Ye Xi held Eula in his arms, found a spot to touch down, and slowly descended.
The wind at the summit was abnormally cold. Even with the protection of an Eye of God, it still felt as though the wind could cut to the bone.
Eula couldn't help but shiver. Even after landing on the ground, she was reluctant to let go of Ye Xi's embrace. At least holding on kept her a little warmer. At a time like this, there was no longer any question of feeling embarrassed—only the sensation of cold, or not cold!
Feeling Eula trembling, Ye Xi couldn't help but chuckle.
"You're still laughing—aren't you cold?!"
Eula huffed. To be honest, for a moment she really did want to burrow into Ye Xi's arms for warmth.
Just a moment ago she'd been thinking that Ye Xi's hands weren't exactly well-behaved, resting somewhere on her that felt far too improper.
Now, though, she rather wished he'd hold her even more firmly, even closer.
Ye Xi took a thick padded coat out of his portable space. "Put this on."
His portable space had grown steadily larger along with him, becoming bigger and bigger.
So he tossed all sorts of things into it—precisely so he could handle unexpected situations.
Eula hurriedly changed into the bulky padded coat, and only then let out a sigh of relief. "Th-thank you…"
With the coat on, she finally had a moment of warmth.
Only now did Eula have the presence of mind to look around at the scenery.
Standing atop the snowy summit gave one a feeling of having the whole world beneath one's feet.
It was exactly this intoxicating sense of conquering the snowy mountain that drew adventurers and mountaineering enthusiasts from all over the world to climb it.
So many people always wanted to conquer the snowy mountain, yet without exception, every one of them was blocked halfway up the slope by the blizzard. For years on end, no one had been able to reach this place.
Though Eula was no mountaineering enthusiast, being able to arrive here so easily stirred a strange thrill of excitement in her heart.
Ye Xi, on the other hand, felt nothing of the sort. His gaze was entirely drawn to the Skyfrost Nail before him.
The Nail of Judgment was a punishment sent down from Celestia. Generally speaking, only those who had crossed Celestia's bottom line would receive such a punishment.
Take the nail in Sumeru, for instance—that was because the Dendro Dragonlord Apep and her kind, in order to defy the Throne, had recklessly used Forbidden Knowledge.
Forbidden Knowledge was something the Throne of Celestia could not deal with. If left unchecked, it would bring about an irreversible catastrophe.
And what about the snowy mountain before him?
In the age of Old Mondstadt, Stormterror's Lair was once the city of Mondstadt itself.
Decarabian, the Lonely King of the High Tower, ruled over Mondstadt, treating his subjects as servants while sheltering them within the city.
However, there were some who were unwilling to submit to the Demon God. Bravely, they left Old Mondstadt and charged out into the wind and snow.
They came to Dragonspine and founded the kingdom of Sal Vindagnyr. Back then the snowy mountain was not yet covered in ice and snow—everything teemed with life, and this kingdom soon flourished and grew strong.
But good times did not last. Before long, Celestia sent down the Nail of Judgment, turning this place into a frozen wasteland and killing every last person here.
As for the reason, Ye Xi believed it was, in all likelihood, the Ley Lines.
The kingdom of Sal Vindagnyr worshipped a tree named the [Frostbearing Tree].
This tree ran through the earth itself, bringing endless vitality to Sal Vindagnyr.
Thinking about it now, this Frostbearing Tree must have been none other than the Irminsul!
In his leisure time, he had leafed through the library archives of the kingdom of Khaenri'ah and come across a most intriguing chronicle document.
The book stated that, in pursuit of the power of the Ley Lines, Khaenri'ah had once dispatched a small team to search for relevant clues.
That team had come to the kingdom of Sal Vindagnyr—and met their end there. It was surely because, by that time, Sal Vindagnyr could already skillfully wield the power of the Ley Lines.
The Ley Lines and the Abyss were both things the Throne of Celestia feared. And so the Throne sent down the great nail, destroying Sal Vindagnyr.
For even the Celestial Throne to be provoked to wrath, one can only imagine just how far Sal Vindagnyr had gone in exploiting the Ley Lines.
Back then, Khaenri'ah had merely learned a fraction of what Sal Vindagnyr knew—the barest scraps—and was already able to master a portion of the Ley Lines' power.
That alone was proof enough that Sal Vindagnyr had, at the time, been using the power of the Ley Lines like madmen!
This nail that brought the freeze was, in truth, meant to wipe out Sal Vindagnyr and make the secrets of the Ley Lines vanish forever.
Thinking this far, Ye Xi dismissed any notions he had about the Ley Lines.
He was already toying with the Abyss Power. If he dabbled in the Ley Lines on top of that, The Heavenly Principles would probably no longer be able to sit still at all.
It would jolt bolt upright from its deathbed, then hurl a nail straight at him.
He shook his head and cast all these idle, aimless thoughts to the back of his mind.
Then, immediately, he used the ability of the [Abyss Nail].
A massive, ink-black nail materialized out of thin air and came crashing down upon the Skyfrost Nail with ferocious force.
The instant the Skyfrost Nail met the Abyss Nail, it crumbled to pieces and turned utterly to ash. And the Abyss Nail, having fulfilled its mission, vanished along with it.
Beside him, Eula was left utterly dumbstruck.
"Ye—Ye Xi… that nail, it—"
0...…seeking flowers...…
In truth, the moment Ye Xi had said he had a way to get rid of the Skyfrost Nail, she'd been very curious just what method he had in mind.
Even though she'd often heard Collei and Dehya and the others go on about how amazing Ye Xi was, she had never seen it herself.
This time was the very first time she had!
She'd never imagined it would be this astonishing!
Ye Xi could actually summon a nail so enormous! It was simply inconceivable!
Ye Xi thought for a moment, then explained, "You know how a magnet has a positive and a negative pole? My nail and that nail canceled each other out. It's as simple as that."
"Simple…?"
Watching Ye Xi describe it so lightly, so casually, Eula felt utterly helpless inside. What kind of person could summon a nail that huge?!
What's more, the Skyfrost Nail had fallen from the heavens—and a divine object of that sort, Ye Xi could just casually call one forth!
That was already outrageous enough, wasn't it!
As they were speaking, the wind at the summit suddenly grew much gentler. Looking down the mountain, the wind and snow that had shrouded the mid-slope visibly dispersed before their very eyes.
"Why is that?"
Ye Xi explained, "This wind and snow was a domain created by the nail. Now that the nail is gone, the so-called domain naturally disappears too.
"This way, the snowy mountain won't have frequent blizzards anymore, and it won't be so bitterly cold."
"Who knows—the mid-slope and below might just become teeming with life again."
Hearing Ye Xi's words, Eula's eyes brimmed with shock.
"You… you've done something hugely important for Mondstadt, Ye Xi!"
She couldn't help but imagine—if the snow on the mountain melted in great swaths, how many benefits it would bring.
"This is something we have to go back and tell Grand Master Jean! You're a hero of great merit!"
Ye Xi nodded.
Just as he was about to leave, Eula suddenly grabbed hold of him.
"Could we wait a little while before heading down? I want to stay here a bit longer…"
Clearly, Eula was quite fond of the scenery here.
With the Skyfrost Nail gone and the wind and snow dispersed, from the summit one could see far into the distance.
There was quite the grand air of surveying all the lesser peaks below.
Seeing Eula so reluctant to leave, as if she wished to hold onto the beautiful view forever, Ye Xi took out the Kamera from his portable space.
"Want to take a photo together as a keepsake?"
____
Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉