Chapter 57: The Group of Abilities
Jilin Province, Changbai Mountains—
Thirty-one members of "Suzaku" were marching through the foothills of Changbai Mountain. This region was one of the few in China with exceptionally high spiritual energy concentration—and a possible place where a "Leader" might be located.
Various investigations had been conducted before, but none had yet succeeded in locating the individual. Moreover, due to the intense spiritual energy, powerful monsters frequently appeared, causing significant casualties every time a survey was attempted.
At the very back of this marching group stood Gojo...
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"Hey, newbie! You not about to keel over, are you!?"
"Supposed to be from Japan, huh? Starting to miss home already?"
The male members of Suzaku called out to him. Both were much bigger than me—probably in their late thirties.
"Yeah... I'm fine. Got decent stamina."
"Look at you—skinny as a stick. If a monster attacks, we'll handle it. Just run around and don't die, got it?"
They chuckled loudly among themselves—old guys enjoying themselves.
Zhang Jing
Martial Artist Lv48
HP 382/382
MP 18/18
Strength 310
Defense 255
Magic Defense 43
Agility 412
Dexterity 58
Intelligence 29
Luck 33
[Profession Skills]
Martial Arts Rank C
[Skills]
Agility (II)
Li Haoyu
Warrior Lv64
HP 506/506
MP 8/8
Strength 466
Defense 302
Magic Defense 60
Agility 145
Dexterity 85
Intelligence 42
Luck 38
[Profession Skills]
Swordsmanship Rank D
[Skills]
Strength Enhancement (III)
Martial Artist... and a Warrior?... Only one profession skill, yet the stats are absurdly high...
Since I arrived in China, I’ve assessed all sorts of people—none of them beat the growth rate of my职业 board’s stats.
Guess the职业 board really does only grant minimum stat increases… and barely any【skills】 or【magic】 at all…?
Well, it’s basically cheating anyway, so I guess I can’t complain…
Hmm… ten… twenty… thirty? Something’s approaching. “Enemy Detection” just flared up.
Perfect timing to see just how strong this “Suzaku” group really is.
Rabbits and apes—monsters—leap out from all directions! The Suzaku members don’t panic. They form a tight circle, facing the enemies without a single wasted motion. Backs to allies, no blind spots—ready to handle foes from every angle at once.
No unnecessary movements.
They’ve placed me—the new recruit, first day on the team—right in the center, shielding me as they form their formation.
The monsters attack all at once! The big guy who called out to me, the warrior Chen, swings his massive sword, slicing through the ape monster and drawing its attention—then, in that split second, the martial artist Li slips in close, unleashing a brutal flurry of strikes to finish it off!!
Huh… so it’s not just talk, huh?
But Wang Xinyi’s fighting style? Absolutely terrifying. She moves minimally, just swinging her iron staff, one after another, felling monsters with effortless precision.
The real shock? That staff isn’t made of mithril. And yet—she’s knocking them down with a single strike each!!
Look closer—her qi (aura) isn’t just wrapping her body. It’s flowing all the way down the tip of the staff.
That’s what’s turning a simple iron rod into something that deals more damage than weapons made of magic steel. The stick’s not breaking anymore. It’s hard as steel.
I tried copying it with my “Imitation” skill—didn’t work. Takes serious skill, this.
They wiped out dozens of monsters in less than a minute. The “Suzaku” group, huh… yeah, they’ve earned their fame.
“Anyone hurt? Check yourselves—now!!”
The Wang gave the order. Sister Liu followed up, seamless. A well-oiled team. Impressive. But then—something changed…
“This…?”
The ground trembled. A low rumble. At first I thought it was an earthquake. No. The shaking grew stronger. Then I realized—something was coming.
One of Suzaku’s members spoke.
“Mass monster stampede!!!”
Thousands. Maybe tens of thousands. They’re heading straight for us. Rarely, monsters swarm and migrate en masse—called a “stampede.”
They’re not just moving. They’re fleeing something… something behind them…
“Even for us, that’s too much. Fall back!!”
The Wang ordered retreat.
“Wait!”
The member with the binoculars spoke up.
“There’s a giant tiger among them! Might be a Leader!”
“What?!”
The Wang snatched the binoculars. Stared at the massive tiger.
“Never seen anything like that….”
After a pause, he turned to the member and gave a new order.
If that's the Leader, I can't back down here!! I'll take her down—handle the other monsters, please!! Find a way through, somehow!!
The air around us was thick with a tension unlike anything before.