The group of five spent a full three days finally gathering 15 Fire Tail Lizards, and Shen Han's Mental Energy also increased by 110 points during this process.
Name: Shen Han
Mental Energy: 287 / 300 (Martial Artist Fifth Realm)
Special Ability: Chaos Element, Lightning Element
Rank: Chaos Element - SSS Rank, Lightning Element - F Rank, Ice Element - A Rank
Skills: Chaos Element - Sniff (1 / 10), Copy (1 / 10), Devouring (1 / 10), Replace (1 / 10)
Lightning Element - Thunder Rending Sky (Beginner)
Ice Element - Frost Condensing Thousand Blades (Beginner)
Returning to the Yang City mission hall to submit the mission, the group received a total of 3 million, and although Shen Han was new to the team, he contributed a lot and received 500,000. Although it was slightly less than the others, Shen Han was very satisfied. The gains from this mission made up for all the previous losses. It seems that Martial Artists are truly profitable in this world; one mission can be worth several months of a 9-to-5 worker's salary. However, the consumption is also truly high.
Shen Han learned that the ranking classification of exotic beasts differed slightly from that of humans. From the first to the tenth stage, there are ten Ranks, corresponding to the human Martial Artist to Martial God levels, with each level also subdivided into 10 minor Realms. The Fire Tail Lizards this time were all in the outer perimeter, mostly first-stage exotic beasts with relatively weaker strength. The deeper into the core of the Shadowed Forest, the stronger the exotic beasts, with rumors of existences surpassing the Martial Ancestor level.
"My strength is still too weak. Among students of the same year at school, my strength is already considered upper-middle to high, but I can only kill exotic beasts in the outermost perimeter. It's too dangerous to go out alone to kill and acquire resources. I need to seize the time to improve my strength," Shen Han thought.
Using the 500,000 he earned, Shen Han bought 7 bottles of Quenching Spirit Liquid and continued Cultivating at his previous pace. Mental Energy is fundamental, but he also needed to balance Cultivating the Martial Skills corresponding to his Special Abilities. The Lightning Element Martial Skills he currently displayed were somewhat weak. If he only showed an F-Rank Lightning Element to the public, it would be almost unrealistic to obtain significant school resources and rewards during his upcoming high school career, let alone gain admission to a top-ranked university. What he could do now was to ensure a steady increase in Mental Energy while also boosting the growth rate of his Lightning Element skills. The safest method Shen Han could think of was to Copy people with Lightning Element Special Ability talent or to hunt exotic beasts with Lightning Element Special Abilities in the Shadowed Forest and obtain their demon cores.
Two months passed quickly, and Shen Han used up 7 bottles of Quenching Spirit Liquid, successfully advancing to the fifth Realm of a Martial Artist:
Name: Shen Han
Mental Energy: 321 / 340 (Martial Artist Fifth Realm)
Special Ability: Chaos Element, Lightning Element
Rank: Chaos Element - SSS Rank, Lightning Element - F Rank, Ice Element - A Rank
Skills: Chaos Element - Sniff (1 / 10), Copy (1 / 10), Devouring (1 / 10), Replace (1 / 10)
Lightning Element - Thunder Rending Sky (Beginner)
Ice Element - Frost Condensing Thousand Blades (Minor Achievement)
Shen Han could now cast Lightning Element and Ice Element skills with relative ease, unlike the initial awkwardness. With strengthened Mental Energy, the execution of Martial Skills became more proficient. However, it was a pity that Thunder Rending Sky of the Lightning Element was still only at the Beginner level; its growth rate was too slow. Classmates of the same year who were faster had already reached the Minor Achievement Realm.
Shen Han arrived at the outskirts of the Shadowed Forest under the cover of night. Low growls of beasts faintly echoed around him, mixed with the rustling of leaves in the wind, making the entire forest appear exceptionally mysterious and eerie. His gaze was solemn and calm, knowing that this solo trip was to truly temper himself, not a relaxed practice. The Shadowed Forest was a place for the strong; a moment of carelessness could mean death, but he had long resolved to improve himself through battle, no matter how difficult.
"Although there are many exotic beasts in the outer perimeter, with my current strength, I can only attempt first-stage low-level exotic beasts," Shen Han secretly calculated in his heart. He planned to save the demon cores of Lightning Element and Ice Element for later use to strengthen his own Special Abilities, while other low-Rank demon cores and Materials could be exchanged for resources to support his future Cultivation needs.
He suppressed his Qi to the lowest possible level, silently moving through the dense forest, observing his surroundings using the sparse moonlight. Soon after, a cluster of sparks flew towards him.
"Flowing Fire Bee Swarm!" Shen Han was suddenly startled, recalling the information about this exotic beast he had learned in his exotic beast class. "Flowing Fire Bees are Fire Element exotic beasts, small in size and not very strong in combat. Their stingers can release flowing fire and carry fire poison, causing continuous burning effects when they attack. What makes Flowing Fire Bees most troublesome is that they often appear in swarms, winning by sheer numbers." His Ice Element skill, Frost Condensing Thousand Blades, was primarily a single-target attack, with weak area-of-effect capabilities. Once entangled, it would be difficult to escape.
Seeing the increasing intensity of the firelight, Shen Han immediately felt something was wrong. Besides his direction, many Flowing Fire Bees were rushing in other directions as well.
"Are they fleeing for their lives? Could it be that a powerful exotic beast is hunting these Flowing Fire Bees?" Sure enough, occasional purple electric arcs lit up behind the Flowing Fire Bee swarm, accompanied by crackling sounds of electricity. Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion, which likes to prey on swarms of small flying exotic beasts, is massive in size, has thunder patterns on its tail, and can release an electric arc net, encompassing all small exotic beasts within its attack range.
"When you're sleepy, someone delivers a pillow," Shen Han couldn't help but marvel at his good luck. This Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion was perfect for accelerating his Lightning Element skill Cultivation, and he had to take it down no matter what. Suppressing his Qi, Shen Han quietly watched the battle between the bee swarm and the Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion not far ahead.
The Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion's electric arc net trapped thousands of Flowing Fire Bees, but there were even more Flowing Fire Bees outside the net. After the initial panic, the Flowing Fire Bees gradually organized their resistance. The flowing fire gathered more and more, directly blasting towards the Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion's head. At first, the Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion could resist with its powerful physical defense, but as the Flowing Fire Bees' counterattack gradually gained momentum, they slowly reached a stalemate, then the Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion gradually fell into a disadvantage as its injuries worsened.
The two sides fought until midnight. The Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion, exhausted, prepared to retreat, and the Flowing Fire Bee swarm, having suffered many losses, also had no desire to continue fighting. After the Flowing Fire Bee swarm receded, Shen Han followed the Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion, preparing to deliver a fatal blow. To be safe, he activated his Sniff skill.
Name: Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion
Mental Energy: 401 / 420 (Martial Artist Eighth Realm)
Special Ability: Lightning Element
Rank: Lightning Element - D Rank
Skills: Lightning Sky Curtain (Minor Achievement)
He wondered if he could directly activate the Devouring Skill. Previously, Devouring had always been used on exotic beasts that had already been killed. He didn't know if it would be effective directly on a living exotic beast this time.
The Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion had not yet recovered from the previous battle and had not expected a human to be lurking there. Shen Han directly activated Frost Condensing Thousand Blades; dozens of Ice Blades descended from the sky, piercing the Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion from different directions. Its limbs were broken, its body was impaled, and its life force slowly drained away. The Devouring Skill was activated. A surge of purple energy poured into his Sea of Consciousness.
"It worked?" Shen Han quickly checked the changes in his Sea of Consciousness.
Name: Shen Han
Mental Energy: 327 / 360 (Martial Artist Sixth Realm)
Special Ability: Chaos Element, Lightning Element
Rank: Chaos Element - SSS Rank, Lightning Element - D Rank, Ice Element - A Rank
Skills: Chaos Element - Sniff (1 / 10), Copy (1 / 10), Devouring (1 / 10), Replace (1 / 10)
Lightning Element - Thunder Rending Sky (Beginner), Lightning Sky Curtain (Beginner)
Ice Element - Frost Condensing Thousand Blades (Minor Achievement)
The Lightning Element Special Ability actually directly advanced to D Rank, and his Mental Energy also increased by 40 points! It seems that the Devouring Skill can be activated even when the exotic beast is alive, and in addition to Mental Energy, it can also Devour Special Abilities to raise the existing Special Ability Rank. After the Devouring Skill was used, the Thunder-Patterned Violent Scorpion on the ground had already lost all signs of life.
"It seems that after using the Devouring Skill, the person or exotic beast being Devoured will hardly survive. In the future, I should use this skill less on humans, unless the opponent is an irreconcilable enemy."
"Hmm? Someone is rapidly approaching."