Chapter 681: Sword Soul's First Ability
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Despite possessing the Sword Soul, Lin Huang did not sense any improvement in his ability. In the next two days, he did not obtain more card pieces after training his sword skills.
However, every day after his training, he would immerse his body in his consciousness, communicating with the Sword Soul.
His primary goal was to teach the Sword Soul to talk and to play with it.
After finished practicing sword his skill, again, Lin Huang immersed his body in his consciousness before he slept. He saw that the Sword Soul was climbing the sword mountain.
It was a game invented by the Sword Soul itself. It had to climb the sword mountain and do a freefall jump.
Lin Huang was initially worried that it would get injured if it indulged in such play. In fact, it would not. Not only was it born to fly, but its body could also penetrate through the ground between the Life Wheels and could even penetrate right through the sword mountain.
Sometimes, Lin Huang would compete climbing with it.
Seeing that the Sword Soul was halfway up the hill, he joined it.
Realizing that Lin Huang was climbing up the hill and was getting nearer to it, Sword Soul immediately sped up. Both of them soon got to the top of the mountain one after another.
The Sword Soul was slightly ahead of Lin Huang and won the climbing competition. It could not stop laughing.
"It's such an innocent kid." Seeing the Sword Soul achieve happiness so easily, Lin Huang sighed emotionally. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind – he should teach the Sword Soul something new today.
He had been teaching it to speak in the past two days. Despite trying hard to learn, it was not satisfied. After thinking about it carefully, Lin Huang decided to teach it a set of sword skills. Since it was born because of the sword, it might like it.
"Xiao Dao, I'm going to teach you something new today." Xiao Dao was the new name that Lin Huang had christened it. Though ordinary, the Sword Soul was quite happy with the name.
"I'm going to teach you a set of sword skills today. I'll show it to you once, and you'll follow after me when I do it the second time." After finishing his words, an inky combat sword appeared in his hand and he started demonstrating the sword skill.
It was the simplified version of the Great Sword Scripture. Despite the fact that it was not considered tough, it was not easy either. Even the students from the Martial Hunter College would need at least half a month to 20 days to master it.
Lin Huang practiced the sword at a speed that was three times slower. He noticed that while he was practicing the sword skill, Xiao Dao fixed its gaze on his movement. He then knew that he was interested in this set of sword skills.
After practicing it for the first time, Xiao Dao shook its head and said, "Slow."
"Do you need me to do it slower?" Lin Huang was stunned as he guessed that was what Xiao Dao was trying to say. "Or do you mean that I've been doing it too slow and you want me to speed it up?"
"Speed up!" Xiao Dao immediately nodded.
"Alright, I'll do it the second time." Lin Huang performed the sword skill at a reasonable speed again.
After practicing it, he walked towards Xiao Dao and asked, "Do you know how to do it?"
Xiao Dao nodded. It extended its hand into the air and soon, a sword appeared. It looked exactly the same as Lin Huang's inky sword. Even the details were exactly the same, and the only difference was it had been reduced to a size that was much smaller.
As it grabbed its small sword, Xiao Dao did not wait for Lin Huang to demonstrate again. It immediately performed the sword skill in front of him.
Lin Huang was stunned at what he just saw. Xiao Dao had only watched him practicing the sword skill twice. It managed to learn the sword skill despite being its first time practicing the skill. Not only could it master all the movements, but it had also wholly mastered the essence of the sword skill as well.
"It doesn't blindly follow what I did. Instead, it grasps the essence of the sword skill itself through my movements." After watching Xiao Dao practice the sword skill, Lin Huang felt that he had a better understanding of the sword skill compared to the past.
Xiao Dao had learned the sword skill in an instant, and Lin Huang wanted to increase the difficulty of the skill. He showed Xiao Dao the first part of the Great Sword Scripture.
After showing Xiao Dao the skill once, it picked up the sword skill easily once more.
Lin Huang then practiced the complete version of the Great Sword Scripture. Despite it being the Illumination sword skill, Xiao Dao could still master it with ease.
Lin Huang continued increasing the difficulty and practiced the Oblivion sword skill.
As usual, Xiao Dao mastered the skill after watching it once.
Lin Huang then thought to himself and wondered if it was possible that Xiao Dao actually knew all the sword skills that he had learned. Therefore, it could quickly master it after he demonstrated the sword skill once.
Therefore, Lin Huang practiced the set of sword skills that he just learned that day. It was the Oblivion sword skill which Skill Card had yet to be formed.
After showing it once, there was a serious expression on Xiao Dao's face. It said to Lin Huang, "It isn't right."
It then revised Lin Huang's sword skill and performed it. Lin Huang was dumbstruck as it was a skill that he had not finished learning. However, Xiao Dao had managed to master the sword skill through the movements that he did once.
"Xiao Dao, I haven't finished learning this skill. Please teach me." Lin Huang then looked at Xiao Dao in awe. He was delighted as he had finally discovered Xiao Dao's ability.
"Sure!" Xiao Dao answered happily. It wished that Lin Huang could have more time for it every day.
Lin Huang did not expect the Sword Soul to have the ability to master sword skills in an instant. Regardless of how well the sword skill was shown in the tutorial, it would not be as effective as having somebody teach him in person. The Sword Soul could definitely be his tutor and assist him with his sword training.
Lin Huang did not sleep as he spent the whole night practicing sword skill in the world inside his body.
As guided by the Sword Soul, he managed to learn 1.5 sets of the sword skill in one night, which was only about nine hours. His efficiency was much higher than before. As the barrier of communication had been reduced, the efficiency of Lin Huang's sword skill training would improve.
The next morning, after discovering the Sword Soul's incredible ability, Lin Huang was very excited, and he did not feel like sleeping at all. He knew very well that it would not be the Sword Soul's only ability. There must be some abilities that he had not discovered yet. However, its current ability was already of great assistance to him.
After having his breakfast, Lin Huang was about to continue practicing sword skills in the world inside his body when his Emperor's Heart Ring vibrated abruptly.
Lin Huang tapped opened the communication page and received a message.
It was a message from an anonymous number. However, it was sent by the Union Government in Division 3. Lin Huang immediately opened the message.
"Hello, Mr. Lin Xie. You've been selected by the Heaven Alliance as one of the explorers to go into the new ruins. Please prepare yourself before departing. On the 7th of July, please gather at the Magical Sky Plaza in Division 3 No. 3A1 foothold with the rest of the explorers at 9 a.m. sharp. If you don't come on time, you'll be considered as having given up as an explorer. Please take note of this."
"Is it the day after tomorrow?" Lin Huang did not realize that time had passed so quickly. He did not feel nervous at all. Instead, he laughed to himself and said, "It seems like I have to go to bed early tomorrow night."
Chapter 682: The Floating Land?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Anyone intended to enter the No. A1 to the No. A10 footholds in Division 3 had to be inspected. Lin Huang had attached the Union Government's invitation letter when he purchased the ticket. With the invitation letter, the purchase inspection was completed in less than ten seconds, and the pre-booking was completed.
Lin Huang arrived at the No. 3A1 foothold in Magical Sky City a day before. He checked into a hotel next to the Magical Sky Plaza.
After checking in, his Emperor's Heart Ring received two messages.
The first notification was from an anonymous number. There was only one sentence in the message: "The Heaven Alliance members who are going to the ruins, please join the chat group so that it'll be more convenient for us to communicate with each other."
The second message was a chat group invitation link from the unknown number.
Lin Huang then clicked on the link. Since the group chat could be muted, it would not affect him much.
Upon joining the group chat, there were more than ten people there, and the number of people was increasing.
Some of them took the initiative to greet him. Since they had just joined the group, they were excited. Lin Huang and a minority of them chose to keep quiet.
In just a short while, there were already 30 of them. Obviously, all those who were going to the ruins had been added to the group chat.
At that moment, the admin of the group chat was online.
He mentioned every one of them in the message.
"Welcome to the group chat. I'm Shen Tao, from the Heaven Alliance headquarters in Division 1. The purpose of gathering everyone here is to talk about our plan for tomorrow. Since many of them are going to the ruins and only 30 members of the Heaven Alliance are allowed to go, the number of people is incomparable to that of the native organization in Division 3. Therefore, it'll be best for you guys to work together. At 8.30 a.m, I'll wait for all of you at an outdoor café situated in the east of the Magical Sky Plaza. I hope that every one of you can attend." Shen Tao sent a photo of himself after his text.
As Lin Huang finished reading the message, he muted the group chat.
Although he had many secrets to hide, he had no comment on meeting up with the rest. Before he thoroughly familiarized himself with the ruins, it would be more convenient to work with the rest of them. He might be able to gleam unknown information from the others.
Nevertheless, after entering the ruins, he could leave the team if there was the need to do so.
The next morning, Lin Huang took out a Disguise Card. As he crushed the card and activated it, he set his look to the current Lin Xie's look. The main reason for using a Disguise Card was to avoid the demigod from finding out that he was wearing a disguise. If that happened, he would not be allowed to enter the ruins.
After putting on a disguise, Lin Huang then left the hotel room and headed towards the café that Shen Tao had shared with them yesterday.
His hotel was situated in the northeast of the Magical Sky Plaza. The straight line distance between them was less than a kilometer. When he arrived at the café, it was not even 8 a.m. yet.
He ordered a set of breakfast and a cup of coffee, and leisurely enjoyed his breakfast under the umbrella.
After having his breakfast, Shen Tao appeared not far away from him.
He was tall at more than 1.9 meters tall. He was not muscular but was rather skinny. He was wearing a black shirt and a pair of grey pants. In a pair of sunglasses, he looked like he was dressed somewhat formally. However, he did not seem serious.
Lin Huang was hesitating if he should greet him first since the both of them were not close to each other. Right at this moment, Shen Tao saw him and walked towards him.
"Are you Lin Xie?" As he approached Lin Huang, Shen Tao stopped, taking off his sunglasses.
Lin Xie was the most famous person in the Genius Union previously. He was still ranked first on the leaderboard, and his photo had been posted on the leaderboard. Of course, Shen Tao could recognize him.
"Nice to meet you." Lin Huang nodded with a smile.
After shaking hands, Shen Tao sat in front of Lin Huang. He then ordered a cup of coffee and started chatting with Lin Huang.
"Lin Xie, you haven't logged into the Genius Union for more than a month."
"Yes."
"Are you busy?"
"Yes, I'm busy with my training."
Shen Tao then noticed that Lin Huang had already leveled up to gold flame-level. "Your abilities are indeed restricted by your combat strength. I hope that you can achieve immortal-level really soon and appear on the 63rd checkpoint of the Stairway Tree."
Even though Shen Tao was an immortal-level rank-9, he was modest, and Lin Huang felt that it was strange.
Everybody in the Genius Union was a genius. Aside from some of them who were envious of the supreme geniuses, most of them did not like each other. However, many of them had to agree that Lin Xie was pretty outstanding as he had managed to climb to the 55th checkpoint at the Stairway Tree as a blue flame-level.
The Stairway Tree evaluated their overall abilities instead of just their combat strength. All of them knew very well that when they had still been a blue flame-level, even if they owned a demigod relic that had no restriction on the number of usages, they would not have been able to get to the 55th checkpoint. However, Lin Xie had achieved it! This proved that Lin Xie was stronger than the rest.
Although Lin Huang's combat level was low, Shen Tao was pleased with him because he knew that if Lin Huang did not die, his ability would definitely surpass him and might be on par with the five kings.
After chatting for a while, the rest of the members arrived one after another.
Since Shen Tao had posted his photo in the group, the people could recognize him at first glance. They then saw Lin Huang who was sitting in front of him.
It seemed like most of the Genius Union members could recognize Lin Xie, let alone the people in the Heaven Alliance.
They immediately sat down and surrounded the both of them.
Most of their topics revolved around Lin Xie and they rarely talked about matters related to the ruins.
Lin Huang attempted to change the topic several times and tried to talk about the ruins.
"About the ruins, do you guys have any information about it?"
"I'm unsure of this since I just came from Division 1 yesterday." Shen Tao shook his head. "Do the natives in Division 3 know anything about it?"
"I've got some information from them." An immortal-level rank-9 native girl from Division 3 shared, "It's said that the ruins are 400,000 kilometers away from Division 3. It's located in the sky above the Peaceful Ocean. It's a land lingering in mid-air. The area of the land is a few times larger than the Magical Sky City."
Although it was just a brief description, Lin Huang and the rest were stunned.
400,000 kilometers was the distance between the Earth and the Moon. What made Lin Huang feel incredulous was the statement about the land existing in mid-air. The area of the Magical Sky City was more than 3,200 square kilometers, equivalent to the area of Africa. However, the floating land was a few times larger than the Magical Sky City. Could it be hundreds of millions of square kilometers large?!
The first thought that flashed through his mind was that it must be false information.
The topic had attracted their attention, and they started buzzing about it. They no longer had their focus on Lin Huang.
About 8.50 a.m, 30 of the members had arrived.
The Union Government that was in military uniform had almost completed the decoration in the plaza, and various organizations started entering.
The attire of the Genius Union members was rather casual. However, the people from the formal organizations were in uniform, including those from the Union Government. They were divided into two teams, and there were 300 of them. Next, the people from the various underworld organizations entered. Lin Huang saw that there were people with a cross on their face, the Saint members in white robes, the Purple Crow members in black coats, the Dynasty members in golden armor, and the heretics that were wearing colorful attire with three crosses tattooed on their neck…
Aside from the Union Government, most of them were from the Hunter Association, the Adventurer Paradise, and Dynasty. There were 200 of them in total. The Saint, the Purple Crow, the heretics, and the rest of the organizations had 100 members respectively. The rest of them were native organizations in Division 3. Aside from the Overlord Alliance that was given 50 quotas, the rest of them were the same as the organizations in Divisions 1 and two whereby only 30 quotas were assigned to them.
"It seems like we can only earn a bit from that." Shen Tao laughed, shaking his head.
"It depends on how big the ruins are." Lin Huang was positive.
"Even if we're lucky enough to hunt some relics, the rest of the organizations will definitely grab the relics from us," a girl said softly.
"Grab it from us? Let's see if they're capable of doing so." Lin Huang had no fear at all.
The people from the Heaven Alliance caught a glimpse of him. Facing so many of them who were stronger than him, Lin Huang still had the courage to say so. No wonder he could do things that others could not.
Aside from the Heaven Alliance, the members from the other organizations were chatting about him as well.
Many of them in the Genius Union could recognize Lin Xie, and they shifted their focus to the people from the Heaven Alliance.
At 9 a.m. sharp, a demigod with white hair and a mustache from the Union Government floated in mid-air. As he waved his hand, he muted all the noises in the plaza and started speaking, "Please keep quiet. I'll talk about the condition of the ruins."
As the elder demigod talked, everybody remained quiet and shifted their attention to him.
"The ruins were discovered during our exploration. The ruins are located on the east coast of the Peaceful Ocean. It's about 400,000 kilometers away from the Division 3 safe zone. The ruins are a land floating in mid-air above the Peaceful Ocean. The area of the land is expected to exceed 100 million square kilometers."
Lin Huang was bewildered as he listened to the information from the demigod. He never expected it to be true.
"Since the ruins only allow holy fire-levels and immortal-levels to enter, we've invited people from different organizations to join the exploration. Everything that you obtain in the ruins belongs to you. The Division 3 Union Government will not impose any charges on the items. Therefore, don't worry…"
After giving a brief introduction regarding the rules, the elder demigod left, and a middle-aged imperial-level in a military uniform took over. He started making arrangements for the trip to the ruins.
"Please remain in your original position according to the organizations. The staff will activate the Dimensional Portal later. Since the Peaceful Ocean is a perilous place, the Dimensional Portal will only send you to an island near the ruins. Please stay there when you reach, and we'll make the arrangements to send you to the actual destination by the Emperor's Ship."
Chapter 683: The True Enemy
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang followed the Heaven Alliance's team and passed through the Dimensional Portal. They arrived on an island above the Peaceful Ocean, waiting patiently for the rest to come.
The monsters on the island must have been cleared by the Union Government and the Hunter Association earlier. The crowd had been standing over there for about ten minutes, but not a single monster had appeared.
When it was about 9.30 a.m, all of them had arrived.
The elder demigod then summoned the Emperor's Ship.
The Emperor's Ship was apparently much more expensive than the commercial Emperor's Ship that Lin Huang had boarded at the Victoria Harbour. He knew it just by looking at its appearance alone. A famous designer intricately decorated the patterns on the surface of the ship. However, on the surface of the commercial Emperor's Ship, only the logo of the organization was printed on it. The body of the ship was silver in color. The size of the ship was almost similar to the one for commercial use. However, its weapons had been enhanced, and the number of God Crashers was twice of those on the previous ship. Perhaps the manufacturing cost of the ship would be double or more of that of the former spaceship. If it were to be sold at an auction, its starting bid would perhaps be equivalent to 2.5 demigod relics.
Seeing the Emperor's Ship, not only Lin Huang but the rest of them were looking at it with envy.
After summoning the ship, the elder demigod felt proud of himself as he looked at everyone's expression. He grinned but soon, he maintained a neutral expression and commanded, "Quickly get up onto the ship!"
"Please keep in order." The imperial-level man in the military uniform from the Union Government appeared to keep everyone in line.
About 1,000 of them went on board, and the people sized each other up.
Lin Huang noticed that many of its components were much better than that of the commercial Emperor's Ship. They were of a different standard. The difference was like that between low-cost cars and luxury cars. The former could only be used for transportation whereas the latter was a luxury for people could show off their wealth.
After spending more than ten minutes, the people got into the ship one after another. The elder demigod then said, "We're currently more than 6,000 kilometers away from the ruins. At the cruising speed of my ship, we'll reach there in two hours. You're allowed to do anything you like in these two hours, but please don't create trouble. The first floor of the ship is open to the public. I've prepared some food and drinks for all of you. Since we're going to the ruins right after we arrive, we only serve ordinary sweet beverages which are non-alcoholic. Please bring along your trash as you leave. Otherwise, it'll be troublesome for me when I clean up."
After the instructions, the ship was activated.
"You may leave now. Gather here when we're about to get out of the ship." After Shen Tao finished his words, the Heaven Alliance members left.
The members of the rest of the organizations did their own thing. Some of them stood at the side of the ship, looking out at the scenery. There were groups of people sitting on the deck of the ship, talking to each other. Also, some of the people went to the ship's cabin to look for food.
Lin Huang walked towards the cafeteria located on the first floor as well. Although he had had his breakfast, he did not mind trying some of the excellent food there.
After taking a few steps forward, a few people blocked his way.
The leader was a man with yellow hair that resembled the bottom end of a broom. He was dressed in a green singlet and camouflage pants. He was muscular, and he was on immortal-level rank-9. Without considering his hair, he had a height of more than two meters tall. He looked like an iron pagoda.
"Hey fella, are you the Lin Xie who created a stir in the Genius Union?"
Lin Huang raised his head and took a glance at him. He then fixed his gaze on the rest of them. Other than the muscular man who was an immortal-level rank-9, the rest of them were on immortal-level rank-7 or rank-8. They did not have any apparent characteristics on their bodies. Lin Huang could only confirm that they were Genius Union members. However, he was unsure of which organization they belonged to.
"Why are you looking for me?" After sizing them up, Lin Huang asked without any facial expression. As the people had come up to him, he knew that it was not a good thing. Therefore, there was no need for him to be polite.
"You're just a blue flame…" Right when he was about to utter those words, the man in the singlet noticed the change in Lin Huang's combat strength and immediately said, "How can a purple flame-level be so arrogant? I…"
"Gu Li, the people from the Divine Alliance are shameless. How can an immortal-level rank-9 bully a newbie who's only on purple flame-level?" Somebody interrupted the man. Unexpectedly, the person was Shen Tao.
"Shen Tao, when did I bully him? I'm here to become friends with him as he's Lin Xie who ranks first on the leaderboard. I'm interested to know if he's different from the others." Gu Li, the man in the singlet, chuckled and said to Shen Tao, "However, I've seen him in person now. There's nothing special about him though. He's as weak as a chick. I won't bother to bully him."
"There's only one question that I'd like to ask you. When you were a blue flame-level, which checkpoint of the Stairway Tree were you on?" Lin Huang asked without any expression.
Their facial expressions changed right after they heard what Lin Huang asked. Nobody was willing to answer his question as it was a rhetorical smack in the face.
Lin Huang was on the 55th checkpoint when he was a blue flame-level. He had broken the record on the Stairway Tree. Regardless of how he had managed to achieve that, it remained a fact that he had broken the record.
"Let's go and have some food over there." Seeing that the rest of them were dumbstruck, Lin Huang greeted Shen Tao and walked past Gu Li and the rest.
Their faces looked gloomy, but they did not stop him.
Many people witnessed what had just happened.
To many of the people outside the Genius Union and those who had left the Genius Union, they had no idea who Lin Huang was. Seeing a purple flame-level could be intimidating to an immortal-level rank-9, so they were curious about him.
"Who's the young man in the white t-shirt?" Some of them started asking.
"He's Lin Xie, the supreme genius of the Heaven Alliance. He managed to get to the 55th checkpoint when he was a blue flame-level. He's currently ranked first on the leaderboard," one of them from the Genius Union informed.
As Gu Li from the Divine Alliance attempted to provoke him, soon, Lin Xie's name was on the lips of everyone outside the Genius Union.
Lin Huang did not know the effects brought about by the conflict. He was enjoying the delicious food at the cafeteria on the first floor of the ship.
"What you said has struck Gu Li dumb. I think it's funny, recalling his facial expression as if he was suffering from constipation." Shen Tao laughed although soon, his face turned serious. "However, Gu Li's ability is on par with mine. After entering the ruins, beware of him."
"A barking dog doesn't bite. His stopping me before we enter the ruins is a way to put on airs. He isn't going to threaten me. Since he's an immortal-level rank-9, he won't fight me as it's embarrassing." Lin Huang knew him well. "If he really were to fight me, he won't create trouble for me in public. He'll secretly kill me in the ruins so that no one will suspect him of being the murderer."
"The people from the Divine Alliance aren't dangerous, but the underworld organization is," Lin Huang frowned as he said. He could sense that the gaze of the people from the underworld organization was penetrating through his body. Their abilities were far beyond Shen Tao's. "The people from the underworld organization have no mercy. As long as they are confident that they can do it, they'll probably attack regardless of who the person is."
Chapter 684: Entering the Floating Land for the First Time
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
With the elder demigod there, nobody got them into trouble throughout the voyage.
Although they encountered an imperial-level king sea monster, it was smacked by the elder demigod and fell into the sea. Nobody knew if it was alive or dead. Soon after, no monsters appeared to trouble them.
After two hours into the voyage, when it was reaching noon, the ship started moving towards the sky.
The Emperor's Ship flew from its initial position which was 10,000 meters above sea level to 15,000 meters, 20,000 meters and finally, it was more than 30,000 meters above sea level. It penetrated through the cloud layers, and the crowd could then see the infinitely large floating land above them.
The land was shrouded in a dense fog. A layer of transparent film isolated it. Not even its shadow could be seen on the surface of the sea. If one did not go up to more than 30,000 meters in the sky, nobody would ever be able to discover the ruins that were being enveloped by the dense fog.
Lin Huang guessed that the person who had discovered the ruins might have almost been killed by the king sea monster, which was the reason why he or she would fly to this height. Usually, spaceships and people would fly to a height of about 10,000 meters to 12,000 meters. It was less likely for them to continue flying upwards because the higher they went, the thinner the air. It would be a huge burden to the human body.
"Alright, we're here." The voice of the elder demigod was soon heard.
"After entering the ruins, please remember to save the coordinates through the dimensional relic first. If you can't stay there any longer, you're allowed to travel to the border of the ruins. As long as you manage to get out of the protective layer, you'll be sent back to the safe zone immediately." The imperial-level man in the military uniform then continued, "The Union Government armed forces are going to take over the ruins a month later which will be on the 7th of August. All of you are given three days to leave. It means that you can only stay in the ruins until the 10th of August. You have to bear the consequences if you're still here after the specified date."
They had no comment on what the Union Government had just announced as it was something common in Division 3. Due to the unpredictable nature of the danger in the ruins and the Union Government being afraid of suffering great losses, they had assigned two small teams and people from other organizations to explore the ruins. After the preliminary exploration had been done and the evaluation had been carried out, a big group of people would be assigned to be stationed at the ruins. Large-scale exploitation of the ruins would then begin.
Lin Huang and the rest were the first batches of people to enter. They were the vanguard. How much they could earn would solely depend on one's ability. The Union Government would not bother about it as they were only given a month to stay there. The area of the land was tremendously significant. Even if more than 2,000 people were thrown into it, not a splash of water could be seen.
After the man in the military uniform finished his words, the people then gradually floated into the sky and flew towards the land.
Lin Huang and the rest of the Heaven Alliance members entered the ruins. As they penetrated the transparent protective layer, Lin Huang did not feel hindered by it. He felt like he was passing through a layer of water and the chill ran all the way through his skin.
Upon entering the ruins, the people saw the world behind the protective layer and were shocked.
Outside the layer, what they saw was a thick forest. As soon as they went through, a world of ice and snow appeared before them.
Looking towards the land far away, the world became a vast expanse of whiteness and snow continuously fell from the sky.
The people from the Union Government and the Hunter Association seemed to expect this to happen. It took them a few seconds to get their team in order and soon, they flew far away.
A few of the teams from the underworld organizations left, following their own direction.
The people from the rest of the organizations followed the people from the Union Government and the Hunter Association as a safety measure.
Shen Tao glanced at Lin Huang and the rest and asked, "Which team are we going to follow?"
"Any teams will do as long as we're not following the Dynasty, the Saint, and the few other teams." As the rest of them did not voice out their opinions, Lin Huang answered with a smile.
"Let's follow the Union Government. Regardless of how brave the people from Dynasty are, I supposed they wouldn't fight the army," Shen Tao decided, seeing that the rest had no comment on this.
The Heaven Alliance members left, following one of the army teams.
Lin Huang was at the end of the line. He secretly summoned Bloody so that it could release its invisible Leech Pods to investigate the condition of the ruins.
The people flew for about 20 minutes. They did not encounter any monsters when they were on their way. However, traces of a fight that were left not long ago were discovered.
Observing the traces of the battle, Lin Huang felt that something was amiss. However, he could not figure out what was wrong in such a short period of time, so he did not say anything about it.
They proceeded and flew for another ten minutes. Lin Huang and the rest then saw that few of the teams had stopped at a place not far away from them, one of which was the Divine Alliance team.
"What happened? Where are the people from the Union Government?" Shen Tao asked.
The other teams knew that Lin Huang and the others were members of the Heaven Alliance. Listening to what Shen Tao said, the people explained, "The Union Government has cheated us. The remains of this battle have been fabricated! They actually headed towards another direction."
Lin Huang then realized what was wrong with the battleground. The battleground seemed orchestrated, and it was not messy at all. As he thought of it carefully, only a battlefield that was deliberately fabricated would look like this.
"The people from the Union Government must've explored the ruins a few days ago and discovered something. That's why they are trying to get rid of us," Gu Li from the Divine Alliance grumbled.
"Regardless of what they've discovered, it has nothing to do with me." Shen Tao took a glance at Gu Li. If the people from the Union Government had gone to the ruins a few days ago and discovered something, they must've saved the coordinates in their dimensional relic. The people from the Union Government might be thousands of kilometers away now."
Shen Tao turned back and flew back to the Heaven Alliance camp. He was not going to waste his time there, so he said, "Let's go."
Listening to what Shen Tao said, a particular person obviously wanted to remind him about something. However, Gu Li stared at him, then kept quiet.
Lin Huang watched what had just happened and called out, "Please wait!"
"Lin Xie, what happened?" Shen Tao was startled.
"Bro, can you please tell me why you guys are here? Why aren't you guys proceeding forward?" Lin Huang slowly flew in front of the person who wanted to talk earlier.
The person then looked at Gu Li helplessly. Shen Tao noticed that Gu Li seemed to want to trick them. "Just tell us what you know. If anyone attempts to get you into trouble because of this, I'll settle it."
"The detection relic picked up a group of monsters blocking our way ahead. We've sent two people on immortal-level rank-7 to see what's going on. However, there's been no news from them even after five to six minutes."
After listening to what he said, Lin Huang and the rest shifted their gaze towards Gu Li.
Lin Huang contacted Bloody through his mind. He asked Bloody to help to check what was happening in front of them.
In just a short while, he received the information from Bloody.
"The area in front of them is the territory of the Yeti Maniacs. It'd be rather far if they were to make a detour."
When Lin Huang heard that, he frowned.
The Yeti Maniac came from the Abyss Brink, and it was an ice elemental. It was born to be violent and insane.
According to the monster guide, the monster was less than a meter tall. They preferred living in groups, and they looked like ugly snowmen.
Despite the fact that their combat strength was quite low, most of them were on immortal-level rank-4 to rank-6. They liked to bug people. Since they possessed the characteristics of an elemental monster which had the undying characteristic, as long as the place had sufficient ice energy, if damaged, their bodies would be recreated endlessly.
Aside from that, the monster was skilled at throwing snowballs at their enemies. The snowballs would not only threaten one's body, but it could also freeze one's Life Power to a certain extent as well. Even for those who were on immortal-level rank-8 or rank-9, once about 20 snowballs struck them, their Life Power would be frozen.
After confirming that the Yeti Maniac's territory was in front of them, Lin Huang predicted that two of the immortal-levels that had gone to check out the situation had become ice sculptures.
Chapter 685: Frost Helminth
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Because we've discovered that it's the monster's gathering point, only then did we realize that the Union Government has gotten rid of us. The Union Government must've cleared all the monsters if they were heading towards this direction," the member of a small organization said.
"Do you know what monster it is?" Shen Tao asked.
"I don't know. We've sent two immortal-levels there, but they've not returned yet. I guess that they aren't coming back anymore."
"I know what monster it is." Lin Huang walked out of the crowd. "If I'm not mistaken, it must be the place where the Yeti Maniac gathered."
"The Yeti Maniac?"
It was apparent that all of them had seen the monster before in the monster guide. Their faces turned grave.
It was one of the most troublesome elemental monsters. It spelled bigger havoc than the undying species. The majority of them were reluctant to bump into such a creature.
"Lin Xie, do you have any evidence?" Gu Li from the Divine Alliance asked.
"My vision is slightly stronger than the rest. I can see that about 3,000 kilometers away, there are two ice sculptures made by the Yeti Maniac," Lin Huang explained.
"I thought you saw the Yeti Maniac. Even if you saw the ice sculptures, that doesn't mean that it's the Yeti Maniac that made them, does it? The sculptures might be created by the other monsters, or they might be the remnants from the past," Gu Li teased.
"If they were the remains of the past, do you think that according to the speed of the snow falling, a two- to three-meter tall ice sculpture could maintain its shape for several days without collapsing? Lin Huang asked. "Also, stop bullshitting if you don't even have a solid understanding of the monster's lifestyle. I'm an Imperial Censor, and I can understand the monsters better than you. Among the known monster types, the Yeti Maniac is the only one that's adept at creating ice sculptures. There won't be any monsters that can do so. Of course, we can't exclude the possibility that it might be some other unknown monster. However, I think it's most likely the Yeti Maniac."
"Lin Xie is right. Other than the Yeti Maniac, there are indeed no other monsters that make ice sculptures." Another Imperial Censor from a small organization agreed with Lin Huang.
Most of the Imperial Censors had memorized the whole monster guide. Of course, they knew for a fact that Lin Huang had spoken the truth. Even the rest of them, who had never memorized the monster guide, were willing to believe Lin Huang as well.
Knowing that he was in the wrong, Gu Li did not refute. He stared at Lin Huang and kept quiet.
"If it really is the Yeti Maniac, we're in trouble." Shen Tao frowned, looking at Lin Huang. "Although the Yeti Maniac is only an immortal-level rank-4 to rank-6, this type of monster usually lives in a group. Even an immortal-level rank-9 wouldn't want to offend it."
Shen Tao lifted his head and gazed at the sky. "If we can't defeat them, let's enter from the top although we might encounter a flock of birds."
"We'll definitely encounter them," Lin Huang confirmed, "When there is a Yeti Maniac, the Glacial Phoenix will definitely be there."
"The Glacial Phoenix?" Reminded by Lin Huang, Shen Tao then recalled that the monster was the enemy of the Yeti Maniac. They would appear whenever the Yeti Maniac was around.
The Glacial Phoenix's body possessed the blood of the frost phoenix. However, the concentration of its blood was on par with the dragon's blood in a dragonkin's body. Although it was not a phoenix blood species, it was incredibly strong. Their combat strength was on immortal-level rank-7 to rank-9, and they would typically appear in a group. Their species belonged to the overlord-rank monster in the sky.
This type of monster usually hunted other ice element monsters as food and the Yeti Maniac was their favorite.
"We're now maintaining a low-level flight. Our existence doesn't matter to the Glacial Phoenix. However, when we fly to a certain height, they'll feel that their territory is under threat and they'll definitely swarm out," Lin Huang warned clearly. "There are cliffs everywhere here. It's not strange if the Glacial Phoenix are hiding over there."
"So, do you mean that we have to take a detour?" Shen Tao asked.
"That's one way," Lin Huang said, gazing at the rest of the organizations. "Let's have a brainstorming session and discuss if there's any other better way."
More than 140 of them started discussing.
"What's happening? We've just come in for half an hour, and the monsters are already blocking our way."
"If we can't move forward and we can't fly higher in the sky, taking a detour is the only way."
"If we were to make a detour, we might possibly meet the people from the underworld organization."
"If it doesn't work, let's dig an underground hole and walk through an underground passage," a young man suggested, catching many people's attention.
"It seems like it's not a shabby idea to walk through an underground passage." Shen Tao shifted his gaze to Lin Huang.
"Theoretically, it works. However, we can't confirm if there are any Frost Helminth or any other monsters." Lin Huang did not reject the suggestion. However, he voiced out some of the issues that had to be taken into consideration.
"Lin Xie, you're saying that everywhere is dangerous. Let's stay here for a month until the exploration ends." Gu Li could no longer stand it as each time they gave a suggestion, Lin Huang would shoot it down.
"What I'm actually trying to say is that it doesn't matter if the Frost Helminth gets into our body. As long as we're not seriously infected, we won't die. There won't be any side effects if the Frost Helminth is forced out of the body using the fire element Life Power. Therefore, most likely it'll work if we were to walk via the underground passage," Lin Huang explained while shooting Gu Li a sidelong glance.
The reason why he had said so was to tease Gu Li. Bloody had informed him that there was a large number of Frost Helminth in the snow.
"So, we're…" Shen Tao was about to act immediately as his Life Power possessed the fire element. He was not afraid of the Frost Helminth getting into his body.
"Don't worry. Boss Gu is excited to try. Let him and the Divine Alliance take the lead." Lin Huang smirked, looking at Gu Li.
"There's no need to goad me since we'll be the first to go underground. We won't die if the Frost Helminth gets into our body. Stay here until the exploration ends if you're so afraid of the Frost Helminth," Gu Li insulted Lin Huang and Shen Tao. He then shouted at the Divine Alliance members, "Please put on your defensive relics and cover your body with Life Power. Let's start digging!"
After he finished his words, a group of people then landed on the ground. They then picked up their relics and started digging an underground passage.
The Heaven Alliance members and the rest remained at their original positions, patiently waiting to see if digging an underground hole would work. They would know after half an hour.
After a short while, Gu Li and the people from the Divine Alliance had dug a large hole in the ground. Since the snow had accumulated for a long time, the snow got thicker and denser as the hole went deeper. However, the thickness meant nothing to a supreme relic or an ancient relic. Soon, the Divine Alliance members managed to dig a hole with a depth of ten meters.
Lin Huang and the rest were floating above the hole, peering down it.
After about two to three minutes, the people in the hole suddenly shouted.
"Damn, there's really Frost Helminth!"
"I'm doomed. I'm being parasitized by the Frost Helminth!"
"Stop screaming! You won't die!" It was Gu Li's voice.
The people from the Divine Alliance kept quiet after listening to what Gu Li said.
Soon after, the people in the hole shouted, "There are too many of them!"
"Many of them have gotten into my left leg. They've frozen it! Whoever who has fire element Life Power, please help me to defrost it!"
"I'm going to die. One of the Frost Helminth has gotten into my brain. Please help me unfreeze it!"
The Divine Alliance members sounded tragic.
"Don't go any deeper! Quickly leave!" Sensing that it was impossible to accomplish the task, Gu Li finally instructed the members to leave.
Chapter 686: Lin Huang's Plan
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Frost Helminth was a parasite and their combat strength was on immortal-level rank-1 to rank-3.
They were diminutive in size and were usually the stature of an ant. However, they could disguise themselves as snowflakes, penetrating the bodies of living beings when they touched the host's body. Isolating Life Power had a weak effect on them and they could easily penetrate through one's body as long as it was not covered by any relics.
This type of monster would not immediately inflict damage. However, after completing its parasitizing, they would absorb the heat energy from the host's body, causing the host to lose its body temperature rapidly.
The parasite was life-threatening to anyone who was below immortal-level. However, for those who were on the immortal-level or higher, only a large number of parasites could threaten them.
The Divine Alliance members had been attacked because there were too many Frost Helminths underground.
One or two Frost Helminths would not affect immortal-levels rank-7 to rank-9. However, being parasitized by tens or hundreds of Frost Helminth, even an immortal-level rank-9 would not be able to bear it.
The parasite was an ice element creature. Apart from being susceptible to some unique flames with extremely high temperature, it could not be killed.
Their reaction was within Lin Huang's expectations as Bloody had informed him earlier that there was a huge number of Frost Helminths beneath the ground.
Seeing Gu Li and the Divine Alliance members escape from the hole clumsily, Lin Huang did not feel at ease though.
30 Divine Alliance members had gone down, but only 28 of them managed to get out of the hole. Two of them did not return and they could not be saved.
They had only entered the ruins for more than half an hour and two people had already died. The ruins were indeed dangerous.
Gu Li gave Lin Huang a deadly stare as soon as he got out of the hole. He did not say anything and immediately instructed the members with fire element Life Power to help those who were severely injured to get rid of the Frost Helminth.
Gu Li and the rest had set a serious example to them. They no longer wanted to walk through the underground passage anymore. They counted their lucky stars that it had not been their team that had gone into the underground hole. Otherwise, the injuries that they might have suffered would have been more severe.
"Let's make a detour. Although it might take more time, it's better than wasting our time here," Shen Tao was about to leave as he told Lin Huang and the rest.
Most of them nodded in agreement.
Lin Huang was the only one who remained silent.
"Lin Xie, please feel free to express your opinion about this." Shen Tao realized that Lin Huang did not agree to the detour.
"Let's wait for a while." Many people were startled when they heard what Lin Huang said.
"Why do we have to wait?" Shen Tao immediately asked as he wanted to know Lin Huang's intention.
"Let's wait for a chance to hunt." Lin Huang gazed at the hills from afar.
"A chance to hunt?" Shen Tao could not understand.
"The Glacial Phoenix will hunt for the Yeti Maniac every afternoon. They'll usually start hunting from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The hunting hours of the monster groups vary accordingly." Lin Huang then suggested, "We can make our way through the Yeti Maniac's territory during their hunting hours since the Glacial Phoenix will hunt for the Yeti Maniac. As long as we don't attack them, they won't be interested to fight us. As for the Yeti Maniac, they won't put extra effort to fight us when they're being hunted. Even if the Yeti Maniac attacks us, there'll be only a small number of them."
"It's already 12.30 p.m. Could the hunting hours have passed?" Shen Tao found that the plan was workable if, and only if, the Glacial Phoenix had not started hunting the Yeti Maniac.
"Yes. Therefore, we'll know if the plan works after waiting for more than half an hour here. If the hunting doesn't start at 1 p.m, we'll have to take a detour," Lin Huang said. In fact, he knew that the Glacial Phoenix had not started hunting the Yeti Maniac yet.
If they already did start doing so, the Yeti Maniac's gathering place must have looked like a battleground. However, according to Bloody's investigation, the Yeti Maniac was prepared for a fight. Obviously, the war had not begun yet.
"What do you think? Wait for another half an hour, or leave now?" Shen Tao turned his body around and asked the rest of them for their opinion.
"Let's wait for another half an hour. We've no idea how long we'd have to wait if we were to make a detour."
"I'm worried that it'll be even troublesome if we encounter monsters that block our way when we make a detour. Let's wait for another half an hour."
"I personally think that Lin Xie's plan is workable and it's less risky."
In the end, most of them agreed to wait for another half an hour.
Lin Huang did not hide his suggestion from the rest of the organizations. The more people agreed to the plan, the more the Yeti Maniac would be afraid of them, and the safer they would be.
If he were to invite the rest to join them, they would assume that he had bad intentions. Therefore, Lin Huang announced it publicly.
Those who wanted to join were welcomed to do so. Lin Huang would not force those who were reluctant to join either.
Many of the organizations were secretly discussing if Lin Huang's plan was feasible.
Many of them asked the other two the Imperial Censors.
"Are the hunting hours that Lin Xie mentioned true?"
"Aren't we going to be attacked by the Yeti Maniac if we were to make our way through their territory when they're being attacked?"
The final reply that they received confirmed that Lin Xie's suggestion was highly feasible.
Aside from the Divine Alliance, the leader of the other three organizations looked for Shen Tao and Lin Huang as they wanted to join them.
Of course, Lin Huang and Shen Tao agreed with them.
The people from the Divine Alliance were unwilling to bow their heads to the Heaven Alliance. However, they were reluctant to take a detour as well, so they struggled to make a decision.
After more than ten minutes, they managed to get rid of the Frost Helminth that parasitized the Divine Alliance members' bodies. Their combat strength had recovered in that short amount of time. Gu Li did not look for Shen Tao and Lin Huang to discuss this, but he did not leave with the members.
"I guess that they're going to follow us shamelessly," Shen Tao told Lin Huang grumpily.
"If they're going to follow us, just let them be." Since Lin Huang had just fooled them and two of their members had been killed, Lin Huang was not going to make a fuss over it. Furthermore, he did not have a real grudge against them.
At about 12.50 p.m, the people were disappointed as the hunting hours were about to pass. Gu Li and the rest even sneered at them.
The sounds of birds chirping echoed from the snow-covered mountain. Soon after, a flock of white birds swarmed out of the mountain, resembling clouds. They headed towards the Yeti Maniac's territory. Lin Huang could hear the birds flapping their wings from afar.
"The Glacial Phoenix has started their hunt!" Shen Tao did not expect things to turn out as Lin Huang hoped.
"Stop daydreaming. Let's move!" Lin Huang yelled and rushed towards the Yeti Maniac's territory.
Chapter 687: Splitting Up
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
On the white, snowy ground, the crowd moved quickly forward in a flash, and a path was created on the ground as the wind blew past.
Lin Huang and Shen Tao led the Heaven Alliance team while the rest of the three organizations followed after them. Just ten meters away were the members of the Divine Alliance. More than 140 of them made their way through the Yeti Maniac's territory in an instant.
As they looked ahead, they saw ice sculptures of various shapes in which dead bodies were sealed.
Most of them were Glacial Phoenix. Obviously, sometimes the predators would become the prey. The Glacial Phoenix itself was truly beautiful. They looked impressively breathtaking after being sealed in ice.
The Glacial Phoenix's combat strength was higher than the Yeti Maniac's, and they could defend themselves against ice element attacks, but even so, they were vastly outnumbered by the Yeti Maniacs. If tens or hundreds of snowballs struck them, they would be locked in ice.
Other than the Glacial Phoenix, there were other monsters as well. Unexpectedly, they saw the two immortal-level rank-7 whom they had sent.
There were only a small number of monsters sealed in ice. Obviously, most of the monsters knew that it was the Yeti Maniac's territory and only some rash ones would trespass.
Not far away from them, the Glacial Phoenix and the Yeti Maniacs had already started fighting.
In mid-air, Glacial Phoenix were continually pouncing on the monsters. Only a minority of them managed to capture the Yeti Maniacs in one go as the prey managed to dodge most of the attacks.
The Yeti Maniacs counterattacked as well while dodging their attacks. Snowballs were quickly formed in their hands and were being thrown towards the Glacial Phoenix that avoided the attacks as well. If the Yeti Maniac's snowballs struck them, not only would their movement be slowed down; there would be a drastic increase in the consumption of their Life Power as well.
While both parties were engaged in an intense fight, they noticed Lin Huang and the rest approaching them.
"Immediately activate your Life Power and reveal your combat strength!" Lin Huang shouted. Their Life Power was activated and reached its peak, revealing their combat strength as immortal-levels. Even the Divine Alliance members that followed after them did so.
Lin Huang then whispered to Shen Tao after all of them had activated their Life Power.
After listening to him, Shen Tao immediately announced to the two parties that were fighting each other, "We have no bad intentions, and we're just passersby. If anyone of you attacks our members, we have no choice but to join another party to attack you. Although there's only a small number of us, we have nine immortal-level rank-9 members here. As long as you're willing to ignore us, we'll leave this place quietly. I promise that we won't hurt any of you."
The two parties noticed that he was an immortal-level rank-9 as well.
Although neither of the parties responded to him, the people passed by the Yeti Maniac unharmed.
The crowd continued to move forward. Shen Tao then told the rest of the people who followed him, "If you don't want to die, have good control over your hands. We're in a hurry. Don't create trouble for us."
On the Yeti Maniac's turf, both parties continued fighting each other. Although they were paying close attention to the humans who had suddenly appeared, still, the monsters did not attack them. Because the both of them were equally strong, they did not want either side to have a backup team. Although there was only a small number of people, they were obviously strong as most of their combat strength ranged from immortal-level rank-7 to rank-9.
After five to six minutes, more than 140 of them managed to pass through the Yeti Maniacs' territory unscathed. After leaving the Yeti Maniac's territory, the crowd then stopped.
Many of them looked at Lin Huang respectfully. Before the plan had proved workable, many of them had wondered if the plan would succeed. In fact, not only had the plan succeeded, it was almost perfect. They managed to pass through without being attacked.
The Divine Alliance did not bother to deal with the Heaven Alliance. As soon as the danger had been removed, Gu Li brought the people along and left without saying anything.
Seeing that the Divine Alliance members had left, Shen Tao then said to the rest of the teams from other organizations, "Alright, since everybody has passed through, you may choose which way you want to go."
Shen Tao and the Heaven Alliance members did not want the others to follow after them as they did not want to share whatever treasures they discovered. Moreover, the three other organizations were not really strong, and they could not provide any assistance to them even if they encountered any danger.
Since they had overcome the threat, the rest of the organizations were not going to follow the Heaven Alliance as well. The people from the Heaven Alliance would definitely take a significant portion of the treasures they discovered, and only a small portion would be given to them. Therefore, they would prefer to explore the ruins on their own.
Since they did not want to team up, the three organizations soon said goodbye to the Heaven Alliance members and went their separate ways.
Seeing the direction in which one of the teams was heading to, Lin Huang wanted to warn them, but he still remained silent.
The team was heading in a direction where the monsters were gathered. If they did not discover the monster gathering place in time, all of them might be killed.
Looking at the different directions where the teams had left, Shen Tao then pointed towards another way. "Let's go there."
Lin Huang glanced in the direction that he pointed to, keeping mum. According to Bloody's investigation, there was actually a group of monsters over there. Since it was only a small-scale monster horde, it would not be a hindrance to them.
If he were to go on his own, he would avoid the group of monsters and head where the treasures were kept at his fastest speed. Bloody's monitoring pods only managed to cover the areas nearby, so he could not gather enough information regarding the land yet, and he had not discovered any places where there was treasure. Therefore, he decided to follow the team.
They flew in the direction where Shen Tao had chosen for less than half an hour. Soon, they encountered a small monster horde.
"There's a monster horde about five to six kilometers away. There's only a small number of them, but I'm not sure what kind of monster it is," one of them who was responsible for scoping the situation of the ruins with a detection relic whispered to Shen Tao.
"Please take a break over here. I'll send two immortal-level rank-8s to identify the type of monster in front of us, and if we're capable of killing it," Shen Tao ordered the rest of them to stop, sending two of his members to check it out.
In just a short while, they returned.
"It's the gathering place of a small-scale Frigid Yak monster horde. There are only 26 of them, and there aren't any other monsters nearby."
The people were excited when they heard the investigation results. Although the Frigid Yak was an immortal-level monster, they could be used as a high-grade ingredient and made a finger-licking steak.
"I've tried the Frigid Yak steak at Celestial Tower. It's not cheap though as it costs 100,000 Life Crystals. I'm lucky that the others paid for it."
"That's not the most expensive one. The immortal-level rank-6 Frigid Yak steak sold at the Star Pavilion costs 300,000 Life Crystal each. I treated my friend at that restaurant, but I didn't order that.
"My saliva is dripping."
"It seems like we're going to have pretty awesome food in the following days."
The people's laughter soon spread to the place where the Frigid Yak was.
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Chapter 688: Loaded with Danger
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Frigid Yak had white fur all over its body. It looked very similar to the yak that was on Earth. However, its size was about four times of that yak.
The combat strength of the 26 Frigid Yaks only ranged from immortal-level rank-4 to rank-6. Aside from Lin Huang, the rest of the 30 members were on at least immortal-level rank-6. The yaks were like lambs that lived in captivity to the members who slaughtered them quickly before Lin Huang could even attack.
26 of the dead bodies were sent to the food hunter of their team named Zhu Hao, who took about an hour to prepare a sumptuous bovine meal for all of them.
All of them felt satiated after eating, so they rested for a while. Shen Tao then brought the rest of them along and proceeded with their scheduled journey.
After another half an hour, someone detected something amiss and raised the alarm.
"A monster horde has been picked up by the detection relic!"
Lin Huang already knew from Bloody earlier that there was a group of more than 100 Frost Wolves in front of them. The combat strength of the Frost Wolf ranged from immortal-level rank-7 to rank-9. Due to the large number of monsters, they would threaten the Heaven Alliance team to a certain extent. However, Lin Huang knew that the owner of the detection relic would discover this when they reached a certain distance. Therefore, he did not warn Shen Tao about it as they would only have to make a detour.
The scouts returned with some news. "It's the Frost Wolf, and there are more than 120 of them."
Shen Tao decided to detour without a moment of hesitation. All the Heaven Alliance members might probably die if they were to fight the monsters face-to-face.
Right at this moment, Lin Huang frowned as he got more information from Bloody.
He then whispered to Shen Tao who immediately disappeared from his original position. When he appeared, he brought the dead body of a Frost Wolf.
"Both of you are being followed by two Frost Wolf. I didn't notice that thought. Lin Xie was the one who told me." After storing the two Frost Wolf's dead bodies in his storage space, Shen Tao did not look relaxed.
"We have to leave this place as soon as possible. We've killed two Frost Wolves. Perhaps they won't realize it in such a short period. However, there'll soon definitely be an outbreak of the Frost Wolves!" Lin Huang urged.
Both of the scouts felt embarrassed as they had been too careless. They did not know that the Frost Wolf would be so intelligent and they did not expect that it to follow them.
Shen Tao knew that they should not delay any more. "Let's fly higher in the sky and not leave any traces on the ground. The Frost Wolves will be able to track us using that."
After that, Shen Tao was the first one to fly into the sky. He appeared at about 30 meters away from the snowy ground. Lin Huang and the rest immediately followed suit.
Not only did the Heaven Alliance members soar higher than before, but they also changed their path as well.
After fleeing for more than half an hour, Lin Huang and the rest did not encounter any other monster.
Bloody had been continuously monitoring the Frost Wolves' movement. About five to six minutes after they left, the Frost Wolves noticed that something was off. Soon, they sent out a few of their own and noticed the blood stains on the hill where Shen Tao had killed the two Frost Wolves. Soon, they discovered that Lin Huang and the others had been there earlier.
They then informed the rest of the Frost Wolves. All of them got out of their lair, combing the area where the Heaven Alliance members were previously. They broke into groups and looked for them in different directions after realizing that there was no trace of humans.
One of the teams went towards where the Heaven Alliance members were. However, after chasing for about 500 kilometers, the monsters decided to give up as they discovered nothing. In fact, Lin Huang and the rest were actually less than 300 kilometers away from them.
They were lucky as they did not bump into any monsters that blocked their way while the Frost Wolf were chasing after them. If the other monsters had delayed them for several minutes, the Frost Wolves would be able to catch up with them, and they would then be attacked from both behind and in front.
Seeing that the Frost Wolves had left, Lin Huang was relieved. Since it was only a quarter of the pack, there were only 30 of them, and they were not terrifying. However, he understood the characteristics of the Frost Wolf. If they happened to kill one of the Frost Wolf teams, the rest of the monsters would attack them non-stop.
"Are there any other monsters in front of us? Should we take a detour?" After overcoming the danger coming from behind, Lin Huang then contacted Bloody through his mind.
"The monsters are scattered around the region that you guys are entering. There's no monster horde, and there are only tens of types of lonely monsters that are spread around different areas." Bloody's investigation results showed that the area was safe. "At about 1,500 kilometers away, there's a small monster horde of Arctic Bears. There are 30 of them."
Listening to Bloody's reply, Lin Huang was slightly relieved. This indicated that they would be safe in the next half hour.
He was not worried that they were going to encounter the Arctic Bear half an hour later. Although the combat strength of the Arctic Bear ranged from immortal-level rank-7 to rank-9, there were only a few of them, and they did not usually fight in a group. Therefore, they were not threatening to the Heaven Alliance members. In fact, they would make good target practice.
The monsters had thick flesh with immense strength. However, they were not very agile, so pros could quickly kill them. Due to them having to live in places with extremely low temperatures, Arctic Bears were rare. Their fur was extremely valuable. The price of an immortal-level rank-7 Arctic Bear pelt could fetch a price of more than 10 million Life Crystals at many auctions. The price of an immortal-level rank-9 Arctic Bear pelt could exceed 50 million Life Crystals, which was a few times higher than an immortal-level rank-9 carcass that was in pristine condition.
Just when Lin Huang wanted to hunt for the Arctic Bears, a flock of birds zoomed quickly towards him. Shen Tao immediately instructed them to maintain a low-level flight. Again, they returned to their initial flying height.
Lin Huang thought that the bird monsters would definitely attack them and they would have no way of avoiding the fight as they were very close to each other. However, as soon as the Heaven Alliance's members flew in a lower height, the monsters seemed to have lost their interest in the Heaven Alliance members and gave up hunting them. They flapped their wings and left.
"I thought that the Crimsoncrown Sparrow likes to fight. Why did they give up attacking us although we were so close to each other?" Lin Huang was startled.
"That's indeed strange." Bloody felt that something was off. It had memorized the whole monster guide before Lin Huang did. Therefore, it was familiar with the Crimsoncrown Sparrow that liked confrontation. They would definitely attack anyone who attempted to invade their territory. Even if they encountered an imperial-level monster, they would have the guts to fight them in a group.
When Lin Huang and Bloody felt that something was wrong, the snowy ground suddenly trembled. A huge, ice-blue hand suddenly emerged from the ground, extending towards the Heaven Alliance members!
Chapter 689: Frostyape Corpse
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The icy blue palm was about ten meters long. Its claws emerged from the ground, and it managed to cover almost half of the Heaven Alliance members who shouted in fear and immediately fled.
Since Lin Huang was on alert, he had the fastest reaction. He reappeared hundreds of meters away in a flash. As he turned around, seeing that the others were incapable of avoiding the big palm which was about to smash them into pieces, he immediately activated his God Crasher.
Dazzling red flames immediately shot out of the cannon muzzle and struck the back of the icy blue hand. The God Crasher had formed a barrel-sized hole in its hand. It immediately retracted its hand due to the pain it suffered. The people then managed to escape from the danger.
A furious growl was immediately heard coming from underground. The ground started trembling vigorously as if an earthquake was about to happen.
"It's an imperial-level monster. Those who are on immortal-level rank-9, back us up. The others, please leave!" Shen Tao shouted.
Although they were only on immortal-level rank-9, they were the geniuses of the Heaven Alliance. They were capable of killing black gold-ranks. With the three immortal-level rank-9s teaming up to fight, they could even defeat a crimson gold-rank monster.
Right after Shen Tao had finished, a huge arm suddenly burst out from the snowy ground. Soon after, its head appeared.
Lin Huang then knew that it was a Frostyape Corpse when he saw the head of the monster.
It was a spirit type, and its combat strength could be on any level as it depended on the combat strength of the carcass when it had been alive. Normally, only corpses that were still in pristine condition would be preserved. Only monsters that still had a strong self-consciousness after death would come alive and become a monster corpse. In contrast to other carcasses, that due to prolonged exposure to ice and snow, their bodies would integrate with the ice element to a certain extent, resulting in the icy blue color of their bodies. Not only would they have terrifying defense abilities, but their attack would also be associated with the ice element.
The frosty corpse must have been a Frostyape Corpse when it was alive. Although it exposed only half of its body, it was already hundreds of meters tall. Despite the change in its life form, its combat strength which was on imperial-level had been preserved, so it was on par with its ability when it had been alive.
As the Frostyape Corpse got out of the snowy ground, it gazed around. Finally, it fixed its gaze on Lin Huang who had the God Crasher floating in front of him. It could recognize that he was the human that had attacked its hand. He was the culprit that caused him to miss its hunting target.
Shen Tao noticed that Lin Huang would become the Frostyape Corpse's target because he had attacked it just now. He immediately whispered to Lin Huang, "Lin Xie, leave together with the rest of them. The number of usages of your God Crasher is limited. There's no need to waste it at a place like this."
Then, he turned back and looked at the two immortal-level rank-9s. "It's an imperial-level Frostyape Corpse. With its attack speed, the rest of them won't be able to get rid of it. Therefore, we'll have to buy them some time so that they can escape to the safe zone."
The two of them nodded their head. Three of them then surrounded the Frostyape Corpse that was crawling out of the ground.
Lin Huang felt that the three of them were capable of defeating the Frostyape Corpse. Furthermore, he would not be able to help them out if he were to stay, so he decided to leave together with the others.
After putting his God Crasher away and when he was about to flee, he heard the growl of the Frostyape Corpse coming from behind. It had completely pulled itself out of the ground. The Frostyape Corpse that was more than 400 meters tall was about to pounce on him.
"Hurry!" Shen Tao yelled.
The three immortal-level rank-9s attacked.
Shen Tao's weapon was a single-handed saber which was blood red in color. The zigzag pattern on the tip of the saber was visible.
The bloody Life Power constantly gushed out of his body, and it complemented the color of the length of his saber. It felt like blood was coming out from the saber itself and the weapon came alive.
As he brandished his saber, his bloody Life Power resembled a crimson python with its mouth wide open.
As for the two of them, one of them majored in sword, and another person majored in spear.
Both of their attacks hit the Frostyape Corpse at almost the same time. A glowing sword appeared in front of the Frostyape Corpse while a black spear that resembled a shooting arrow moved tremendously fast towards it.
The Frostyape Corpse did not attempt to avoid the attacks. Instead, it struck a massive blow after letting out a furious growl.
Its first hit collided with the black spear which instantly collapsed. The force of the blow was not reduced, and it smashed into the black spear.
At almost the same time, the person who majored in spear was groaning in pain. The spear in his hand had penetrated through his chest, and he was nailed to a snow mountain that was hundreds of meters away.
The second blow struck the white sword glow and broke into pieces like glass. Soon, the heavy blow then collided with the combat sword.
The combat sword immediately detached from his hand. He was like a bullet that was being shot into another snow mountain.
The Frostyape Corpse's third blow then crashed with Shen Tao's attack. As its attack hit him, the bloody python instantly exploded.
The next second, the Frostyape Corpse's attack jolted his blood-colored saber while Shen Tao was still in shock.
Shen Tao felt that an unavoidable force was coming from the tip of the saber. It was like he was holding an ordinary saber and had slashed through a steel door that was tens of centimeters thick. At that instant, his saber was about to detach from his hand. The point between his right thumb and right forefinger that was holding the saber exploded as his carpal and forearm bones from his palm to his arm fractured.
Soon after, Shen Tao's body was blown away, and he smashed into a snow mountain at the front to the right.
Shen Tao and the three of them collapsed, surprising Lin Huang. The three of them were on par with an imperial-level but were defeated by the Frostyape Corpse within seconds. Although the three of them did not die, they must be suffering from serious injuries. They could no longer fight.
"Hurry, run away! It's at least on white gold-level. It might even be on purple gold-level! We won't be able to defend ourselves against it." Shen Tao's weak voice could be heard coming from the snow mountain.
The 20 of them immediately sped up and fled upon seeing that the monster defeated Shen Tao and the two of them. They were afraid that they would become the Frostyape Corpse's target.
Seemingly, the Frostyape Corpse had lost its interest in the rest of them. After getting rid of the strongest three humans, the Frostyape Corpse smiled wryly. Again, it fixed its gaze on its first target – Lin Huang.
It could clearly remember that he was the one who had attacked his left palm with a strange weapon. Its wound was not fully recovered even until then.
It took a leap and immediately chased after Lin Huang.
"It's coming after us," Bloody immediately cautioned.
"I know." Lin Huang did not bother to turn back at all. He could feel that the Frostyape Corpse's breath was getting closer to him.
"I'll lure it away. Please escape to somewhere else!" He shouted and immediately ran in a direction that nobody was heading to. The Frostyape Corpse immediately switched its direction as well and continued chasing him. Seeing the distance between them narrow, Lin Huang activated his double acceleration immediately. He accelerated and again, he managed to stay a distance away from the Frostyape Corpse.
Chapter 690: Overnight at the Monster Lair
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The giant ape leaped in mid-air. Each time it jumped, it would cover a huge distance. Although it could not fly, its running speed in mid-air was on par with Lin Huang who had activated his double acceleration.
As soon as his double acceleration had been activated, Lin Huang only managed to stay about 1,200 meters away from it at the beginning. The giant ape then sped up and did not give up chasing him. He had no way of getting rid of the giant ape.
However, Lin Huang did not panic. He was in a direction where nobody would travel, and he managed to make the Heaven Alliance members stay a distance away from the giant ape.
The giant ape had been chasing him for 20 minutes. It was now thousands of kilometers away from its own territory, but Lin Huang was almost close at hand, and it did not want to give up chasing after him.
After pursuing him for a long time, it let out a furious roar. It even activated its Life Power to attack him in bursts.
Since it was within the area that Lin Huang's territory could cover, Lin Huang managed to dodge its attack with ease. Also, each time it attacked, Lin Huang was able to increase the distance between them. After several attempts, it gave up the thought of attacking him.
Although the giant ape was strong, it was not the strongest enemy that Lin Huang had ever met. Lin Huang recalled his encounter with the king sea monster that was on demigod-level and the humanoid monster that had transformed from the Virtual God's arm. The rest might feel nervous as they encountered the giant ape. However, Lin Huang did not feel anxious at all. The reason why he took the initiative to lure the giant ape away was that he was capable of escaping from it.
Ten minutes had passed. The chase had lasted for more than half an hour, and Lin Huang felt that it was almost time. He then asked Bloody, "Half an hour has passed. Shen Tao and the rest must be far away from us now, aren't they?"
"They're now thousands of kilometers away from us. The giant ape will take half an hour to go back. It definitely won't be able to chase them." Bloody had been monitoring their movements.
"That's great. The giant ape has wandered around for a while. It's time to leave." Lin Huang looked back, and the giant ape was still staring at him furiously. As he turned his head back, it grinned and roared.
Lin Huang smirked. "Monkey King, let's stop here. I'm going somewhere else, and I'll have fun with you another day."
The giant ape was stunned as it could not understand what Lin Huang meant. Soon, it realized that he was teasing it and it got even angrier.
Lin Huang then summoned Thunder and rode on its back as he waved at the giant ape. "Bye, Monkey King!"
The giant ape then spat Life Power out as it wanted to attack Lin Huang. However, Thunder flapped its wings, and they were surrounded by its electric glow, which transformed into a purple glow and they fled at a tremendously fast speed.
Seeing that they were getting farther away, the giant ape immediately spat a column of Life Power to maim them. However, Thunder managed to dodge it with ease. The giant ape continued spitting columns of Life Power. Yet, it could not hit its target.
After ten seconds, Thunder completely disappeared from the ape's vision.
The giant ape was dumbstruck as it found it unbelievable. It continued ahead for a certain distance, but still, it found no trace of Lin Huang. It then confirmed that Lin Huang had indeed fled away. It then stopped in mid-air and slapped its chest hard, letting out a furious growl in the direction where Lin Huang and Thunder had disappeared to.
However, Lin Huang could no longer hear the growl as Thunder's speed exceeded six times that of the sonic speed.
Lin Huang, who was riding on Thunder, finally managed to get rid of the giant ape. After some careful thought, he decided not to return to the Heaven Alliance team.
Despite feeling quite contented being with them, he was already used to being alone. Also, he could not reveal some of the secrets to the Heaven Alliance members.
Encountering the giant ape was an accident. Hence he took the opportunity to leave the team so that he could fight on his own.
Aside from the Union Government, most of the organizations did not have a proper understanding of the ruins. Exploring the ruins blindly was definitely a waste of time.
With Bloody's guidance and the Treasure Card he had on hand, acting alone would definitely be more efficient than working in a group. If he were to join the Heaven Alliance, he could not reveal the existence of Bloody and the Treasure Card. He could only follow the majority. If he found out about something, he could only hint at Shen Tao and the rest, but he could not say much. He would have more freedom exploring the ruins on his own.
"Bloody, did you discover any places with treasure?" When he could confirm with Bloody that the giant ape was no longer chasing them and had returned to its lair, Lin Huang immediately got down to business. His primary purpose of going to the ruins was to look for a variety of treasure.
"Nothing has been discovered so far." Bloody twisted around Lin Huang's left arm, shaking its head. "All the areas that I covered are smothered with ice and snow. Similar to the natural safe zones, not a single human building can be found. I supposed that it's because the area that the Leech Pods can cover isn't big enough. The ruins might be the same as the human world. Most of the areas are occupied by monsters and only a small part of the ruins is the human foothold."
"Although the ruins are located above the Peaceful Ocean, it's unlikely that nobody has ever discovered this before us. Even if it wasn't discovered during the new epoch, people must've been here during the old epoch. It's strange that no traces of humans have been found." Lin Huang agreed with Bloody. Most likely, the treasure would be kept in the human buildings. However, no human buildings were found possibly because the area covered by Bloody's detection was not wide enough.
"Perhaps we'll have to wait until 11 p.m. or 12 a.m. so that my Leech Pods can cover the entire ruins," Bloody said. "If we can really find any of the places with the hidden treasures, we'll depart tomorrow."
"It's about 4 p.m. now. Perhaps the sky will turn dark in less than two hours. Let's look for a place to rest." Lin Huang had entered the ruins for more than four hours. However, he had never stopped throughout his journey. Since Bloody's Leech Pods had picked nothing up in the ruins, he was going to look for a place to rest so that he was well prepared for the next day's journey.
Guided by Bloody, Lin Huang soon arrived at a monster lair on top of the snow mountain. After killing all the ursine monsters, Lin Huang then occupied its lair.
There was a rock wall that jutted out at the entrance of the cave and blocked the wind, making it warm inside.
After dinner, Lin Huang started training his sword skills.
At about 10 o'clock at night, he summoned Lancelot to keep watch. He then set up his tent and set a monster skin as his mat. He then snoozed in his sleeping bag comfortably.