The moment his foot hit the bridge, cold pressure brushed his skin like a hand.
The air ahead glittered faintly with suspended frost particles, as if the mist itself had been sharpened.
They walked.
Stone beneath their boots turned slick with thin ice.
The bridge stretched longer than it looked, fading into a white haze that swallowed sound.
After several minutes, the mist thinned.
And the snowfield opened.
It wasn't a simple field.
It was a sloped basin carved between ridges, filled with knee-deep snow in some areas and bare froststone in others. Ice-slick boulders jutted out like teeth. Thin frost trees stood scattered, branches glittering with crystals that chimed softly when wind passed.
Formation lines shimmered faintly under the snow in places—blue threads like veins beneath pale skin.
Teams spread out quickly, each choosing a direction.
A horn sounded once, low and distant.
The trial began.
Xu Wen held up a hand.
