Adventure - Awakening an F-Rank Talent: secretly has a SSS-Rank Talent

As soon as Shen Han arrived at the Mission Hall, he was shocked by the bustling crowd, which was comparable to a train station in his previous life.

The huge LCD screen displayed various missions:

"Kill a Swiftwind Claw Rabbit and bring back its Yao Core, reward 100,000."

"Hunt at least 5 Azure Scale Fish, bring back their Yao Cores, reward 150,000, time limit one week."

"Urgently need Lightning Element mages, where are the Lightning Element mages?"

"Lost family spirit pet Azure Spirit Fox, reward 180,000 for its return."

...

Completing one mission would be enough to buy several Spiritual Crystal Stones. Shen Han was performing a mission for the first time and had no experience in wilderness combat, so the best choice was, of course, to team up with others.

"Little brother, interested in teaming up to hunt Yao Beasts?" A scruffy middle-aged man next to him leaned over and asked.

"You are?" Shen Han was slightly surprised.

"Oh, I'm Yue Qingyan, a member of the Chasing Wind Squad, with a B-Rank Earth Element Special Ability. Our squad took on two hunting missions, and because a member had an urgent matter, we need to recruit one more person. Are you interested, little brother?"

"Oh? How do you know I'm suitable for your squad?" Shen Han was still a bit uneasy.

"It's like this, Yang City has a rule that only five or more people can form a squad. We always operated as five, but this time a member had an urgent matter midway, so we reluctantly need to temporarily bring someone in. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to accept this mission."

"Alright, I accept. My name is Han Sheng, and I have an A-Rank Ice Element Special Ability," Shen Han didn't want to waste any more time there.

"That's great! I'll go register you right away and introduce you to the other members," Yue Qingyan seemed extremely happy.

After registering and receiving his Elementary Hunter badge, Shen Han followed Yue Qingyan to the Chasing Wind Squad's base, where he met the other three members.

"Come, let me introduce you. This is our Captain Lin Haotian, an A-Rank Wind Element Special Ability user, skilled in reconnaissance and tactical command; the one in the night suit is Ye Feng, a C-Rank Dark Element user, skilled in stealth assassination and long-range lurking; and this female member, Wen Xiaoxue, a B-Rank Water Element user, skilled in Water Element control and possessing impressive healing skills. Everyone, this little brother is Han Sheng, an A-Rank Ice Element Special Ability user we just recruited. He will be joining us on this hunting mission," Yue Qingyan introduced them to each other.

"A-Rank Ice Element, not bad, he can serve as an attacker. However, his Cultivation is indeed a bit low, only around the Martial Artist Second Level," Lin Haotian frowned.

"There's no one more suitable right now, and if we wait any longer, our squad won't be able to depart," Wen Xiaoxue persuaded from the side.

The others said nothing more, clearly agreeing with Wen Xiaoxue's words.

The five reached an agreement and, while the city gates were still open, took a carriage together to the Shadowed Forest in the northern part of Yang City. The Shadowed Forest's area was equivalent to more than a dozen Yang City areas, spanning five or six surrounding districts. Many terrifying Yao Beasts lived here; the deeper one went, the stronger the Yao Beasts' Cultivation became, some even comparable to human Martial Ancestor powerhouses. The Chasing Wind Squad's overall Cultivation strength was still at the Martial Master level of Elementary Martial Artist. The Captain Lin Haotian, with the highest Cultivation, was only at the Martial Spirit First Level, so they naturally dared not venture deep into the forest, only undertaking hunting missions in the outer regions of the Shadowed Forest.

In the evening, the group of five arrived at the forest's edge.

"Set up camp. We'll rest in the outer region tonight and continue our journey early tomorrow morning," Lin Haotian told everyone.

"The Shadowed Forest at night is very dangerous. Many Yao Beasts in the forest come out to forage at night, active after dusk and resting during the day. Night is their domain. We'll go a bit deeper early tomorrow morning," Yue Qingyan explained to Shen Han.

"Alright, you all have more experience, I'll listen to you," Shen Han had no objections.

The five took turns on watch for two hours. During the night, there were rustling sounds deep in the jungle, as if Yao Beasts were active nearby, but they didn't come to the edge to attack the Chasing Wind Squad's camp. The night passed without incident. The next day, the squad continued deeper for about 10 kilometers. Although it was daytime, the dense forest still blocked out the sun.

"Our mission this time is to hunt adult Fire Tail Lizards and obtain their Yao Cores, 200,000 per head with no upper limit. The employer is a Fire Element Martial Artist who needs Fire Element Yao Cores to increase the Cultivation speed of his Fire Element Martial Skill. According to the map, this area is where Fire Tail Lizards frequently appear. Everyone, stay alert and be careful. These Fire Tail Lizards are not so easy to deal with. Their tails have fire attributes, and they can unleash flames by swinging their tails. They also have tough hides and strong defense. We are in their territory, and they can attack at any time," Lin Haotian reminded everyone.

Everyone also became serious and cautious, paying close attention to the movements around them.

"Something's happening about 20 meters directly ahead!" Just as he turned his head, a fireball flew straight at him.

"Water Screen!" "Rock Barrier!" Wen Xiaoxue and Yue Qingyan immediately cast their Water Element and Earth Element defensive skills.

"Shadow Concealment," Ye Feng suddenly vanished into the jungle. Lin Haotian's attention was highly focused, constantly using Wind Element Speed skills to scout the surroundings and prevent sneak attacks from other Yao Beasts.

"Chhh ~" This was the sound of a sword piercing flesh. Ye Feng, who had suddenly appeared behind the Fire Tail Lizard, directly stabbed a sword into its back of the neck.

After quickly removing the Yao Core, everyone remained on alert.

Shen Han approached and examined the Fire Tail Lizard's corpse, attempting to activate his Devour skill. "This corpse won't just be sucked dry, will it? That would cause quite a stir. Worst case, I'll push it onto an Earth Element Yao Beast buried underground," he thought to himself.

"No change? What's going on?" The Sniff skill was activated.

Name: Shen Han

Mental Energy: 133 / 140 (Martial Artist First Level)

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), Devour (1/10), Replace (1/10)

Lightning Element - Thunder Rending Sky (Elementary)

Ice Element - Frost Condensing Thousand Blades (Elementary)

His Mental Energy had increased by about 10 points. This Fire Tail Lizard directly provided about 10% of its own Mental Energy. It seemed he could take advantage of this to greatly increase his Mental Energy, instead of meditating like an ascetic every day. With his Mental Energy increasing, he would soon be able to Breakthrough to Martial Artist Second Level or even higher Realms. Once he had enough self-preservation ability, he would also be able to go on solo missions.

Just as Shen Han was lost in thought, three Fire Tail Lizards attacked the Chasing Wind Squad from different directions. Wen Xiaoxue and Yue Qingyan's defenses clearly wouldn't hold much longer. Lin Haotian was tightly entangled by one Fire Tail Lizard, and Ye Feng was barely fending off another, whose strength was a notch higher than before.

"We must finish this quickly. The commotion from this fight will soon attract more Fire Tail Lizards or even other more powerful Yao Beasts." Seeing this, Shen Han unleashed Frost Condensing Thousand Blades. In an instant, dozens of Ice Blades appeared out of thin air and rapidly shot towards the three Fire Tail Lizards.

"Chhh chhh chhh ~" The three Fire Tail Lizards were each hit by Ice Blades, which embedded into their bodies. The two Fire Tail Lizards entangled with Lin Haotian and Ye Feng stiffened immediately. Seizing this opportunity, the two finished off their opponents and came to help Shen Han kill the last one.

"Unfortunately, my Cultivation strength is insufficient. The attack power of an Advanced skill like Frost Condensing Thousand Blades is terrifying, but it requires enough Mental Energy to support it. My weakness of insufficient Mental Energy was exposed once again," Shen Han said helplessly. "Even if I could cast Frost Condensing Thousand Blades at Perfection, my Mental Energy isn't enough to support such high consumption."

"Not bad! As a newcomer, not being scared stiff by the Yao Beasts is already impressive, and you even managed to heavily injure them," everyone said with satisfaction after collecting the Yao Cores.

Shen Han also took the opportunity while everyone was collecting Yao Cores to gain another 40 points of Mental Energy. His strength was almost ready to Breakthrough to Martial Artist Third Level.