130: Lake monster

“Whoo!!”

A wolf howl echoed through the sky and earth.

Resounding throughout the entire Secret Realm.

As the ice fog receded, the Ice Wolfmen hidden within were revealed in swathes, showing their true forms.

They had thick, slightly messy fur that grew to adapt to the cold.

A pair of long, pointed beast ears shaped like rabbit ears, and four curved, razor-sharp fangs extending above their noses and chins, presented two conflicting styles, appearing utterly incongruous.

It was hard to tell if they were fierce or cute.

One arm was normal, while the other was formed from opaque blue ice, angular and faceted like a diamond, emitting wisps of cold air.

Chen Ming could easily guess with his toes that if he were to suffer a wound from this, there would likely be an invasion of cold air, freezing his meridians and internal organs... until he froze to death!

There weren't many, just over a thousand.

In terms of physique, they were not as large as the Icefield Tigers.

If Chen Ming were to guess, the reason they appeared after the Icefield Tigers was likely due to the difference in their Skills.

Although they were wolfmen, they still ran on all fours when closing the distance with prey.

With a thought from Chen Ming, the Icefield Tiger groups he had just Extracted, still fresh, instantly surrounded the wolfmen.

They rushed over from all directions, two forces, one white and one black, devouring each other, neither yielding.

Just as Chen Ming had anticipated, the Ice Wolfmen's primary attack method was using that ice hand.

A swipe of the claw, if it hit, would leave a gaping wound that couldn't heal due to the spreading cold air.

However, Undead, like monsters, had the word 'slaughter' etched into their blood; they knew no retreat.

To put it more bluntly, they only knew how to kill, kill, kill, or rather, follow the orders of their Summoner, Chen Ming, to kill, kill, kill.

However, compared to monsters, Undead could revive infinitely while not needing to fear death.

This alone was something the Ice Wolfmen couldn't match.

One second, an Ice Wolfman had just frozen an Icefield Tiger's head with a claw, and the next, it raised its other claw, smashed the head, and successfully killed the Icefield Tiger.

The next second, before it could feel proud, it was fiercely pinned to the ground by three or four Icefield Tigers pouncing from the side, biting its limbs and tearing wildly.

Making the Ice Wolfman personally experience the historical torture of humans: being torn apart by five horses!

【Successfully killed Ice Wolfman! Congratulations to the host for obtaining Silver Chest +2!】

【Successfully killed Ice Wolfman! Congratulations to the host for obtaining Silver Chest +2!】

【Successfully killed Ice Wolfman! Congratulations to the host for obtaining Silver Chest +2!】

...

There was indeed a gap in Skill levels, but this gap could be completely compensated for by a several-fold numerical advantage.

As Chen Ming continued to summon, this gap widened.

The number of Ice Wolfmen continued to decrease, while the number of Undead Icefield Tigers remained constant.

【Stealing in progress...】

【Steal successful! Congratulations to the host for obtaining C-grade Skill Ice Demon Claw +135, C-grade Skill Wild Bite, C-grade Skill Quick Dodge...】

【Extracting in progress...】

【Extraction successful! Congratulations to the host for obtaining new Undead Servant: Ice Wolfman +135!】

In Chen Ming's eyes, there was only victory, no such thing as martial ethics.

He added the stolen Skills to the Icefield Tigers; not only that, but he also added the Extracted Ice Wolfmen to their ranks.

The Undead side grew stronger the more they fought, and their numbers increased the more they fought!

After adding the C-grade Skill Ice Demon Claw, the right claws of some Icefield Tigers also turned into blue ice, causing their attack power to surge.

“...” Xu Zhenshan stood beside him, dumbfounded.

He didn't have the Undead Extraction Skill, but that didn't stop him from deeply experiencing the charm of Undead Summoning.

No matter how many monsters there were, no matter how strong their Skills, in the end, they would all become mine!

This feeling was something Xu Zhenshan greatly yearned for.

Before long, the thousand Ice Wolfmen were completely slaughtered.

All joined Chen Ming's Undead ranks.

The area as far as the eye could see was occupied by Undead; the ice fog retreated to outside the lake, onto the shore.

“It’s not over yet?” Xu Zhenshan looked around, searching for a teleportation portal.

He found nothing.

Suddenly, he felt very ridiculous.

He didn't find Chen Ming ridiculous, but rather himself, who had once wanted to clear this dungeon alone, was naive and ridiculous.

After witnessing Chen Ming's combat process firsthand, even if Xu Zhenshan were given an SS-grade Skill, he wasn't very confident he could successfully clear the Secret Realm dungeon.

He was convinced that just dealing with the first wave of Snow Corpses would exhaust all his mental power.

He had experienced the feeling of mental exhaustion: his body was weak, and he couldn't do anything.

He really didn't want to experience that feeling a second time.

If he were to exhaust his mental power in a place like this, he could imagine what kind of ending he would face.

It wouldn't even be enough for the ferocious beasts to pick their teeth with...

“Hmm?”

While his mind wandered, Xu Zhenshan's peripheral vision noticed Chen Ming, who had disengaged his mecha, staring at the ground.

He walked over and asked curiously, “Little Chen, is something wrong?”

“I think I saw something moving in this ice lake,” Chen Ming said, his eyes fixed on the deep pit blasted by the grenade.

After that massive figure left, the shadow disappeared, and the color of the ice became less dark.

Combining this with his gaming experience, Chen Ming had a premonition that the existence of the ice lake was not just a simple scene.

Crack!

Chen Ming's sharp ears caught the sound of cracking.

“Little Chen, I seem to hear...”

Before Xu Zhenshan could finish speaking, he saw a pair of colorful insect wings unfold behind Chen Ming.

'Wings?'

While Xu Zhenshan was surprised, Chen Ming had already instantly appeared behind him.

His hands went under Xu Zhenshan's armpits and clasped him tightly.

Then, he quickly flapped his wings and ascended into the sky.

Rumble!

With a loud bang, the entire ice surface cracked and was shattered by a head-on collision!

That's right, shattered by a head-on collision.

A true abyss-like maw filled everything Xu Zhenshan could see at a glance.

Chen Ming was still ascending rapidly, like a fighter jet performing a vertical climb.

Xu Zhenshan watched as the giant mouth was about to swallow him and Chen Ming.

Howl!

The monster fell back, flailing its limbs, looking unwilling.

Seeing this, Chen Ming stopped ascending and hovered in mid-air.

He saw clearly that countless Undead, along with the cracking and overturning ice, fell into the ice lake, returning to the Shadow World, waiting for the next summon.

“What, what is this thing? Its size is so exaggerated!” Xu Zhenshan's eyes were blank.

Chen Ming, at this moment, released his hands, letting him fall onto the back of the flying Calamity Dragon.

The giant beast before him had sparked his intense interest!

Its body resembled a shell-less Black Tortoise, its skin texture rough, like the lines on a palm, with no discernible pattern.

Its head was like a yak's, with thick fur, a pair of horns growing upwards, and another pair of large horns growing downwards, a prime example of asymmetry.

It was worth noting that it had only one brownish-black eye, located directly above its nose.

It was very large, several times bigger than Chen Ming himself, and even from a distance, it still looked like a bright mirror.

Chen Ming selected the mecha Eclipse Raven in the panel and confirmed equipping it.

A pair of mechanical wings that covered the sky and obscured the sun unfolded!

Starting to charge!

“...”

Making everything Xu Zhenshan saw before him darken.

He subconsciously looked up.