Chapter 529: Land of Extreme Frost
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The ice shards floating in the air were not directed at him. Instead, they changed directions and flew off somewhere else...
'There's someone else here?'
Li Yi stopped his steps, thrust out his hand, and returned Onyxia to his inventory.
A Superior Ice Spirit was levitating in mid-air and launching a flurry of ice-based attacks. Some distance away, an Archer riding on a white horse was using the Pet Protection skill to tough it out against the spirit.
'Pet Protection', a skill which would redirect all damage inflicted upon the owner onto their pet within a 12-second time frame after its activation. Under Drifting Snow's feet lay a black bear pet, and the HP bar above its head constantly released damage counters. It seemed to be at death's doors.
Li Yi identified the Archer immediately.
'What a coincidence! It was really him, the Phoenix Archer — Drifting Snow!'
Drifting Snow had met Emperor Lan before. The Random Teleportation Scroll he carried with him was the best proof of that. After all, aside from Emperor Lan, no other NPC sold this special item.
'What's he here for? Could he be looking for Emperor Lan?'
The moment he that thought crossed his mind, Li Yi immediately perked up.
The Superior Ice Spirit's damage was too high, and the black bear pet died in an instant. However, Drifting Snow did not lose hope. Instead, he dove onto the ground and used 'Pseudocide'.
The ice shards came barrelling down, and since he took the attacks while in the 'Pseudocide' state, the skill was immediately dispelled...
Drifting Snow was dead, and the Superior Ice Spirit stopped its attack.
"This is the fate that awaits mortals..."
The Superior Ice Spirit fixed its gaze on Drifting Snow's corpse and camped beside it, without moving a muscle. This was one of the special traits of the North Pole Continent's monsters. Since they were intelligent, they knew how to camp corpses...
Li Yi quietly took two steps back and summoned out Explosive Ape.
He had five pets on him, and Explosive Ape's usage rate was the lowest. Since obtaining it, he had used it less than 20 times.
"Aooh Aooh—"
As usual, Explosive Ape did not disappoint. The moment it was summoned, it immediately raised its claws and attacked its owner.
The primate swiped furiously, and damage counters of [−35], [−56], and [−76] constantly popped out of his head.
Li Yi walked a few steps forward, and Explosive Ape followed behind him. It was at that moment that the Superior Ice Spirit camping Drifting Snow's corpse sensed their presence. It spun around and floated over to them.
Li Yi backpedaled, and Explosive Ape followed closely behind. Just as the Superior Ice Spirit had almost caught up to them, Li Yi activated Rocket Propellant. With a huge 'boom', he blasted 20 meters forward, and immediately 'pseudocided' onto the ground...
Explosive Ape was one of the rare 'Neutral' pets, thus, it would not be dispelled just because its owner had died. In other words, Li Yi's only job was to summon it, and whatever ensued did not matter to him.
Since Explosive Ape was attacking it, it came as no surprise that the Superior Ice Spirit's aggro was locked onto it.
The Superior Ice Spirit extended its hand, and an ice drill pierced through Explosive Ape's skull. With that single blow, Explosive Ape was now dead.
Pseudocide was a success, and Li Yi had now left the battle...
The Superior Ice Elf was camping beside Explosive Ape's corpse and it paced back and forth around its corpse. When the spirit had its back turned towards Li Yi, he immediately seized the opportunity, transforming himself into Lightning Leopard and using 'Stealth' to flee the area.
On the other hand, Drifting Snow had corpse ran back. Seeing that there was no monster camping him, he immediately resurrected.
Were it not for Li Yi's assistance, Drifting Snow would have found it hard to stand back up. However, Li Yi had his own motivations for aiding him, why else would he help his sworn enemy for no reason?
'There must a reason for that b*stard to travel thousands of meters over here. He wouldn't be able to achieve his goals lying down, so why not help him out and see what he came here to do.'
After resting for a while, Drifting Snow rode on top of his little white horse and pushed onward. He did not double back, and instead, was going full steam ahead...
Once he saw his movements, Li Yi had an immediate realization. 'This b*stard intends to use 'Corpse Drag' to move forward.'
Moving forward via 'Corpse Drag' meant that one would continue moving forward with no regards to their life. They would use their souls to drag the corpse forward, it was an effective strategy. In the past, Li Yi had once employed the same tactic when he was making his way past the Giant Ant Plain.
Very soon, Drifting Snow had collapsed again. The place was crawling with Superior Ice Spirits. Li Yi could use Onyxia to fly over them, but Drifting Snow did not have the same privilege, and thus, he could only rely on 'Corpse Drag' to move forward.
This time, Li Yi did not aid him. Instead, he hid in a corner and patiently waited. He had already determined that the equipment that Drifting Snow was wearing was a mixture of Gold and Green Quality pieces, basically a pile of trash. He speculated that Drifting Snow had already placed his good equipment into his inventory, and as a result, did not fear death.
'Since you don't fear death, then just keep dragging on...'
Archers who employed the 'Corpse Drag' technique could perform more sophisticated tactics compared to the other classes. The reason for this was simple, Archers were able to use 'Pseudocide'. They could alternate between dragging and Pseudocide-ing, and by repeating this, they could achieve unlimited Corpse Drags.
Drifting Snow was also quite a beast. He had died 17 times to make it through the Superior Ice Spirit's roaming zone.
"Motherf*cker, I've finally made it."
Drifting Snow spat out a curse, hopped onto his little white horse and raced onward.
Li Yi hopped onto Holy Light Warhorse and followed closely behind.
They were currently located in an area that only spawned 'snowmen' monsters. As long as players did not attack them, the snowmen would not retaliate. Thus, there was no fear of being surrounded and they could rush forward, unhindered.
Drifting Snow stopped every once in a while, to check his coordinates. It seemed that he was unsure which direction he was heading towards.
After traveling for about an hour, a huge white lake could be seen in front of them. What was suspicious was that its surface was not frozen from the cold weather, and instead, bubbling and emitting hot air.
"Hahahaha! I've found the Land of Extreme Frost!"
Drifting Snow leapt with joy, and with a 'splash', he disappeared under the lake.
Li Yi quickly ran over. He dispelled his mount and dipped his lower half into the lake. However, he realized that the water was not just boiling, it was scalding hot.
"Is the Land of Extreme Frost supposed to be so hot?"
A spark of inspiration came to his mind, and he immediately summoned out both Onyxia and Mermaid Princess.
"I want to hear some Secrets!"
Staring at the boiling lake, Onyxia remarked solemnly, "I've said it before. A piece of Extreme Frost Jades lies in the deepest depths of the Land of Extreme Frost's water region. It can be used to craft equipment with special attributes."
Li Yi stored Onyxia back into his inventory, ordered Mermaid Princess to dive underwater while riding on top of her.
"Let us depart!"
Mermaid Princess cheerfully jumped into the water.
With one hand holding the Divine Looking Glass, Li Yi constantly tracked Drifting Snow's location while moving forward.
Drifting Snow was right ahead of him, and since he did not possess an underwater mount, his progress was extremely slow.
"Dive deeper, try to overtake the person in front."
Li Yi had lost his patience. He softly pulled at Mermaid Princess' soft cheeks and ordered her to swim down deeper.
While Drifting Snow was still slowly swimming forward, Mermaid Princess had already passed him from the deeper regions.
The lake was extremely vast, and it was then that Li Yi realized that Onyxia's 'Secrets' was quite bad. It worked well the first time because Little Pinewood was rather small. However, the lake he was in right now was much larger than a continent's Celestial Capital. As such, looking for a tiny sparkling spot was not an easy task.
Li Yi ordered Mermaid Princess to stop, and after patting her snow-white butt, he said, "Go on, time for 'Treasure Hunt'."
Mermaid Princess gleefully swam off. Li Yi's heart immediately burst with joy. He had discovered out that when Mermaid Princess leaves with a sad or wistful expression, the item she brought back would be rather bad. However, if she left happily, she would bring back something valuable.
He was speaking from his experience as the owner of 'Mermaid Princess'!
After 3 minutes had passed, Mermaid Princess came swimming back while shivering. She was holding a rock that emanated a cold aura in her mouth, and the moment she spat it onto Li Yi's palms, Li Yi almost became a frozen popsicle.
It was the Grade 11 material, Extreme Frost Jade.
Li Yi handed over the Extreme Frost Jade to Hunter Goddess, and the cold aura finally dissipated.
Bubble...bubble...bubble...
With the Extreme Frost Jade gone, the lake's temperature suddenly shot up. It was much hotter now.
"Freya, are you afraid of the heat?"
Mermaid Princess shook her head, and her beautiful eyes sparkled. "I'm not afraid."
Ding!
System Notification: [Due to your concern, Mermaid Princess' Affinity towards you has risen by 3,000 points.]
Li Yi perspired in embarrassment. No matter what he did now, Mermaid Princess' Affinity would only continue to rise dramatically. Compared to Onyxia, she was dozens of times better.
Li Yi rode on top of Mermaid Princess and ordered, "Keep pushing forward. Your target: The hottest area within the lake."
The Central Region of the North Pole Continent was extremely cold, but the lake before him was scalding hot. To the point, that it was about to boil. It was obvious that something was here, and its presence was causing this mysterious phenomenon.
Mermaid Princess happily went on her way. In order for her owner to ride in comfort, she even lent her tiny hands to him. This resulted in her swimming with both hands behind her back. The way she was swimming had stirred up a mysterious feeling within Li Yi...
The mountless Drifting Snow was still swimming forward slowly.
In comparison, Li Yi's travel speed was about a hundred times faster.
'Drifting Snow's really slow...'
While Mermaid Princess sped onward, the lake's temperature continued to rise. Eventually, bubbles of air began to manifest within the lake, and the water in the lake started to churn as if it was heated on a stove.
It was close to the boiling point!
With her advanced intellect, Mermaid Princess could sense the minute differences in the underwater temperature. She obeyed Li Yi's command and continued diving deeper towards the area with the highest temperature.
The lake's temperature was reaching insane levels, and Li Yi's vision was beginning to become affected. He could no longer observe the situation, but at that moment, Mermaid Princess suddenly spoke, "There's a cave here. It's so hot."
"Swim into it!"
Mermaid Princess swam into the cave, and the lake's temperature increased by another level. The boiling bubbles surged upwards, and the waters' current temperature was no longer near the boiling point. It had already reached it...
The cave was filled with twists and turns, but the way forward was anti-clockwise and heading upwards. Mermaid Princess did not slow down in the slightest, and she continued pushing forward, right until she popped up with a 'splash' and landed onto the ground.
They were at the end of the cave. There was no water, and it was just a small room.
The walls surrounding the room were fiery red, and at the center of the cave sat a red-bearded middle-aged man. He carried a massive greatsword behind him, which was even larger than Jiaojiao's Lord of Disaster!
He was the Southern Continent's hero — Emperor Lan!