Death Train: SSS-level talent right from the start!

The S-rank skill, Piercing Through the Clouds, is activated.

One hundred points of stamina were instantly drained. The moment the arrow left the bowstring, a visible layer of air suddenly exploded from the arrow's tail, forming a vortex around the arrow. The sound of the air being torn apart was sharp and short.

The arrow was incredibly fast, covering thirty meters almost as soon as it left the bowstring, and accurately piercing the neck of the humanoid behemoth.

"boom--!"

A muffled explosion rang out in the night, and a fist-sized gash was torn open in the monster's neck, sending ice crystal fragments flying in all directions.

The arrow, still carrying its momentum, pierced nearly half a meter into the interior before stopping, its fletching still trembling slightly.

The monster's body suddenly stiffened, and its steps abruptly stopped.

Its drooping head slowly rose, and it let out a deep roar that echoed across the vast ice plain, causing the surrounding snow to tremble slightly.

Jiang Ning had already retracted his bow and retreated the moment the arrow was released.

He didn't stay still for a second. He lightly tapped his toes on the snow a few times, and his figure had already retreated more than ten meters away, putting even more distance between himself and the monster.

The monster's massive body slowly turned, locking onto Jiang Ning's location.

Then it strode forward, each step covering nearly five meters, its thick feet kicking up large clumps of snow, the ground trembling slightly as it approached.

However, it was not fast, and even a bit clumsy. Its long arms, covered with ice crystals, swung wildly as it ran, and each step carried a heavy inertia.

As Jiang Ning retreated, he drew his bow again, unleashing another arrow that pierced the clouds and broke through the air. The arrow exploded into a vortex the moment it left the bowstring, traveling more than thirty meters before precisely striking the monster's chest. The explosion resounded once more in the night.

Jiang Ning maintained a steady pace of retreat, keeping the distance at around thirty meters, neither letting the monster get too close nor letting it stray too far from his sight, while shooting arrows one after another.

After being attacked for about ten minutes, the monster turned and began to run away. It staggered back the way it came, and its ice crystal armor had developed several cracks.

Jiang Ning naturally wouldn't let the monster escape, and immediately gave chase, the arrows never ceasing.

The chase lasted for nearly three hours, crossing two ice fields and then going around a rocky slope covered by ice.

The monster's steps slowed down, its body was covered in arrows, and the gash on its neck had widened to the size of a bowl, with ice crystals constantly peeling off from the edges of the wound.

Jiang Ning looked at the monster staggering ahead and knew it was about to die.

He stopped about forty meters away, took a deep breath, nocked an arrow, and drew the bowstring taut.

The moment the arrow left the bowstring, it exploded again in a vortex-like pattern of air, cutting through the night at lightning speed, and precisely piercing the wound on the giant beast's neck that had been repeatedly torn open, entering from the piercing point and exiting from the other end.

The giant beast's body stiffened abruptly, its massive form staggered forward two steps, and then crashed to the ground, splashing up a cloud of white snow.

[Defeat the Frost Giant (BOSS), score +1000]

The system notification light screen flashed past Jiang Ning.

He stood still, longbow hanging at his side, adjusted his breathing, and then walked to the corpse of the frost giant. His gaze swept across the snow and stopped about two meters to the left of the corpse.

There, a hemispherical transparent light shield rested on the snow, inside which lay a longbow made of blue and white ice crystals, its arms emitting a pale purple glow.

Jiang Ning bent down and picked up the longbow. It was cold to the touch, and the icy texture was smooth and hard.

He summoned the item information panel, and a pale blue light screen unfolded in front of him.

【Ice Crystal Longbow (Purple Quality)】

[Type: Ranged Weapon]

[Effect: Agility +30]

[Note: Increases the user's Agility attribute by 30 points. Equipment-based attribute bonuses do not benefit from talent or skill amplification.]

The weapon Jiang Ning is currently using is the green-quality longbow that he picked up from Sean's corpse during the Insect Nest Trial.

He hadn't bought any weapons in Infinite City last time in order to accumulate points, but now that he had directly obtained a purple-quality weapon, a smile finally appeared on his face.

He stored the Ice Crystal Longbow in his storage space and then brought up the trial scene chat channel.

The messages on the channel were still the same few brief exchanges between Yang Zhen and Wang Zekai from earlier that day; no one spoke.

He glanced at the location on the map, confirmed his own position, and then set off towards the central area of ​​the Ice Abyss Mountains.

After so much time has passed, Li Jiahao must have disappeared long ago. He didn't want to waste time looking for him; after all, the monk can run away, but the temple can't.

Jiang Ning kept the Emperor Engine running at a low power level, and a faint red halo enveloped his body.

A cold wind blew from the side, carrying tiny ice pellets that stung his cheeks. He squinted and quickened his pace.

……

The next day.

early morning.

The snowfall gradually subsided, leaving only scattered snowflakes drifting in the wind. Several tents were lowered by the accumulated snow, and the edges of the fabric were frozen stiff.

The zipper of one of the tents was pulled open from the inside.

Chen Ye crawled out of the tent, his feet sinking into the ankle-deep snow, making a soft crunching sound.

He straightened up, stretched his neck, and glanced around the campsite. The zippers of the other tents were still tightly closed.

Lu Qingchuan was the only one outside. He sat on the snow in front of his tent, holding a compressed biscuit in his hand and chewing it slowly.

A semi-transparent blue light screen floated in front of me.

Hearing the noise, he glanced up at Chen Ye and said, "Check the large chat group for the trial scene."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye summoned the system panel and switched to the trial scene chat channel. Compared to yesterday's quietness, the chat group was now quite lively.

[G4921 (Cao Yan): We killed two yesterday. Those monsters didn't seem to be hunting; they seemed to be traveling.]

[G4928 (Liu Kun): I have one too, and the direction is the same, all heading towards the center of the Ice Abyss Mountains.]

[G4939 (Wu Hao): Yesterday we chased one, and it was heading towards the center. Now it seems this isn't an isolated case.]

[G4939 (Lv Yang): So all those big guys are heading in the same direction? All towards the center of the mountain range? What's in that place?]

【G4928 (Zhong Xiu): Master of Extreme Cold Ice.】

After Zhongxiu sent this message, the chat channel was quiet for a few seconds, clearly hitting the guess that had been vaguely forming in everyone's mind.

Chen Ye closed the control panel and turned to look at Lu Qingchuan: "Sure enough, those monsters are all gathering in the central area of ​​the Ice Abyss Mountains. The Extreme Cold Ice Lord must be there too."