Cave Refuge

With the sands swirling and rocks flying, the glass windows of the villa district did not last long, gradually shattering one after another upon the impact of the hurtling stones.

Perhaps it was because the Companion Spiritual Treasure's soundproofing effect was quite good, so even though the outside world continuously buzzed with the clattering of stones against the exterior, the Thompson family of three, hidden within the Companion Spiritual Treasure, heard no noise at all.

Mr. Thompson, through the observation port in the wall, watched the entire process of his villa's windows breaking one by one, and couldn't help but feel a sense of relief that he had made the right choice.

Although he knew that even if they had initially made the wrong choice, they could now take refuge in Dong Tianyu's Companion Spiritual Treasure, facing the perilous weather outside, wasn't it the best choice to hide in a safe zone at the most secure time?

Just as Mr. Thompson was feeling pleased with his right decision, Mrs. Thompson's shocked cry suddenly broke his self-satisfaction, after which both Zachary and Mr. Thompson turned their gazes towards her, only to see Mrs. Thompson pointing, with her face full of surprise, in a certain direction.

Following the direction of Mrs. Thompson's pointing finger, what they saw was just a plain wall of the villa with nothing particularly special about it.

The surprised Mrs. Thompson, seeing the calm expressions on the faces of her husband and son beside her, guessed that they might not know what she was startled by and immediately explained to them, "Do you see that mark on the wall?"

Upon hearing Mrs. Thompson's question, both Mr. Thompson and Zachary quickly located the mark she was referring to on the wall. From their perspective, the mark was not deep; although it might be around twenty centimeters long, the fact that they could see the bottom of the deepest part with the naked eye meant the depth was at most three to five centimeters.

However, to leave such a mark on the hard stone, it must have been a very sharp object, like a knife's edge, chopping into it. But who would be so bored as to hack at such a high position?

Sensing the dismissive attitude in her husband and son, Mrs. Thompson immediately spoke up, "That mark was not left there before but appeared suddenly just now."

When Mr. Thompson and Zachary heard this from Mrs. Thompson, their expressions instantly sharpened, and Mr. Thompson very seriously inquired again, "Did that mark really just appear?"

Seeing Mr. Thompson ask with such seriousness, Mrs. Thompson was about to offer her assurance when she suddenly noticed a new mark appearing on the wall and immediately pointed at it and said to Mr. Thompson, "Look, another new one has appeared."

Hearing this from Mrs. Thompson, both father and son immediately followed her pointing finger and shifted their gazes anew to the wall, where, sure enough, another narrow mark like that from a knife's edge had indeed appeared.

Since both had scanned the entire wall earlier when looking for the first mark and had a general impression of it, although perhaps they couldn't remember every detail, they could guarantee there had been only that one mark before. Hence, the new mark that Mrs. Thompson pointed out had to have just appeared.

While Mr. Thompson was still pondering why those marks would appear on the wall, Zachary directly communicated with his Companion Spiritual Treasure to sense what the real situation outside was like.

Contrasting with the peaceful ambiance inside the Companion Spiritual Treasure, the whistling winds of the outside world were driving a mess of objects incessantly against the Companion Spiritual Treasure, and after careful feeling, Zachary realized that not only were random items striking the Companion Spiritual Treasure, but there were also occasional sharp Wind Blades mixed in.

If it weren't for the Companion Spiritual Treasure being in sync with his thoughts, who would imagine that invisible Wind Blades could be intermingled in the howling gales?

As Mr. Thompson watched closely, he too noticed that the knife-like marks were continually increasing on the wall, and without needing Zachary's reminder, he concluded what the situation outside was like.

Watching the steadily multiplying knife marks on the exterior wall, all Mr. Thompson could do was pray that the houses built by the Awakeners possessed the durability to withstand the invisible Wind Blades.

The stone houses within the camp, while squarely lacking aesthetic appeal on the outside and devoid of any reinforced steel within, had their entire structures transformed into extremely sturdy stone materials—all thanks to the special abilities obtained by Awakeners.

Since it was the same Awakener's ability used throughout, it could be said that the quality of all buildings in the entire camp was essentially the same. As long as the Thompson Family's villa stood firm in this adverse weather, then the other buildings in the camp should be fine.

If it hadn't been for Mrs. Thompson's reminder, the three members of the Thompson Family, who were staying inside their Companion Spiritual Treasure, might have needed more time to discover those invisible Wind Blades mixed within the howling wind.

In the entire camp, Mrs. Thompson was not the earliest discoverer of the invisible Wind Blades—it was a member of the Guard Squad patrolling on the outer wall who first noticed them. Unlike Mrs. Thompson, who found them by chance, that patrol member paid a bloody price when he realized the situation.

Although he was caught off guard by the invisible Wind Blade attack, fortunately, the injured part was the back of his hand. Despite the skin being split open and blood gushing out, luckily, it was just a hand injury that would heal with some time.

The member of the Guard Squad, who was suddenly attacked while on patrol, initially thought they were under attack from outside the camp. But when other members of the Guard Squad inadvertently discovered their clothes suddenly ripping apart, they quickly realized the existence of invisible Wind Blades within the fierce wind.

Although they detected the danger lurking in the wind, they didn't have any particularly good countermeasures. If they had armor like the heavy infantry of ancient times, covering all parts of the body, perhaps they could rely on the armor's defensive power to ignore the invisible Wind Blades hidden in the fierce wind. Unfortunately, they didn't have such armor and could only retreat embarrassingly to the office below the city walls to report the danger they had encountered.

Mr. Thompson, looking at the walls that were once smooth and now littered with countless slashes, became pockmarked and continuously chipped away with pebbles being swept off by the wind before hitting the ground. He understood just how severe the conditions outside were.

"Son, can your Companion Spiritual Treasure hold up?"

Zachary hadn't expected his mother to ask this question. Knowing she was worried after seeing the conditions outside, he immediately reassured her, "Mom, don't worry, even though my Companion Spiritual Treasure is just made of Jade, because of its many upgrades, its hardness has far surpassed the aeronautical metals once used in rockets.

Even if the power of those Wind Blades increased tenfold, they wouldn't leave a single mark on the shell of my Companion Spiritual Treasure."

Hearing Zachary's explanation helped Mrs. Thompson feel much more at ease.

However, Mr. Thompson, who had been watching the outer wall closely, felt increasingly anxious as he observed the stone walls thinning.

Fortunately, the fierce wind mixed with invisible Wind Blades didn't continue without end and pierce through the wall, as Mr. Thompson had feared.

As the Thunder Dragons in the sky continued to grow larger amongst the clouds, the intense Gang Wind began to diminish. When the invisible Wind Blades hidden in the wind completely disappeared, those Thunder Dragons that had been shuttling through the clouds, as if tired of their dreary surroundings, suddenly dived towards the ground.

Wherever the Thunder Dragons struck, crystalline formations appeared on the charred ground, similar to glass that forms when Quartz Stone is heated to high temperatures—neither rare nor precious.

However, the presence of such formations indicated the severe damage that would be incurred if directly struck by a Thunder Dragon.