Chapter 240: Frozen Ice Weeding

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

This monster that had a fetish for human feet was also a Frozen Fractal Skeletal Warrior. After sneaking up on Zhang Yang, the monster got out of the ground, covered in dirt and sand. The eyes were just the same as the previous skeletal warrior, malice-filled green-emerald flames and sought nothing but destruction. However, no matter how malicious it was, any non-boss monster was nothing but a scarecrow waiting for Zhang Yang to mow down.

The pair of Zhang Yang and the [Gold-Eared Bear King]turned this monster into a pile of brittle bones within half a minute. The monster dropped a few [Cotton Cloths] and 60 copper coins. What a stingy monster!

Zhang Yang continued down the pathway and confronted many more hidden skeletal warriors. However, no matter how many of them came up from the ground, it was their suicide wish. Without breaking a sweat, Zhang Yang sent them back to whence they came; into the ground.

Just as Zhang Yang was about to turn a corner, he caught a glimpse of a shiny object.

"Hm?"

He walked a few steps backwards and examined the object closely. The shiny object was a crystallized leaf growing from a plant. The branch had three leaves growing from it and was hidden behind a large rock in the corner. If hadn’t been paying attention, he would have surely miss it completely.

This…this is a Frozen Ice Weeding!

Even though Zhang Yang had never practiced "Herb Picking", and was unable to detect herbs and their positions in the mini-map, he knew the importance and value of this super famous herb!

[Frozen Ice Weeding] is a main ingredient when it comes to crafting [Beginner Mobility Potion]!

What is the most important thing when it comes to PvP? It would be the ability to counter status effect skills! If a player was inflicted with a status effect, it would bring an end to the fight no matter how strong one’s attack was!

[Mobility Potion] is a potion that grant immunity to immobile, slow, and stun effects! This is extremely important to Hunters, Thief, and a few melee class characters! For example, the longest status effect came from the Ice branch of Spells. When a player reaches Level 60, Cryomancers could learn the skill -- {Heart of Ice}. This skill would grant an additional slowing effect to {Frost Arrow}! By then, they could easily play catch and chase with other melee attacking players until the latter died!

Take Hunters for example, because of their minimum range, once an enemy got within their range, they would be sitting ducks if they could not regain distance!

[Mobility Potion] was so valuable because of the fact that status control skills existed in the first place!

Even though [Beginner Mobility Potion] would only last for three seconds, it was ample time in PvP. 3 seconds could either save you or completely ensure victory! This potion is a must-have in any Professional League tier fights!

However, the most troubling problem with [Beginner Mobility Potion] was the scarcity [Frozen Ice Weeding]! Besides guilds that had the item and sold them out, no one else knew where to harvest the herb!

Now, Zhang Yang has discovered that secret. It had been here all along! This place, the Sacred Palace of the Frozen Fractal was where this herb came from!

It was no wonder why so many guilds in his previous life had waged wars against each other to occupy this place! Not only did it host the Frozen Fractal Witch Spectre, it was also the place that spawns [Frozen Ice Weeding]!

Frozen Fractal Witch Spectre was a Yellow-Gold Level 60+ boss, and once players exceeded Level 100, no one would even want to farm for Level 60 Yellow-Gold equipment! However, that was not the main point! The most valuable loot to be obtained from this place was the [Frozen Ice Weeding]! Potions and Herbs will always remain relevant at any level!

There were other tiers of potions besides Beginner, such as Normal and Advanced, with Normal having a five second effect and Advanced having a 10 second status immunity duration. The other two tiers of potions were as hard to produce as the Beginner tier. The main ingredient to craft the potion was even harder and rarer than [Frozen Ice Weeding]! That was why, these three tiers of Mobility Potion were highly demanded in the potion market! They were one of the most sought after ever, in the market.

Zhang Yang cracked a smile. This place is a gold mine! He will make sure that Lone Desert Smoke occupies this holy ground!

However, it was a pity that he did not learn "Herb Picking". If he attempted to dig out the herb, it would only destroy the herb. He needed a player with the harvesting skill to come and dig it out. Ever since Zhang Yang had announced that he will support artisan-type players, many players in Lone Desert Smoke started to "spawn" gathering-type players. They would not spend much time leveling, investing all their time in gathering herbs, mining minerals, cutting leathers, and other materials! As long as they could complete a certain quest, they would be paid and rewarded!

…

The Sacred Palace of Frozen Fractal had three sections, the Front Wing, Middle Wing, and the Rear Wing. Between each hall was a huge flower garden in the middle of the palace. Zhang Yang proceeded on killing several more skeletal warrior for at least another hour and managed to clear the Front Wing. He walked through the withered garden and moved on to the Middle Wing.

Along the way, Zhang Yang took notice of the herbs. [Frozen Ice Weeding] only grew in the flower garden and along the pathway. There was not a single herb in the main wing. The herb was most prevalent in the gardens! After a rough estimation, Zhang Yang counted at least 100 pieces of [Frozen Ice Weeding] just in the Front Wing and Middle Wing! If the spawn rate in the Middle and the Rear Wing were similar enough, he could harvest at least 150 pieces of [Frozen Ice Weeding] in one sweep. Since herbs respawned in between the time of 30 minutes and 2 hours, he could harvest around 1,800 pieces in one day, if he were to calculate the respawn rate at its longest possibility -- 2 hours!

Since the three tiers of Mobility Potions could be sold for 100, 200, and 400 gold coins each, 1,800 pieces of [Frozen Ice Weeding] would produce at least 1,800 [Beginner Mobility Potion]! That meant that he could earn 180,000 gold coins in one day!

Hehehe, no wonder those guilds in my previous life were fighting for their lives to get this place! I smell gold here! A huge pile of gold!

Zhang Yang nodded his head in appreciation and continued on his way.

As the name Frozen Fractal suggested, this place was filled with shiver-inducing chilly air. Even though the surrounding environment was like summer, the place was basically a freezer! Luckily, players could easily adjust the sensitivity of their five senses, or else, they would be sneezing from the cold!

The Middle Wing was slightly larger than the Front Wing. The moment Zhang Yang walked into the Middle Wing, an ice arrow came out of nowhere, flying across the room and stabbing Zhang Yang.

‘-1,812!’

Zhang Yang received a sudden damage. A skeletal spellcaster reveal itself in front of Zhang Yang. Its appearance was roughly the same as the skeletal warrior, only that it wielded a staff instead of a sword.

[Frozen Fractal Skeletal Spellcaster] (Elite, Spectre)

Level: 65

HP: 130,000

MP: 60,000

Defense: 450

Zhang Yang had a sudden thought. He recalled that the bear had the skill {Icy Build}. He should test the skill and figure out its potential!

With a mental command, the bear growl and headed straight for the skeletal spellcaster. The skeletal spellcaster had been in the middle of casting another {Frost Arrow}. Before it could finish it, the white bear had charged in with {Wild Charge}, stunning the monster, interrupting the spell at the same time. The bear started swinging its massive claws and attacked the monster. After one second, the monster recovered and faced the bear, starting to chant a spell to attack the bear.

‘-351!’

The {Frost Arrow} flew across and dealt severely weakened damage to the bear! Rather strong!

Zhang Yang laughed and praised the effectiveness of the pet skill! It had been worth every coin! He used {Charge} and rushed towards the monster. He stacked {Cripple Defense} and increased the overall damage dealt by him and the bear. To defeat a high HP, high Defense monster, {Cripple Defense} should be prioritized first!

Zhang Yang and the bear continued to attack the monster until its HP dropped below 20%. Zhang Yang accumulated his Rage and used {Killing Cleave}!

‘-7,565!’

D*mn, it was not a critical hit.

{Blood Rage}! {Warrior’s Will}!

{Destructive Smash}!

‘-8,900!’ Critical hit.

20% of the skeletal spellcaster’s HP was 26,000. After that combo, it was left with only 9% HP!

Without much effort, the skeletal spellcaster was turned into a pile to bones and scattered into the wind.

Zhang Yang continued killing for yet another hour, before arriving at the lowest part of the Middle Wing. There, he saw four skeletal spellcasters guarding something that looked like a cage. Inside the cage was a female Elven priestess who wore a white ceremonial outfit. Both her hands and legs were shackled with iron chains.

When Zhang Yang observed the female priestess’ name tag, he smirked. It was Merlinda – Song of the Forest. She was the same NPC that Zhang Yang had saved from the Underground Tower! Right now, he was still wearing the same ring that he had obtained from the "Beyond Perfect" quest!

This woman, how did she get caught again! She must be sharing the same fate as a certain plumber’s princess.

Zhang Yang shook his head and patted the bear. With a mental command, the bear king growled and charged towards the skeletal spellcasters.

This time, it was best to let the pet to take the lead. The four skeletal spellcaster started their powerful spells, but since the white bear had a 90% Frost damage resistance, it was the best meat shield against Ice Spells!

‘-349!’

‘-373!’

‘-330!’

‘-364!’

Four weakened damage texts popped out above the white bear!

The bear growled and charged towards one of the skeletal guards. It lifted its massive claw and started attacking.

Zhang Yang followed his bear closely behind and used {Charge} on another monster.

{Blood Rage}! {Horizontal Sweep}!

In an instant, all monsters switched targets and started to cast {Frost Arrow}, directed at Zhang Yang.

{Blast Wave}!

A blast waves burst out and stunned all four monsters at the same time.

"Warrior!? Is that you?" Merlinda was both surprised and happy when she noticed Zhang Yang. As a strong A.I NPC, it was not surprising for her to have a good "memory".

Zhang Yang grunted a reply and continued to kill the monsters. He thought to himself, "Back when I fought Terpot Ryhar, this NPC was shackled and lying on the ground. Even after the battle was over, she was still lying down there! I was busy looting the equipment and the [Land Lease] and died no sooner. I wonder, how did this woman escape from that place?"

The four elite skeletal spellcasters were rather strong. Zhang Yang had to use {Shield Wall} and activate {Merlinda’s Shadow}, {Berserker’s Heal}, even using {Shadow of the Void} to escape the battle. He let the bear tank the monsters as he ate some recovery snacks before rejoining the battle with full heath. Only then, did he manage to kill all the monsters successfully.

"Priestess, how did you end up here?" Zhang Yang tried to open the cage but the system rejected it, notifying Zhang Yang that the cage could not be opened via attacks. It could only be opened with a key.

"I was here to search for my race’s Fallen Celestial Artifact!" said Merlinda earnestly. "This place was once a sacred palace of the moon god ritual! However, as you can see, this place has succumbed to the flow of history -- time itself. After thorough research, I have found out that the Elven Celestial Artifact, the Staff of Prophecy was here! However, when I arrived here to search for the artifact, I found out that sacred palace of the past had already been taken over by an evil and powerful spectral spellcaster! Even though I tried my best to confront the monster, I was unable to fight him. He locked me up and forced me to start the Ritual of the Moon God, to give him the power of the Moon God!"