You are all surrounded by me!

"Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss—"

Four thousand nine hundred and fifty Bone Teeth emitted a piercing, teeth-grinding whistle.

The Frost Lord, hanging on by a mere sliver of health, could not even let out a final roar.

Its massive skull was instantly swarmed by a dense screen of "-1" forced damage numbers.

The stacked numbers formed a shocking, dark red mass.

The Frost Lord's gargantuan body suddenly stiffened.

The frenzy and ferocity in its eyes froze instantly, and then it collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Its hard, crystalline body shattered all over the ground.

Several pieces of loot emitting different lusters burst forth.

Among them, a crystal-clear core was particularly conspicuous.

Ice Soul Core.

The quest item was in hand.

Silence.

Dead, deathly silence.

On the battlefield, the five-man squad led by the female swordsman Ling Xue remained in a defensive stance.

They stared at the unbelievable scene before them in a daze, their minds completely blank.

They had fought tooth and nail, used every trump card, and finally managed to whittle the boss down to a sliver of health.

And yet.

At the final moment of harvest, someone had sniped it?

This was no different from a resounding slap across each of their faces!

After the brief shock came sky-high rage!

"Who?!"

"Who did this?!"

"Get out here, you coward!"

The Shield Guard and the assassin in the squad cursed loudly, their eyes red with fury.

Ling Xue's expression was livid, her chest heaving violently.

The ice-blue sword in her hand, which radiated a biting chill, pointed toward the position where the Bone Teeth had been launched, her voice cold enough to cut bone.

"Who are you? Hiding and skulking, stealing someone else's boss—don't you think that's a bit despicable?"

Lin Mu's figure slowly emerged from behind a massive Ice Rock.

His expression was calm.

Looking at the five enraged people, he spoke indifferently.

"Don't be agitated. You are surrounded by me."

This sentence left the entire squad stunned.

They looked at each other, subconsciously scanning their surroundings.

Apart from the white snow and the craggy Glaciers, there wasn't another soul in sight.

"Surrounded?"

"Just you alone? Kid, are you out of your damn mind?"

The Shield Guard laughed in extreme anger, raising his shield as he prepared to charge.

The others also figured this kid must be an idiot and couldn't be bothered to waste more breath on him.

They prepared to walk straight over to pick up the loot.

Lin Mu watched them and gave a light wave of his hand.

"Rumble—"

The earth shook violently!

From behind the surrounding Ice Hills and rocks, one, ten, fifty...

Exactly ninety Steel Skeletons shimmering with a cold metallic luster broke through the ice!

On the Ice Hills, ten Skeleton Archers wielding Steel Bows also quietly revealed themselves.

The eye sockets where their Soul Fire flickered locked onto the five people below.

A massive, grim-looking Undead Legion.

They instantly surrounded Ling Xue's five-person team in a reverse encirclement!

The visual impact and suffocating pressure brought by that torrent of steel.

Brought the five of them to a jarring, abrupt halt.

Every one of their pupils constricted sharply at this moment!

"This... what is this..."

"My Heaven... so many... such powerful skeletons?!"

They could clearly sense the strength of these skeletons.

They were far from the fragile summons of ordinary Necromancers that shattered at a mere touch!

Ling Xue's heart was stirred by crashing waves of shock.

She stared fixedly at Lin Mu.

In an instant, she judged him to be some old monster who had hidden his identity to play among mortals.

As for that LV.10 level?

He must have used some special item or secret technique to deliberately mask his true level!

For a moment.

The five of them were stuck, unable to move forward or backward, frozen in place.

Lin Mu, however, ignored them.

He walked forward in a leisurely manner and began to pick up the items dropped by the BOSS.

The quest item [Ice Soul Core].

A piece of purple-grade ice-type armor with top-tier stats.

A rare ice-type area-of-effect crowd control skill book.

He picked up the final item.

It was a peculiar crystal emitting a soft glow, known as [Ice Heart Glaze].

His talent activated, and a detailed description emerged.

[Ice Heart Glaze]: Contains the power of pure life and ice; can slightly alleviate most cold poisons and frost curses.

Seeing Lin Mu pick up that [Ice Heart Glaze].

The anger and vigilance on Ling Xue's face were instantly replaced by an unconcealable anxiety and pleading.

She actually put away her longsword.

Setting aside all her pride, her voice carried a hint of trembling.

"Senior! Please, wait!"

"That crystal... I beg you, please let me have that crystal! We are willing to pay any price!"

Lin Mu stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at her with interest.

"Give me a reason."

Under Lin Mu's calm gaze, Ling Xue gritted her teeth and revealed the truth.

Her younger brother had been afflicted with a vicious "Eternal Silence Ice Curse" by an evil organization called the "Frost God Cult."

He was in critical condition, suffering the bone-gnawing pain of ice day and night.

Only the [Ice Heart Glaze], which had a minuscule drop rate from the [Frost Plain] BOSS, the [Frost Lord].

Could serve as the main ingredient to temporarily suppress the curse.

It would buy time to find a true cure.

So that was it.

Lin Mu's heart stirred slightly.

He was no saint, but this sibling bond moved him a little.

Besides, when it came to stealing the kill, he was technically the one in the wrong.

Helping out.

He would treat it as an apology, and he might even earn some extra money on the side.

His gaze fell once more on the description of the [Ice Heart Glaze].

He locked precisely onto the words "slightly alleviate."

A bold plan quietly formed in his mind.

A mysterious smile curled onto Lin Mu's lips as he looked at the pleading Ling Xue.

"This [Ice Heart Glaze] is not perfect; even if I give it to you, it can only alleviate, not eradicate, your brother's curse."

"However..."

He paused.

"I, perhaps, have a way to refine it and make it even more perfect."

What?!

Upon hearing this, Ling Xue and the others were filled with disbelief.

An old monster capable of summoning a Skeleton Legion actually knew how to refine treasures as well?

Wasn't this just a bit... too omnipotent?

Just as Ling Xue hesitated, unsure whether she should believe these words.

Lin Mu's perception range, which reached a height of 99 meters, suddenly captured several powerful auras rapidly approaching from the distance.

The newcomers were ill-intentioned, their objective locked firmly onto this location.

Lin Mu's gaze sharpened, his thoughts stirring.

The massive Skeleton Legion surrounding them instantly turned into black mist and dissipated into the air.

He looked at the bewildered Ling Xue and spoke:

"It seems your trouble has arrived."

"Now, you might need my help even more."