The junction between the Demon Beast Forest and the swamp is rarely inhabited—because a group of Demon Swamp Crocodiles resides here.

These troublesome Demon Swamp Crocodiles can drag an ordinary Professional to their death with just five of them in this muddy environment.

Yet, in this place where even Adventurers are reluctant to tread, there exists a tribe full of Goblins.

"Gorler."

A Goblin Wizard, whose body is not deformed, was holding a book and calling upon its most powerful subordinate.

The surrounding Demon Swamp Crocodiles automatically cleared a path after receiving the Goblin Wizard's command.

"Teacher."

Gorler, dressed as a Swordsman, clearly had a different aura from other Goblins.

It was hard to believe that the word "clear" could one day be associated with a Goblin.

"I need a Mage, a human Mage Professional, Gorler, I believe you can do it." The Goblin Wizard, referred to as Teacher, was the legendary Goblin King.

But what almost no one knew was that it wasn't actually a Goblin at all.

Muer the Sunseeker, that was its name—a typical high elf name.

It was not a high elf, merely an ordinary lower blood elf.

A blood elf born with a defect in its lineage, ostracized by its kin.

It envied those powerful high elves, and its physical defects led it to become increasingly paranoid—believing that only immense power could change everything.

But an exploration of ancient magic caused it to completely lose its identity as an elf.

The pursuit of ancient magic web power made it grotesque and twisted, and under the influence of the magic web's power, its appearance gradually became very similar to that of a lowly Goblin.

Eventually, its kin drove it away, seeing it as a disgrace.

Harboring a belief of revenge and twisted resentment, it came to this forest—attempting to seek the power left by ancient elf tribes to reverse everything.

And Goblins.

Were merely stepping stones in its quest for power, from the bottom of its heart, it looked down on those filthy creatures.

Even Gorler, in its eyes, was just a more useful tool.

"But Teacher, the Human Professional Association..." Gorler instinctively wanted to refuse.

"Do you still have illusions about humans, Gorler?" Although Muer was not a true high elf, it also looked down on humans.

Most high elves believed that humans were merely inferior beings created by the gods to resemble elves.

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Only the outstanding legendary heroes among them were worthy of comparison.

"Yes, King."

Gorler's eyes turned red for a moment.

As the red light faded, the balance in its heart completely tipped to one side.

Even the way it addressed changed.

"By the way." As Gorler was about to leave, Muer called it back again.

"Take this, it's custom-made for you, do it cleanly." The pendant on Muer's neck glowed faintly, and a Void Pocket opened beside its hand.

Then, a bone sword engraved with runes slowly slid out from the Void Pocket, appearing in Muer's hand.

Gorler was momentarily stunned upon seeing this, but then accepted the bone sword: "I will not fail you, Teacher."

"Go, don't make me wait too long."

After Gorler had completely left, Muer put down the book inscribed with ancient elf runes.

It glanced around, suddenly extending its hand to pull a Goblin from a distance.

"Go...lu..." (Goblin language: King, spare me! I beg you!)

The Goblin struggled to break free from Muer's control, its eyes filled with intense fear.

"Being chosen by me is your fortune." A blue light suddenly burst from Muer's eyes.

The light met the Goblin in its hand.

In the instant their eyes met, the Goblin in Muer's hand lost its breath, leaving only a faint blue glow lingering on its body.

Muer's long nose twitched, and with a sudden sniff, it inhaled all the glow.

"Ah..." After a long exhale, Muer felt a momentary satisfaction.

"Despicable creatures... Even after selective breeding to have Mage potential, their soul quality is still so poor."

After recovering from satisfaction, Muer discarded the now even more withered Goblin like trash.

The surrounding Demon Swamp Crocodiles quickly swarmed over, and within seconds, devoured the Goblin whose soul had been drained.

"Where did it go wrong..." Muer picked up the ancient elf book again and began flipping through it.

It had been cultivating this group of Goblins to alleviate the magical addiction within its body, and the giant Goblins that occasionally appeared were merely byproducts of its experiments.

If not for the sheer stupidity of those Goblins.

It wouldn't have kept any Goblin with Mage potential.

"Clearly, there should be a magic web node here..."

Ancient Mages communicated with the magic web, using their souls to contain mana, possessing earth-shattering powers that current Mages couldn't compare to.

"Even if it's closed, there should be traces..."

The ancient elf book in Muer's hand was obtained from a twisted tree of knowledge.

It recorded a vast amount of ancient magic.

But these magics generally relied on one thing—the magic web.

The book recorded that the magic web opened and closed three times.

Each opening brought irreversible changes to this land.

Finding the power of the magic web was equivalent to having everything.

And every ancient elf tree was once a coordinate of a magic web node.

Muer originally didn't believe the legends in the ancient book.

Until it got a chance to touch the magic web on that twisted ancient elf tree!

Knowledge, power!

In the moment it roamed the magic web, it seemed to glimpse the essence of the world, and at that moment, it truly felt like it could change the world.

Unfortunately, this power came quickly and left just as fast.

This contact indeed brought it power different from traditional Mages, but also left it with deep aftereffects.

Initially, it felt great, even its physique and appearance underwent significant changes.

But as time passed.

It wasn't long before its appearance began to rapidly deteriorate, its limbs further regressed, and even its soul twisted...

Eventually, as its power waned, it gradually turned into this ghostly form.

Stripped of its surname and driven out.

That wasn't even the most troublesome part.

The most troublesome part was that whenever the residual magic web power in its body activated, it would become extremely painful, both in soul and body.

So over the years, it had been searching for a way to reverse all this.

Eventually, it discovered that powerful, high-quality energy could inefficiently replace and fill the residual 'super mana' in its body, alleviating the pain.

And souls were what it found to be the most cost-effective.

But as it continued to absorb souls, its power gradually recovered and grew stronger, but the 'super mana' it drew from the magic web also demanded increasingly higher quality.

Because Goblin souls were already hard to sustain it.

Souls were not equal as some bards claimed.

Souls varied in quality, sometimes drastically—often the more intelligent and longer-lived a being, the better the quality of its soul.

And those traditional Mages who practiced meditation were the best and most perfect food in Muer's mind.

(Note: The bloodline power of Knights resists mana, incompatible with Mage power, and their souls are the same; while Martial Artists with Three Qi Unity have their souls tied to their bodies, making them almost unusable.)

"I need to cultivate stronger servants..."

It was for these souls that Muer began its relentless expansion, even instigating those foolish Ogres to establish a kingdom.

Unfortunately, it failed.

The destruction of the Ogre Kingdom made Muer realize—it still lacked the strength to contend with the strong among humans.

So it restrained itself a lot, to avoid attracting those legendary humans.

Now it dared at most to raid villages, searching for high-potential, high-quality souls, while also consuming the increasing number of Goblins under its command.

After all, to those in power, those commoner humans were just consumables.

As for those low-quality souls.

They actually had a use, just not yet apparent.

"The magic web... I must open the magic web!"

Muer's gaze lingered on the last sentence of the ancient elf book—souls are the only shortcut to open the magic web.

It needed a war large enough to gather enough souls.

Only then would it have the chance to use a ritual to open the sealed magic web node here.

But relying solely on the Goblins at hand was definitely not enough...

"I must think of another way..."

Muer rose from its throne.

The ground beneath its feet began to shake and rise violently with its movement.

In the end, it grew legs and started moving!

It turned out that beneath Muer's feet had always been a gigantic Demon Swamp Crocodile.

This Demon Swamp Crocodile was one of its proudest creations.

"Time to make some preparations... The beast tide is approaching."