Lin Shen stepped through the light door and arrived at a new location. A quick glance revealed that he had been teleported into a dense forest this time.
Lin Shen looked around, thinking to himself: At least there's no creepy little town this time to give me the creeps.
With that, he picked up his staff and strolled aimlessly. After walking for about an hour, Lin Shen spotted a fire ahead and ran toward it.
When he judged he was close enough, Lin Shen scrambled up a large tree. Looking in the direction of the fire, he saw a group of ferocious green goblins dancing around a bonfire.
Lin Shen looked closer: they were entirely green, with yellow eyes, sharp beaks and fangs, pointed noses, and bare torsos, each holding a wooden club in their hands.
Lin Shen thought: Aren't these goblins? Where on earth has this teleported me? I hope slimes and Minotaurs don't start showing up next.
Just as Lin Shen was deep in thought, a goblin spotted him and began shouting and screaming in his direction. The other goblins noticed him too and charged at Lin Shen to kill him.
Seeing this, Lin Shen immediately used Earth-Binding Claw to immobilize the goblins. Then he cast a Fireball at them, only to find the goblins were completely unharmed.
Lin Shen cast Lightning next, but the goblins still showed no reaction.
Lin Shen then unleashed Earth-Shattering Technique, pelting them with a barrage of flying stones that left the goblins bruised and battered, yet still alive.
Finally, he tried a wind-chill attack, but the goblins were still fine.
Lin Shen thought: Oh no, these goblins are immune to magical attacks. I'll have to change tactics.
Lin Shen swapped out his staff and drew his longsword. Wielding the sword, he stabbed forward and dispatched the goblins one by one.
At that moment, the System's prompt sounded:
"Ding!
Congratulations to the host for slaying 10 goblins.
Reward: 50 System coins!"
"System, what kind of monsters are these? They're even immune to magic attacks. Good thing I picked up a sword in that town, or I'd be getting beaten up right now."
"Monsters don't care what you've learned. For them, it boils down to one rule: if there's an intruder, you fight."
Lin Shen rolled his eyes and said, "I... I actually have nothing to say to that. You win."
Lin Shen pondered: The spells I can actually use now are basically Earth-Binding Claw, Summoning Technique, Qi-Healing Technique, and Herculean Strength. The Five-Spirit Spells are useless against goblins, and Reincarnation Technique probably won't come in handy.
Just as Lin Shen was thinking, a goblin emerged from the tree behind him. It lunged at Lin Shen, raised its heavy club, and aimed to smash his head open.
Lin Shen had no time to dodge, so he could only throw a punch straight at it.
The goblin took a punch to the face and was sent flying a zhang away. Before the goblin could get back up, Lin Shen immediately rushed in for the kill and stabbed it to death.
At that moment, another goblin came running over brandishing a club. Lin Shen noticed that this particular goblin was entirely orange in color and a size larger than the others.
Guessing that this fellow had something good on him, Lin Shen drew his sword and stepped forward to engage. The goblin swung its club at Lin Shen's head first; Lin Shen didn't block with his sword, but instead sidestepped to avoid it.
Taking advantage of the opening, Lin Shen batted the goblin away with a single palm strike, immobilized it with Earth-Binding Claw, and then drove his sword through its chest. The goblin quickly collapsed and stopped moving.
While searching the goblin's corpse, Lin Shen found a scroll, but before he could even open it, it vanished.
Then came the System prompt:
"Ding!
Congratulations to the host for acquiring Gravity Control Technique!"
Lin Shen asked, "Gravity Control Technique, what's that supposed to mean?"
"It can form a gravitational field within a radius of 10 zhang with the host at the center. The magnitude of the gravity is controlled by the host."
Lin Shen thought: Interesting. I remember Goku, Vegeta, and the others in Dragon Ball increased their strength by training in ultra-gravity environments, but there's one problem: won't I be affected by this gravity control too?
Figuring he would give it a try, Lin Shen cast Gravity Control Technique, though he didn't dare push it too hard—just 3x gravity.
Instantly, Lin Shen felt as though his legs were filled with lead, making them impossible to lift. His body felt as if it were tied down with over 100 kilograms of heavy objects, pressing down so hard he couldn't lift his neck; he could only lean on his longsword, completely motionless.
At that moment, five more goblins arrived. Lin Shen looked at them and thought: Oh man, couldn't you have come any earlier or later? You just had to show up now. I've really overdone it this time.
As the goblins walked into the gravitational field, they were likewise pressed to the ground by the gravity and unable to crawl out.
Seeing this, Lin Shen immediately dragged himself forward toward the goblins, then finished them off one by one with his sword.
By this time, Lin Shen could no longer pay attention to the System prompts; he could only drag himself forward step by step.
Although goblins occasionally popped out to cause trouble, before they could even get close to Lin Shen, they were pinned down by the magnetic gravity field, leaving Lin Shen to walk over and stab them to death one by one.
Thus, after an unknown amount of time, Lin Shen gradually grew accustomed to the 3x gravity field.
Wishing to test the results of this period of training, Lin Shen lifted the gravitational field, and then pulled out the Demon-Arousing Flute. With a single blast, a chorus of howling and shouting echoed all around.
Lin Shen readied his sword. Two goblins launched a sneak attack from behind; seeing this, Lin Shen leaped behind them and eliminated both with a sword thrust each. Just to be safe, Lin Shen put on the Jade Ring.
At that moment, several goblins hurled spears at Lin Shen. He easily dodged them while using the ring to conjure several flying daggers. He hurled them at the throwers and wiped out those goblins completely.
Lin Shen felt that his movements were indeed somewhat faster than before, and thought: This magnetic gravity field is actually quite useful.
Just then, several more goblins brandished clubs and charged at Lin Shen. He rushed forward to meet them as well, and amidst flashes of blades and swords, all the goblins were slain.
Just as Lin Shen wanted to take a break, the System prompt rang out: Warning! Warning! A boss-class monster is approaching, host please prepare.
Lin Shen hurriedly swallowed a mouthful of royal jelly and scanned his surroundings in alert. Then he heard a "Moo~" sound echoing from not far ahead.
Lin Shen squinted and saw a Minotaur standing over a zhang tall, bare-chested and wielding a giant axe, walking toward him.
The Minotaur marched right up to Lin Shen, let out a loud "Moo~", stamped its hooves a few times, aimed its horns straight at Lin Shen, and charged forward.
Lin Shen sidestepped out of the way just in time. The Minotaur crashed into a tree, snapping it in half with a loud crack.
Lin Shen thought: Thank goodness I didn't try to face it head-on, or I'd be finished.
The Minotaur swung its giant axe, bringing it down directly at Lin Shen. Lin Shen leaped backward, but the shockwave from the axe striking the ground still forced him to take three steps back.
Taking advantage of the moment the Minotaur was retracting its axe, Lin Shen unleashed a Fireball right at its face. The Minotaur let go of the weapon and stumbled back two steps.
Lin Shen thought: Looks like magic is still somewhat useful against the Minotaur.
The Minotaur swung its axe again and charged at Lin Shen. Lin Shen dodged left and right, channeling spiritual energy into his sword blade as he evaded. Faint flashes of lightning could be seen crackling across Lin Shen's blade.
Judging that the time was right, Lin Shen dashed toward the Minotaur. The Minotaur swung its axe down at Lin Shen, but Lin Shen sidestepped and the weapon missed once more. Seizing the opening, Lin Shen slashed his sword across the Minotaur's chest.
A deep gash opened up on the Minotaur's chest, and Lin Shen followed up by slicing across its neck, leaving another gaping wound there. The Minotaur let out a single "Moo~" and crashed backward to the ground.
At that moment, the System prompt sounded:
"Congratulations to the host for eliminating the boss-class monster Minotaur!
Reward: 2000 System coins!"
Lin Shen discovered that the Minotaur also had a scroll on it; the moment he picked it up, it vanished again.
Then the System prompt arrived:
"Ding!
Congratulations to the host for learning the new Dimensional Travel Technique!"
"Dimensional Travel Technique!? Isn't this Long You's skill? The spell to teleport to other locations."
"Spot on. Now the host can travel back and forth between the Time Chamber and various locations in the Chinese Paladin world.
The only difference is that Long You had to personally accompany people when using his Dimensional Travel Technique, whereas the new Dimensional Travel Technique can transport other people or objects across various spaces without requiring the host to personally travel along."
Lin Shen thought: This is much more interesting than Long You's Dimensional Travel Technique.
At that moment, a chest appeared beside Lin Shen. Stooping down to open it, he found 100 taels of silver, some common medicines, and his very own smartphone!
Lin Shen exclaimed, "Why is my phone here?!"
Lin Shen turned on the phone and found that although the battery was fully charged, none of the functions worked.
Lin Shen sighed and said, "Figures. Where on earth would you get a signal in this world?"
Noticing that the songs stored on his phone were still there, he figured he could only use it as an MP3 player from now on; if he'd known, he should have saved some offline single-player games on it.
Just as Lin Shen was pondering this, the System's warning alarm suddenly blared: "Warning! Warning! Major anomaly detected on Xianling Island! Warning! Warning!"
The warning siren interrupted Lin Shen's thoughts, making him realize that something had gone wrong on Xianling Island.
(End of Chapter 4)