Above The Sky
Chapter 456 - 456 426 Inferno Ice Wolf 23

456: Chapter 426: Inferno Ice Wolf (2/3) 456: Chapter 426: Inferno Ice Wolf (2/3) “The ‘flesh and blood’ representing explosive power, the ‘outer armor’ signifying defense, and most importantly, the ‘reinforcement blessing’ for breaching capabilities.”

This was the essence of a Second Energy Level True Form, the Rock Cast Knight.

The list of magical medicine ingredients left by Teacher Hiliad suggested demonic beast materials such as the ‘variable pressure muscle of the Flame Giant Locust,’ the ‘Rainbow Plume of the Silver Halberd Falcon,’ and the ‘Inferno Ice Wolf’s crystalline core.’

At first glance, none seems to be related to earth series…

but in reality, the Flame Giant Locust is an alien insect living around the great desert.

It does not breathe fire or rub its wings to create sparks—it’s an insect that consumes rocks and plant roots, leaving nothing in its path, resembling scorched earth, hence the name.

The name Fiery Flame Land also comes from this phenomenon, mainly because the sunlight in that area is so scorching, as if flames descend from the heavens—similarly, ‘flash flame’ represents volcanoes, a naming culture inherent to Terra Continent.

Getting this material is relatively easy.

Although the variable pressure muscle definitely requires the material of Second Energy Level bug kings, due to the locust swarms’ numbers, there is a stable supply available for purchase, so it won’t be contested over.

The Silver Halberd Falcon is a bit more difficult to obtain, but there are solutions.

Conveniently, the Chehalorvo Family’s hereditary True Form, ‘Silver Peak Emissary,’ also requires these smooth yet solid, even sunlight-reflecting rainbow plumes from the said magical beasts as alchemical ingredients at the Second Energy Level.

However, these magical beasts only dwell around Silver Peak, and capturing them is quite difficult.

To buy them, one would need connections related to the Northern Commerce Guild.

Fortunately, Ian’s good friend Yisen Gard from the Erlen Family happens to belong to a marquise family from the north.

Therefore, a simple request, whether to Yisen Gard or Lady Ellen, would probably not be refused in lending him a hand.

The truly challenging part would actually be acquiring the Inferno Ice Wolf’s crystalline core.

As the name suggests, the Inferno Ice Wolf lives in one of the Nine Cold Quiet Mountains’ Ice Prison Mountain Range in the east of Terra.

This place lies to the east of Azure Sky Royal Court, to the west of Far Sword Port, adjacent to Heavenfall Wasteland—it’s at the edge of Terra Continent’s civilization but not quite the borderlands.

The entire Nine Cold Quiet Mountain area consists of a contradictory combination of volcanic mountain ranges and vast snowy mountains.

Apart from the exceedingly cold snow-covered outskirts, the whole mountain range is actually covered by constantly erupting lava flows, with only a few stable areas serving as oases between the ice prison and Fire Hell.

In these parts, numerous small city-states and tribes exist, extracting and selling rare sublimation minerals from volcanic activity.

And the Ice Prison Mountain Range is, in fact, a vast area covered by volcanic ash—apart from the apex, the rest of the area is not cold at all but fiercely hot.

The magical beasts living here are without exception very dangerous and very powerful.

The Inferno Ice Wolf is among them, possessing extremely strong earth origin essence manipulation abilities.

It can solidify volcanic ash into a very durable apatite crystal, resembling ice, making it appear in day-to-day life like it’s clad in a solid ice armor, even allowing it to move freely in lava.

That is the origin of the name Inferno Ice Wolf.

But in reality, this is just one of its many essence abilities—the Inferno Ice Wolf can not only create armor for itself using essence but also strengthen its own outer shell plates and launch them as cannonballs.

It can even absorb some volcanic ash, fortify and shape it into cannonball-like projectiles, and then fire them off.

The fortified shell plates’ hardness can surpass that of diamonds in a short time, serving as natural armor-piercing rounds, impenetrable by anything less than heavy armor suits.

And the volcanic ash cannonballs shot out are akin to giant blooming shrapnel shells, with extremely alarming lethality against groups of targets.

Of course, these are just suggestions.

There are many alternative lists of similar types, but according to Hiliad’s research, in his era on Terra Continent, these demonic beast materials were the most effective.

Inspired by Baron Leyan’s Rockwood Whitestag’s Shockwave Cannon, Ian now believes that cannonballs could also be considered a form of knight’s charge.

Hence, the exceptionally agile earth origin essence manipulation skills of the Inferno Ice Wolf are exactly what he needs.

“There are few commerce guilds in the Nine Cold Quiet Mountains, but there should be some in the Imperial Capital.

Purchasing from there would certainly cost a significant amount of money, but there’s always a way to manage.”

For the time being, Ian definitely couldn’t venture to the Nine Cold Quiet Mountains to hunt the Inferno Ice Wolf himself.

In fact, ordinary adventuring teams wouldn’t take on such a task.

The reason being, not only is the target itself very strong, but its habitat is also very dangerous, and non-combat casualties are easily incurred.

If the bounty isn’t high enough, it’s just not worth it.

In the Terra Continent, there were numerous First-Level Sublimators, but the number of Second-Level Sublimators plummeted drastically, and it was for this reason.

Hunting Magical Beasts of the First Energy Level wasn’t particularly difficult.

An adventure squad or a hunter team with no energy levels but with abundant experience could take down their target with some clever strategies.

Take the Reef-eater Otter, for instance, despite its strength, as long as one prepared firearms or long spears, there were always chances to kill a few that strayed from the pack.

Even with the otter pack leader, as long as one planned for a sufficient amount of time, it was not an insoluble problem.

But for Magical Beasts of the Second Energy Level…

unless it was a First Energy Level team that was extremely well-equipped and had undergone professional cooperation, it would definitely require a Second-Level Sublimator to lead the team and slay the beast.

Ian felt that materials such as the ones from Inferno Ice Wolves must not be readily available, and substantial bounties would need to be offered before professional hunters would go after them.

It’s a case of ordering on the spot and killing on the spot.

“What a pity, I could discuss and seek alternatives for my Fairy Bloodline, but for the Rock Cast Knight…

I really have to plan it all by myself.”

With a sigh in his heart, Ian wasn’t in a hurry anyway; after all, the combat power of his Fairy Bloodline was basically formed, and it was completely sufficient to deal with general Second Energy Level enemies.

But he was also clear that when he became a dual Second Energy Level, he would experience a qualitative transformation in terms of combat power.

“And there’s the ‘Soul Pole Domain’ of the Fairy Bloodline”

Ian sensed the flow and cycle of the Origin Quality within his body attentively.

The Fairy Bloodline carried by the silver chip directly affected his nervous system, with its four main circulation channels even vaguely constructing a small Spirit Energy Field inside Ian’s body.

This field didn’t have any special functions, except that it could nurture his soul…

but this function alone was enough to make others envious.

To say nothing of the other effects, ever since Ian had constructed the fourth Sublimation Organ of his Fairy Bloodline, he no longer suffered from nosebleeds or headache and dizziness from peering at existences of a higher level—even when he saw the dragon shadow that leapt across Nauman City, belonging to Sio’s mother.

With the soul becoming stronger, the Spirit Energy naturally grew.

The distance of Foresight View kept increasing, from less than a hundred meters radius when he started to observe seriously four years ago; now, when he just casually glanced around, the radius could exceed half a kilometer.

If he was only focusing on scanning ahead, he could even barely make out what was two or three kilometers away!

Beyond that, Ian also felt his senses becoming sharper and sharper.

Whether others were lying, hiding something, in his Spirit Energy sensing, or even just under his innate perception, it was all very clear.

The effects of the First Energy Level Domain of Extremes were already so powerful, it was obvious that the Second Energy Level would be even stronger.

As for the Domain of Extremes of the Sand Armor Apprentice, it had just been completed, and for the time being, Ian could hardly sense much from it.

He could only vaguely sense that within his body—his flesh and blood, bone marrow, even down to his cells—there was a marvelous, more essential force being nurtured and growing stronger.

In contrast to the Fairy Bloodline affected by the silver chip, the Domain of Extremes of Sand Armor Apprentice rooted in his flesh was evidently related to the body.

The exact effect, whether it be strength, explosive power, stamina, or regenerative ability, or even…

simply ‘lifespan’ and ‘vitality’.

Regardless of which one it was, it was very powerful, enough to be worth all of Ian’s hard work for so long.

“Let’s go.”

Recording all of his body’s changes into the silver chip as research data for new avenues to explore in the future, Ian stood up and began to tidy up the flasks and jars in the laboratory as well as his prized alchemy equipment.

Now he was very hungry—the advancement of his Iron-dissolving Stomach Pouch was completed, and he couldn’t wait to test its effects.

Which is to say, have a big meal.