Chapter 179: Open the Exclusive Gold Treasure Chest and Obtain the Ice Dragon Suit!

Isabelle smiled and whispered, "The Confession Spell was successful, my Lord. You have 30 seconds."

Hearing this, Cao Xing's eyes lit up with joy. "Well done, Isabelle."

Isabelle smiled faintly.

Cao Xing didn't waste any time; he squatted down, looked at the Hunter scout, and asked, "Who sent you here?"

At this moment, the Hunter scout controlled by the [Confession Spell] slowly raised his head.

He said in a daze, "It… it was High Priest Montra…"

Cao Xing frowned. Another High Priest?

He continued to ask, "Why did the High Priest send you to the vicinity of my territory?"

The other party replied again, "The High Priest said… Priest Nadaf's stronghold was destroyed by an Otherworld Lord… who brought people with him…"

"He… told us… to find this Otherworld Lord's… location…"

At this moment, a look of realization appeared in Cao Xing's eyes. He hadn't been exposed in the Witch Forest. It was when he was dealing with Fang Long that some Hunters discovered him, which made them perceive him as a threat.

But fortunately, his location hadn't been exposed.

Another Hunter scout nearby, seeing that he had actually spilled all these things, suddenly became anxious.

"Pierce, what are you doing? Wake up!"

"The God of Light will punish you for your actions!"

Hearing the God of Light, the Hunter controlled by the [Confession Spell] seemed to struggle a bit.

However, Cao Xing glanced at him and said, "Rabb, make him shut up."

Rabb, listening to this, did not hesitate to strike the Hunter's head with the hilt of his sword.

Bang!

[-273]

Then, the Hunter scout passed out. The Hunter who was under control also re-entered the state of confession.

Cao Xing continued to ask, "Is the High Priest planning to deal with me?"

The other party continued to reply, "The High Priest… doesn't know your specific… strength yet… He told us… to investigate first…"

Hearing this, joy appeared in Cao Xing's eyes again.

He continued to ask, "Besides the High Priest, does anyone else know about this, or has he reported this to someone higher up?"

The Hunter scout shook his head and said, "The High Priest said… these Otherworld Lords are all very weak… there's no need to report it…"

"Currently… only a small group of people in our camp know…"

Hearing this, even more joy appeared in Cao Xing's eyes.

Because this, at the very least, meant that Cao Xing had not yet attracted the attention of important personnel within the Church of Light.

One must know that in the Church of Light organization, besides the High Priests, there were even stronger Bishops and Archbishops above them.

High Priests were already at the lowest level of leadership; he truly didn't know how strong those Bishops and Archbishops were.

However, as long as the news hadn't reached these higher-ups, Cao Xing still had room for maneuver.

After thinking for a moment, Cao Xing asked directly.

"Tell me the location of your stronghold."

Upon hearing this question, the Hunter scout seemed to struggle a bit.

At this moment, Isabelle said, "The time for the Confession Spell is almost up, my Lord."

Cao Xing nodded and continued, "Tell me the location of the camp. As long as you state the location, you can repay your sins."

Upon hearing that last sentence, the Hunter scout finally struggled and said, "I… I want to repay my sins…"

Cao Xing listened and coaxed him, "That's right. Think about how many people you have hurt in the past. Every one of your operations has left many innocent people homeless. These are all heavy sins."

"Tell me the location of the camp, and you can end all of this."

After hearing Cao Xing's words, the Hunter scout said.

"In… in the depths of the Great Rift…"

After saying this, the Hunter scout was released from the state of the Confession Spell.

Then, he quickly covered his mouth, looking at Isabelle with a face full of horror. But a smile appeared on the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

Although he only said one keyword: Great Rift, Cao Xing already roughly knew the location of their stronghold.

The Great Rift… how many Great Rifts could there be in this vicinity?

The only one was the place where he had previously saved Da Bai.

At that time, on that map, he had indeed discovered that there was a larger sun symbol inside.

He hadn't expected that there would actually be a High Priest's stronghold here.

Cao Xing looked at Isabelle beside him, "Can you continue to cast the Confession Spell?"

He still had several questions to ask, such as the High Priest's strength, or how many strong individuals were in that camp.

Isabelle raised her staff. After waiting for a few minutes, she tried it again on the Hunter scout.

As a result, it was as if the other party had developed antibodies; this time, the [Confession Spell] did not have any effect on him.

It also failed to be cast on the fainted Hunter scout.

Isabelle shook her head and said, "It won't work anymore. They have already prepared psychological defenses in advance. It seems that the training of this evil cult includes techniques targeting mental control."

Cao Xing nodded, "If it doesn't work, then so be it. Anyway, I already know the general situation."

He looked at the two Wild Boar Warriors and said, "Continue to keep an eye on them."

Rabb straightened his body and replied solemnly, "Understood, my Lord!"

Then Cao Xing looked at the Holy Light Priest beside him.

"Isabelle, come with me to see the other cultist."

She nodded slightly, and then left this place with Cao Xing.

In another basement, Cao Xing saw that although this Hunter assassin was covered in scars, his aura was still very strong.

The look in his eyes directed at Cao Xing even carried ferocity.

Cao Xing didn't care; after all, this was a Tier 4 Hunter assassin, and his physique was far stronger than those two Tier 3 scouts.

Isabelle shook her head and said, "His current state is still too good; the Confession Spell cannot succeed."

Cao Xing nodded, "Alright, then continue to interrogate him for two days, and then use the Confession Spell on him again."

After saying this, he and Isabelle left the basement together.

After returning to the Lords Cabin, Cao Xing felt much more at ease.

At the same time, he began to think about how to deal with the threat of this group of Hunters.

Although his location had not yet been exposed, he had already attracted the attention of a High Priest.

Obviously, the best method now was to directly raid the Hunters' stronghold.

Before the news spread, he needed to kill all the cultists of the Church of Light there. But the premise for doing this was that he needed to have sufficiently strong power.

According to the information on the map, that place was a large Hunter camp with at least one leader-level High Priest.

If this High Priest's strength was too powerful, or if there were some hidden experts inside, Cao Xing rushing in now would be equivalent to courting death.

Therefore, before the raid, he needed to first determine the strength of that camp.

Thus, Cao Xing called Sarah over again and explained the situation to her.

This kind of reconnaissance mission was still best suited for her.

After Sarah listened, she didn't say much, but nodded faintly.

Before leaving, Cao Xing instructed, "Sarah, be careful."

The Dark Elf heard this, turned around, and her thin lips curled into a smile.

She whispered, "Wait for me to return."

Then, she disappeared on the spot.

After Sarah left, Cao Xing thought to himself, "Very well, now I'll just wait for Sarah to return before considering how to deal with it."

"Whether to flatten this camp directly or pretend not to know and continue to develop silently depends on the strength of this camp."

"Taking advantage of this time, I also need to try my best to improve my own strength."

Thus, Cao Xing walked out of the Lords Cabin and went straight to the [Blacksmith Shop].

At this moment, Harold was still busily engaged in forging work.

After seeing Cao Xing enter, Harold respectfully said, "Wise my Lord, you have come."

Cao Xing nodded, then asked, "Harold, how many Ejection Hooks have we crafted?"

Harold replied, "Replying to my Lord, currently, 127 pairs of Green quality Ejection Hooks have been crafted, and 11 pairs of Blue quality Ejection Hooks have been crafted."

"However, the large hook scythes have not been crafted yet."

A look of joy appeared on Cao Xing's face, "It's fine, don't worry about the scythes for now. Just give me the hooks you've already crafted!"

"Very well, my Lord, please follow me."

After speaking, Harold led Cao Xing to a storage box. Inside, Cao Xing saw over a hundred cylinder-like devices.

He glanced at the attributes.

[Ejection Hook (Green): Special Equipment]

[Equipment Effect: After pressing the switch, it will instantly launch sharp grappling claws, hooking onto buildings or the prey's body, dealing 644 damage to it.]

[Maximum Launch Distance: 60 meters]

…

[Grappling Claw (Blue): Special Equipment]

[Equipment Effect: Same as above, and deals 1233 damage to the prey.]

[Maximum Launch Distance: 90 meters]

…

"Not bad, not bad, it actually has a launch distance of several tens of meters!"

Cao Xing exclaimed, "Harold, your craftsmanship is truly amazing!"

The dwarf blacksmith scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "My Lord, you flatter me."

"I just pour my full passion into every piece of equipment."

Cao Xing laughed, "Very good, keep up the good work, Harold."

"Strive to become an Advanced Blacksmith soon."

Harold's expression turned serious, "Understood! My Lord!"

After taking the grappling claws, Cao Xing left the blacksmith shop.

Then, while waiting for news from Sarah in the territory, Cao Xing farmed those Ice Nest Monsters to level up.

Yesterday's battle had already increased his experience bar quite a bit.

He glanced at his level.

[Level 20, 95%]

"Almost there, just a few thousand experience points away from reaching level 21."

Sure enough, not long after, a white light rose from Cao Xing's body.

At the same time, a system prompt appeared.

[Your level has increased, current level: 21]

[Attribute gains from this level up: Strength +6, Agility +7, Spirit +11, Constitution +8, Health +500]

…

"Huh? After reaching Tier 3, every level up also adds Health?"

A look of realization appeared in Cao Xing's eyes, "I was wondering why those Tier 3 creatures had such high Health, so that's why…"

"Not bad, this way, the gains from each level up are even greater!"

Cao Xing nodded in satisfaction.

At this moment, he seemed to remember something.

"Right, the night before last, I also traded for over a hundred thousand Ice Dragon Marks; these Ice Dragon Marks can also be used to improve my strength!"

He checked his reserves of Ice Dragon Marks.

[Ice Dragon Mark * 181,371]

[glacier shard * 98,281]

…

The night before last, he had 260,000 Ice Dragon Marks, but he spent over 80,000 on exchanging for a Heart of Strength, so now he had 180,000 left.

Cao Xing nodded and said, "Not bad, it's enough for me to exchange for a Gold Treasure Chest."

So, he opened the [Dragon Shop] and found the treasure chest exchange interface.

A system prompt appeared.

[Do you wish to consume 100,000 Ice Dragon Marks to exchange for 1 Cold-Gleaming Gold Treasure Chest? Remaining exchanges: 3]

(Note: This series of treasure chests belongs to the Ice Dragon 'Zhuoma' expansion pack and can yield some exclusive items.)

…

To be honest, Cao Xing had been looking forward to the Gold Treasure Chests in the Dragon Shop for a long time!

Now, he could finally exchange for the first one!

So, he clicked 'Yes' directly.

[Exchange successful, Ice Dragon Mark -100,000.]

The next moment, a magic circle gushing with cold air appeared in front of him.

As the light erupted, a treasure chest emitting a cold gleam and a pale golden luster appeared before Cao Xing.

This treasure chest was carved with a lifelike giant dragon with its eyes closed!

It had wings on its back, its body was covered in ice crystals, and its massive dragon claws seemed capable of tearing through everything.

Even though this giant dragon had its eyes closed, it still gave off a strong sense of oppression!

A system prompt appeared.

[Cold-Gleaming Gold Treasure Chest discovered. Do you wish to open it?]

"Yes."

[Successfully opened.]

[Obtained: Ice Dragon Crown (Gold)]

[Obtained: Dragon Blood Warrior Recruitment Scroll (Purple) * 2]

[Obtained: Large Anti-Corruption Potion (Purple) * 3]

[Obtained: Ice Dragon Horn (Medium) * 1]

[Obtained: dragon rock ore (Gold) * 3]

…

"Wow… except for this Ice Dragon Horn, everything else is new material I've never opened before."

Cao Xing was startled!

"No wonder the system said it was a 'Zhuoma' series exclusive treasure chest; the items inside are indeed different from other treasure chests."

With anticipation, Cao Xing began to check the attributes of these new materials.

First, naturally, was that golden piece of equipment!

A crown that looked like it was crafted from ice crystals.

Entirely transparent, with the top shimmering with a gorgeous luster, and it felt ice-cold to the touch.

[Ice Dragon Crown (Gold)]

[Quality: Precious]

[Equipment Requirement: Level 20 or above]

[Armor: 37~41]

[Special Effect ①: Spirit +30, Constitution +20, Casting Speed +20%]

[Special Effect ②: Frost Enhancement (When releasing all Ice-type magic or Ice-type attacks, maximum attack range increases by 30%, attack power increases by 30%)]

[Special Effect ③: Ice Dragon Will (When receiving mental attacks, reduce the probability of being controlled by 50%, and reduce mental damage received by 20%.)]

[Note: Ice Dragon Soul Set 1/3, can form a set effect with Ice Dragon Fang and Ice Dragon Ring.]

[After collecting the three-piece set, you can activate the set effect: 'Ice Dragon Blood Drain'.]

…

After reading the description of this equipment, Cao Xing's pupils suddenly constricted.

"Wow… this is actually a Gold set!"

"Such fierce attributes!"

Especially the second special effect [Frost Enhancement], which can increase the range of Ice-type magic attacks, which is a huge help to a Frost Mage like Cao Xing!

Plus, the other special effects are also quite good.

Just this one piece of equipment has such fierce attributes, if he collected the three-piece set, that would be incredible!

For a moment, Cao Xing became even more excited.

Then, he continued to check the other items.

Next were the two scrolls opened from the treasure chest.

[Dragon Blood Warrior Recruitment Scroll (Purple)]

[Use this scroll to recruit a Dragon Blood Warrior with Tier 3 Elite strength.]

…

"Tier 3 Elite?"

"It's alright."

Although a Tier 3 Elite isn't of much help to him, after all, he opened two of them this time.

Moreover, this is a recruitment scroll from an exclusive treasure chest, so the unit inside must have something special.

With a hint of anticipation, Cao Xing continued to check.

[Large Anti-Corruption Potion (Purple)]

[Potion Effect: After consumption, reduce the impact of 'Condensation Corruption' by 80% for the next three hours.]

(Note: Influenced by the power of Zhuoma, some powerful Ice Dragon minions will appear in the Ice Nest later. When these minions attack, they will carry the 'Condensation Corruption' effect, and enemies hit will have their mobility and Health cap significantly reduced.)

…

"So that's it; this is a potion specifically for those powerful Ice Nest Monsters later on."

Cao Xing put it into his backpack.

Besides that, only the last golden material remained to be checked.

[dragon rock ore (Gold): Special Material]

[Effect: Can be used to craft some high-level Ice Dragon series buildings or equipment.]

…

"Understood, this is the same as the glacier shard, it's also a crafting material, just more advanced."

At this point, the new items in this Gold Treasure Chest had been reviewed.

Overall, it lives up to being a 'Zhuoma series' exclusive; none of the items inside are simple.

And Cao Xing, without hesitation, equipped the [Ice Dragon Crown], immediately feeling his Spirit and Constitution rise by a large margin again.

Must say, Cao Xing, equipped with the [Ice Dragon Crown] and holding the [Staff of Dawn Light], really had the vibe of a Great Mage.

"Good, good, good, not only did my attributes increase, but my aura also improved significantly!"

"Clothes really do make the man!"

Cao Xing looked at his current attire with satisfaction.

As for the [Snow Eagle Helmet] he took off, he planned to give it to Liu Muxue later; it could also increase her attributes a bit.

Then, Cao Xing took out the two recruitment scrolls from his backpack and clicked to summon directly.

[Do you wish to use Dragon Blood Warrior Recruitment Scroll * 2?]

"Yes."

The next moment, the two scrolls in Cao Xing's hand disappeared.

Then, the sky trembled again.

It was as if two meteors were falling from the sky.

These two meteors turned into two huge blocks of ice and slammed down in front of Cao Xing.

Boom!!!

The violent tremors made everyone in the territory look over here, thinking that the Ice Nest had crashed down!

Even Cao Xing felt startled!

"Wow… summoning two elite monsters, and it has such a big spectacle?"

Originally, he didn't have high expectations for these two recruitment scrolls.

But now it seems, they might not be simple.