Fang Hong carefully avoided these battles; he had mingled with the Morning Dawn Star for a while, and knew that the adventurers on the fringes were unreliable—most of them were lone hyenas. And if he were to form an alliance with adventurers, naturally he would seek those who were clearly organized, who would be in the plaza near the valley at this time.

But just because he didn't look for trouble, didn't mean that trouble wouldn't find him.

As he passed through a thicket, Fang Hong took the opportunity to ask Tainaric about the rituals.

Since the Lizardman Prince did not have the Dragon Knight System, he could only briefly describe the effects of his blessing. However, Fang Hong understood that Tainaric's Asuka blessing gained strength through killing enemies, which is a typical Dark Force, but whether it was extra experience or a combat BUFF was still unclear.

His Ka Cuilan Mark, on the other hand, was obtaining an accuracy and perception bonus through the Eyes of the Stars' prediction of the opponent's movement, essentially a permanent Preemptive Strike—of course, the effect wasn't as strong. Combined with his class, this was a quite practical ability, and Fang Hong thought it was much stronger than his own mark.

As for the last one, the Earth Blessing, Ta Hess's Holy Word was very robust and straightforward: as long as the bearer stood on the earth, they would receive double the strength bonus. This thing was simple and brutal; as long as he fought on the ground, the Lizardman Prince could be considered on par with an average Strength System warrior.

But in agility, he was streets ahead of the latter.

Of course, there were downsides too—once he entered the Sky Sea, this blessing could be said to have no effect. And in water, in trees, or if an opponent forced him off the ground, the blessing might as well not exist.

As Fang Hong was analyzing the pros and cons, unexpectedly, two teams suddenly charged out from behind the bushes right at that moment.

The people at the front looked panicked and were obviously fleeing, while those behind seemed to be gaining the upper hand, intending to surround the former. And all of these people clearly hadn't expected anyone else to be behind the bushes.

So when they saw Fang Hong, the fleeing ones halted in nervous hesitation, and naturally, the chasers did the same, but were more on guard.

Who could guarantee at this moment that the person facing them wasn't a potential threat? After all, nobody would have the word 'hyenas' written on their face, especially since the chasers clearly looked like professional hyenas.

Hyenas didn't have any affinity for fellow hyenas.

Both sides hesitated.

But Fang Hong reacted much faster; he glanced at the pursuers, setting his eyes on the ones in front—some panicking adventurers—and an idea flashed through his mind as he shouted lowly,

"Parker, to the left in front, shoot that one-eyed giant."

He referred to what appeared to be the leader among the chasers, and having cooperated with Fang Hong for so long, Parker had formed a conditioned reflex. Without a thought, he raised the crossbow and pulled the trigger.

The leader obviously caught on and made a dodging move to the side.

Unfortunately for him, the Papalarians' crossbowman had come a long way from his past self. At Traveler's Rest and even during the battle with the Rock Shark, Parker's strength was still average, his poor shooting skills making a comedic contrast with the other adventurers' crossbowmen.

But as the saying goes, people are forced out of necessity. Ever since leaving Elpaxin, the troubles they encountered afterwards increased exponentially—Dolifen and his party, the bloody battle against the Night Lizard People, breaking out of an ambush by the Blood Oath Alliance; the opponents could be said to be more professional one after another.

Although the Papalarians were somewhat of a jokester, his innate talent was not poor—as evidenced by his championship at the Nightingale contest. Plus, having been honed by so many battles, his shooting accuracy had vastly improved.

The leader tried to dodge, but didn't expect that the Papalarians' crossbowman had already predicted this move; the leader's head turned just in time for the crossbow bolt to enter through the underside of his jaw and into his cheek. He let out a miserable cry and collapsed.

That one arrow was like a spark that ignited the battle.

The poor fellows being chased revealed grateful looks in their eyes. As their gazes met, without a word, the former turned around and went back on the offensive. What they didn't expect was that someone else was faster than them.

To be honest, even Fang Hong hadn't expected—

The first to rush forward was the self-proclaimed emotionless assassin—the somewhat chuunibyo teen, Xiangzi moved as fast as a streaking black line, leaving nothing but afterimages behind him. He even managed to strike before Tainaric, plunging into the enemy ranks a step ahead.

Fang Hong was stunned, thinking to himself, does he really need to be that fast, are these speeds normal for someone under level ten, being fully focused on agility isn't supposed to make you this quick, right? But on closer inspection, he realized Xiangzi's tactic.

A first-tier Magic Guided Art—True Self Liberation.

Mind Strength was part of the Power System, and True Self Liberation was somewhat akin to the Berserker's Berserk ability, but while Berserk broadly boosts physical attributes, True Self Liberation specifically enhances a certain attribute of the Practitioner.

Naturally, both had a debilitation period, and arguably, True Self Liberation's came even sooner, since the spell only lasted for just over ten seconds. That's why aside from a few mind assassins seeking a one-hit kill, hardly anyone used this spell, as it was essentially not much different from suicide.

Full agility focus, on top of True Self Liberation, and if he wasn't mistaken, Xiangzi's shoes seemed to be a piece of Magic Guided Conductor as well, imbued with some speed-enhancing ability. With the triple boost, Xiangzi's speed at his level was indeed terrifying.

But Fang Hong figured this out.

That didn't mean Xiangzi's opponents understood as well. Maybe to higher-level Agility System Invokers this speed was nothing special, but the enemies before them were only somewhat higher in level, just about even with Atira and others.

Through their eyes, Xiangzi appeared to be nothing more than a chaotic shadow, a deadly streak of cold light.

The opponent Xiangzi picked was clearly chosen with care, an Elementalist who could be incredibly effective in a group fight if given the time. Unfortunately for her, she no longer had any time left, as a rapier was already thrusting towards her shield.

Normally, this would have saved her life—because a Mage System's shield is always active, regardless of whether the enemy has been perceived or not. Sadly, all it took was for the emotionless assassin to draw with his left hand, and the shield crumbled to dust.

Turns out, he'd managed to directly pull down the Elementalist's Magic Guided Reactor with his Force Field at that range, and since she was taken completely by surprise, she naturally couldn't prevent it. This move was super sneaky, for once the Magic Power in the Magic Guided Reactor got disrupted, the shield flickered and vanished into thin air.

Then the Elementalist could only watch helplessly as the rapier pierced her heart.

From the moment Xiangzi launched the attack to the Elementalist's death, it only took two to three brief seconds. The teen pushed against the woman's body, toppling her gradually cooling corpse to the ground, and amidst turning his back to everyone, he flourished a stunningly flashy sword maneuver.

Flicking the droplets of blood cleanly off his blade.

But before he could finish his move, a Rocket Fist flew through the air, knocking away someone attempting to sneak attack. "Stay focused!" Fang Hong shouted irritably, "Stop showing off, there's more behind you!"

Before he had finished speaking Tainaric arrived, spearing another enemy. The Lizardman Prince casually flung his foe out into the crowd,

Xiangzi then turned around, looking somewhat innocently at the two of them.

"I knew you'd take care of them for me, Captain."

"Get lost!"

Fang Hong was infuriated, so this kid was going through his chuunibyo phase and needed him to clean up after him, did he really look like a nanny?

...

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