Chapter 3

As night fell, a cool breeze blew over the city walls, and there was not a single flicker of light, leaving everything pitch black.

Occasionally, fire-oil藤 balls would be hurled from behind the city walls, landing in front and burning fiercely for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, allowing the pairs of eyes lying in wait on the dark city walls to see the situation outside at night.

Today, it was Zhang Yan's squad's turn to stand guard at night. During the day, it wasn't too cold on Fishback Mountain, but at night, it was quite chilly, especially when standing by the wall for a long time without moving, making one's hands and feet cold by the latter part of the night.

Zhang Yan tightened his armor, hugged his long spear, and cupped his hands to his mouth, continuously exhaling to keep warm. He fought off drowsiness, occasionally looking down at the city wall to keep watch, following the fire-oil藤 balls that were being thrown. Not far to his left was Huagou's position, where a faint snore could be heard, indicating that he had dozed off. Earlier, Huagou had asked Zhang Yan to keep an eye out and remind him when the night patrol came by to avoid being caught and whipped.

Zhang Yan didn't have as much of a carefree attitude as Huagou. Moreover, Huagou was now a formal soldier of the Fishback Mountain fortress, and even if he was caught sleeping on duty, he would only receive a couple of lashes to wake him up. However, Zhang Yan was still a convict soldier, and if he were caught dozing, he would receive a severe beating. On the second day after his arrival, he had seen another convict soldier get caught by the night patrol and receive over ten lashes, leaving his face covered in blood blisters. Unfortunately, that convict didn't survive the third day and was no longer around.

"Exhale... inhale... exhale... inhale..." To keep himself awake, Zhang Yan resumed practicing the breathing technique he hadn't practiced for many years. He inhaled and exhaled in a special rhythm, focusing on the subtle changes in each breath.

The breathing technique Zhang Yan practiced was called "Lüe Tian," a powerful method that was once a core technique of Longhu Mountain, accessible only to the sect leader. After Longhu Mountain declined, the technique was passed down to Zhang Yan, and he was the only one left.

Since arriving in the Wasteland Domain, Zhang Yan had used the breathing technique several times, and it had been effective, with each use showing a slight improvement.

The sensation was quite peculiar, as if the breath he exhaled carried away some unseen impurities, while the breath he inhaled contained something that made him feel more vibrant.

According to the records in the Longhu Mountain scriptures, these "vibrant things" were the "spiritual energy" that permeated the world, which was the foundation of the legendary era on Earth.

Inhaling spiritual energy into the body and gradually storing it in the dantian to form a qi vortex was the first step in both the cultivation of techniques and the practice of the divine path.

Of course, Zhang Yan was far from achieving this. He had only taken the first step in cultivation. He just needed to circulate the spiritual energy through his meridians and gather it in the lower dantian.

However, this process, which should have been simple, encountered unexpected difficulties for Zhang Yan.

"Hum!"

Suddenly, a slight tremor in his chest instantly drained all the spiritual energy he had accumulated through his breathing technique, leaving nothing in his dantian.

The spiritual energy was taken away so openly.

"What are you trying to do?" Zhang Yan asked himself in his mind, feeling somewhat speechless. Unfortunately, he received no answer.

Under his armor, Zhang Yan wore a pendant with a grape-sized, colorful bead. This bead was the one that had been siphoning off his spiritual energy.

This bead was not a legacy from his previous body but something Zhang Yan had brought with him from Earth. In fact, his ability to cross over was also due to this bead.

The bead was called the "Wanxiang Pearl," which he had extracted from a jade scroll containing the Longhu Mountain's ancestral rules and regulations. He had intended to clean the scroll, but coincidentally opened a hidden mechanism, from which he obtained the pearl.

The pearl was colorful and shimmered with a flowing light, clearly not an ordinary item. It was almost identical to the sect's most precious treasure, the "Wanxiang Pearl," mentioned multiple times in the Longhu Mountain scriptures. Therefore, Zhang Yan had embedded it in a necklace and worn it close to his body.

A few days ago, Zhang Yan was invited to a palace in the Tianzhu Kingdom to examine the geomancy and avert danger. However, he failed and was engulfed by a poisonous mist from a trap. Just as he was about to lose his soul, the Wanxiang Pearl in his chest suddenly absorbed the poison, then seemed to come alive, colliding with his forehead and taking his soul away. After that, Zhang Yan found himself in the Wasteland Domain as a convict soldier.

Since then, the Wanxiang Pearl had always been with Zhang Yan, and the only change was that every time he condensed a bit of spiritual energy through his breathing technique, it would be siphoned off by the Wanxiang Pearl just before it reached his lower dantian, without exception.

Although Zhang Yan didn't know what the Wanxiang Pearl was doing with the spiritual energy, he didn't feel much resentment, only curiosity and puzzlement. He felt that the Wanxiang Pearl was like a sponge that had been dry for too long and needed to absorb water before revealing its true form.

No rush, let's just wait and see. Zhang Yan's attitude was quite calm.

This distraction made him feel much more awake. He continued to practice the "Lüe Tian" breathing technique, intending to make it a routine, replacing his usual breathing rhythm. At the same time, he pondered how to establish himself in the Wasteland Domain.

According to the memories of his previous body, he was charged with arson, a serious crime that would have resulted in beheading according to the laws of Nanyuan Kingdom. However, due to the rise of the demon soldiers, he became a convict soldier, thus escaping a worse fate.

However, his previous body had not committed arson and always believed he was wrongly accused. After all, a coward who would be scared to death by the sight of a battle was unlikely to have the courage to commit arson and murder.

"Clearing my name? Forget it, the top priority is to figure out how to survive."

He had originally planned to use the breathing technique to quickly enter the realm of technique cultivation or the divine path, at which point he could use some of the methods passed down from Longhu Mountain to protect himself. However, due to the Wanxiang Pearl, this path was temporarily blocked.

"The Daoist divine spells seem to be effective. The 'Jinguang Divine Spell' can enhance one's strength, stabilize one's mind, and reduce physical fatigue. The 'Jingtian Divine Spell' can significantly weaken the abilities of the demon race. This suggests that even without the support of spiritual energy, the divine spells can still generate power through their resonance with the world. Could similar methods be tried?"

It seemed that Daoist methods were highly effective against the demon race in the Wasteland Domain. After all, in the legendary era on Earth, Daoist cultivators were known as "demon slayers."

However, it was unclear how different the demons here were from those on Earth.

Zhang Yan had a new idea. When he roamed the world on Earth, he knew more than just chanting spells; he also knew how to draw talismans.