Volume One: The Arrival Chapter Seven: The Outburst

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Although the path back had already been cleared by Li Daniu and his companion to allow for a smoother escape, Meng Xingchen could clearly sense, from the snarls of the kobolds and the sounds they made in pursuit, that the distance between them and their pursuers was steadily closing.

While kobolds are capable of walking upright, when they need to increase speed, they run on all fours. Moreover, this was their familiar forest environment, making it only a matter of time before Meng Xingchen and his companion were caught.

At this moment, the traps previously prepared by Li Daniu and his team came into play. Although, due to the urgent circumstances, these were simple snares with little lethality, they effectively slowed the kobolds’ chase.

At least, the kobold pursuers dared not follow Meng Xingchen’s exact escape route but had to circle through the surrounding forest.

Even so, Meng Xingchen and his companion were soon caught up to, with kobolds occasionally leaping out from the woods on both sides to launch attacks. Some even ran ahead of them, attempting to intercept their path.

But attacks from a handful of kobolds posed no real threat to Meng Xingchen at this point; they were merely experience fodder for gaining biological energy. Almost every kobold that lunged from the trees was swiftly dispatched with a single throat-slitting sword strike.

Unless surrounded by more than ten kobolds, such scattered assaults were basically harmless to him.

Fighting their way through like this, just as Li Dabao began to falter from exhaustion, the forest clearing where they had previously ambushed the kobolds came into view.

Li Daniu and his companion, evidently aware of the situation from movements in the woods, had already prepared to confront the enemy.

The two stood back to back atop a giant stone over one and a half human heights tall in the clearing—Li Daniu wielding a bow facing the direction from which Meng Xingchen and his companion approached, ready to support, while Li Erbao guarded behind him.

Below the giant stone were more than a dozen short spears roughly the thickness of a child's arm, crudely fashioned from branches.

With Meng Xingchen half supporting, half dragging him along, Li Dabao barely staggered into the clearing and collapsed beneath the giant stone where Li Daniu and Li Erbao stood.

Although Meng Xingchen was panting heavily as well, now was no time to rest. He switched his sword to his left hand, grabbed one of the wooden short spears by the stone, and threw three in quick succession, impaling three kobolds that had followed him into the clearing straight to the ground.

Li Daniu also fired two arrows, killing a kobold near the edge of the clearing.

This sudden burst of high-intensity output stalled the kobolds’ pursuit. High-pitched barking came from the woods behind them, but no more kobolds entered the clearing. Yet the surrounding forest remained alive with movement, as the creatures clearly sought to encircle the small clearing.

Seizing this momentary lull, Meng Xingchen summoned his attribute panel; sure enough, he was ready to level up again. His biological tier was currently zero-level 4 (271/250). Counting the three he had just killed, he had slain ten kobolds during the escape.

Muttering his upgrade, the value behind his biological tier changed to 21/300. Without hesitation, he invested the newly gained free attribute point into constitution, raising it to ten points.

Once more, a wave of warmth arose from his heart and spread throughout his body via his bloodstream. This time, the sensation was more intense; his muscles and internal organs gently writhed under the heat’s passage.

Meng Xingchen could distinctly feel his muscles growing stronger, and his internal organs, fascia, and bones becoming tougher and more resilient.

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Taking a deep breath and suppressing the urge to charge wildly into the mob of monsters, Meng Xingchen slowly stretched his body to adjust to the sudden surge of strength, all the while scanning the edges of the clearing where glimpses of flickering kobolds could be seen through the gaps in the trees.

He lifted the collapsed Li Dabao and set him atop the giant stone. Turning to Li Daniu, he said, “Take care of Dabao and hold the rear. Don’t waste energy attacking the distant kobolds—the rest is up to me.”

As he spoke, sharp barks echoed from the forest again. Kobolds that had been lingering outside the clearing suddenly surged from all directions, charging toward the four within the clearing.

Meng Xingchen seized a wooden short spear, adjusted its angle, and hurled it. The spear pierced the chest of one kobold and knocked down another directly behind it.

But dozens of kobolds followed, with more continuously leaping from the woods. The loss of two kobolds barely registered to them.

Meng Xingchen did not expect to repel them with just a few spears. He returned his longsword to his right hand and charged headlong into the advancing horde.

With constitution now at ten points, his straight-line acceleration had markedly improved. Covering over ten meters in just a few strides, his longsword became a blur as he thrust three times in under a second.

Without pause, he sidestepped laterally and charged at the fastest incoming kobold.

Only after he left did the three kobolds suddenly spray blood from their throats and collapse motionless.

Thus, Meng Xingchen moved in a continuous arc of crimson, his longsword slashing through the clearing, killing dozens of kobolds, before returning to the giant stone where Li Daniu and the others stood.

This short arc of blood was drawn by the fresh blood spurting from the necks of more than ten slain kobolds—both vivid and brutal.

Upon Meng Xingchen’s return, the kobolds had just reached the base of the giant stone and engaged Li Daniu and company in close combat.

Standing atop the giant stone, over a human height tall, Li Daniu and Li Erbao had a height advantage. The kobolds had to leap or climb up to attack, while they could strike downward.

Li Erbao wielded a hunting fork, and Li Daniu, having temporarily set aside his bow, fought with a hunting knife. The two coordinated closely with long and short weapons, managing to hold their ground for now.

After shooting two more short spears and killing three kobolds, Meng Xingchen once again charged the lead attackers with his sword, killing them mid-assault to buy more time against being completely surrounded.

After dispatching another five or six kobolds, Meng Xingchen fell back beside the giant stone.

By then, Li Daniu and Li Erbao were both showing signs of exhaustion. Though only a short time had passed, the intense battle had drained their stamina. Carelessness resulted in Li Erbao’s calf being bitten by a leaping kobold, causing significant bleeding.

Seeing this, Li Dabao could no longer remain seated; he struggled to his feet and joined the defensive line with the hunting fork.

Meng Xingchen then threw five short spears in quick succession, killing or injuring nearly ten kobolds and halting their frontal assault. He then moved behind the giant stone, thrusting his longsword repeatedly to kill the kobolds clustered there.

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Such efficient and bloody slaughter struck terror into the kobolds. The battlefield, once filled with howls and barks, fell into an eerie silence.

In just a short while, nearly forty kobolds had been killed, their bodies scattered around the giant stone in the small clearing.

Kobolds were never a valiant race; the sight of so many fallen comrades sowed hesitation among them. As the majority stalled and a few began to retreat quietly, sharp, urgent barks once again sounded from the forest.

The now timid pack, upon hearing these barks, seemed to receive orders and regrouped, once more closing in on Meng Xingchen and the others.

Meng Xingchen glanced toward the source of the barking, his eyes narrowing. He said in a low voice to Li Daniu and the others, “Hold on a little longer. I’ll go into the woods and take out whoever’s giving the orders.”

Without further delay, he grabbed the remaining wooden short spears beside the giant stone and dashed toward the barking. Along the way, he threw all the spears, clearing obstacles from his path before plunging into the forest.

Meng Xingchen’s sudden move startled the kobold commander. As the barking grew more urgent, the surrounding kobolds contracted their formation, all moving to intercept him.

Through the gaps in the trees, Meng Xingchen spotted the kobold commander—a large, imposing creature with golden fur, much bigger and stronger than the others. It held a short spear about 1.2 meters long, seemingly forged from cast iron. Surrounding it were six other kobolds armed with short spears as guards.

At this point, Meng Xingchen was about thirty meters away from the commander, but the dense trees prevented him from using his short spears for a ranged attack.

The kobold commander, protected by its guards, began to retreat, while Meng Xingchen faced relentless waves of kobolds blocking his path. The distance between him and the commander was growing, and the increasing number of encircling kobolds posed a genuine threat to his safety.

Taking a deep breath, Meng Xingchen activated the power granted by his basic internal skill—his internal energy surged explosively. In an instant, his energy flowed from his dantian through his meridians, filling his entire body. He felt an explosive strength coursing through his limbs, accompanied by an unprecedented lightness.

With this internal energy boost, his constitution rose to thirteen points, and his agility reached nine—a level of power he had never before attained.

At this moment, more than ten kobolds circled Meng Xingchen. Although the trees prevented them from attacking simultaneously, they also severely restricted his movement.

Yet, after unleashing his internal energy, Meng Xingchen noticed the kobolds’ movements had slowed considerably. The very trees that once impeded him now served as cover, blocking the kobolds’ attacks as he prepared to strike.

In a flash, Meng Xingchen thrust five sword strikes, then lightly leapt, stepping on the chest of a kobold lunging at him. Using this momentum, he twisted midair to evade two more biting kobolds, then stomped fiercely on the head of another that missed its attack, smashing it to the ground.

He then propelled himself higher and jumped onto a sturdy tree branch. Once balanced, he crossed his sword to his left hand, drew a bamboo spear from his backpack with his right, and hurled it down toward the retreating kobold commander.

A sharp whooshing sound pierced the air as the bamboo spear sped over thirty to forty meters, fiercely stabbing toward the kobold commander.