Chapter 9

Facing a martial artist who likely possessed inner strength and true qi, Zhang Yan understood that he would absolutely not be able to injure the opponent if the other was on guard. So, he gripped the spear shaft tightly again, this time preparing to thrust with all his might.

"......Inside is the thunder, the thunder god remains hidden.

Penetrating wisdom, the five qi rise.

Golden light swiftly appears, covering and protecting my body."

The *Golden Light Divine Spell* was quickly chanted by Zhang Yan, his voice as usual not loud, and the speed extremely fast. In a short while, he had already recited it three times.

Qin Hao, standing in front of him, frowned slightly, inwardly thinking that Zhang Yan's incessant muttering looked very abnormal. However, apart from that, he did not feel any difference from before.

"What are you doing? Hurry...... Eh?"

Before Qin Hao could finish speaking, he saw Zhang Yan twist his waist and gather strength to thrust again. The speed and power were at least forty percent greater than before! Even the spear tip had a subtle tremor halfway through, adding uncertainty to the direction and thus increasing the difficulty of dodging.

Interesting!

Qin Hao was not panicked and still did not draw the long knife from his waist. This time, however, he used his hand. He raised his left arm, turned his body, and with extremely fast hand speed, intercepted the approaching spear shaft first. His palm touched and guided, actually diverting the momentum of the spear tip, and in the end, even firmly grasped it as the force rapidly diminished!

"Not bad. With some restraint and luck, your thrusting technique can indeed achieve an instant kill on lower-level demon soldiers. From today, you can join the drills. Now go over there and help set up the tents."

"Yes!"

Zhang Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he wouldn't be sent to clean the latrines. He just didn't know what kind of drills he would be joining. Would it be the combined battle formations of the army? Or some special techniques of scouts?

While thinking, Zhang Yan quickly went to the side and found a task to busy himself with. Setting up tents, he might not know how to do it, but he could help carry things and hammer nails, which were tasks requiring physical strength.

Speaking of strength, Zhang Yan had a deep understanding since coming to the Wasteland Domain. According to the memories of his original body, his predecessor was just a trader at a small tavern, only twenty-five years old, strong and vigorous, but not the type who often exerted physical strength to build muscles.

But after Zhang Yan came over, he found that his body's strength was surprisingly great. His not-so-muscular arms and legs contained a tremendous force comparable to that of professional fighters or weightlifters on Earth. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to wield a long spear weighing at least ten pounds for several hours without his arms becoming too heavy to lift.

Of course, what surprised Zhang Yan was the comparison to the physical strength of people on Earth, not within the Wasteland Domain.

After coming over, Zhang Yan found that not only was his strength exaggeratedly great, but everyone around him was also incredibly strong. This would be unimaginable on Earth, but in the Wasteland Domain, it was commonplace. Even the strength that surprised Zhang Yan himself would be considered ordinary by others, and in the eyes of a strong man like Huagou, Zhang Yan's strength was even considered weak. Not to mention the martial artists who focused on building their physical strength, the gap between Zhang Yan and them was even greater.

Just like earlier, Zhang Yan's full-force thrust under the enhancement of the *Golden Light Divine Spell* was easily caught by Qin Hao with his bare hands. The difference in strength between them was likely several times, or even ten times.

The days that followed were unexpectedly safer for Zhang Yan compared to his previous life-and-death struggles on the city walls.

Of course, he was still exhausted. Besides the expected training in combined battle formations, there were also some knowledge and skills about surviving in the wild. For example, which wild fruits and vegetables in Fishback Mountain were edible, which looked delicious but were poisonous, which places were frequently visited by demon beasts, and which areas were often filled with toxic mists and should be avoided.

And there was a detailed description of the demon tribes on the other side of Fishback Mountain. This was what Zhang Yan found most interesting, and he listened carefully to understand the general situation of the demon tribes in the Wasteland Domain.

The demon tribes on the other side of Fishback Mountain were mainly the "Xianwu Clan" and the "Fengxiao Clan."

The "clan" was the primary structure of the demon tribes. Generally, a demon kingdom was formed by several or even dozens of clans. The Xianwu Clan and the Fengxiao Clan both belonged to the "Haoyue Demon Kingdom" in the west.

However, not every "demon" could be called a demon tribe.

The demons in the Wasteland Domain were one of the main intelligent beings, almost on par with the human race. But demons were divided into several types. Generally, the term "demon tribe" specifically referred to "half-demons." These were the offspring of the legendary demon gods and humans, possessing both demon characteristics and some human traits.

Another type was the fully animal-form demons, known as demon beasts, whose intelligence varied.

The last type was the offspring of half-demons and humans, called "demon seeds." The number of demon seeds was the smallest, and they usually mixed with humans, indistinguishable from humans in appearance but with obvious demon characteristics in their blood. Demon seeds were taboo in both human and demon societies and would be relentlessly hunted down if discovered.

Additionally, demon kingdoms varied in strength and had different focuses. This led to differences in the distribution of their power.

The Haoyue Demon Kingdom was not the strongest among the demon kingdoms, ranking at the lower end of the second tier. However, it was much stronger than the Nanyuan Kingdom, but their focus was not on Fishback Mountain. This allowed the Nanyuan Kingdom to barely hold its ground for a long time.

Fishback Mountain, with its rugged terrain, was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Climbing the mountain itself was a hassle, and there were many demon beasts in the mountain, making it unsuitable for large-scale attacks. However, attacking the Fishback Mountain fortress had several advantages, mainly allowing the Nanyuan Kingdom's troops to be confined to their fortifications and unable to effectively protect the surrounding mountain jade fruit trees, thus taking advantage of the situation.

Although the losses were significant each year, it did not result in many civilian casualties. The mountain jade fruit trees were all on the mountain, not in populated areas. The mountain jade fruit trees were very unique, blooming and bearing fruit year-round with high yields, but this also made life difficult for the soldiers in the Fishback Mountain fortress.

However, the two demon clans did not dare to invade too deeply, and there was a bloody tacit understanding between them.

The most direct manifestation was that whether it was the Xianwu Clan or the Fengxiao Clan, they would not use overly strong forces during attacks. Lower-level demon soldiers were the main force, and medium or high-level demon soldiers rarely appeared. The Nanyuan Kingdom also did not adopt a "clear the fields and fortify" strategy, even though there were losses every year, maintaining a brutal but controlled situation of continuous slaughter.

PS: This is to thank the patron "Ziyang Ziyang" for the alliance support, so I added an extra chapter.

Also, thank you to all the old friends who came from the previous book to support me. Thank you!