23: Chapter 23: The Banshee Lord? Eat my pay-to-win items!

Lin Feng gripped the tree demon scepter and cautiously Advanced along the passage deeper into the cave.

This passage was narrower than the previous ones, with glowing blue moss covering the walls on both sides.

A frigid aura washed over him, making him shiver involuntarily despite his heavy armor.

"So cold..." Lin Feng rubbed his arms, "This doesn't feel right."

His Glorious Corona Physique made him particularly sensitive to light and heat elements, and this place was clearly an ice-attributed environment.

The deeper he went, the lower the temperature dropped.

Lin Feng's exhaled breath turned into white mist.

After walking for about ten minutes, the path ahead suddenly opened up.

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening.

It was a massive ice cavern!

Countless icicles hung from the cavern ceiling, the smallest as thick as an arm, the largest comparable to stone pillars.

The ground was a smooth, mirror-like ice surface, reflecting the faint glow of the blue moss on the ceiling.

And in the center of the ice cavern—

A figure hovered in mid-air.

It was a female creature wearing an ice-blue robe, her skin pale to the point of near-transparency, her long hair a pure ice-blue.

She held a crystalline staff in her hand, its head set with a fist-sized sapphire.

Most eerie of all, she had no feet!

The hem of her robe was empty, and her entire body floated three meters above the ground.

[Frost Banshee Lord · Aisha]

[Level: 8 (lord rank)]

[Health Points: 8000]

[Attack Power: 15-180]

[Defense: 6]

[Skills: Frost Arrow, Frost Nova, Blizzard, Ice Prison, Frost Armor, Tidal Surge of Ice]

[Description: The core guardian of the mutated instance, wielding the power of extreme cold. Her hovering state grants immunity to ground attacks, making her a nightmare for melee classes.]

"E... eighty thousand HP?!" Lin Feng gasped, sucking in a cold breath.

He thought fighting the Cat Demon King earlier was already outrageous, but he never expected something even more absurd here!

And this thing could fly!

His heavy armor already made him slow, and now the enemy was airborne. How was he supposed to fight?

"Calm down, calm down..." Lin Feng forced himself to steady his nerves.

He glanced at his equipment and items.

The heavy armor had high defense, but couldn't hit airborne enemies.

Skill-wise, Light Flame Slash and Blasting Light Flame Technique had range, but the enemy would definitely dodge.

As for the Light Bullet Technique... would that pitiful damage even tickle an eighty-thousand-HP banshee?

"Looks like I can only rely on items." Lin Feng gritted his teeth.

He pulled out three blazing light stones from his Storage Pouch, along with the Water Curtain and the fear shriek whistle.

"Poke from range, find an opening to get close."

Having decided on a plan, Lin Feng cast Holy Healing Ring on himself.

A pale golden halo unfolded, giving him some peace of mind.

Just then, the hovering Frost Banshee slowly turned around.

It was an exquisitely beautiful yet ice-cold face, with pure ice-blue eyes lacking pupils.

She seemed to have detected Lin Feng, lightly tapping her staff.

*Whoosh!*

Three ice spikes materialized out of thin air, shooting towards Lin Feng!

"Here it comes!"

Lin Feng was prepared, rolling sideways to dodge.

The ice spikes struck the ice floor, exploding into a shower of ice crystals.

[Frost Arrow: Deals 15 ice attribute damage, with a 30% chance to apply the 'Frozen' effect.]

"The damage is so high!" Lin Feng's heart tightened.

His defense was high now, but ice attribute damage might have penetration effects.

Can't take it head-on!

While dodging, Lin Feng pulled out a blazing light stone.

"Let's try this first!"

He forcefully threw a blazing light stone towards the Frost Banshee!

The stone traced an arc through the air, flying accurately towards its target.

The Frost Banshee seemed to sense danger, waving her staff. An ice shield instantly appeared before her.

*BOOM!!!*

The blazing light stone exploded upon hitting the ice shield, golden light illuminating the entire ice cavern.

Fine cracks appeared on the ice shield, but it didn't shatter.

[blazing light stone damage dealt: 80 (60% negated by Ice Shield).]

"The ice shield reduces damage!" Lin Feng frowned deeply.

This banshee's Intelligence was far higher than the previous monsters!

"Then have a few more!"

Lin Feng pulled out two more blazing light stones and hurled them with both hands!

This time, the Frost Banshee didn't take the hits head-on. Instead, she floated backward while rapidly tapping her staff.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Over a dozen ice spikes rained down, sealing off Lin Feng's escape routes.

"Water Curtain!"

Lin Feng unfurled the blue Water Curtain, holding it before him.

The ice spikes crashed into the Water Curtain, their speed and power significantly reduced.

[Water Curtain absorbs damage: 50/500]

[Curtain Shattered!]

Although the Water Curtain broke, it bought Lin Feng precious time.

The two blazing light stones had already flown to the Frost Banshee!

*Boom! Boom!*

Two consecutive explosions!

The Frost Banshee's ice shield finally couldn't hold on, shattering with a crash!

She let out a piercing shriek, clearly enraged.

Skill: Blizzard!

Large dark clouds suddenly condensed on the cavern ceiling, and goose-feather-sized snowflakes began to drift down.

These snowflakes weren't decorative—each one was as sharp as a blade!

Lin Feng felt stinging pain on his face and hands as his health points began to slowly decrease.

[Blizzard: All enemies within range take 3 ice attribute damage per second, movement speed -40%.]

"An area-of-effect skill!" Lin Feng's expression changed.

He was already slow, and with another 40% reduction, he'd be moving like a snail!

"Can't just take a beating passively!"

Clenching his teeth, Lin Feng charged forward through the Blizzard.

Every step was incredibly difficult. His heavy armor slipped on the icy surface, nearly making him fall.

But his eyes were fixed only on that hovering figure.

"fear shriek whistle!"

Lin Feng pulled out the whistle and blew into it with all his might!

A piercing shriek echoed through the ice cavern.

The Frost Banshee shuddered, her spellcasting motions noticeably faltering.

[Fear status applied: Movement speed -30%, casting speed -20%, lasts 5 seconds.]

A good opportunity!

Seizing the chance, Lin Feng closed the distance, simultaneously bringing his hands together.

"Light Flame Slash!"

A gold-red energy blade howled forth!

This time, the Frost Banshee couldn't completely dodge.

The energy blade grazed her left shoulder, tearing the ice-blue robe and revealing the pale skin beneath.

[Light Flame Slash damage dealt: 118!]

Decent damage!

But the Frost Banshee's health bar had dropped by less than one-sixtieth.

"How long will this take..." Lin Feng smiled bitterly.

The Fear status soon ended.

The Frost Banshee was thoroughly furious.

She raised her staff high with both hands, her ice-blue hair flowing without wind.

The temperature in the entire ice cavern plummeted!

Lin Feng's exhaled breath instantly froze, clinging to his eyelashes.

"Not good, her ultimate!" Alarm bells screamed in Lin Feng's mind.

He desperately tried to run back, but the slow effect prevented him from moving fast.

Skill: Tidal Surge of Ice!

A massive ice wave, five meters high and ten meters wide, coalesced before the Frost Banshee, surging violently towards Lin Feng!

Wherever it passed, the ice surface was layered with additional freezing!

"Can't dodge it!"

Gritting his teeth, Lin Feng pulled out his final item from the Storage Pouch—the totem of natures power!

He forcefully plunged the totem into the ice floor.

*Hum—*

Green light radiated from the totem, forming a life Domain with a twenty-meter radius.

[totem of natures power active: Allied units within range recover 1 HP per second.]

At the same moment, the ice wave crashed upon him!

*BOOM!!!!!!*

Lin Feng felt as if hit by a truck, his entire body sent flying backward, smashing heavily against the cave wall.

His heavy armor was covered in frost, and cracking sounds of freezing came from the joints.

[Damage received from Tidal Surge of Ice: 70 points!]

[Additional 'Deep Freeze' effect applied: Movement speed -80%, attack speed -50%, lasts 15 seconds.]

"Cough..." Lin Feng spat out blood mixed with ice shards.

His health points instantly dropped to below 50!

If not for the dual recovery from Holy Healing Ring and the Natural Totem, that last hit would have finished him.

"Damn, that was brutal..."

Struggling to get up, Lin Feng found his feet frozen solid to the ice floor.

He couldn't move!

And the Frost Banshee had already floated over, her staff pointing at his head.

Ice-blue light gathered at the staff's head.

The next strike would be fatal!

At this life-or-death moment, a flash of inspiration struck Lin Feng.

He pulled out two blazing light stones, but instead of throwing them at the banshee, he—

Smashed them against the ice layer beneath his own feet!

"Blow up, damn it!"

*BOOM!!!!*

The explosion occurred right under his feet, blasting a large hole in the ice layer!

Lin Feng fell into the hole. Though dazed and disoriented from the fall, he was freed from the freezing effect.

He seized the moment to roll aside, dodging the Frost Banshee's lethal strike.

An ice spike grazed his scalp, embedding itself half a foot deep into the cave wall.

"That was close..." Cold sweat broke out on Lin Feng's forehead.

He glanced at the Frost Banshee's remaining health: still around seventy-five thousand.

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

Meanwhile, his mana was less than half full, and his items were nearly exhausted.

"I have to give it my all!"

Lin Feng's eyes turned fierce as he made a reckless decision.

He stopped evading and instead proactively charged beneath the Frost Banshee.

"Don't you know how to fly?" Lin Feng grinned, his smile appearing somewhat sinister. "I'm going to drag you down!"

He pulled a bundle of items from his Storage Pouch—it was the [Vine Trap] fused from cat demon claws and tree demon essence.

It was originally intended for crowd control, but now it had a new use.

Lin Feng forcefully threw the Vine Trap toward the ceiling of the cavern.

Snap!

The trap stuck to the icicles on the ceiling and automatically deployed, hanging down over a dozen tough vines.

The Frost Banshee was floating in mid-air casting a spell, completely oblivious to what was above her head.

Lin Feng timed it perfectly, lunging upward to grab hold of a vine!

"Get down here!"

With his full body weight plus his heavy armor, he weighed over two hundred pounds!

The vine was pulled taut, and even the icicles on the ceiling began to loosen.

The Frost Banshee finally sensed something was wrong and looked down—

A human in heavy armor was gripping a vine, swinging toward her like a pendulum!

"Take my sword!"

Lin Feng released the vine in mid-air, gripping his greatsword with both hands and using the momentum to deliver a savage downward slash!

This strike condensed all of his strength!

The Frost Banshee tried to dodge, but the distance was too short; it was too late.

Clang!!!!!!

The greatsword slammed into the Frost Armor, sending ice shards flying everywhere!

Cracks appeared in the armor!

Lin Feng pressed his advantage, his left hand cupped as gold and red light converged frantically.

This time, he injected 20 points of mana—more than triple the normal consumption!

"Overload · Blasting Light Flame Technique!"

He didn't throw the energy ball; instead, he pressed it directly against the cracks in the Frost Armor.

"Explode!!!"

Boom!!!!!!!!!!

A deafening explosion echoed through the ice cavern!

The Frost Banshee's armor shattered completely, and she was blasted backward, crashing into the rock wall.

[Overload · Blasting Light Flame Technique dealt damage: 650!]

She slammed heavily onto the ice, her levitation state interrupted!

"Now's the time!"

Lin Feng performed a roll upon landing and quickly closed the distance.

The Frost Banshee struggled to get up, but Lin Feng was already in front of her.

Greatsword, Light Flame Slash, Light Bullet Technique... he poured out all his skills frantically!

Having lost her levitation advantage, the Frost Banshee became a sitting duck.

She tried to release a Frost Nova to freeze Lin Feng, but he was prepared and jumped away in advance.

Whenever she tried to fly up again, Lin Feng used vines to entangle her feet.

The battle lasted for a full twenty minutes.

As Lin Feng's final Light Flame Slash came down, the Frost Banshee finally let out an unwilling shriek and dissipated into a flurry of ice crystals.

[Killed Frost Banshee Lord · Aisha, Experience +5000]

[Level Up! Rank 8!]

Golden light enveloped his entire body.

A warm current surged through his limbs and bones, and his injuries rapidly recovered.

[All Attributes +3, Free Attribute Points +15]

Without a second thought, Lin Feng put them all into spirit!

[spirit: 224]

[Magic Attack: 112]

[mana: 224]

"Sweet!" Lin Feng slumped onto the ice, gasping for breath.

This battle was too exhausting.

Even more exhausting than fighting the Cat Demon King.

The Frost Banshee's flight ability, crowd control skills, and high damage—every single one of them had given him a headache.

If he hadn't had enough items and clever tactics, he might have been finished here today.

"But it was worth it!" Lin Feng grinned.

He struggled to his feet and walked over to where the Frost Banshee had vanished.

Several shimmering items lay on the ground.

The most eye-catching was an ice-blue bracelet carved with exquisite snowflake patterns.

[Frost Heart Bracelet]

[Quality: Purple]

[Effect 1: spirit +4]

[Effect 2: Intelligence +2]

[Effect 3: Ice Resistance +3%]

[Effect 4: All Skill Consumption -15%]

[Requirement: Rank 8]

[Description: Condensed from the essence of the Frost Banshee Lord, the wearer will receive the blessing of extreme cold]

"spirit plus 4! And reduced skill consumption!" Lin Feng's eyes lit up.

He quickly put on the bracelet.

[spirit: 264]

[Magic Attack: 132]

[mana: 264]

Strong!

Too strong!

Now the base damage of his Light Flame Slash was 264 × 6 = 1584 points!

With the Glory Corona bonus, it could actually break 1700!

"And this."

Lin Feng picked up another piece of equipment, an ice-blue hammer.

[Frost Warhammer]

[Quality: Blue]

[Attack Power: 5-65]

[Effect: Attacks have a 2% chance to inflict 'Freeze' (Target movement speed -50% for 3 seconds)]

[Requirement: Rank 8]

[Description: A warhammer forged from ten-thousand-year-old ice, heavy and cold]

"The hammer isn't bad either, though it's a pity I can't use it." Lin Feng put it into his Storage Pouch.

He could take it back to sell for money or use it for Fusion later.

Next were the Materials.

[frost crystal ×1 (Blue Material)]

[Banshee Long Hair ×5 (Blue Material)]

[Frost Staff Shard ×3 (Blue Material)]

Finally, Lin Feng's gaze fell upon a fist-sized blue crystal.

Inside the crystal, it seemed as if snow and ice were flowing, emitting a bone-chilling cold.

Just by being near it, the surrounding temperature dropped by several degrees.

[frost essence]

[Quality: S-Rank Material]

[Usage: Core material for Epic-grade and above equipment/potions, contains the power of the extreme cold Origin]

[Description: Condensed from the Origin of the Frost Banshee Lord, extremely rare]

"S... S-Rank Material?!" Lin Feng's hands were shaking.

This was the first time he had seen an S-Rank item!

Even though it was just a material, its value was absolutely immeasurable!

His textbooks had mentioned that S-Rank Materials were necessary for crafting Red (Legendary) grade equipment and above.

In the entire Donghai City, only a few such items appeared in a year!

"I'm rich, I'm rich..." Lin Feng carefully stowed away the frost essence.

This thing couldn't be taken out lightly, or it would invite huge trouble.

After tallying all his gains, Lin Feng was satisfied.

He checked the time; it was three in the afternoon.

He had been in the dungeon for over six hours.

"Time to head back."

Lin Feng turned and walked back the way he came.

His steps were light, and his mood was joyful.

This trip to the mutated dungeon, though full of dangers, had yielded massive gains.

His level had risen from Rank 4 to Rank 8—jumping four levels!

He had obtained a purple ring, a purple bracelet, a pile of blue equipment and Materials, and the most precious S-Rank frost essence.

"When I get home, I'll fuse all these Materials and see what good stuff I can get."

Lin Feng was already planning how to use these Materials.

His mana was now at 264 points, enough for several Advanced Fusions.

If an S-Rank material like frost essence could be fused with other high-level Materials...

He might even be able to create Red equipment!

Just thinking about it was exciting!

Lin Feng hummed a little tune as he passed through the ice cavern, the caves, and the tunnels.

An hour later, he returned to the writhing thicket.

The thicket was still closed, but Lin Feng could feel that he could control its opening and closing.

"It seems that after killing the Lord, I've become the actual controller of this area."

With a thought, the thicket slowly parted to both sides, revealing a path.

The sunlight from outside shone in, a bit blinding.

Lin Feng squinted and took a deep breath of fresh air.

"The air outside is still better."

He stepped out of the thicket.

Completely unaware that not far away—

Five pairs of eyes were staring fixedly at him.

The members of the Blood Wolf Group had already waited for a full seven hours.

Their patience had long since been exhausted.

And now, looking at Lin Feng's clearly high-level equipment and his bulging Storage Pouch...

The light of greed simultaneously appeared in the eyes of the five men.

Lin Feng, however, was still unaware of this for the moment.

He was happily thinking about his grand Fusion plans after getting home.

"First, I'll go check on the shop, and then I'll organize today's loot."

"That grandson Wang Hao dared to seal my shop. Once I'm a bit stronger, I'll definitely have to go to the academy to settle the score with him!"

The youth clenched his fists, determination flashing in his eyes.

The path to becoming stronger had only just begun.

And the real trouble was already on its way.