Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 239 A Roar of Amazement

Mages and warriors are like a spear and a shield, mutually restraining yet interdependent.

Furthermore, the two sides of the contradiction are not fixed, but constantly transform with distance.

At a sufficient distance, the mage is the spear that tries to pierce the shield, while the warrior is the shield that gets hit.

But when the distance is close enough, the warrior becomes the spear, and the mage becomes the fragile shield.

In the long process of loving and hating each other, in order to avoid becoming a 'unlucky shield'.

Countless apostles racked their brains, coming up with a constant stream of creative ideas.

The imaginative and unconventional moves are truly eye-opening.

The mage's resistance, blinking, and imprisonment—everything was a preparation to create distance.

The warrior's dash, blink, charge, and resistance against skills that only pursue ultimate speed are all aimed at getting close to the mage as quickly as possible.

That's the allure of distance.

Just now
Gray narrowed his eyes, watching the figure hurtling towards him at high speed.

The curve of his lips grew wider and wider.

The activation of the Ice and Snow Prison is not instantaneous; it's like boiling a frog in lukewarm water.

Even at the beginning, it was gentle and there was nothing unusual about it.

Only by venturing into the icy, impenetrable prison can one truly experience what hell is!
For a third-tier apostle, a distance of 100 meters is just a matter of a few breaths.

Gray's pupils reflected the approaching figure.

The light on the staff grew even brighter, and the azure light rippled outwards like waves.

The heavy snow seemed to have stopped in mid-air.

The next second, goose-feather-like snowflakes trembled and swirled around Gray in a frenzied manner.

Each snowflake seemed to have transformed into a sharp blade, its edges shimmering with a faint blue light.

This is not a blizzard, but a terrifying storm formed by tens of thousands of 'blades'!
On the spectator stands, several people looked down at Li Xia, who was enveloped in a blizzard.

A smile appeared on his face, as if the outcome was already decided.

"We won, very easily."

"Our efforts in the last world weren't in vain; the power of this skill is beyond our expectations."

"Has Gray won 19 straight games?"

"It's a bit cruel. In an instant, only the skeleton remains."

As a skill that was painstakingly acquired in the last world, Ice Prison not only transforms large areas of snowflakes into enchanted sharp blades, but also...

There are also various abnormal states such as cold, freezing, deceleration, and stagnation.

As long as the mana value doesn't decrease, the Ice and Snow Prison can continue indefinitely.

So far, no opponent has been able to last more than 20 seconds.

The only downside is that you need to create a snowfield first.

But this game was incredibly lucky; the random location turned out to be an endless snowfield!

"Ding ding ding ding ding"

Blade-like snowflakes struck the illusory dragon scales, producing a fine, continuous tinkling sound.

The snow on the ground seemed to come alive; as soon as you stood on it, it would climb up your body along your feet.

As the snowflakes attacked, the illusory dragon scales gradually solidified, and intense flames flickered within them.

Li Xia suppressed the flames; his original intention was to test the attack methods and intensity of the third-tier attack.

If his sole aim was to win, he could simply stand at a distance and use ranged attacks to trade blows with his opponent.

You'll be the one standing last, but what's the point of such a victory?
Now is not the time to rush for rankings.

The real turning point comes in the late stages of Tier 3.

The world before my eyes was pure white, and the snowflakes were falling more and more fiercely, obscuring my vision.

A very good attack method
The range is very large, exceeding one hundred meters, and even the player's starting position is within the attack range.

So the ice spikes were just for harassment and delaying?
Damage intensity
Li Xia watched the snowflakes that struck the dragon scales, creating tiny sparks.

It should be between 4 and 5?

The Lava Armor has a defense tier of 7, but it is a tier 2 equipment, and its defense is reduced by 0.8 when it is upgraded to tier 3.

Currently only at 5.6, even so, the Lava Armor is still quite excellent as it doesn't take up an equipment slot and doesn't affect the event.

Apart from the blade snowflakes, snowflakes on the ground will not trigger an event as long as they are removed from the ground and do not make actual contact with it.

A very good area-of-effect skill, especially effective against enemies with weak defenses.

A blinding bolt of lightning crackled within the outstretched palm.

"boom!"

The long-suppressed flames roared and broke free of their restraints, and a huge vortex of fire shot into the sky.

Even the raging ice and snow paused briefly in the flames.

The surging heat melted the snowfield, and then began to boil again.

A large amount of water vapor diffused, enveloping Li Xia's figure.

The relaxed smiles of the people on the spectator stands had vanished.

Instead, there was astonishment.

Li Xia suddenly charged forward, the gust of air he created carrying water vapor, as if a misty cloak of clouds had been drawn behind him.

He pointed to Gray, who was standing ten meters away, his face full of astonishment.

"laugh!"

The spear pierced Gray's chest without hesitation, but Li Xia's gaze sharpened.

It doesn’t feel right!

A series of gleaming ice spikes suddenly appeared in the air.

The pierced 'Grey' had somehow turned into an ice sculpture.

He firmly fixed the spear to his chest.

Li Xia's eyes lit up instantly, and a faint excitement rose in his chest.

True Qi surged like boiling water, and the spear in his hand suddenly exploded into lightning that condensed in his hand.

With each flick, each push, and each strike, it seemed as if a shimmering silver flower had bloomed beside Li Xia.

The collision between the ice spear and the silence of the night produced a loud sound, and the spear that was thrown back spun and flew away.

But then it slowly adjusted its direction and charged forward again.

Even when some are broken into two pieces, they are still repairing themselves at an extremely fast speed.

There was a kind of fierce, relentless courage in it.

Is this what third-order is like? It feels completely different from second-order.

In the second-tier arena, even the top 100 mages would have their battle over if they were brought into close combat.

In terms of pure attack power, the ice mage in front of us is not much beyond the second tier.

But his performance up close was surprisingly good.

Li Xia, who was enjoying the game more and more, had no idea that his opponents were almost obsessed with the fight.

Not only Gray, but even his teammates in the stands were stunned.

Ice and Snow Purgatory, as Gray's final ultimate move to perfect his system, was the result of long and careful consideration.

In the middle, he was even willing to give up some skills that seemed pretty good.

It is precisely because the Ice and Snow Purgatory perfectly matches the skill system he had previously created.

With the first phase of blizzard combined with the second phase of ice spear, along with the previous skill combinations, he will become the nightmare of all dive builds!
This was also the case in several battles tested in the arena; the opponents died without any suspense, and many even died tragically before experiencing the second stage of the ice spear.

The few who managed to survive until the ice spear stage were inevitably turned into hedgehogs by the thorns.

The ice spears, imbued with sharpness, armor-piercing properties, and infinitely regenerating with mana, are almost impossible to dodge. The only solution is to kill Gray himself, but Gray is not so easily killed.
But he never even considered it.

One day, an apostle will simply use a spear to block all 12 of his ice spears.

And he seemed to be handling it with ease.

Damn, are technique-based builds really that strong?

He recalled the apostles who had followed the technique route he had encountered from the first level until now.

He's clearly not that strong!
Gray gritted his teeth, channeling his magic power to keep the ice spear regenerating.

He refused to believe that such high-intensity blocking could continue indefinitely!
It all comes down to whether your mana runs out first, or your opponent dies of exhaustion first!

Li Xia effortlessly deflected the ice spears surrounding him; these ice spears were very powerful.

But it's too rigid.

The ice spear, moving straight ahead without any change, allowed Li Xia to predict from which angle it would pierce next.

As for whether the other party is hiding their true strength and secretly preparing to pull a trick.
It's impossible. The other party controls these 12 ice spears and maintains the blizzard outside, if they also have the energy to control them precisely.

He wouldn't be ranked 30,000, but rather 300 or even 30.

Li Xia is now more curious about how they did it.
How did he manage to dodge my shot?

After he raised a long spear, the world around him suddenly turned black and white.

The once swift ice spears slowed down considerably, and the raging snowflakes seemed to have stopped in mid-air.

In this simple black and white world, sound also disappeared.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the center of the ice platform that had risen at the start of the show.

The vibrant blue energy converged in the brain and then flowed out through the staff.

Li Xia's eyes lit up, and his true qi surged once again, his taut muscles like fully charged springs.

The spear tip, like a serpent emerging from its hole, moved forward slightly, silently piercing through the thick ice.

"boom!"

When the spear had completely pierced the ice and accurately struck the figure's head, the wind, which should have moved with the spear, seemed to finally realize what was happening and, belatedly, brought wind and snow to the ice surface.

The magically constructed ice pillars slowly disappeared, and the ice spear lost all its power, crashing into the thick snow.

The other party is dead.

You have won!

Back in the preparation room, Li Xia immediately purchased a replay of the match.

The hall is so stingy that even replays of their own matches cost money.

Fortunately, it wasn't expensive. Aowu and Heitan, who were watching the whole thing from the back, couldn't see clearly because their view was blocked.

This is a good opportunity to see what exactly happened.

"Boss, are they really strong?"

Aowu thought that a third-tier apostle was so terrifying that even His Highness found it troublesome, but unexpectedly, after thinking for a while, Li Xia said:

"In terms of skills and attributes alone, it's not strong."

But their combat intelligence is definitely not weak.

As they were talking, Li Xia had already pulled the timeline back to the point when the opponent started releasing their skill.

Only a few nearly transparent ice spikes skimmed quickly across the white snow.

Aowu and Heitan's expressions immediately turned serious.

If you don't look closely, you might not even notice the existence of these ice spikes.

The most exciting part is yet to come.

As he unleashed the ice spikes, Gray simultaneously used the snowflakes accumulating beneath his feet to lift him higher and higher.

It coalesced into a five-meter-long icicle.

Li Xia immediately paused the video and slowly dragged it forward.

In the instant the snowflakes obscured the view, two Grays appeared out of nowhere!
"Beautiful!"

Awoo's eyes lit up, and he whistled:
"That move is so realistic, what is it? A clone technique?"

Black Charcoal meowed. The little cat's dynamic vision was exceptional, even surpassing that of Li Xia's double-lens reflexes before he opened the Transparent World.

It stretched out its little paws and dragged the timeline in front of it, stopping at an extremely precise time.

Pointing to the snowflakes that have formed icicles:
"Meow!"

A smile appeared on Li Xia's face as she patted the charcoal-haired little head.

He only just realized it himself.

Awoo stared at the screen seriously for a long time before finally letting out a cry:
"Holy crap! A projection?!"

Little Dragon clapped his hands with his tiny claws:

"Amazing! This idea is brilliant!"

This is why Li Xia was amazed. It was just a battle, but the opponent's carefully designed skill system and tactics had shown a brilliance that was enough to make people take notice!

Gray didn't use a clone technique, because even if a clone technique is realistic, it's still illusory and lacks substance.

This ice mage cleverly incorporated a light-based spell into their skill set.

In the instant the snowflakes condensed into ice pillars, they first coalesced into an ice figure roughly the same size as themselves.

Then, using light magic, he projected himself directly onto the ice man like a projection.

He then merged into the icicle.

The ice figure is sent up to a high platform via ice pillars, creating the illusion that a fixed spell needs to be cast.

Lure others to attack!
Finally, with those 12 ice spears, a fatal blow was delivered when the enemy attacked the Ice Man.

Is it complicated? Not at all.

However, it is exceptionally practical, especially if Gray's strength continues to increase and his control over ice magic continues to improve.

He can even mimic the flow of energy within the Iceman's body!
He tsk tsk and said:
"While other mages are thinking about how to create distance, this kid is thinking about how to take advantage of the warrior's eagerness to get close and ambush him."

Going against the grain... but wouldn't that also have significant drawbacks?

Li Xia nodded:

"Well, if the enemy can withstand his initial three attacks, this combination will actually put him in a desperate situation."

but"

He pondered for a moment, then slowly said:

"But if he has teammates nearby, that's a different story, such as a tank who can switch positions quickly."
Trying to understand things from a lone wolf's perspective is mostly inaccurate; a skill set requires not only individual skill but also synergy with teammates.

Awoo gasped. It did a quick mental simulation, but had to admit that if there were teammates nearby, this wouldn't be suicide.

On the contrary, it may form an excellent encirclement and a tactic to lure the enemy.

"If all third-tier apostles are like this, then the third tier is simply too terrifying, isn't it?"

Li Xia's eyebrows gradually furrowed as he suddenly remembered the first team he had wiped out.

They had some brilliant tactical coordination, but unfortunately, the crucial seal master was the first one they killed.

Are third-tier apostles really that terrifying?
Executioner, you have won!

Current winning streak: 10 games

Current ranking: 28641

Li Xia nimbly twirled his spear and disappeared.

It has been confirmed that most of the third-tier apostles are still straightforward and simple-minded.

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Two or three more chapters until we enter the dungeon!

(End of this chapter)