80: Chapter 80: Is the fifth-tier expert a bit weak?

A dozen meters away, Su Ming stood with his arms crossed, watching with great interest.

He tilted his head.

"This Tier 5 big shot seems a bit weak."

"Though, that icy aura is certainly intimidating; it looks refreshing just to watch."

Su Ming's gaze fell upon the Iron-Spine Rhinoceros, whose forehead brand was flashing frantically.

"This thing again."

"It's the exact same routine as that Wolf King from before."

"Near-death power-up, overtime work before kicking the bucket."

"That wolf last time managed to pull itself from the peak of Tier 3 to quasi-Tier 4."

"Now this Iron-Spine Rhinoceros is already Tier 4; if it activates its cheat..."

The corner of Su Ming's mouth twitched slightly, and he silently lit a candle in his heart for this Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng.

He grinned at Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng, who had just landed.

"Big brother, do you need some help? ... Or should I step in?"

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng felt a tightness in his chest.

Embarrassing.

It was fucking embarrassing!

He was a dignified Lieutenant Colonel of the Southern Military Region's Vermilion Bird Corps, a Tier 5 Platinum powerhouse, yet he was being made to look this pathetic by a beast in front of a teenager.

If this got back to the military region, how could he, Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng, ever hold his head up in front of his colleagues again?

He could even imagine those jerk friends of his turning this into a joke and spreading it all over the cafeteria until everyone knew.

He had just been careless.

It was all the fault of those idiots in the intelligence unit!

He forcibly suppressed the roiling blood in his body.

He had to regain his face!

"A mere peak Tier 4, it has not yet reached the point where I need your help."

His words were tough, but his body was very honest.

With a thought from Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng, a layer of ice-blue armor spread across his skin, covering his entire body from his fingertips to his shoulders, then down his chest and back.

[Frost Armor]. Elemental Infusion.

The ultimate externalization of a Tier 5 Awakened's understanding of their talent.

The ice-blue light reflected off Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng's chiseled face. The armor, formed from cold air, had sharp, defined edges, and his overall aura soared a notch higher.

Su Ming silently gave a thumbs-up from afar and muttered, "Not bad, big brother. You've put on your new work uniform; you should be able to fight now."

"ROAR—!"

The Iron-Spine Rhinoceros roared, pawing the ground with its four hooves. Each strike plowed a half-foot-deep trench into the cracked earth. Its massive body once again became like an out-of-control heavy truck, preparing to charge.

Ice-blue light blazed in Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng's eyes.

His palms danced, and eight streaks of ice-blue light condensed at his fingertips.

"Chains of Extreme Cold!"

He slammed both hands onto the ground.

"Lock!"

Crackle!

A piercing sound of ice cracking exploded.

Eight frost chains, thicker than water buckets, burst from the ground. Their ice crystals were sharp and distinct, carrying an aura of extreme cold as they instantly entangled the Iron-Spine Rhinoceros's limbs, neck, and body!

"ROAR—!"

The Iron-Spine Rhinoceros slowed its charge and began to struggle frantically. The dark red brand patterns on its body flashed with light, and every muscle was erupting with terrifying power.

The frost chains were pulled taut, emitting a teeth-grinding creaking sound, but they held it firmly pinned in place.

Just then, over thirty figures appeared at the edge of the battlefield in the distance.

Walking at the very front was a ten-man military unit, led by a one-armed middle-aged man—none other than Station Chief Zhou Ke of the No. 3 Entrance Checkpoint.

Following behind them were three mercenary squads that had been emergency evacuated while training in the outer perimeter.

As soon as they approached, they were so shocked by the scene before them that they hid behind a giant rock.

"What is that? A Tier 3 Source Beast or a Tier 4?"

A young mercenary's voice was trembling.

Beside him, an old hand poked half his head out to take a peek, then pulled it back.

"Isn't the Iron-Spine Rhinoceros Tier 3? I've run the abyss perimeter three times and once saw its tracks; those tracks alone were half a meter deep."

He licked his chapped lips. "Back then, our whole squad turned tail and ran; we didn't even have the guts to look back."

"So who is fighting it now? A madman?"

Station Chief Zhou Ke stared at the behemoth locked by the ice chains in the field, then spotted Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng, who was hovering in mid-air, surrounded by swirling cold air.

"That is... Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng," he said in a deep voice.

Immediately after, his gaze swept over and saw Su Ming on the other side, arms crossed, watching the show.

Station Chief Zhou Ke's pupils constricted slightly.

This kid... why is he still here?

Other mercenaries would give anything to be eight hundred miles away from that Iron-Spine Rhinoceros, but this guy? He was standing closer than the front row, with both hands tucked in his pockets.

His expression... was like he was watching someone fix a car.

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng also sensed the movement coming from the distance.

Good.

That scene of him getting knocked flying—this group shouldn't have seen it.

He quietly breathed a sigh of relief, his back subconsciously straightening a bit more.

The crowd-control chains could only trap it. To kill it, he had to use his strongest single-target sequence.

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng's expression turned solemn. He pressed one hand into the void, and Source Energy surged wildly from his body.

"Extreme Cold Ice Wheel, activate!"

HUM—!

A massive ice-blue wheel, three meters in diameter, condensed and formed in mid-air. Its edges were lined with dense sawteeth, and its rotational speed ramped up to ten thousand RPM. The sharp, piercing sound of it cutting through the air made everyone's eardrums ache in the distance.

Gravel was swept up by the airflow, forming a rotating belt of debris around the ice wheel. Even Su Ming's hair, over a dozen meters away, was blown backward.

"Go!"

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng pointed his finger sharply downward!

The ice-blue wheel, carrying the momentum of total destruction, slashed heavily onto the Iron-Spine Rhinoceros's neck!

Crackle!

A piercing sound of metal grinding rang out. Sparks had just barely sputtered when they were frozen out by the extreme cold aura attached to the wheel.

The Iron-Spine Rhinoceros's iron armor, which was capable of withstanding heavy artillery fire, was subjected to the high-speed cutting of the ice wheel, yet—it only left a shallow white mark.

The outermost ring of ice-crystal sawteeth, on the contrary, shattered quite a bit.

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng's face turned livid.

The mercenaries behind the giant rock in the distance looked at each other.

"A Tier 5 ultimate move... just this?"

Someone muttered quietly, but was quickly silenced by the person next to them covering their mouth.

Watching this scene, Su Ming's lips moved.

He silently spat out two words: "Just tickling."

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng cursed inwardly.

This defense is even more perverse than the armor of a Federation warship!

His talent was [Extreme Cold Domain]. In places with plenty of water, like a lake or the seaside, its power could increase by at least thirty percent.

In this dry Ash Belt, he was truly at a disadvantage.

If he had known, he would have brought two buckets of mineral water.

But he couldn't lose face.

Absolutely not!

Especially with dozens of eyes watching from behind.

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng gritted his teeth, and the Source Energy in his body poured into the ice wheel like his life depended on it!

The ice wheel's rotational speed suddenly accelerated.

Ten thousand RPM.

Twenty thousand RPM.

Thirty thousand RPM!

Veins bulged on Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng's temples. Beads of sweat on his forehead were frozen into fine ice particles by his own cold aura as soon as they seeped out, falling with a pitter-patter.

The cutting force and depth doubled instantly!

Finally!

"Pfft!"

A trace of dark red blood beads struggled to seep out from that white mark.

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng was so excited he wanted to cry; the frost at the corners of his eyes trembled. After scraping for so long, he had finally broken its defense!

Breaking the defense was enough.

Breaking the defense meant it was over!

His eyes hardened, and his hands formed a secret military hand seal.

"Blood Attraction!"

"Suck it dry!"

Lieutenant Colonel Chu Feng pulled with his right hand into the void, and a domineering cold gravitational force erupted!

The dark red beast blood that had originally been spurting from the wound did not drip onto the ground; instead, it was forcibly captured in mid-air, pulled into streaks of blood, and eerily merged into the high-speed rotating ice wheel.

HUM!!!

A peculiar hum sounded.

The originally crystal-clear ice-blue wheel, after absorbing the Iron-Spine Rhinoceros's blood, seemed to undergo a chemical reaction, and its volume instantly expanded by more than double!

The center of the wheel was rapidly stained with a demonic deep red.

The ice-crystal sawteeth on the edges absorbed the iron elements and Source Energy from the blood, turning into translucent dark red crystals that were incredibly sharp!

[Mutation: Blood Ice Wheel]!