Imprisonment Spear

Two wooden spears lay side-by-side, indistinguishable from each other, practically identical.

One was carved by Zhang Yang, the other by Wu Yuan.

But after Zhang Yang examined them with his soul power, he was certain that the spear he had carved was superior.

The reason was simple.

Wu Yuan carved the spears based on experience, feel, and skill. He was like a master butcher dismembering an ox, able to skillfully avoid damaging most of the wood fiber structure, thereby ensuring that the spear, despite using the same raw materials, had better overall stability and sturdiness.

However, Zhang Yang relied on his soul power, clearly "seeing" the internal structure of the wood spear and then performing precise cuts. He could ensure that every single wood fiber remained intact and undamaged, making the overall internal structure much more stable.

Thus, he won decisively, without question.

"But I can do even better, because the quality of the raw materials for these spears is limited. Some knots and wormholes are unavoidable. So, I need to pick the materials myself!"

Zhang Yang pondered this, then took Wu Yuan with him to personally select wood in the forest.

His method of selection was completely different from Wu Yuan's. He didn't rely on sight or experience. All he needed to do was touch a tree with his hand and use his soul power to intervene, and everything would become clear.

Honestly, if it weren't for the impending threat of the Deer Demon, Zhang Yang would have loved to delve deeper into this research.

But even so, he still had a wild idea: could he pre-empt the nurturing step? That is, to begin specific nurturing while a tree was still growing, allowing it to perfectly avoid damage caused by felling.

This idea completely captivated Zhang Yang; he even began to implement it immediately.

This endeavor took a full day, during which his soul power was depleted twice. Finally, he had Wu Yuan carefully cut down the tree and bring it back.

"My lord, this is truly astonishing. I don't know what happened, or perhaps you cast some mysterious spell on this tree? Its texture has at least doubled in quality; it's almost comparable to Ironwood."

Wu Yuan had been surprised more than once, as this completely overturned his understanding.

Zhang Yang grinned smugly. In truth, he didn't know the exact principle either, but he had discovered that by applying soul power to a growing tree, stimulating its finer structures while expending soul power, he could make the tree grow visibly faster. Then, during this process, he would use his soul power to adjust the density of the wood fibers, leading to this result.

"This time, you do the carving. Be careful; this tree can make at least ten excellent wooden spears!"

Zhang Yang handed the carving task to Wu Yuan, not because he didn't want to do it himself, but because with his current strength, it was incredibly difficult to carve such a steel-hard tree at an extremely subtle level. Rather than attempting it himself, it was better to leave it to the stronger and more experienced Wu Yuan.

After eating and resting, Zhang Yang went straight into the Wood Demon Tower to quickly recover his soul power.

The next morning, he saw twelve steel-hard wooden spears that had already been carved. After examining them with his soul power, he found that the integrity of the wood fibers and internal structure was over 90%. He had to admit, Wu Yuan was truly a monster!

At that moment, Zhang Yang began the formal soul nurturing process. Now, even if it took more effort, he aimed for perfection.

The nurturing process was simple: continuously flushing and combing with soul power until the entire spear felt like an extension of his own body. It wasn't finished until he could sense it without even needing to communicate with his soul power.

It was at this moment that Zhang Yang even felt an urge to throw the spear, to make it fly like a bird in the air.

He was certain that even though he had never learned specific throwing techniques, he could hit his target with 100% accuracy!

He didn't need any techniques at all.

But in the end, Zhang Yang suppressed this urge. He was creating a higher-level magical artifact, and this artifact would only unleash its maximum power in the hands of a powerful soldier like Wu Yuan, not his own.

"Imprisonment!"

Zhang Yang solemnly cast the spell. This time, he didn't even feel any resistance as the spell was successfully cast. The power called Imprisonment nurtured and accumulated within the wooden spear.

One second, two seconds, three seconds, five seconds, up to ten seconds!

Zhang Yang sensed the limit the wooden spear could hold. Any longer, and the spear would explode.

The moment this Imprisonment spell ended, mysterious patterns appeared on the previously smooth surface of the wooden spear, and the spear's own weight doubled.

Even to a common person, it would be clearly evident that this spear was an extraordinary item.

At the same time, information appeared on Zhang Yang's vision.

You have successfully crafted a medium-tier magical artifact, Imprisonment Spear (View Attributes)
Imprisonment Spear, White Quality, Durability 1/1.
Attribute: Penetration, causes significant damage to the target's armor/shield, while also dealing spell damage + weapon damage to the target.
Attribute: Imprisonment, upon hitting the target, forces the target into a 5-8 second soul/physical Imprisonment state. Cannot be awakened by attacks, but can be dispelled by other types of magic.

This time, Zhang Yang wasn't overly excited; he merely smiled, as he had already anticipated the outcome. An Imprisonment Spear like this would be ten times more powerful than the previous Imprisonment wooden spear because it could penetrate shields.

Next, after a short rest, Zhang Yang began nurturing the second wooden spear. There were still over ten hours left until the village-building countdown ended, but the Deer Demon still hadn't appeared.

So, at this point, he had a bold idea.

Could it be that the Deer Demon was waiting for him to successfully build the village?

After all, four days had passed since the last battle. Given the Deer Demon's intelligence and strength, there was no reason it shouldn't have found him by now.

But this was ultimately just a guess, as Zhang Yang couldn't think of any motive for the Deer Demon to do so.

It couldn't be that the Deer Demon was treating this like a game, could it? Oh, for the fun of the game, I'll deliberately increase the difficulty. That was complete nonsense, wasn't it?

Unable to figure it out, Zhang Yang stopped thinking about it. In any case, his confidence was growing.

The makeshift fortress being built by the 12 longbowmen was already taking shape.

And the 19 elite soldiers practicing wooden spear throwing were progressing remarkably fast; they could already hit a stationary target with 100% accuracy within a hundred meters.

Wu Yuan was right; these elite soldiers inherently had excellent foundations, which allowed for such miracles. After all, their average attributes were E+, which, when calculated, was equivalent to five adult Earthlings. Their neural reaction speed, physical coordination, naked-eye vision, and so on, could not be judged by normal human standards.

Finally, with the formidable weapon Zhang Yang had prepared for Wu Yuan, he was, frankly, quite looking forward to the Deer Demon's appearance.