Chapter 24: Chance Encounter

When he left the witch's hut carrying the items given by the night elf witch, under the witch's guidance, Li Mingxing took another path out of the witch's hut. However, in his heart, he was considering the few little things given by the witch and the final task entrusted by the witch.

This time, the witch did not prepare new troops for Li Mingxing, but still helped him heal all the injuries of his troops. Among the three items sent, there was a wooden token of the jungle lizardman.

As long as he possessed this wooden token, Li Mingxing could go to the jungle lizardmen to request a troop of jungle lizardmen to serve as his cannon fodder. How many people he could obtain would depend on Li Mingxing's skill and luck.

After all, the jungle lizardmen serving as cannon fodder were not gathered together but divided into dozens of tribes scattered throughout the forest. If his luck was poor, he might encounter a small tribe, at most a few dozen people. If he met a large tribe, perhaps two or three hundred would not be a problem. As for the remaining two items, they were also useful to Li Mingxing. One was a claw gauntlet, looking like it was designed for leopards, but Li Mingxing could wear it as well. After putting it on, Li Mingxing could easily leap from tree branch to tree branch.

Li Mingxing suspected that this might be an item used by the night blade leopard, the night elf's mount, because in this kind of forest, finding a traversable path was quite difficult.

The last item, however, left Li Mingxing somewhat helpless, as it was actually a common telescope in the real world, though finely crafted. To Li Mingxing, it was not something he valued. Had it not been for the previous two items, Li Mingxing might have even swapped it with the witch for another reward.

But this time, he decided to keep the telescope. He pondered there, thinking that if the next reward were still such items, then Li Mingxing would bring back a batch of high-tech goods from the real world to trade here.

After temporarily handing the telescope to the Black Stone Warrior, Li Mingxing followed the map obtained from the tree spirit and proceeded according to the witch's instructions toward the nearby area where jungle lizardmen might exist.

However, it seemed that this time Li Mingxing's luck was not so good. After searching for a long time, he did not find a suitable jungle lizardman tribe, but along the way, he encountered some tribes weaker than those capable of sending troops to battle.

Actually, these could not be considered tribes. Such small groups of only a dozen people at most could be called settlements.

Of course, for such small settlements, as long as he did not display excessive hostility, Li Mingxing could obtain some assistance from them.

Along the path Li Mingxing had traveled, he had roughly come to know the various races inhabiting this real world. Even Li Mingxing had not anticipated that within the strategic layer of this real world, there existed more than a thousand varieties of intelligent beings.

Although some of these beings could not play a major role in such battles within the strategic layer, when brought into the adventure layer, they could exert quite a significant effect.

Recalling such circumstances, Li Mingxing had already considered whether he should establish a city projection here and transport these powerful soldiers through the special passages between city projections to the adventure layer.

But soon Li Mingxing realized he had been overthinking things, for there was actually a troop waiting for them right in front.

This troop consisted of a high elf force, including one hundred elf archers and sixty dwarf warriors.

What surprised Li Mingxing was that the dwarves in this troop did not immediately charge toward their mortal enemy, the gray dwarves, revealing how formidable the commander's control over the troops was.

Seeing such a force, Li Mingxing was taken aback as well. Although he had sufficient strength to not fear this troop's presence, he did not wish to expend all his troops in battle.

After all, the gray dwarves Li Mingxing had brought from the underground world of the previous strategic layer were almost depleted, and these harpies and nineteen centaurs were the foundation upon which Li Mingxing planned to expand in this real world. Without obtaining new, stronger troops, he could not afford to lose them.

Thus, Li Mingxing waved his front paw, signaling his troops to prepare for a retreat. Seeing his posture, a voice emerged from the front troop: "You are mistaken. We came this time without ill intent. We merely wished to see what kind of person the one who defeated and eradicated all the Amazon warriors is like."

As this voice rang out, the troops blocking Li Mingxing's path parted like waves on either side. A silver unicorn carried a girl dressed in flowing white gauze out gently.

At the instant the girl appeared, Li Mingxing sensed the pressure surging from all directions. Although his imperial presence and dragon lineage blood could withstand it, his subordinates could not. Except for a few fourth-rank experts, all his followers' faces turned deathly pale.

Li Mingxing understood that if he did not act, his troops' morale would plummet irreparably. He stepped forward, spreading his imperial presence to mitigate the girl's effect on his men.

Yet this had little impact. The girl's aura combined with the unicorn's slightly increased the pressure, overpowering Li Mingxing's imperial presence entirely. He estimated that if the girl were using imperial presence, her level was at least fourth rank.

Facing such a formidable foe, Li Mingxing felt powerless for the first time. But to maintain his subordinates' morale and his future expansion in this world, he gritted his teeth and pressed on.

Observing Li Mingxing's stance, the girl smiled faintly. Just as she prepared to reinforce her aura, a natural essence suddenly surged toward them and merged into Li Mingxing's imperial presence.

Sensing this natural aura, the girl frowned slightly. "It's them. It seems someone still has designs on this fellow. Should I simply kill them outright?"

But upon reflection, even with her power, she could not slay Li Mingxing quickly, and a powerful adversary lurked nearby. Finally, the girl shook her head, pointed at Li Mingxing, and said, "Leave this area at once, or no one can guarantee anything."

The unicorn beneath the girl turned its head and departed, followed swiftly by the hill dwarf warriors and elf archers, vanishing as silently as they had appeared.

Once these individuals had gone, Li Mingxing exhaled in relief. His troops, except for the Black Stone Warrior, all collapsed to the ground.

The most striking among them were the three harpy witches and one harpy demon. They four knew the enemy's background. One harpy witch recounted, "This time it was truly perilous. I never imagined it was Ilxiong herself from Dragon City who came. We actually survived her grasp—truly miraculous luck."

"Ilxiong—who is that?" Li Mingxing was still unfamiliar with the goings-on inside Dragon City.

Upon hearing Li Mingxing's question, the harpy witches chattered details about Ilxiong. When Li Mingxing learned she ranked as the foremost combatant in Dragon City after two green dragons, he inquired with some confusion, "Then why did she leave without engaging? Though reinforcements arrived, she did not lack the power to defeat us."

"I don't know that either," the harpy witches were not particularly intelligent. Their knowledge stemmed from having lingered here for countless years, thus being well-versed in this world's conditions.

Observing their expressions, Li Mingxing realized he could glean no more from them and ceased pursuing the matter. Instead, he gazed into the distance, pondering who had arrived to aid him.

As Li Mingxing considered this, several wing-flapping sounds suddenly echoed from the distant sky, and thirty-nine crows with pink beaks materialized before him.

Before Li Mingxing could discern their origins, these crows transformed into humanoid forms right in front of him.

Seeing them, a smile graced Li Mingxing's face. It transpired that the individuals were the Druid girls led by Aisha of the Forest Fairy Legion.

This revelation cleared things up: the natural aura had come from them. It seemed these maidens had not squandered their time.

Noticing Li Mingxing's smile, Aisha's countenance brightened with smugness. After saluting him, she declared, "Aisha, the cold wind druid, brings all the druids of the Forest Fairy Legion to pay respects to the lord."