Feathered Arrow

"Found it!"

Lin Mo's eyes lit up. He took out the plant guide and compared it carefully. Sure enough, it was the Qingfen Grass he was looking for on this mission!

He drew his sword and surveyed the surroundings, using it in particular to part the grass and check carefully for any lurking venomous snakes. Only after confirming there was no danger did Lin Mo slowly step forward, cautiously pull up the Qingfen Grass, and put it into his bag.

One Qingfen Grass was worth two Silver Coins, equivalent to the bounty for killing two Goblins. Back in normal times, it would have been worth as much as ten!

There was no need for dangerous battles, nor to endure the disgusting stench while cutting off Goblin ears. Material Collection missions really were best suited for newcomers. The returns were not high, but they were relatively steady and carried much lower risk.

And if one was lucky enough to find a large enough quantity of herbs, they could still make quite a bit of money.

Lin Mo's luck seemed fairly good.

Right after picking one Qingfen Grass, he spotted another two not far away.

This was all money! It was like picking up cash off the ground!

Lin Mo continued to adhere to the principle of caution above all else and picked the other two Qingfen Grass one by one.

Three Qingfen Grass only brought in six Silver Coins. Naturally, Lin Mo would not stop there. The area several thousand meters ahead was a dense Qingfen Grass distribution zone.

He glanced at the sky. It was still early, and he had at least two more hours to gather without worry. Lin Mo figured he should find at least a hundred plants and make a full two Gold Coins.

A light breeze rustled through the forest, insect chirps mingling with birdsong. Amid the dense trees, Lin Mo bent over and searched tirelessly for a full hour and a half.

Because he had remained cautious the entire time, finding a Qingfen Grass and successfully picking it naturally took some time. Still, his luck was truly good. In just over an hour, he had found a full 150 Qingfen Grass, worth three Gold Coins in total.

That was already about the same as the earnings of a normal adventurer party on a single mission.

Still, after searching for herbs for so long, his back was inevitably sore. Lin Mo rubbed his lower back and suddenly found himself a little bored.

Why not have a couple of Goblins show up so he could chop them up? He could gain some proficiency too.

Earning money to upgrade his equipment could certainly increase his Combat strength, but for Lin Mo, the best way to increase his strength was undoubtedly by farming monsters and accumulating skill proficiency. As long as his proficiency reached the required level, he could gain attributes. That was real improvement.

The reason he did not accept subjugation missions was mainly because such missions had clear targets. And obviously, no one would be bored enough to set ordinary Goblins, the lowest-level magical creatures, as their target.

Thus, most subjugation missions required entering the depths of the forest. They were extremely dangerous and were at least one-star in difficulty.

Simply put, he did not have the strength to take them on.

Still, it was quite beyond Lin Mo's expectations that he had not encountered even a single Goblin while searching for herbs. He did not know whether to call that good luck or bad luck.

Forget it. It was getting late. He should prepare to head back and see about it tomorrow...

Just as Lin Mo stopped searching for Qingfen Grass and halted, preparing to start his journey back.

An incongruous sound suddenly came from the forest in the distance.

"Gah—!"

That familiar cry instantly darkened Lin Mo's expression.

He quickly put everything in his hands into his backpack, picked up his sword, crouched low, and slipped into the undergrowth as he carefully moved forward.

After crawling ahead for a while, he parted a small patch of grass and looked forward. Sure enough, Goblins were hunting.

Their target was a rabbit. There were six Goblins in total, split into pairs as they surrounded the rabbit from three directions.

Lin Mo looked around and observed for a long time, but he did not spot any more Goblins.

It seemed there were only six.

Then he could make his move!

Under the Goblins' encirclement, the rabbit happened to be driven toward the patch of grass where Lin Mo was hiding.

Lin Mo gripped the hilt tightly, held his breath, and entered a state of Stealth as he waited for the Goblins to slowly approach.

Twenty meters, ten meters, five meters...

Close enough!

In the next instant, Lin Mo dug his feet into the ground and shot out of the grass. The longsword in his hand drew a beautiful arc through the air.

"Slash!"

With fierce, lightning-fast speed and clean, decisive movements, the two completely unprepared Goblins did not even have time to react before their heads were already flying through the air.

Lin Mo felt the empty sensation of his blade cutting through the air and found himself somewhat unaccustomed to it.

A good weapon really was different. Though he had previously used Slash to cut off the heads of three Goblins in one go, he had nearly exhausted all his strength then. After cutting off the third Goblin's head, the momentum of his sword had completely dissipated, with not a bit to spare.

But this time, it felt as though he had merely sliced through two cucumbers. He had not even used half his strength.

Slash Proficiency +2

Stealth Proficiency +2

"Skill Slash Lv1 (10/10) has leveled up!"

"Current Skill: Slash Lv2 (0/20)"

As his proficiency rose by two points, Lin Mo's Slash skill leveled up as well.

This level-up did not grant any Stat Points, but Lin Mo still felt a rather obvious change.

It was a feeling difficult to describe with words, a mysterious and profound realization.

Put simply, his understanding and mastery of this move had reached a new level.

"Gah—!"

The other four Goblins were startled when they discovered their companions had been killed. Then, seeing that Lin Mo was alone, the Goblins, holding the numerical advantage, let out shrill cries and charged at him together.

Two fists could not defeat four hands. Lin Mo had no intention of confronting these four Goblins head-on. Even if he might not lose, suffering an injury through a moment of carelessness would still be a huge loss.

Why clash head-on when he could kite them?

He took a step back to open the distance, easily dodged the Goblins' attacks, then darted behind a tree trunk.

The Goblins chased after him as one. Yet when they rounded the tree, Lin Mo had vanished.

The next moment, a fierce gust descended from above. By the time the Goblins felt a chill over their heads, it was already too late.

Lin Mo dove down from the tree trunk and slashed diagonally with his sword.

One Goblin's head was split cleanly in half. The Goblin beside it fared no better, its neck severed as well, its head sent flying.

Feeling the abundant force remaining in his sword swing, Lin Mo was delighted.

Sure enough, after the skill leveled up, its power had clearly increased considerably.

Though there was no explicit indicator, based on how it felt, the increase was at least around ten percent.

This swift attack clearly frightened the two remaining Goblins. They let out strange cries, their will to fight gone, and fled in different directions.

Naturally, Lin Mo would not let two free points of proficiency escape him. He quickly caught up and cut off another Goblin's head.

Just as he was about to continue chasing the last Goblin, he had taken only a few steps and was about to catch it when he suddenly stopped.

"Whoosh—!"

A whistling sound cut through the air from the side. A feathered arrow pierced straight through the Goblin's head with astonishing precision.