157: Chapter 157 Elemental Balance!

Lu Yin ignored these gazes and walked straight toward the Dungeon entrance deep within the academy.

Soon, he arrived in front of a cave covered in ice and snow.

Above the cave entrance was a lifelike carving of an ice dragon, with two blue gems emitting cold air embedded in its eyes.

"Stop! This is a restricted area of the academy; unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter."

Two women in ice-blue uniforms blocked Lu Yin's path.

They held ice crystal staves, and cold air emanated from their bodies.

Lu Yin didn't speak; he simply revealed the Ice Dragon Token.

They naturally recognized this token and recalled that Dean Hanyue had made a sole exception for that freshman.

They immediately cleared the path and looked at Lu Yin with curiosity.

Lu Yin didn't pay it any mind. The moment he stepped into the Extreme Cold Ice Cave, the bone-chilling cold felt like ten thousand ice needles stabbing into his skin.

In stark contrast to the scorching heat of the Lava Secret Realm, this was a world of ice.

Massive icicles hung like sharp swords from the cave ceiling, the ground beneath his feet was smooth as a mirror of ice, and his exhaled breath instantly condensed into frost.

The surrounding ice walls glowed with a faint blue light, and strange creatures frozen within the ice layers were vaguely visible.

He looked around; the passages inside the ice cave crisscrossed, and cold winds carrying fine ice crystals blew from the depths from time to time.

In the distance, several humanoid creatures made of ice held spears condensed from ice crystals.

[Ice Guard]

[Level: 52]

[Strength: 1,800, Constitution: 22,000]

[Agility: 2,000, Spirit: 28,000]

[Skills: Ice Bolt, Frost Armor, Frost Nova, Frost Aura]

Lu Yin glanced at the monster's stats and summoned the Death Legion once more.

Time-Space Guardians charged forward waving space blades, while Time-Space Priests released space-warping spells from the rear.

Unexpectedly, the extreme cold environment had a certain impact on the Death Legion.

The Time-Space Guardians' movements became noticeably sluggish, and the spatial fluctuations from their attacks were suppressed by the cold.

"It seems extreme environments have a weakening effect on summons," Lu Yin thought to himself.

Despite this, the Death Legion's strength still crushed these Ice Guards.

[Ding! You killed an Ice Guard, experience points increased by 16,000 (-20%)!]

[...]

As he went deeper, the variety of monsters in the ice cave gradually increased.

Ice Crystal Spirits floating in the air, snowfield wolves lurking under the ice, and Ice Snakes capable of breathing frost...

Unlike the Lava Secret Realm, most monsters here possessed control skills.

Freezing, slowing, immobilization... various negative status effects fell on the Death Legion from time to time.

Soon, Lu Yin reached the deepest part of the ice cave.

This was a huge ice chamber with an exquisitely carved ice crystal throne in the center.

On the throne, a figure clad in ice-blue armor slowly stood up.

It had a humanoid shape, but its entire body was made of translucent ice, and ghostly blue flames burned in its eyes.

[Frost Guard Commander (BOSS)]

[Level: 57]

[Strength: 7,500, Constitution: 90,000]

[Agility: 6,500, Spirit: 80,000]

[Skills: Absolute Zero, Frozen Throne, Ice Storm, Frostmourne, Extreme Cold Domain]

The BOSS battle was imminent.

The Frost Guard Commander raised its ice crystal longsword, and the temperature in the entire ice chamber plummeted.

Countless ice crystals condensed in the air, turning into sharp arrows shooting towards the Death Legion.

"Spatial Slash!"

At Lu Yin's command, hundreds of spatial slashes struck the BOSS.

Without any surprise, it was instantly killed.

[Ding! Successfully achieved a perfect clear, reward obtained: Ice Resistance +3%!]

As the system notification sounded, an ice-blue light rose from the fallen BOSS and slowly merged into Lu Yin's body.

In an instant, Lu Yin felt a cool sensation flowing through his limbs and bones.

The originally bone-chilling cold became mild, and his exhaled white mist no longer froze into ice crystals.

Lu Yin reached out to touch the nearby ice wall; the extreme cold that was enough to cause frostbite now only felt like a cool touch.

He didn't stay and immediately began the second challenge.

Similar to the Lava Secret Realm, the difficulty of the second challenge in the Extreme Cold Ice Cave also increased.

The cold in the cave became even more piercing, and a layer of slippery frost formed on the ice, requiring extra care when walking.

The monster levels increased to 57, and new types appeared.

A type of Phantom Ice Demon that could hide in ice mirrors, and Ice Crystal Golems that could split and reassemble.

More troublesome was that the terrain of the ice cave began to change.

Ice pillars occasionally sprouted from the ground, or sharp icicles fell from overhead.

But despite the harsher environment, the Death Legion still advanced steadily.

When facing the Frost Guard Commander for the second time, the BOSS's size had noticeably increased, and the cold air surrounding it had formed physical ice armor.

And two new skills were added: Ice Crystal Mirror Image and Extreme Cold Gaze.

The battle began, and the BOSS split into three; three identical Frost Commanders attacked simultaneously.

But to Lu Yin, this was completely meaningless.

With the concentrated strikes of the space blades, the fake bodies shattered, and the true body collapsed under the violent attacks.

[Ding! Successfully achieved a perfect clear... Current total Ice Resistance: 6%!]

When the second ice-blue light merged into his body, Lu Yin could already walk freely in the ice cave.

The bone-chilling wind blowing past felt refreshing and pleasant.

On the third challenge, the Extreme Cold Ice Cave showed its true horror.

The entire ice cave seemed to come alive; the ice walls were like mirrors, reflecting countless distorted shadows that interfered with visual judgment.

The ice underfoot cracked from time to time, revealing bottomless ice abysses.

However, aside from the environment, the strengthening of the monsters didn't cause Lu Yin any difficulty.

The Death Legion continued to sweep through everything.

In the final BOSS battle, the Frost Guard Commander underwent a startling mutation.

It was no longer limited to a humanoid form but transformed into a ten-meter-tall Frost Giant.

The ice crystal longsword in its hand also became an ice battle-axe, each swing carrying the power to tear through space.

[Frost Monarch (Mutated BOSS)]

[Level: 65]

[Strength: 12,000, Constitution: 150,000]

[Agility: 9,000, Spirit: 110,000]

In addition to the previous skills, two more moves were added: Monarch's Domain and Absolute Freeze.

But even so, it still couldn't survive a single round of output from the Death Legion.

Under the crushing force of the violent spatial power, the Frost Monarch finally turned into a shower of ice crystals.

[Ding! Successfully achieved a perfect clear... Current total Ice Resistance: 9%!]

[Ding! Detected that the player simultaneously possesses 9% Fire Resistance and 90% Ice Resistance, triggering hidden effect: Elemental Balance]

[Elemental Balance: When Ice and Fire dual resistances stack, gain an additional +2% to other magic resistances]

The unexpected system notification gave Lu Yin a start.

"+2% to other magic resistances... this is an unexpected pleasant surprise."

The corners of Lu Yin's mouth curled up slightly; he was quite satisfied with this extra gain.