Goblin Army

"Robbery?" The voice came from unseen. Jiang Mian looked around, but couldn't find anyone.

"Scram!"

Bear Lord roared, and the ground trembled.

Jiang Mian, not understanding, asked, "What's going on?"

"Just a bunch of goblins," Bear Lord said dismissively. "They don't even know their own strength, yet they dare to rob. How laughable."

"I bet Sister Nana and Zhuqing attracted them. Those scumbags." Jiang Mian's words revealed his utter disgust.

In fact, goblins had another name: hobgoblins.

These creatures had extremely strong reproductive abilities and were numerous. Many female Spirit Masters, if not careful, would be captured by them and used as breeding tools, making their lives worse than death.

"These filthy things should be exterminated," Xie Yue said. "Master, why didn't you kill them just now?"

"If you dislike them, go kill them yourself. If you're not capable, don't expect others to do it for you." Bear Lord said calmly.

Xie Yue's expression faltered. He clasped his fists firmly and said, "Disciple understands."

"Now that you have a disciple, you've become so proper," Jiang Mian teased. "Bear Lord, is it really necessary?"

Bear Lord sat upright, his gaze straight ahead. He secretly kicked Jiang Mian. You're the one who talks too much, aren't you?

Jiang Mian grinned. He looked up at the sky and suggested, "It's already dark. Why don't we wait until tomorrow to start searching for Spirit Beasts?"

"That sounds good too," Xie Yue said. "But we don't have anything like tents."

"Let Zhuqing and Nana sleep in the carriage. We men can just make do," Jiang Mian said. "Everyone remember to take turns on guard duty."

"Okay."

The night was overcast, and the moonlight was completely blocked. Divine Eagle Canyon was pitch black, with only a few scattered fireflies emitting light, causing an involuntary sense of panic.

After all, humans are born with an inexplicable fear of the unknown, which is why people drill wood to make fire and drive away the darkness.

Jiang Mian started a bonfire. Dry wood crackled under the fierce flames.

Jiang Mian leaned against a carriage wheel, watching the flickering bonfire, unsure of his thoughts.

Xie Yue walked over from the side and sat quietly next to Jiang Mian.

Jiang Mian glanced at Xie Yue and asked, "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I can't sleep," Xie Yue sighed, propping himself up with his hands on the ground. "Jiang Mian, I really should thank you."

"Speaking like that between brothers makes us strangers," Jiang Mian smiled slightly. "Besides, we're family."

"Will you treat Nana well?" Xie Yue asked abruptly.

"Of course," Jiang Mian said. "I won't let Sister Nana down. You can rest assured of that."

"Heh heh, I trust your character." Xie Yue nodded and chuckled foolishly.

"How are things between you and that Miss Ye Lingling?" Jiang Mian suddenly asked with a wicked smile. "Did you develop feelings for her, you rascal?"

"Don't talk nonsense. She and I are just casual friends," Xie Yue's cheeks suddenly turned a little hot. He quickly waved his hands to deny it. "Don't spread rumors."

"Stop pretending." Jiang Mian looked at Xie Yue's reaction and said with a laugh, "You're still hiding this from me? Are we brothers?"

"This..." Xie Yue bit his lip. He looked at the flames dancing in the bonfire, his eyes filled with unspeakable tenderness. "I do have feelings of admiration for Miss Lingling."

"That's more like it." Jiang Mian burst out laughing and patted Xie Yue's shoulder vigorously. "Since you like her, you should seize the opportunity. Don't regret it for life."

Xie Yue looked at Jiang Mian sincerely. "You're the senior in this regard. I need to learn from you."

"You can't learn my charm," Jiang Mian chuckled. "Those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die."

Xie Yue scratched his head awkwardly. He had just added fuel to the fire, and his body jolted as if electrocuted. He stood up abruptly, staring straight ahead without speaking.

"Enemy attack," Jiang Mian's expression suddenly turned serious. His eyesight far surpassed Xie Yue's. In the blurriness, he could already see what those masses were.

Thousands of goblins!

"Can't even get a night's sleep," Bear Lord and Crimson King walked slowly to Jiang Mian's side, their faces ashen. "Are these bugs not afraid of death?!"

"Cut the roots and eliminate the weeds." Jiang Mian stomped his foot. Five dazzling Soul Rings appeared under his feet: one red and four orange!

When Xie Yue and Yan saw Jiang Mian's Soul Rings, even though they had heard rumors before, seeing them with their own eyes still made their hearts skip a beat. The quality of these five Soul Rings was no less than that of a Titled Douluo.

Of course, this was within their perception.

"You three little fellows can fully display your strength today," Bear Lord said, crossing his arms. He followed Crimson King and retreated behind the three. "We old guys will back you up."

"Jiang Mian." Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena poked their heads out simultaneously. "We'll help too."

"Go back." Bear Lord suddenly roared. "Females are particularly attractive to goblins. If you two take action, you'll only attract more goblins."

Hu Liena frowned slightly, grabbed Zhu Zhuqing, and retreated into the carriage. Not listening to the elders can lead to great losses.

"Hellfire." Jiang Mian's figure flickered. Two streams of hellfire gathered in his palms. This hellfire moved with his will and could transform in myriad ways.

Jiang Mian wove the flames into a net and laid it out around them. Any goblin that tried to break through this fiery barrier would either die or be severely injured.

"First Soul Skill, Hellish Magma Charge!"

"Fourth Soul Skill, Flying Blades!"

"To catch a thief, first catch their king." Jiang Mian charged towards the two's spirit skills, his hands radiating a dark golden light. Wherever he went, rivers of blood flowed.

This was the complete mastery of Bear Lord's Sky Rend Claw.

Xie Yue and Yan exchanged a glance and followed closely, charging into the goblin army.

Jiang Mian fought alone. Goblins below ten thousand years couldn't even get close to him. The moment they touched him, they were already torn into bloody pieces by his Sky Rend Claw.

Xie Yue and Yan, however, were struggling. Their roles were clear: to clean up the goblins Jiang Mian left behind.

But they lacked Jiang Mian's killing power. It took them considerable effort and time to deal with a single thousand-year goblin.

"Jiang Mian is just too overpowered," Bear Lord said, watching their movements from afar. "This kid's strength far surpasses our two disciples."

"He is someone Di Tian has placed great hope in," Crimson King said, resting his chin. "It would be truly disappointing if his performance was only on par with Xie Yue's."

"Possessing all the abilities of you, us, the Auspicious Beast, Snow Empress, and Bi Ji, if he's not strong, who is?" Bear Lord chuckled. "In my estimation, he might not even lose against a Titled Douluo."

"Indeed," Crimson King nodded.

At this moment, Jiang Mian was already red-eyed with slaughter. His body was covered in the goblins' filthy blood. A casual grab meant a head rolling to the ground.

"Ah!"

A giant goblin, nearly three meters tall, charged over holding a sledgehammer. It mercilessly flung aside the goblins in its path, swinging the sledgehammer with great force directly at Jiang Mian's face.

Jiang Mian stomped on the ground, using the reactive force to leap high into the air. He was like a willow catkin, his body light and agile, using the edge of the sledgehammer to dodge the blow.

The giant goblin, its attack unsuccessful, immediately roared and charged at Jiang Mian.

"That giant goblin looks to be at least thirty thousand years old. Can Jiang Mian handle it?" Crimson King asked with some concern.

"Just watch," Bear Lord said, still nonchalant. "Don't worry so much."

Jiang Mian's toes tapped the ground, his body swaying unpredictably. The goblin couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes for a time.

"Had enough playing?" Jiang Mian snorted. He leaped up, his fingers like knives, and gouged out the giant goblin's eyes.

When it came to insidious and ruthless methods, no one present could match Jiang Mian.

"Ah!"

The giant goblin dropped its hammer and fell to its knees, cradling its eyes and wailing.

Jiang Mian seized the opportunity and struck its chest with his palm.

In an instant, extreme cold erupted from Jiang Mian's palm. The giant goblin instantly turned into an ice sculpture. Though its exterior showed no change, its internal blood and organs had already frozen solid.

"Emperor Palm, Great Cold Without Snow!"

"Snow Empress's signature ultimate skill," Bear Lord said, patting Crimson King's shoulder. "Di Tian was hit by Snow Empress with this palm once and had to recuperate for several hundred years."

"The number of Spirit Beasts that could survive a blow from Snow Empress's Emperor Palm can be counted on one hand," Crimson King said. "If I were to take a hit like that, I'd have been reincarnated long ago."

"I'm a bit stronger than you; I could take two hits."

Xie Yue sliced a thousand-year goblin in half. He was panting, clearly exhausted. This guy had already killed one ten-thousand-year goblin, three thousand-year goblins, and dozens of hundred-year goblins.

If not for the hundred-thousand-year torso bone bestowed by Bear Lord, Xie Yue might not have been able to defeat that ten-thousand-year goblin.

"Help!"

On the other side, Yan dodged and weaved as if a terrifying creature was chasing him.

Xie Yue seized a brief moment of respite. He focused on Yan's direction and saw an extremely voluptuous, mountain-like green female goblin chasing Yan.

"What the hell." Even with Xie Yue's extensive experience, he was stunned by the sight. He truly couldn't imagine what Yan would endure if caught by this female goblin.

It was a chilling thought.

However, Xie Yue could only pray for Yan's fortune; he had no time to help Yan, as he himself was like a mud bodhisattva crossing a river, unable to save himself.

Jiang Mian, who had plunged into the goblin army's depths, was like a perpetual motion machine. His Soul Power was inexhaustible, and any injuries he sustained healed instantly.

The skill that automatically generated Soul Power came from the Auspicious Beast, and the recovery skill was from Bi Ji. With the abilities of these two Spirit Beasts, Jiang Mian could indeed be called a perpetual motion machine.

His Sky Rend Claw never stopped. It was a scene of continuous slaughter, as if he were hacking from one end of the battlefield to the other without blinking.

"Emperor Cold Sky, Snow Dance Shining Sun!"

Jiang Mian pressed both hands onto the ground, and hundreds of goblins instantly turned into ice sculptures. This wide-area crowd-killing move was perfect for dealing with such a rabble.

Only a few goblins with higher cultivation levels remained, scrambling to escape. After this battle, the army of nearly a thousand goblins was annihilated by the three of them, almost to the last one.

Fortunately, this group of goblins didn't have any particularly high-level existences. The highest was the thirty-thousand-year goblin general that Jiang Mian had killed.

Most others were at the hundred-year level, and even thousand-year level ones were rare.

"Xie Yue, here's a thirty-thousand-year goblin Soul Ring. Do you want to absorb it?" Jiang Mian asked, dragging the stiffened body of the goblin general, his face covered in blood and dirt, and laughing.

The scene was like a shy youth standing there with a bashful smile.

"I don't want a spirit beast like this," Xie Yue said with disdain. "I need an dark or spirit-type spirit beast, or at least a metal-type one. What is this goblin?"

"You've become picky," Jiang Mian said, kicking the ice sculpture into pieces. He teased, "You have the luxury of choice; some Spirit Masters even absorb rats."

It's worth mentioning Jiang Mian's past misdeeds here: he once made a beautiful young lady absorb a gray rat's Soul Ring. Of course, that young lady was likely no longer around.

"Is it over?" Hu Liena slowly emerged from the carriage. The air was filled with a strong smell of blood, even mixed with a faint, nauseating stench.

Hu Liena gagged a few times, her expression grim. She wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth before returning to the carriage.

Zhu Zhuqing sat with her legs crossed, cultivating her Soul Power. It was too smelly outside, so she could only use this method to distract herself.

Honestly, the few grown men could still bear this disgusting stench. It was a pity for Nana and Zhuqing, two young ladies as beautiful as jade. Girls naturally cherished cleanliness; forcing them to accept this scene was truly asking the impossible.

"With these goblin corpses here, I'm sure we'll be able to sleep soundly tonight," Bear Lord stretched, looking at the triumphant trio and laughing. "Judging by the looks of it, you didn't kill enough. How about we take a stroll to the goblin main camp?"

"That might not be a good idea. I think we shouldn't be so ruthless," Yan wiped away a bead of cold sweat. He had just been chased by that female goblin, causing his body to tremble and his backside to clench tightly.

He probably wouldn't forget tonight's scene for the rest of his life.

As expected, this guy Yan was still too accustomed to his comforts.

"Let's get some rest. We'll go find Xie Yue's fifth Soul Ring tomorrow at dawn," Bear Lord said.

"Got it." Jiang Mian yawned. He wasn't being polite at all; he climbed onto another carriage and fell fast asleep.

He was covered in blood, practically a little red figure. He didn't dare to get close to Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena, for fear of being kicked away.

Although Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena wouldn't dare to do that yet.

Xie Yue looked at the sticky blood on his body and felt a surge of anger. He was actually a bit of a germaphobe. He truly couldn't sleep without washing off this blood.

But where in this grand canyon would he find a lake or a water source to bathe in?

"I'll take the second half of the night. You all go to sleep," Xie Yue scratched his head in frustration and sat down by the bonfire.

"Alright, we'll go rest," Crimson King nodded. "Yan, come with me. I'll give you some special training."

His voice fell, and there was no response from the surroundings for a long time. Crimson King frowned. This brat didn't even dare to answer him now?

Crimson King looked around, but strangely, he couldn't find Yan's figure.

"Yan has disappeared!"