Before his words had even faded.
Seven figures dressed in matching white ceremonial robes.
Closed in from different directions.
Each had an exquisite ice-crystal emblem embroidered over the chest.
Their bodies radiated a bone-chilling aura.
At their head was a middle-aged man with a sinister expression, whose level was as high as LV.40.
When he saw Ling Xue, a cruel sneer curled his lips.
"Ling Xue, did you think hiding in a Dungeon would do you any good?"
"Hand over [Ice Heart Glaze] and come back with me to become the Saintess. Your brother might still have a chance at survival!"
At the sight of their pursuers, Ling Xue's face turned deathly pale.
She bit her lip hard, her body trembling slightly with despair.
Their five-person team was already at the end of its strength, and the difference in their abilities was enormous.
They had no chance of standing against these seven Frost God Cult elites.
Just as the air grew thick with tension.
Lin Mu ignored the enemies around him and instead spoke to Ling Xue.
"The deal is still on."
"I'll take care of them and purify [Ice Heart Glaze]."
After a brief pause, Lin Mu continued:
"Once it's done, [Ice Heart Glaze] is yours. You'll also pay me an additional one hundred... uh... three million Nova Coins as a fee. How does that sound?"
At those words.
The seven Frost God Cult followers.
All looked at Lin Mu as if he were an idiot.
A LV.10 Necromancer.
Dared to claim he could take on seven strong fighters whose average level was above LV.38?
What else could that be but insanity?
Lin Mu couldn't be bothered with more talk.
With his back to everyone, he quietly activated his talent, [Description Tamperer].
His target was the [Ice Heart Glaze] in his hand.
"Change 'slightly alleviates' to 'greatly alleviates'!"
In an instant.
The crystal in his hand glowed with a restrained light.
It became purer, almost completely free of impurities.
Lin Mu turned around.
He waved the altered crystal in front of Ling Xue.
"See? It's purified."
Ling Xue stared at the [Ice Heart Glaze], its aura now completely different, and was utterly stunned.
Its pure life force and icy power were several times stronger than before!
The immense shock and the crisis bearing down on them.
Made her decide immediately.
"Fine! I accept!"
She spoke urgently:
"As long as you can save my brother, I'd be willing to pay five million, even ten million—not just three million!"
"Hmph! You're asking for death!"
The Frost God Cult leader was thoroughly enraged by Lin Mu's complete disregard for him.
"Attack! Kill them and take [Ice Heart Glaze]!"
In an instant.
Ice Spikes, ice blades, and frosty breath rained down over Lin Mu and Ling Xue.
Lin Mu snorted.
He casually pointed his staff at the ground.
The earth rumbled.
Ninety Steel Skeletons appeared from thin air.
They immediately surrounded the seven Frost God Cultists.
Once again, it was a case of "I've surrounded you!"
The battle erupted!
The skeleton army rapidly tightened its encirclement.
The Steel Skeletons at the front endured the fierce barrage of frost spells.
They shattered and fell in droves.
But there were simply too many of them.
And they died far more slowly than Lin Mu could summon new ones.
Some skeletons always managed to break through the spell blockade.
They brought their steel blades down hard on the white-robed mages.
Lin Mu occasionally raised a hand.
A few [Bone Teeth] shot out with pinpoint accuracy.
They easily finished off any cultist left on the brink of death after being swarmed by skeletons.
The five members of Ling Xue Squad.
Stared with their jaws practically on the ground, their minds completely blank.
They had imagined Lin Mu was powerful.
But they had never imagined he could be this absurdly strong.
How was this even a battle?
It was a one-sided slaughter!
What puzzled them, though.
Was why this four-time advanced expert wasn't summoning even stronger creatures.
Before long.
The only surviving Frost God Cult leader stared at the corpses of his companions scattered across the ground.
He was so terrified that he turned to flee.
But ten Skeleton Archers suddenly appeared in front of him.
They raised their Bone Bows.
Lin Mu asked calmly.
"Did I say you could leave?"
The Frost God Cult leader froze.
He slowly turned around, his face pale as paper.
He stared at the LV.10 youth, his eyes filled with fear.
"P-predecessor! Spare me! Please, spare me!"
He dropped to his knees with a thump, all his earlier arrogance gone.
"We failed to recognize your greatness and offended you, sir!"
Clearly, he had mistaken Lin Mu for some old monster who was merely pretending to be weak!
Lin Mu ignored his pleas.
He simply asked calmly:
"Who cast the Eternal Silence Ice Curse?"
The leader's body trembled at the question.
A flicker of struggle and fear crossed his eyes.
"I... I can't say! If I do, I'll die horribly!"
Lin Mu smiled.
To the Frost God Cult leader, that smile was more terrifying than an Abyss demon.
"If you don't tell me, you'll die horribly right now."
Lin Mu raised his staff, its tip glowing faintly.
"If you tell me, you might at least keep your body intact."
Under the threat of death, the leader's mental defenses crumbled completely.
He answered with a trembling voice:
"It... it was the Cult Master!"
"He took an interest in Ling Xue's special constitution and wanted to make her his 'material,' so he used the 'Eternal Silence Ice Curse' to control her younger brother!"
"The Cult Master?"
A look of understanding flashed in Lin Mu's eyes.
"Looks like this isn't over yet."
He thought to himself, but his expression remained calm.
"One last question. Why is the Frost God Cult targeting her?"
Lin Mu glanced at Ling Xue, whose face was deathly pale.
"Because... because she has the Ice Prayer Body! It's a special constitution said to be capable of communicating with the God of Frost! She's the key to the Cult Master's advancement to the fifth tier!"
The leader spilled everything like beans from a tipped basket.
Lin Mu nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer.
"Good."
As soon as the word left his mouth.
More than nine hundred [Bone Teeth] shot from the tip of his staff.
They pierced straight through the leader's forehead.
A trace of relief at having survived still lingered in the leader's eyes.
Then his expression froze forever.
After taking care of everything.
Lin Mu turned to face the utterly dumbfounded Ling Xue and her four companions.
"The trash has been cleaned up."
He held out his hand.
"Now, it's time to pay."
Ling Xue jolted back to her senses.
She looked at Lin Mu's handsome yet chilling face and hurriedly nodded.
"Yes! Yes, sir!"
She immediately opened her account and made the transfer.
[ZhiFuBao payment received: 3,000,000 Nova Coins.]
At the notification, Lin Mu nodded in satisfaction.
Lin Mu casually tossed [Ice Heart Glaze] to Ling Xue.
"It's worth the three million."
Ling Xue fumbled as she caught the crystal.
The four teammates behind her.
Looked at Lin Mu with awe, not daring to breathe too loudly.
"Th-thank you, sir, for giving me a new lease on life!"
Ling Xue's voice was choked with tears as she bowed deeply to Lin Mu.
She carefully took a starlit token from her storage space.
"Sir, this is the Shengjing Ling Family's [Ling Glory Token]!"
"If you ever need anything from us, just crush this token. Everyone in my family will brave fire and water for you!"
Lin Mu glanced at the token and accepted it without comment.
"All right, you can go."
"Yes!"
Ling Xue looked as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
She led her four teammates away, supporting one another.
They ran toward the Dungeon exit without looking back.
Only after they had completely disappeared.
Did Lin Mu turn his attention to the [Ice Soul Core] lying quietly in his backpack.
"The Shengjing Ling Family, the Ice Prayer Body, the Frost God Cult..."
He murmured softly and shook his head.
"Troublesome business. But for now, it has nothing to do with me."
"My top priority is completing my advancement!"
He gathered his thoughts and headed for the Dungeon exit as well.
It was time to witness the true power of a Necromancer after the First Advancement!
Before you continue