Heavy snow continued to fall across the barren mountain.
Inside the ice palace, however, it was eerily silent. Beyond the crystal-clear cave walls, the howling wind from outside could only be faintly heard. It was so quiet here—it felt like another world entirely.
But Lu Chen didn't dare lower his guard. The abnormal stillness carried an unsettling tension.
He cautiously approached the dormant Cryo Hypostasis. He had every reason to stay alert—at just over level 30, he was about to challenge a level 70 boss. This was his toughest battle yet.
Gripping the Blunt Sword tightly, Lu Chen used Passion Overload to resist the bone-deep chill. This was the center of the ley line disturbance—the coldest place on the entire mountain.
Just standing here, doing nothing, felt like it could freeze him to death.
For some reason, he really wished he had a sip of the strong liquor Venti always drank to warm himself up...
Sensing an intruder, the Cryo Hypostasis finally stirred. Its body, formed of countless ice-blue cubes, trembled slightly as if coming to life.
Once activated, the cubes shifted shape, swirling around the central core and levitating into the air.
As if patrolling its domain and discovering an invader, the Cryo Hypostasis launched an unrelenting attack. It spread a circular array, and countless icicles fired straight toward Lu Chen.
Here it comes!
Lu Chen sensed the incoming spikes—like homing missiles locked onto him. He pushed off the ground and triggered [Song of the High Heaven] to dodge the first wave.
He'd fought this thing before, so he didn't take off recklessly. Instead, he waited until the last possible moment to launch himself, avoiding the homing function of the ice spikes.
Spreading his Wind Glider, he rode the updraft toward the Cryo Hypostasis. As it activated its array, its vulnerable core was momentarily exposed.
But just then, a second wave of spikes came flying.
Still over ten meters away from the core and without a Pyro Bow, Lu Chen had no choice but to get in close. He couldn't attack from range, so he quickly retracted his wings and dropped to the ground to avoid the next barrage.
The moment he landed, he felt a chill prickle his scalp as icy spikes stabbed down diagonally from above, smashing into the ground and shattering into crystals.
A direct hit would've been fatal. Lu Chen was dancing dangerously close to the edge with every dodge.
Even he was starting to feel anxious—but from a distance, Venti watched calmly, arms crossed, showing no sign of stepping in.
"Not bad."
Venti watched the youth facing off against the boss in the open field. Just half a month ago, this guy had been struggling with Slimes, and now he was soloing Cryo Hypostasis.
He watched as Lu Chen finally reached the boss's feet after all that effort, then swung his Pyro-infused sword at the exposed core.
The Cryo Hypostasis let out a strange, unclear sound—possibly an expression of pain.
The ground rumbled beneath them.
The cubes shifted again, shielding the core as they burrowed underground.
"A bit slow though. Should I give you a hand...?"
Venti looked up at the sky, muttering to himself as beams of light shone through cracks in the dome.
No one was there, and yet he felt it—a gaze, watching.
It was a familiar feeling. Even though she hadn't shown herself, he knew—she was here.
She stood high above, quietly watching over Lu Chen.
"Well then... guess I'll help out a little." Venti sighed, already tired of freezing in this boring place. He just wanted to wrap things up and get back down the mountain for a drink.
"Just a little help doesn't count as helping~"
...
Meanwhile, Lu Chen was dodging more spikes erupting from the ground beneath his feet. The Cryo Hypostasis had changed tactics.
He jumped up with Anemo, and immediately, half-man-tall ice spikes burst out from where he'd just stood.
He couldn't stay airborne forever, making this attack even trickier than the earlier homing ones. All he could do was keep activating his Anemo Vision, gliding and circling midair, taking off again, then gliding once more...
But then, something changed.
Suddenly, his body felt weightless. The duration of [Song of the High Heaven] had extended dramatically. It now felt like he was riding a constant updraft.
The Anemo Archon was clearly lending a hand.
Glancing back, Lu Chen saw Venti giving him a thumbs-up.
"Hurry it up! I want to go drink!"
Lu Chen curled his lip. So it was all for the sake of drinking...
Cryo Hypostasis wouldn't stay underground forever. Realizing it couldn't hit Lu Chen in the air, the ice-blue cubes emerged once again.
They rapidly reformed into a massive wheel and charged straight toward Lu Chen.
Here it comes—Cryo Hypostasis's final move in its three-part combo—
Rolling Wheel!
Lu Chen wasn't afraid of it attacking. What worried him was when it hid in the sky or burrowed underground to use cheap tricks. Now, with the boss charging head-on, he stood his ground, waiting calmly.
Everywhere the Cryo Hypostasis passed, the ground cracked, the ice groaning with sharp, splintering sounds.
As the bitter cold drew close, Lu Chen finally made his move. He leapt into the air.
At the very center of the spinning wheel was the Cryo Hypostasis's core. Lu Chen twisted midair, narrowly dodging the attack, and stabbed his flaming Blunt Sword straight at it.
Both his Anemo and Pyro Visions lit up—Anemo glowing even more brilliantly, bursting into radiant teal light.
From earlier probing, Lu Chen had realized even Pyro strikes on the core barely dented this level 70 boss's massive HP pool.
With the [Cold Value] pushing his body to the limit, he was running on fumes. He had to go all in—end it fast.
Time seemed to freeze as Lu Chen swung his sword—his Constellation activated.
[Storm of Resistance: Reduces enemy Anemo resistance by 20%. After collecting elemental particles, boosts Anemo damage by 25%. Burst damage lasts 10 seconds.]
This was it. Lu Chen was going to take down Cryo Hypostasis in one burst.
The instant his Blunt Sword struck the core, Cryo Hypostasis let out another tremor-like cry.
The spinning wheel lost momentum, slowing until it stopped. The cubes regrouped and enclosed the core, returning to their original dormant formation.
After taking heavy damage, Cryo Hypostasis entered its self-defense state—its final phase. Break the shield, and it would be defeated.
Lu Chen's burst state had just under ten seconds left.
He grinned as the Blunt Sword burst into flames.
That would be more than enough.