Chapter 39: Rank Suppression

"What are you doing, you quack!" Xiaomeng stared at Lin Zheng curiously.

"Nothing! I just lost my balance!" Lin Zheng laughed it off as he scrambled to his feet. "Carry on! Carry on!"

"Carry on with what? There’s nothing much to say," Lilith replied, though the faint trace of joy at the corners of her mouth was impossible to hide; she was clearly very happy. "Simply put, starting the day after tomorrow, I’ll begin my training to become a young lady of status, so my gaming time might decrease a bit."

"Wow! So Glasses-sis is going to become a high-society lady?" Xiaomeng stared at Lilith with an expression of pure admiration, though a hint of longing flickered in her eyes—after all, what girl doesn't dream of being a noble lady?

"No need to envy me," Lilith said, petting Xiaomeng’s head affectionately. "Senior Sister Bailing said that as a trainee, I’m allowed to nominate three other girls to participate in the selection process. Xiaomeng is so cute, you’d definitely pass!"

"Really?" Xiaomeng jumped for joy, but she quickly calmed down and smiled happily. "Thank you, Glasses-sis, but I think I’ll pass!"

"Why?" Lilith asked, surprised. Xiaomeng turned around, suddenly hugged Youxi, and began nuzzling her face against Youxi’s cheek. "My precious Youxi isn't going to participate, and as her Guardian Number One, how could I leave her all alone?"

"Youxi is so outstanding; Senior Sister Bailing might come looking for her too!"

"Youxi wouldn't go. If she did, she wouldn't be Youxi anymore! Right, Youxi?" Xiaomeng looked at Youxi with confident, smiling eyes. Yes, Youxi was like the girl next door; she would never choose to become a high-society lady, because that simply wouldn't be her.

Youxi, the girl who always remained silent, rarely drew attention to herself. But once you noticed her, you couldn't help but be deeply captivated, whether you were a boy or a girl. Xiaomeng’s actions drew everyone’s attention to Youxi. Those clear, beautiful, jewel-like eyes seemed to have a soul-cleansing quality that was utterly mesmerizing. Her fresh, refined, and delicate face naturally evoked a sense of protectiveness. Looking at her now, everyone shared the same silent consensus: she truly wasn't suited to be a posh, high-society lady. Everyone felt that Youxi was perfect and charming exactly as she was, and any action that disrupted that perfection would be a sin. However, whether or not to join the training wasn't a choice others could make for her; it depended on Youxi's own wishes.

Youxi blinked and stared intently at Lin Zheng, seemingly seeking his opinion—and in fact, she was! Lin Zheng couldn't help but scratch his head and say, "Don't look at me. Just make the decision that you want."

"Is that so?" Youxi replied softly. She opened the book in her hands, keeping everyone in suspense for a long moment before saying, "I'm not going." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Heehee! You heard that! Since Youxi isn't going, I’m not going either!" Xiaomeng said happily to Lilith. Hearing this, Lilith didn't press the matter further and smiled. "Suit yourself. But whenever you decide you want to become a lady, just come find me. I’ll keep a spot open for you."

"Thanks, Glasses-sis!" Xiaomeng thanked her again.

"Alright, enough with the thank-yous, it's boring. Let's go level up!" Lin Zheng shouted. His suggestion was met with nods of agreement from everyone. Just as they reached the city gate, Lin Zheng suddenly remembered something and asked Youxi, "Youxi, did you finish that 'Millennial Longing' quest?"

"No," Youxi shook her head gently. "The quest difficulty is too high. Xiaomeng and I couldn't complete it even if we tried."

"What if you add me and Lilith?"

Youxi looked up at Lin Zheng, then at Lilith, before looking back down at her book. "The success rate is less than 50%."

"Less than 50%?" Lin Zheng was surprised. His current strength was top-tier, yet a quest he picked up when he was around level 30 still had less than a 50% success rate—that was ridiculous! Just as he was about to say something, *beep beep!* Someone sent a friend request. Lin Zheng saw it was Yang Qi. He picked up the call and asked, "What's up, you hooligan?"

"Big news!" Yang Qi yelled. Before Lin Zheng could ask what happened, she continued, "I saw you selling steamed chicken at your stall yesterday. You rascal, you’re leveling up fast! Any left in stock? Give me a few hundred!"

"Do you eat them like rice?" Lin Zheng retorted. Then, thinking of Youxi’s quest, he wondered if adding this troublemaker might improve their success rate. "Come to the city gate, I have something to tell you."

"Cough! Look behind you!" Yang Qi said. Lin Zheng turned around and saw Yang Qi’s elegant figure standing right behind him, preparing to leave the city. "Hi—three beauties! Long time no see!" Yang Qi greeted them "flirtatiously," but her gaze paused when it landed on Lan Xiran. "And who is this little beauty?"

"I'm a guy!" Lan Xiran cried out indignantly. Yang Qi finally took a closer look and wiped her brow—it really was a guy. But being the female hooligan she was, she just giggled and said, "Oh! So it's a handsome little guy! We should get to know each other when you have time! Big sis will show you what a real man is!"

Lan Xiran shivered, feeling that this seemingly gentle and moving "sister" was actually very dangerous. Clearly, his intuition was correct.

"Anyway, why did you call me, quack?" Yang Qi changed the subject. It worked; everyone’s attention shifted back to Lin Zheng.

"Well—do you remember Youxi’s quest? 'Millennial Longing'?"

"I remember! Of course I do! That was only two days ago! Why? Any unexpected developments?" Yang Qi asked curiously. For Lin Zheng, who was level 40 and had upgraded his gear, a quest from level 30 shouldn't be a problem. Why were they still struggling?

"Yes. In fact, Youxi says that if we go—not counting you—the success rate is less than 50%."

"Oh? That tough?" Yang Qi raised an eyebrow, her eyes burning with excitement; the difficulty clearly piqued her interest. "Add me to the party, let's go see what makes this quest so special!" Lin Zheng sent an invitation, and Yang Qi joined. Six people—a full party, though one of them was just there to watch.

"Where does the quest take us, Youxi?" Lin Zheng asked.

"It's far away, in a canyon south of Skyfrost City!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Yang Qi said confidently.

...

The group headed toward the quest location. Along the way, they occasionally encountered monsters, all of which were easily handled by Lin Zheng and Yang Qi. After nearly an hour of traveling, they reached the edge of Skyfrost City’s jurisdiction. Seeing the pitch-black map ahead, Yang Qi’s previously dismissive expression finally turned serious.

"Damn, this quest is a bit insane. We have to go to a second-tier map to finish it!" Yang Qi said, surprised. Just then, a giant black spider crawled out in front of them.

*Web Weaver: Level 50. Physical Attack 1450-1940, Physical Defense 650, Magic Defense 620, HP 12500. Skill: Web Bind. A giant spider living in the Green Wild Forest; not only is it powerful, but it also carries highly toxic venom. Very dangerous!*

"Are you kidding me?" Lin Zheng’s jaw dropped after checking the monster’s data. It was just a common level 50 monster, yet its attack and defense were on par with the bosses they had killed before! Lin Zheng shared the data with his teammates, and everyone except for the calm Youxi was shocked.

"I knew second-tier monsters were abnormal, but this is too much!" Yang Qi swallowed hard. Each of them had the attack and defense of a level 40+ gold boss, though their HP was lower. For a first-tier player, such monsters were extremely dangerous. If a few popped out at once, would they even survive?

"I'll go test it!" Lin Zheng drew *Moon-Breaker*, dismantled it into dual blades, and charged forward. "Stomp!" *Bang!* A single footfall left the giant spider stunned. -2490! Seeing the damage, Lin Zheng’s jaw dropped again. *Damn, one-third of the damage was mitigated!* Was this the legendary tier suppression? After a moment of hesitation, Lin Zheng snapped back to reality and swung his short swords twice. -1310, -1245. After just two strikes, the spider—which should still have been stunned—bit Lin Zheng hard! -790! Although the damage wasn't massive, it still shocked Lin Zheng; that was after a 30% reduction and 100 points of damage mitigation. Without that, the hit would have dealt over 1200 damage! *Damn!* The damage had effectively doubled! Alarmed, Lin Zheng stomped the ground again. "Ice Piercer!"

*Ice Piercer, Level 1: Instantly deals 3x maximum physical attack as ice damage, piercing enemies with icicles. Has a 5% chance to trigger a secondary hit.*

Lin Zheng stomped, and a layer of ice formed on the ground. *Whoosh!* A giant icicle erupted from the ice, piercing the spider. -8240! Even with one-third damage mitigation, the number was still impressive! The impaled spider paused in mid-air and dropped, triggering the 5% secondary hit, and was pierced again. -7210! With a sharp screech, the giant spider kicked its eight legs and died! Lin Zheng received a massive amount of experience, and level 10 Lan Xiran leveled up three times in a row!

"The experience is high! But these guys are terrifying," Lin Zheng said. Yang Qi immediately asked, "What's the situation?"

"Under tier suppression, the damage the monster takes is reduced by about one-third, and the duration of control skills is shortened. Meanwhile, the damage they deal to us is doubled! That's all I've gathered so far."

"Holy cow!" Yang Qi gasped. The tier suppression was brutal! Ordinary players couldn't possibly kill monsters of a higher tier, and even for her, the consumption would be massive. If they really wanted to farm them, they’d have to constantly eat steamed chicken to recover HP, or they’d be wiped out the moment they faced more than one monster!