Chapter 288: Federal Joke

——

The Extreme Cold Element is a pure elemental creature; its form is a sea-blue polygonal ice crystal, and with this ice crystal as its core, it is surrounded by several diamond-shaped ice cones.

The moment Yun Mu led the shelter townspeople out of the cave, these dangerous elemental lifeforms set their sights on these fellows radiating heat.

Accompanied by the howling blizzard, countless ice cones fell from the sky, forming a dense barrage smashing toward the crowd! Some townspeople let out sharp screams as they looked at the dense ice cones overhead. If it were before her promotion to Expert, Yun Mu truly would have had no good way to protect all the townspeople, but now—

Scarlet Qi Strength surged within her body; Yun Mu held her Paintbrush and gave it a light wave, and a crescent-shaped dark red scratch appeared before her.

This was sword Qi, which could also be a flying slash, or perhaps something like a Crescent Moon Sky Piercer.

Yun Mu poured her desired intent into the painting, and thus this scratch possessed similar capabilities.

And so, a scarlet sword light soared into the sky!

Wherever it passed, whether it was the blizzard or the ice cones, all were annihilated!

Yet the movements in Yun Mu's hands had not ended; this time, she drew something slightly more complex.

"Heavenly Fire!"

Like an oil painting, orange flames gathered into a vortex above the head of the Extreme Cold Element. Even in such a frigid environment, these flames showed no sign of extinguishing.

Yun Mu waved her hand holding the Paintbrush downward, and the scorching flames fell from the sky, swallowing all the Extreme Cold Elements.

These fellows were clearly weak to fire, or perhaps, afraid of high temperatures? It was just that in this kind of environment with a blizzard and extreme cold, an ordinary fire mage would likely find it difficult to display their proper abilities.

But Yun Mu was different. Her Painter profession allowed her to paint 'fire' to attack the Extreme Cold Elements. Although that 'fire' was only imitated by Spirituality, its ability to burn and its high temperature were no different from real fire.

"Alright, let's continue moving forward."

Seeing that the Extreme Cold Elements blocking their path had all been eliminated, Yun Mu put away her Paintbrush and said to the people behind her.

After all, they were just some Elite-level small fry, not even level twenty. Let alone after promoting to Expert, even before Yun Mu had advanced, she could take out such small fry with a single strike.

It was just that now, she could finally rely on the Paintbrush in her hand to unleash large-scale AOE damage skills.

This ability to paint on the fly to fight was what truly matched her imagination of the Painter profession; as expected, it was just that her rank had been too low before.

However, this kind of large-scale attack also consumed a terrifying amount of Spirituality and Qi.

Spirituality was fine, but the main issue was that she had too little Qi; just those two attacks from before had consumed nearly half of the Qi Strength in her body.

Opening the Game Panel, she could still see the relatively clear values.

【Qi: 35/60 {lv1 (10): All Attributes +1}】 Twenty-five points was more than the total amount of Qi Strength she had when she first advanced to Expert.

This really cannot be taken lightly; it seems she must set aside one hour every day to practice 【Basic Qi Training】 from now on.

Yun Mu thought silently to herself.

The ground that had been scorched by the flames was very easy to walk on; the accumulated snow on top had been melted, and the residual temperature meant that the snow water did not immediately freeze into solid ice.

Seeing this, Yun Mu simply took out her Paintbrush again, then continuously used fire to melt the snow ahead, burning out a path that was convenient to walk on.

Because there was no need to burn a large area, she did not use Qi Strength to enhance the power of the painting.

She only used a small amount of Spirituality to burn out a small path about 1.5 meters wide.

"To be able to unleash such an attack just after promoting to Expert..." Brenna followed by Yun Mu's side, looking at the snow-covered ground ravaged by the flames, and couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.

When she first met Miss Yun, she was still just an ordinary person; she hadn't expected that in less than a month, she would have already caught up to the same height as her.

Just now, when facing the attacks from those Extreme Cold Elements, she had intended to have the Automatic Machine Soldier intercept the attacks, but she hadn't expected that before she could even act, Yun Mu had already resolved those Extreme Cold Elements.

"..."

Brenna lowered her head secretly, calculating her own plan for promoting to Master rank in her heart.

As for the townspeople of Folaka Town, after witnessing Yun Mu's power, the fear of the blizzard in their hearts finally dissipated a little.

And those who had originally opposed leaving the shelter but had been dragged out by the crew of the Xiangyang, their dissatisfaction also dissipated for the most part.

Facing a powerhouse with this kind of strength, how could they have the guts to feel dissatisfied?

The blizzard became even heavier; in her field of vision, almost nothing could be seen except for snowflakes.

Alex wore windproof goggles and looked down at the thermometer hanging on his shoulder.

Well, the liquid inside the thermometer was frozen; it was impossible to judge the temperature at this moment.

However, this thermometer of his, specialized for the Northlands, had a limit of minus forty-five degrees. Being frozen at this time meant that the current ambient temperature was already lower than minus forty-five! What terrifying weather... Even with the heat provided by the old-fashioned Heater, Alex's body still couldn't stop shivering.

If he was like this, let alone those elderly people and children.

Fortunately, the crew of the Xiangyang were all strong and sturdy, able to take care of those townspeople; otherwise, for this distance of several hundred meters, it might have reached the point of costing lives.

According to the experience of traveling back and forth before, Alex judged that the distance to the port of Folaka Town should only be about two hundred meters left.

It was a pity that the view was completely blocked by the wind and snow; he couldn't see the port buildings in the distance, nor the Xiangyang docked at the pier.

Yun Mu had already actively deployed the shield of the Earth Dragon Scale Armor to isolate the wind and snow, preventing snowflakes from falling on Beiliya's small face, which was frozen red.

"Hold on a little longer, we'll be there soon," she whispered in Beiliya's ear.

Along the way, they had encountered many more Extreme Cold Elements, and to resolve those fellows, they had wasted a little time.

She didn't know if it was an illusion, but Yun Mu felt that something seemed to be brewing in the wind and snow; if they didn't return to the Xiangyang quickly... "!!"

A strong sense of crisis enveloped her heart; Yun Mu's pupils trembled as she looked in the direction from which the sense of crisis came.

She saw a huge figure slowly condensing in the wind and snow; its height was nearly ten meters, its whole body exuding a cold aura, transparent ice crystals forming its torso, and snow-white snowflakes forming ferocious claws and a head that looked like a human's.

The snow cloud that continuously dropped the blizzard was its Mount, riding that figure as it flew toward the high sky.

【You have encountered an enemy—【Extreme Cold Ice and Snow Element Lord lv85】(Champion)】 Extreme Cold Ice and Snow Element Lord, a Champion-tier enemy!!

This was not an opponent they could handle!

When she saw the information popping up on the Game Panel, Yun Mu had wanted to run away immediately, but at the thought of the townspeople behind her, she hesitated again.

Run? How to run? That was a Champion-tier elemental creature; even if she hardened her heart and let all the crew of the Xiangyang, including the townspeople, buy her time, there was absolutely no possibility of escape. As for Ultra-long Distance Teleportation... the casting time for this thing was too long, and it could only teleport her alone; in such a time-sensitive moment, it was of no use at all.

Fortunately, when facing a Champion-tier enemy, Yun Mu was not completely without options.

"Come out, Lucy!"

Bursting out with the fastest 'hand speed' of her life, Yun Mu tapped the Game Panel to summon Lucy, and then took the stone coffin containing Lucy's body out from the Divine Blood Pendant and placed it flat on the ground.

"No time to explain, can you help me hold off that Extreme Cold Ice Element?" Before Lucy could react, Yun Mu said immediately.

"No problem!"

Upon seeing the Extreme Cold Ice Element in the distance, Lucy's expression changed, and she agreed immediately.

She possessed her original body and watched the enemy in the distance with a guarded expression.

The rapidly approaching Extreme Cold Ice Element saw this and actually stopped in a similarly guarded manner, maintaining a distance to confront Lucy.

"Take this chance, everyone, run!" Brenna reacted at this moment and immediately shouted to the townspeople behind her.

"Run, everyone run!"

Yun Mu did not hesitate; she immediately used the contract to communicate with the distant Xiangyang, and as a large amount of Gold Frost burned, a ghostly green Ghost Fire formed a conspicuous trail of fire, swaying in the wind and snow.

Her purpose was, of course, not as simple as just guiding the way; after all, the money had already been spent, and Yun Mu certainly wanted to make the most of this Ghost Fire.

Thus, a scorching flame extended from the hull of the Xiangyang, rapidly melting the large expanse of snow ahead and providing a convenient path for the townspeople on their way.

Besides this, the snow piled up on the Xiangyang, as well as the frozen sea surface around the Xiangyang, began to melt one after another.

In the end, this last hundred-meter stretch was definitely the easiest to walk; in less than eight minutes, all the townspeople were brought into the cabin of the Xiangyang.

Lucy, who was confronting the Extreme Cold Ice Element at this time, finally felt relieved upon seeing this.

Since there was no longer any risk of collateral damage, she could attack without restraint!

The level of the Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord was lv85, while the Champion rank was lv81-lv110, which meant... there were gaps even among Champions! What Lucy said earlier about being able to exert Champion-rank strength referred to a max-level Champion!

【Boiling Blood!】

Her blood evaporated rapidly as if it were burning; Lucy vanished from the spot instantly and then appeared behind the Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord.

At this moment, she held a scythe in her hand refined from her own blood; the blood constituting the blade flowed while simultaneously emitting a terrifying high temperature, and the Blizzard melted into snow water and fell before it even touched the blade.

"Roar!!"

The Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord noticed Lucy behind it and immediately let out a roar.

A Blizzard mixed with terrifying Elements immediately enveloped Lucy, and at the same time, countless ice crystals rotated at high speed around the Ice Element Lord; any creature that dared to approach would be shredded into pieces by these sharp ice crystals! However, seemingly knowing that such means could not eliminate the target, the Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord raised both claws high, the left claw holding the Blizzard, the right claw holding the ice crystals, and threw them at Lucy with a standard Prince battle tactic, whistling through the air!

"Roar!!"

With a sudden roar, the Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord gathered the Blizzard from the entire sky around itself.

Then its body spun rapidly, actually forming a terrifying Blizzard tornado that crashed straight toward Lucy! "So this is Champion-level..."

Yun Mu stood on the deck of the Xiangyang, watching that figure which resembled a natural disaster, and couldn't help but swallow her saliva.

The complacency she had felt in her heart after advancing to Expert completely dissipated.

Although that Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord was an elemental creature and could control the Blizzard itself, coupled with the weather assist caused by the Extreme Cold Core, it was only then able to create such a terrifying scene.

But... Lucy had not occupied any advantage of time or place, yet she still blocked all the attacks.

Even—

Swish! The blood-red scythe easily broke through the defense of the Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord; Lucy's figure leaped up, jumped straight into the eye of the Blizzard tornado, and then slashed down fiercely! "Roar!"

The Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord let out a painful wail; under the blood poison and burning effects brought by Boiling Blood, its snow-white head was split in two by Lucy.

As long as the core is not destroyed, an elemental creature will not die; in other words, as long as the core is destroyed, the elemental creature is basically finished.

Lucy's strike just now could actually have finished off this Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord, but it was rare to encounter an elemental creature of this level, and she kind of wanted the core inside its body.

And to obtain a complete elemental creature core, one cannot kill the elemental creature by shattering the core.

If one is well-prepared, it is fine to use a magic array or some other method to drain the elements inside the elemental creature, or to seal it.

There were clearly no such conditions at the moment, so Lucy decided... to use violence to dig the elemental core out by force! This way, the body of the Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord would not be able to draw power from the elemental core and would soon dissipate.

As for whether a new elemental creature would be born after the elemental core was dug out, regarding this question.

The answer is yes, it's just that it would take a very long time.

In the time it takes for a new elemental creature to be born, Lucy would have long since refined it into some other item.

"Phew, it's really been a long time since I've exercised like this."

About three minutes later, Lucy brought the elemental core of the Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord to the deck of the Xiangyang.

"Miss Yun, take this thing, keep it safe for me, I'll need it tomorrow." She tossed the elemental core in her hand to Yun Mu.

Yun Mu took the core; the feeling upon touching it was very cold, and looking at its shape, it was a diamond-shaped ice crystal, with the outer ring wrapped in a layer of gray-blue Stone.

It felt a bit Pingpingwuji; was this the core of that Champion-level Element Lord?

Yun Mu clicked on the attribute panel.

【Core of the Extreme Cold Ice Element Lord (Purple)】

【A well-preserved elemental core; the energy flow inside is very stable, making it an excellent material for making magic puppets or serving as an alchemy prop.】

【It feels cool to the touch, but please do not use it while sleeping, your stomach will hurt.】

(End of this chapter)