Chapter 33: The Warden (III)

This Lord of the Ice Prison seems like a tough nut to crack.

Tough as it may be, none of the superpowered individuals present had any intention of retreating. The helmets, armor, and halberds of the eight prison guards previously defeated had each found their owners, and every piece appeared incredibly valuable, enough to make anyone’s eyes turn green with envy.

The weaponry and gear of this Lord of the Ice Prison were even more extraordinary. What was the point of risking their lives to explore this otherworldly realm if not for treasures like these? Even those who knew their own strength was insufficient and had virtually no chance of getting their hands on the loot stayed behind as spectators, unwilling to leave.

Only six factions were circling the Lord of the Ice Prison: the "Heavenly Court" organization, the Wind-Fire Sect, the Yan, Lu, and Nangong families, and the Crocodile God Society. These six factions looked at one another, none willing to be the "sucker" who stepped up first, exhausted the Lord’s strength, and let the others reap the rewards.

The Lord of the Ice Prison had been killing for a while and took this opportunity to pause and recover his strength.

Zhu Qingtong suddenly laughed. "I ask you, aren't we tired? It’s just a small world’s pocket dimension, a mere Level 9 boss. Yet, we families are still guarding against each other, each with our own agendas. I have a proposal: regardless of anything else, let’s join forces and slaughter this guy first! All his equipment will be auctioned off, and the proceeds will be split equally among the six factions."

"Audacious!" the Lord of the Ice Prison roared. Hearing these humans discuss how to divide his weapons and armor right in front of him before the battle had even begun, he seemed to feel deeply insulted.

"What if other superpowered individuals want a piece of the pie?" Yan Ruobing asked.

"Then let them fight first. Once they finish, we go in," Zhu Qingtong replied. "If they don't fight, that means they’ve given up, and they will not be allowed to participate once our six factions begin. Anyone who tries to join in then will be treated as a common enemy."

"Furthermore, when our six factions are killing this Lord of the Ice Prison, if any faction is found to be slacking or cutting corners, they will be immediately disqualified from the profit distribution."

This was not a perfect method, but it was the one that best protected the interests of the major factions. It was simply unrealistic for hundreds or thousands of superpowered individuals present to each receive a share of the spoils after defeating the boss. There is no such thing as a perfect distribution scheme in this world.

After some deliberation, the factions generally agreed.

The Crocodile God Society, which often dealt with all sorts of superpowered individuals from all walks of life, was tasked with explaining the six factions' decision to the smaller groups and independent practitioners. This decision provoked opposition from most of the smaller entities and individuals.

A portion of them banded together—about thirty small groups and individuals, totaling over three hundred people—thinking they could give it a try, with an agreement to split the profits equally if they succeeded. They launched a joint attack on the Lord of the Ice Prison. The result was a catastrophic defeat; under the Lord’s sharp blade and earth-based offensive techniques, they were slaughtered and routed.

Their attacks struck the nearly impenetrable helmet and armor of the Lord of the Ice Prison, failing to even tickle him; they caused not a shred of substantive damage.

Left with no choice, they were forced to announce their withdrawal from the fight against the Lord of the Ice Prison, turning instead to search the interior of the cave, hoping to find other gains. The other spectator individuals finally realized there were deeper mysteries within the cave that might yield other treasures, and they scrambled through the entrance one after another to reach the Ice Prison.

The Yan family had many members, and Yan Tong, being cautious, dispatched a small squad of twelve to blend into the crowd and enter the Ice Prison to see if there was anything else to be found.

Aside from the six factions and the Lord of the Ice Prison, only a few dozen scattered spectators remained at the scene.

The six factions collectively pushed the "Heavenly Court" organization to take the lead. Lu Xingzhou then formulated a strategy:

Earth-element users with high defensive capabilities would take the front to deplete the Lord’s strength and further discern his combat patterns.

Once the patterns were largely understood, Strength, Metal, and Fire-element users would launch a fierce assault simultaneously, aiming to deal heavy damage within one or two rounds.

During this burst of offense, the Earth-element users would retreat and prepare to provide cover for the others to pull back.

Wood-element users would launch long-range attacks with poison arrows, darts, vines, and special abilities to slow down and control the Lord’s combat prowess.

Fast Wind-element users would hide among the other types, waiting for opportunities to launch sneak attacks and deliver finishing blows.

Water-element users would provide support from the periphery, pulling injured comrades back to safety so as not to affect the battle.

If this wave of attacks failed, everyone would retreat and then repeat the plan.

During the joint assault, they might encounter the enemy’s Earth-based area-of-effect techniques, but the Lord would not be able to use them frequently as they consumed too much energy. Thus, everyone could pull back, stabilize the formation, and then advance again.

They were not afraid of the Lord of the Ice Prison hearing their strategy. Left alone, he would find it difficult to counter such complex tactics even if he knew them. Besides, if he were an immortal creature like the prison guards or giant wolves, he would lack the mental capacity to process it anyway.

The subsequent attacks were carried out largely according to this plan.

Sure enough, during the first wave of simultaneous strikes from the Strength, Metal, and Fire-element users, the Lord of the Ice Prison suffered multiple heavy blows. To withstand these attacks coming from all directions, he was forced to concentrate a vast amount of immortal energy on his skin to form a thicker defense. Even so, his stability was shattered by the multi-directional assault.

Although his armor could block the blades of the superpowered users, heavy weapons like hammers, clubs, and gauntlets caused vibration damage that hurt the inside of his body rather than just the surface, making things quite difficult for him.

Furious and about to counterattack, he was met with countless poisoned hidden weapons from all sides. These he didn't fear, as they couldn't pierce his armor. What bothered him were the various whips and ropes, along with strange binding abilities that wrapped around his limbs. Some even obscured his vision beneath his helmet, severely limiting his strength and speed.

He frantically unleashed a stunning immortal technique, slamming his right leg into the ground. Suddenly, the surrounding superpowered users felt a tremor beneath their feet, their vision blackening as they experienced a brief moment of dizziness.

The Lord of the Ice Prison stomped his left foot, and over a dozen stone spikes erupted from the ground, killing or wounding seven or eight people.

Immediately, water-element users created curtains of water in front of the casualties to block the Lord’s line of sight, then dragged the fallen bodies back to safety.

Earth-element users filled the gap, using their own bodies and abilities to block the Lord’s techniques.

...

This level of combat was an eye-opener for Shuisheng. As a spectator, he stared at the scene without blinking, absorbing everything with full concentration, his hands and feet unconsciously mimicking the movements as he watched.

Wen Fengxian was a Level 7 Metal-element user; according to the battle hierarchy, she was fighting alongside Yan Ruobing, a Level 5 Fire-element user.

You Fengtian and Wen Fengxian had originally intended to keep Yan Ruobing out of the battle, but the young lady was high-spirited by nature and felt it would be a regret not to participate in the thrilling scene of killing a major boss. She insisted on joining. She did not want to be someone who only knew how to give orders from the sidelines without ever getting her hands dirty.

In fact, she hated such people the most.

Shuisheng’s eyes caught sight of Ni Ximei again. She was working with the Wood-element users, using her barbed vines and abilities, constantly looking for chances to restrain the Lord of the Ice Prison.

However, no matter how Shuisheng looked at it, she seemed distracted, her mind clearly elsewhere.

The corner of her eyes seemed to be constantly glancing at Yan Ruobing, who was moving in and out of the fray nearby.