Over ten thousand Transcendent Level combatants—this was undeniably an exaggerated figure. One must know, even for a human empire like the Violet Empire, the number of Transcendent Level combatants probably didn't reach that many, at most a few thousand. Of course, in comparison, the other two great empires were much stronger, with the total number of experts above the Transcendent Level exceeding ten thousand each.
But even so, these ten thousand gnomes were enough to give the Roxez Empire a headache. No wonder they wanted the Elven race to bear the brunt of the pressure first. Otherwise, if the Roxez Empire clashed head-on with the Gnome Kingdom, it wouldn't be a pleasant experience either.
However, while the Gnome Kingdom held a massive advantage in low and mid-tier combat power, when it came to high-end combat power, it couldn't compare to the human empires.
The Gnome Emperor indeed possessed Legendary Realm strength, but the Roxez Empire had at least two of that level.
One was the Royal Astrologer of the Roxez Empire, also the president of the Continental Magic Association.
The other was an ancestor of the Roxez imperial family, who had long resided deep within the imperial palace.
There might even be other hidden Legendary Realm combatants besides these two.
Furthermore, among the ten thousand gnomes, those who could reach the Heroic Realm were likely few, probably not even reaching a hundred. In contrast, the Roxez Empire had over two hundred Heroic Realm combatants.
The role each Heroic Realm expert could play in a war was immensely significant.
Therefore, even though the Gnome Kingdom came with formidable momentum, reaching a "very troublesome" level for the Roxez Empire, they could still handle it by paying some price. It wasn't enough to throw them into panic.
The Gnome Kingdom was also aware of this, which was why their primary target wasn't the Roxez Empire, but the Elven Royal Court.
First, they would annex the Elven race and continue developing while hiding within the Barbarian Forest. As for the humans... they couldn't afford to provoke the empires, but bullying human kingdoms was still easy.
"What about the number of goblins?"
Besides the high-end combat power, what made war with the goblins even more troublesome was their incredibly vast numbers.
"..."
Velesia fell silent for a long time before saying bitterly, "Impossible to count."
"The Barbarian Forest can be considered the goblins' stronghold. Most of its territory is occupied by goblins. Besides the massive Gnome Kingdom, beneath it there are many super-large goblin settlements. Under these super-large settlements, there are corresponding large, medium, and small settlements... The Barbarian Forest's area is larger than the entire Roxez Empire, even comparable to two empires combined. The total number of goblins within has long been too numerous to count. In terms of magnitude, it can be confirmed to have reached the ten-billion level..."
This was the most headache-inducing aspect of this race.
So what if your strength surpassed the goblins? Even if you annihilated the Goblin Royal Court, the Legendary Level Gnome Emperor, even if he couldn't win, could simply escape. As long as the Gnome Emperor wasn't dead, those so-called high-ranking goblins and gnomes could be replenished in a relatively short time.
Even if the Gnome Emperor died, it would merely mean lying low for a few decades or a century, waiting for a new Gnome Emperor to be born.
Even if the three great empires joined forces, they wouldn't have the capability to completely eradicate all the goblins in the entire Barbarian Forest.
It was like how, in his previous life, human technology had developed to a decent height, yet they still couldn't eliminate creatures like rats, flies, and cockroaches.
Therefore, unless the Gnome Kingdom took the initiative to attack, the Roxez Empire wouldn't go looking for trouble with them for no reason.
After all, no matter how much the Gnome Kingdom developed, for the Roxez Empire, it wouldn't reach a level they couldn't handle at all.
Our race, the goblins, and our subordinate race, the gnomes, although possessing vast numbers and the characteristic of continuous evolution, also had certain inherent limitations.
Firstly, the birth of gnomes was very difficult. From a population of ten billion goblins, only a little over ten thousand gnomes were ultimately born.
For the Roxez Empire, while killing all the goblins was impossible, if the Gnome Kingdom dared to leave the Barbarian Forest and actively invade, cleaning up all the gnomes was something they could completely accomplish.
Furthermore, the birth of Heroic Level gnomes was even more difficult, and the Legendary Level Gnome Emperor could only exist one at a time.
This was a limitation inherent to their bloodline. Once a Legendary Level Gnome Emperor appeared, other gnomes could no longer promote to the Legendary Realm, at most reaching the peak of the Heroic Realm.
But... those were conclusions based on normal circumstances.
And now, the goblin and gnome races had clearly become different. Because he hadn't seen it in person, Lin Mo still wasn't clear whether the strange power used by the gnomes, as mentioned by Princess Velesia, was actually related to the Dark Tide. If the answer was affirmative, then it was highly possible it could allow the gnomes to break through their original limitations.
At that time, if they annexed the Elven Royal Court and obtained a large number of extremely high-quality "containers," the Gnome Kingdom would truly have the potential to become a catastrophic disaster capable of overthrowing human empires!
The specific situation could only be known after reaching the Barbarian Forest and conducting an actual investigation.
As they chatted, they soon entered the territory of a magical creature.
In the Nasadok Dungeon, after reaching a certain depth, the distribution density of magical creatures was already quite low. Each magical creature had its own territory. Rashly entering a territory could lead to being attacked.
Information about these territories and creatures was published by the Association through investigation missions. If changes occurred, the Association would promptly dispatch personnel or reissue missions to confirm and update the map information as soon as possible.
The Adventurers' Association wasn't just a place to post missions. To gain the recognition of the vast number of adventurers, they had put in a lot of effort.
Glancing at the map in his hand, Lin Mo knew what kind of magical creature they would face next.
But another problem arose... Although they had entered the creature's territory, it was uncertain whether the creature had detected them. Even if it did, whether it would come was also a question. Some creatures with keen perception, upon sensing their powerful strength, would simply hide.
At such times, they had to take the initiative to go find it...
Lin Mo suddenly realized that although his Spirit attribute was decent, he didn't have many skills related to mental power and couldn't utilize his Spirit attribute effectively.
If there was a chance later, it would be best to learn some scouting skills.
In any case, the process of searching for the magical creature took some time. The proficiency gained was good, but after all, there was only one creature, so the efficiency really couldn't be considered high.
To truly level up quickly, fighting groups of monsters was best.
And when it came to group monsters, goblins were naturally the most classic representatives.
Lin Mo began to look forward to going to the Barbarian Forest...
After passing through several magical creature territories in a row, they finally collected the materials needed for forging and continued to advance to deeper levels.
It was worth mentioning that Lin Mo tried using Teleport within the Nasadok Dungeon. The process went smoothly enough, but replacing teleportation arrays to directly teleport between different levels wasn't possible yet because the distance wasn't sufficient.
After leveling up once or twice more, it might become possible.
The final material was on the 30th floor. The creatures on this floor were already quite close to the Epic Level.
Even for Lily, dealing with the creatures of this floor was already impossible, unless Joan, who was in deep sleep, awakened...
But perhaps the remaining energy was indeed not much. Since falling into slumber that day, Joan had never woken up, remaining in a state of deep sleep.
This worried Lily somewhat. After all, Sister Joan had told her before that her physical body had long since dissipated. Once her energy was exhausted, she would vanish completely.
The adventure on the 30th floor went quite smoothly. Their target didn't require passing through other creatures' territories; they could go straight for the heart.
As for the combat, it was naturally left to Lin Mo to handle.
Different from before, Velesia paid more attention to this fight.
She wasn't surprised by the strength Lin Mo had previously displayed, easily defeating a level 27 creature. After all, the elders of her race had said he likely possessed future strength not inferior to her own. In other words, in the eyes of the Elven elders, this human youth had the potential to become a Legendary Realm expert.
But he was still very young. When dealing with the level 27 creature before, although his victory was clean and decisive, the speed wasn't particularly fast (because he was practicing Knight profession skills and didn't dare to use other profession skills to chip away, afraid he wouldn't hold back and kill it).
This made Velesia curious about his current upper limit.
A level 30 creature, just one step away from Epic Level, was perfect for assessing his strength.
After all, the gap in this one step was actually enormous. Even for Lin Mo, Velesia didn't think he could cross the Epic tier and defeat a true Epic Level creature.
So theoretically, how long it took him to defeat a level 30 creature could basically reveal Lin Mo's current combat power ceiling.
But, just as Velesia was inwardly anticipating this—
[Blazing Moon Sky Charge]!
A fiery red Sword Energy, wrapped in blazing flames, instantly sliced across the chest of the creature before him, cleanly cutting it in two.
The gap between Epic Level and non-Epic Level creatures was indeed large. There was a significant difference in attributes alone, and besides attributes, there were many other disparities.
Therefore, facing an Epic Level creature, Lin Mo still needed to spend considerable time to defeat it now. But facing a level 30 creature, as long as he used a Magic Sword skill, he could instantly kill it.
Only after Lin Mo stored the creature before him into his Portable Space did Velesia slowly snap back to reality. Glancing at Princess Lily beside her, who showed no surprise at all, she suddenly seemed to understand why this young man could wield such great influence.
Velesia was proud.
The Elven race was inherently proud. They firmly believed they were favored by the Goddess of Nature, beings superior to humans and orcs, let alone someone like Velesia, an outstanding talent among the Elven royalty.
She was the future queen, destined to become a Legendary Realm expert. This trip to the human empire, forced upon her, was, in her view, completely "compromising for the sake of the greater good," a helpless move to protect her people.
Although her previous demeanor had been humble, even submissive, the pride in her heart had never been relinquished. Everything was merely a forced compromise due to circumstances.
But now, facing such a stunning young man, a faint, unusual ripple gradually stirred in her heart.
The elders were not wrong. This human youth indeed possessed remarkable talent... At least, when she was his age, she hadn't reached such strength.
Lin Mo cleaned up the battlefield, directly storing the creature's corpse into his Portable Space for later processing, then turned his gaze toward the dazed Velesia.
"Princess Velesia, I'll have to trouble you next."
With Lin Mo's current strength level, dealing with creatures that had just reached Epic Level was completely doable. But what they faced next was the level 37 Sunflame Tiger King. An opponent of this level completely exceeded the limits of what Lin Mo could handle now.
In the upcoming battle, he probably wouldn't even have the qualification to participate.
After all, after reaching Epic Level, the gap between each level was utterly absurd.
He was currently at the Transcendent Level. To level up, the required increase in base attribute points had already reached 50. After Epic Level, this number would only become more exaggerated.
Therefore, next, including him and Lily, they could no longer provide much help to Velesia. Everything would have to rely on her alone.
Velesia was well aware of this, but her expression remained unchanged, and she nodded calmly, "Alright."
They soon arrived at a nearby teleportation node and, via teleportation, reached the 37th floor of the Nasadok Dungeon.
This place was basically a forbidden zone, often going for many years without any adventurers setting foot in it.
A level 37 Epic Level creature was difficult for even a level 38 Professional to defeat. To win, one would inevitably pay a considerable price.
This was basically the norm after reaching Epic Level. To reliably and relatively easily take down an Epic Level creature, it was best to have a Heroic Realm expert two levels higher make a move, or a Professional one level higher with several sufficiently capable helpers.
But that was for humans.
Velesia was an elf, and a member of the Elven royalty at that. The power of the bloodline within her was extremely potent, far surpassing that of Epic Level creatures, so naturally, she had no fear.
On the 37th floor of the Nasadok Dungeon, there weren't many creatures in total. They headed straight for the territory of their target this time.
Upon entering the Sunflame Tiger King's territory, Lin Mo could clearly sense the faint, lingering aura of a powerful creature within this domain. This was left intentionally by the Sunflame Tiger King to deter invaders.
They didn't need to actively search. The moment the Sunflame Tiger King detected intruders, it roared and swiftly charged over from the distance.
Lin Mo and Lily exchanged a glance, immediately retreating and putting distance between them.
Both were Paladins, so while retreating, they also cast all the buffing skills they could on Velesia.
Although the buffs they could provide Velesia were quite limited, having some was better than none. This also added a bit of a sense of participation.
The Sunflame Tiger King's speed was astonishing, and it wasn't originally far from them, so it arrived on the scene quickly. By then, Velesia had already been waiting for some time.
She took out a bow that was entirely emerald green. The bow didn't look very ornate but rather somewhat plain. Yet, the aura emanating from it was astonishing, even surpassing the equipment on Lily.
Without a doubt, that was a true Legendary Level piece of equipment!
Velesia drew the bowstring and fired an arrow. The arrow's flight speed was incredibly fast. Before Lin Mo could even see it clearly, the arrow had already struck the Sunflame Tiger King.
To be precise, it struck the flame barrier on the Sunflame Tiger King's body.
Lin Mo stood at a great distance, observing the massive creature before him.
It was fifty to sixty meters tall, like a small mountain, with a burly and robust build, muscles coiled all over its body, looking very formidable.
Velesia's arrow was just a simple probe, so it didn't have strong power. It was directly blocked by the Sunflame Tiger King's flame barrier, failing to reach its body.
But this act of provocation clearly angered it. The Sunflame Tiger King roared and actively launched an attack toward Velesia.
Its massive body moved, causing the surrounding ground to tremble. The flames burning all over its body surged high, like a huge wall of fire rolling over.
Faced with this shocking sight, Velesia showed no panic. Instead, she unhurriedly nocked another arrow and fired again.
"Whoosh—!"
Compared to the previous probing attack, the power of this strike was clearly much greater. The sharp arrow cut through the air, producing a distinct whistling sound. Powerful Qi and Blood swirled around it, carrying terrifying force as it collided with the charging Sunflame Tiger King.
"Crack—!"
A crisp shattering sound followed. The flame barrier around the Sunflame Tiger King, which had seemed incredibly sturdy just moments before, was actually shattered by this arrow.
It was startled, but fortunately reacted quickly, adjusting its posture to dodge the arrow while simultaneously swiping a claw toward Velesia.
The tiger paw was enormous, its shadow enveloping Velesia's head. Yet, she acted as if she hadn't noticed, once again calmly drawing her bowstring.
Even Lin Mo, as an observer, felt a bit nervous, but he chose to trust Velesia and didn't make a sound.
"Boom!"
The tiger paw slammed directly toward Velesia, hitting the ground and leaving a shocking deep crater instantly. The surrounding ground cracked, spreading fissures as dense as a spider's web.
Fiery red magma erupted, shooting straight into the sky.
The scorching temperature, even from several kilometers away, felt like it could burn Lin Mo's skin.
The gap between him and a monster of this level was even greater than Lin Mo had imagined.
What would this guy's attributes be?
Probably exceeding 2000 points, more than double most of Lin Mo's attributes!
When the attribute point difference was within 10%, both sides were basically on the same level, and the outcome between them was still uncertain. A difference of over 20% in attribute values was already a relatively obvious gap. To win, one needed some powerful skills or special methods, or exceptionally high-level techniques.
A difference of over 30% in attributes was already a gap difficult to bridge with conventional means.
A difference of over 50% in attribute values basically meant a one-sided crushing match. Unless under extremely special circumstances, it was impossible for the weaker to defeat the stronger.
And a difference of double the attributes... like now, meant not even having the qualification to participate.
"The distance still isn't enough. Let's retreat further..."
Looking at the Sunflame Tiger King's terrifying destructive power and then at Velesia, who had somehow already dodged its attack and launched a counterattack, that intense desire to grow stronger, which had been absent for a while, returned to him.
Recently, perhaps because his own strength had reached a certain level, or due to a lack of sense of crisis, Lin Mo indeed hadn't been as diligent as when he first transmigrated.
Commonly put, he had gotten a bit carried away.
And now, witnessing the battle before him made him realize his strength was still insufficient in the face of such experts. The road to becoming stronger remained long and arduous.
The Barbarian Forest, the Gnome Kingdom...
This was an excellent opportunity. During this event, he must grasp it well and level up as much as possible.
While retreating, Lin Mo pondered these things. Meanwhile, the battle ahead also entered a white-hot stage.
Velesia, as a Ranger-type profession, was clearly agility-focused, so her speed was extremely fast. Although the Sunflame Tiger King's attacks were immensely powerful, they had difficulty hitting her.
No matter how strong an attack was, it was meaningless if it didn't connect. On the contrary, every move Velesia made posed a significant threat to the Sunflame Tiger King.
Yet even so, Lin Mo could still sense that Velesia wasn't going all out. Her fighting posture still looked very relaxed. If the battle had become somewhat difficult for the Sunflame Tiger King, then for Velesia, she was probably still in the warm-up phase.
To possess such overwhelming dominance against an opponent of the same level showed that Velesia, as one of the few among the Elven royalty blessed by the deity, the bloodline flowing within her was comparable to that of a Legendary Level magical creature!
Even among the Dragon race, known as the strongest race, this would be at least an above-average level.
It seemed there was nothing to worry about in this battle.
Just as Lin Mo thought, after Velesia finished warming up, she soon found the battle somewhat boring and didn't want to continue.
So, after easily dodging the opponent's attack once more, Velesia drew her bowstring again. Only this time, it was different from before...
On her bowstring, besides surging Qi and Blood, there was another kind of power.
That was... Mana!
And it was a type of Mana Lin Mo had never seen before, brimming with vigorous vitality. Presumably, this was the Nature-type Mana unique to the Elven race?
The Elven Princess before him simultaneously held the professions of Ranger and Nature Mage. Like Lin Mo and Lily, she was a possessor of a special profession!
Accompanied by a dazzling green light, this arrow landed on the Sunflame Tiger King's body, easily piercing through its protective barrier, thick fur, tough muscles, and even shattering its bones!
Green light erupted, transforming into countless vines that entangled it, rendering it immobile.
Once she got serious, Velesia could be said to have subdued her opponent effortlessly with just one move!
Chapter 383: Ten Billion Goblins, The Powerful Velesia
17 min read