Chapter 145 – Sigh of Ice and Snow

Chapter 145 – Sigh of Ice and Snow

Cheng Yang sprinted through the wilderness, cutting down any demonized beasts that stood in his path. Half an hour later, he arrived at the entrance to the Necromancer’s Gorge dungeon. Without hesitation, he plunged inside.

He had chosen the hard difficulty level, where the strongest enemies were only at the peak of first rank. This meant he could fight without restraint. Clearing this dungeon was much easier than the nightmare-level difficulty of the Abandoned Castle. After three rounds of attacks from Cheng Yang and his white tiger companion, the final skeleton boss crumbled into a pile of bones. The remaining smaller skeletons were quickly dispatched.

Looking at the seven or eight bronze-grade equipment pieces scattered on the ground, Cheng Yang felt no urge to collect them. *How times have changed,* he thought. At the start of the apocalypse, he had fought through hundreds of demonized beasts to obtain his first bronze-grade weapon. The excitement he felt then was indescribable. Now, faced with a pile of bronze-grade equipment, he felt nothing.

Still, he couldn’t just leave them. Even if he didn’t need them, others in his territory would. Bronze-grade equipment was highly sought after in this new world. He estimated they could fetch several thousand spirit energy points at the Treasure Pavilion.

After collecting the equipment, Cheng Yang ventured deeper into the gorge. At the end, on a high platform, lay what he had come for. He sighed. It was exactly what he expected.

It was a necklace called the Sigh of Ice and Snow.

Despite most of its power being sealed, the necklace was still incredibly powerful. Its remaining attributes made it the strongest piece of equipment Cheng Yang had ever seen, surpassing even his gold-grade weapon.

The necklace was a Warrior-grade item, far superior to Apprentice-grade equipment. In pre-apocalypse gaming terms, it was like comparing a level 1 item to a level 10 item. In this new world, the difference was even more pronounced. A common Warrior-grade item was roughly equivalent to a gold Apprentice-grade item in terms of attributes.

This highlighted an important truth: while equipment quality mattered, one’s cultivation level was ultimately more important. An Apprentice decked out in gold-grade equipment would still lose to a low-level Warrior wearing common Warrior-grade gear.

Cheng Yang didn’t know what lay beyond the Warrior rank. In his previous life, no one had advanced beyond mid-level Warrior.

The Sigh of Ice and Snow’s true power lay in its special effects. The first effect alone increased magic attack by 20%. While effect attributes couldn’t be upgraded, the second effect’s unlock condition suggested that the necklace’s power was tied to its level. Whether there were other restrictions, Cheng Yang couldn’t say.

The upgrade requirements were daunting. Upgrading from common to black iron grade required 1,000 spirit energy points, but advancing from Warrior to Master grade would be much harder.

Cheng Yang pondered whether to upgrade the necklace’s quality first or focus on leveling it up. If upgrading to gold grade before leveling up preserved the quality, it would be worth it. But if leveling up reset the quality, he’d have to consider the cost.

With the necklace in hand, Cheng Yang left the gorge. Riding his white tiger under the night sky, he headed south. As he neared his destination, he had the tiger hide while he scouted the area.

Cheng Yang’s senses were incredibly sharp. Unless it was pitch black, he could see clearly, and he could hear even the slightest sounds within a 40-50 meter radius. After a few minutes of searching, he heard voices coming from a cave formed by a collapsed wall.

“Why did the boss have us stake out this place?” one voice complained. “I heard those rebels only have a few thousand combatants. We could wipe them out in minutes.”

A deeper voice replied, “Stop complaining. Just do as you’re told. I was there during the portal battle. You have no idea how strong that guy was. Hundreds of us attacked him, and he walked away without a scratch… Why am I telling you this? Just remember, this is classified. The commander gave strict orders not to spread word about Cheng Yang. If you cause a panic, you’re dead.”

The first voice sounded skeptical. “It can’t be that bad. The strongest in our main city is only a mid-level Apprentice. Even if he started a few days earlier, he couldn’t be that much stronger. You know how slow cultivation is. No one can leap that far ahead.”

The deeper voice said, “I didn’t want to believe it either, but it’s true. That’s why we’re here – to wait until Cheng Yang leaves… and then…”

The voices dropped too low for Cheng Yang to hear the rest. But he had learned enough. These scouts were indeed working for Yuan Jianze.

Cheng Yang didn’t confront them. Instead, he headed east, where no main city forces were present. The agreement between him and Yuan Jianze still held. While Yuan might make small moves near the northern and southern passages, he wouldn’t dare send people deep into eastern Xiangcheng City. If Cheng Yang caught them, it could lead to open conflict.

By the time Cheng Yang returned to Xianghe Village on his white tiger, it was past 11 PM. After resting briefly, he ran another nightmare-level dungeon before returning to Luofeng Village.

There, he used the new archer statue upgrade stones and began his nightly cultivation. By morning, his cultivation progress was nearing 50%, bringing him closer to the low Warrior rank.

In his previous life, there had been many powerful humans, but their strength was relative. When the first major wave of demonized beasts attacked a year into the apocalypse, many territories fell without resistance. The main cities only survived thanks to their protective barriers.

This knowledge drove Cheng Yang’s sense of urgency. When the next beast wave came, would he be strong enough to lead his territory’s forces to victory?

No one understood Xiangcheng City’s precarious position better than Cheng Yang. To the west lay the Shennongjia forest, a place of mystery even before the apocalypse. This geographical fact would bring untold dangers to the region’s inhabitants.

Cheng Yang buried these concerns deep within himself. As Luofeng Village’s backbone, he couldn’t show doubt. If he lacked confidence, how could he inspire others to fight for their survival?

After clearing the Bloody Church dungeon again, Cheng Yang upgraded the priest statue’s attributes and delivered the potions he had brewed the previous night to the alchemy lab. He then purchased 200 return stones from the general store, keeping one for himself to replace the one he’d used yesterday.

With these tasks completed, Cheng Yang set out for Heshang Village on his white tiger. Today’s mission was simple: escort Heshang’s combatants to Yicheng to gather lumber. Without a strong escort, venturing into the forest would be too dangerous for Heshang’s forces. Casualties would be inevitable.

Cheng Yang planned to gather enough wood for Heshang to build its walls and, after the territory upgraded to level 2, construct a carpentry workshop. This would give Heshang the means to develop independently.

Besides gathering lumber, Cheng Yang needed to find another territory altar to boost Niu Bing’s strength.

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