Chapter 357: Arctic Temple

Translator: alyschu

I drank a health potion immediately and grabbed the axe’s handle. I then stabbed Dominating Heaven Blade right through the chest with Desperate Gambit for 3247 damage before summoning nine sword auras to blow him up from inside out!

Thousand Mirage Slash!

The skill burst out of his chest like a hurricane and sent him flying across the air. When he hit the ground, he slid across the ice and left behind a long trail of blood!

Rustle rustle rustle...

By the time he finally came to a stop, Dominating Heaven Blade’s signs of life were already long gone. The Purple Thunder Battle Axe lay next to him like a gravestone.

I didn’t dare lower my guard though. While parrying Dominating Knight God and Dominating Warrior God’s attacks before firing Dragon Slaying Slash with my left arm, one-shotting a surprised Dominating Archer God before he could release his Precision Shot!

......

But my body suddenly turned cold as something hit my back three times in a row. It was none other than Little Piglet’s Ice Ray Flurry. I should’ve known that the cruelest killer always struck when you were at your laxest!

By the time I spun around to swing my sword at him, Little Piglet had zigzagged in front of me. Pressing his freezing broadsword against my Obsidian Dragonscale Armor and watching me with a pleased expression, he smiled. “Die, Lu Chen!”

Ice Breaking Slash!

Boom!

An unbelievable chill exploded across my chest for an incredible amount of damage, but that wasn’t even the worst of it. At the distance, the archers loosed their bowstrings at the perfect timing and hit my chest armor with a volley of Devil Piercing Arrows. The skill didn’t actually do too much damage to me, but the knockback was powerful enough to knock me over the cliff! When I checked my health bar, I saw that I only had over 100 HP left. Shit, there’s no way I’m going to survive this fall!

My heart sank into despair in that instant. After grinding for the entire day, I was 2% away from hitting Level 100. I could never imagine that everything would fall apart at the last possible moment. Fuck, Dominating Heaven Blade and Little Piglet sure know how to pick a time, and let’s not forget that Warsky is the real reason I’m in this pickle!

I started falling when I saw Lin Yixin running across the snow and killing seven or eight cloth-armor players with a beautifully-aimed Ice Flame Slash. As if sensing my downfall, she suddenly turned around and met my eyes with a look of confusion. That confusion immediately turned into fury the next moment.

Swhoosh!

The wind started whipping against my ears. I was officially falling down a cliff!

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

No, I cannot give up! If even I gave up then my death is all but certain!

I struggled to open my eyes with all my might and realized that I was less than five meters away from the steep, frozen walls of the cliff. They were jagged and covered in icicles. If I could get close to them, I might just be able to stay alive! And if I could stay alive long enough to escape combat mode, I might just be able to crush a return scroll and teleport back to safety!

The moment I thought of this, I immediately flipped open my bag and took out a bunch of Snow Rabbit Meat. Then, I faced toward the horizon and tossed them like crazy!

Swhoosh!

The momentum of the thrown meat was just enough to make the physics engine of the game slowly push me toward the cliff face. Here’s my chance!

I pulled out the Purgatory Sword and plunged it into the ice!

Shiing!

Bits of ice flew everywhere as the Purgatory Sword carved a line across the cliff face. However, the incredible stopping force also slowed me down drastically until I finally came to a stop. I spared a moment to look up while I was hanging from the cliff face, but the view above me was mostly blocked by the wind and snow.

Holy shit, I actually survived the fall. All is well!

Having survived a near death experience, I excitedly checked my bag and took out a Level 95 Silver-grade dagger. It was a top-tier weapon that added 4% to Agility!

Crack!

I plunged the dagger into the ice and pulled out the Purgatory Sword. Then, I plunged the Purgatory Sword into the ice above me and pulled myself upward. Just like that, I was climbing up the cliff face at a reasonably quick pace. As it turned out, I was a lot stronger than the climbers in real life thanks to my amazing Strength, and the strenuous task felt almost as effortless as walking to me.

Every once in a while, I looked up to see if I was close to reaching the surface. I couldn’t help but feel a small thrill inside me. I am back, hehehe! I wonder how I should reveal this pleasant surprise to Little Piglet, Pillar of the Nation and Dominating Knight God?

Unfortunately, my ambitions were squashed when a silver figure suddenly appeared above my head before falling rapidly!

“What? What is that??”

I yelped in surprise as an exquisite countenance approached closer and closer. Wait a second, this girl looks really familiar for some reason...

“Wah!”

Lin Yixin looked shocked to see me as well. Holy shit, who’s the ballsy bastard who threw our Fruit Knife Goddess off the cliff?

Bang!

There was no escaping fate. The powerful impact knocked both my weapons out of the wall, and this time both of us were falling to our deaths. Whining in fear, Lin Yixin hugged my neck and absolutely refused to look at the ground below us.

My heart turned into ice in that instant. “Are you fucking kidding me?!”

......

Both wind and snow lashed at my head as pain and cold seared my senses. It wouldn’t be long before we hit rock bottom, both literally and figuratively. Putting away my weapons and wrapping my own arms around Lin Yixin’s excellent waist, I asked softly beside her ear, “What happened up there, Yiyi? How did you survive for almost five minutes?”

Lin Yixin let out another whine before replying, “Someone showed up and tried to help me...”

“Someone? Who was it? Who could possibly stall that many people long enough for you to survive five minutes?”

“It’s Legendary Brave...”

“Ah? It’s him?” I mulled for a moment. “Does that mean he’s gone now?”

“Mn!”

I could feel Lin Yixin shivering as she hugged me. She said next to my ears, “Legendary Brave is incredibly powerful. Not only did he manage to protect me for a time, he took out Little Piglet and Dominating Mage God in the process. Unfortunately, he was ultimately shot to death...”

“He killed Little Piglet?”

I was stunned. I could personally attest that Little Piglet was a powerful opponent, but Legendary Brave still managed to kill him despite being completely outnumbered. This meant that he was even stronger than Little Piglet. Fuck, I should’ve known that the Dragon Warrior couldn’t be measured by common sense. This feat alone qualified him to become a commander in Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls!

I was simultaneously gladdened by the fact that Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls had recruited an absolute powerhouse, and worried that Lin Yixin and I were going to fall to our deaths. The ground was now visible, and my previous life-saving measure was useless because this part of the cliff face was shaped like a concave. It was impossible to get close before we hit the ground!

Still hugging me tightly, Lin Yixin let out terrified yelps from time to time. I asked her with a dumbfounded expression, “Are you afraid, or are you excited?”

She smiled. “Both!”

“Fuck...”

......

We really were about to hit rock bottom, and I had no intentions of dying after surviving this long. I hurriedly used Tenacity of the Dead and healed myself with a potion to pull my HP above 75%. Then, I summoned the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf!

“Roar roar roar!”

Oh wow, it’s still alive? Still, that deadly battle had removed half its health!

Just like me, the little wolf was falling toward certain death, but when it saw the girl in my embrace it immediately barked excitedly, wagged its tail, and licked Lin Yixin’s hand in an attempt to curry her favor.

“Lu Chen, do you think we’ll turn into pancakes?” Lin Yixin asked.

“No we won’t!” I gave her a firm answer.

“And why is that?”

I pointed at the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf. “Because we have it!”

“I don’t understand...” Lin Yixin looked confused.

I abruptly grabbed the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf’s neck and pulled it toward me. Then, I sat Lin Yixin and myself atop its back and clung onto its fur firmly. With the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf as the cushion, we should be able to survive this fall damage. Hopefully.

Seemingly sensing my devious intent, the little wolf howled in resistance and tried to struggle.

It was too late though. We were just a couple seconds away from impact!

I raised my Purgatory Sword and said, “Use a long-range skill to cancel out the force!”

“Mn!”

The intelligent Lin Yixin understood me immediately. Just before we hit the ground, we fired Thousand Mirage Slash and Ice Flame Slash toward the ground!

Bang bang!

Then, we hit the icy bottom at almost the speed of sound!

Boom!

For a time, my vision was completely covered in snow. My HP also dropped like crazy!

4502!

But I survived. I survived! With just 73 HP left!

I looked down and saw Lin Yixin watching me as well. Her eyes looked like stars, and the way she blinked at me sent flutters through my heart. Very good, it looked like we both survived the fall!

I couldn’t help but boast, “Haha! We’re so awesome!”

Lin Yixin nodded in agreement before giving the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf a pat. Then, she blinked once before saying, “I think it’s dead...”

I nodded. I already knew it was dead since I saw the system notice. It was absolutely worth it though. Lin Yixin and my level were worth far more than its level would ever be!

I smiled as the little wolf’s body dissolved into sparks and returned to my pet space. “Rest in peace, you little bastard...”

Lin Yixin: “It must’ve done something bad in its past life to meet a master like you...”

I shook my head immediately. “Quite the opposite. It is fate that sent it to my side...”

......

Blocking out the incredible pain that was tearing at our whole bodies, Lin Yixin and I pulled ourselves up before checking out our surroundings. We were shocked. Our fall had carved a pit about three meters into the ice, and somehow we still survived the fall. How lucky was that?

Lin Yixin stood up, but she had to blink repeatedly because the powerful wind of this place kept blowing snow into her eyes. Every time she thought she was in the clear, a new snowflake would splat against her eyelashes. Forced to narrow her eyes into slits to avoid getting snow into her eyes, she smiled at me and asked, “What should we do now? Do you want to teleport back or walk around for a bit?”

I nodded. “Why don’t you check the name of this map?”

“Oh?”

Lin Yixin opened the map quickly and discovered that the area we were in was called “Arctic Temple, Corridor”. It was about several kilometers long, and it led us to a blood-red map called “Arctic Temple”!

“Wow! This map’s level is really high...” Lin Yixin said excitedly, “And judging the color, the recommended level should be 25 levels above ours. Hoho, I wonder what we could find in a map like this?”

I nodded. “Sadly, we are low on almost everything. Weapon durability, equipment durability, consumables, health potions... I doubt we have enough to clear the whole map...”

“What should we do then?”

“Well, it would be a waste to leave without exploring at least a little. Let’s check out this Arctic Temple first before deciding what to do later!”

“Okay!”

......

Our capes flapped along with the wind and snow as we strode toward the mysterious map.