Chapter 3359: Exploring The Outpost

Once settled, Lin Mu stood at the balcony and examined the sky.

He could see the curvature of the world far too clearly. This was indeed a small planet. The horizon was too close. The sky was thin and faintly tinted with silver, a result of artificial atmospheric layers maintained by giant arrays beneath the crust.

Meng Bai joined him. "Feels like we are living inside a giant orb made by someone."

"We are," Lin Mu replied. "The Western Immortal Court carved this place with intention. It is not meant to be beautiful. It is meant to be functional."

Cattaleya leaned against the railing. "At least we can explore it easily."

Daoist Chu nodded. "In fact, we could walk from one end of the world to the other in perhaps a month if we moved at normal speed."

Elyon flicked a small stone into the air. "Which means we should explore everything while we wait. If we are going to be stuck here for days, might as well make use of it."

Lin Mu agreed.

"Good. Tomorrow we start our sweep. Let us see what the Western Immortal Court has built on this little world."

The group nodded, each one quietly excited in their own way.

Even if this place was a bureaucratic fortress, it was still part of the Immortal Realm’s vast machine. And wherever civilization thrived, secrets hid in the cracks.

Lin Mu had no doubt something interesting lurked here as well.

And he would find it.

Lin Mu and the group began exploring the outpost world the very next morning.

Although the world was tiny, it was a strangely lively place. Because it was a major transit hub between two Immortal Courts, its true scale came from the sheer number of different beings crowding its streets.

Everywhere they walked, they saw cultivators.

There were no mortals here. Every single man, woman, and beastkin had at least stepped onto the path of cultivation. Some had refined Qi swirling around them like mist. Others maintained quiet, sealed bodies that revealed nothing. And yet every footstep on the metallic stone pathways had weight.

Humans made up about half the population here. Lin Mu spotted many by their robes and hair styles alone. But the other half was a patchwork of the Immortal Realm’s strange diversity.

He saw fox beastkins with multiple tails curled neatly behind them. Wolfkin with silver fur and a proud posture. A few snakekin whose long tails wrapped around their waists like belts. And in one corner of a marketplace, Lin Mu saw a pair of elves with pale hair and eyes like polished crystals, their dignity making even Meng Bai straighten his back slightly.

There were also dwarves here and there, though the dwarves in this outpost looked different from the rune dwarves they had just left.

These seemed to be hill dwarves with thicker brows and simpler clothes. Some carried tool chests around their waists and walked with purpose, clearly employed in maintaining the outpost’s infrastructure. After all there was no race better than dwarves to handle the maintenance of an Immortal Court Outpost.

And then Lin Mu saw something that made him pause mid step.

A small group of green skinned creatures walked down the street in a tight cluster.

They were no taller than three feet and their limbs were slightly bowed, giving them a hunched look even when standing straight. Their noses were long and hooked, hanging forward like sharp curved hooks. Their teeth were jagged, poking out from under thin lips. Their nails were dark and pointed, almost claw like.

Yet they were dressed in clean clothes. Simple tunics. Simple trousers. Nothing made of rough hides or bones. They walked calmly and carried satchels on their backs.

Lin Mu blinked.

Meng Bai blinked.

Cattaleya tilted her head.

Daoist Chu raised an eyebrow.

Whispers rose around them.

"Are those really goblins?"

"They should not be here."

"I thought the Immortal Court banned goblins from travelling without escorts."

Lin Mu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Goblins were well known in old tales. Every cultivator heard stories of them as children at least once. They were a problematic race, feared not because they were strong but because they reproduced faster than pests.

A normal goblin mother gave birth to at least five children at once and they reached adulthood within a year. If left unchecked, goblins could overwhelm entire regions simply through numbers.

They used to be widespread across the Immortal Realm.

But because their civilizations were crude and violent, they were hunted, purged, and driven away again and again. Somehow, despite all that, they survived. Over time, the stupidest and most violent goblins died first. Only the cunning ones remained, and their tribes became less barbaric.

Even so, they were still considered untrustworthy by most major powers.

Lin Mu had assumed goblins had long been banned from stepping into any Immortal Court outpost.

So seeing them here, walking freely, was unexpected.

"What are they doing here?" Meng Bai muttered as he discreetly followed Lin Mu’s gaze.

Elyon shrugged. "Perhaps they have a permit. Perhaps they work here. Strange things happen at border outposts."

Daoist Chu frowned. "Still, it is unusual." Even for him who had been to many such outposts, Goblins were never seen.

Lin Mu found himself drifting after the goblins without consciously deciding to. The group simply trailed behind them along the main street. They kept a respectful distance, not wanting to cause trouble or be seen as threatening.

The goblins did not speak in any language the group recognized.

They communicated with short grunts and snorts. Their expressions shifted subtly, showing irritation, curiosity, and sometimes amusement. For all intents and purposes, they looked like a group of travelers minding their own business.

Eventually the goblins entered a tavern whose signboard read The Roaring Flask.

Lin Mu and the others stopped across the street and took seats at a tea house facing the tavern, choosing a table near the window.

Little Shrubby curled his tail comfortably under him as he sniffed the air. "Smells like roasted fish and metal."

"That is probably the dwarven stew," Daoist Chu said pointing to a bunch of Hill Dwarves having their meal in the eatery next door.

But Lin Mu kept his eyes trained on the tavern door.

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