A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 58 Nightmare Island

As a synonym for chaos and evil, demons have no concept of unity. The reason they are gathered here is probably only because they were forced to do so by the demon Kwasse through the threat of death.

Seeing Quassom die, these rabble of humans would probably run away immediately, but unfortunately, demons are not normal people.

Instead of fleeing, they launched an attack on Jiang Shuzhou.

However, the attack had no effect whatsoever; the demons attacked Jiang Shuzhou while simultaneously attacking each other.

One of the Primal Demons was about to attack Jiang Shuzhou, but another Primal Demon beside it was not happy about it.

Did you even ask for my opinion? You dare to hang around in front of me like that?

What are you looking at? What's it to you?

The two demons immediately began to wrestle, slowly moving towards Jiang Shuzhou as they fought.

"Bang bang bang!"

The gun in Jiang Shuzhou's hand was not just for show. The reason he didn't use a gun to deal with the Quassa Demon before was because the Quassa Demon was resistant to ordinary physical damage, and the power of a pistol was far from enough to kill it in one shot.

The Miao sword is different because it contains oresite, a special metal that not only increases the weapon's hardness but also counteracts this resistance.

In order to deliver a fatal blow, Jiang Shuzhou naturally chose to use the Miao sword.

After all, it would be terrible if Quassamon got away. It's quite intelligent, and it could take advantage of Jiang Shuzhou's battle with other teams to deliver a fatal blow, leaving Jiang Shuzhou with no choice but to make a regrettable exit.

With one hand firing and the other wielding a knife, the meter-long blade allowed Jiang Shuzhou to swiftly take the lives of the surrounding demons with every swing.

Suddenly, a burst of green poisonous gas began to spread; this was a spell-like ability of the Fear Demon.

A foul cloud, the Fearful Demon surrounds itself, emanating a disgusting green poisonous gas that not only conceals the Fearful Demon's form but also poisons those around it.

Although those with strong constitutions can be immune to poisoning, Jiang Shuzhou wouldn't gamble with his own physique. He directly used the Gale Technique to disperse the poison gas.

Now the demons were out of options. As the lowest level of demons, what was terrifying about them was not their strength, but their numbers.

It's important to understand that during an invasion of the Abyss, the number of these demons can reach hundreds of millions. Although they are born without any cooperative spirit and suffer natural losses of up to half due to infighting during the charge, everything is in vain in the face of absolute numbers.

Unfortunately, there weren't that many demons here. Jiang Shuzhou's bullets easily pierced their bodies, and only two or three shots were needed for a demon to fall.

A massacre with no suspense. As bullets pierced the demons' bodies and blades entered their flesh, no matter what these demons were doing before, they either wanted to strike their comrades before they died or wanted to use their lives to harm Jiang Shuzhou.

In any case, they failed. Jiang Shuzhou's mage robe was not just for show, nor was the enchanted mage armor on it.

The demons' desperate counterattack did not harm Jiang Shuzhou at all. The mage armor was like an indestructible barrier, blocking all attacks. Of course, their attacks on their own kind were still very effective, and several more demons died at the hands of their comrades.

The battle ended in a complete victory for Jiang Shuzhou, with most of the demons dying and turning into a pool of pus.

Only a few demons, because they were close to Jiang Shuzhou, were cut in half at the waist by him. Relying on their strong vitality and resentment towards the creatures of order, they were slowly crawling towards Jiang Shuzhou.

Jiang Shuzhou naturally wouldn't give these demons a chance, but this time, to save bullets, he didn't use a gun, but instead ended their lives with a knife.

It's worth mentioning that even when Jiang Shuzhou came over with his knife, these demons were still fighting amongst themselves. They tried to attack Jiang Shuzhou with their claws while attacking their companions with their mouths or another claw.

"Resolved."

Looking at the demon corpse in front of him, which was slowly turning into pus, Jiang Shuzhou's tense mood relaxed. It wasn't because of the demons themselves. After all, the demons' attack, though seemingly fierce, was actually laughable and purely a joke.

What he was really worried about were the participating teams. The saying goes, "The joy of competing with others is endless," and the participating teams could all be considered experts. In the month since the game was launched, only one in ten thousand people could break through to the next level.

Even so, according to statistics, at least tens of thousands of people have successfully advanced. After all, the base number is too large. For hundreds of millions of players, only 10,000 people advancing is extremely rare.

These players each have their own unique skills, and their combat techniques and endurance are truly amazing. They are sure to give Jiang Shuzhou a pleasant surprise!

In any case, we must first improve our strength.

"Task complete, please select blessing."

With a loud bang, Jiang Shuzhou arrived at the familiar place once again.

It was that same place again, with stars twinkling all around. Jiang Shuzhou had been here when he first logged into the game.

"Come forward."

It was the same voice, a voice that seemed both old and young, both male and female.

As he stepped forward, sure enough, he saw a figure dressed in a mage's robe. Unlike last time, this time Jiang Shuzhou was not a clueless newbie; he was already a learned mage.

The robes were unrecognizable, lacking any emblems, but the style was wrong—too large, clearly not a recent design, or even one from when the Mage Alliance was established.

Jiang Shuzhou couldn't see anything else, since he couldn't see anything besides the mage's robe.

"You've arrived, the stars still shine brightly, but unfortunately, time is running out. Cherish it, for peaceful times are numbered."

It seems to be an implication, or perhaps a prophecy.

So, can the riddle teller die?

Jiang Shuzhou didn't say anything this time. If the other party had been willing, they probably would have told him long ago. Since they didn't say anything, he wouldn't ask.

He silently walked forward and stood before the nameless monk.

A flash of white light appeared, and Jiang Shuzhou arrived at the table where he had chosen his talent.

This is the usual spot. Jiang Shuzhou has been here several times and is almost familiar with it.

Looking around, Jiang Shuzhou was no longer afraid of death. People on the game forum had already posted the details, and there was no danger around at all. Nothing would happen.

However, practice makes perfect, what if it's different?

Without hesitation, Jiang Shuzhou stood up and ran wildly into the darkness.

After running for a while, nothing happened. Jiang Shuzhou turned his head and looked, and saw that the table under the light was unchanged a dozen meters away.

No matter which direction Jiang Shuzhou goes, no matter how long he walks, as long as he looks back, the table will always be there, standing quietly.

"It seems there's nothing unexpected about it. As expected of a mage."

He ran for several minutes, but when he turned around, he had only walked a dozen meters to the table.

He still only had one card; he had no choice.

"Rapid Recovery: Increases the natural regeneration rate of health by 100% and the natural regeneration rate of mana by 25%."

It's pretty average. The health regeneration isn't very useful, but the mana regeneration is somewhat useful, at least the mana pool is more durable.

A few seconds later, Jiang Shuzhou returned to the game.

The last demon's corpse had just turned into pus, and it seemed that everything that had just happened was an illusion.

However, Jiang Shuzhou clearly understood that everything that had just happened was definitely not an illusion.

Because he could clearly sense that his magic power was recovering much faster.

Looking at the pus in front of him, Jiang Shuzhou cast an appraisal spell.

Item Name: Abyssal Pus

"Class: First Rank"

"Description: The pus left behind by the death of abyssal demons has considerable practical and research value. After purification and neutralization of its chaotic nature, it can be used to formulate various potions that enhance physical strength."

Sure enough, it really is this thing.

Alchemy is the art of turning useless things into useful ones, which naturally includes things as disgusting as abyssal pus.

Jiang Shuzhou wasn't planning to collect the abyssal pus. First, he didn't have a container; second, he couldn't take it out after collecting it; and finally, the stuff was just too disgusting for him to handle.

Having witnessed the outrageous alchemical materials, Jiang Shuzhou broadened his horizons and didn't linger any longer. He turned and left without hesitation, as if he had made up his mind.