The crisis passed but the journey paused. Wei Xi still needed some time to recover, and he had to drink one more time. Not all poison had been neutralized, Karan told him that Wei Xi needed the last cup of antidote.
While Wei Xi rested to recover, Tang Shaoyang called out Wei Xi's team. Thirteen people lined up in one line while lowering their heads. Not one of them dared to meet with their Boss's eyes.
Tang Shaoyang was standing in front of these thirteen people while his right foot was tapping on the ground, "So all of you ran away, leaving your captain alone to fend off against a Beast King?"
The thirteen people's shoulders slumped and lowered their heads even more. They were looking at their feet. No one dared to say that was Wei Xi's order so they escaped by themselves, no one dared to say that.
"That was my order, Boss!" From behind, Wei Xi's voice rang. Tang Shaoyang turned around while the thirteen people looked up. Wei Xi was walking under the help of Kang Zian. The moment he heard Tang Shaoyang gathered his subordinates, Wei Xi immediately strongly requested Kang Zian to bring him here. He was afraid Tang Shaoyang would kill one of them to warn the others. That was one of Tang Shaoyang's methods. He did not want that to happen hence he came despite his weak body.
"Just stay away, you dunt! You haven't recovered yet, you still need to drink the antidote once more," Tang Shaoyang smirked at the captain. The moment the antidote was mentioned, Wei Xi's face darkened. The taste of the antidote still lingered in his mouth and his face paled as the taste started to become clear again in his mouth.
"Stay there, this is my place to discipline my soldiers!" With that being said, Tang Shaoyang turned back toward the thirteen people. This time, he focused more on five people armed with higher quality gears than the slave group, "I am disappointed with you guys,"
These five men were Tarriors, they had shared the life and death moment with Wei Xi when they fought a long battle against the zombie horde. These five should share some sentiment with their captain, they should be concerned with their captain's safety. At least they should come back to check on their captain yet none of them care about him as they ran for their lives.
"To be honest, your captain's life is more important than having thirteen of you!" Said Tang Shaoyang expressionlessly in a flat tone.
Sweats started to soak the thirteen people's back and face. They were extremely strained and tense, but none of them dared to move or even refute. They just lowered their head down.
"However, I never asked you to sacrifice your life for him, did I?" He questioned the thirteen people in his flat tone. They could not tell whether Tang Shaoyang was angry or not.
"What I want is simple, fight together with your leader! What if your enemy is too strong? I am not asking you to throw your life for him, but don't you guys have a better option like escaping together with him? Fight together, die together, and run together, you cowards! Even these women are more courageous than you guys," Tang Shaoyang shook his head.
"One more question, how many times your captain saved your ass from the beast or even zombie?"
This time, there was someone who answered the question. A man in his mid-twenties blurted out, "Many times!"
"He saved you many times, see, he can save you many times so if I have to choose, I will choose to save him one rather than thirteen of you! A person can save many lives but thirteen can't even save one life, pathetic!"
At the end of Tang Shaoyang's words, the five Tarriors in Wei Xi's team fell on their knees, "I am very sorry, Captain!" The five said that while having their heads touched the ground. The seven slaves immediately followed after the Tarriors.
"I don't want your remorse or apology! I want your commitment! I want your bravery! For this one, I am not going to punish you, but we will increase the training menu once we get back for sure. I am not going to keep a coward in my place!" After saying that, Tang Shaoyang turned around and left.
He did not punish them, they were still on the battlefield. Punishing them here would not work well either for him or for these thirteen. On top of that, they did nothing wrong. They were following their superior order, he could not punish them because they were following the order despite the disappointing performance.
"Hahaha, Boss is right, I am going to give you guys hell training once we get back!" That was what Wei Xi said before he went back to the wooden house to rest.
Since the location was not far from the beastmen village, Tang Shaoyang brought them back here. Not the best place but it would help Wei Xi to recover faster.
*** ***
While Tang Shaoyang was lecturing Wei Xi's team, Yu Shun took his time to use [Mana Perception]. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and repeated the chant.
The mana whirlpool in his chest rotated slightly faster, absorbing the mana in his surroundings. Yu Shun's mana whirlpool was almost twice as big as Tang Shaoyang's mana whirlpool.
[You have entered the Training State for 02:03:47! Your Magic Power has increased by 6!]
The moment he stopped [Mana Perception], a notification rang in his head. Hearing that, a smile formed on his lips. 6 Magic Power, he needed to get three levels for that or even six levels for his normal allocation. It was great progress for him.
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Name: Yu Shun
Class: Zombie Apostle
Age: 18
Affiliation: Tang Empire
Level: 66
Talent: -
Attribute Point: 0
Strength: 24
Agility: 25
Vitality: 28
Stamina: 24
Magic Power: 153
Sense: 11
Mana: 1530/1530
Skill Point: 0
Skill: [Basic Detection], [Zombie Authority - Lvl 2], [Zombie Evolve - Lvl 2], [Apostle - Lvl 1], [Mana Mastery (Apprentice) - Lvl 1], [Mana Perception - Lvl 1], [Mana Shift - Lvl 1]
Follower: Mace [2] Keeper [3] Buckler [1] Shredder [1]
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Looking at the three new skills, Yu Shun made a wide smile. It had not been a week since he joined The Empire, but he already felt the big benefit of joining the faction.
Not only that, but the Boss also saved his life twice, giving him a crucial skill book, and also helped him to get a stronger zombie army. Aside from the advice for Luo Lan to fight, everything was benefitting more than the Boss.
Thanks to [Mana Mastery] he learned from the skill book, he got another new skill right after that, [Mana Shift]. The system said he gained [Mana Shift] because of his class Zombie Apostle.
[Mana Shift] was a crucial skill for someone who relied on his familiar which was a zombie in his case. With [Mana Shift] skill, he could transfer his mana to his zombie to make them stronger. By casting [Mana Shift], the targeted zombie would have 35% boost attributes. It was insane, increasing, speed, raw force, and also vitality. That was insane, now he only needed 10 Skill Points to upgrade [Mana Shift] to level 2. By then, his zombie would have gotten a lot stronger.
The problem of [Mana Shift] was it drained his mana fast. 100 Mana for one minute [Mana Shift], he could only maintain [Mana Shift] for fifteen minutes for now.
"But that should not be a problem in the future, I have [Mana Perception] that could increase my Magic Power by meditation," Yu Shun muttered to himself.
However, all of these were thanks to one person, Tang Shaoyang. So far, he asked him nothing but told him to do his role as part of The Empire.
"It seems I made the right choice, by the end of the Survival Game, we will become a lot stronger by then. Then just how strong the bear could be?" Suddenly he wondered about Moon.
Li Na surely also got [Mana Shift] since her class was something familiar as well. Even without [Mana Shift] The Mystical Bear was so strong already. He could not imagine if the bear received [Mana Shift] from Li Na.
Meanwhile, Li Na was on the other side of Clarity Forest, hunting the stage-3 beast, the serpent. She was focusing more to raise her level while everyone else was taking a break.
Moon was facing the eighteen meters long serpent. The serpent activated the defensive mechanism, releasing the poison fog through its body. It recognized Moon as a predator.
The serpent was quite a cunning be. The moment it realized it encountered a predator, it activated the defensive mechanism and tried to find a way to escape. However, The Mystical Bear would not let its prey escape.
Boom!
A blue fire torrent burst out from the ground where the stage-3 serpent was. The fire torrent burned the poison and also burned the serpent's body. Not only that, but the torrent also sent the serpent to the air. The serpent in the air was so vulnerable. Moon leaped to the air, opened his mouth wide, and crushed the serpent with its razor teeth. The moment he landed, Moon also used its sharp claw to crush the serpent's head.
[You summon "Moon" has leveled up]
After killing the last serpent, a notification rang in Li Na's head. A little bit surprised, she checked Moon's status screen. She then found out that Moon had reached level 50 and he was eligible to evolve to stage-3.