CH 40

Let alone mastering such a powerful skill like the ‘rage’ ability, ordinary first-order monsters were not even that much strong or tenacious. However, this time, the goblin leader they faced was a lord-type monster. Such monsters were typically many times more powerful than normal creatures of the same level, and killing them was much more difficult. However, risk frequently equals outcome, and the rewards obtained from this victory was extremely valuable.

After a round of searching, a total of thirteen lower soul gems and six intermediate soul gems were obtained. It should be known that a single intermediate soul gem was equivalent to a whooping ten lower ones. However, in this battle, they gained a lot of other treasures that totally overshadowed the soul gems.

Xiao Yu carefully picked up the few items dropped by the goblin leader and unsealed the first ball of light. It was a strangely shaped horn made of giant beast bones, and it was quite worn, with many small cracks and mottled blood stains. The totem painted on the horn can be vaguely seen, exuding a faint mysterious power. Xiao Yu immersed himself in it in order to learn more about the item.

“Broken Goblin Horn”, a low white equipment, holds the concentrated power of the goblin spirit and contains strong magic power. It can be used to diffuse ordinary beasts when blown, and its special ability is summoning an elite goblin warrior for a period of thirty minutes, needing a 24 hours amount of energy to be absorbed before it can be used again. 

Like the blast flame ring, this was also a magic item. While summoning-type magic items were pretty rare, elite goblin warriors were also quite strong elementary monsters.

Xiao Yu examined the horn. He knew that summoning magic items were very rare and precious, but currently, this horn was not very interesting to him, so he passed it over to Du Tao and said: “Your fighting power is still lacking; this horn can make up for that, so take it for now. It is entirely up to you how you use it.”

Du Tao quickly took the horn and held it in his hands. An elite goblin warrior’s strength was quite impressive, and with this horn, his safety in the wilderness will be greatly improved from now onward.

Xiao Yu cracked open the second ball of light, and a black token appeared in the palm of his hand. The token’s surface was smooth and engraved with long clear lines as it bore a goblin’s head. Seeing this, Xiao Yu suddenly stopped moving; his face was filled with astonishment and joy before he burst out laughing.

“Black iron goblin Token”, a low white item made by a high-level goblin craftsman, using high-quality black iron material to forge the token. Its effects are unknown.

“What are you smiling at? Is this thing strong?” Jiang Xiaowen stared at the goblin head on the token curiously, “The drawing on it is so ugly, is this black token also a magic item?”

“No, this isn’t one.” Xiao Yu shook his head, “However, in a sense, this token is more precious than any item or piece of equipment we obtained, and no amount of currency can hope to purchase it. That’s just how much valuable and useful a proof of qualification is.”

Jiang Xiaowen looked puzzled: “Proof of qualification?”

Xiao Yu nodded and said: “There is a group of high-level goblins on the continent. Very mystical and mysterious. They will be carrying some special commodities with them, such as rare and valuable magic items, unique potions, tools, and so on. People call them goblin merchants; however, these goblins all have weird traits. They will not trade with people unless the latter has a special relationship with them or they have one of these tokens on hand. Each token has only five purchase rights. Different tokens hold different treatment levels, and the level and quality of the items that can be bought with them will also be different. Above the Black Iron Tokens, there are the silver Mithril Tokens, then the fine Gold Tokens, and so on and so forth.”

Wang Chao held a contemptuous and disdainful expression on his face, “Tch, why should we trade with those damned dwarves. When I chop them off all one by one, won’t we get everything they own?”

Xiao Yu shook his head, “what we have faced till now are low-level goblins; they are just monsters with weak bloodlines. High-level goblins are completely different. We are talking about a civilized race with extremely high intelligence, they are good at making magic items, and their strength is very powerful; anyone who wants to provoke them must first deeply think about the consequences.”

Han Kexin was taken aback, “There are actually intelligent races on this continent?”

Xiao Yu nodded his head, “yeah, well, no civilization has ever been established on the continent yet, and though rare, some intelligent races do exist. Except for the elusive goblin merchants, other intelligent races often live in inaccessible locations in the form of tribes. Still, their society remains pretty loose without uniting as a single force. However, even after surviving in the continent of chaos for several years, it is difficult to spot one of these creatures. They are usually very powerful and often reject foreigners, so few people are willing to take the initiative to communicate with them. “

Han Kexin’s eyes were bright, and she smiled slightly: “You are really familiar with this land.”

Xiao Yu laughed it off without explaining any further. The others didn’t ask too much, either. They surely gossiped about it within their circle of friends, but it was very difficult for everyone to survive till now, and no one cared where the information came from anymore. As long as he could lead everyone to live, that was enough for them.

Xiao Yu unsealed the third light ball, and following a loud bang, a clear low hum was heard, and a gleaming cold blade appeared in front of his eyes. The blade was cyan blue in color with a smooth surface, shining like a pool of spring water. This weapon had the same shape as the blade of withered bones, only two points longer. The blade was three fingers wide, and together with the handle, the weapon was four and a half feet long in total. Both handle and blade were seamlessly integrated, with no gaps between them.

“Luminous Beast blade”, peak white grade, formed from the spirit of an elite goblin leader, containing most of its abilities. Pouring spiritual power into the weapon can produce a blade light streak with huge destructive power that can cut iron like mud!

“What a beautiful weapon.” Jiang Xiaowen immediately said with a smile: “Xiao Yu, good for you, you got a new blade!”

Xiao Yu held the cold handle of the blade and waved the weapon lightly. A half-meter-long cyan light cut a deep mark on the ground. He couldn’t help but praise it: “It really is a good weapon! I didn’t expect to get a weapon a hundred times stronger than the bone blade so soon after it was destroyed.”

Han Kexin also smiled and said: “With this blade in your hands, it’s like adding wings to a tiger!”

The Luminous Beast Blade could exert the same ability as the goblin leader’s, which was the ability to launch a cyan ray of light toward opponents, but its power could not compare with the latter. Even so, it was still an incredible treasure, as it could enlarge the range of his attacks. Furthermore, using the blade’s inbuilt sharpness to cut precious metals would feel like you were cutting mud instead.

All in all, the goblin leader gave out three different items, among which the horn was relatively weak and could basically be disregarded. Although the token was largely useful, it had no use in the immediate short time. As for the other goblins, they also produced some items and equipment here and there.

For instance, they found a “Goblin Leather Armor”, which was a peak gray piece of equipment with a First-rank defensive magic circle engraved on it. They also got their hands on a “Goblin Short Bow”, a medium gray weapon. Xiao Yu found their grades to be a bit low, but still, they were both good treasures.

He considered handing over the goblin leather armor to Jiang Xiaowen. Her own ability belonged to the mental attacks category, and it consumed a lot of spiritual energy to use. since she had not directly improved her own skill set, and her combat ability was still relatively low, the goblin leather armor could offer her some degree of protection, as the armor itself can’t even be pierced with a submachine gun’s heavy shooting, and its defense was adequate, able to withstand most basic magical attacks, and it can also shield her from physical attacks, providing her with substantial protection.

Seeing Xiao Yu handing over the goblin leather armor to herself, Jiang Xiaowen immediately took it and discovered that it was of a slightly higher grade than the black scale armor he was wearing. Her heart then was filled with a hint of sweetness.

The shooting power of the goblin short bow was far superior to the simple makeshift bows they had previously crafted, and its power was comparable to that of ordinary rifles. Xiao Yu handed this weapon over to Yunyun without hesitation. Her ability to enhance objects with the element of fire was meant for shooting projectiles, after all. With her skill, the power and range of the arrows will be more than doubled. Even Xiao Yu had to avoid those shots. There was no doubt that Yun Yun was a natural archer.

The girl took the short bow and played with it fondly; after all, it was the first real weapon she ever owned.

Xiao Yu said regretfully: “Unfortunately, we found no inheritance crystal. If we got our hands on the rage skill, our strength could at least be doubled.”

When Wang Chao heard this, he grinned and said, “You are really greedy; you actually want to imitate fatty’s berserk powers? Just be content with what you have!”

Xiao Yu shook his head and asked everyone to get ready as the people there started to pack their weapons and belongings. The earlier battle erupted suddenly, leaving them with no time to prepare. Consequently, more than a dozen people died in total, but everyone was already used to death. Except for the deceased’s friends and close classmates, the others did not feel much grief, but in the end, they all braved through the days in joys and sorrows together, so people still felt some heaviness in their hearts; and just like that, everyone took their time and dug a simple hole where they quickly buried them. 

Even if the monsters came and dug them out again, it didn’t matter since they just wanted a show of respect for their dead friends.

Jin Shi’s goblin shield was severely damaged, and it took him two lower soul gems to repair it. Wang Chao’s axe was also damaged, and together with Xiao Yu’s black scale armor, another lower soul gem was consumed.

At present, they still have fifteen lower and seven intermediate soul gems in their possession. These types of consumables were quite valuable and should not be used carelessly. Xiao Yu’s Withered Bone Blade, for instance, was broken, and to repair it, a total of at least three lower soul gems were required, which was too inefficient, so he had to give it up.

Back in the underground cave, Xiao Yu no longer had any strength to walk on his own, so he was helped back to rest in his own cavern.

It took Han Kexin a few tens of minutes to absorb a lower soul gem and recover nearly all of her spiritual power. In the meantime, Du Tao instructed someone to capture an animal specifically for its blood, and they used it for “blood sacrifice” as Han Kexin transformed all of its blood into red-colored particles, which surrounded her body before she treated Wang Chao, Jin Shi, and Jiang Xiaowen in turns, then she filled some water in a container and walked towards Xiao Yu’s personal cavern.

Xiao Yu was lying on the cold ground. Every inch of his skin ached like it was going to tear; his eyes felt so hot that he couldn’t open them as he covered them with both hands. He felt nauseated and dizzy due to mental exhaustion, and all kinds of unpleasant feelings overwhelmed him as a result of his preceding body neglect. Even a tough warrior like him was unable to move at this point, lying on the ground like a corpse.

“Miss Han?” Xiao Yu overheard some footsteps approaching, then he pressed his left hand on the ground reluctantly, sat up halfway, and opened his eyes; he could only see a vague figure shaking left and right, “Why are you here?”

“Your injury seems to be more serious than I thought.” Han Kexin sat cross-legged beside Xiao Yu and whispered in his ears with her attractive rosy lips: “Lie down; I’ll treat you in a moment. I’ll help you take off the scale armor; this has an impact on the treatment’s efficacy.”

Xiao Yu nodded and closed his eyes.

Han Kexin carefully took off Xiao Yu’s armor, and at the moment, he was not wearing any clothes. His body was mostly covered in thick blood that was about to congeal, and her heart trembled slightly at that sight. Ever since her power awakened, Han Kexin has been extremely sensitive to blood. Whenever she saw it, she would feel an inexplicable rush of excitement in her heart, as well as a sense of hunger that made her hair stand on end.

However, this time was different, there was something in Xiao Yu’s blood that intrigued her, but when she saw him covered in blood from head to toe, she felt uncomfortable and distressed.