The sky was a bright and clear blue.
Trees of various shapes grew wildly, twisted, straight, their gray-green trunks covered with moss and fur.
In the clearings where there were no trees, the grass was overgrown, with wild celery, nettles, and rampant wild thistles, appearing abundantly lush.
The crisp sound of hooves broke the forest’s tranquility, like pebbles tossed onto a lake surface, quickly spreading ripples.
The silhouette of a team gradually emerged from the shadowy forest path.
"There’s a strange smell." Serdur flicked his snake-like tongue twice in the air and spoke. "Are we setting camp here?"
"Just goblins, that’s all," Gauss glanced confidently at the surroundings and said.
After all, no one understood goblins better than he did.
"Those green-skinned brats? Where, where? I don’t seem to see them," Dwarf Sorin looked left and right.
"The nest shouldn’t be nearby."
Gauss surveyed the area, making his judgment.
"Oh, in that case, forget about it." Sorin jumped off the horse and prepared to set up camp for rest.
If there were monsters nearby, he didn’t mind getting some exercise.
But to make the effort to search for them, he felt a bit lazy, especially since goblins were ordinary monsters that held no profit; it was better to take a break now and continue the journey in the afternoon.
"I’ll take a stroll, maybe hunt for some game," Gauss told Sorin, glancing at the dried-up small footprints on the ground.
This was still the outermost area of Jade Forest; overall, it wasn’t very dangerous.
"Alright." Sorin was busy preparing the food, waving his hand.
Nancy and Aik shot him a glance and then withdrew their gaze.
But Aaliyah and Serdur exchanged looks, vaguely guessing where Gauss intended to go.
"I’ll let Aik go with you."
"Okay." Gauss’s figure faded into the forest shade.
A while later, Sorin hadn’t finished preparing lunch.
Gauss had already returned, casually tossing two wild chickens onto the ground.
"I’m back."
"Thanks for the effort." Sorin genuinely believed he went out hunting, reaching out to pick up the wild chickens.
Beside him, Aaliyah quietly inquired.
"Gauss, are these mountain chickens you caught edible?"
"Don’t worry, they have nothing to do with the little green skins." Gauss sat down, wiping his short blade, his movements adept.
Nowadays, he was increasingly skilled at killing goblins; dealing with a few goblins was a casual task.
The actual time spent taking action wasn’t even as long as the time spent walking.
"So you went to kill those little rodents?" Sorin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
"Yeah, a small goblin stronghold, seven of them. On my way to hunt, I happened to encounter them, so I dealt with them." Gauss put away his short blade, his tone as calm as if he had just swatted a few mosquitoes.
...
After resting, the team continued their journey.
As they delved deeper into the Jade Forest, their movements became increasingly cautious.
"We have to avoid it."
Nancy spread out the map in her hand, gazing at the demon camp in the distance, her pupils flickering with bright light.
After a while, the light in her eyes extinguished, and she turned to speak to the group.
"There’s an extraordinary demon here that we cannot handle."
The extraordinary demons correspond to the master level among human professionals, Black Iron Level Adventurer.
The six of them in their group, the highest level was only at level five, which was still in the elite level range.
Crossing ranks is harder than crossing levels.
Moreover, extraordinary demons often have many lower-ranked demons as vassals; once a battle begins, escaping would be difficult.
Fortunately, Nancy seemed to possess a special ability to remotely perceive the strength of demons, allowing them to avoid these demon camps in advance.
But occasionally, when blocking the way can’t be avoided, they have to act quickly.
Nancy looked at the map and continued.
"Here, there’s a large Lizard People tribe, a vassal under the Green Dragon Queen; we have to carefully bypass it."
"This mine here too, although mostly inhabited by Kobolds and goblins, there are also many Elite Jackal Wolf People guarding it."
"..."
Inside the Jade Forest, countless monster settlements are scattered like stars within the green sea.
Especially noteworthy are the monster tribes under the Green Dragon Queen, also known as the Green Dragon Army.
These monster tribes are generally stronger than other monster groups, even if they seem similar on paper, their real combat effectiveness is vastly different.
In terms of morale, organization, coordination, equipment, the Green Dragon Army presents a different appearance, as they serve a genuine Dragon Lord, even though many monsters may never meet this dragon face to face, the significance is completely different.
Not just the lower-level monsters, many high-level demons have fear and worship for the dragons etched into their bones.
Or rather, this isn’t solely the privilege of dragons but absolute submission to the strong.
The Green Dragon doesn’t even need to appear; her will and name prestige are enough to construct a vast, terrifying system of control.
They proceeded a distance along the route marked on the map.
"Look there."
Nancy’s finger pointed towards a monster camp nestled under a twisted giant tree in the distance.
Though called a camp, it was essentially village-town sized.
The top of the wooden high fences sharpened, encircling the camp’s outer perimeter tightly, with clear watchtowers, arrow towers, and several entrances.
Outside the camp, several armored Big Goblins were rigorously drilling a large squad of goblins; judging by their movements and occasional scolding while hitting those little green skins with sticks, it was evidently not just for show.