The rougher the seas, the pricier the fish

"Changhuan, be serious!"

"I keep feeling that something isn't right this time!"

Among the mountains and rivers of the Sakas Empire near Frost City, Su Liuyue stood on a peak with Su Changhuan, a huge bow in her hand. Gazing toward Frost City, which was no longer very far away, she spoke with some agitation.

Su Changhuan was very handsome, with a pair of soul-stealing eyes that had brought trouble to countless women. He raised his eyebrows and said in surprise, "Liuyue, your intuition has always been accurate. Could something happen to us on this trip? I brought a full 2,000 Revival Coins."

Holding her huge bow, Su Liuyue pondered for a moment before shaking her head. "It probably won't be fatal. There might be enemies in Frost City we don't know about. In any case, we'd better be careful on this trip."

Thinking of the beautiful female NPCs in Frost City, Su Changhuan couldn't help curling his lips into a wickedly charming smile. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

With that, Su Changhuan spotted two streaks of colorful light passing overhead, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.

"The elders of our family have made their move. We need to get to Frost City as quickly as possible too."

"Yes. Let's go, pick up the pace!"

Su Liuyue picked up the conversation, pushed off with her feet, and dashed lightly toward Frost City.

"This one's good. Take it!"

"This one's decent too. Keep it."

"Intermediate red potions? Good stuff."

Zhou Heng kept looting the resources in the Frost Resource Vault, especially the red potions. He didn't intend to leave a single bottle behind. He still lacked a good passive for restoring health, so red potions were his only means of counteracting the Fusion Core's health drain.

Soon, Zhou Heng had looted 1,000 bottles of intermediate red potions. Compared with Small Health Potions, intermediate red potions were more effective, restoring 1,000 health each: 300 instantly, with the remaining 700 restored slowly over time.

Those 1,000 bottles could restore a total of one million health. With the Fusion Core draining 200 health per hour, that million health would cover 208.33 days of its drain.

That span of time was enough for him to find a more effective way to deal with it.

After putting the 1,000 intermediate red potions into his backpack, Zhou Heng continued looting and soon noticed something unusual.

He had been so busy looting good items earlier that he hadn't looked for Second-Turn Credentials. Now that he went back to look, he found that the enormous Frost Resource Vault didn't contain a single one.

Not only were the Second-Turn Credentials he wanted missing, but there wasn't a single first or Third Class Advancement credential, or even any sixth, seventh, or eighth advancement credentials that would have warranted a prominent spot.

Zhou Heng's expression darkened. He had essentially guessed the answer already: the Longevity Family must have been suppressing ordinary players' leveling and advancement at the source.

First, they wouldn't let people farm monsters. Second, they kept credentials for things like the Second Class Advancement under tight control. Wasn't that precisely how the Longevity Family kept the region under its thumb?

"In... out..."

Zhou Heng took a deep breath and decided to look for anything else that suited him, but just then, Fate Hints appeared before his eyes.

[Fate is fickle, a small sausage wrapped in a large sausage. Some things will not change because of your actions.]

[Fate offers you hints.]

[Fate Hint 1: Leave Frost City. Do not look back. Flee far to the due west. This place is about to become a true battlefield, with casualties easily reaching a million. The slightest misstep will mean your final end here.]

[Fate Hint 2: As the saying goes, the rougher the seas, the pricier the fish. In the battle of Frost City, where a true war is about to erupt, you still have a sliver of opportunity. Head toward the city lord's manor and play the Elegant Ancient Flute ten minutes from now. The opportunity will come to you unbidden.]

A sharp gleam flashed through Zhou Heng's eyes.

Fleeing was out of the question. With his current attributes and class skills, combined with the Elegant Ancient Flute and the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword), he could put up a fight as long as the enemy wasn't too absurdly powerful.

Besides, the Fate Hint had mentioned an opportunity, which meant there was no risk of death. Wouldn't passing up an opportunity like this make him far too much of a coward?

So Zhou Heng looked around, using the last of his time to search for equipment that could increase his attack speed and movement speed. For him now, attack and health were secondary. Attack speed and movement speed were what gave him the confidence to defeat high-level players.

The Frost Resource Vault did not disappoint, finally providing Zhou Heng with three pieces of equipment that increased attack speed or movement speed.

A pair of bracers, a pair of cloud boots, and a hat.

Vast Sky Cloud Bracers

Level: 40

Quality: fine

Attack speed +1.0/s

Durability: 100/100

Cloud heaven mercy: usage level requirement -20

Equipment requirement: level 40

Vast Sky Cloud Boots

Level: 40

Quality: fine

Movement speed +1.0 m/s

Durability: 100/100

Cloud heaven mercy: usage level requirement -20

Equipment requirement: level 40

Vast Sky Cloud Hat

Level: 1

Quality: brilliant

Attack speed +10%

Movement speed +10%

Cloud heaven curse: cannot be equipped above level 50

Equipment requirement: 1

The three pieces of equipment seemed to belong to the same series, as all their names began with "Vast Sky." Unfortunately, these were the only three he had found in the Frost Resource Vault.

After equipping the Vast Sky Cloud Bracers, Vast Sky Cloud Boots, and Vast Sky Cloud Hat, his attack speed reached 5.5/s while wielding the Sakast Imperial Sword (Holy Sword), and his movement speed rose to 9.02 m/s.

Although the increase was only around 20%, it was already an excellent improvement for attack speed and movement speed, which were difficult to raise.

With such strength to fall back on, Zhou Heng no longer felt worried about the enemies to come. Instead, he brimmed with fighting spirit.

Leaving the Frost Resource Vault, Zhou Heng gazed at the distant Frost City lord's manor, with the sounds of countless players and NPCs defending the city behind him. To be honest, he also wanted to take a look from the city walls, but now wasn't the time. He had something more important to do. After all, the Fate Hints wouldn't deceive him.

Five minutes later, Zhou Heng arrived at the Frost City lord's manor. The place had long since emptied, without even a single guard remaining. Everyone capable had been sent to the walls on all four sides to defend Frost City.

Zhou Heng found a decent mound of ice to sit on, took the Heavenly Horse Cigarettes out of his backpack, lit one for himself, and began smoking leisurely.

There were still five minutes until the ten-minute mark specified by the Fate Hint. Naturally, he wouldn't miss this chance to improve his strength.

Five minutes was enough for him to finish his second Heavenly Horse Cigarette.

As he puffed out clouds of smoke, Zhou Heng received a permanent increase notification.

[Attack permanently +100, magic permanently +100, health permanently +1,000, mana permanently +1,000]

Including the first cigarette, they had already given Zhou Heng 200 attack, 200 magic, 2,000 health, and 2,000 mana.

By the time he finished the second cigarette, the ten minutes specified by the Fate Hint had passed. Without further hesitation, Zhou Heng took out the Elegant Ancient Flute, raised it to his lips, and once again played the March of Xia Kingdom.

Accompanied by the stirring, spirited flute melody, so full of fighting spirit, a figure slowly approached from afar...