Ice Element Advancement, Bone-Chilling Deep Cold, Ultimate Control!

Zhang Dafu was taken aback.

Then he shot Lin Yi a suspicious look.

His expression seemed to say, Come on, bro, are you still testing me?

Do I say sell or not sell?

But Lin Yi didn't say anything more.

After a long pause, Zhang Dafu said, "Bro, don't joke around with me. If I sold this thing, I'd really be eating prison food."

"That's a hard no!"

Lin Yi was a bit confused.

But he picked up on something from Zhang Dafu's words.

It seemed that Breakthrough Magic Crystals, like Gold Grade equipment and above, were strictly controlled by the state.

Lin Yi wasn't embarrassed at all. He had come to gather intel on Breakthrough Magic Crystals in the first place, so he flat-out admitted he had no idea what they really were or how to get them.

Hearing this, Zhang Dafu pondered for a moment.

It was obvious he was weighing whether this kind of information counted as a paid service.

But considering how much he could make reselling the stuff Lin Yi had just sold him, he waved his hand generously and said, "Bro, this isn't really a secret. I'll tell you for free."

"The only way to get Breakthrough Magic Crystals is from our Great Xia's state-owned Magic Crystal Mines."

"And all the refining, processing, and other tech is controlled by the government."

"Private individuals or organizations are strictly forbidden from mining, processing, or selling them."

"The uses are also wide-ranging. They're key for strengthening all professional skills and unlocking branch skill trees."

"If you want to get them through proper channels, you join the Professional Alliance or a big guild with official backing, and exchange Merit Points or guild contributions."

"Of course, bro, you look pretty young, so you probably just changed professions not long ago. There's another convenient way for you to get Breakthrough Magic Crystals."

"Some of our Great Xia's famous Professional Academies also have corresponding Breakthrough Magic Crystal resources. If you get in, you should have a way to obtain them."

"Oh, and I heard that our province rewards outstanding candidates in the National College Entrance Examination, and Breakthrough Magic Crystals might be among the prizes."

Lin Yi finally understood completely.

All resources that had a huge impact on a professional's combat power.

In Great Xia, they were basically already allocated.

To get them, you had to go through the official channels.

Lin Yi thanked Zhang Dafu and left the Treasure Pavilion.

Right now, in his Inventory Space, he still had an Archer's Explosive Arrow Skill Book and 100 points of tradable Skill Points that he could sell.

But Lin Yi didn't plan to unload everything at once.

He would do it in batches.

The logic was the same: to avoid drawing too much attention.

Now that he'd made another huge pile of cash, Lin Yi naturally planned to spend it on buying AFK Skill Point rewards.

But this time, Lin Yi didn't go home. Instead, he headed to school.

After awakening his profession, there were no more classes at school.

The note Lin Yi's mother had left him said his homeroom teacher wanted to see him about something, so Lin Yi decided to check it out.

Also, what Zhang Dafu had said earlier—about getting official rewards, including Breakthrough Magic Crystals, for ranking high in the National College Entrance Examination—had clearly caught Lin Yi's interest.

Since this resource was crucial for him to keep getting stronger.

Then the professional college entrance exam, which Lin Yi hadn't taken very seriously before, and finding a strong professional higher education institution, had to be put on the agenda.

As Lin Yi walked toward Jiangcheng No. 2 High School, he activated a new function of his talent, [Gift of the Gods].

[Spend 50,000 Great Xia Coins to purchase 24 hours of Skill Point rewards?]

Lin Yi didn't hesitate to choose yes.

But this time, he didn't go crazy mashing confirm like last time.

Instead, he started calculating how much money he had left.

After buying Skill Points six times in a row.

Lin Yi stopped.

At this point, getting another 24 hours of AFK Skill Point rewards would cost a full 100,000 Great Xia Coins.

So Lin Yi saved the remaining ten-plus thousand Great Xia Coins, keeping them for emergencies so he wouldn't be short on cash if he wanted to buy something.

Even using them to help with household expenses wouldn't be a bad idea.

Anyway, if he wanted to make more money, he could sell the Skill Books and Skill Points.

Six purchases netted Lin Yi over 500,000 Skill Points.

Adding what he had saved before, Lin Yi now had over 800,000 Skill Points.

He opened the skill interface.

Lin Yi selected the Ice Element Skill he had just obtained and began allocating points.

His target was still Tier 7.

Lin Yi had found that Tier 7 Spells were enough to handle most situations he currently faced.

He would spread points evenly across Tier 7, and if there were leftover Skill Points, he would pick one skill and push it to Tier 8!

[Consuming 500 Skill Points, your Ice Arrow has been upgraded. You have obtained a new spell: Ice Shock!]

[Consuming 2,000 Skill Points, your Ice Shock has been upgraded. You have obtained a new spell: Frost Bind!]

[Consuming 5,000 Skill Points, your Frost Bind has been upgraded. You have obtained a new spell: Blizzard!]

[Consuming 10,000 Skill Points, your Blizzard has been upgraded. You have obtained a new spell: Extreme Cold Zone!]

[Consuming 50,000 Skill Points, your Extreme Cold Zone has been upgraded. You have obtained a new spell: Bone-Chilling Deep Cold!]

[Consuming 100,000 Skill Points, your Bone-Chilling Deep Cold has been upgraded. You have obtained a new spell: Soul Freeze!]

With seven Ice Element spells in hand, Lin Yi began checking each one.

If Fire Element was about raw, violent damage, and Wind Element was about rapid attacks with multi-hit combos, then Ice Element skills had an equally distinct trait—

Control!

Absolute control!

Ice Arrow inflicted a 30% slow effect on the target, which persisted.

Then, the Tier 3 spell Frost Bind could lock a target's feet in ice, immobilizing them On the Spot for 5 seconds.

The Tier 5 Frost Zone had no damage at all.

But it could drop the temperature in a large area to dozens of degrees below zero, applying a massive 60% slow effect to all targets within range.

And this effect stacked continuously; at three stacks, it instantly turned into a bind.

Looking at the Tier 6 and Tier 7 Ice Element skills, Lin Yi noticed a pattern.

It seemed that every mage specialization introduced something unique at Tier 6.

Fire Element had summons, Wind Element had supersonic slashes.

The Tier 6 Ice Element spell was actually a Passive Skill!

[Bone-Chilling Deep Cold]

[Type: Passive Skill]

[Tier: 6]

[Element: Ice Element]

[Cost: None]

[Chant Time: None]

[Cooldown Time: None]

[Effect: All targets affected by your slow, bind, or freeze effects become vulnerable, taking 20% increased damage from all sources. Additionally, based on the restriction effect you have applied to the target, their Dodge Chance is further reduced.]

[Slow Effect: Reduces target's Dodge Chance by 30%.]

[Bind Effect: Reduces target's Dodge Chance by 60%.]

[Freeze Effect: Reduces target's Dodge Chance by 100%, and when you use a Fire Element skill to break their freeze, it deals additional Ice Element damage equal to 20% of their Max HP!]

[Note: The Max HP reduction effect is diminished against higher-level, higher-rank monsters, reduced to a minimum of 1%!]

[Remark: Deep cold, piercing to the bone.]