Chapter 25: Ice Element Advancement, Piercing Frigidity, Ultimate Control!

Zhang Dafu was taken aback.

He then cast a suspicious glance at Lin Yi, his expression conveying a sentiment that clearly said: "Come on, brother, are you still testing me? Do you want me to say I'm selling it or not?"

Lin Yi, however, did not continue the subject.

After a long silence, Zhang Dafu said, "Brother, stop teasing me. If I were to sell this thing, I’d really end up in prison."

"There's really no such thing!" Lin Yi said, feeling a bit confused. However, he managed to glean something from Zhang Dafu's words: "Breakthrough Magic Crystals," much like equipment above the Gold tier, are strictly regulated by the state.

Lin Yi did not feel embarrassed; he had come to gather intelligence on Breakthrough Magic Crystals anyway. He frankly admitted that he had no idea what they were or through what channels they could be obtained.

Zhang Dafu pondered for a moment. It was clear he was considering whether such information counted as a paid commodity. However, considering the items Lin Yi had sold him today—which would net him a significant profit upon resale—he laughed and said, "Brother, this isn't really a secret, so I'll tell you for free."

"Breakthrough Magic Crystals can only be obtained through one channel: they are mined from the magic crystal mines owned by our Great Xia nation. Furthermore, all technologies related to refining and processing are controlled by the state. Private individuals or organizations are strictly prohibited from mining, processing, or selling them."

"These things have a wide range of uses; they are key to strengthening the skills of all professionals and unlocking side-branch skill trees."

"If you want to obtain them through legitimate channels, you have to join the Professionals Alliance or a major guild with official backing and exchange them using merit points or guild contributions."

"Of course, looking at how young you are, brother, you must have just changed classes recently. There is another more convenient way for you to obtain Breakthrough Magic Crystals."

"Some of our well-known professional academies in Great Xia have their own reserves of Breakthrough Magic Crystals. If you manage to get accepted, you should have a way to obtain them."

"By the way, I heard that our province also rewards candidates who perform exceptionally well in the national college entrance examination, and it seems that Breakthrough Magic Crystals are among those rewards."

Lin Yi finally understood. In Great Xia, all resources that significantly impact a professional's combat power have long since been allocated. To obtain them, one must use the channels designated by the state.

Lin Yi thanked Zhang Dafu and left the Treasure Pavilion.

In his personal storage space, he still had an Archer’s "Explosive Arrow" skill book and 100 tradable skill points that could be sold. However, Lin Yi did not intend to sell everything at once. Instead, he planned to sell them in batches. The logic remained the same: try not to attract too much attention.

Now that he had made another massive profit, Lin Yi naturally planned to spend money to purchase idle skill point rewards. However, he did not return home this time; instead, he prepared to head to school. Ever since he awakened his class, there had been no more classes. In the note his mother left him earlier, she mentioned that his homeroom teacher had been looking for him, so Lin Yi decided to find out what it was about.

Additionally, what Zhang Dafu said about receiving official rewards of Breakthrough Magic Crystals for achieving high rankings in the national college entrance examination had clearly piqued his interest. Since such resources were vital to his continued growth, the professional college entrance exam—which he hadn't taken too seriously before—and finding a prestigious professional academy were now on his agenda.

As Lin Yi walked toward Jiangcheng No. 2 High School, he activated the new function of his talent, "Gift of the Gods."

[Would you like to spend 50,000 Great Xia coins to purchase 24 hours of skill point rewards?]

Lin Yi chose "Yes" without hesitation. However, this time he wasn't as mindlessly frantic as before; he began to calculate how much money he had left. After six consecutive purchases, Lin Yi stopped. At this point, the cost for another 24 hours of idle skill point rewards had reached a full 100,000 Great Xia coins. He decided to save his remaining 100,000-plus coins for emergencies, ensuring he wouldn't be unable to pay for something he needed. It would even be good for subsidizing household expenses. Besides, if he needed more money, he could always sell his skill books and points.

With six purchases, Lin Yi gained over 500,000 skill points. Including his previous balance, he now had over 800,000 skill points.

Opening the skill interface, Lin Yi selected his newly acquired Ice-type skills and began upgrading them. His goal remained the Seventh Tier. He found that Seventh-Tier spells were sufficient to handle most situations he currently encountered. He would level everything to the Seventh Tier, and if he had surplus skill points, he would choose one skill to push to the Eighth Tier!

[Consuming 500 skill points, your Frost Arrow has leveled up; you have obtained a new spell: Ice Impact!]

[Consuming 2,000 skill points, your Ice Impact has leveled up; you have obtained a new spell: Frost Imprisonment!]

[Consuming 5,000 skill points, your Frost Imprisonment has leveled up; you have obtained a new spell: Blizzard!]

[Consuming 10,000 skill points, your Blizzard has leveled up; you have obtained a new spell: Frigid Zone!]

[Consuming 50,000 skill points, your Frigid Zone has leveled up; you have obtained a new spell: Bone-Chilling Cold!]

[Consuming 100,000 skill points, your Bone-Chilling Cold has leveled up; you have obtained a new spell: Soul Freeze!]

With all seven Ice-type spells in hand, Lin Yi began to examine them one by one.

If the Fire-type was about violent output and the Wind-type was about high-speed attacks and multi-hit combos, then the Ice-type skills had a similarly distinct characteristic: control—ultimate control!

"Frost Arrow" slows the target by 30%, a persistent effect. Then, the Third-Tier spell "Frost Imprisonment" allows him to select a target, lock their feet in ice, and keep them immobilized for 5 seconds.

The Fifth-Tier "Frigid Zone" skill doesn't even deal damage. Instead, it lowers the temperature in a large area to tens of degrees below zero, causing all targets within range to suffer a massive 60% slow effect. This effect stacks, and upon reaching three stacks, it immediately transforms into an immobilization effect.

Looking at the Sixth and Seventh-Tier Ice skills, Lin Yi noticed a pattern. It seemed that every mage specialization introduced something unique at the Sixth Tier. Fire had summons, Wind had supersonic slashes. The Sixth-Tier Ice spell was actually a passive skill!

[Bone-Chilling Cold]
[Type: Passive Skill]
[Tier: Sixth]
[Element: Ice]
[Cost: None]
[Chant Time: None]
[Cooldown: None]
[Effect: All targets affected by your slowing, immobilization, or freezing effects become vulnerable, taking 20% increased damage. Depending on the restriction effect applied, their evasion rate is further reduced.]
[Slow Effect: Reduces target's evasion rate by 30%.]
[Immobilization Effect: Reduces target's evasion rate by 60%.]
[Freeze Effect: Reduces target's evasion rate by 100%. When you use a Fire-type skill to shatter the freeze effect, deal additional Ice-attribute damage equal to 20% of the target's maximum health!]
[Note: The maximum health reduction effect is diminished against high-level or high-rank monsters, capping at a minimum of 1%.]
[Remark: Deep cold, piercing to the bone.]