Re-birth: The Beginning after the End-Chapter 195: THE STORM
Li Hua turned to Mo Xing and offered one of the miniature pavilions, the intricate structure gleaming with spatial runes in her palm.
"Keep them both," Mo Xing said with a casual gesture. "Perhaps your brother could use them when he joins future expeditions." His tone was matter-of-fact, neither secretive nor particularly concerned. "I have my own arrangements."
The slight curve of his lips suggested something more—an unspoken implication that they both knew exactly where he would be staying during this journey. The same place he had spent every night for the past several days—in her quarters, his presence as constant as shadow. The pavilion was merely a formality as far as he was concerned.
Li Hua placed both pavilions in her storage ring, choosing not to acknowledge the obvious implication. Some battles weren’t worth fighting, especially when part of her had already adjusted to his persistent presence.
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The spirit vessel continued its journey through the morning sky, cutting through banks of luminous clouds that parted like silk before their prow. Below them, the sect’s territory gradually gave way to wilder lands—forests where massive trees reached skyward like grasping fingers, mountain ranges whose peaks pierced the clouds, and occasionally, the glimmering surfaces of lakes reflecting the azure sky above.
Li Hua found herself drawn to the railing, watching the changing landscape with genuine fascination. This world, for all its dangers, possessed a breathtaking beauty her previous lives had never known. Beside her, Mo Xing maintained his quiet presence, seemingly content to observe her reactions rather than the scenery itself.
As the day progressed, the vessel climbed higher, passing through layers of clouds that left fine mist clinging to the deck. The air grew thinner, colder, though spiritual energy circulated through the ship’s formations, maintaining a comfortable temperature for the disciples. The golden afternoon light caught on distant mountain peaks, transforming them into islands in a sea of clouds.
Most disciples had retreated to the covered portions of the vessel, either cultivating or engaging in quiet conversation. A few senior disciples had begun sharing cultivation insights with their juniors, creating small circles of focused energy. From the bow came the occasional flash of spiritual techniques as Sun Wei demonstrated lightning control to two admiring cultivators. Li Hua noted that among the three elite disciples, Sun Wei seemed the most approachable, his easy laughter and patient explanations drawing disciples to him like moths to spiritual flame.
Li Hua remained at the railing, her attention divided between the passing landscape and the ancient text she’d retrieved from her space—a volume on the history of forbidden zones and their unique properties, one of several rare scrolls her brother had given her before departing.
"The Whispering Forest isn’t like other forests," she murmured, her finger tracing a particularly interesting passage. "According to this, the trees absorb spiritual energy from cultivators who pass through, using it to fuel their consciousness."
Mo Xing leaned closer, his proximity sending a now-familiar warmth through her despite the cool altitude. "Most texts only scratch the surface of such places," he commented, his voice carrying that knowing tone that suggested personal experience. "The Forbidden Zone has existed since the beginning. Not even the sect elders truly understand its nature."
Li Hua glanced at him, curiosity overcoming her usual reserve. "You speak as if you’ve been there before."
His golden eyes met hers, something flickering in their depths before he smiled that infuriating half-smile of his. "Everyone has places they’d rather not revisit, Little Tempest." The words carried more weight than their casual delivery suggested.
Before she could press further, a warning bell rang from the helm. Elder Fu’s voice carried across the deck, sharp with sudden urgency. "Boundary storm approaching from the north! All disciples to your assigned positions!"
Li Hua looked up to see dark clouds gathering with unnatural speed on the horizon, just as Yang Mei had described earlier, but far more magnificent and terrifying than mere words could convey. Veins of crimson lightning pulsed through the storm mass like blood vessels in some vast celestial creature, their glow reflecting off the polished deck. The previously calm air began to churn around them, carrying the scent of ozone and something else—something ancient and powerful that made her spiritual senses tingle with warning.
She moved swiftly to the eastern array as instructed, though the reality of what approached made Yang Mei’s earlier calm explanation seem woefully inadequate. This was no ordinary weather phenomenon—this was nature and spiritual energy merging into something primal and dangerous.
The spirit vessel lurched as crosswinds hit its port side. Around her, disciples scrambled to their positions, their expressions a mixture of determination and trepidation. Some had clearly witnessed boundary storms before, their movements smooth and practiced, while others betrayed their nervousness with fumbling hands and whispered prayers.
"Activate primary barriers!" Elder Fu commanded from the helm, his weathered hands flashing through a series of complex gestures that left trails of golden light in the darkening air. The dragon figurehead at the bow roared to life, its crystalline eyes blazing with protective energy. "All disciples, channel your essence now!"
Li Hua placed her palms against the eastern array as instructed, feeling the formation’s structure respond to her spiritual essence.
A bolt of crimson lightning struck dangerously close to the starboard side, far closer than she’d expected. The discharge raised every hair on her body, and for a moment, strange symbols flashed across her vision—ancient characters she couldn’t read yet somehow understood on a fundamental level. The air crackled with power that made her previous experiences with elemental energy seem trivial by comparison.
"Is this normal?" she asked Mo Xing, who had followed her to the array, his expression unchanged, still relaxed as ever.
"For a boundary storm? Yes," he replied, his voice lazy even as the vessel pitched beneath them. "The Forbidden Zone protects itself. What you’re seeing is the collision of ordinary spiritual energy with the Zone’s unique essence." His hand steadied her as the vessel lurched violently. "Elder Fu knows the safe passages. We’re not in danger."
A massive tendril of cloud reached toward the ship like a grasping hand, its edges crackling with living lightning. At the helm, Elder Fu slammed his palm into the ship’s main array, golden light erupting from the vessel’s hull just as the cloud tendril struck.
The impact shuddered through the entire ship with far greater force than Li Hua had anticipated. Several disciples lost their footing entirely, sliding across the deck until they caught themselves on railings or formations. Li Hua maintained her balance through instinct, her body automatically adjusting as it had during countless assassination missions on treacherous terrain. Beside her, Mo Xing hadn’t moved at all, his form seemingly unaffected by the chaos around them—as if he existed in a pocket of perfect stillness amid the storm.
"Eastern stabilizers failing!" Yang Mei’s voice carried across the deck, her earlier shyness completely overtaken by the urgency of the moment. "We’re losing the barrier!"
Li Hua felt the array beneath her hands flicker, spiritual energy leaking from fractures in the formation’s structure. Without hesitation, she drew deeply on her wood essence, channeling it into the weakening array. Wood’s natural affinity for conducting and harmonizing other elements made it ideal for repairing the fractured spiritual pathways. Her spiritual energy flowed through the array like sap through a wounded tree, filling cracks and reinforcing weakened junctions.
