Chapter 80: I Am an Apothecary

The magma behemoths had already become five ice sculptures, their cores continually assailed by the cold, their bodies emitting the crackling, splintering sounds of ice expanding and bursting. The faint red glow at their cores was steadily dimming, soon to be extinguished.

"Let me finish you with one final blow!" Bai Shengye reversed his grip, intending to strike the last blow, raising the Iceblade Sword high—but suddenly, he stopped.

The frost and the raging wind at his back still howled, but the power within the Frozen Hell was waning.

He lowered the sword he had raised. The abrupt pause made those behind him grow restless and uneasy, whispering anxiously among themselves:

"What’s going on? Why isn’t he attacking? Now’s the perfect opportunity—why not finish off the beasts? What’s he waiting for? If he delays any longer, the monsters will awaken! Did something go wrong…?"

Among them, the Dragon Matron was the first to keenly perceive the reason for Bai Shengye’s sudden halt. Her sharp eyes narrowed as she said, "Hmph, he’s out of magic. He could unleash a spell far beyond his own strength for a short while, but if his magic cannot keep up, it’s all for naught. Still, to accomplish this much is already remarkable."

"What? Out of magic? But if he stops now, the magma behemoth’s core isn’t destroyed yet! Won’t all his efforts go to waste?" The crowd grew agitated, wringing their hands in frustration.

Yun Lan, however, remained calm. As Bai Shengye’s magic waned, he swiftly poured more chilling wind into the Frozen Hell, sustaining the subzero temperature. Now, he chose to trust his student, unwavering and unshaken.

Bai Shengye’s face flushed with embarrassment—the potion’s effect had expired an instant before, and his magic had plummeted to its nadir, leaving him powerless. He thought to himself, "My level is still too low!... I’m only a mid-level mage and I’ve already run out of magic so quickly."

Just as everyone was losing faith in this young ice mage, Bai Shengye, with practiced ease, retrieved another potion vial from his pack.

"Sigh, at this rate, I’ll use up even next month’s reserves!" he muttered, shaking the blue liquid before downing it in one gulp. Then a second bottle, a third, a fourth—he drank them down one after another.

Even the worldly Dragon Matron was taken aback. "What? Unlimited potion refills… What kind of constitution is this?"

"Ordinary people can’t possibly withstand that many potions. Could he possess a special constitution…?" The crowd’s anticipation and astonishment intertwined.

The captain of the guard sent to find Bai Shengye now finally understood what "I am an alchemist" truly meant.

Before long, Bai Shengye’s magical energy was replenished. He tossed the empty vials aside, and with both hands once more infused power into the Frozen Hell—this time, his pack was completely emptied.

The swirling frost and snow surged anew, spilling over the stone wall’s breach and sweeping backward. Beyond the stone wall, the temperature plummeted rapidly for a hundred yards around. Though this was a burning desert, everyone felt as if they’d been plunged into the depths of winter, shivering violently, their arms wrapped tightly around themselves, frost quickly gathering on their faces and beards.

Hei Yu and Yi Xin both felt the pressure mounting—though they were all students of the same year, Bai Shengye’s astonishing power and endurance far surpassed their current capabilities.

The magma behemoths were now entirely encased in ice, the temperature in the Frozen Hell at its lowest extreme. Bai Shengye prepared to unleash his finishing strike. Gripping the hilt of the Iceblade Sword with both hands, he focused all his strength at a single point on the blade, and struck with full force.

"Iceburst!"

Where the sword’s energy swept, several pillars of ice within the Frozen Hell suddenly exploded, shards of ice scattering everywhere. Next, the five colossal icebergs imprisoning the magma behemoths shattered one after another, their bodies breaking into countless fragments of ice, while their frozen cores burst instantly into dust.

The fragments flew in all directions like a meteor shower, then, in an instant, fell into the snow and vanished into silence once more.

The frost and snow gradually dispersed, the howling wind ceased, and Yun Lan withdrew his hand.

Within the confines of the stone wall, only a vast white expanse remained, thick snow covering the ground. The disassembled black stones that were once the magma behemoths’ bodies lay scattered amidst the ice shards.

The mages cautiously entered the area, approaching the stone blocks encased in ice. They tapped them with their staves—now, the magma behemoths were utterly silent, with no sign of movement or revival.

Standing among the ruins, they all felt the marrow-chilling cold. "Frozen like this, not even molten lava could thaw them!" someone exclaimed.

When they were certain the magma behemoths had been vanquished, joy and relief blossomed on every face. Though the spell had ended, the lingering chill remained, and overhead the sky was still shrouded in freezing clouds. Suddenly, snowflakes began to fall gently from above.

"It’s snowing!" someone cried.

These snowflakes were not conjured by magic, but real snow. Everyone looked up in awe, hardly able to believe it.

"Actual snow? In the desert?"

The Dragon Matron gazed at the vast, wintry sky and sighed, "To change not only the battlefield but the very weather of this region through magic—what an immense power! The young truly surpass the old!"

Yun Lan, too, finally breathed a sigh of relief. His frail body, further weakened by the expenditure of magic, swayed as darkness momentarily clouded his vision. Yet he steadied himself at once, letting no one nearby notice his state.

"You’ve worked hard," said Master Shi Fangcheng, approaching to clap Bai Shengye on the shoulder.

"It was nothing," Bai Shengye replied. He turned to look at Yun Lan standing on the high ground behind, giving him a thumbs-up, gratitude shining in his eyes. Yun Lan smiled back at him.

"Though the potions played a large part, success this time was just as much due to Principal Yun Lan’s support," he thought.

Exhausted from expending all his magic, Bai Shengye withdrew from the battlefield to recover.

Now the warriors’ morale soared. Yi Sheng raised his staff high and declared, "Warriors! Press the attack—drive back the fiends and reclaim the Great Wall!"

"Press the attack, reclaim the Great Wall!"

With their battle cries, the warriors followed Yi Sheng into the fray. Shi Fangcheng opened a breach in the stone wall, and the warriors surged forward. With the magma behemoths gone, nothing could stop them now. The battle line advanced steadily, pushing the fiends back into the depths of the Red Sand Desert.

Seated atop the Celestial Phoenix, Lei Jue watched the scene unfold, his brow furrowing.

"That ice mage—what’s his background?"

The elder beside him, mounted on a griffin, replied respectfully, "Your Highness, this young man possesses both ice magic and alchemical skills. He appears to hail from the House of the Medicine Immortal, but the specifics remain unclear…"