Nie Yan waited in ambush behind some shrubbery. Watching the Ice Wraith pass close by him, he pounced forward, his dagger flashing with a sharp light.
As the attack was about to land, the Ice Wraith suddenly vanished into thin air.
Nie Yan's pupils constricted. His dagger struck air as the Ice Wraith appeared beside him. Its previously lifeless eyes flared with a sinister red glow.
"Aaeeiigh!" The Ice Wraith spewed out an icy mist from its mouth.
The mist encased everything it touched in a thick layer of ice as the temperature in the immediate vicinity plummeted far below freezing.
Without the slightest delay, Nie Yan leaped several meters back.
The Ice Wraith vanished again, this time reemerging behind him, then assailed him with a wave of bone-chilling frost.
The Ice Wraith's combat style was different from that of all other monsters he had encountered so far. Its movements were unpredictable. It attacked and evaded with incredible speed. But far more terrifying was that monsters like this had a frightening passive, and that was they were immune to being stunned.
The Ice Wraith was even more tricky to deal with than expected. Nie Yan didn't dare to dally.
Nie Yan continuously adjusted his techniques while dodging. He gradually became faster and faster until he could just barely keep up with the Ice Wraith's tempo.
After dodging the Ice Wraith's lunge, Nie Yan discovered its back was facing towards him. His expression turned fierce, and he shot forward like an arrow.
Nie Yan exploded forth with incredible speed. He was much faster than he had ever been before. With all his power focused in one leg, he kneed the Ice Wraith in the back.
BANG! The Ice Wraith staggered several steps forward.
Nie Yan would never pass up on such a good opportunity to attack. He pounced forth, closing the gap in an instant, and ruthlessly elbowed the Ice Wraith in the back. Pivoting to the side, he plunged Zennarde's Sword into its spine with Backbreaker.
Without pulling out, Nie Yan firmly gripped the handle and wrenched the blade through its torso.
Lacerate!
The Ice Wraith let out a shrill cry.
Nie Yan stabbed forth once more, only for the Ice Wraith to suddenly disappear. His attack missed.
Nie Yan checked his notifications. He had completed a 3-hit combo just now and dealt 50,000 damage. "It seems this Ice Wraith isn't impossible to deal with after a-"
An icy gust of wind assailed him from behind, cutting Nie Yan's thoughts short.
Gale Step!
A wave of frost swept forth, encasing everything in ice, even many of the Jade Gold Orchids. Thankfully, Nie Yan was quick on his feet, or else he would've been turned into a human popsicle.
Fortunately, Jade Gold Orchids grew in abundance here, or Nie Yan would be feeling like he was bleeding from his heart right now.
As the two silhouettes exchanged moves at high speed in the meadow, Nie Yan started incorporating more and more real world fighting moves into his skills. He was shocked to discover their high compatibility. His attack speed was slower than that of the Ice Wraith. So, he could only rely on technique to get the upper hand.
It was a long and drawn out battle, though unlike any Nie Yan had been in before. He wasn't monotonously kiting the monster with skills. His movements were like flowing water, unaffected by any skill restrictions and allowing for a greater range of motion.
Nie Yan felt an unprecedented amount of freedom in combat.
In the middle of this intense battle, Nie Yan could feel his own fighting techniques rapidly improving.
As the Ice Wraith attacked with unrelenting ferocity, Nie Yan gradually wore it down until it only had 5% health left.
"AIIEEEGH!" the Ice Wraith let out a mournful wail. An enormous amount of frost energy spilled out from its body.
After coming in contact with the icy mist, Nie Yan's body was immediately covered in a thick layer of frost. His speed was dramatically reduced, and every movement became cumbersome. He hurriedly downed a Master Ice Resistance Potion. A stream of warmth flowed down his throat and spread out from his chest into his limbs. He could move freely again.
Seeing the Ice Wraith going berserk, Nie Yan dashed forward and delivered a kick to its abdomen. He then slashed out with Zennarde's Sword.
Cut Throat!
A trail of black flames streaked out across the Ice Wraith's neck.
"AIEEE!" The Ice Wraith's hands suddenly transformed into grotesquely sharp claws. Its attacks instantly became countless times more powerful. Its movement speed similarly saw an explosive increase.
The Ice Wraith lunged forward in a frenzied assault. Nie Yan was put under a mountain of pressure, barely able to evade the attacks.
As the Ice Wraith's claws came slashing down, mere inches away from ending his life, Nie Yan suddenly disappeared.
The Ice Wraith looked around in confusion. It couldn't sense Nie Yan's presence at all, as if he had completely vanished into thin air. It could still sense him through ordinary skills like Gale Step and Disappear. However, its detection abilities were completely useless against the Rank 16 Shadow Waltz.
Extreme Intimidate!
The Ice Wraith immediately lurched to a halt. At the same time, Nie Yan materialized behind it.
Hell Execution!
The flames enshrouding Zennarde's Sword erupted out with a crimson glow. Nie Yan slashed down with his blade, cleaving the Ice Wraith in two.
"Yes! It succeeded!" Nie Yan rejoiced. The Ice Wraith let out a mournful cry, frost energy spewing out from its body as it evaporated into nothing.
Nie Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "Man, what a tough fight."
After sitting down on the ground and recuperating, Nie Yan got back up on his feet and gazed around the meadow. All around him were Jade Gold Orchids stretching out as far as the eye could see, gently swaying back and forth along with the wind. Even though many plants had been destroyed in his fight with the Ice Wraith just now, there were still plenty left for him to use.
Even if Nie Yan did nothing but harvest these Jade Gold Orchids for 10 days straight, he wouldn't necessarily be able to sweep through the entire meadow.
Nie Yan bent down and started harvesting the plants.
Gathering successful! You have obtained a Jade Gold Orchid.
Gathering successful! You have obtained a Jade Gold Orchid.
...
One notification after another popped up. Jade Gold Orchids gradually started accumulating in Nie Yan's bag.
After collecting six full stacks, Nie Yan started concocting Advanced Health Potions. Alchemy Specialist allowed players to craft certain potions without recipe, such as Junior, Intermediate, Advanced, and Master Health and Mana Potions, along with a few Poison Resistance Potions, Poisons, and so on.
Nie Yan took out a Jade Gold Orchid. After making his preparations, he started concocting.
Nie Yan crafted one Advanced Health Potion after another. Every success gave him three skill proficiency. After creating a full stack, he placed it in the corner of his bag, then continued immersing himself in his work.
Nie Yan repeated this simple yet dull work. Since Alchemy Master required less skill proficiency than the ordinary Alchemy skill, ranking up went fairly quick.
...
While Nie Yan devoted himself to training Alchemy Master, Chu Chenghao and the others gathered outside the entrance of the Central Auction House in Calore. They planned to go levelling together with Xu Yan and the others to build familiarity. After which, they would run a dungeon together.
Chu Chenghao's group consisted of 13 people. Two had left to procure some consumables and would be back in a jiffy.
"Xu Yan and the others will be here in a minute."
"Xu Yan said he asked about us joining Asskickers United. He said they'll take two days to get back to us."
While they were chatting, six people in the distance were walking over to them.
"It's Zhao Shiyu and Fu Guangtao!"
"I don't see Bai Jun with them."
Judging from their demeanor, Zhao Shiyu, Fu Guangtao, and their lot were coming over with ill intentions. The team members with Chu Chenghao became tense, hiding behind him.
Zhao Shiyu swept her gaze over Chen Mo and the others, then said with an aggrieved expression, "I've come here to ask you guys to come back. You were right, we were in the wrong. Ever since we formed the team, there may have been a few road bumps, but we had a lot of good times too. Are you really going to throw that all away?"
"Chu Chenghao, I admit my tone was a bit too harsh earlier in class. I lost my temper, and I apologize for that. How about coming back with us. Do you really think you'll have a future by grouping up with trash like Xu Yan, Xia Tianyu, and Fei Zhe? With their levels and gear, do you think they can actually lead a team?" Fu Guangtao said.
"Whether or not we had good times in your team, even a blind person can see the truth. Drop the pity act, Zhao Shiyu. We've already seen through what kind of person you are. Speaking any more is pointless. In the future, we'll go our way and you go yours," Chu Chenghao said, not yielding in the slightest.
"You f-" Fu Guangtao was about curse up a storm. But in a moment of clarity, he suppressed his anger. "Just come back and give us a second chance. We won't run Arachnid Abyss. We'll continue carrying you guys in Mysterious Cavern. After we get all your equipment up, then we can go."
Chu Chenghao remained unmoved, as did the others. No one seemed interested in Fu Guangtao's offer.
"You can try to convince us all you want, but it won't work. Just leave. Like you said before, replacing people like us is easy," one of the people in Chu Chenghao's group said. They had long since seen through how two-faced Zhao Shiyu, Fu Guangtao, and them were.
"Fine. Your words, not mine! I nicely asked you all to come back, but you refuse to accept my kindness. From now on, you better watch your backs whenever you set out for a dungeon. Because if I see you, I'll kill you! All of you! You'll be afraid to even step foot outside of the city!" Fu Guangtao growled. He had at least that much backing.
"That depends on if you have what it takes. We'll gladly keep you company. Let's see who comes out on top in the end!" Chu Chenghao retorted, his eyes flashing with a cold light. He wouldn't be so easily cowed.
"You think trash like Xu Yan, Xia Tianyu, and Fei Zhe can protect you?" Fu Guangtao coldly laughed.
"Who says we can't? I'd like to see you try killing us." At this moment, Xu Yan, Xia Tianyu, and Fei Zhe walked over.
Fu Guangtao spun around, about to spit out some venomous words, only to have them get caught at the back of his throat. Noticing Xu Yan, Xia Tianyu, and Fei Zhe's equipment, he looked like he'd seen a ghost.