Lottery! Awesome!

As the icicles overhead were about to fall, Xu Linjiu hurriedly raised [Reflect] above his head.

"Bang!"

The icicle slammed into [Reflect], scattering countless shards of ice.

"Whew! That was close!"

Even though he already possessed strength far beyond that of an ordinary Soul King, getting hit on the head by an icicle like that would still mean certain death.

"But..."

Xu Linjiu looked up at the icicles still falling from the ceiling, his brow tightly furrowed.

Although the energy pillar released when the Pokémon Egg hatched had been blocked by the ice accumulated in the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Cave over countless years, that did not mean the aftershock of the energy impact would not reach the surface.

"People above have probably noticed."

Skydream Iceworm drifted to his side, clearly having thought of the same thing. "Then what do we do?"

"There's no need to worry too much. After all, the temperature in the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Cave isn't something just anyone can withstand."

Seeing that the icicles overhead had stopped falling, Xu Linjiu dismissed the [Reflect] in his hand and looked at Skydream Iceworm. "Besides, there are only two Soul Sages up there. Even if I can't beat them, it won't be easy for them to hurt me."

Then he glanced again at the series of rewards that had just been delivered for completing the quest on the Pokédex screen, and the corners of Xu Linjiu's mouth lifted slightly.

"To be safe, I'll raise my strength first!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Linjiu tapped the screen with his finger, and the familiar giant roulette wheel appeared before him once more.

"Let me see! Let me see!"

Skydream Iceworm leaned over as well. It had always heard Xu Linjiu mention lotteries and giant roulette wheels, and today it could finally see one for itself.

"Let's see. Three random skill lottery tickets, one random Ice-type skill lottery ticket, one Legendary skill lottery ticket, two random item lottery tickets, and two random Ability Capsule lottery tickets! What a haul, what a haul!"

Lottery! Awesome!

Xu Linjiu no longer hesitated. He decisively raised his hand and pressed the center of the giant roulette wheel, beginning the draw!

[Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn the Ice-type skill: Icy Wind!]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn the Normal-type skill: Supersonic!]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn the Grass-type skill: Grassy Glide!]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn the Fairy-type skill: Moonblast!]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn Keldeo's exclusive skill: Secret Sword!]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn the item: Dawn Stone!]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn the item: Assault Vest!]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn the Ability Capsule: Intimidate!]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have drawn the Ability Capsule: Adaptability!]

"[Secret Sword]! Keldeo's exclusive skill?"

The image of Keldeo, a little blue colt, involuntarily surfaced in Xu Linjiu's mind.

"Am I really that fated with horse Pokémon?"

He looked at Glastrier before him, then at the freshly obtained [Secret Sword] in his hand.

Xu Linjiu shook his head, tossing away his jumbled thoughts.

Although [Secret Sword] was an exclusive skill of a Legendary Pokémon, its power was limited. It was a skill specifically effective against Kyurem.

In ordinary battles, it was merely a special-attack version of [Sacred Sword].

He tried dragging [Secret Sword] into his skill slot.

[Xu Linjiu's compatibility with Secret Sword is terrible!]

[Secret Sword cannot be learned!]

"I knew it. Exclusive skills aren't that easy to learn. I'll stash it in my inventory for now."

After finishing that, Xu Linjiu turned his attention back to the rewards he had just drawn.

[Icy Wind] was undoubtedly an Ice-type skill, so he would keep it for himself.

[Moonblast]—Psychic and Fairy had always gone hand in hand. Maybe the system had sensed that he was about to deal with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, so it had specially arranged this reward for him!

[Supersonic]—a nasty skill like this had to go to him!

[Grassy Glide], a mountain looming over all Water-types, could be saved for Little Three.

Neither the [Dawn Stone] nor the [Assault Vest] would be useful for now, so he would leave them in his inventory.

Then came the final two main prizes!

[Intimidate] and [Adaptability].

First was the legendary Ability, [Intimidate]. Possessing it meant having the qualifications to rise to number one in the universe!

After much deliberation, Xu Linjiu ultimately decided to give Glastrier this chance to become number one in the universe.

A flash of flowing light entered Glastrier's body. Glastrier immediately felt something strange, raised its forehooves, and neighed toward the sky.

Attack -1

So terrifying!

Xu Linjiu patted Glastrier's head and soothed it, then assigned [Adaptability] to himself.

What a joke—was there any combination more underhanded than [Protean] and [Adaptability]?

[Protean] turned every move into a same-type attack bonus, while [Adaptability] increased that same-type attack bonus from fifty percent to one hundred percent.

Magnificent. No further words were needed!

The addition of new skills and Abilities greatly boosted Xu Linjiu's confidence.

Now, only one thought remained in Xu Linjiu's heart.

"Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? Hmph! I'll make sure he never returns!"

Xu Linjiu stood up, brushed the ice chips from his body, and fixed his gaze on the pale blue energy membrane overhead.

He had come down through there, so naturally he had to go back up through there.

Xu Linjiu recalled Glastrier into his body, then checked once more that he had all his belongings.

"Alright, let's go!"

Psychic wrapped around his entire body as Xu Linjiu flew toward the energy membrane. A bone-piercing chill rushed at him, but he was no longer the same as when he had arrived.

The awakening of his second martial soul had greatly increased his resistance to ice, while the ultimate ice attribute gave him a faint sense of familiarity with the chill of this cold spring.

Taking a deep breath, he leaped into the spring.

The icy spring water enveloped his body, but unlike the bone-freezing cold that had nearly frozen his marrow on the way down, this time he felt only a crisp, refreshing comfort.

He swam upward along the spring's source.

Descending had taken all his strength, but as he rose, aided by the push of the current, his speed was more than twice as fast.

Before long, he saw the faint light filtering down from above.

Xu Linjiu poked his head out of the spring, sending water splashing everywhere.

Bracing one hand against a rock by the shore, he lightly leaped out of the water and landed on the ground of the side courtyard.

The courtyard looked exactly as it had when he came down, with no sign that anyone had discovered anything.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon guard whom [Hypnosis] had put to sleep was still slumped in the corner, sleeping in exactly the same posture as several hours ago. Even his breathing rhythm had not changed.

"Looks like we got lucky. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan didn't discover us," Skydream Iceworm said in Xu Linjiu's mind.

"It's not that easy."

Xu Linjiu sneered as invisible spiritual power instantly spread outward.

Sure enough, under the scan of [Psychic Detection], the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's two Soul Sages were lying in ambush nearby.

"You humans really are sinister!"

Skydream Iceworm said unhappily in Xu Linjiu's mind, "I almost fell for it! So what are you planning to do?"

"What am I planning to do?"

As he spoke, specks of cold light had already begun gathering at Xu Linjiu's fingertips.

"Of course, I strike first!"

[Xu Linjiu used the skill Ice Beam!]

[Xu Linjiu activated the Ability Protean!]

[Xu Linjiu's type became Ice!]