Frost Treasury

Zhou Heng watched the 1,536 damage rise from his body, his gaze narrowing slightly as he looked at Su Hai.

At level 30 max, he could deal fifteen hundred damage in a single strike. As expected of a Longevity Family player. If Zhou Heng had not witnessed Hero King Karenna and the revival of the Ancient Mechanical Deity, that sword strike would probably have sent him back to the respawn point.

At the same time, he was glad he had killed Su Ling early. Otherwise, given the Longevity Family's rate of development, he might truly have been unable to kill her at this point.

After all, even a good-for-nothing from the Longevity Family Collateral Branch could deal 1,536 damage to him. How could a direct-line heiress like Su Ling be any worse?

"You..."

"Zhou Heng, we can sit down and talk!"

"There's absolutely no need to make this ugly for everyone, is there?"

Su Hai dropped his weapon on the ground, put both hands behind his head, and knelt before Zhou Heng, ignoring the shocked, confused, and bewildered looks around him.

As a Longevity Family player, Su Hai did have his own pride. After all, when someone had spent so long looking down on others, it was hard to kneel.

There had been no shortage of ordinary players who had challenged him as a Longevity Family player, but because of Revival Coins, he could never have backed down. He had even enjoyed playing along with them. After all, he had countless chances, while they only had one.

The problem was that the enemy he faced this time was different from those before.

According to the information from his family, Zhou Heng, who had killed Su Ling, was suspected of possessing the ability to bypass Resurrection Authority and kill players outright.

That meant a single battle would decide everything. Either his opponent lived, or he did.

If that sword strike had crippled his opponent, he might have been able to jump up, laugh in mockery, and bolster his courage. But damn it, his opponent's health bar had not even budged after that strike. How was he supposed to fight?

So backing down became the only answer.

Even Su Hai did not dare joke around with death.

"This... how is this possible?!"

In the distance, the freckled girl watched everything, her eyes filled with shock.

A lofty, overbearing Longevity Family player had actually knelt before an ordinary player?

Even the Xia Kingdom's official powerhouses could not make these people kneel with their hands behind their heads, could they?

Seeing Su Hai kneel before him without a shred of dignity, Zhou Heng gave a quiet chuckle and pressed his sword against his neck.

"Get up and take me to the Resource Vault's real treasury. I imagine you know where it is, right?"

Zhou Heng did not choose to kill him on the spot, because he knew full well that once he killed Su Hai, the army of players present would have nothing holding them back. What if they snatched resources he might need?

So Su Hai had to stay alive a little longer, at least until Zhou Heng obtained the true treasures of Frost City's Resource Vault.

"I know, I know!"

Su Hai cautiously rose to his feet, an unidentified glimmer flickering in his eyes.

"Brother Zhou, Frost City has some real treasures. You've come to the right place!"

"I'll take you to the good stuff. You'll definitely like it."

Su Hai immediately started calling him "Brother Zhou," as though the two were close.

Zhou Heng did not know what Su Hai was up to, but with Fate Hint at his disposal, he was not worried about any tricks.

"All right. As long as the items satisfy me, I can make the call to spare your life."

As Zhou Heng spoke, he added inwardly, I'm lying.

At his words, the smile on Su Hai's plump face grew even wider.

"Good, good, good. I believe you're a man of your word, Brother Zhou. Brother Su, let's head farther in to get them. There's plenty of good stuff. I'll point it all out to you."

Zhou Heng nodded and headed deeper into the Resource Vault with his sword held against Su Hai.

"Brother Zhou, this is worth taking!"

"This is our Frost City specialty, Ice Crystal. Once swallowed, it slowly converts into ice attribute reduction over a month. This one can increase your ice attribute reduction by 1,000 points."

Zhou Heng picked up the Ice Crystal Su Hai had mentioned. Just as he had said, all one needed to do was consume it to gain 1,000 points of ice attribute reduction a month later.

[Appearances could sometimes seep in silently like this, killing you before you realized it. Your shallow knowledge has triggered Fate Hint.]

[Fate offers you a hint.]

[Fate Hint 1: Consuming Ice Crystal certainly offers tremendous benefits, but it also conceals an unknown secret. Any member of the Human Race who consumes Ice Crystal must suffer a permanent loss of 10,000 Health. How could 1,000 ice attribute reduction be so easy to obtain?]

[Fate Hint 2: Your Health is not low. Perhaps you could try trading 10,000 Health for 1,000 ice attribute reduction.]

Upon seeing the Fate Hints, a class immediately surfaced in Zhou Heng's mind: Forgery Master.

The Ice Crystal was real, but a section had been removed from its Appraisal results-the section about permanently deducting 10,000 Health.

Presumably, this was information exclusive to the Longevity Family. An ordinary player like him could suffer irreversible ruin with the slightest carelessness and be killed outright.

After all, ordinary players did not have so many chances to revive.

Without a word, Zhou Heng put away the Ice Crystal and continued forcing Su Hai farther inside.

Soon, the two stopped before an enormous silver door.

"Brother Zhou, the true treasures of Frost City's Resource Vault are right in here!"

Su Hai spoke cautiously. He was a little excited, and although he concealed it well, Zhou Heng still noticed.

"What's inside?" Zhou Heng pressed the sword in his hand down a little farther.

Feeling the chill against his neck, Su Hai hurriedly offered an apologetic smile. "Brother Zhou, it's definitely something good. I don't know much. I heard the elders in my family say it seems to have something to do with something ancient. It's a statue, a statue of a man holding a flute and playing it."

A statue of a man playing a flute?

Ancient Heroes???

So this was the unexpected bonus Fate Hint had mentioned during Faction Selection?

A smile involuntarily tugged at Zhou Heng's lips. If it really was Ancient Heroes???, then he had searched high and low in vain, only to find it without any effort.

Leaving aside any other gains, the confidence the Elegant Ancient Flute alone gave him was beyond anything the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword) could match.

After all, compared with the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword), a piece of equipment that might harbor hidden dangers, the Elegant Ancient Flute currently had absolutely no problems.

"I'm very interested in this statue you mentioned. Open it!" Zhou Heng ordered sharply.

Seeing that Zhou Heng was interested, Su Hai immediately rubbed his hands together and spoke.

"Brother Zhou, just leave it to me. I guarantee I'll get it open for you. But this sword..."

Su Hai pointed at the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword) against his neck. For some reason, having that sword across his neck unnerved him.

The corner of Zhou Heng's mouth lifted, and he lowered the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword). The instant he did, Su Hai shouted, "Mo-"

Squelch-

Before Su Hai could finish, his head separated from his body and rolled heavily to the side.

Su Hai's eyes were wide open, filled with terror and unwillingness.

"Your attack speed... how is that possible... at this level..."

"My... mother will... avenge... me..."

Without so much as glancing at Su Hai on the ground, Zhou Heng calmly sheathed his sword. He had been on guard against that all along. Did Su Hai really think his attack speed of 4.0/s was just for show?