Inside the Ice-bound Prison.
The final boss, the Ice-bound Giant, let out a series of thunderous roars. The ice cavern shook as though the earth itself were splitting apart, and countless icicles crashed down from the ceiling. Over a hundred Level 30 players scrambled to dodge. Even a main tank who had activated their ultimate defensive skill couldn't survive a single hit, let alone players of any other class.
"Everyone, be careful and dodge — don't waste too much stamina! The boss only has 30% HP left!" Canglang Zhantian, his face pale, rolled to evade the Ice-bound Giant's hammer strike and shouted a warning to the group.
At this point, Canglang Zhantian's HP had already climbed to over 9,000 — only about 1,000 short of Ke Le, who was decked out in a Tier 1 set. He was easily one of the beefiest main tanks around.
But compared to the Ice-bound Giant towering before them like a small mountain, he was nothing.
Ice-bound Giant — Elemental Creature, Great Lord, Level 32, HP: 45 million.
As the ruler of the hundred-man raid dungeon Ice-bound Prison, the Ice-bound Giant was far more powerful than any previous boss. Its HP pool was staggeringly deep, its five-story-tall frame lending devastating force to every movement. Even when Canglang Zhantian blocked with his shield, he still took three to four thousand damage per hit. If caught by one of its skills, damage would easily exceed six thousand. On top of that, there was the Frost Domain — a mechanic that gave every expert player a splitting headache.
The Frost Domain covered a range of 200 yards. Not only did it reduce everyone's movement and attack speed by 40%, it also multiplied stamina consumption several times over.
It was common knowledge that in the Divine Realm, any player action consumed stamina. However, stamina was a hidden attribute that players couldn't view directly. Once stamina was depleted to a certain point, a player would be unable to fight and could only rest before getting back into action.
Under normal combat conditions, even three or four hours of fighting wouldn't drain a player's stamina entirely. But as the intensity of the battle ramped up, stamina consumption accelerated sharply. A large-scale raid dungeon like this was about as intense as it got — a single mistake could wipe the entire party, leaving absolutely no room for error, which only drove stamina consumption even higher.
Now, under the Frost Domain's effects, players' stamina consumption was skyrocketing. Sustained combat was simply impossible.
An average player couldn't last even five or six minutes under these conditions. Even elite players could only stretch it out another two or three minutes. Only those with exceptional self-mastery could minimize their stamina drain and hold out for twelve minutes or more — but players who had reached that level of control were exceedingly rare.
After one more wave of icicles crashed down, a few players had already collapsed on the ground, too exhausted to even attack the boss.
"How many people can still fight?" Canglang Zhantian raised his silver great shield to meet the Ice-bound Giant and asked over party chat.
"Boss Canglang, four melee fighters and one ranged just went down. Seventy-six of us are still standing," an Oracle at the very back of the formation replied.
"Seventy-six?" Canglang Zhantian glanced at the Ice-bound Giant's HP bar — 27% remained, roughly 12.15 million. To finish the fight at their current DPS output would take at least three more minutes. But after so many attempts, he knew one thing all too well: as the fight dragged on, more and more players would drop from exhaustion. Three minutes was impossible. "So it really isn't enough, then?"
The Ice-bound Giant wasn't particularly dangerous in terms of its skills. After a few rounds of practice, everyone could dodge its ultimate attacks. Yet here they were — not dying to the boss's abilities, but being worn down to nothing. If anyone heard about it, they'd laugh.
Five minutes later, a group of players respawned outside the Ice-bound Prison's resurrection point. They were none other than Canglang Zhantian and the rest of the Yixiao Qingcheng guild.
"Boss, this Ice-bound Giant's demands on individual players are way too high. If we want to clear it, the Underworld needs to send more experts over. Otherwise, us dying here over and over and losing experience isn't exactly a solution," suggested Teng She from the side — a man with a high-bridged nose, a sturdy build, and clad in black armor.
"The Underworld does value White River City, but their focus is still on the Frost Wolf Kingdom and the Blizzard Kingdom. They can't send that many experts our way. Right now the boss has less than 10% HP left. If just ten or so more people could hold on until the end, we'd probably clear it." Canglang Zhantian shook his head, then added, "It's a shame You Lan has been running the trading house and guild over in Maple Leaf City and couldn't make it. With her skills and her head for strategy, we might have pulled it off."
When Canglang Zhantian said this, everyone couldn't help but nod in agreement.
When it came to the top players in Yixiao Qingcheng, Canglang Zhantian was unquestionably the strongest. But no one would have guessed that the second-best was You Lan. She never showed off or made a fuss, yet in actual combat, even the proud and talented Teng She was no match for her — he couldn't even burn through a third of her HP.
At the time, everyone had been utterly stunned.