[Ding! You killed the Horned Seal. You received 14,000 Experience, 25 gold, and a Seal's Horn. Due to the difference of 14 levels, you earned 4,000 bonus Experience.]

[Ding! Your Elemental Mastery bar is full. You received one Elemental Point.]

"Finally… That was a struggle. Let's not fight those seals anymore," Liu Ye muttered with a sigh. Those 6 seals were so hard to kill due to their hard skin that Avi almost fell asleep from waiting.

"Thank you, I was already yawning," Avi commented as she stretched her arms and sat up. "I forgot you didn't have many high penetration abilities."

Liu Ye wasted at least 20 minutes on each Horned Seal and it cost him two hours of grinding in exchange for 85,000 Experience. Knowing he was getting 175,000 for every 25 Ice Wolves, it was simply not worth the hassle.

The only advantage was the three additional Elemental Points he received in those three hours of grinding. One from killing a total of 55 Ice Wolves and a group of 10 Ice Bears while the other two came from the 6 Horned Seals.

[Ding! You unlocked the Water Bullet.]

[Ding! You unlocked the Ice Spear.]

[Ding! You unlocked the Ice Claws.]

[Water Bullet]

[Description: Ability to connect two compressed streams of water into a powerful Water Bullet. It is a single target ability with a longer range and higher damage than Water Jet.]

[Cost: 10 MP]

[Damage: 40 + 40% Elemental Power]

———

[Ice Spear]

[Description: Ability to freeze water in the shape of an Ice Spear. It has high damage and can execute the target if struck in the weak point.]

[Cost: 25 MP]

[Execute: Under 20% of Max HP.]

[Damage: 50 + 70% Elemental Power.]

———

[Ice Claws]

[Description: Ability to freeze water around your fingers into sharp claws. They can be used in melee combat or as a ranged attack. Damage from each claw is applied separately.]

[Cost: 5MP + 1 MP for each successful hit.]

[Melee Damage: 5 + 40% Elemental Power]

[Ranged Damage: 10 + 20% Elemental Power]

The power spike from those three abilities was insane but looking at his Mana, Liu Ye could only dream of using them.

"Damn, I need more Mana," Liu Ye cursed as he jumped down from the Ice Pillar. "Let's return back to the Emerald City. I'm out of Potions."

For the past three hours, Liu Ye had been drinking potions like water and only had a few left. At the very least he managed to reach level 26 and created a gap of 8 levels between him and the second-ranked player.

The only thing he was worried about was the increasing experience bar that has already entered six digits.

[Name: Grind God]

[Level: 26] [SP: 0]

[Exp: 67,175/150,000]

Avi nodded in approval as she jumped down to join him. "Good idea. It's not like we can continue to stay here anyway. You already killed all the monsters in the area. It would take me like an hour to lure more to this location."

"How many days did it take you to unlock all basic abilities?" Liu Ye questioned out of frustration. "Feels like I need to fill my inventory with Mana Potions if I want to do anything in this game. I need at least 1000 Mana to actually feel comfortable."

He wanted to add more points into Intelligence to enjoy more Mana but the amount of monster materials that dropped with just 3 points in luck prompted him to split his available Skill Points between Wisdom and Luck.

[Wisdom: 5]

[Luck: 5]

"It took me about two weeks and I also suffered," Avi replied as they reached the cavern entrance. "You have the assistance of the great me so at least you will advance faster."

"Yeah, the problem is there are not enough monsters to kill," Liu Ye lamented as he checked the map to choose the right path back to the station. "I wish the whole area gave a boost to Elemental Maste—"

His words got cut off as Avi suddenly covered his mouth and pulled him behind a pile of snow.

"Shhh…" she shushed him without any explanation and forced him to lay down prone. Liu Ye was momentarily confused but he didn't need to wait long to discover her reasoning.

"Are you sure he is here?"

A female voice questioned nearby as they heard multiple footsteps.

"Yeah, I bribed one of the Academy Officials and he said that the bastard entered the Icefields with some other student. She seemed to be skilled so we need to watch out."

"Don't worry, with the four of us she won't be able to protect him. I will stop her while you focus on killing that bastard. We gotta avenge our brother."

Liu Ye recognized one of the female voices and she was no other than the Black Panther from today. He thought she would give up chasing him after putting up the bounty but it seems like their affinity was too low. The only way to get rid of her was to kill them but they didn't really have a chance.

He could trick them once using the Ice Serpent but it was impossible to do it twice.

"Quick, logout now…" Avi suggested in a whisper just as Black Panther busted them.

"Wait, there are footsteps ahead."

Liu Ye was already opening his profile when Avi blasted them in the air with an Ice Pillar.

[Ding! Your Logout attempt has been interrupted. Player is unable to leave the game while airborne.]

"It's too late! We gotta run!" Avi shouted mid-air as the fire burst from her feet. They were like a rocket together but she didn't have enough power to fly while carrying him.

Thud!

-50

They landed hard on the ice while rolling on the ground but they quickly picked themselves up and Avi launched them once again.

"Catch them!" Black Panther ordered from a distance, her voice filled with hatred. "You can't run forever! I will catch you and burn you alive!"

"What did you do to her? Sacrifice her firstborn to the devil?" Avi asked in surprise. "That's a fucking Black Panther! Why did you mess with her gang? Do you not want to play this game anymore or what?"

"I killed one of her men!" Liu Ye called back as he tightened his grip around her body. He didn't care what he was grabbing when he almost slipped from her and his face landed right between her breasts.

"Damn, you idiot," Avi scolded and embraced his face as well in preparation for landing. "You owe me for those two more hours if we manage to escape!"

Avi spewed supporting flames from her fist but they still crushed on the ice together. Even though his face was fully pressed against her chest, Avi didn't find time to tease him as they took off.

"Hold onto me!" Avi ordered as she created a slide of clear ice ahead of her and burst flames from her fist to speed them up. They quickly skated using their feet but Black Panther was trailing closely behind them.

"I will slow them down," Liu Ye announced, as he freed one of his arms while holding onto Avi's waist. He couldn't let her get all the credits for the escape.

The unused Waterskin finally came in handy as he gathered water and began bombarding Black Panther with everything he had.

Water Jets, Ice Walls, and Ice Spears were his main weapons but the Gang Members outsmarted him. They were split into two teams of two and suddenly spread out to the sides. The Firebenders climbed onto their Waterbenders and used three of their limbs to act like boosters.

"We are close!" Avi called out hopefully only two see two teams pass them like rockets and create a tall Ice Wall to stop them. "Fuck, hold tight!"

She didn't need to repeat twice as Liu Ye could already see a ramp forming ahead of them.

"Die!" Black Panther cried out and breathed out flames just as they launched themselves in the air.

-200!

-200!

-200!

[Ding! Breath of Fire applied burn. You will lose 40 HP every second for the next three seconds.]

Liu Ye's HP turned red as they passed through the flames before it began to tick down with burn. He didn't even land on the ground when he took out a Health Potion and gulped it down.

-40

-40

+10

[HP: 45/760]

-40

[HP: 5/760]

Liu Ye ended with only 5 HP and it was all thanks to his passive regeneration over the last minute.

"Run!" Liu Ye yelled as soon as they landed on the soft snow and they rushed inside the Teleportation Station. It has been a while since he had so much adrenaline pumping through his body but they thankfully made it safe.

At least that's what they thought.

[Ding! You can't use the Teleportation Platform while in a battle state. Please wait 30 seconds.]

"We are done for."