In the dim forge lit by flickering silvery-white flames, Shi Feng sorted through the ice resistance gems stored in his Epic-grade backpack space, performing some simple categorization.
The ice resistance gems crafted from Ice Jade Stones each provided slightly different boosts to ice resistance—ranging from 5 points to 8 points—so their prices varied accordingly. Moreover, beyond the ordinary ice resistance gems, thanks to the Black Iron Emblem, there was a 3% chance for forged items to have their attributes enhanced during the crafting process.
Some ice resistance gems had been reinforced by the Black Iron Emblem, directly pushing their ice resistance attribute above 10 points. Their value far surpassed that of ordinary ice resistance gems.
Just as Shi Feng was sorting through his backpack space, Jing Wuming suddenly contacted him.
"Guild Leader, we've run into an urgent situation. I don't know where Black Hecate got this batch of powerhouse players, but every single one of them is extraordinarily skilled. They were still on the first underground level of the Ice Snow Ruins before, but in the past few days their clearing speed has been terrifying. Just now, they've already overtaken us and entered the fourth underground level—they're only one floor away from the final fifth level." Jing Wuming sounded thoroughly exasperated by Black Hecate's clearing speed.
The Ice Snow Ruins was essentially a zone dungeon. Each lower level increased the difficulty of progression, and you could only advance to the next by defeating the final boss guarding that floor. They had struggled for two days straight but still couldn't break through the third level. Then they could only watch helplessly as Black Hecate's people walked into the fourth underground level, while they themselves had to wait for the boss to respawn before they could challenge it again…
"Their clearing speed is that fast?" Shi Feng was somewhat surprised.
He had done some research on the Ice Snow Ruins and knew its difficulty. The boss guarding the third level alone was a Tier 62 Grand Lord-tier Primordial Species, and on top of that it had unique skills and the special environmental factors—the Ice Snow Ruins contained an ancient barrier that prevented the use any items or props. Dark Books, summoning scrolls, magical barriers—none of it could be used. Players could only rely entirely on their own strength.
So even a same-level hundred-player Tier 2 team would have an extremely hard time dealing with it. Yet Black Hecate had managed to push through so quickly—it truly exceeded his expectations.
"Guild Leader, should we call over more Shura Adventure Team members from the Divine Realm continent?" Jing Wuming suggested.
The hundred-player team they could field right now was already the best configuration available in Cold Wind City. Even Gu Jiuji, who had rushed back, and Yan Ya, who managed the Shura Adventure Team, were both in the raid party. Yet they still couldn't get past the third level's guardian boss.
The only way to break through would be to bring in Shura Adventure Team members from the Divine Realm continent. After a period of training, those members' combat levels were significantly higher than the top players in Cold Wind City.
"Forget it," Shi Feng shook his head. "It would boost the raid party's combat power somewhat, but the increase would be marginal—it wouldn't create a qualitative change. The boss hasn't respawned yet, and everyone's stamina and mental energy are depleted. Have everyone pull back and rest first. There's no rush—we can go again once the boss respawns. Once I finish handling things here, I'll go take a look at the third level of the Ice Snow Ruins myself and see what's going on. If it really doesn't work, we'll figure something else out."
"Alright, I'll bring them back for rest and recovery then." Jing Wuming heard Shi Feng out and admitted it made sense. The Divine Realm members were stronger, but only by a narrow margin. As for Shi Feng personally leading the raid later, he didn't think one person could change much—dealing with the bosses in the Ice Snow Ruins primarily relied on the team's collective power, and an individual's contribution was very limited.
Still, Jing Wuming was somewhat looking forward to Shi Feng leading the charge. Maybe they could break through the third underground level. As for the fourth level, they'd have to figure something out when the time came.
If all else failed, they could always ask the Zero Wing Guild's experts to step in. He knew those monsters from Zero Wing—quite a few of them were even stronger than him. If those people intervened, overtaking Black Hecate would be virtually guaranteed.
But what Jing Wuming didn't know was that Shi Feng had never intended to involve any other Zero Wing members in the competition for the Ice Crystal World. Moreover, Zero Wing had grown too large now—every region needed manpower. They couldn't just mobilize the guild's top combat power at will like they used to.
After that, Shi Feng spent over half an hour sorting all the ice resistance gems into categories.
Looking at these ice resistance gems, Shi Feng's eyes gleamed.
Gems providing 5 points of ice resistance numbered exactly 42,561. Gems providing 6 points of ice resistance totaled 37,332. Gems providing 7 points of ice resistance came to a full 33,784. And gems providing 8 points of ice resistance amounted to 12,451.
Finally, the reinforced gems with ice resistance above 10 points numbered 2,921…
On the market, a gem providing 5 points of ice resistance was only worth around 1 gold and 50 silver—roughly equivalent to the production cost of an Ice Jade Stone—and they were the most numerous output.
Out of 400,000 Ice Jade Stones processed, obtaining over 40,000 gems that provided 5 points of ice resistance meant his luck had been quite good.