Chapter Eighty-Two: The Unyielding Frost Jade Pillar That Binds the Dragon

Originally, the Jade Pillar Binding the Dragon had intended to wait until Qin Chuan and his companions ventured deeper before unleashing its aura in full, hoping to catch all three off guard in one fell swoop. However, with a prompt from the system, Qin Chuan halted as soon as he entered the thirty-meter range, foiling the pillar’s plan somewhat.

Nevertheless, thirty meters was just within the attack range of the Jade Dragon Binding Chains, and Qin Chuan had even unwittingly stepped a few meters further. Though the Jade Dragon’s Cold Aura was a passive skill, the Jade Pillar could temporarily suppress it.

At that moment, Qin Chuan shouted urgently, “Retreat, quickly!”

Upon hearing the system’s crisp alert, Qin Chuan felt a sense of danger. Even before the battle began, his speed was reduced by forty-five percent—a most unpleasant handicap for anyone. His original speed was over five hundred and fifty, but after the wide-range slow, it dropped to just above three hundred. In comparison, the Jade Pillar’s speed of over four hundred and fifty left Qin Chuan at a severe disadvantage.

Zi Zi and Sleepyhead both sensed their movements restricted and hastily withdrew from the combat zone.

A Jade Chain silently swept toward Qin Chuan.

“Qin Chuan, careful!”

“Big brother, watch out!”

Zi Zi and Sleepyhead were visibly worried, seeing a layer of frost forming on Qin Chuan’s sword body.

Watching the chain swing toward him, Qin Chuan remained calm, knowing his current speed made escape impossible. Without hesitation, he activated Blink, teleporting five meters to the right front.

A sharp crack resounded as the Jade Chain struck the cold jade ore, leaving a deep groove and scattering mineral dust.

Meanwhile, Qin Chuan launched his skill—Flow Strike—without delay. His purpose in blinking forward five meters was to shorten the attack distance.

The Cold Iron Sword shot forth like a meteor toward the Jade Pillar Binding the Dragon.

The Jade Dragon’s Cold Aura could restrict Qin Chuan’s movement and normal attack speed, but it could not impede the speed of his skills. Otherwise, the Jade Pillar would truly be invincible.

The Jade Pillar was momentarily surprised that its chain missed, but seeing the Cold Iron Sword streak toward it, it rejoiced inwardly.

“Haha! That fool’s rushing in himself, saving me a lot of trouble.”

Seizing the opportunity, as soon as the sword entered the five-meter range, the pillar unleashed a powerful control skill.

“Dragon Binding Earthquake!”

A stunning control skill, it effectively interrupted enemy movement and attacks—even flying skills. This was the source of the Jade Pillar’s confidence.

If it could interrupt Qin Chuan’s Flow Strike, three seconds of critical hits would follow. With the Jade Pillar’s sharpness value surpassing seven hundred, critical damage would reach over a thousand and fifty. Qin Chuan’s tenacity was just above five hundred, hardly enough to withstand such blows.

Of course, all this depended on successful control. Since Dragon Binding Earthquake itself had a five-meter attack range, Flow Strike’s effective flying distance was less than twenty meters. That short distance took only fractions of a second. At this moment, Qin Chuan was still in a 0.6-second immunity state.

Thus, Dragon Binding Earthquake hit but had no effect.

Flow Strike negated the stun, and the remaining five meters were traversed almost instantly.

A metallic clang resounded as Qin Chuan’s attack struck the Jade Pillar, igniting a shower of sparks and rebounding from the shock. The Cold Iron Sword’s sharpness exceeded eight hundred, just enough to break through the defense, though the actual damage was not high. However, the piercing effect left the Jade Pillar in agony and marked it with a small white spot.

“Ah! What’s happening? That hurts!”

At that moment, a system prompt sounded in Qin Chuan’s ear.

“Ding! 40% slow triggered.”

Qin Chuan had calculated that the Jade Pillar, being an offensive type, would have a relatively low speed value. Once the forty percent slow was triggered, Qin Chuan would regain the advantage.

It all went as he had anticipated. With its speed reduced from over four hundred and fifty to just two hundred and seventy, Qin Chuan now had a thirty-point speed advantage—enough to pull off plenty of tricks.

“Slide!”

Instead of retreating, Qin Chuan slid to the side of the Jade Pillar and launched a quick sword strike.

Another metallic clang, sparks flying, the Jade Pillar howled in pain. Qin Chuan’s sword trembled from the recoil, prompting him to mutter, “Damn, this guy really is from the celestial realm—hard as hell!”

The Jade Pillar finally reacted, swinging a second Jade Chain at Qin Chuan. Though the chains were skill-based, their attacks counted as normal ones. With the forty percent slow, the pillar’s attack speed also dropped.

This time, Qin Chuan evaded the attack with just a thirty-point speed advantage, landing another quick strike.

A third clang and more sparks; luck seemed to favor the Jade Pillar or perhaps Qin Chuan’s luck was simply rotten. Three consecutive attacks, and he failed to trigger the thirty-five percent freeze chance.

The pillar’s third chain coiled toward him—again, Qin Chuan narrowly escaped, lamenting his misfortune. Due to speed restrictions and interference, he managed only three strikes within the three-second window, leaving four white spots before gracefully returning to his starting point.

Though the exchange seemed long, it lasted only four seconds. The Jade Chain’s duration was forty-six seconds, while Flow Strike had a full twenty-second cooldown.

On the surface, Qin Chuan appeared to hold an advantage, but for the next twenty seconds, he was at an absolute disadvantage.

Flow Strike was invaluable, its reset-on-kill trait almost unbeatable. But if unable to kill, its long cooldown became a glaring weakness.

Now, the Jade Pillar, having lost the opening round, furiously swung three Jade Chains at once—one to strike, two to bind, attacking from left, right, and center.

Zi Zi and Sleepyhead, standing outside the fray, shouted in alarm, “Watch out!”

Seeing the chains approach, Qin Chuan remained calm, accurately gauging their attack range. He was over twenty meters from the pillar—an ultimate skill would not achieve the desired effect.

So, Qin Chuan decisively used his freshly cooled Blink to retreat further back.

A sharp crack as the chains missed again.

Now, Qin Chuan stood more than thirty meters away.

“You little brat, you’ve got some skill! But you’re still under the Jade Dragon’s Cold Aura—let’s see where you run!”

The Jade Pillar shouted angrily, bounding after Qin Chuan.

It seemed Qin Chuan would have to endure forty-six seconds, but in reality, it wasn’t so dire. Blink refreshed in three seconds; factoring in the 0.6-second immunity, the true hardship was only 2.4 seconds.

“Perhaps defeating this opponent isn’t as difficult as I imagined.”

After this exchange, Qin Chuan seemed to have found a way to seize the initiative, though the 2.4-second skill vacuum remained an unpredictable challenge.