Chapter 24 p1
◎ Three-in-one ◎
Yu Chi didn’t even dare to breathe too hard, her throat feeling as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand.
She uncontrollably took a step back. The faint sound of her shoe sole on the snow exploded in the silence. Her entire body instantly froze in place, trembling from the tension.
Something was moving.
It wasn’t the sound of the wind and snow howling, but the tremor of some behemoth crushing the ice field. The outline of the distant snow mountain suddenly distorted for a moment—no, it was the snow covering it that was collapsing in large chunks!
Yu Chi’s eyes widened. The moment the moon was obscured by a shadow, she finally saw the being clearly.
It was a massive creature beyond her comprehension. Its winding spine was higher than the peak of the snow mountain. Its drooping tail fin would occasionally sweep across the ice cliffs, causing tremors. Its claws were covered in cyan-blue scales that glinted with a cold metallic light against the snow.
When it turned its head, the iceberg refracted an arc of light on its dragon horns. A coppery-yellow luster flowed in its cold, vertical pupils—a fear that could not be looked at directly!
Yu Chi held her breath, afraid of disturbing the other party—this was actually a dragon!
【Species: Frost Ancient Dragon
Level: ???
Description: Warning! Please evacuate immediately!】
What a question mark for a level, what a warning for a description!
She wanted to evacuate as soon as possible, but this behemoth was estimated to be several hundred meters long. Even a car couldn’t outrun the snow waves kicked up by its tail, let alone her mortal body.
Alarms blared in her mind, and Yu Chi’s thoughts raced. This was the first time she had faced a life-threatening crisis, and it even made her hate her own greed.
I should have just stayed at the edge of the forest. What was I thinking, coming to this snow mountain?
But adventure and recklessness were human nature. Even if she had to do it again, she might not be able to give up these treasures.
Yu Chi swallowed, her eyes fixed on the giant dragon.
Go! I have to get out of here as soon as possible!
“Excuse me,” she mouthed silently, backing away towards the snow slope. But she accidentally slipped and slid directly down the slope.
The rustling sound of her down jacket against the ice was more ear-piercing than thunder at this moment. The ancient dragon suddenly paused, its vertical pupils contracting into a thin line as it looked over.
Damn it.
Yu Chi’s survival instincts reacted before her brain.
She curled up and rolled into the snow pit where she had just dug up the Frostflame Flowers. Snow crashed down on her head. Vines shot out from her cuffs—she had intentionally kept a few sections on her for emergencies—and stirred up the nearby snowdrifts, creating a small man-made avalanche that instantly buried her.
The situation was critical. Yu Chi didn’t even realize that she had used the ability to control plants without transforming into her elf form.
The extreme cold seeped into her bones. She gritted her teeth hard.
The ice layer above her made a teeth-grinding creaking sound. The ancient dragon’s breath caused the surrounding temperature to drop sharply again.
Through the half-meter-thick layer of snow, Yu Chi could still seem to feel the weight of that gaze—extremely oppressive.
Yu Chi tried her best not to make any sound. With trembling, stiff fingers, she took out an Ice Crystal Fruit and stuffed it into her mouth. The sweet juice, wrapped in a warm current, washed over her limbs, and the coldness in her body seemed to lessen a little.
It was too cold. Her body began to operate at high speed. Without its master’s control, it spontaneously began to use the flames from her Cinnabar Finch form to promote blood circulation.
The abundant Spirit from the Ice Crystal Fruit turned into a warm current, supporting her body’s spontaneous use of the Cinnabar Finch form’s ability.
After an unknown amount of time, the tremors gradually faded away.
Yu Chi’s eyelashes trembled slightly, already covered in white frost. Her brain also gradually came back to its senses. She tentatively moved her fingers and forcefully dug her way out of the snow pit.
Her mouth was full of ice chips. She turned her head and spat them out, then rushed into the forest without looking back, not stopping even when the surrounding temperature gradually rose.
It’s too close. This place is still too close to the snow mountain.
It was only when she reached the coastal beach that Yu Chi stopped, panting heavily.
A “boom” suddenly sounded from behind her. It was quite far away, but she could still feel the tremor from the earth.
Yu Chi turned her head, as if she could see the snowfield collapsing, the cracks in the ice spreading like a spiderweb in the path of the departing ancient dragon.
…
【1 hour remaining for exploration.】
Yu Chi could hardly control her anxiety. Her clothes were covered in a layer of ice that shattered into powder at the slightest touch. They were clearly unwearable.
She didn’t go directly to the system trade section to look. That would be too slow.
【DazedFish】: Do you have any thicker clothes? I can trade for them with bandages and adhesive bandages at a 20% discount.
She directly opened the chat boxes of [ZhangSanAskedMeOut], [SurfingTheSea], and [GrumpyBro], and sent the same message to each of them.
However, she only pinned her hopes on the first two. As for the last one… although he hadn’t done anything, he always gave her the impression of a savage who didn’t even wear proper clothes.
Is it bad to have such a stereotype about a top player?
Well, no one knows anyway.
While waiting, she started exercising naked on the beach. The cold resistance effect of the Ice Crystal Fruit was still active, but it was obviously not a good idea to just squat here without moving.
Five minutes later, [ZhangSanAskedMeOut] was the first to send her a message.
【ZhangSanAskedMeOut】: No, no, I’ll just buy them at the normal price!
【ZhangSanAskedMeOut】: I just happened to get two thicker sets of clothes a couple of days ago. They’re a bit big on me, and they’re still new!
The other party traded her a set of men’s clothing, including a thermal underwear top and pants. They should have been obtained at the same time.
Of course, Yu Chi couldn’t take advantage of her, especially when she had plenty of good things. She thought for a moment and directly traded a Beautiful Mushroom over.
An excellent-grade material that could provide a random buff for one hour. Its value was definitely higher than the clothes, but since this was an emergency, it was a different matter.
Yu Chi suddenly remembered that she had traded a single fever pill for a large pile of items from [ZhangSanAskedMeOut]. She touched her nose guiltily.
【ZhangSanAskedMeOut】: Ahhhhhh, thank you, Boss Dazed!!! If you need anything in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Yu Chi had heard that humans were the most adaptable species. She calmly closed the system screen, put on the clothes, and then stuffed a Beautiful Mushroom into her mouth as well.
She was quite curious about this thing. She wondered what kind of buff she would get.
【Obtained temporary buff: Eating speed +20%】
Yu Chi: “???”
Hot damn, I really underestimated you!
Isn’t this random buff a little too random?
Yu Chi angrily started a fire on the spot and then roasted a piece of Frostfeather Bird meat.
A large piece of roasted meat used to take 10 minutes to finish… now it only took 8 minutes!
Yu Chi: Awesome!
Heh, are you happy now, Beautiful Mushroom?
Perhaps because she was full, the anxiety in Yu Chi’s heart lessened. She warmed herself by the fire for a while, and after a while, she started sneezing.
Even though she had expected it, Yu Chi couldn’t help but feel sad.
A cold couldn’t be delayed. The longer it was delayed, the more serious it would become. She pitifully took out a cold pill from her backpack and swallowed it with water.
Sigh, if only she could fish up another medicine box.
An hour wasn’t long, but it was a rare opportunity for Yu Chi to come to an island and see uncontaminated creatures. She naturally wanted to get some meat to take back with her.
Ahem, even if she was sick… she had to make sure she could eat to her heart’s content in the future!
When the hour was up, Yu Chi’s body was instantly teleported back to the small boat. A full sense of security immediately enveloped her, and the dual fatigue from her body and mind instantly surfaced.
She stumbled into the cabin. Without even taking off her clothes, she fell onto the bed and fell asleep.
She remembered how she used to toss and turn before falling asleep in the past, thinking about all sorts of things. Now, she had mastered the skill of falling asleep in seconds.
…
The player channel had been exploding all day.
【FruitSis】: Did anyone see the server-wide announcement? An island! Someone actually landed on an island?!
【GrumpyBro】: …Brings back some memories.
【TiltedHeadDuck】: Boohoohoo, what’s an island? How come I’ve never heard of it?
【VMe50ForFood】: I wonder how far ahead the top player is? Am I the only one still struggling to upgrade my small boat?
…
When Yu Chi woke up, there were only a few discussions about the island left in the channel.
She had returned after 12 hours of exploring the island and had slept for more than ten hours. Fortunately, she hadn’t slept her life away.
However, although the messages in the channel were gone, the forum was injected with fresh vitality because of the island.
For example, this post:
【Exposing the cheating life of a certain island’s lucky emperor】
Main Post: As the title says, from an inconspicuous 36th place in the personal strength ranking to the current 15th place, and from not even being in the top 100 of the wealth ranking to now being at the top. Anyone want to discuss?
1L: Interesting—an inconspicuous 36th place [Dog head]
2L: Compared to now, it’s indeed quite inconspicuous.
3L: So sour. I want to go to an island too… At least before, he was only in the top ten of the wealth ranking. Now he’s at the top. You can imagine how many good things there are on the island!
4L: Person above, no matter how many good things there are, they’re not yours. Don’t think about it.
5L: I was just expressing my feelings. Did your boat collapse? Why is your tone so neurotic?
6L: What did I say? Are you sensitive?
…
45L: You guys can even argue about this. It seems everyone is quite sensitive.
46L: Am I the only one who finds it strange? Why does DazedFish have so many good things?
47L: Yes, you’re the only one.
48L: Yes, you’re the only one.
…
57L: Can you guys stop copy-pasting and have a serious discussion?
58L: What’s there to discuss? Good luck and strong strength. If you have both, you’ll go up, right?
59L: Anyone want to ship the number one on the strength ranking and the number one on the wealth ranking? Grass jelly with fish is worth it!
60L: Uh, what species are you?
61L: I, GrumpyBro from the second place on the ranking, officially object!
62L: I, SurfingBro from the third place on the ranking, officially lead the shipping!
63L: ?
…
Yu Chi: …
I, DazedFish, the number one on the wealth ranking, officially do not support this!
What is all this? After scrolling for a long time, not a single post was a serious discussion. Was she, DazedFish, the only one doing serious things in this world?!
Yu Chi picked and chose on the forum’s homepage and entered another post.
【Analyzing the skill system of the number one tycoon】
Main Post: Currently, among the two rankings, only Boss Dazed has jumped so quickly. Does anyone have any speculations about his skills?
1L: A bit confused. Why do you want to speculate about a top player’s skills?
2L: A dark speculation: maybe they see that he’s strong and want to strip him bare.
3L: Person above, there’s no need. Even if you figure out his skills, you can’t do anything. Don’t use such thoughts to judge others, okay?
4L: Who can say for sure? A top player analyst said before that players will definitely meet in the future. It’s impossible to remain in an isolated state forever. Maybe some shady guys…
5L: Seriously, you guys analyze the number one, then the number two, and now you want to analyze the wealth ranking’s top player. If there’s really no isolation in the future, the first to die will be you guys.
6L: Big props to the person above!
…
34L: So, is anyone going to analyze? I’m actually quite curious.
35L: A medical skill is a given. Someone mentioned this in the channel before.
36L: He should also have a strong offensive skill, otherwise his strength wouldn’t have reached this level.
37L: His talent item should also be among the top tier. I speculate its attribute is related to attack, since he was 36th on the strength ranking from the beginning.
38L: So what exactly is a talent item? Why don’t I have one?
39L: It’s everyone’s personal item. If you don’t have one, you’re probably done for…
40L: Person above, that’s not necessarily true. My brother doesn’t have a talent item either, but he’s still in the top 100 of the strength ranking.
41L: People without talent items will have this aspect converted to their personal attributes. Their attributes will usually be much higher than ordinary people, which is relatively fair.
…
82L: The topic has derailed again.
Yeah, it’s derailed again.