Chapter 17-High Risk, High Reward！

Before obtaining the S-rank resource subsidy,

Li Yao had planned to exchange the skill badges inside for summon beast skill books.

However, upon discovering an S-rank skill, he instantly couldn't bear to part with it.

Now that he was at the border, there was no chance to get money from home, leaving one of his chess piece slots empty.

"That's no longer a concern."

Li Yao looked at the goblin monsters spread across the hills below.

Once the extermination was complete, he could use the dungeon cooldown time to buy a skill book.

If given the opportunity, he even wanted to challenge Hell difficulty.

"I heard that clearing Hell difficulty for the first time grants an extra reward. Not sure if that's true."

Li Yao cast an Identification skill toward two distinct goblins in the distance.

[Goblin Warrior]

Level: 15 (Elite)

HP: 7300

Strength: 172

Spirit: 49

Agility: 104

Endurance: 146

Skills: Goblin Charge LV4, Heavy Smash LV2, Elemental Resistance LV1

[Goblin Priest]

Level: 16 (Elite)

HP: 4650

Strength: 51

Spirit: 181

Agility: 88

Endurance: 93

Skills: Fireball Chant LV4, Ice Ritual LV2, Inspire LV4, Summon LV1

As expected of a Nightmare dungeon—

even the gatekeeping mobs had reached Elite status.

Monster rankings:

• No rank (common)

• Elite

• Enhanced Elite

• Mutant

• Boss

• Lord

Elite-tier monsters had significantly higher stats than common ones and possessed much stronger skills.

Even a Level 15 knight-class character with full Endurance allocation would only have around 160 Endurance.

Yet, this Goblin Warrior had two stats reaching that value.

And that was just the strength of a single monster.

Goblins, as a species, specialized in group combat.

Li Yao gazed across the field.

Most goblins below were moving in small squads—

four warriors and two priests per group.

With such a setup,

a typical party of adventurers might not even get past the entrance,

let alone those goblins further inside the dungeon,

standing at the peak of the pyramid hierarchy.

Nightmare difficulty—utterly terrifying!

Of course,compared to the Void Mantis,these attributes were still far behind.

Not to mention,the Void Mantis was no longer fighting alone.

Li Yao leaped off the hill.

[Goblin Nest Dungeon – Officially Started!]

The moment he landed,

a goblin squad immediately locked onto him.

Four warriors roared excitedly and charged forward.

From behind Li Yao, the hidden Void Mantis unleashed a Void Spike,

sending countless sharp spines flying at the four goblins.

"Kraaahhh!"

A series of eerie screams erupted.

Four damage numbers floated above their heads:

[-1842]

[-1631]

[-1774]

[-1822]

With the Void Mantis' Strength already surpassing 800,

even the goblins' high Endurance couldn't fully mitigate the damage.

But it wasn't over yet.

The ground beneath the goblins suddenly cracked open.

Countless spikes erupted from below!

[-241]

[-213]

[-198]

[-201]

The Void Predator's damage wasn't as impressive,

but its role was that of a tank—

this skill, Fracture, was meant for crowd control and slowing enemies.

Just as Li Yao predicted—

under this combo, the goblin warriors were filled with rage,

but in front of the two chess pieces,

their movements were as slow as turtles!

During this time,

the Void Predator immediately repositioned,

while the Void Mantis leveraged its superior speed to kite the goblins.

[-6413]

A single Taste of Fear instantly reaped a Goblin Warrior's life.

Before Li Yao could even check the kill panel,

two fireballs came hurtling toward the Void Mantis.

This was where Li Yao's investment in Agility shone.

With a simple sidestep,

the Void Mantis dodged both fireballs.

"Stealth."

At Li Yao's command,

the Void Mantis vanished from sight.

The goblin priests, who had only just arrived due to their slower speed,

lost their target and immediately redirected their aggro toward Li Yao and the Void Predator.

With their high intelligence,

they ignored the tank and aimed straight for Li Yao.

"Just as I hoped."

Li Yao smirked.

The Void Predator hadn't yet devoured any creatures—

it was still just a baby, too weak to face reality.

If the enemies were targeting him instead,

that was perfect.

Instead of backing away,

Li Yao advanced.

The four goblin warriors charged at him with full force—

but the moment they struck,

their faces twisted in shock and confusion.

The goblin priests shrieked in their strange language,

and after a brief exchange,

the warriors finally shifted their focus to the Void Predator.

"They figured it out?"

Watching the monsters' reaction,

Li Yao raised an eyebrow.

He hadn't expected dungeon mobs to have such high intelligence.

"Too bad—you're already too late!"

With a cold smile,

Li Yao saw the Void Mantis reappear behind the priests.

A surprise attack—

Stealth Break + Taste of Fear—

a seamless combo landed on the priest.

Its 4,000+ HP instantly dropped to zero.

Without hesitation,

the Void Mantis turned its sights on the second priest.

The warriors tried to rush back,

but another sudden ground spike trap kept them locked in place.

They could only watch helplessly

as the second priest was slaughtered.

With both ranged enemies dead,

the remaining warriors were nothing more than toys.

The Void Mantis danced like a phantom,

flickering in and out of sight—

within thirty seconds, all four were wiped out.

[Killed Goblin Priest – EXP +1.4%]

[Combat Training Triggered – Void Mantis Strength +1]

[Killed Goblin Priest – EXP +1.4%]

[Combat Training Triggered – Void Mantis Strength +1]

[Killed Goblin Warrior – EXP +1.2%]

[Combat Training Triggered – Void Mantis Strength +1]

Li Yao glanced at the system panel, delighted.

High-level monsters truly yielded high EXP.

Not only that,

two pieces of equipment were now lying quietly on the ground.

Both were Level 15 Bronze Gear—

since they were dungeon drops,

their quality was far superior to normal Bronze-tier items.

Each was worth around 15,000 coins,

though Li Yao had no use for them now,

so he stashed them in his storage ring.

"The EXP and rewards here are several times better than outside!"

The entire fight had lasted about a minute,

yet it granted nearly 8% EXP!

The leveling speed was terrifying!

Li Yao knew he had found the right place.

Without hesitation,

he approached the next goblin squad.

Time flew by.

By the time Li Yao emerged from the goblin settlement,

all goblin monsters inside had been completely wiped out.

[Level: 11 (32.54%)]

In under an hour,

he had gained nearly one and a half levels!

There had been around 30 goblin squads in the area.

Since they were clustered closely together,

he had spent most of his time carefully pulling mobs

to avoid triggering multiple aggro chains at once.

But the results were worth it.

Even at Level 11,

with the EXP requirement significantly increasing,

he still managed to reach 32%—a monstrous gain!

Just then—

"ROOOOAR!!"

As Li Yao was about to head for the next settlement,

a massive goblin wielding a greatsword appeared before him.