Ziyue was instantly covered in glistening Ice Armor, enduring the attack while simultaneously unleashing the Ice Blast she had already prepared.
Dozens of ice crystals exploded around the 'Phantom Silver Snow Fox', filling the air with ice mist.
However, the 'Phantom Silver Snow Fox' in its awakened state had extremely strong defenses, only stumbling a few steps.
Chiying seized the opportunity to continue using Dragon Dance to boost its stats.
However, the 'Phantom Silver Snow Fox', surrounded by Ice Blast crystals, suddenly made a sharp turn, using Frozen Bite directly at Chiying's neck.
“Rising Dragon Strike!” Liu Yi decided instantly.
Chiying soared into the sky, golden energy forming a conical vortex around its body.
The 'Phantom Silver Snow Fox's' Frozen Bite missed, while Chiying's Rising Dragon Strike heavily struck its target, and the Ice Blast simultaneously exploded.
“Boom!”
The shockwave from the explosion sent both pets flying. The moment Chiying fell, Liu Yi recalled it to her Beast Taming Space, and at the same time, the 'Phantom Silver Snow Fox's' Ice Soul Awakening state ended.
“Ziyue, Extreme Cold Storm!”
A furious blizzard instantly swept through the entire space.
After the Extreme Cold Storm, the 'Phantom Silver Snow Fox' finally fell, dissipating into specks of light.
【Challenge Successful!】
【Congratulations on clearing the twenty-fifth floor!】
【Rest area is now open. Options: 1. Continue Challenge 2. Temporarily Exit 3. Enter Rest Area】
Ziyue wearily walked back to Liu Yi, ice crystals still clinging to her fur.
Liu Yi crouched down, gently stroked its head, and then recalled it to her Beast Taming Space.
Inside the Beast Taming Space, they could slowly recover, and there were also recovery liquid and energy liquid available for replenishment.
Liu Yi chose to temporarily exit the Tower of Trials. Both Ziyue and Chiying were not in good condition, and they had already temporarily met Wei Xiuyu's requirement of clearing the 25th floor yesterday.
Let them get some good rest first.
With a flash of white light, she returned to the Tower of Trials lobby.
She checked the time; there was still a while before the school team's assembly and training.
After leaving the Tower of Trials, Liu Yi found a quiet spot to sit down, took out her phone, and opened the Tianqi Beast Taming High School campus forum.
She typed “Tower of Trials Desert Environment Quicksand Ant” into the search bar, and several related posts immediately popped up.
《Help! How to Beat the Desert Environment? Quicksand Ants Are Too Broken!》
《Share: How to Deal with the Sandstorm + Quicksand Trait Combo of Desert Environment and Quicksand Ants》
...
《Advice from a Graduate Returning to Farm the Tower for Younger Students》
Liu Yi clicked on the graduate's post.
【OP: As an alumnus who graduated four years ago, when I returned to my alma mater to visit my teachers two weeks ago, I took the opportunity to challenge the Tower of Trials with a newly contracted pet that had evolved to the Intermediate stage. When I reached the 23rd floor, I got a random combination of Thunderstorm Plains + Lightning Falcon, and I wiped out. That's when I remembered the fear of being dominated by 'hidden combinations' back then.】
【2F: What are these hidden combinations the OP is talking about? I just reached the 15th floor, please enlighten me!】
【OP: From the 21st floor onwards, the Tower of Trials presents Intermediate stage difficulty, with each floor's environment and guardian randomly generated. In most cases, the guardian is just a regular Intermediate pet. However, there's an extremely small chance of a 'hidden combination' appearing—where the guardian's Trait skills perfectly synergize with the environment, drastically increasing the difficulty.】
【5F: I see! Last week I encountered the Desert Environment + Quicksand Ant combo. The Sandstorm + Quicksand Trait was practically unbeatable! Even my Water-type pet couldn't defeat it...】
【OP: Exactly, the Desert Environment + Quicksand Ant is one of the classic hidden combinations. The Quicksand Ant itself can utilize the desert environment. Once the Sandstorm skill is unleashed, the Quicksand Trait boosts its speed, and with the Bug's Premonition Trait and Endure skill as backup, it's practically invincible.】
【OP: If your goal is to clear the floor, unless your pet has reached the Intermediate peak stage and is one of the four types that counter it—Flying, Fire, Water, or Ice—I recommend giving up and restarting to get a regular combination for battle.】
【OP: I only went back to randomly challenge those hidden combinations after my pets evolved to the Advanced stage in the second semester of my third year of high school, because my pets couldn't beat them at the Intermediate stage!】
Liu Yi: “...”
So that's how it is?
No wonder Chiying had such a tough time. So there's such a thing as 'hidden combinations'.
Come to think of it, Chiying's latent energy hadn't even reached 10% of the Intermediate stage, and Poison-type skills actually deal half damage to Ground-type pets.
But in the end, they still managed to clear it.
Liu Yi continued to scroll down, seeing more replies.
【45F: How do you beat the Ice and Snow Environment + Snow-Drinking Fox? My pet couldn't even touch it before being defeated...】
【OP: That's also a hidden combination! The Snow-Drinking Fox's Extreme Cold Body Trait increases its resistance to Ice-type skills and grants it extra speed and attack power in cold environments.】
【OP: As mentioned before, either your pet has reached the Intermediate peak stage and is one of the four types that counter it—Fighting, Rock, Steel, or Fire—or wait until your pet evolves to the Advanced stage before challenging this hidden combination.】
Liu Yi: “?”
This is also a hidden combination?
Didn't they say the probability was extremely low?
Today, not counting the twenty-fifth floor, they challenged floors twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, and twenty-four. She had Ziyue and Chiying each challenge once, making a total of eight attempts, and two hidden combinations appeared within those eight.
Isn't that a one-fourth probability?
One-fourth is considered extremely low probability?
Liu Yi shook her head helplessly, continuing to scroll through the post. The comment section was filled with tearful accusations from current students against the hidden combinations.
【72F: No wonder it sometimes feels like encountering extremely difficult guardians starting from the 21st floor.】
【91F: You're telling me, I also encountered the Thunderstorm Plains + Lightning Falcon hidden combination. It paralyzed my pet right at the start, then bombed it with Thunderbolt skills the entire time. Is that even fair?!】
【125F: The most outrageous one is the Swamp Environment + Poison Swamp Frog! With Poison Mist + Damp Skin Trait, my pet was poisoned and lost stamina the entire time, while it thrived in the humid environment and even slowly recovered stamina!】
【143F: Whispering, I heard that the hidden combinations were specially added by the principal back in the day to hone students' abilities [dog head emoji]】
【166F: Case closed! No wonder the graduating alumni all say, “A life not tormented by hidden combinations is incomplete.”】
【266F: Although hidden combinations are tough and almost impossible to clear at the same rank, they greatly improve practical combat adaptability. I advise younger students not to retreat and restart immediately when they get a hidden combination; it's good to practice them more.】
Liu Yi nodded and liked the comment from 226F.
Rate on N.U.
