I gasped involuntarily when I saw the Green Giant’s amazing stats. Not only were his Attack, Defense and HP all much stronger than the usual mob’s, he had three skills in total. It was no wonder that he was considered an elite. I had personally tasted the terrifying power that was Desperate Gambit myself, and this Green Giant probably had a Flurry at Rank 6, meaning that he had a chance of triggering 2 to 4 consecutive attacks in one attack.

Mn, there is definitely a chance of me being one-shot!

A timer appeared in my HUD, counting down seconds to the battle.

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

I waved my hand and summoned the Dark Wasp. I might not have been able to beat the Green Giant alone, but with the support of my pet the only outcome there could be was certain victory!

“Go, my Dark Wasp!”

The cannon fodder flew straight toward the enemy while I followed behind it like a shadow. The Green Giant only has 12000 total HP, so it should definitely be possible to end this fight quickly!

Swhoosh swhoosh swhoosh!

The Dark Wasp triggered Flurry, but it only procced 3 attacks. Still, it was enough to shave over a thousand HP from the Green Giant’s health pool and poison him with the Wasp King Poison, turning his already green skin even greener than before. Considering how powerful it was as an attacker, it was definitely worth going through all that trouble to capture it back then!

The Green Giant shouted angrily, “You lowly creature!”

A green glow appeared around his battle axe as he swung the weapon at the Dark Wasp’s head!

447!

His attack power was definitely impressive. My pet had almost 500 Defense, but the attack still took a big chunk of its HP.

Anyway, it was my turn now!

The Ghost Ice Soul turned into a dazzling icicle before plunging into the Green Giant’s chest. Then, as my blade was enveloped in green light, I returned the Slayer Slash he had attacked my Dark Wasp with right back!

789!

914!

My Undead Energy gave me quite the boost in the attack department, and the Silver-grade Bone-shatter Legguards I had gotten from Lin Yixin added 50 damage to attacks of the dark element. Right now, my Attack was definitely higher than my pet’s!

Swhoosh!

The Green Giant changed targets swiftly as his axe flashed gold. It was the visual cue for Flurry!

I was ready for this, and my brain delay was hardly crippling these days. I was already backing off by the time the Green Giant raised his battle axe high.

The Green Giant swung his axe four times in a row, but I was able to dodge them all perfectly with some quick feet shuffling. As I thought, Rank 6 Flurry can proc four attacks at a time!

If the attack had hit me, I might’ve been one-shot, even with 1680 HP!

While the Green Giant was distracted by me, my Dark Wasp seized the opportunity to poke holes all over its body. Six seconds later, I charged the Green Giant again while the Ghost Ice Soul glowed red, a sign of the Undead Energy. Here I go!

Pardon!

Desperate Gambit!

The Green Giant shuddered as two damage numbers appeared above his head—

MISS!

1985!

Haha, I love how much damage I’m doing!

But the Green Giant was already swinging its axe toward me before I was done enjoying my own handiwork. The reddish glow surrounding the axe made it clear that he was using Desperate Gambit!

Bang!

My chest erupted in pain as the battle axe struck flesh. However, a dark glow appeared and negated much of the damage I just received. Ghost Deity Armor was a godsend at Rank 5.

746!

Yep, it was as I had suspected. The fact that a Rank 6 Desperate Gambit had only dealt this little damage to me was a clear sign of improvement. In fact, after putting on the Bone-crush Legguards, my base Defense was now a whopping 395 points. Combined with Ghost Deity Armor, my ability to tank damage was at least as good as my Dark Wasp’s, if not higher!

In other words, my survivability had completely exceeded the Dark Wasp’s at this point. Regeneration of the Undead regenerated my HP, Energy Amplification increased my Magic Resist, and Enhanced Bones increased my Defense. At the current stage, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call me a walking fortress.

This was especially true considering the high demand for good items right now. Most first-rate pros only had a single piece of Silver-grade equipment, and those who possessed two could do whatever they wanted in Floating Ice City. I, however, had a Gold-grade sword and three pieces of Silver-grade equipment. There was literally no one in the entire city who had better equipment than me. It was the main reason why I had been able to take on a dozen or so top-rate Domination Clan players and come out victorious. When indoors, you rely on your brothers to take care of you. But when outdoors, equipment is what makes the world answer to your beck and call!

I drank an HP pot and returned to full health immediately. Meanwhile, the Green Giant only had half his HP left after the Dark Wasp and I worked together to deal over 5000 damage.

The latter half of the battle was incredibly simple. After dodging the enemy’s Flurry again and ravaging him repeatedly with the Ghost Ice Soul and Dark Wasp, the Green Giant lost all its HP and collapsed to the ground with a scream. He then looked at me proudly and declared, “Boy, you passed the test only because I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. Anyway, come and claim your Proof of Trial!”

Ding~!

System Notice: You have obtained “Proof of Trial (Chaos Ice Cave: 6 hours)”!

…...

I was teleported back into the frozen valley after I accepted the silver writ from the Green Giant. The mob had returned to the cave entrance, and all I needed to do now was give him the proof to enter the Chaos Ice Cave for six hours.

I had a relatively easy time beating the Green Giant, but I couldn’t help but wonder how the others would’ve fared. The Green Giant was a Level 70 elite mob with great stats and even greater skills such as Flurry. I was able to dodge all of his Flurry because I had fast reaction and good prediction skills, but what about the others?

I highly doubted that there were more than ten people in the entire Floating Ice City who could dodge his Flurry with absolute certainty, and more than five who could beat the gatekeeper. Lin Yixin and Dominating Heaven Blade had a chance of beating the Green Giant solo. Beiming Xue and Clear Perfume had the range advantage and could probably shoot the Green Giant down before it reached them. Everyone else though, it was impossible to tell.

Anyway, this Proof of Trial was also the proof of my strength and moral character. I didn’t need to justify the life I fought by my own hands to anyone. Now then, it’s showtime!

Swhoosh!

The Proof of Trial vanished, and I was teleported into the Chaos Ice Cave. The proof was untradeable because someone would’ve tried to farm and sell them for say, 100 RMB each. The daily income from the sale would’ve been insane!

The interior of the Chaos Ice Cave was dazzling and beautiful. The entire map was made out of ice, and it felt like I was treading inside a giant crystal. There were icicles everywhere, and the ones suspended on the ceiling looked as sharp as swords. I could imagine them piercing and killing a player if they decided to fall for some reason.

I opened the map and saw a long corridor. The location was named “Chaos Ice Cave, First Floor”!

Not far away, I spotted a couple of frosty animals about half my height that were jumping around the area. Their level wasn’t particularly high.

Chaos Snow Cat

Level: 65

Attack: 375~480

Defense: 350

HP: 6000

Skills: ???

Introduction: A creature that lives on the first floor of the Chaos Ice Cave. These snow spirits are incredibly violent and will attack any living creature on sight.

……

These mobs were only Level 65, and their Attack was way weaker compared to the Green Giant. I could probably kill them with way less effort and HP lost!

But instead of killing them immediately, I explored the whole area once and found a human guard standing at the corner of an ice cave. He was clad in armor, and he was trying to start a fire to keep himself warm, I presumed. The text floating above his head said “Soldier Hanson”!

I walked up to him and found the man tearing up and staring at the moonlight shining down from the top floor. He murmured to himself, “Ah, my beloved, I’m going insane. I’ve been trapped in this god-forsaken place for almost half a year, and I don’t want to live by eating these smelly cats any longer…”

I was absolutely certain that this NPC was a quest giver. It wouldn’t be displaying nearly as much melancholy otherwise.

When Soldier Hanson noticed me, he exclaimed in surprise, “You… you are?”

I looked at the mark of Floating Ice City on my arm and said, “Oh, I’m an adventurer from Floating Ice City. Is there anything I can help you with?”

The cloudiness behind Hanson’s eyes immediately cleared up significantly. He said joyfully, “An adventurer from Floating Ice City? That’s… that’s wonderful! I can’t believe that you found this place! The day of freedom has finally arrived!”

Hanson then declared loudly, “Warrior from the distant lands, the fact that you are here is already proof of your courage. There is something I would like you to achieve for me.”

I nodded.

Hanson said, “The natural order of Chaos Ice Cave has been upset. The cave is divided into three floors in total. I need you to kill at least 100 evil creatures on each floor, and collect 10 Cat Claws, 10 Polar Bear Paws, and 10 Ice Wolf Teeth for me. Do that, and I’ll finally be able to leave this god-forsaken place. I promise to reward you generously as a token of my gratitude!”

Ding~!

System Notice: Do you accept the quest “The Evil of Chaos Ice Cave”? (Current Quest Rank: A)

……

An A-rank quest? Some of these mobs must be pretty powerful. There was no free lunch in this world, and the risk must be proportional to the reward.

I clicked “Accept” to confirm the quest. Finally, it was time to kill some monsters!

Luckily, the quest requirement wasn’t too strict, or I might not be able to complete the quest before 6 hours were up. Still, I ‘d like to at least try and clear out the whole place in 6 hours!

With the Dark Wasp by my side, I pounced toward the nearest Chaos Snow Cat and attacked it with Ice Ray!

Puchi!

The freezing effect of my skill was half as effective as usual, but it was to be expected. The snow cat was an ice-element monster after all.

Despite being called a cat, the Chaos Snow Cat wasn’t cute in the slightest. It whaled on my Dark Wasp as if it had rabies, leaving wounds all across its body. Luckily, its attack was low enough to be negligible, unlike the damage my Dark Wasp and I were inflicting to it in return. In less than 10 seconds’ time, the Chaos Snow Cat was as dead as a dodo.

Pop!

A short, stumpy claw fell to the floor, and when I picked it up it was exactly what I was expecting to see, the Cat Claw! I threw it into my backpack and continued along my rampage!

The Chaos Snow Cats fell one after another as I killed my way through the first floor of the Chaos Ice Cave. In the process, I realized the place was filled with riches. The ore reservoirs here were much bigger and more varied than the ones at that so-called Fallen Geese Mine!

I spotted Copper, Iron, Gold, Silver, Bright Silver, Purple Gold and more. Practically all kinds of beginner to intermediate-grade ores could be mined from this place. Tsk tsk, if a high-level miner were to enter this place, they would probably faint from happiness.

But it looked like the first floor offered no ingredients. I would have to go to the second or third floor to get some.

A couple more minutes of killing later, a thought suddenly entered my mind. I decided to summon the little skeleton before continuing my grind. Xinran had incredible stats and growth rate, so I looked forward to the day she reached full maturity.