In just the blink of an eye, three out of four pillars of my workshop had died.

Angry, I pointed the Ghost Ice Soul at Suren and hit his back with an Ice Ray!

Pu!

The attack pierced his flesh and caused his back to freeze over. At the same time, I executed Slayer Slash and hit him again on the shoulder. The attack went through like a hot knife through butter.

1784!

Thank goodness! It’s a critical hit!

Lin Yixin then ran up to Suren like the wind with a glowing dagger. The Fruit Knife Goddess was about to unleash her wrath!

Moon Gaze! Extreme Break!

The boss lost a huge chunk of HP, his Defense greatly lowered. This is my chance!

I took a couple steps back before pouncing toward Suren with Pardon and Desperate Gambit!

MISS!

2479!

An impressive number appeared above the boss’s head, but the words that tumbled out of Lin Yixin’s mouth were “Lu Chen, watch out!”

“Huh?”

Suren abruptly turned around and slashed me with a glowing, bloody sword. It was another Sword Spirit Slash!

Puchi!

For a moment, I felt like my body was being torn apart. My HP hit rock bottom in an instant!

Did I die?

But I didn’t. In fact, my HP suddenly returned to full in an instant!

What… what’s going on?

Lin Yixin was just as shocked as I was, but a quick look at the combat log revealed the truth:

Player “Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand” died.

Player “Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand” triggered “Immortality” and revived with full HP!

I couldn’t believe my luck. I actually triggered that 1% chance to revive with full health on the spot?

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Rest in peace, you evil, unrepentant bastard!”

I swung the Ghost Ice Soul downward and executed the Thousand Mirage Slash. At the same time, Lin Yixin dashed past Suren and tore apart his final defenses with the Snow Shadow Sword. Finally, Suren was killed by our combined efforts!

…...

Thump!

Suren dropped to his knees and stared at me in disbelief. He questioned me as if he still couldn’t believe that I was doing this. “Why… just why?”

I put my sword to his neck and replied, “For the lives that were lost!”

Crack!

Suren’s head flew into the air, and the undead swordsman trainer was dead, once and for all.

Lin Yixin let out a sigh of relief and stared at me. She didn’t say a word.

I announced in the party channel, “Alright, mission complete! The boss is dead, but nothing has dropped unfortunately. Little Gui, I’ll give you back your shield in a while. Now, go back to whatever it was you were doing, everyone!”

“Okay!”

I picked up Suren’s head and ran out of Frost Mound. Then, I stopped in front of Xinran’s grave and dug a hole in the ground. I buried Suren’s head in it and whispered, “I’m sorry, Xinran, I’m really sorry…”

Lin Yixin leaned against the snowy cathaya tree and watched me with a thoughtful expression. A while later, she walked up to me, put a hand on my shoulder and asked softly, “What is all this for, really? Are you sure you won’t regret this?”

I nodded. “I won’t let levels, trainers, or rewards shackle me anymore. I’ve been living under somebody else’s design for too long already. It’s about time I begin living as myself.”

Lin Yixin gave me a “mn” of acknowledgment and fell silent again.

……

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, the quest “Promise (SSS)” has been reactivated. Please summon Young Girl Xinran’s body immediately to enter the next phase!

“Huh?”

Summon Xinran’s body? What does that mean? Could it be… I could revive Xinran?

The skill “Summon Undead” in my skill list was shining brightly. Was this the work of the system? Could I seriously “summon” her back to life?

A thread of hope reentered my heart. I wished from the bottom of my heart that Xinran could come back to life again, but at the same time I didn’t want to disturb her rest.

In the end, I gritted my teeth and made up my mind. I’ll resurrect her!

I waved my hand and said, “Summon Undead!”

Swhoosh!

The world turned dark as a bloody beam penetrated the clouds above our heads and into the tiny grave. It was unusually grandiose considering how my Summon Undead usually worked. The soil covering the grave suddenly moved a little, and a small, lightless skeleton suddenly burst through the earth and appeared in front of me. It was shocking to say the least. The skeleton’s level was very low, and it seemed to be staring at me with its empty eye sockets.

It was silent. I didn’t know what to say myself. It was at this moment the system dinged again.

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations. You have obtained a permanent demonic servant, Xinran!

……

Ah?

Flabbergasted, I checked the text floating above the little skeleton’s head and saw the name, “Xinran”. Did this mean that Xinran could only “live” as a skeleton from now on?

I held back my anger and brought up her stat screen.

Xinran (Epic Unknown)

Level: 1

Attack: 32

Defense: 31

HP: 29

Agility: 30

……

Good lord, what kind of pet was this? Or maybe it wasn’t a pet at all!

“Xinran” had 122 BN at Level 1. Level 1! In Heavenblessed, the highest BN a pet should be able to achieve was 80. What on Earth is going on here?

I fell silent for a very, very long time. In the end, I put her back into my pet space; Xinran’s current appearance was too much for me to bear. The beautiful girl who once lived was now just a naked skeleton.

……

Lin Yixin turned away and leaned against the snowy cathaya again. Wrapping her hands around her chest and looking at me, she asked, “What do you plan to do after this?”

I gave her a nod and replied, “I guess I’ll just treat her like another pet and train her to the max level,150!”

“I see…”

Lin Yixin’s gaze shifted to the ground. “But why?”

“Because I failed to fulfill the promise I had made to her. It’s the least I can do.”

“I see…”

“Yiyi, are you okay? Why are you repeating yourself?” I asked.

Lin Yixin bit her lips before answering, “Nothing, I’m just feeling a bit distracted, that’s all. It’s time you leave and grind your levels. I need to upgrade my skills to Rank 6 as quickly as possible myself!”

“Mn. Thanks again, for everything.”

“Hehe. See you!”

Lin Yixin bade me goodbye and vanished into the forest.

…..

I turned around and looked at Frost Mound. This was probably the last time I saw this place, and after killing Suren, my reputation among the Night Creatures had fallen all the way to the negatives. From this day onward, any Night Creature I ran into would probably attack me without a question.

Oh well, that's more than enough thinking for the day. It's time to get back to the grind!

I teleported back to Floating Ice City and returned Gui Guzi his shield. Then, I brought up the official map and searched for my next leveling ground. It would be best if the place also had high-level ingredients that I could forage. At my current level, give me a warehouse of ingredients and I could generate tens of thousands of RMB in a single night!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find such a convenient location despite a long search. As I was walking out of the city, I suddenly noticed a group of people who were shouting for party members. The party leader was a Level 55 barbarian warrior with a glowing battle axe and a bright set of armor. He was clearly an excellent player in his own right. Right now though, the dude was shouting on top of his lungs. “Is there anyone who wants to grind at Chaos Ice Cave? Then come join us! We’re looking for well-equipped players who are over Level 50, and have picked up their Level 50 skills! We are currently missing a good DPS and a healer! Also, please make sure you are fully stocked on Health Potions and Magic Consumables!”

Chaos Ice Cave? Over Level 50? Sounds like a good map for me!

I came to a stop and brought up a search bar. After entering the text “Chaos Ice Cave”, a passage immediately appeared before my eyes.

Chaos Ice Cave: Situated at the edge of the frozen region of Silver Moon Forest. It contains a huge amount of Rank 5 and 6 ingredients, herbs, precious stones and ores. It is a paradise for strong players looking to increase their level or gather materials. However, entry is only for those who can defeat the guardian of the cave. Otherwise, players won’t be teleported into the map.

My eyes lit up. The location sported Rank 5 and 6 ingredients, so that meant I could forage Garlic and Fish Meat there. Right now, both food ingredients were still very useful to me, and the average monster level of the map was Level 65. It was a boatload of experience for someone my level. Yep, this is the spot I was looking for!

I checked the coordinates. It was situated at the edge of Silver Moon Forest, as the description said.

Silver Moon Forest was a vast forest behind Floating Ice City. The forest itself was bigger than even Floating Ice City. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this map was going to be contested by many high-level players very soon! I need to get there first before someone overtakes me!

I restocked my supplies and bought some Sealing Cards. Then, I took off toward Chaos Ice Cave!

I didn’t bother with the mobs I encountered on the way to Chaos Ice Cave. I was currently at Level 61, and the EXP yield of a Level 60 mob simply wasn’t that attractive to me anymore. The best mob I could kill right now would be at Level 66—5 levels ahead of me to grant me that EXP bonus, but still quite easy to kill overall.

......

The trip to Chaos Ice Cave was a long one. After running for over an hour and traversing more than half the map of Floating Ice City itself, I finally arrived at the edge of the Silver Moon Forest.

The forest was filled with snowy cathayas. The entire place was filled with snow. Every step of mine caused the snow under my Stormy War Boots to crunch.

The valley I entered was tiny, but snow stretched all around, and many icicles dangled down the frozen trees' branches. I followed the map’s instructions and trekked across the valley just in time to find a giant with a battle axe standing at the very end. He had green skin and was about twice as tall as I was. He glared at me with bloodshot eyes before asking in a dumb-sounding voice, “What are you trying to do at Chaos Ice Cave, brat?”

I looked at the pseudo-NPC. He didn’t attack a player on sight, and he could be talked to.

“I wish to enter Chaos Ice Cave!”

“Hahaha, you’ll have to ask for my axe’s perquest first!”

Ding! System Notice: Do you accept the Green Giant’s challenge? If you succeed, you will obtain a “Proof of Trial” and be allowed to enter the Chaos Ice Cave for 6 hours!

……

Oh? There’s even a time limit? I smiled. I loved this kind of map where only the truly skillful and powerful were allowed to enter. Everyone else could enter a staring contest against the Green Giant for all I care.

I clicked “Accept” and began the challenge!

Swhoosh!

The scenery around me changed as I was pulled into the trial grounds. The Green Giant gripped his battle axe and stood in front of me. Glaring at me and waving his arms about, he laughed loudly and said, “Foolish adventurer, come and taste the strength of a mountain!”

A quick glance brought up the Green Giant’s stat screen—

Green Giant (Elite)

Level: 70

Attack: 420~550

Defense: 400

HP: 12000

Skill: Slayer Slash, Desperate Gambit, Flurry

Introduction: As the guardian of Chaos Ice Cave, the Green Giant is a powerful creature with great defense, great offense and an even greater infamy.