Chapter 317: Evolution

Finding a loser is as easy as it gets for Qin Chuan and Lin Yue.

All it takes is to enter a city and reveal a hint of the Human Race, and plenty of other races who think they're strong enough will show up, trying to strike at them.

After randomly picking one of the uniforms, the two immediately headed for White Flood Dragon Cold Ridge; not long after, a vast expanse of snow-covered mountains that stretched beyond sight appeared before them.

Looking around, it was nothing but a white expanse; before they even stepped into the snow, a bitter wind swept in, wrapping them in freezing cold.

"The terrain of the Heavenly Stairway is utterly unreasonable." Qin Chuan couldn't help but exclaim, "Such a huge snow plain is completely out of place with its surroundings."

"Anything out of the ordinary has a reason; maybe there's something ice-related buried here as a treasure?" Lin Yue smiled, "Maybe we can find it."

"Don't even think about it, Human Race." The Legendary Stage half-demon, held helpless in Qin Chuan's hand, couldn't help but roll its eyes, "White Flood Dragon Cold Ridge has existed for at least nine thousand years; anything you could think of, other races have already thought of."

"I don't know how many Mythic Stage beings have come here; if anything could be found, it would have been found already."

"You don't have the slightest awareness of being a prisoner." Qin Chuan gave the half-demon a half-smile, "Even after being caught, you still talk so much."

"At worst, I'll delete my account; consider me unlucky." The half-demon stiffened its neck, mouth tougher than its life, "Half-demons will never be slaves; I, White Flame Demon Lord Gerian, am no pushover!"

"Gerian, right…" Qin Chuan suddenly jerked his wrist, making Gerian let out a muffled groan, "I have a question: do you know Dailai Saiyi?"

"After that guy deleted his account and started over, what rank is he now?"

"You want to know?" Gerian hehehed, "I'm not telling… hum…"

After another muffled groan, he immediately became obedient.

After a moment of silence, Gerian sighed, "That guy is really lucky; he's probably about to become a Demon God soon."

"That fast?" Qin Chuan was somewhat surprised, "When I killed him, he wasn't even a Demon Lord yet; how did deleting his account and starting over make him advance further?"

"You don't know the reason?" Gerian couldn't help but glance at Qin Chuan, "You killed eight Mythic Stage beings of my clan."

"Eight whole!!" Gerian shouted, "With the Race War imminent, losing eight Mythic Stage beings means we need to replenish them quickly, right?"

"That makes sense." Qin Chuan understood.

In that case, that guy Dailai Saiyi ought to thank him.

If it weren't for him killing so many Demon Gods, Dailai Saiyi might not have had a chance to break through.

We also don't know whether Dailai is the same.

However, their strengths are similar as siblings, so the latter likely also has a chance.

Immediately after, Qin Chuan glanced at Gerian, "Knowing I killed eight Demon Gods, you still dare to ambush us?"

"I…" Gerian's face darkened, and he said nothing more.

The news of the Human Race ascending the Heavenly Stairway had already reached him; besides Luo and Yue Li, there was another who was only at the Legendary Stage, and that person was likely the Gatekeeper.

Killing a clan's Gatekeeper is an absolute great merit, no matter the race.

When Qin Chuan lured him by revealing his identity, he didn't bring Lin Yue; being alone and seeming Human Race led Gerian to judge there was a loophole, and impulsively he fell into the trap.

Seeing Gerian not respond, Qin Chuan also stopped paying attention to him.

He and Lin Yue quickly advanced deep into the ridge, while he continually sensed the surroundings.

The Half Demon Clan is the second race selected on the Heavenly Stairway in the past ten thousand years; without obstruction from the Moon Spirit Clan, they successfully ascended the Heavenly Stairway, and it has been nine thousand years, so Gerian's claim that White Flood Dragon Cold Ridge has existed for at least nine thousand years is well-founded.

For such a long-existing vast snow plain, if there truly is some treasure, the only reason it hasn't been discovered yet is that it's hidden very deep.

Even after the Sundial Hand's first and second talents were adjusted to expand detection range a hundredfold, searching for treasure in White Flood Dragon Cold Ridge is still like finding a needle in a haystack.

But combined with Prayer of Life, there might still be a chance to find it.

Of course, the premise is that such a treasure actually exists.

Comparing the map, the two quickly reached the central area of White Flood Dragon Cold Ridge; along the way, occasional attacks by beasts naturally spawned on the Heavenly Stairway occurred, but they were too weak to pose any hindrance.

"Human Race, what exactly are you capturing me for?!"

Gerian's expression wavered between gloom and clarity; being dragged along by Qin Chuan all the way made him somewhat uneasy.

Qin Chuan didn't respond; with a thought, light paths intertwined beneath his feet, forming a mysterious hexagram formation.

In the next instant, Ice Cream's silhouette appeared beside him.

Lin Yue clasped her hands together; in the next instant, light emanated from around Ice Cream and Gerian.

The light on Gerian kept diminishing, while Ice Cream's surged rapidly.

His unease grew stronger; Gerian shuddered, "You guys…"

When the third talent of Prayer of Life took effect, Qin Chuan glanced at Gerian and said, "Alright, I'll give you a quick end."

A slap pressed down, and Gerian was quickly killed.

With Gerian's luck reduced to zero at this moment, if left unchecked, he might encounter something even worse than having his account deleted.

For example, being eroded by an ominous aura, turning into neither human nor ghost.

Thinking about it, helping him delete his account is actually for his own good.

Yeah, that's right, exactly that.

"Eh~"

"Is it about to start?" Faintly feeling his own luck rising, Ice Cream's eyes were full of anticipation.

"Finally, is it about to start?!"

"Once I finish equipment synthesis, we can begin." Qin Chuan said with a light laugh.

As Ice Cream was summoned to the Heavenly Stairway, its corresponding panel could also be opened.

Within the Advancement Formation, eight Mythic-tier resources and one extraordinarily splendid Mythic Stone had already been inlaid.

These came from repeatedly conquering SSS-rank secret realms.

That came from the destruction of the passage after an SS-rank dungeon Descent.

The Advancement Formation was fully inlaid and ready to be activated at any time.

Qin Chuan then entered the Evolution Formation, his gaze falling on one of its formations.

On this formation, there are only three grooves.

In the first groove, a frost severing horse blade 2.5 meters long floats.

【Equipment Name: Frost Hilt Severing Horse】

【Equipment Level: Solar Corona 10】

【Equipment Entry: 【Extinction (Solar Corona 10): Attack Increase 225%, 70% Chance to Crit, Attack Increase Effect Doubled】】

In the second groove, a crown completely condensed from ice crystals floats.

【Equipment Name: Everwinter Crown】

【Equipment Level: Solar Corona 10】

【Equipment Entry: 【Eternal Winter (Solar Corona 10): Each time damage is dealt to the opponent, add one layer of mark; each layer increases final damage bonus by 15%】】

In the third groove, a necklace formed by stringing ice spikes floats.

【Equipment Name: Ice Pole Chain】

【Equipment Level: Solar Corona 10】

【Equipment Entry: 【Extreme Cold (Solar Corona 10): Each kill increases attribute potency by 100%, lasting ten minutes; when attribute potency increase reaches 300%, enter Absolute Zero state, final damage increase 200%】】

Over the past three months, Xue Gao had already obtained a third piece of equipment through equipment forging, and with the help of the Iron Hammer, upgraded all three pieces to Solar Corona 10.

The next step is to synthesize the three Solar Corona equipment into a Mythic Artifact.

Then, use the Mythic Artifact as the key material for evolution.

As Qin Chuan's thought moved, three lines of text appeared on the equipment synthesis formation.

【Whether to use Solar Halo Equipment 【Frost Hilt Severing Horse】, 【Everwinter Crown】, 【Ice Pole Chain】 for equipment synthesis? If synthesis fails, one Solar Halo Equipment will be randomly lost】

【Synthesis Success Rate: 10%】

【Yes】【No】

Taking advantage of Pray Life being active now, Qin Chuan decisively clicked 【Yes】; in the next instant, the three pieces of equipment emitted dazzling light.

The formation was instantly activated; after the light faded, the three pieces of equipment completely disappeared.

Only an ice-blue long skirt hovered in midair.

【Congratulations, player successfully synthesized Mythic Artifact: Frost Realm Mystic Robe】

【Equipment Entry: 【Extinction】 【Eternal Winter】 【Extreme Cold】 level upgraded to Mythic!】

【Extinction (Mythic): Attack Increase 300%, 90% Chance to Crit, Attack Increase Effect Doubled】

【Eternal Winter (Mythic): Each time damage is dealt to the opponent, add one layer of mark; each layer increases final damage bonus by 20%】

【Extreme Cold (Mythic): Each kill increases attribute potency by 150%, lasting ten minutes; when attribute potency increase reaches 300%, enter Absolute Zero state, final damage increase 300%】

Success! Qin Chuan took a deep breath, looking at the three equipment entries that had increased again, his face full of excitement.

As expected, a Mythic Artifact synthesized from three Solar Corona equipment.

Embedding the Frost Realm Mystic Robe into the evolution formation, Qin Chuan took a deep breath.

"Xue Gao, begin the ritual!"

"Ying!"

Without Qin Chuan saying more, Xue Gao felt its own power about to burst forth; accompanied by the synthesis of the Mythic Artifact, it, which had already reached the peak of the Legendary Stage, now surged to its utmost strength, urgently needing an outlet to vent.

Treading through wind and snow, Xue Gao's slender figure danced lightly in the icy snow.

Exceeding the Legendary Stage, its momentum steadily climbing toward the Mythic Stage, its dance unreservedly released power in all directions.

Qin Chuan and Lin Yue's expressions quickly turned solemn.

The next hour is crucial.

They must ensure that Xue Gao is not disturbed by any external factors within the hour.

Even with the luck of Pray Life's third talent solidified for an hour, they dare not relax in the slightest.

This is the Heavenly Stairway, not the Dream World.

The effect that the golden talent can exert here is not much less limited than in the Dream World.

Five minutes… ten minutes… twenty minutes.

Xue Gao's ritual continued, the steadily rising power attracting the attention of many beings in the White Flood Cold Ridge.

Qin Chuan and Lin Yue already felt the gazes cast from all around.

"Pray Life is still effective." Lin Yue spoke softly, "These beings that have appeared are relatively weak and dare not approach us."

"Hope the next forty minutes go just as smoothly." Qin Chuan glanced at the time and spoke softly.

Although said so, both knew it was difficult.

As Xue Gao's ritual continued, the number of beings noticing this place would only increase.

Soon, the time reached forty minutes.

On the horizon, a figure with a formidable momentum approached quickly, causing Qin Chuan and Lin Yue's expressions to turn solemn simultaneously.

Mythic Stage! Indeed, it has come.

"You guard here, I'll go meet him."

Qin Chuan dropped a line, his figure instantly disappearing from the spot, several flashes appearing in midair to block the opponent, saying "Stop."

That was a male Moon Spirit of the Mythic Stage, with moon-blue skin, delicate features, and silver-white long hair, making him look like a demon god from legend.

"Human Race?!" The Moon Spirit glanced at Qin Chuan in surprise, "It's actually you guys."

He passed near the Cold Ridge, faintly sensing movement deep within, and thought some treasure had emerged, so he came immediately to investigate.

"Moon Spirit…" Qin Chuan's eyes also showed surprise.

Of the three Mythic Stage beings remaining in the White Flood Territory, one is the Moon Spirit.

After all, the Moon Spirit Clan had provided considerable help when the Human Race ascended the Heavenly Stairway; Qin Chuan's expression eased slightly, and he did not act immediately.

"My Spirit Beast is breaking through here; please leave."

"Spirit Beast… is this the Human Race's power system?" The Mythic Stage Moon Spirit glanced at the dancing ice cream in the air, brows slightly furrowed, "But wanting me to leave, I'm afraid it's impossible."

"Since you have already ascended the Heavenly Stairway, my race's aid to yours ends here." He drew a long sword from the void, speaking word by word, "I…"

"Pfft—"

Before his words even finished, a blood line burst across his body, nearly cleaving him in two.

The Mythic Stage Moon Spirit let out a painful roar, surging life force swelling around it, quickly healing the wound while its gaze toward Qin Chuan shifted rapidly.

What's going on…

Having lost the home-field advantage, why are the humans before me still so strong?!

No, this isn't just strength; it's eerie.

He didn't even know when the opponent had struck.

"Leave." Qin Chuan watched the Moon Spirit before him recover, not continuing his attack, "You're not my opponent." The Mythic Stage Moon Spirit gave Qin Chuan a deep look, then turned and left.

After the opponent disappeared from his sight, Qin Chuan let out a slight sigh of relief.

Ten minutes remained until the ice cream completed the ritual.

It seemed unlikely another Mythic Stage would appear.

Three minutes… two minutes… one minute!

At the moment the ritual had lasted an hour, the ice cream's aura rose to Mythic Stage.

In a blinding flash of light, its form vanished into the wind and snow, subtly merging with the endless blizzard and the entire cold ridge.

In the next instant, the wind and snow gathered before Qin Chuan and Lin Yue, forming the ice cream's new appearance.

Ice crystal crown atop its head, hair like cold flames flowing down to its feet, the ice cream wore the newly forged Mythic Armor: Cold Realm Dark Cloth, its grown hands gripping a long sword condensed from ice crystals, several ice crystals hovering in the air, drawing a thin veil of gauze around its sides.

【Spirit Beast Race: Eternal Winter Dancer】

【Spirit Beast Attribute: Ice】

【Spirit Beast Rank: Mythic Stage】 【Limit Reached】

【Spirit Beast Trait: Frost Snow Dance】

【Spirit Beast Species Value: 4,000,000】 【Increases in sync with player's overall strength, limit 10,000,000】

【Spirit Beast Affection: 100%】

【Spirit Beast Skills: Sun·Frost Cold (Passive), Sun·Breaking Frost Slash (Active), Sun·Seek Frost Trace (Active), Sun·Snow Shadow (Active), Sun·Azure Snow Gauze (Active), Sun·Lingering Frost Domain (Active), Sun·Fleeting Frost Splendor Dance (Active), Sun·Chilling Light Snow Slash (Active), Sun·Frost Azure Glass Slash】

【Equipment Affixes: Glacial Extinction (Mythic), Eternal Winter (Mythic), Cold Extremity (Mythic)】

【Extra Affix: 【Ice Fracture: Each attack adds one layer of ice fracture to the target; 100 layers trigger the ice fracture effect, reducing the target's HP to 1.】】

【Spirit Beast Introduction: Ice Spirit Beast Eternal Winter Dancer, evolved from the Frost Blade Dancer, a dancer who commands extreme cold power in ice and snow, freezing not only life but also the soul.】

Before Qin Chuan could examine the new traits and skills, the four characters "Limit Reached" made him involuntarily raise his eyebrows.

The ice cream's species value increases in sync with its own overall strength, with a limit of ten million.

Having reached the rank limit, it cannot be increased further, so the species value cap is locked.

Spirit Beasts have no Second or Third Realm; they can at most reach the peak strength of Mythic Stage First Realm…

Corresponding to the Human Race's power system, Qin Chuan pondered.

In the First Realm, players can only cooperate with one Contracted Spirit Beast and summon another Spirit Beast of equal strength to fight alongside.

Upon reaching the Second Realm, the summoned Spirit Beast's strength can only remain at the peak of the First Realm, unable to exert much effect in same-rank battles, but humans can unlock multidimensional coordination, simultaneously commanding the power of multiple Spirit Beasts.

Thus, between the First and Second Realms, strength has a smoother transition.

The focus of the power system gradually shifts from Contracted Spirit Beasts to oneself.

This seems acceptable as well.

After composing himself, Qin Chuan began to examine the new traits and skills.

Since the species rank cannot be increased further, the ice cream's current form is its final one; I also don't know how much its strength will increase after a full enhancement.

【Frost Snow Dance: Own defense reduced by 100%, all probabilistic affixes and skill effects always trigger, attribute might increased by 300%】

Huh? Attribute might increased by 300%?

Qin Chuan couldn't help but glance again at the Cold Extremity affix effect.

Combined with Frost Snow Dance, the Absolute Zero state of Cold Extremity can be triggered directly with zero kills, bringing a 300% increase in final damage.

Moreover, the effect of increasing attribute might by 150% per kill remains unchanged.

With this trait, the ice cream's strength directly increased by a tier.

Just that the side effect is a bit large.

The previous Blade Tip Dance already reduced defense by 90%; this time it's more thorough, directly reducing defense by 100%, meaning all damage the ice cream takes is true damage.

As befits an assassin, it plays with heartbeats.

Qin Chuan then examined the ice cream's skills after its transformation.

【Sun·Frost Cold: Passive skill, greatly lowers the temperature around the Spirit Beast within a certain range; extreme cold reduces enemy targets' speed by 90% and defense by 30%, and the condensed ice snow increases resistance to melting.】

【Sun·Breaking Frost Slash: Active skill, swinging the long blade releases a strong chill, instantly freezing and cutting the target at 250% attack; damage against opponents in the Frost Frozen state is doubled.】

【Sun·Seek Frost Trace: Active skill, the user scatters into countless snowflakes, during which they are in the Unselectable state; within 10 seconds they can appear at any snowflake position; in snowflake state they can charge up, each second of charging increases the next attack after materializing by 20%.】

【Unselectable: No attack can hit, equivalent in priority to the Unavoidable state.】

【Sun·Snow Shadow: Active skill, using frost snow to create a duplicate identical to oneself; the duplicate has 50% of the main body's strength and its own skill cooldown, can swap positions with the main body; after the duplicate shatters, the next attack increases by 100%, cooldown 10 seconds.】

【Sun·Azure Snow Gauze: Active skill, the body is covered with a gauze condensed from extreme cold power; upon contact the gauze shatters, putting all nearby hostile targets into the Frost Frozen state; after the gauze shatters, the next attack increases by 100%.】

【Frost Frozen: Target cannot move, lasting 2 seconds.】

【Sun·Lingering Frost Domain: Active skill, centered on oneself generates a domain; every 2.5 seconds it applies one Frost Frozen to each enemy target within; each Frost Frozen target within grants a 10% attack increase, up to 200%; duration 20 seconds, cooldown 30 seconds.】

【Sun·Fleeting Frost Splendor Dance: Active skill, with 10% of attack power instantly performs 12 consecutive slashes on a designated target; each slash has a 20% chance to additionally deal 2% of the opponent's current HP as damage; cooldown 60 seconds.】

【Sun·Chilling Light Snow Slash: Active skill, condenses 480 tiny snowflake blades; controls the snowflake blades to slash targets within range; each hit deals 15% of attack as damage; a single target can withstand at most 24 slashes; cooldown 60 seconds.】

Solar Ice-Frost Heavenly Glazed Slash: Active skill, the slash deals damage in three stages, the first stage matches Breaking Frost Slash, the second stage deals damage equal to 20% of the target's maximum HP, the third stage performs a check: if the target's HP is below 20% of its maximum HP, it is reduced to zero, cooldown time is 120 seconds.

No wonder this final evolution from moon to sun brings an astonishing strengthening effect.

First, it is the passive Frost Cold.

This passive skill added a slowing effect in the moon stage; in the sun stage the slowing effect rose from 60% to 90%, and it also added an effect that reduces defense by 30%.

The extreme cold slows energy flow and weakens defense, which makes perfect sense.

For Xue Gao, whose attack bonus is extremely high, every point of enemy defense reduction is crucial.

After Frost Cold comes Xue Gao's first, ever-present active skill, Breaking Frost Slash.

In the moon stage it slashes at 150% attack; in the sun stage it increases to 250%.

Seems low, but the skill's attack coefficient and attack bonus are different; they can be multiplied directly, and Xue Gao already has an extremely high attack bonus.

After that comes Seek Frost Trace.

Seek Frost Trace's per-second charge attack increase rose from the original 10% to 20%; moreover, it additionally gained a brand-new effect.

Untargetable.

Previously, Xue Gao's Seek Frost Trace could easily dodge many skills, but it wasn't invincible; when encountering a large-range AOE skill that instantly covered all snowflakes, or when encountering an attack with the Unavoidable effect, Seek Frost Trace could not evade.

With Untargetable, Xue Gao can ignore AOE skills while in Seek Frost Trace state.

As for Unavoidable, their priorities are equal; thus it depends on activation order—whichever activates first takes effect.

Next is Snow Shadow.

This skill, in this strengthening, added a 10-second cooldown limitation, but considering its other enhancements, it remains a great boost.

Previously, Snow Shadow could use only one skill before shattering.

But now, Snow Shadow truly becomes a clone, possessing half the main body's strength and independent skill cooldown, and can even swap positions with the main body at any time; both practical application and flexibility have received an epic-level boost.

The attack boost after the clone shatters also increased from the previous 20% to 100%.

The effect of Frost Snow Gauze also changed: previously it only put touching opponents into the Frost Frozen state, but now it puts all hostile targets within range into Frost Frozen upon shattering, and the attack bonus increased to 100%.

At the same time, the Lingering Frost Domain also received strengthening: although its cooldown increased by 30 seconds, its duration rose from the previous 12 seconds to 20 seconds, and most importantly, the Frost Frozen added time changed from the previous 3 seconds to 2.5 seconds.

Don't underestimate this slight change; the effect it brings is astonishing.

The Frost Frozen effect lasts 2 seconds, applied every 3 seconds, with an interval of 1 second between two applications; now the application time is shortened, the interval shortened to 0.5 seconds, the control effect doubles directly, and meanwhile the number of Frost Frozen applications within the skill duration increases from 4 to 8.

Frost Snow Gauze and Lingering Frost Domain are the only two skills of Xue Gao that can apply Frost Frozen.

And Frost Frozen is the key to doubling Breaking Frost Slash's damage.

The two skills, enhanced in sync, form a complete control chain, sufficient to let Frost Frozen chain seamlessly in one-versus-many combat.

After that come the enhancements to Flying Frost Instant Splendor Dance and Cold Light Falling Snow Slash.

The former's each slash deals current HP damage coefficient increased from 1% to 2%, doubling; the latter's each strike deals attack damage increase raised from 5% to 15%, tripling, and meanwhile the snowflake blades increased from 240 to 480.

These two skills have an extremely high number of attacks, perfectly matching the equipment affix Eternal Winter, which can greatly increase Xue Gao's final damage coefficient; building on that, boosting skill damage can effectively suppress the target's HP, laying the foundation for a final one-shot kill.

Finally, it is the eighth and last active skill unlocked by breaking through the Mythic Stage.

No wonder this skill corresponds to the strength of the Mythic Stage; in Qin Chuan's view, its strength has already reached an extraordinarily absurd level.

The ultimate ultimate, Ice Frost Heavenly Glazed Slash, a single slash can inflict three instances of damage.

The first instance of damage matches Breaking Frost Slash, equivalent to casting Breaking Frost Slash once.

The second instance of damage deals damage equal to 20% of the target's maximum HP.

The third instance involves a judgment: if the target's HP is below 20% of its maximum, it is reduced to zero; if above, no damage is dealt.

The third instance is also the strongest point of Ice Frost Heavenly Glazed Slash.

Such an overbearing skill effect is unprecedented.

The extra affix Absolute Kill of Chi Mu also has a HP-to-zero effect, but it requires a single attack to reduce the target's HP by more than 90% of its current HP to trigger; the condition difficulty far exceeds that of Xue Gao.

At first glance, this skill is the same as Silver Horn's Triple Extinction, both having three-stage effects.

But the two skills actually have an essential difference.

Silver Horn's Triple Extinction has a cooldown of up to 60 seconds between each stage.

A target with recovery ability can fully restore its HP during the cooldown.

But Ice Frost Heavenly Glazed Slash inflicts three instances of damage with a single slash.

Although these three instances of damage have a sequence, they can be considered instantaneous, giving the opponent no chance to recover HP midway.

Meanwhile, Xue Gao can also use Snow Shadow to have the clone and the main body release slashes simultaneously.

Thus, the first instance can deal 150% of Breaking Frost Slash damage, the second instance can deal 40% of the target's maximum HP, and the third instance involves a judgment: if the target's HP is below 20% of its maximum, it dies instantly.

After Chi Mu appeared, Xue Gao's position as the team's strongest damage dealer faced a considerable threat; but now, thanks to its evolved final form, Xue Gao has turned the tide! Chi Mu expressed considerable dissatisfaction.

Although it cannot be present, it emits its own voice in Qin Chuan's mind.

Wait until it breaks through the Mythic Stage, then it must surpass!

On the other side, Xiao Hei also expresses dissatisfaction with Xue Gao's evolved abilities.

For it, whose HP bar dances, Ice Frost Heavenly Glazed Slash is too restrictive! Rage is not HP; it can block any damage, but it cannot block the judgment of Ice Frost Heavenly Glazed Slash—if HP falls below 20%, Xiao Hei will instantly have its HP reduced to zero under that judgment.

Of course, Xiao Hei is not completely without a way to solve this problem.

Its special affix Indestructible can, when HP reaches zero, keep HP from dropping below 1 for the next second, blocking the judgment of Ice Frost Heavenly Glazed Slash.

But this effect has a 10-second cooldown; if Xue Gao catches it during the cooldown, it will die on the spot.

So, Xiao Hei still feels a considerable threat.

It also needs to hurry and break through the Mythic Stage!

After breaking through the Mythic Stage, who knows—there might be new abilities to counter Xue Gao's threat!

Besides those two, Shui Hua, Silver Horn, and Pan Shi also, to varying degrees, showed their desire to break through the Mythic Stage.

Seeing Xue Gao's breakthrough, everyone could no longer sit still.

Qin Chuan gave a round of reassurance, but the smile on his face just wouldn't stop.

With a Mythic Stage Spirit Beast cooperating, his strength greatly increased based on his current foundation, and his Mythic Hearts increased by 10.

What needs to be done next is also very simple.

Continue to let the other Spirit Beasts complete their breakthroughs, while constantly gathering Mythic Hearts.

With a thought, Qin Chuan consumed his existing 38 Mythic Hearts, his strength instantly rose from 400w to 514w, breaking through the five-million mark.

"We need to earn Mythic Hearts next." Qin Chuan opened the task list, glanced at it for a moment, then chose to give up, turning his pleading gaze toward Lin Yue.

"Or I'll handle the planning." Lin Yue smiled, pursing her lips, one hand opening the map of the First Level of the Heavenly Stairway, the other gesturing in the air to check the task list for obtaining Mythic Hearts.

Soon, she had an idea.

"The Red Rock Territory, which is four territories away from the White Flood Territory, has a Red Rock City, the city with the most gathered living beings nearby, possessing over a hundred thousand living beings of various races." Lin Yue looked at Qin Chuan, "It can meet Little White's ritual needs."

"Moreover, there is a task there that can yield 10 Mythic Hearts."

"We can go there first."

"Good." Qin Chuan nodded in satisfaction.

The two took the Red Rock Territory as their target, preparing to leave the White Flood Cold Ridge from another direction.

Having just traveled a few hundred kilometers, Qin Chuan's movement suddenly paused.

A line of text appeared before his eyes.

【Discovered Resource】

The Gnomon's first innate talent effect has been triggered!

(End of chapter)