passed, and the force seemingly disappeared in the sky suppression zone. But after a while, the torrential amount of air and mist descended from the sky once more.
Without surprises, the cold air and mist rushed up the ice mountain again, repeating the overall process at a fixed interval.
Nevertheless, the Nihility Barrier protected everyone inside it. Thus, no one got swept away by the powerful wind pressure.
"Is everyone alright?" Leon asked.
"Y-yeah. That caught me by surprise. What kind of phenomenon is this?" Faelyn replied with astonishment.
Before long, everyone fixed their gaze on the crescent moon-shaped ice mountain ahead with silent speculations and wonder.
It was a rather spectacular phenomenon even though it seemed natural and unnatural at the same time.
The region's geography was unnatural due to the existence of the Celestial Ice Spark. But thanks to its uniqueness, it created an interesting phenomenon.
"This circulation of wind force is probably responsible for all the cold yin mist in Extreme Misty Forest. However, I doubt this circulation of wind force can be repeated perpetually on its own. So there must be something powering its motion," Leon uttered.
The sky suppression's gravity brought the wind and mist down. However, the amount of wind that came down was much more than what went up.
After pondering briefly, Leon's eyes narrowed.
Although it was faint due to the great distance, Leon vaguely sensed a lot of breeze coming from the other side of the crescent moon-shaped ice mountain.
"Breeze from the distant north sea? Is it possible for the north sea's breeze to reach this far inland?" Leon wondered.
His doubts would be answered if he scaled the ice mountain for a look. However, he had a more important matter at hand that required his attention.
"Go. This much force isn't a problem for me. I will protect everyone while you look for Lynne," Aria reassured Leon after he glanced at her.
"I'll be quick," Leon promised.
He quickly retracted the Nihility Barrier and generated a smaller Nihility Barrier for himself. Then, he immediately shot towards the ice mountain and scanned its surface for an opening to enter.
After Leon left, Aria created a diamond-shaped ice pyramid with her ability to protect everyone from the sudden winds in the area.
Thanks to its unique shape, the diamond-shaped ice pyramid split the wind with its pointed edges instead of enduring the brunt of the wind pressure head-on. The ice pyramid stood firmly whether the wind came from the sky or the forest.
Aria used minimum power with maximum efficiency to deal with the strong winds in the area.
Meanwhile, Leon continued to search the ice mountain. Finally, after finding a large cave entrance on the ice mountain, he entered without hesitation.
The cold temperature immediately dropped to a frighteningly new low within the ice mountain. However, the Nihility Barrier protected Leon's body from the cold.
As he shot through the ice mountain cave at high speed, his Nihility Barrier transformed everything it contacted into True Grandmist Energy.
Leon absorbed every wisp of True Grandmist Energy on the way, leaving nothing behind.
Sometime later, Leon reached the heart of the ice mountain, and his gaze locked onto the giant ice phoenix in the center of the cave.
His eyes narrowed instantly.
'Was I too late?' Leon wondered with an ugly expression. He sensed Lynne's faint life within the ice phoenix.
However, after he swept the ice phoenix with his divine sense, he realized it didn't eat Lynne. Rather, it was guarding her with its massive body while she was refining the Celestial Ice Spark.
At the same time, the ice phoenix raised its head and stared back at Leon with its cold blue eyes. Then, it narrowed its eyes but took no further action than that.
Even so, Leon understood that it was warning him not to get close. He was astonished by both the ice phoenix's existence and the situation itself.
'The Half-step Divine Beast-level Ice Phoenix is guarding Lynne?' Leon wondered with doubt.
He recalled teaching Lynne the Ice Phoenix Canon, a cultivation method from the Divine Ice Phoenix Palace. Still, he didn't understand how that could explain the present situation.
It might be a cultivation method related to the Ice Phoenix, but it wouldn't compel the ice phoenix to protect Lynne.
Furthermore, the ice mountain cave was the ice phoenix's nest, and the Celestial Ice Spark should have been the source of its cultivation. Would it be willing to part with it?
Something had happened before that—something that he did not understand.
Nevertheless, Leon was caught in a pickle. He wanted to stop Lynne from refining the Celestial Ice Spark, but there was no way he could beat a Half-step Divine Beast with his present strength.
Even so, something else quickly caught his attention—Lynne's faint breath of life.
It was much weaker than when she forcefully raised her cultivation by overdosing on True Awakening Pills. It was almost as if her lifespan was about to run out.
'How is that possible?' Leon frowned.
Lynne's shortened lifespan should have been resolved when she advanced to higher realms in her cultivation.
And yet, the truth is that her lifespan was about to run out. Something else was eating away at her lifespan!
Once Leon realized that fact, he abandoned all intentions of stopping Lynne's refinement.
The Celestial Ice Spark had become an absolute crucial item for her survival.