Crack!
Crack—!
As the stalemate dragged on, the iron sword's blade gradually cut into the thick wooden club.
In the end, the wooden weapon in the Troll's hands was at a greater disadvantage and was severed by Tang Zheng's iron sword.
The broken end flew away and smashed onto the ground in the distance, kicking up dust.
The Troll looked at the broken weapon in his hand, his vicious face filled with confusion and astonishment as he involuntarily took a step back.
With intelligence only slightly greater than a Goblin's, he simply could not understand why this weak human food before him was stronger than he was.
While the Troll was stunned, Tang Zheng looked at his wide-open chest.
A glint flashed through Tang Zheng's eyes. Ignoring the numbness in his arms, he tightly gripped the sword hilt, angled the blade upward, and charged forward, slamming into the Troll's chest.
Squelch!
The sharp tip of the iron sword pierced through the Troll's rotten chest. Driven by Tang Zheng's momentum and the upward angle of the blade, it fiercely stabbed into the left side where his heart was!
"Pain, pain, aaaargh!"
The immense pain nearly drove the Troll mad. "Food! Human food!"
Even after suffering such a grievous blow, the Troll still had the strength to raise both enormous hands and grab at Tang Zheng in front of his chest.
At such close range, Tang Zheng had almost no chance of dodging.
But—
"Instant Reflection!" A layer of pale blue light spread over Tang Zheng's body.
The next instant!
Tang Zheng's body seemed to turn back time. Amid the flickering blue light, he rapidly retreated, returning to the position he had occupied before attacking.
Bang!
The Troll's hands came down and collided with each other with a dull thud, his thick arms grasping at empty air.
As Tang Zheng retreated using Instant Reflection, the iron sword was pulled out with him, and blood gushed from the Troll's wound!
Under these circumstances—
The intense pain made the Troll roar and gasp like a wild beast.
Even with his heart pierced, his powerful vitality did not let the Troll die immediately. Instead, he staggered forward, repeatedly reaching for Tang Zheng, before finally collapsing to the ground.
Thud!
Dust billowed up.
Even so—
The Troll lying on the ground continued to twitch and struggle faintly.
Seeing this—
Tang Zheng did not step forward to finish the Troll off. He would not make the same mistake as Dossari, captain of the Rock team.
"Food can fight back too, so you can go die now." Tang Zheng watched the Troll struggling on the ground with an indifferent gaze.
As the battle ended, he relaxed inwardly.
Hiss—
Tang Zheng sucked in a breath. Pain and numbness surged through the web of his thumb and his arms, while even his entire body began to ache and swell.
This was clearly the aftereffect of using Instant Reflection.
The Martial Arts skill Instant Reflection forcibly returned an unbalanced body or movement to its posture before an attack.
It was extremely effective when evading an opponent's attack.
However, such a violation of common sense—forcefully restoring one's posture—placed a certain burden on the entire body.
Tang Zheng glanced at the HP on his Attribute Panel.
His health had not decreased.
A thoughtful look flashed through Tang Zheng's eyes.
It seemed the physical damage caused by Instant Reflection did not reduce HP... No, perhaps it simply had not reached the point where it would reduce HP yet.
Buzz—
"Experience gained: 320!"
A message appeared on the Attribute Panel.
"Is it dead?"
Seeing the message appear again on the Attribute Panel, Tang Zheng withdrew his gaze from the Troll's corpse.
"Experience: 1271/1500"
Taking out a small Goblin tribe, along with a Troll, had greatly increased his experience.
Tang Zheng rested briefly, shook his arm as the numbness gradually faded, then walked over to the Troll and the other Goblin corpses and cut off their ears.
At the same time, he began searching the entire small settlement.
As a Player, how could he forget to search for spoils?
Unfortunately—
After searching all around, Tang Zheng found nothing valuable in the entire small Goblin settlement apart from piles of bones and rotting scraps of flesh.
Tang Zheng was not particularly disappointed. He had not expected to find anything precious in the first place.
He walked over to the two remaining human corpses.
Tang Zheng fell silent for a moment, then sighed and turned away.
He did not dig a hole to bury the bodies, because there was no point.
Not only would it waste his stamina, but in an environment like the forest, even if the corpses were buried, wild beasts would smell them and dig them back out.
Unless he burned the bodies to ashes.
But lighting a fire in the dim forest would be far too conspicuous and would bring Tang Zheng considerable risk.
One had to know!
The truly dangerous beings in this region were not the Goblins or Trolls, but the Ogre tribe. They were the true rulers of this area.
Night gradually fell.
Even during the day, the jungle's luxuriant trees blocked most of the sunlight. Now, only specks of moonlight could be seen through gaps in the branches and leaves.
The entire forest became pitch-black, and the roars of various beasts suddenly grew much clearer.
In an environment where human vision became so poor—
Without mastering the Night Vision skill or possessing other means of moving at night, Tang Zheng naturally would not act rashly.
He chose a fairly sturdy tree.
Tang Zheng climbed onto a solid branch, took out the sturdy black robe he had bought earlier from the Item Box, wrapped it around himself, and leaned against the tree to rest.
Honestly, it was rather uncomfortable.
The branches were hard and dug into him, while insect chirps and beastly howls frequently rang out through the forest, keeping his nerves constantly tense.
"At least it's a way to find some enjoyment amid hardship."
Wrapped in the black robe, Tang Zheng raised his head and looked through the branches at the stars and bright moonlight in the night sky.
On the outskirts of the eastern region of the Great Forest of Tob, the only troublesome creatures were Goblins and Trolls. After fighting the Troll, Tang Zheng had gained a basic understanding of their combat methods and strength.
They were indeed troublesome to him, but absolutely not a threat.
Thus, while he was somewhat on edge, he did not feel particularly nervous.
Instead, he peacefully admired the moon of the New World.
"Compared to my previous life of working like a beast of burden, this life of wielding power may be dangerous, but it gives me a sense of security."
"At least I know what I need to do each day and what I'll face in the future."
This thought flashed through Tang Zheng's mind.
However, when he thought of the Great Tomb of Nazarick that would descend in the future, the good mood that had just risen in Tang Zheng's heart immediately vanished.
Before you continue