That five-thousand-strong Orc Tribe was to the north and was probably a high-level village. After discussing it, Bai Qi and the others decided to avoid provoking them and stop exploring north for the time being, lest they run into the Orcs. At the same time, they ordered everyone in the villages to strengthen their defenses and stay on guard.
Dwarves were born with Forging skills. Although these were Gray Dwarves, they had the same skills, and their arrival greatly eased the pressure on Wang Dawu. Zhao Fu could now produce equipment in large quantities.
First, they repaired the huge shields carried by the ten Goblin Champions. Then Zhao Fu took out his military tally and released the ten Skeleton Cavalry, which immediately drew a chorus of startled cries. He planned to forge a complete set of armor for each Skeleton Cavalry to strengthen their defenses.
These Skeleton Knights were actually quite powerful. If they had a full set of protective gear, Zhao Fu wouldn't be able to kill them easily.
Just then, someone from the scouting party came forward to report, "Your Highness! We found a Goblin village twelve li west of Great Qin Village."
Hearing this, Zhao Fu wanted to test the idea he'd had while looking at the rift. He gathered the troops once more—a total of three hundred soldiers—and headed west from Great Qin Village.
This Goblin village was like Old Luo's village before it. It had more than three hundred Goblins, over two hundred of whom could fight, and its defenses were weak.
The sun was about to set; it was already late afternoon. Remembering that the Goblins would split into groups to hunt, Zhao Fu immediately divided his troops into four squads. They ambushed the four hunting parties on their way back to the village, killing one hundred and sixty Goblins.
The Goblins in the village had yet to notice any danger. As darkness gradually fell, they waited for the hunting parties to return with food.
But they were disappointed. Flaming arrows suddenly shot in from outside without warning. Many Goblins were killed outright, and the flames devoured their homes.
The Goblins finally reacted, realizing that an enemy had attacked. They gathered all their forces and charged toward the village entrance.
Zhao Fu watched the Goblins rush out. There were fewer than a hundred of them now, so he sent out the ten Skeleton Cavalry, letting them lead the charge.
The Skeleton Cavalry spurred their Skeleton Horses onward.
Clip-clop, clip-clop...
The Skeleton Horses raced toward the Goblins. Seeing the ten Skeleton Cavalry charging at them in such a terrifying manner, the Goblins were afraid, but they summoned their courage and charged forward to defend their village.
Thud! Thud! Thud!...
The Skeleton Cavalry gripped their lances and charged, piercing one Goblin after another through the chest. Blood sprayed through the air, staining the ground red.
The ten Skeleton Cavalry were like an incredibly sharp blade, driving straight into the Goblin ranks and charging all the way through. No one could stop them, and they split the Goblin crowd in two.
That was the power of cavalry. Zhao Fu's infantry and Shield Bearers charged forward after them, clashing with the Goblins. The outcome was obvious: the Goblins were outnumbered, terrified by the Skeleton Cavalry, and demoralized.
When Zhao Fu judged that the time was right, he ordered Old Luo to step forward and persuade them to surrender. As expected, the Goblin village chose to surrender completely.
Only eighty-odd Goblins remained in the village, most of them old, weak, women, or children. Barely more than ten of those capable of fighting had survived. They had no choice but to surrender.
Zhao Fu turned his gaze toward the ten Skeleton Cavalry. After the battle, they had stopped beside the Goblin corpses. Wisps of gray aura rose from the dead Goblins and were absorbed by the Skeleton Cavalry. Then the flames of soul within their skulls seemed to grow slightly stronger.
"They can evolve through slaughter?"
Zhao Fu noticed it too and couldn't help murmuring in surprise.
Zhao Fu didn't dwell on it. Being able to evolve through slaughter was a good thing. He went to the Goblin village, chose to occupy it, then selected the option to relocate it. A notification said he had gained 50 battle merit and another 201 experience. He brought back several Goblin corpses and returned to Great Qin Village.
At the altar in Bone Space, Zhao Fu began to test his theory. He placed a Goblin corpse in the center of the array, then activated it.
The array came to life, shining with bursts of light. An invisible force lifted the Goblin corpse into the air above its center. The Goblin's flesh melted like wax, but didn't drip down. Instead, it flowed toward the skull.
At last, the Goblin's corpse became a skeleton. A blood-colored orb floated out from between its brows, and the array fell silent. The bones dropped to the ground, while the blood-colored orb continued to hover in midair.
Zhao Fu stepped forward to inspect it. After receiving a set of information, even he couldn't help laughing. He said to himself, "Let's see who can stop my Great Qin Empire from rising!"
[f] Description: The source of spiritual power. Seize another's fortune. Upon use, your own aptitude will increase to F-rank.
Although he had already guessed that the array refined corpses, Zhao Fu had never imagined it could refine an Aptitude Orb—something that could directly change a person's aptitude.
Of course, this was only an F-rank Aptitude Orb, so it wasn't particularly important. But if he could obtain a corpse with high aptitude—such as S-, SS-, or SSS-rank—then the Aptitude Orb refined from it could raise someone's aptitude to the same level.
Right now, everyone was still low-level, so cultivation didn't seem important. But in the future, high-tier soldiers would rule the world. And how could he obtain high-tier soldiers? He would need soldiers with high aptitude.
"Your Highness! What's the matter?"
Bai Qi rarely saw Zhao Fu looking this delighted, so he asked curiously.
Hearing this, Zhao Fu handed him the Aptitude Orb to look at. Bai Qi was equally stunned. "How can such a heaven-defying treasure exist in this world?"
Zhao Fu nodded. He remembered the description of the Heaven and Earth Refining Array: it was one of the six heaven-defying arrays. He wondered what the other five were.
"Your Highness has obtained such a heaven-defying array. It is truly a blessing for Great Qin!" Thinking of Great Qin's future, Bai Qi couldn't help cupping his hands and congratulating Zhao Fu.
"All right!"
Zhao Fu cut Bai Qi off and said, "This is now the most important place in Great Qin. We need to take some precautions."
Afterward!
Bai Qi brought four hundred men down. Following Zhao Fu's orders, they began collapsing and sealing off the various passageways.
Zhao Fu had no idea where those passageways led, or whether something might come out of them one day. For now, they could only be sealed. Later, they could explore them one by one at their leisure.
That was the main task over the next few days. Afterward, he logged out of Apocalypse World once to take a quick look around. He found that the whole world was becoming dangerous. Nations, faiths, and races were all beginning to clash fiercely.