Silver-Rank Trees

Lin Lei stood at the boundary between Crouching Dragon Ravine and the Gloomy Forest, with Luo Ji and his fully armed squad lined up behind him.

After a month of spending on his territory, Lin Lei had managed to use up all of his twenty-thousand-plus gold coins, despite racking his brains to save money.

Now he needed more gold to keep his territory's finances afloat. Since the territory was still in its early stages, with no taxes or other sources of income, Lin Lei decided to take his soldiers on an adventure in the Gloomy Forest.

The Gloomy Forest was sparsely populated. If they could hunt down a few silver-rank magical beasts, it would not only help Lin Lei improve his cultivation, but also make up for the budget deficit and help the territory weather this period.

Beyond Crouching Dragon Ravine lay a verdant forest. A breeze stirred the treetops, making them rustle.

The soldiers split into five groups of five and spread out. Lin Lei headed straight into the depths of the forest, keeping to the center so that he could reach the others quickly if danger arose.

"Gulp!"

An odd sound came from the bushes in front of Lin Lei. He noticed it at once, having been keeping a close eye on his surroundings.

Moving quietly, Lin Lei crept closer. Red Fire understood what he meant and leaped into the bushes.

"Ah!"

Two scrawny goblins sprang out of the bushes, shouting in an unfamiliar language as the ferocious Red Fire chased after them.

"Goblins?"

Lin Lei quickly caught the two fleeing goblins and casually tossed aside the wooden spears they were holding. Then he studied them with interest.

Under Lin Lei's scrutinizing gaze, the two little goblins trembled all over. Tears streamed down their faces, and they couldn't stop crying from fear.

Lin Lei was quite familiar with goblins.

In Azeroth's history, the goblins had once founded an industrial kingdom. Across the entire Azeroth Continent, goblins had been held in high regard. But when things reached their peak, they began to decline.

In just a hundred years, the goblin kingdom had splintered apart. Goblins who had once lived in a civilized age fell into a savage one, like beasts. Only a few had not forgotten their history and still knew how to build Goblin Airships, Goblin Shredders, Goblin Robots, telescopes, and the like. The rest were practically living in a primitive society.

Looking at the scrawny goblins, with barely any meat on their arms, Lin Lei knew their tribe couldn't be one of the great clans that had preserved their heritage.

In human kingdoms, goblins were practically synonymous with monsters. Since they were humanoids, no one had dared to experiment with their corpses. Aside from a few towns severely plagued by goblin attacks that offered bounties for their ears, they were of no use to Lin Lei.

"Is this Wind Fragrance Wood?"

Lin Lei suddenly picked up the piece of wood the goblins had been carrying and sniffed it hard. Beneath the stench of the goblins, a faint fragrance lingered.

"That's right. It is."

Lin Lei grew excited. Wind Fragrance Wood was named for its wind-like scent. It was also exceptionally sturdy, resistant to damp and insect damage, making it the material of choice for noble furniture. It was always in high demand on the human market.

Once, while browsing in a furniture shop, Lin Lei had seen a Wind Fragrance Wood cabinet about the size of a single bed selling for as much as three thousand gold coins. There had been many eager buyers, and a steward had snapped it up as soon as it appeared.

That alone wouldn't have excited Lin Lei so much. But Wind Fragrance Wood usually grew in groves in the wild: where there was one tree, there was an entire stand. The value of a whole grove would be beyond measure. If he cut it all down, it would be enough to keep his territory going for at least its first two years.

With that in mind, Lin Lei whistled to summon everyone to his side.

"Rustle!"

After the sound of people pushing through the trees, Luo Ji and his squad arrived in front of Lin Lei. They looked puzzled; they had only been apart for fifteen minutes before being called back together.

Lin Lei explained his promising discovery, and all the soldiers brightened at the news.

Under threat to their lives, the two goblins led Lin Lei and the others to a spot near their village. The Wind Fragrance Wood grew behind it.

"Clang!"

Luo Ji drew his sword, ready to kill the goblins now that they had outlived their usefulness. That was how humans generally treated these foreign races.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Lei stopped Luo Ji just as he was about to strike.

"Shouldn't we kill these two goblins?"

"And then?"

"Then we destroy their camp, and the Wind Fragrance Wood will be ours."

Luo Ji looked at Lin Lei in confusion, unable to understand why he had stopped him.

"Idiot. Would you rather get ten gold coins once, or one gold coin every day?"

"Of course I'd rather get one gold coin every day. But what does that have to do with goblins?"

Luo Ji still didn't understand, so Lin Lei patiently explained.

"Think about it. There's a grove of Wind Fragrance Wood behind these goblins. We can build a logging camp and cut down just a few trees at a time, so the wood can keep growing back.

"We can make these goblins swear allegiance to me and put them to work at the logging camp. Each time, we can trade food for wood. It's a win-win."

"Would that really work? I've never heard of goblins working with anyone."

Luo Ji said anxiously.

Lin Lei rolled his eyes.

"You blockhead. A rotten piece of wood can't be carved."

Lin Lei decided not to explain any further. Instead, he smiled, untied the goblins, and let them go.

The goblins were so caught off guard that they froze for a moment before sprinting toward their village. In their haste, one of them even took a face-plant, ending up covered in dirt.

Lin Lei made no move to attack. He and the others stood a short distance from the goblin camp's entrance, waiting for the goblins to appear.

"Bang!"

There was a commotion inside the goblin camp. Dozens of green heads suddenly popped up over the wooden walls, watching Lin Lei. A large group of goblins also appeared at the entrance. From a distance, they looked imposing.

Lin Lei narrowed his eyes as he observed them. Aside from the little goblins, who stood only two-thirds as tall as humans, there were also a few mutated Bugbear warriors. Bugbears were an evolved offshoot of the goblin bloodline, with strength greater than that of bears. They were usually the most powerful fighters in a goblin camp.

"Are those Boar Riders?"

Lin Lei looked past them. Short goblins sat astride enormous black boars. He immediately realized that he had underestimated the goblins' strength. Any race that survived in the Gloomy Forest clearly had a few tricks up its sleeve.

"Hey, goblins! Can you speak Common?"

Lin Lei tried to communicate with them.

"Cunning human, I'm Vix Tonikifu, elder of the goblins. What do you people want..."

Vix stepped forward and spoke.

"It's an honor to meet you, Elder Vix. I'm the human baron Lin Lei Thunder Roar."

Lin Lei replied.

"You're on my territory. You must swear allegiance to me, or I won't hesitate to add a little color to the earth."

Lin Lei smiled as he delivered his threat.

After Vix translated for the goblins around her, they began to grow uneasy. Two Bugbear chieftains standing beside Vix, each about Lin Lei's size, glared at him with murderous looks, as if they wanted to tear him limb from limb.

One of them stepped out from among the goblins and spoke in halting Common.

"You... fight me. If I win... we submit to you. If you win... you give us... a thousand pounds of meat."

Lin Lei burst out laughing.

"Fine."

When it came to fighting fiercely, Lin Lei had never feared anyone. He wouldn't back down from an opponent of equal rank, let alone one ranked higher than him.

"Everyone, spread out."

Lin Lei directed Luo Ji and the others to move aside, clearing a huge space in front of the goblin camp.

Luo Ji and the others knew how strong Lin Lei was and weren't worried about him. They cheered him on from the sidelines instead.

The Bugbear chieftain was a man of his word among the goblins. The others also shouted in their own language, cheering him on.

Lin Lei stood in the middle of the battlefield, holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. His ice armor glittered in the sunlight without a single drop of water running off it.

Lin Lei crooked a finger at the Bugbear. The Bugbear, who had been standing still, charged at him like a heavy truck, raising its enormous bone club.

The Bugbear swung hard, bringing the club down toward Lin Lei's crown. Lin Lei saw his chance and stepped back, then raised his left leg and kicked the Bugbear hard in the waist.

The towering Bugbear stumbled back several steps before regaining its balance. Lin Lei's kick had barely knocked it off its feet, leaving it with only a little pain. Its thick hide was astonishing.

After steadying itself, the Bugbear charged at Lin Lei again, undeterred. Gripping the bone club with both hands, it unleashed Whirlwind. Its whole body spun like a rapidly turning top, whipping up powerful gusts of wind.

"My lord!"

Even from outside the battlefield, Luo Ji and the others felt the force of the wind. Concern appeared on their faces.

The goblins watched their chieftain display such strength and danced with excitement. Several goblins lost their footing and fell off the wooden wall.

"Heavenly Eye, activate."

Lin Lei chose not to meet the Bugbear chieftain head-on. He kept his distance, taking advantage of the Bugbear's clumsy movements as it spun, and attacked it with the Good and Evil Ray.

"Zzz..."

Before the ray could reach the Bugbear, the rapidly spinning wind deflected it, leaving the creature completely unharmed.

Still, the ray had served its purpose: it slowed the Bugbear's spin. The Bugbear ran out of strength and gradually came to a stop.

Even with its powerful physique, spinning around so many times left the Bugbear weakened. Lin Lei, on the other hand, had spent the fight dodging its attacks. He was tired too, but nowhere near as drained.

"Strike when your opponent is down."

Lin Lei had no intention of killing the Bugbear, but defeating it now was crucial to the development of his territory.

Lin Lei wasn't riding Red Hare, but that didn't stop him from using Guan Yu's skill. He ran forward on his two long legs, gathering momentum as he charged into the Bugbear.

"Bang!"

The two heavyweights collided. The Bugbear, unable to defend itself in time, slammed into a tree like a boulder. The tree, which was as thick as a man's waist, snapped from the impact.

"Whew!"

Lin Lei let out a breath. As far as he was concerned, the fight was over. The Bugbear had lost its ability to fight.

The soldiers around them cheered, but the goblins showed no sign of discouragement.

Lin Lei sensed that something was wrong.