72: Chapter 72 One-hit kill, is there a second stage?

A massive ice altar stood silently upon the frozen plain, emanating an ancient and desolate aura.

The altar was as large as a football field, surrounded by several huge ice pillars carved with intricate patterns, their surfaces covered in a thick layer of frost.

And at the very center of the altar, a behemoth lay crouched, seemingly in deep slumber.

It was a wolf of unimaginable size.

Its body was entirely composed of crystal-clear ice crystals, like a masterfully crafted work of art.

Sunlight filtered through its translucent form, refracting into a dreamlike spectrum of light.

Its body was over ten meters long, its shoulder height a full four meters, with thick, powerful limbs radiating a sense of explosive strength.

Even lying there, completely motionless,

the terrifying pressure of a top predator emanating from it was enough to make anyone with weak resolve go weak in the knees and crumble without a fight.

[Frost Wolf (Excellent Grade · Early Stage)]

The moment this boss information appeared, everyone present felt their breath catch.

"An Excellent Grade boss!"

"As expected... the final big guy won't be easy to handle."

Archer tightened his grip on his longbow, his eyes sharp as an eagle's, fixed intently on the Frost Wolf at the altar's center.

Iron Ox also raised his massive shield in front of him, his face etched with gravity.

The others, too, took out their strongest weapons one after another, assuming combat stances.

Although they had an Excellent Grade Li Taiping on their side, facing a boss of the same level, no one dared to be careless.

Moreover, the dungeon's prompt information had specifically mentioned to beware of its "sonic waves."

This meant this Frost Wolf likely possessed large-scale, difficult-to-defend attack methods.

For a moment, everyone hesitated; no one dared to make the first move.

They were waiting, waiting for Li Taiping, the strongest among them, to speak first and formulate tactics.

However, Li Taiping's reaction completely defied their expectations.

He didn't even glance at the others, let alone show any intention of discussing tactics with them.

He merely cast a brief, indifferent look at the Frost Wolf on the altar, then, in a flash, transformed into an afterimage and charged straight at it!

Without a moment's hesitation, without the slightest delay!

"Hey! You..."

Archer had just started to call out a warning, but Li Taiping's figure had already appeared at the edge of the altar.

"Awooo—!!!"

As if sensing the intruder's presence, the slumbering Frost Wolf abruptly opened its eyes!

What cold eyes they were, like two chunks of eternal, unmelted ice, devoid of any trace of emotion, containing only the purest desire for slaughter and destruction.

It let out an ear-splitting roar, its massive body leaping up from the ground!

"Boom!"

The moment it landed, the entire altar trembled violently.

It opened its maw wide, revealing dagger-sharp icicle fangs. A visible stream of white, frigid air spewed from its mouth, causing the surrounding air temperature to plummet instantly!

Yet, facing this ferocious primordial beast, not a ripple of emotion crossed Li Taiping's face.

There wasn't even a hint of gravity in his eyes.

An early-stage Excellent Grade boss?

To others, it might be an insurmountable chasm.

But before him, who was also at the Excellent Grade and possessed several powerful Talents...

It was no different from a slightly stronger husky.

Just as the Frost Wolf roared, preparing to launch its attack, Li Taiping moved.

His figure left a faint afterimage where he stood. In the next instant, he appeared ghost-like at the Frost Wolf's flank!

The retractable greatsword in his hand had, at some unknown moment, transformed into a terrifying weapon the size of a door panel, shimmering with a heart-palpitating energy glow.

"Die."

Li Taiping softly uttered a single word.

A flash of sword light!

Extremely fast!

So fast that even sound couldn't keep up!

"Pfft—"

A sound so faint it was almost inaudible.

Then, under the utterly horrified gazes of everyone.

The massive Frost Wolf, which had just been awe-inspiring and imposing, suddenly froze mid-action.

The next second.

A huge wolf head, entirely composed of ice crystals, silently separated from its enormous body.

The cut surface was as smooth as a mirror.

No blood, only countless fine ice crystals, like diamond dust, fluttered down.

The massive headless corpse swayed, then crashed "Boom!" heavily onto the altar, shattering into a sky full of ice chunks.

One-shot... killed?

An Excellent Grade boss... just got one-shot by a single sword strike?

Below the altar, everyone was dumbstruck.

Their mouths hung open, eyes wide as saucers, as if witnessing a miracle.

They hadn't even processed what happened before the battle was already over.

This... is too exaggerated, right?

Both are early-stage Excellent Grade, so why is the gap so huge?

Could it be he used his full power in that last strike just to look cool in front of us, and now he's just barely holding on?

This thought crossed many minds.

However, before they could recover from their shock.

A sudden change occurred!

The pile of shattered ice scattered across the altar began to tremble violently.

Immediately after, a strange, ink-black aura erupted fiercely from those ice shards!

The black energy churned, coalescing with life-like speed, pulling all the ice fragments back together.

The originally crystal-clear ice crystals, tainted by the black energy, rapidly transformed into a deep, ominous black.

A figure even larger and more terrifying than before rose once more from the altar!

Its body still retained the form of a wolf,

but what composed it was no longer ice crystals, but an eerie substance like obsidian, with ominous purple patterns flowing across its surface.

Its eyes had become two burning, sickly green ghost fires!

[Ghost Ink Frost Wolf (Excellent Grade · Mid Stage)]

"Holy shit! There's a second phase!"

Iron Ox couldn't help but curse.

Everyone's hearts instantly leapt into their throats.

Not only did this second-phase boss look even more bizarre, its strength had directly jumped from early-stage to mid-stage Excellent Grade!

Now, we're in real trouble!

Instinctively, everyone wanted to charge forward to help Li Taiping.

However, the moment they moved, they saw.

The Ghost Ink Frost Wolf, which had just risen, its special effects not yet fully deployed, perhaps even its health bar not yet visible.

Its movements froze once again.

Before it, that ghost-like figure had, at some unknown moment, quietly materialized once more.

The same position.

The same stance.

The same sword strike.

"Pfft—"

A huge, pitch-black, ugly wolf head burning with green ghost fire soared into the air.

The same manner of death.

A clean decapitation with one sword strike.

[Dungeon Quest Completed. Calculating Rewards...]

A cold system notification sounded in everyone's minds.

The whole world seemed to fall silent.

Below the altar, that group of top-tier experts from various regions stared blankly at the man on the altar who was slowly sheathing his sword, not even breathing heavily.

Just what kind of monster was this man?