Chapter 53: Deliberate Targeting, Professionals of the Yan Family Appear!

For Li Yao’s team, the third floor was of very low difficulty. Furthermore, the monsters were densely packed, and in less than two hours, everyone had completed their elimination tasks.

Li Yao had a thrilling time slaughtering these level 25 monsters. To prevent Shang Hao and the others from stealing kills, he specifically instructed the Void Mantis to roam freely at a distance. By the end, the Void Mantis had gained as much as five hundred strength points, officially pushing its total strength past the three-thousand mark! Achieving such stats at level 20 was unprecedented in the entire history of professionals! Even for purely strength-oriented classes, achieving this level before a third class advancement was out of the question.

It was worth mentioning that, in order to deal with the Dark Wings later, Li Yao had not allowed the Bluebird to use Glacier Storm. Everyone noticed this, but knowing that Li Yao was here for his second-tier advancement quest, they didn't say much. Li Yao's own elimination tasks were completed by himself, and tagging along in the party was merely a way to leach some experience. Only Shang Hao spent the entire grinding session occasionally casting sidelong glances at Li Yao and Shang Yana.

At this moment, having crossed the vortex of the third floor, the group arrived at the fourth. What came into view was a world of molten lava, its area vastly exceeding that of the preceding three floors. Stepping onto the dark red earth, expressions on everyone's faces turned grave.

The fourth floor served as the watershed of the Tower to the Heavens. Level 20 elite monsters would appear here, and boss-tier creatures were even concealed within. A moment of carelessness could easily result in a capsizing boat!

"Keep your guards up. Our team lacks a Hunter-class professional and has no scouting skills, so the Lava Hounds could strike from anywhere." Adjusting the formation according to professional traits, Shang Hao commanded, "Xiaoya, get behind me and act as the sub-tank when necessary. Shang Qian, you and Shang Mingxu stand in the middle. Li Yao..."

Realizing that this was most likely Li Yao's first time in the Tower to the Heavens, Shang Hao continued, "The intensity on the fourth floor is vastly different from before. On this floor, don't let your melee summoned beast go off hunting monsters alone anymore. Tell it to stay obediently by your side and help guard our rear."

"The Lava Hounds I just mentioned are the boss-tier monsters of this floor. Unlike bosses in other areas, however, they can materialize out of nowhere at any moment. If we're lucky, we won't run into one; if we're unlucky, it could appear the very next second. That's why guarding the rear is crucial. Do you understand?"

Li Yao nodded. As the party leader, as long as Shang Hao's arrangements were reasonable, he wouldn't cause trouble. However, what he needed to scout for wasn't the boss-tier monster called the Lava Hound, but rather the professionals from the Yan family who were hiding goodness knows where and could strike at any moment.

The elimination task for this floor required twenty elite monsters and fifty normal ones. As long as a boss didn't appear during battle, the party would be able to handle things with ease. A party led by an S-rank professional with three A-rank professionals—such a configuration was formidable anywhere.

*Clang, clang, clang.*

Before the group had advanced even a hundred meters, they heard the sound of chains dragging across the ground, clearly indicating something was hurtling toward them at high speed.

"They're coming!"

Shang Hao raised his shield high and shouted.

As his voice fell, several crimson shadows appeared before their eyes.

[Crimson-Haired Hound]
[Level: 20 (Elite)]
[HP: 8,900]
[Strength: 308]
[Spirit: 118]
[Agility: 365]
[Stamina: 178]
[Skills: Magma Fur LV4, Bite LV8, Flame Claws LV2]

Roughly the size of ordinary canines, covered in crimson fur, with a chain dragging from its right hind leg. Li Yao glanced at them; their attributes were even inferior to the Goblin Vanguards encountered in the Goblin Lair—mere fodder for the Void Mantis to slice down in a single blow.

The numbers were quite decent, though: three elites and six normal monsters.

Shang Hao took the lead, raising his shield to cast a taunt skill. Seeing that Shang Hao had seized aggro, Shang Yana flourished her sword and charged forward. Her class was the Gale Swordsman, which focused on agility. Her speed was extremely fast, her movements ethereal, and the Crimson-Haired Hounds couldn't even brush against the hem of her clothes. Furthermore, as the second young miss of the Shang family, Shang Yana had received one-on-one guidance from a sword master since childhood. The slender sword in her hand seemed guided by a navigation system, landing weakness strikes on most of her hits.

[-853 (Weakness Attack)]
[-921 (Weakness Attack)]
[-364]
...

Such capability shouldn't be a skill effect... Li Yao observed this, pondering inwardly. Whether it was himself or the Void Mantis, inflicting weakness attacks almost always required the target's mobility to be restricted. Yet even while these Crimson-Haired Hounds were in a state of high-speed movement, Shang Yana could land weakness strikes with every single blow.

It was still unwise to underestimate these scions of prominent families. The physical training from childhood combined with professional attribute skills produced a synergistic effect where one plus one was definitely greater than two.

However, Li Yao wouldn't belittle himself either. With his current abilities, even if Shang Yana turned her longsword into a blooming flower, he could overcome superior skill with sheer brute force; they simply weren't competitors on the same level. Once he entered the academy, he could perhaps find an instructor proficient in physical combat. Li Yao secretly made up his mind.

*What I have, you lack. What you have, I can learn.*

Given the opportunity to grow stronger, he naturally wouldn't let it pass.

On the fourth floor, Shang Mingxu's damage output clearly dropped a tier due to attribute restraint. Shang Mingxu was a fire-system mage, while the monsters here were predominantly fire-based as well. His prized Fireball spell could only deal double-digit damage.

With Shang Yana handling the offense, their advancement speed was still not slow. After finishing off the Crimson-Haired Hounds, Shang Hao let out a hearty laugh.

"Let's push forward like this. We might even make it to the fifth floor before nightfall."

"Li Yao, just stand at the back of the formation like you did just now and don't launch random attacks. After all, a Lava Hound could appear at any moment, and you need to keep your eyes peeled."

"With Xiaoya here, we aren't lacking the damage of a single summoned beast, haha!"

If his previous arrangement had been out of genuine consideration for the team, Shang Hao was now intentionally targeting Li Yao. Party experience was distributed based on contribution; if Li Yao stood in the back without dealing damage, he would only receive a pitiful amount of basic experience points.

Li Yao looked calmly at Shang Hao. During their previous conversation with Shang Yana, this fellow had clearly harbored lingering resentment. However, acting this way happened to align with his own thoughts. Right now, the conflict with the Yan family was a matter of them being in the dark while he was in the light; if he exposed the Void Mantis, the enemy might very well concentrate their firepower to annihilate it. There was no need to take risks for a sliver of experience.

Before Li Yao could speak, Shang Yana stepped in front of him, displeased, and said, "If it's just about keeping watch for Lava Hounds, Classmate Li Yao is fully capable of scouting by himself. Why shouldn't his summoned beast be allowed to attack?"

Shang Hao was already unhappy that the two of them had been getting so close, and now Shang Yana was openly stepping forward to speak up for Li Yao. Fury burning in his chest, Shang Hao stared at Shang Yana, struggling to rein in his emotions as he retorted, "He isn't a Hunter-class professional; what can a Summoner possibly scout? If not for the stealth skill of his summoned beast, I wouldn't have even assigned him scouting duties."

"Besides, I didn't say his bird-type summoned beast couldn't dish out damage either." Shang Hao had calculated that Li Yao would want to conserve his strength for the advancement quest. Back on the second floor, casting that ultra-large-scale area-of-effect skill must have consumed a tremendous amount of mana; Li Yao couldn't possibly afford to let that summoned beast enter the fray right now.

Shang Hao turned his head, glaring menacingly at Li Yao as he said, "Brother Li Yao, I'm doing this for the sake of your advancement quest as well, am I not?"

Li Yao pulled back Shang Yana, who was still about to speak, his expression suddenly turning cold.

"No problem. Let's do it your way."

Just a moment ago, the Void Mantis had transmitted a message. Fourteen professionals had rendezvoused five hundred meters away from them, and then dispersed to form an encirclement around their group.

He had thought they would make their move on the fifth floor, but it seemed they couldn't even wait past the fourth...