The story of the black silk female knight

After changing into her specially made, tight-fitting, cold-weather suit, Valensa withdrew the [Sanctuary] spell and, together with Seraya, crossed the boundary line and entered the core area of ​​the Ice Plains.

A single step can make all the difference.

The sudden chill that enveloped Valensa and made her shiver instantly triggered her body's self-preservation instinct, and her fiery Yang Flame Divine Power was about to erupt.

But Valensa commissioned Vie to make this kind of cold-weather clothing in order to conserve her strength as much as possible in the event of an emergency. So she quickly suppressed that instinct and controlled the divine power within her body.

Chapter 55 The Secret Deep in the Ice Field

The boundary line in the core of the ice field is no secret to those who know it.

After all, although no one who enters the boundary line ever returns, there are quite a few who turn back in time before reaching the boundary line.

Those people took some information about the border line back with them.

After a cultivator advances to the Radiant Rank and completes the evolution of their life level, their physical strength can indeed be greatly enhanced, to the point that bullets cannot penetrate their skin, lightning strikes are a breeze, they can bathe in lava, and their physical body can travel at supersonic speeds.

However, this level of strength also has its limits. Extremely harsh environments can also kill even a powerful expert of the Shining Rank.

If the high temperatures at the center of a nuclear explosion can be achieved, then the extremely low temperatures that keep air in a liquid state can certainly be achieved as well.

Even a powerful expert at the Shining Rank needs to maintain a high-consumption state to explore the secrets beyond the realm line.

If, in this state, one encounters an enemy of the same or higher level who can adapt to the environment, even a seasoned Radiant-rank expert would face certain death... This is likely the reason why no explorer who has entered the realm has ever returned.

Valensa, who knew this beforehand, would naturally make preparations.

Her special winter suit, resembling a white, tight-fitting latex suit, was what she had prepared.

So far, the preparations seem to be working quite well... By gritting her teeth and persevering, Valensa is able to move around freely without having to use her body's bioenergy to fight the ultra-low temperature environment.

Compared to Valensa, Seraya is slightly inferior.

The moment she stepped inside the boundary line, she froze, as if she had been frozen in time.

Immediately afterwards, golden light shone in her blood-red eyes, and the power of the Yang Flame Divine Force fluctuated noticeably within her body, ready to erupt at any moment to combat the ultra-low temperature.

Valensa frowned, staring intently at Seraya, ready to kick her across the border at any moment.

If Seraya cannot withstand the extremely low temperatures using only her protective clothing, Valensa will absolutely not take her any further into the borderlands.

That's suicide.

Although Seraya was mentally prepared that she could not return, Valensa found it difficult to stand by and watch her die.

Valencia needs help, not a burden.

Fortunately, Seraya did not disappoint Valensa.

The divine power of Yang Flame ultimately failed to erupt, and was forcibly controlled by Seraya.

Seraya gradually adapted to the extremely low temperatures within the borderline, and even flexed her fists and feet in front of Valensa, taking out her weapon—a longbow—and firing a few arrows to prove that she wouldn't be a burden.

Valensa nodded slightly and gestured to Seraya to continue forward.

Speaking is something that should be avoided as much as possible in this liquid air.

In theory, humans can breathe in liquid air because the oxygen content is sufficient.

However, the temperature was still too low. Without using bio-energy to combat the low temperature, even a powerful expert at the Shining Rank would have their saliva freeze the moment they opened their mouth, completely freezing their mouth.

Therefore, the cold-weather suits worn by Valensa and Seraya both had sealed heads, with full-coverage faceplates and goggles.

To avoid repeating the mistakes of their predecessors, they must use their strength when it is most needed, rather than fighting against the environment.

The exploration continues.

In such extremely low temperatures where even air can only exist in a liquid state, Valensa could hardly walk fast, and the two explored at a pace similar to that of an ordinary person walking on the street.

After walking for more than an hour, we had only penetrated less than 10 kilometers into the border area.

Only then did some discoveries finally emerge.

It was a corpse dressed in a sage's robe.

The body was almost perfectly preserved in the ultra-low temperature, and it was a young man, at least in appearance. There were no obvious wounds on his body, and his expression before death seemed somewhat desperate.

Valensa and Seraya examined the body briefly and communicated with gestures, quickly reaching an agreement.

This sage, who was also exploring the secrets of the ice field, froze to death sometime between 420 and 450 years ago.

But this is a bit strange... Without exception, all those who dare to venture deep into the boundary line to explore are Radiant-rank experts, and the kind of Radiant-rank experts with some skill.

This place is less than 10 kilometers from the boundary line. Given the magical reserves of a Radiant-rank expert, there's no reason for them to run out of magical power and freeze to death so quickly.

Unless he encounters some situation that forces him to expend a large amount of magic power, right here.

With this in mind, Valensa and Seraya became even more cautious, each drawing their longsword and longbow, and carefully examining and sensing their surroundings back to back.

Caution is the right thing to do.

Valensa's sensitive feet suddenly felt an unusual vibration beneath the ice through her boots.

Without thinking, she suddenly pushed Seraya away from her back and used the reaction force to jump to the other side.

The next second, the ice surface where they had been standing back to back shattered, and a pale figure with sharp claws leaped out, only to miss its target.

Valensa and Seraya were very familiar with the pale figure.

It is a ghost.

During their dormant period, they like to hide under the ice and sleep soundly... but they are more like ghosts recharging their energy.

They can indeed move freely in this extremely low temperature environment, becoming even more threatening.

While the Netherworld Ghosts in normal environments are terrifying, their individual combat strength is actually not strong. The vast majority are inferior to human Radiant-rank powerhouses and can be killed with just a few well-coordinated Beacon cultivators.

But it's different here.

Even a powerful cultivator at the Shining Rank would need to expend a great deal of energy just to continuously combat the ultra-low temperature environment, but the Nether Ghost here is like a fish in water, moving freely.

They are also very cunning.

For example, the ghost that just attacked Valensa and Seraya did not linger after its attack failed; it turned around and disappeared back under the ice without a sound.

Has it left?

Definitely not... If Valensa and Seraya show even the slightest weakness, that kind of underground attack will definitely happen again.

The two looked at each other.

Everyone understood why the sage had frozen to death shortly after entering.

It must have been these lurking ghosts underground who kept looking for opportunities to ambush him, gradually exhausting his magic power in the process of exhausting his defense and fighting, until he could only die in despair from the low temperature.

How to do?

Seraya gave Valensa an inquiring look.

Don't worry, I have a plan. Just keep moving forward.

Valensa responded with this gesture.

So the two continued onward, but slowed their pace, wary of the ghosts that might leap out from under the ice at any moment.

About two or three kilometers later, they discovered the second body of someone who had been there before, and then more.

Among the corpses were an American officer who died with a face full of passion and no regrets, an adventurer with an expression of accepting defeat, a witch whose body remained hot and sexy even after death, and a paladin and priest who were calmly praying for the end.

Whatever their reasons for venturing here, they were brave souls willing to risk their lives to eliminate natural disasters, and they deserve our respect.

Valensa and Seraya reached an agreement almost without discussion: for each body they found, they would perform a simple blessing according to the teachings of the Church of the Sun, and remove the personal belongings from the body, intending to give them to the relatives and friends of these pioneers who might still be alive after they were released.

Of course, it would be best to bring these remains out, but not now... Valensa must prioritize her own safe return and resolve the issues with the Underworld Ghost and the Blue Robe as quickly as possible.

The exploration continues.

After its first attack failed, the ghost remained silent for almost two hours without making another move.

But neither Valensa nor Seraya had any hope... This was surely the calm before the storm.

as predicted.

Just as they finished offering a simple prayer for the corpse of an adventurer, Valensa felt that strange vibration under her feet again, and not just one.

But this time Valensa deliberately didn't dodge, only managing to push Seraya.

click!

The ice shattered, and two ghosts leaped out simultaneously. One grabbed at Valensa's mask and goggles, while the other anticipated her landing point and waited there to deliver a chop to her heart.

It's obvious that these two ghosts are intelligent... They may not understand the high-tech cold-weather suits they bought from the cyberpunk world, but they know that as long as Valensa's head is exposed, they can make this ultra-low temperature environment their strongest means of attack.

The plan was good, but unfortunately it was all within Valensa's expectations.

As if she hadn't seen the ghost that had predicted her dodge direction, she still jumped back in that direction to avoid the first ghost's grab on the face.

Just as the second ghost was about to pierce Valensa's heart with a hand chop, Nana, who suddenly appeared behind it, stabbed through its spinal cord with a hand chop. Then, with brute force, she squeezed and pulled, directly pulling the spinal cord out of the ghost's body.

The spinal cord is the true form of the ghost.

The demon, its spinal cord ripped out, instantly fell into complete silence, just like a mecha that had lost power and whose pilot had died.

The ghost that had tried to grab Valensa's face realized it had been tricked and immediately tried to burrow back into the ice to escape, but it was too late.

Whoosh!

Seraya flicked her finger, and the arrow shot out like lightning.

In this liquid air environment, similar to underwater, pure energy ranged attacks like the Sunfire Ray would be greatly affected, but weapons like bows and crossbows would not.

Seraya's arrow pierced the spinal cord of the demon with pinpoint accuracy, and the immense force propelled the demon past Valensa's side, finally pinning it firmly to the ice.

However, under normal circumstances, it is difficult to completely incapacitate a ghost by cutting or penetrating its spinal cord; otherwise, the most traditional weapon for hunting ghosts would not be a large iron hammer.

But Seraya is no ordinary ghost hunter; she is an Inner Temple Knight. The seemingly ordinary longbow in her hand is actually a Noble Phantasm, just like Valensa's Rikka, which she has always used and which has been sublimated as she advances to the Radiant rank.

Even a single arrow fired from the Noble Phantasm Longbow is no less lethal than a hammer, but rather comparable to a missile.

boom!

The ghost, whose spinal cord was pierced by Seraya's arrow, exploded into dust with a muffled thud. Neither its outer shell nor its spinal cord, which was its core, was spared.

A coordinated attack killed two Netherworld Ghosts, which could be considered a minor success. Seraya was even ready to high-five Valensa in celebration.

But they found that Valensa's eyes did not show any joy, but rather a somewhat solemn expression.

Valensa's rapid hand gestures then weighed heavily on Seraya's mind.

one left.

Valensa had previously detected three ghosts by sensing vibrations under the ice, but only two of them jumped out to attack and were killed by them.

In other words, at least one ghost escaped... and when it launches another attack, there will definitely be more than three ghosts appearing, and there is even a possibility that a more powerful individual will appear.

This terrible prediction ultimately came true.

For the next 100 kilometers or so, Valensa and Seraya did not encounter any further attacks.

Just as they were getting closer to the truth and the answer, what awaited them was a two-dimensional military uniform girl holding a gorgeous musket on the ice, and nearly a hundred hideous, pale ghosts.

The trouble is big.

According to Friggia's explanation, Qingyi is invincible unless the server where Qingyi's data is located is attacked.

She can kill anyone with a single shot in the two-dimensional reflection of the ice, but no one can harm her. They can only use ink balls to obscure the ice and interfere with her movements, avoiding her.

Moreover, this time she was accompanied by nearly a hundred ghosts.

Seraya resorted to her old trick, firing an arrow that rained down ink bullets, attempting to cover the ice surface with ink once again to hinder Qingyi's actions.

The density of liquid air is about 0.9, while the density of ink is generally over 1.3. Even though the environment here is very similar to underwater, ink should theoretically be able to sink on the ice surface and cover it.

Unfortunately, those ghosts won't just stand by and watch.

Valensa had already experienced this firsthand when she last came to the Icefield to hunt Netherworlds. In addition to having stronger melee capabilities than ordinary Lighthouse-class warriors, individual Netherworlds also possess a telekinetic ability that allows them to exert force on objects within their field of vision from a distance.

At least 10 ghosts are using this ability simultaneously, creating a force field wave in the ultra-low temperature liquid air, which blows away all the ink that has settled on the ice surface.

The woman in green remained expressionless, but she raised her gun—a magnificent musket that could kill even a witch with a single shot.

Valensa and Seraya were well aware of the power of this attack and dared not attempt it, so they could only dodge and flee in a rather disheveled manner.

Their movements in the extremely low temperatures were far slower than in normal environments, yet the figures in green remained nimble and graceful phantoms amidst the ice.

Without the cover of the ink bullets, Valensa and Seraya had no chance of shaking off Qingyi.

Each time the ink bomb exploded, the ink released was immediately cleared away by the ghosts around Qingyi using a telekinetic ability.