Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Factions of the Magic Forest

Wang Xi was dumbfounded.

’What’s going on...’

Seeing him remain silent, the goblins all looked at each other and began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Gurui definitely hasn’t done it before."

"He has no experience."

"Gurusha hasn’t done it either. She’s too ugly, no goblin likes her."

"They’re both ugly, but they’re a good match."

Just then, the one-armed Goblin King walked up to Wang Xi, looked up at him, and said in a deep voice:

"Young Gurui, have your clansmen never taught you?"

"I have no clansmen." Wang Xi, full of suspicion, shook his head and lied. "I’ve been wandering alone since I was born."

The goblins were instantly in an uproar.

’He managed to grow up alone and even master magic? What a powerful and talented goblin!’

’We must have him leave behind offspring!’

"If the great Witch knew about an outstanding goblin like you, she would surely be very pleased."

Guruqi was very happy, and he explained with a chuckle:

"For us high-class goblins to bear offspring, a male and a female goblin must release their spores together. Only then will the resulting mushroom grow to have intelligence... Otherwise, it will only give birth to a bestial, low-class goblin."

"Those are not our kind."

"But a high-class goblin can only release its spores once in its life. Here in the Guru Tribe, only Gurusha has yet to do so..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Wang Xi immediately cut him off.

All the goblins turned to him with confused gazes.

"Let’s eat first."

There was no way Wang Xi could shoot out any spores. He hurriedly changed the subject to avoid blowing his cover.

Guruqi nodded. It was only natural for young Gurui to be hungry after such a big battle.

He didn’t bring up the matter of offspring again. Instead, he turned his head and gave an order to Gurusha. The goblin girl lowered her head in disappointment and sadness, then turned and left.

「A short while later.」

The Goblin Tribe began to eat dinner.

Wang Xi sat on a wooden stump, holding a few washed wild fruits in his hand. In front of him was a large handful of leafy wild vegetables.

He took a bite of a wild fruit. His mouth filled with a sour, astringent taste, but he showed no reaction.

After some probing and questioning, Wang Xi learned that high-class goblins like the Guru Clan were actually vegetarian, eating only fruits, vegetables, and honey.

Even more counterintuitively, they didn’t actively attack or plunder humans. They even feared humans, which was why they hid deep within the Magic Forest and dared not venture out.

According to the Goblin King Guruqi, Demons like them were humanity’s favorite prey. Wizards and Demon Hunters frequently hunted them because the mushrooms they turned into after death could be used as materials for Magic Potions.

Even the Saintess from the church often sent people over to shout slogans like "Goblin lives matter" and "Humans and Demons are one big family."

But the wise Goblin King knew better.

’Humans just want to trick them into coming out so they can kill them.’

"If it weren’t for the great Witch’s protection, we would have probably been wiped out by humans long ago..."

Guruqi sighed.

Wang Xi silently ate his wild fruit, saying nothing.

Before infiltrating this goblin tribe, he had always believed that Demons were a menace, humanity’s greatest enemy.

But it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.

"King Guruqi, could you tell me about the three Witches and four Lords of the Magic Forest?"

Wang Xi asked, spitting out a fruit pit.

The old goblin chewed on a vegetable leaf, nodded, and began to explain:

"The three great Witches are the strongest in the Magic Forest, the kings of the Demons. The ’Wolf Witch’ resides in ’Moon Castle’ atop Northfall Mountain. We have never seen her true face, only heard that she likes to wear a Red Cloak..."

Wang Xi listened in silence.

The Wolf Witch, the Sugar Witch, and the Fire Witch.

The Wolf Witch was in Moon Castle to the north, the Sugar Witch was in the Candy House to the south, and as for the Fire Witch, she lived in the Windmill Tower on the back of a Flame Giant, wandering around with the giant, her whereabouts uncertain.

The other four Lords were all located in the eastern part of the Magic Forest. They were the Granite Giant King of "Silent Hill," the Flaming Demon Horse of the "Magma Dungeon," the Octopus Hermit of "Mirror Lake," and the Flower Prince of the "Flower Kingdom."

"I don’t know when it started, but the water of ’Mirror Lake’ turned from clear to pitch-black..."

Guruqi said in a low voice.

"The great Octopus Lord turned evil, and the Demons who drank the lake water also became cruel and bloodthirsty... just like the Land Turtle and Fish People who attacked our tribe earlier."

"The three great Witches once went to the Black Lake together, but even they couldn’t solve the problem, so they could only tell the Demons to stay away... The great Flaming Demon Horse has a fiery temper. He took the initiative to lead his subordinates into battle against the Black Lake Demons but suffered a great defeat. Now he’s heavily injured and hiding in his dungeon, and hasn’t been seen since."

"King Guruqi," Wang Xi said thoughtfully, "so among the Lords of the Magic Forest, only the Granite Giant King and the Flower Prince still have their forces intact?"

"Not exactly."

The old goblin shook his head with a sigh.

"I don’t know what the Human Kingdom is up to, but they’re logging trees and polluting rivers on a massive scale. Many Demons have died because of it... The Stone Giants have fallen into a deep slumber, and the Flower Kingdom was forced to migrate to the southeast."

Wang Xi was silent.

’So it’s f*cking environmental pollution?!’

He hadn’t forgotten the purpose of his trip, so he also asked about the whereabouts of the Petrifying Lizards.

Although the old goblin found it strange, he didn’t ask any further questions and simply answered:

"The number of Petrifying Lizards is very low now. They originally belonged to the ’Silent Hill’ Demons, but their leader, the Medusa, mistakenly drank water from the Black Lake and turned evil. She now leads a group of Petrifying Lizards and has taken over the area near the Black Lake..."

Wang Xi nodded, indicating he understood.

’So, if I want to get the commissioned item, I have to make a trip to the Black Lake.’

He then asked Guruqi if that group of Petrifying Lizards was tough.

The old goblin answered truthfully that they were so-so.

Their leader, the great Medusa, on the other hand, was extremely powerful. Countless human Adventurers had tried to hunt her down, only to be turned into stone statues by her "Petrifying Eye." You can still find them in the Magic Forest today.

Having gathered this crucial intelligence, Wang Xi was very satisfied.

Just then, the goblin vanguard, Gurulu, who had finished his dinner, walked over. In his hand was a blue, duck-egg-sized pearl and several iridescent scales.

"Gurui, we owe you for what happened earlier. These materials we got from the Land Turtle and Fish People corpses are all yours!"

The stout goblin grinned and shoved everything in his hands into Wang Xi’s arms.

The old goblin explained at the right moment:

"The Magic Forest is not a peaceful place. Demons fight amongst themselves, and even the great Witches and Lords have clashed more than once... Usually, when we obtain Demon Materials, we offer them as trophies to the great Witch in exchange for some rewards."

"Gurui, please accept them. This is our way of repaying you."

Wang Xi looked at the materials in his hands.

The blue pearl was called the 「Giant Turtle Treasure Pearl」. It grew inside the Land Turtle and was full of Magic Power, serving as the core source for its magic.

There were six colored scales, one from each of the six Fish People. They were called 「Toad-Colored Scales」, which grew on the back of a Fish Person’s heart and were the source of their strength.

The former could be exchanged for 500 Energy, while the latter only contained 50 Energy, far less than a Goblin Mushroom.

’The value of Goblin Mushrooms is still rising.’

Wang Xi didn’t refuse and accepted them decisively. Seeing this, both Guruqi and Gurulu revealed ugly yet simple smiles.

...

...

Night fell before he knew it.

The moonlight, like gauze, gently covered the forest. Silver light filtered through the gaps in the branches and leaves, blanketing the ground. The night wind rustled by, sounding like the whispers of Elves.

In the Guru Tribe hidden within the dense forest, a black-haired "goblin" sat cross-legged beside a wooden hut.

Wang Xi did not return to Daphne.

At the goblins’ enthusiastic invitation, he had stayed to spend the night in the tribe. They even gave him his own small wooden hut—the full VIP treatment.

Wang Xi calculated that it was too late to go back; the gates of Daphne would have long been closed. He decided to just stay the night and set off early tomorrow for the Black Lake to search for the Petrifying Lizards.

Now, while the goblins were asleep, Wang Xi secretly converted the materials into Energy and prepared to draw Cards.

「Energy: 1000」

In his mind, one deep green orb of light and four green orbs of light floated quietly.

’Kaos, let’s draw!’

Wang Xi said inwardly.

Four Green Cards were drawn one after another—

「Cannibalism」: Rapidly strengthen one’s physical constitution by devouring one’s own kind.

「Covered with Mud」: Allows for extended sleep in swampy terrain, increasing self-healing speed.

「Amphibian」: Grants the ability to breathe underwater.

「Water Blade」: A magical technique that allows you to throw multiple water-stream flying knives at a target from a distance.

All four were Green One Star Skill Cards.

’Devour my own kind?’

Wang Xi was quite surprised.

He hadn’t expected the Fish People to grow stronger this way, a brutal process where they devoured each other to evolve. If this 「Cannibalism」 Card fell into the hands of someone without morals, it would be a terrifying thought.

’Ogre...’

Wang Xi narrowed his eyes.

But no matter how much potential this Card had, he would never abandon his principles and eat another person.

’Heretical stuff! This one’s getting shattered!’

Wang Xi decisively discarded the Skill Card.

The 「Covered with Mud」 Card wasn’t very useful either, so he discarded it as well, keeping only the last two.

「Amphibian」 would grant him the ability to breathe underwater, though it unfortunately couldn’t be upgraded. And 「Water Blade」, paired with 「Water Arrow」, gave him another ranged magic attack, which was excellent.

As for why 「Water Blade」 was Green Quality, Wang Xi guessed it was probably because it could fire multiple blades at once, creating an area-of-effect attack.

Shattering the two Green Cards directly yielded 100 Experience Points, which Wang Xi dumped entirely into his 「Randall Body Refining Technique」.

「Randall Body Refining Technique (Technique Card/White Two Stars): 166/200」

’It’s about to have a Star Promotion,’ Wang Xi thought with anticipation.

Finally, he drew the Deep Green Card he’d gotten from killing the turtle.

「100 Energy consumed (500 remaining)」

BZZZT—

「Tidal Blade (Skill Card)」

「Quality: Deep Green One Star (Upgradeable)」

「A Talent Magic mastered by the Elites among the Land Turtle population. With this power, they possess terrifying offensive capabilities while maintaining their extremely strong defense.」

「Upon use, you will unleash a Water Elemental Whip Blade with considerable impact and Cutting Force. Each use will consume Magic Power over time (if you lack Magic Power, it will consume double the stamina instead).」

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