Chapter 19: The Frost Crystal Sword Soul

Chapter 19: The Frost Crystal Sword Soul

"You have entered the third level of the Frost Crystal Cave. The power of ice here is more intense. If your ice resistance is below 50, you will take continuous damage!"

As the notification sounded, Lin Zheng and his companions reached the corridor connecting the second level to the third. For safety, Yang Qi took the lead and stepped out first to scout the area. Before the others could even clear the corridor, Yang Qi came charging back, cursing loudly. They were shocked to see her covered in frost, her health bar already depleted by more than two-thirds! What kind of monster could possibly deal that much damage in a single strike?

"Damn it! It wasn't just one! It was a whole swarm!" Yang Qi said, still shaken. "The moment I stepped out, a massive group of Ice Elementals appeared at the entrance. A volley of ice arrows almost killed me instantly!"

"Ice Elementals? The same kind as before?" Lin Zheng asked, puzzled. If they were the same, even a volley from a hundred of them shouldn't be able to kill Yang Qi with her current stats. There had to be a difference. Yang Qi confirmed this: "They’re mutated Ice Elementals. I only saw the name; I don't know the rest! But they’re definitely not weaker than the skeletons on the second level! The problem now is that a huge pack of them is blocking the entrance, and we can’t even get out. How are we supposed to pass the third level?"

"Oh no! If we can't get through, what about our quest?" Xiao Meng asked anxiously.

Lin Zheng frowned. Judging by Yang Qi’s state, the entrance was extremely dangerous. She had lasted less than five seconds and was nearly dead; for anyone else, stepping out would be certain death.

"Damn it! Who designed this third level? No one at this stage can clear this!" Yang Qi ranted. The design was far too broken—it was essentially a suicide mission for current players.

"Rascal, go take another look! Aside from the ones blocking the entrance, how are the others distributed?" Lin Zheng asked, his brow unknitting.

"Do you have a plan?" Yang Qi asked, looking at him in surprise. Lin Zheng nodded. "If the other monsters are far enough from the entrance, I can rush out and use 'Blast' to instantly wipe out the ones at the door. Ice Elementals are magical monsters; their health and defense shouldn't be too high. A single 'Blast' should finish them off."

"But 'Blast' requires five accumulation points! There are no monsters left on the second level, where are you going to get those points?"

"Heh heh!" Lin Zheng gave a crafty grin. Yang Qi broke into a sweat, immediately realizing what he intended. "Damn you! You aren't planning to use me as a punching bag to build up points, are you?"

"Glad you caught on. It would’ve been boring if I had to explain it!" Lin Zheng said smugly. Yang Qi was furious, but unfortunately, it seemed to be the only viable solution for the moment. Resigned, she charged back out. A few seconds later, she returned in an even worse state—having lingered to observe the monster distribution, she was down to a sliver of health. Lilith quickly topped her up. Recovered, a grumpy Yang Qi told him, "As you wished. Aside from the group at the entrance, the nearest ones are about 20 yards away. Come on, but don't hit my face!"

Seeing Yang Qi’s "martyr" expression, Xiao Meng and Lilith giggled. Lin Zheng held back his laughter and replied with a deadpan face, "Sorry, I specialize in hitting faces!"

"Screw you!"

In the end, Lin Zheng didn't hit her face. Aside from the fact that it was just for points, he couldn't bring himself to strike such a beautiful face. After declaring the "duel," he lightly tapped her shoulder five times.

"Godstick, you have to be fast! Those monsters are about five yards from the entrance, right in a line! Aim well before you use your skill! Also, once 'Blast' goes off, the rest of us need to rush out. A single blast might not kill all of them!"

"Got it! I’ll be careful!" With that, Lin Zheng took a deep breath and shot out of the corridor like an arrow released from a bow. A vast, white, snowy landscape filled his vision. In front of him, a large group of mutated Ice Elementals stood ready to attack. Seeing the lead elemental raising its hand, Lin Zheng didn't hesitate; he leaped into their midst and stomped the ground hard. "Blast!"

"BOOM!" A massive swarm of Ice Elementals was blasted away. A flurry of blood-red damage numbers filled the air—it was a spectacular sight! This single strike instantly wiped out nearly 90% of the elementals at the entrance. The remaining few couldn't pose a fatal threat to him. By then, Yang Qi and the others had rushed out to support him. Lilith’s heal landed, bringing Lin Zheng back to full health. Yang Qi, venting her pent-up frustration, raised her Black Crow Sword and began a brutal slaughter of the remaining monsters. As Lin Zheng predicted, the mutated Ice Elementals had low health and defense. Yang Qi could kill one with three basic attacks, and with the monsters spread out, their damage was limited against her high ice resistance and decent defense. As long as she wasn't swarmed, she faced no pressure at all.

"It seems the main difficulty of this level is just breaking through the initial blockade," Lin Zheng said, looking around the cavern. While there were other clusters of elementals, they posed no major threat. With Lilith as their healer, they could easily steamroll them.

"The entrance alone is disgusting enough. If there’s any other massive difficulty spike, the level design is just unreasonable!" Yang Qi said while hacking away.

"Hard to say. What if a Mutated Ice Elemental King or something shows up..." Lin Zheng said with a smirk, but his smile vanished instantly as he shouted, "Damn! Forget I said that! It’s actually here!"

Yang Qi turned around and gasped. A massive monster had appeared out of nowhere! Standing five or six meters tall, it was undeniably a boss. It was a giant Frost Crystal Swordsman, holding a massive ice blade that was nearly as tall as itself. Its snowy white ice armor suggested its defense was far superior to the common elementals.

**Frost Crystal Sword Soul:** Level 42 Gold Boss. Physical Attack 850-1450, Physical Defense 650, Magic Defense 600, HP 410,000. Skills: Frozen Sword Qi, Ice Burst Slash. The lingering grudge of a powerful swordsman who died and absorbed the power of frost crystals to become the king of the cave. Defeating it triggers the quest "A Millennium of Attachment."

"Wow! A boss with a story!" Lin Zheng said, surprised. The description clearly stated that defeating the boss would trigger a quest. Such bosses were extremely rare and, according to official data, were unique, guaranteed to drop equipment with special boss abilities! Yang Qi jumped with excitement.

"Linzi! We’ve hit the jackpot! Given the boss's special traits, the guaranteed drop must be a sword-type weapon! It's mine! This is mine!" She was ecstatic. She had just been lamenting that her Black Crow Sword was falling behind in level, and now she’d found a high-level boss that was guaranteed to drop a top-tier weapon. Fate was truly on her side!

"Yours? Try killing this guy first before claiming it!" Lin Zheng poured cold water on her enthusiasm. Yang Qi calmed down slightly. She had been too focused on the new weapon to remember that this was a tough nut to crack. An attack cap of 1450 was devastating! Even with ice resistance, the damage would be massive. One wrong move, and a total party wipe was entirely possible!

"Wow! 'A Millennium of Attachment'! I really want to know what kind of romantic story he has!" Xiao Meng wondered, even now. Lin Zheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He tapped her forehead and said, "Want to know? Then find a way to kill this guy, and you’ll find out the whole story!"

"You guys can't think of anything, so what kind of idea could I have?" Xiao Meng rubbed her head.

"Not necessarily. Let’s brainstorm! Lilith, what do you think?"

"Pass. Nothing for now."

"Understood. Yuxi, you... never mind. Rascal, what do you think? Can we use 'Parry' to deal with it like last time?"

"Impossible. 'Parry' has size restrictions. The size difference between us and the boss is too vast! One swing of his sword and he’d probably bury us in the ground! How could we parry that?" Yang Qi shook her head, dismissing the idea.

"Then what? A head-on clash is unrealistic. With that high attack, we can't take many hits, and his skills sound terrifying. One bad move and we're dead."

"Actually, dealing with a boss this huge isn't that hard," Yang Qi said. "Most massive bosses are set to have slow movement speeds. If we had a long-range, high-damage player who’s good at kiting, we could kite him to death! You’d be perfect for this, Godstick, but the problem is that you’re a Sword Dancer who doesn't even have a Blade Bow! What kind of Sword Dancer are you?"

"Damn! Who said I don't have a Blade Bow!" Lin Zheng glared, indignant.

"Do you? Then show it to me!" Yang Qi looked unconvinced. Frustrated, Lin Zheng took the 'Flying Swallow' out of his inventory.

"See that! This is my Blade Bow! The Flying Swallow! An out-of-print collector's item!" Lin Zheng showed it off proudly.