Priest

The area around the battlefield fell completely silent.

The survivors who had been following behind finally relaxed their guard when they saw that the battle had completely ended and there was no more movement of the alien races fighting.

They crouched low, slowly emerging from the hidden reeds, and gradually moved towards the center of the battlefield.

They watched the entire battle from the sidelines, neither intervening nor taking any risks. They simply waited for both sides to exhaust their strength before entering to scavenge the spoils.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a chilling spiritual force was rapidly approaching from the depths of the distant forest.

In the depression, Lu Heng remained prone on the ground.

His entire body was completely relaxed, his breath was suppressed to a deathly stillness, and he was no different from the bodies lying on the ground around him. The Mycelium extending from the Blood Taisui was buried deep under the soil, close to the cracks in the soil and silent, without revealing the slightest fluctuation, completely isolating himself from any detectable traces.

He remained motionless, quietly observing the actions of everyone on the field.

A few seconds later, a small, thin figure emerged from the shadows of the forest.

It's Goblin Mage.

The moment it stepped out of the woods and its feet touched the ground, its mental energy spread out, instantly covering the entire wasteland battlefield.

After scanning the ground covered with corpses, the machine finally pinpointed the few human survivors who were moving forward.

There was no pause, no probing.

Energy instantly gathered in the Goblin Mage's palm, and flames suddenly blazed forth.

A scorching fireball materialized out of thin air and, following the trajectory locked by mental focus, hurtled straight towards the location of those people.

It is extremely fast, leaving no time to react.

The survivors' expressions changed drastically, and they scattered in panic. The open wilderness offered no cover, and in such a hasty situation, it was impossible to completely avoid danger.

An explosion suddenly rang out.

The moment the flames exploded, dust and dry grass flew everywhere. Screams rang out one after another. The group of people who were originally full of greed and wanted to plunder were instantly stunned by the sudden spell. They rolled and fled in a mess, completely losing their mind to enter and loot, and only caring about their lives and retreating.

After dealing with the humans who had intruded into the battlefield, the Goblin Mage ignored the fleeing group.

It turned around, its gaze falling on the Goblin Warrior standing not far away, spear in hand, and spoke in its own language, its tone flat and cold.

"What's going on?"

Three simple words, without any extra emotion, only asking the core reason.

The spear-wielding Goblin kept its spear planted in the ground, using the shaft to support its body.

The prolonged, intense fighting had severely depleted his physical strength, and his chest was still heaving dramatically. His body was covered in countless wounds, and bodily fluids had soaked through his skin; the lingering ferocity had not yet dissipated.

Faced with the question from its own kind, it did not hesitate and answered, its tone clearly showing confusion and a hint of lingering fear.

The specific reason is unclear.

"This group of Green Demon suddenly charged forward as if they were being parasitized and controlled. Their movements were stiff and rigid, completely failing to display their usual strength and power."

"Fortunately, they are exceptionally strong and lack the savagery of normal combat. If they had unleashed their full potential, I would have been the one to die in this melee."

The two sentences of dialogue reached my ears clearly.

Lu Heng, who was lying on the ground, heard everything.

He could understand this foreign language. During the conversation, he clearly caught a key term of address.

Priest.

That was the spear-wielding warrior's special name for the Goblin.

Lu Heng focused his mind slightly and used his spiritual perception to carefully examine the energy texture on the other party once again.

It was finally confirmed that the Goblin unleashing the fireball was their tribe's Priest.

He knew very well that the position of Priest was not one that an ordinary member of the tribe could hold.

By observing the way the two Goblin interact, their conversational demeanor, and the difference in their social status, it's not difficult to determine their survival strategies.

Goblin are not solitary, isolated creatures; they are a species that survives by living in tribal communities.

The existence of a Priest indicates a strict and clear class division within the community.

In the tribal system, Priest hold extremely high positions, possessing magical authority and the power to speak on tribal affairs. Their rank is second only to the highest leader, far exceeding that of ordinary warriors and low-ranking soldiers.

Following this clue, Lu Heng silently deduced the survival structure of the entire Goblin population in his mind.

The lowest level consists of the largest number of ordinary people, who are responsible for basic labor, reconnaissance, and odd jobs.

The middle ranks consist of dedicated combat warriors, who are physically stronger and responsible for patrolling their territory and fighting against external enemies.

At the top level, besides the tribal chief, were the Priest.

They possess magical powers, participate in clan decision-making, and hold a prestigious position.

As my thoughts unfolded, new questions began to arise in my mind.

Green Demon.

The Green Demon corpses lay scattered all over the ground, now completely within sight.

What exactly is their relationship with Goblin?

Lu Heng repeatedly recalled the entire battle, including all the conversations, emotions, and reactions of the two Goblin.

He began to examine all the possibilities one by one.

The first type is that they belong to the same race, but have different roles and forms.

The second type consists of two completely independent races that inhabit the same area, are not subordinate to each other, have equal status, and simply share a territory.

The third type is the Green Demon, who is either an appendage or a slave of the Goblin, driven by their tribe and used as a means of attrition in battle.

The thoughts kept changing, but there wasn't a single clue that could definitively answer the question.

If the Green Demon is a slave or war animal of the Goblin, domesticated and driven, then their abnormal collective attack is equivalent to a slave rebellion.

Under normal circumstances, Goblin Warrior's emotions will inevitably include anger and the violence of being betrayed.

But throughout the entire conversation, the warrior who had fought so hard and nearly died only showed confusion, bewilderment, and the lingering fear of escaping death; he showed not a trace of anger at being betrayed by his subordinates.

This alone is enough to essentially rule out a slave-subordinate relationship.

If they are two completely independent races that do not interfere with each other normally, why would they suddenly gather in large numbers and attack a high-ranking Goblin warrior at any cost?

That doesn't make sense.

If they are branches of the same race, the differences in appearance, habits, and fighting styles are too great.

None of the speculations are supported by sufficient evidence.

Too few clues, the truth is unclear.

Lu Heng lay quietly on the muddy ground, noting down all the suspicious points in his mind.

Only two things are certain at this point.

First, Goblin possess a complete tribal system and a strict hierarchy; they are by no means a rabble, but rather an organized and structured alien force.

Secondly, the Green Demon's identity, ethnic affiliation, and connection with Goblin are completely unknown.

The ecology of this wasteland is far more complex than it appears on the surface.

On the field, the two Goblin remained in place.

The Priest stood on the outside of the battlefield, his gaze sweeping over the corpses scattered on the ground. He stood silently, seemingly reviewing the strange chaos that had just occurred.

The exhausted warrior still stood, supporting himself with his spear, without moving an inch. His wounds continued to ooze fluid, and his strength had not yet recovered.

In the distance, several human survivors, severely wounded by the fireball, retreated completely into the depths of the reeds.

His previous greed was completely replaced by fear, and he no longer dared to take advantage of any opportunities. He could only watch from afar and dared not get any closer.

The entire wasteland fell silent once more.

On the surface, it is the aftermath of the war and a standoff.

Beneath the soil, the Mycelium lay dormant, and no one on the surface knew that the true mastermind was hiding among the corpses and withered grass.

Lu Heng remained still.

It neither shows its head, nor moves, nor releases any aura.

While maintaining perfect concealment, he mentally sorted through all the intelligence and digested all the key information he had just obtained.

Goblin Tribe, Priest class, and the unknown Green Demon ecosystem.

In a short moment, this ordinary wasteland battlefield completely changed in his mind.