Chapter 57: Summoning

In the now calm fifth level of the mine, Li Mochen took off his mask and immediately strode into the huge cavern ahead, which resembled an underground hall.

As recorded in *A Preliminary Study of Magical Creatures*, the Deep Frost Princess had a habit of collecting ice-type curiosities. In one corner of the cavern, a pile of snow fluorite stones as large as a small hill was heaped.

Li Mochen rummaged through the Deep Frost Princess's collection, then shook his head in disappointment.

There was nothing but snow fluorite here, and although snow fluorite was valuable, the quality of what was piled here was poor. The current highest purchase price for low-purity snow fluorite outside was less than 12 gold shields per kilogram.

Without specialized tools, Li Mochen had no way to take them out of the cave.

Beneath this cave, there might be an ice-type treasure, otherwise it wouldn't have nurtured the Deep Frost Princess, but the problem was that he had no sensory or prospecting abilities, so he couldn't find it.

Li Mochen then used the light from the scattered snow fluorite stones to carefully examine the ice-blood stone necklace in his hand, which had greatly changed in appearance.

The original ice-blood stone was now covered with a thick layer of blue crystals, looking like a large sapphire, at least half the size of an egg.

Fortunately, Li Mochen had enough understanding of elemental cores and had left sufficient margin when making the necklace. So the overall look was still coordinated and aesthetically pleasing.

Li Mochen's eyes were full of joy, thinking that his luck this time was quite good. Although there was no extra gain, this turned out to be a 'Deep Frost Princess' that had just completed its advancement.

According to *A Preliminary Study of Magical Creatures*, the Deep Frost Princess was a strengthened variant of the 'Deep Frost Elemental Lord'. The difference was that the latter was generally an eleventh-level ice elemental, while the former was a twelfth-level existence.

But the gap between them was not just in level. The Deep Frost Princess's mastery of ice power and its deterrent effect on ice elementals were incomparable to ordinary Deep Frost Elemental Lords, and it possessed higher intelligence.

The next evolutionary direction of the Deep Frost Princess was the Deep Frost Queen, an exceptionally powerful elemental lifeform.

Normally, a Deep Frost Princess would have at least four Ice Generals and about twelve seventh-level ice elementals around it. But the one he had subdued using the spirit-sealing method had likely advanced less than three months ago; its intelligence hadn't fully developed, it hadn't had time to recruit minions, and its control over innate spells was mediocre.

If it had been a full-form Deep Frost Princess, Li Mochen could still have taken it down, but the process would not have been so easy and effortless.

Li Mochen then took out a carving knife he had prepared earlier and carved the last few runes onto the ice-blood stone necklace.

Unfortunately, his conditions were limited, and he couldn't obtain better materials. This ice-blood stone necklace could only seal the Deep Frost Queen for at most five years. But this lifespan was more than enough for him.

After everything was done, Li Mochen formed hand seals and uttered incantations.

“Voca!”

In an instant, a large amount of water vapor and cold energy gathered around Li Mochen. But it took three full minutes before the Deep Frost Queen formed the outline of its body.

Li Mochen looked slightly helpless, knowing this couldn't be helped. After all, most of the water vapor in the mine had frozen, the air was quite dry with little moisture left, and the Deep Frost Queen's body was not only three times the size of an adult but also as hard as steel. This couldn't be completed in a short time. Once back on the surface, the situation should be much better; as long as it wasn't a desert, there would be enough water molecules available.

So while waiting, Li Mochen tried casting the primary freezing ray and primary ice shield spells inherent in the ice-blood stone pendant.

As he expected, after sealing this Deep Frost Queen, the power of both spells had greatly increased, about three to five times, very close to intermediate freezing ray and ice shield. The key was that the consumption was very low, with the magic power provided by the Deep Frost Queen's elemental core.

It was worth mentioning that the dragon vein was very wary and repulsed by his ice-blood stone pendant and the Deep Frost Queen forming nearby, deliberately flying more than a meter away to keep a distance. It occasionally hissed complaints at Li Mochen in protest.

This gave Li Mochen a headache, thinking it was indeed his oversight. But he hadn't expected this little creature to be so averse to ice-type forces and beings.

After all, it was a dragon species; how could it be so spineless?

But after returning this time, he would have to modify this ice-blood stone necklace. He might as well make it into a bracelet and hang it on his wrist. That would be simple and wouldn't affect the structure of the ice-blood stone necklace.

Just then, Li Mochen's expression suddenly turned serious as he looked upward. The next moment, with a loud 'boom', the entire underground mine shook violently, and countless sand and stones fell from above. After four thunderous explosions, a huge hole was blasted through the rock layer above Li Mochen's head. Then a girl dressed entirely in denim and a tactical vest descended abruptly from above using a rope.

“Hey, little boy! Are you still alive?”

The denim-clad girl glanced around, then fixed her gaze on Li Mochen. She immediately assumed a defensive posture, pointing her gun at the Deep Frost Queen, which had mostly formed its body.

“Is that a Deep Frost Princess? Little boy, I suggest you run far away or hide behind me, okay? Unless you want to become an ice sculpture.”

Li Mochen shook his head slightly, snapped his fingers, and had the Deep Frost Queen conjure a huge ice shield to protect both of them. Then he looked at the girl named Eliza with curiosity: “I don't think it will harm me.”

“Is it your summoned creature?”

Eliza had already noticed the Inferno Dragon beside Li Mochen, which clearly led her to misunderstand something. Her eyes turned strange: “So you're a young master from a famous family. No wonder you dared to come to the Ice Death Mine alone. Why didn't you say so earlier? I rushed back in a hurry, afraid you'd die here.”

As she holstered her gun, she asked: “Can you tell me? Which family are you from? Wiltonstein, Van Derrick, or the Howard family? Since you can possess a Deep Frost Queen and this Inferno Dragon, you must be a direct descendant, right? No wonder you refused my money earlier. Tsk, seems I was being presumptuous.”

Li Mochen didn't answer but instead asked with equal curiosity: “How did you find me here? I didn't notice anyone following me.”

She had directly blasted through five layers of ground to 'descend' before him, indicating she knew his whereabouts perfectly.

“My profession is Magus Hunter, called a hunter in ancient times.”

A hint of pride flickered in Eliza's eyes: “It's natural you didn't notice. This is a unique talent of our family. Even a legendary-level expert, if hit by my Hunter's Mark, wouldn't detect it if not careful.”

She had already walked up to Li Mochen and persisted: “Now it's your turn. Don't be so cold, little virgin! Tell me, which family are you from? We might even be relatives. What to do? The more aloof you are, the more interested I become. You seem cool. How about it, little virgin? Want to find a place to have a bang?”

“Little virgin?”

This clearly touched a nerve for Li Mochen, making his face darken like the bottom of a pot, then a faint, ambiguous smile curled at the corner of his mouth: “Interesting. I say, Sister Eliza, are you sure you're interested in me? Are you planning to give me your first night?”

Eliza, who had been enjoying Li Mochen's expression, was stunned. Her smile froze, and she stood rooted to the spot, unable to move for several seconds. Li Mochen's dark eyes were full of sarcasm: “You heard right, I'm talking about you. I think you haven't had your first night yet, and you don't have a boyfriend, right? Back at the magic energy array, I was actually curious—you, someone who hasn't even had a single experience, why are you pretending to be so bold and mature?”

In increasingly liberal America, a virgin around twenty years old was clearly not a glorious thing.

Eliza's face instantly flushed red: “What nonsense are you talking? Who, who's a virgin? What do you know? And I'm at most six years older than you, don't call me Sister, OK?”