As the flames slowly dissipated, what appeared was not the melted, empty snowfield everyone had expected after being scorched by the fire, nor a charred corpse or the remains left behind by that young man.
Instead, an ice sculpture appeared as if by a miracle, as though the flames from before had been the cloth covering a precious item about to be auctioned off.
Inside the ice sculpture, Wu Liao wore a calm expression, as though he had expected this all along. In truth, his heart was filled with a mixture of relief, disdain, and realization.
He was relieved that the flames had not harmed him, relieved that he had unleashed his ability at the very last moment. He disdained those seemingly ferocious flames, because after bursting forth with all his strength, he realized that he had apparently overestimated his opponent.
His opponent's attack had not even melted the slightest bit of the defensive ice layer he had condensed. It was like an egg smashing against a rock, leaving nothing but a smear of yolk on its surface.
What dawned on him was this: Had he become this strong already? Wasn't it supposed to be, according to the usual settings, that after gaining abilities, one had to fight little monsters level by level and defeat bosses to level up?
This system can be pretty useful sometimes. Since that's the case, to repay you, I'll put in a little more effort to drag you into the ranks of salted fish.
But that was only a fleeting thought. What filled his heart even more was rage. Even a clay figurine had its limits, let alone a salted fish like him who had been steadily advancing down the path of being a salted fish.
Never mind that he now had the power to