Chapter 627 "A Bottleneck?"

"Hiss... gah..."

An emaciated goblin, riddled with wounds, struggled as it collapsed to the ground, howling weakly.

As one of the second wave of goblin grunts to charge the human intruder, it had already been lying here for several minutes.

The good news was that its slightly slower reaction time had left it a few steps behind the rest of the charge. Thus, instead of being shredded into unrecognizable gore by the razor-sharp astral winds like its peers, it had merely been grazed by a few stray gusts. The bad news was that even though these fading shockwaves were just the residual wake of the phantom black wolf, they still dealt a fatal blow to its frail body.

Both of its lower legs were broken—one twisted with jutting bone splinters, the other severed clean just below the knee. Its chest and abdomen had been slashed open at an angle, exposing a bloody mess of entrails.

Countless smaller wounds of varying depths covered the rest of its body, bleeding profusely.

Clearly, this lucky yet unfortunate goblin had entered the final countdown of its life.

Forgan withdrew his gaze from the green-skinned goblin on the ground, which could no longer escape its inevitable death.

Forgan's expression remained as stoic as ever, as impassive as plateau ice.

However, an indescribably complex light flickered within his frost-blue eyes, gleaming coldly in the deep shadows of his prominent brow. His gaze swept across the battlefield ahead.

The goblin camp, once enclosed by crude fences and built from primitive tents and crooked wooden huts, was now a ruined wasteland. It looked as though it had been ravaged by a massive storm.

The fence posts had been uprooted, the heavily patched tents shredded into rags, and the wooden huts instantly dismantled, reduced to planks of varying lengths that were swept high into the sky...

As for the green-skinned goblins who had lived and trained in the camp, Forgan couldn't find a single one left with an intact body and the ability to move.

The ones in the best condition were like the severely injured goblin in front of him, struggling painfully amidst their increasingly weak wails.

The vast majority had already been turned into flesh-and-blood fertilizer for the earth, looking as though they had been churned through by a storm of sharp blades.

Even though he had anticipated the likely fate of these hundred-plus goblins before the battle began, watching that pitch-black wolf silhouette enshrouded in fierce winds kick up a storm of blood through the camp from his vantage point on the hillside still left Forgan momentarily stunned.

And the two bugbears—which he had expected to slow Xia Nan's momentum and require some focused effort to handle—hadn't even lasted two exchanges combined.

One was instantly decapitated at the very start of the fight by a combination of the [Fang Hunt] and [Spinning Slash] combat techniques, completely deprived of a chance to attack. The other, arriving late, was forcefully rooted in place by an unfamiliar spellcasting combat technique before half its skull was sheared off.

As for the last one—a hobgoblin lieutenant with a Challenge Rating as high as Level 5, which Forgan originally thought would pose a substantial threat to Xia Nan and perhaps even require him to intervene...

His mind involuntarily recalled the glimpses he had caught of the black-haired adventurer's eerie attack rhythm shifting between fast and slow, as well as that arc-shaped sword light carrying what looked like forcefield damage.

Forgan couldn't help but look toward the center of the battlefield.

The tall, fierce figure stood right there.

The wolf's howl gradually faded, and the phantom beast silhouette enveloping his body dispersed into fragmented black winds that swirled around him.

The dark gray straight sword, definitely of a high quality tier, hung at a slant, dripping with blood. The surface of his dark silver metal armor shimmered with a scarlet glow. Beneath his feet lay the fragmented, utterly lifeless corpses of the goblins.

"Awoo..."

Beside him, the excited low growls of Winter Wolf Fanny pulled Forgan's attention back to reality.

He stepped closer.

He looked at Xia Nan standing before him, whose face seemed calm, but whose eyes flickered with a strange mix of suppression and catharsis.

He then cast a glance at the corpses beneath the young man's feet.

Forgan paused for a moment, as if contemplating what to say.

Finally, he spoke slowly.

"That [Fang Hunt] you just used... is that the one I taught you?"

From the perspective of actual combat power and overall ability, the gap between Xia Nan and the elite hobgoblin he had decapitated wasn't actually as massive as the battle made it appear.

After all, it was a powerful monster with a Challenge Rating as high as Level 5 that had undergone professional training, whereas Xia Nan, at the end of the day, still only possessed a Level 4 Class Level.

The main reason the battle turned into such a one-sided slaughter was Xia Nan's highly aggressive, attack-oriented combat style, combined with his unique combat technique system that differed from the vast majority of adventurers.

It was safe to say that Gak Bloodspear had been caught completely off guard.

Before it could even manage a head-on clash, it was already affected by [Night Mother's Gaze].

While it didn't fall into outright terror and drop its weapons to flee in panic, its mindset had definitely been shaken.

Once the fight broke out, Xia Nan held nothing back. His increasingly ferocious offensive, bolstered by [Layered Waves], left the hobgoblin no time to think of countermeasures, forcing it into passive defense.

Finally, under the pressure of the [Hunting Arc] Battle Posture, it revealed a flaw. Xia Nan seized the opening and finished it off with a full-power combo of [Spinning Slash], [Gravity Etching], and [Heavy Tide].

Going by his usual habits, Xia Nan would have savored fighting these hundred-plus goblins for quite a while.

But since his current goal was to use actual combat to give the barbarian Forgan—watching from outside the battlefield—a complete and clear understanding of his current combat style and habits, Xia Nan had gone all out.

Throughout the entire battle, he had even utilized [Gravity Control]. Aside from [Ember Echoes]—which had too long of a cooldown and required him to be severely injured to cast—he had seamlessly integrated and fully demonstrated all of his other combat techniques in live combat.

And judging by the barbarian Forgan's reaction, the final result seemed to be pretty good?

"Awoo-yip..."

Xia Nan rubbed the head of Winter Wolf Fanny, who was wagging her tail and nudging against his legs.

He then explained to Forgan the reason behind such a drastic change to [Fang Hunt], an explanation he had prepared well in advance.

There was no need to deliberately hide it, either.

Compared to when Forgan had first taught it to him, [Fang Hunt] had changed so significantly that even an ordinary person utterly clueless about combat techniques could see the difference.

With Forgan himself as the audience, being evasive about it would seem overly paranoid.

As for the [Dream Weaving Corridor] terminal...

On his way here, Xia Nan had already categorized the several golden fingers he possessed into different tiers based on their importance and the risk of exposure.

First, at the very top, in a league of its own, was naturally the "Attribute Panel", which allowed him to see his own detailed stats as well as information on external equipment and items. In the nearly two years since his transmigration, he had never revealed it to anyone.

Foreseeably, he would continue to keep this secret hidden in the deepest part of his heart in the future.

The tier below that consisted of crucial items, including the [Dream Weaving Corridor] terminal and the [Fate Glimmer] die.

Among these, the [Dream Weaving Corridor] and the [Proof of Diligence] required a significantly higher level of secrecy because of their ability to accelerate the acquisition of combat technique proficiency. The only people Xia Nan would accept knowing about them were those he shared relationships with on the level of Alton or Forgan.

Meanwhile, if circumstances forced him to reveal the [White Flask] pocket watch or the [Fate Glimmer] die, he could broaden the scope to include people like "Greenblood" Adeline or the members of the Blade of Vengeance fleet—those he had fought alongside and could trust with his back. Following this logic, the next tier down included his main equipment, such as the [Ember Fall] straight sword, the wooden sword [Azure Pine], and the [Scarlet Thorn] armor. Finally, there were ordinary sundries that required no secrecy whatsoever.

Right now, considering the person standing before him was Forgan—someone he had known for over a year and with whom he shared a relationship akin to master and apprentice—Xia Nan didn't hide much about why the [Fang Hunt] he had been taught had evolved to its current state. And Forgan, having spent so many years in the adventuring trade, well-versed in its unspoken rules and possessing a firm, stoic personality, did not pry into the existence of the [Dream Weaving Corridor], just as Xia Nan had expected.

Even though his strength exceeded Xia Nan's by an unfathomable margin, when Xia Nan mentioned that he had acquired a massive amount of combat technique proficiency in a dream, Forgan merely raised an eyebrow and cast him a glance.

Then again, when one's power tier reached a level close to the Legendary rank like Forgan's, they no longer valued so-called "combat technique proficiency" as highly as they did at lower levels.

What was far more important was the choice of the combat techniques themselves, as well as meeting the conditions for advancement rituals.

"So what you dreamed of back then... was an unusually colored winter wolf with pitch-black fur?"

Forgan asked, confirming his thoughts with a contemplative expression.

"Yes. Its name should be 'Kalosh'."

Hearing this name suddenly come from Xia Nan's mouth, a glint flashed deep within Forgan's ice-blue eyes. Clearly, he knew something about this legendary winter wolf that had roamed the world who knew how many years ago.

"In that case, when you used [Fang Hunt] in the battle just now and threw those green-skinned goblins into a state of fear... was that also because of that dream?"

Xia Nan hadn't even had the chance to introduce his [Night Mother's Gaze] Feat yet, only to find that the barbarian in front of him had already observed it.

Marveling inwardly at the man's keen observation skills, Xia Nan nodded and replied.

"It's an accompanying Feat I gained when [Fang Hunt] reached Mastery. It did indeed come from the dream. The effect is that there's a chance to plunge enemies into fear when I use [Fang Hunt]."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing Xia Nan's words, the barbarian Forgan shook his head.

"In all likelihood, it isn't just because of the dream," he replied.

Unlike combat techniques—which could be taught, learned, and continuously practiced to increase their proficiency and power—Feats were an entirely different concept.

They came from diverse sources and covered an extremely wide scope.

Certain creatures might naturally possess special Feats unique to their race from the very moment they were born.

Even ordinary people with absolutely no connection to so-called adventurers could acquire special Feats in relevant fields through their daily actions—such as a porter on the docks, or a well-read scholar or professor.

But if one looked at it purely from the perspective of "combat technique extension," then the definition of a Feat was an exclusive trait awakened when a combat technique was honed to the mortal limit, fusing the user's own experiences, convictions, and combat style with the technique itself.

If two different adventurers trained the exact same combat technique to the "Mastery" proficiency level, it didn't guarantee that they would acquire a related Feat.

And even if they were lucky enough to do so, the Feats they awakened would often be completely different.

In Forgan's view, the birth of [Night Mother's Gaze] might have had some connection to what Xia Nan experienced in the dream.

But if anyone else had been put in his shoes, even if they experienced the same dream of the unusually colored winter wolf, they wouldn't necessarily reap the same rewards.

The awakening of [Night Mother's Gaze] was the fusion and manifestation of Xia Nan's own combat style, personality, and method of wielding the technique.

As a matter of fact, one could glean a thing or two about this just by looking at the pulverized limbs and shredded flesh strewn across the battlefield right now.

With a combat style like his, awakening a Feat related to "fear" and "awe" was perfectly normal.

Thinking of this, a bizarre emotion welled up in Forgan's heart.

He had observed Xia Nan's entire battle just now with intense scrutiny.

He had taken in everything Xia Nan actively demonstrated during the fight.

His physical attributes were far beyond the ordinary, vastly exceeding the level his Class Level should possess. He clearly had his fair share of fortuitous encounters over the past year and a half. His combat techniques were also excellent. Excluding the [Fang Hunt] he had taught him and the [Spinning Slash] Xia Nan had already mastered when they first met, Forgan had observed several others. These included a damage-adding combat technique that distorted the air, a combat technique capable of inflicting forcefield damage, and a spellcasting-type combat technique executed through unknown means.

Mobility, damage amplification, crowd control—he had them all covered.

And according to his judgment, the quality tiers of these combat techniques were not low; they were the type with considerable potential for growth.

At the same time, this kid—who was not even twenty years old yet—had already formed a unique combat style that perfectly complemented his own combat technique system.

This was something that many veteran adventurers who had honed themselves in the trade for years couldn't even achieve.

A solid physical foundation, high potential in combat techniques, a fully formed combat system, and even equipment that far surpassed the norm—when put together, his actual combat power far exceeded his superficial Class Level.

It was entirely predictable that as long as he continued down this path, the gap between him and adventurers of the same level would only widen. By the time he hit the two critical milestones of the Transcendent Tier and the Legendary rank, that gap between him and ordinary adventurers would stretch to an insurmountable, absurd degree.

To put it bluntly, even if Forgan were to use his own past self at that level as a reference, he couldn't compare to the Xia Nan standing before him at all.

Under these circumstances, this kid actually claimed that he felt lost about his path forward, that he had encountered...

"A bottleneck?"