Chapter 10

（Flipping and rolling, begging for collection, red tickets, and rewards）

"Could it be that I remembered wrong? This isn't the place?" Ye Zhan couldn't help but doubt his memory. After all, it had been a long time, and at the time, he had only heard about it from others.

Just as Ye Zhan was hesitating whether to give up and search again after returning from the NPC camp, he suddenly saw a person who looked abnormally sleazy under a nearby overpass. The person, only one meter tall, was hunched over, carrying a large burlap bag on his back, with two pointed ears like those of an elf.

Ye Zhan smiled slightly; this was the goblin he was looking for.

Goblins are one of the many NPCs arranged by the ruler. They often exist as merchants rather than as powerful NPCs who guard camps.

Goblins are a cowardly, greedy race that also desires respect from others. Dealing with goblins requires both intelligence and strength; otherwise, they will try to deceive you.

As Ye Zhan approached the goblin, the goblin also noticed them and turned around. His two beady eyes looked at Ye Zhan and his companion with caution, and his hands tightly gripped the burlap bag, as if afraid it would be taken by the two people in front of him.

Goblins are very shrewd and, due to their weak strength, are wary of everyone.

When the goblin sensed that the two people who suddenly appeared had no hostile intentions, he tentatively said, "Heroes, it seems you are both quite capable. Could you help me with something?"

Ye Zhan was secretly delighted. The situation was not as complicated as he had imagined. He smiled and said, "Of course."

"I need some saber-toothed tiger teeth and hides. If you can help me, I will give you a generous reward, one skill point for each of you." The goblin indeed offered a quest.

"No problem," Ye Zhan replied straightforwardly.

The goblin's eyes narrowed to the size of sesame seeds, and he smiled. "For every 30 sets, you can receive a reward, and each person can do it once."

Ye Zhan's eyes narrowed, a cold light flashing in them. He chuckled, knowing that the goblin's greedy nature was indeed true. The goblin, although an NPC, had a similar personality.

"Thirty sets?" Ye Zhan said coldly, lifting the Tang knife in his hand. A transparent pair of wings suddenly appeared behind him, making his entire body appear ethereal and blurry, exuding a fierce killing aura.

The goblin's neck shrank, and his sesame-sized eyes instantly turned back to beady ones. He laughed awkwardly. "Just... just kidding, 20 sets will do. Actually, I saw that your evolution levels are high, and as the saying goes, the more capable one is, the more one has to do..."

Ye Zhan coldly snorted, interrupting the goblin. A voice echoed in his mind: "Accept the goblin's commission, kill 20 saber-toothed tigers to obtain their teeth and hides, and bring them back. Reward: 1 skill point." The quest also marked the area where the saber-toothed tigers were active, which was in a nearby building.

The goblin's face flashed with embarrassment, and he straightened up, saying seriously, "Actually, I could easily hunt those saber-toothed tigers myself, but I have more important things to do. The more capable one is, the greater the responsibility..."

Ye Zhan completely ignored the goblin's words and led Zeng Cheng towards the area where the saber-toothed tigers were active. He knew the goblin was just trying to gain their respect, but to Ye Zhan, it was quite amusing.

"Brother Ye, that goblin is too damn funny," Zeng Cheng couldn't help but laugh as they left.

Ye Zhan smiled in agreement. The goblin was indeed quite troublesome. He imagined that the people who encountered this goblin in his previous life were not easy to deal with either; otherwise, he would have heard 30 instead of 20. But it made sense; at this time, apart from the two of them reaching Level 2, others were at most Level 1, and they couldn't possibly hunt 30 Level 3 monsters. The person who heard 30 must have argued with the goblin.

The goblin had already pointed out the location of the saber-toothed tigers. Soon, Ye Zhan and Zeng Cheng arrived at the location, a dilapidated building. This building was originally unfinished, but with the sudden arrival of the apocalypse, it had become a haven for monsters, quickly falling into disrepair.

Looking through the window, they saw over a hundred saber-toothed tigers inside. The saber-toothed tigers looked like tigers, with yellow fur and a larger size than ordinary tigers. They had two long, sword-like teeth growing down from the sides of their mouths.

Ye Zhan and Zeng Cheng were currently only Level 2. Directly rushing in to hunt a group of Level 3 saber-toothed tigers was clearly impossible. They could only patrol around the building, looking for lone saber-toothed tigers.

Ye Zhan's [Alpha Assault], combined with [Wings of Wind] and spider silk, greatly increased his combat power. Zeng Cheng's [Brutal Strike] no longer had the ability to steal life, but his rapid attacks, combined with [Reckless Swing] causing massive damage and his broadsword, made him a formidable opponent.

So, a lone saber-toothed tiger was no problem for them.

Soon, they spotted a saber-toothed tiger in the distance, gnawing on a bloody corpse. The corpse appeared to be a woman in a blue dress, now torn to shreds and covered in blood.

Ye Zhan carefully checked the surroundings, finding no other monsters, and signaled to Zeng Cheng. He then quickly rushed forward, activating [Alpha Assault] at the right distance, instantly reaching the saber-toothed tiger and delivering a heavy blow with his Tang knife.

The saber-toothed tiger's skin was quite thick. If Ye Zhan hadn't reached Level 2, breaking through the saber-toothed tiger's defense would have been a challenge.

But at Level 2, it was much easier.

Roar...

The saber-toothed tiger immediately let out a roar and swiped at Ye Zhan with its claws.

Ye Zhan, familiar with saber-toothed tigers from his previous life, easily dodged the attack. He swung his Tang knife from the side, striking the saber-toothed tiger's front leg.

The saber-toothed tiger became even more enraged and leaped at Ye Zhan from the air.

"Watch this," Zeng Cheng's massive body charged forward, raising his broadsword and slashing at the saber-toothed tiger's abdomen as it leaped.

After a period of killing, Zeng Cheng had become very familiar with hunting monsters. This slash was both accurate and powerful, slicing a long wound in the saber-toothed tiger's abdomen.

The abdomen and throat are the saber-toothed tiger's vital points. Its leap exposed its weakness, and Zeng Cheng's well-timed strike caused the saber-toothed tiger to let out a惨叫, fall to the ground, and stop moving after a few rolls.

Dealing with real monsters is different from in games; if you hit their vital points, it can often be a one-hit kill.

"Fatso, that was a good move," Ye Zhan praised, patting Zeng Cheng on the shoulder.

"Of course," Zeng Cheng said, feeling quite pleased.

After skinning the saber-toothed tiger for its hide and teeth, the two continued their search. With their combined efforts, they could almost instantly kill a lone saber-toothed tiger. Even if they encountered two or three, they could kill them in a short time.

However, to avoid alarming other saber-toothed tigers, they moved very carefully and quickly changed locations after each fight. They continued hunting like this, and during this time, they saw no living humans in the area, indicating that the number of survivors in the city was very small.

In such a large city with a dense population, the number of monsters was also higher, leading to a higher death rate.

Although they killed saber-toothed tigers quickly, lone saber-toothed tigers were not very common. Ye Zhan planned to collect 40 sets, enough for each of them to exchange once, before leaving. Thus, they hunted around the dilapidated building until the sun began to set, completing their task.

Although both were slightly injured, it was not serious, and they didn't need to use any skills; they just wrapped their wounds with bandages.

The 40 saber-toothed tigers provided a significant harvest. Besides the quest rewards, the 40 Level 3 monster cores alone greatly benefited Ye Zhan and Zeng Cheng.

Each of them consumed 20 monster cores, and now both were at the peak of Level 2, just one step away from Level 3. Although their levels hadn't increased, their physical attributes had continuously improved, and they were now more than twice as strong as when they first reached Level 2.

However, Ye Zhan had no intention of continuing to hunt. He planned to exchange the quest rewards first and then enter the NPC camp, where he would hunt more monsters on the way to reach Level 3.

Inside the NPC camp, they could buy many pieces of equipment and potions, which would rapidly increase their strength, so they needed to get there as soon as possible.

Returning to where the goblin was, they threw the teeth and hides they had collected at him. The goblin's beady eyes sparkled, looking at the teeth and hides as if a hungry man saw a table full of food or a pervert saw a beautiful woman.

A "ding" sounded, and Ye Zhan and Zeng Cheng received a notification that the quest was completed. Ye Zhan opened his skill panel and, as expected, found an additional skill point.

Without hesitation, Ye Zhan added the skill point to [Wuji Sword Path]. The Wuji Sword Saint is known for rapid, continuous strikes, and [Wuji Sword Path] is a divine skill tailored for the Wuji Sword Saint, passively increasing physical attack power and doubling physical damage when activated. With this skill, Ye Zhan truly deserved the title of "Sword Saint."

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