Chapter 2

"Alright, take a seat and rest."

When Huagou called out to Zhang Yan to put down his spear, Zhang Yan finally came back to his senses from the highly tense state he had been in.

"Retreated?"

"Yeah, they were driven back!"

With a thud, Zhang Yan slid to the ground against the wall, his spear falling beside him. His fingers were stiff, seemingly unable to straighten due to the prolonged tight grip.

"Haha, crazy guy, you adapted pretty quickly. The first day you were on the city wall, you were scared stiff, pale as a ghost, and even had a seizure on the ground, looking like you were about to die. It's only the fifth day, and you already look like a border soldier."

Zhang Yan wanted to laugh, knowing that what Huagou said was true. His predecessor had indeed been scared to death, but now he was the new owner of this body.

Even during the rest period, the city wall wasn't idle. The auxiliary soldiers began to carry buckets of water and ropes up. They were local farmers conscripted from the surrounding areas, not fit for combat, but they could help with auxiliary tasks, such as bringing water, collecting bodies, and cleaning up the blood and debris on the city wall.

"Come on, they're about to extract the demon sinews. Go take a look; you should get a share."

After catching his breath, Huagou called Zhang Yan to get up, pulling him along, and they both leaned on their spears to the spot where the demon soldier Zhang Yan had killed lay a few yards away.

"One C-class demon soldier, the sinew is divided into seven segments. Three segments for compensation, four segments for distribution. Li Changgui... Zhou Shi... Zhang Yan..."

The scribe, wearing two layers of leather armor and a helmet with a red plume, was responsible for recording the actions of each soldier on the city wall, serving as evidence of their performance and a direct standard for merit.

The scribe held a peculiar dagger with a forked tip, skillfully using it to open the back of the demon soldier's corpse. He then quickly poked and prodded inside, and with a swift pull, the forked blade hooked a green sinew as thick as a little finger. He carefully peeled it off, eventually extracting it, which was nearly three feet long.

The scribe continued his work, dividing the sinew into seven equal segments. Three segments were set aside for compensation, and the remaining four were distributed to the four named individuals as rewards.

Zhang Yan also received a segment.

Huagou said enviously, "Not bad, crazy guy. You've only been on the battlefield for five days, and you already have demon sinews. Tsk tsk."

"Bro, what can this thing actually do? Is it just a reward?"

"You don't know?" Huagou asked, tilting his head. "You must have heard of Bone-Strengthening Powder. The main ingredient is demon sinew."

"Ah?" Zhang Yan was slightly surprised, and then a vague memory surfaced in his mind, making him "remember" what Bone-Strengthening Powder was, along with a lot of information about the荒天域 (Huang Tian Yu, the Desolate Sky Domain).

A flood of information made Zhang Yan feel a bit dazed. He walked to the side, sat down against the wall again, and his eyes lost focus.

"Tsk, still calling you crazy, this kid's brain is definitely not normal." Huagou called out to Zhang Yan a couple of times, but seeing that Zhang Yan ignored him, he didn't get angry, just shook his head with a smile. Crazy, as long as he can fight normally, what more do you want?

Zhang Yan didn't have the heart to pay attention to Huagou's teasing. The memories that surfaced in his mind needed to be digested.

The first time he saw the demon soldiers, he knew that the world he had crossed into was very different from his original world, quite mysterious. But how mysterious, his memory was fuzzy.

Now that it was clear, Zhang Yan had a coherent understanding.

Starting with the demon sinew in his hand. This thing is essentially a medicinal ingredient, used to refine "Bone-Strengthening Powder," a highly valuable enhancement drug in martial arts, which allows martial artists to more quickly and deeply temper their muscles and strength. It is especially important for martial artists in the early stages of their training.

The things related to martial arts and martial artists are numerous, which is why Zhang Yan's mind was temporarily dazed.

Martial arts were founded by the Martial Saint "Xu Fengyang," and his treatise "The Essence of Martial Arts" allowed countless martial artists to discover their cultivation talents, thus embarking on the path of martial arts.

Over ten thousand years, martial arts gradually formed schools and had detailed and precise realm divisions.

The first realm of martial arts is: Body Tempering, divided into early, middle, and late stages.

The second realm is: Essence Opening, also divided into three stages.

The third realm is: Meridian Unblocking.

After that, Zhang Yan's memory did not record more, but it is certain that there are multiple higher realms beyond the "Meridian Unblocking" realm. However, his predecessor was not a martial artist, and the highest realm he had encountered or heard about was "Meridian Unblocking."

Corresponding to the realms of martial artists are the strengths of the demon race, but the information is even more limited. For example, demon soldiers are divided into three classes: A, B, and C. Below that are the miscellaneous soldiers, who do not yield demon sinews when killed. Above that are demon generals, such as those with red eyes or white eyes, which are mostly hearsay from his predecessor. The specifics still need to be verified.

"Practicing martial arts... but no cultivation of magical arts or divine arts?" Zhang Yan finally digested the sudden memories in his mind and realized something that surprised him.

Because in the legendary era of Earth, there were martial arts, magical arts, and divine arts, a time of flourishing and competition. Later, as the spiritual energy of the earth declined, the "paths" quickly declined, and "technology" rose, leading to a completely different path.

But this world is different from the legendary era of Earth, seemingly having only martial arts and no other cultivation paths.

"Does that mean I could be the only one here who practices magical arts and divine arts?!"

Zhang Yan blinked a few times, pondered for a moment, and felt that continuing to use the skills he learned on Earth to make a living could be very promising!

First, the body Zhang Yan now possessed inherited the legacy of his predecessor, who was judged by the martial academy to have "no martial arts talent" at a young age, making it impossible for him to become a martial artist. He could only practice some physical techniques for self-defense.

But in Zhang Yan's eyes, although this body had no martial arts talent, it had good potential for magical arts and divine arts. Not only did he feel this way, but there was also practical evidence. For example, the Daoist spells he recited had immediate effects, and the effects became increasingly noticeable, indicating that his body had exceptional talent in magical arts and divine arts.

"In that case, could I be considered to be reopening the path of cultivation in this world?" Zhang Yan suddenly felt a surge of motivation.

PS: Every time I release a new book, I feel anxious. I can only muster the courage to ask for a three-peat of favorites, recommendations, and monthly votes!