Ed and Tai returned through the portal. The portal closed, and a new larger portal appeared in a large plaza near the center of the sect. Over the next several days, all Fire Dragon Sect forces participating in the war would enter it to travel to the Water Snake Sect.

Tai grimaced as he turned to Ed. "I need to meet with the elders. I'll be damned if I leave my sect members behind to become fodder for some ancient formation. Is there anything you need before the war starts?"

Ed thought for a moment before shaking his head. He could maybe use some new mana batteries for his arms, but they were growing increasingly useless as his strength continued to increase. They simply couldn't meet the damage output of his normal powers unless he blew them up. Plus, he could always get the materials from Flair. Other than that, he needed new strong mutant flesh to further improve his body's mutant ratio, but that wasn't really the type of thing to bother Tai with, as he could easily just go hunting himself.

Tai smiled and placed a hand on Ed's shoulder. "Thanks for siding with me even before knowing which side of the war I'd be fighting on." He hesitated a moment, an awkward expression on his face. "But are you really okay with breaking your alliance with the Purple Origin Sect? Wasn't that your entire reason for coming to China?"

"It's fine." Ed replied. "I came to learn cultivation and I have. Other than that, I just wanted to obtain cultivation techniques for Harmony, and what better place to do that than a war?" He grinned. "Besides, I've got something to settle with Sect Leader Fang. True, I didn't plan for it to be this extreme, but sometimes things just don't work out the way you expect them to."

Tai nodded. "Don't worry. After the war is over, I'll meet with the elders and we'll forge an official alliance between my sect and Harmony."

"Sure." Ed agreed.

...

Back at the mansion, Ed raided Flair's supplies to create two new mana batteries for his arms. It was more effortless than ever since she always seemed to keep plenty of raw materials on hand for her inventions. As he was leaving the mansion to go beast hunting, Haru blocked his way.

"Sensei!" Haru shouted.

"Hmm?" Ed rose an eyebrow. It was unusual for Haru to directly block him.

Haru looked extremely serious. "Please help me solve my weakness!" He earnestly requested while bowing.

"Your weakness..." Ed rubbed his chin. "You mean the whole being slow while strong and weak while fast deal?"

"Mm." Haru nodded. "Actually, the Starlight Body Technique gradually reduces the weakness over time, but it'll take a long time to finish filling my meridians. I would need years to do so, but the war starts soon."

"..." Ed thought for a moment. "Want to become a chimera?" He asked.

Surprisingly, Haru hesitated, looking slightly nervous. "The side effects the soldiers had..."

"Ah, right." He nodded. "Well, I have a cultivation technique that will probably resolve that, but I don't know if it will be compatible with the Starlight Body."

Haru frowned. "I can't train in any other cultivation techniques according to the book."

"Then it's up to you." Ed shrugged. "Extreme emotions for more power and speed, or complete control for your current weaknesses."

Haru lowered his head in thought for a moment before looking back up, his eyes shining with resolve. "I'll do it!"

"Let's go then." Ed walked out the mansion door. Not wishing to fly low in the sky, he grabbed Haru by the shirt collar and flew into the air, being careful so that his flames didn't burn the baggage.

...

Several hours later. Ed had flown north into the freezing wilderness wastelands of Russia. By now, he was deep into Russian territory. There seemed to be very little life in the harsh tundra. Ice covered the ground, and the temperature felt almost as cold as the early parts of the blue water training room he had spent so much time in previously.

Haru was so cold that he had been forced to cover his body in yellowish mana to fight it off. His body constantly trembled as the bellowing wind stung his face. All he wished for now was for Ed to finally stop flying and put him down.

'Maybe I should've flown east or west instead...' Ed frowned as he continued. He had chosen north as there was little chance of a fight breaking out. He didn't wish to go west where he'd run into other provinces in China or into more populated parts of Russia. South would have also taken him to other Chinese provinces. East would have been the sea and maybe Japan depending on how far he traveled. It seemed like north was the easiest choice.

Suddenly, Ed's eyes widened in surprise as he came to a sudden halt.

"Ugh." Haru grunted as he felt the force of suddenly stopping. He looked as if he was ready to vomit. Well, it was his first time flying after all.

'What is that...' Ed stared curiously at what could only be described as a golden road amidst the frozen wastelands. He flew down and landed on the slippery tundra. "Golden faith energy..." He frowned as he examined the road. Looking in either direction, the golden road seemed to go on without end. Golden faith energy lit up from it, as if it was trapped beneath the permafrost surface and trying to radiate out. Curious, he wished to try freeing the strange golden faith energy, but he knew he couldn't risk it. His soul was already on its last leg, and he couldn't risk the slightest bit of damage to it.

Haru stood silently for a moment while allowing his stomach to catch up to him. When he was feeling a bit better, he glanced at Ed. "Uhh, why are we standing here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Hmm?" Ed turned to him. 'Oh, right. He probably can't see the golden faith energy...' Flames carried him a few meters high in the air. "Follow me." He said without explaining.

Haru looked confused, but he didn't argue. He was more than happy to go by foot as opposed to flying. Blue light covered his body as he chased behind Ed.

Ed followed the golden road for hours, and the sun slowly set. Soon, it would be dark enough that an ordinary human would be completely unable to see. As the temperatures continued to plummet, he activated the light mana batteries in his arms to act like flashlights. If one didn't know better, then one might think he was a small steam wagon traveling through the night along a deserted road.

Finally, after traveling hundreds of kilometers, he came to a stop. "I can't believe there's a village way out here." He muttered in disbelief.

Haru also stared curiously at the small village.

There weren't many homes in the village. In fact, they could easily see the edge of the other side of the village from where they stood. The small homes were covered in ice and were extremely dark. It didn't seem they had any form of lighting here beyond candles and fires.

"There's a sign!" Haru excitedly shouted as he jogged forward. He rubbed some snow off it, revealing a name. He stared at it in confusion before glancing back at Ed, a frown on his face. "I can't read Russian."

Ed walked towards it and examined the sign. "Oymyakon?" He said in a strange tongue that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him. He really had picked up quite a few languages from the soul readings he had done in the past.

Suddenly, an older man spotted them. His skin was somewhat tan, and he wore a thick fur jacket that was covered in ice. His eyes went wide in shock as he began shouting towards the village in Russian.

"What's he saying?" Haru asked curiously.

"Something about outsiders still being alive?" Ed shrugged.

Soon, dozens of other villagers rushed over. Most were older men and women, but there were some children amongst them.

'There can't even be 500 people in this village.' Ed thought as he compared them with the number of remaining houses. 'Do they even have any espers amongst them?'

The first man that had spotted them nervously walked over. "Do you bring news from the outside?" He asked in a trembling voice.

"News?" Ed replied in Russian, though he seemed to have a bad accent. He clearly needed more practice. "What kind of news?" He asked.

"Over fifty years ago..." The old man trembled. "I was just a small boy at the time!" He pointed towards the golden road, though it would look ordinary in his eyes. "We used to get visitors on rare occasion, and we also made regular trips into town to buy supplies." He explained. "But my father's car stopped working a long time ago, and we still haven't been able to fix it." Tears seemed to appear in his eyes. "None of the other vehicles in the village work either. It's been so long since we've seen an outsider that I feared we may be the only humans left in the world."

Ed frowned as he examined the people. 'Car? Not steam wagon?' Shaking his head, he jumped to the question on his mind. "Don't you have any espers here?"

"Esper?" The old man looked confused and turned to his fellow villagers. After some back-and-forth discussion, he turned back around. "What's an esper?"

'They don't even know what espers are?!' Ed's eyes widened in shock. "Any cultivators then?" He asked. "If not, then how do you survive the mutants?"

The old man grew even more confused. "Cultivators? Mutants?" He frowned. "The cold must be getting to you. Come. Let's warm you and your young friend up first."

Ed's befuddlement grew as he followed behind the old man. The rest of the crowd followed, whispering and gossiping as they went. As they walked, they passed a small fenced enclosure. What looked like miniature horses were inside, except that they had long furred coats. The freezing weather seemed to have caused ice to build up on their backs, and an older man was busy scraping away the ice.

They quickly reached the old man's house, and the other villagers dispersed. Ed's eyes widened in surprise as he saw a rusty jeep sitting right next to the home. The tires were flat, and it looked completely beyond repair. However, he had only ever seen pictures and sketches of such vehicles before. This was his first time seeing such an antique in person.

"Ah, warmth." Haru cheerfully exclaimed as they entered the home.

The house was small, compact, and traditional. A fire inside an iron stove kept the home warm, and some candles gave additional lightning near a table.

"Please have a seat." The old man grinned, revealing several missing teeth. He walked towards his kitchen and grabbed a kettle. Ed watched as the old man stepped outside and filled the kettle with snow. He then carried it back inside and placed the kettle over the stove while placing some leaves inside it.

"Now then." The old man's arm trembled as he pulled back a wooden chair and sat at the square table. Ed and Haru sat across from him. "Our village has been here a long time..." He explained. "It dates all the way back to the 2nd world war where it was used as an airfield. From what my grandfather told me, we had quite a few more people here back then." He began telling stories of the village and his upbringing, acting very much like an old person that just wanted to talk to anyone that would listen. Apparently, this was the coldest village in the world, having reached temperatures as low as -70 degrees Celsius. However, the most shocking thing was that they seemingly haven't had contact with the outside world since the first apocalypse that wiped out electronics. They had no knowledge of mana, the mana apocalypse, nightmares, mutants, or anything more notable. In fact, they didn't even know the reason why their cars didn't work, as no one had ever brought them the official news. With no way to travel to town, they were completely isolated.

"Once, we sent five men out of the village." The old man explained as his face turned grim. "But only one returned, and he told me that the nearest five towns had all been completely deserted. I really did think we were the last humans alive. Otherwise, how could the world forget about us? We're a famous town you know. Anyone who spends much time on the internet would have heard of us."

Ed frowned as he heard of more outdated technology that no longer existed. The only reason he knew of such things was his father's history lessons on technology as well as his own desires to someday create things of a similar caliber. "A village almost completely untouched by time and the apocalypse." He sighed so quietly it was barely a whisper.

"Apocalypse?" The old man repeated in confusion.

"It doesn't matter." Ed shook his head. "You're better off not knowing if your village has survived like this until now."

Suddenly, a whistling sound rang out.

"Ah, that's the tea." The old man hurriedly stood up and grabbed the kettle. He returned to the table and poured himself, Ed, and Haru a cup each. "It's not the best, but it's better than nothing." He smiled as he sat down.

Ed took a long sip of the tea. 'Bitter.' He frowned but didn't comment on it. He glanced at the old man. "Tell me about the road that led here."