Impossible to Guard Against

The elite spearman Zhao Xiao'er, on whom Zhang Yang had pinned such high hopes, ultimately died. His entire spine had been shattered, his organs turned to pulp. He did not even leave behind a final word.

Zhang Yang took the Enhanced Spear still clenched tightly in his hand. Without bothering to clean up the battlefield, he hurriedly withdrew. This world was too cruel, too dangerous. He had overestimated the combat strength of elite soldiers; clashing head-on with those demons brought no good end.

After walking five or six hundred meters, Zhang Yang stopped atop a hill. It was not that he did not want to keep going, but there were too many dangers in this dense Primeval Forest. He had to seize the time to train an Elite Archer, or if he encountered another demon, he would not even have the strength to fight back.

Training an Elite Archer still took five minutes. Spending 15 Energy raised the success rate to 100%, and Zhang Yang happened to have 40 Energy remaining.

This time, after thinking it over carefully, he tried placing the Fantasy Village Building Order on the ground. The next instant, a message flashed before his eyes.

"Build a village here? Building a village requires 108 hours of preparation and 500 Energy. Once construction succeeds, all functions of the Village Building Order may be used."

Curling his lip, Zhang Yang put the Village Building Order away again. What a joke—500 Energy? This old man was not selling his soul.

He should find a way to survive first. Perhaps he would fail to build a village even before he died. This so-called Village Building Order might just be a joke. This was not some game server.

"Activate Level One Vision."

"Recruit 5 Longbowmen."

"Recruit 10 Sword and Shield Soldiers."

"Recruit 10 Spearmen."

"Village Building Order remaining recruitable population: 352."

After arranging matters one by one, Zhang Yang had 10 Energy left. He was saving it to activate Level One Protection the next time he encountered a demon.

Zhang Yang had actually considered activating another feature of the Fantasy Village Building Order, Level One Concealment. But an area of ten square meters was too small, and the concealment effect was not absolute. If a demon happened to pass within ten meters, they would be discovered immediately.

Rather than that, it was better to activate Level One Vision, so he could spot the direction danger came from ahead of time.

The five-minute wait was agonizing. Fortunately, nothing happened. The human Longbowman successfully advanced into an Elite Archer, and the bow in his hand was successfully enhanced as well.

His attributes were as follows:

Soldier: Tang Dashan

Class: Elite Archer

Strength: E+

Agility: E+

Defense: E+

Soul Strength: E-

Archery Proficiency: 245

Skill: Wind Chasing Triple Shot

"That really is a crude description. Looks like this world truly isn't a game. It doesn't have the rigor or balance a game world should have. Why do soldiers trained from the remnant soul of a Level 1 Azure Wolf Demon and a Level 2 Black Bear Demon turn out exactly the same?"

Zhang Yang still had the mood to complain. Then he set off, leading one Elite Archer, fourteen Longbowmen, ten Sword and Shield Soldiers, and thirteen Spearmen.

There was no way out if they remained where they were. Zhang Yang understood clearly that in this unfamiliar Primeval Forest, daytime was still relatively safe. The most terrifying and dangerous time should be nighttime.

Judging by the sky, it should currently be morning. So he either had to find a way out of the forest, or find a shelter—or build one himself.

But no matter what, he had to try hunting more demons to obtain more Energy and demon remnant souls, allowing his soldiers to keep advancing. That was the foundation of his survival.

There was no fixed direction, and even if there had been, it would have been useless. Zhang Yang had only one thought: head for higher ground, then look down from above for a way out.

This forest was not flat. It consisted of countless rolling hills and ridges, with gigantic trees growing across them like enormous umbrellas, layer upon layer, scattered in harmonious disorder as they divided sky from earth.

Birds cried from the treetops, along with all sorts of strange insects whose names he did not know. They had not even traveled half a kilometer before one of Zhang Yang's soldiers died.

He had been bitten by a venomous insect. He only had time to scream once before the poison struck his heart, and he died on the spot.

With no other choice, Zhang Yang spent 1 Energy to recruit three Hunters and had them lead the way.

Sure enough, every trade had its specialty. With three Hunters clearing the path ahead, their marching speed immediately improved greatly.

Ten minutes later, after estimating the distance, Zhang Yang activated Level One Vision once more and confirmed the dangerous targets around them. Fortunately, at least the direction they were heading was safe.

Another hill stood ahead. Its elevation was relatively high, so they should be able to see a long way from there.

"Everyone, pick up the pace. We're climbing up."

Zhang Yang gave the order. He was a little tired and desperately wanted to get up there and rest.

At about that moment, he heard a loud cry from overhead. But he did not look up. Instead, he shuddered violently and immediately activated Level One Protection. It could not be helped—though his Soul Strength was C+, he had long become a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

The next second, he heard a violent roar of wind and the startled cries of his soldiers.

Bang!

The Level One protective barrier exploded violently. Zhang Yang had no idea what had happened. He only knew another demon had come to eat him, and it seemed even more terrifying than the Black Bear Demon, directly shattering the Level One Protection barrier.

Then the force of that explosion blasted him senseless.

Several nearby soldiers were equally stunned, as was the demon that had dived down from the sky in a sneak attack. It seemed to pause in midair for roughly one-tenth of a second.

Then three arrows shot toward it at high speed, knocking it off balance. After plummeting several more meters, before it could soar back upward, seven or eight spears stabbed at it madly, punching seven or eight bloody holes through its wings. At last, it had no choice but to fall to the mortal earth.

But things were far from that simple.

A few seconds later, when Zhang Yang recovered from his starry-eyed daze, he discovered that a Sword and Shield Soldier had thrown himself over him and pinned him to the ground. Above his head flew blood, severed limbs, fragments of organs, furious shrieks, and the whistling howl of a gale.

When he looked up again, he saw a crimson eagle as tall as a man, wings spread wide, hopping and flapping like a gigantic red spinning top. Every beat of those crimson wings sent a cyan blade of air flying out at tremendous speed, effortlessly slicing everyone within a straight line of ten meters into two.

What the hell was this monster?!

Of the thirty-nine soldiers Zhang Yang had painstakingly gathered, more than half were already dead, including Tang Dashan, the Elite Archer on whom he had once again placed high hopes. Tang Dashan had only managed to fire one triple shot before being killed at close range.

"What sin did I commit?! Did I touch a nun's head in my previous life?"

A rage and frustration beyond description ignited in his chest. Zhang Yang leaped up like a wild beast. He no longer cared. Damn it all, could the map of a Fantasy World really be this willful, this determined to bully people?

"Fuck you! Hack it to death for me!"

Grabbing the Enhanced Spear, Zhang Yang charged toward the crimson eagle's back. But the next instant, the crimson eagle flapped once and somehow turned around, its sharp, terrifying gaze locking onto Zhang Yang. He immediately shivered.

"Kill!"

At that very moment, a Spearman charged madly from another direction and drove his spear into the crimson eagle's back.

Kraa!

With a strange cry, the crimson eagle swept its left wing backward. Its crimson feathers were like blades, instantly slicing open the Spearman's neck. His fine head rolled away.

A Sword and Shield Soldier rushed over, but before the longsword in his hand could fall, the crimson eagle swept its right wing again. Soldier, sword, and shield were all sliced apart at once. It was too sharp; nothing could block it.

Crack! Another Sword and Shield Soldier leaped up wildly and hacked into the crimson eagle's wing, cutting a gap in it. But then the crimson eagle pecked his head apart directly, brains and blood spraying outward like popcorn.

This was a completely unequal war. It was impossible to imagine how terrifying that crimson eagle would have been if it had not been stunned by the self-destruction of the Level One Protection barrier, knocked off balance first by Tang Dashan's arrows, and stabbed down to the ground by spears—if it had remained in the air all along.

"Kill!"

Zhang Yang charged again. Even his shout had twisted out of shape. He knew he would certainly die, but he still wanted to end things with one childish charge in his final moment. Otherwise, he would have betrayed his soul, whether it was amusing or not!

Yes, even now, he had not the slightest intention of selling his soul.

If death came, then let death come!

The three surviving Longbowmen desperately fired arrows from afar, trying to provide some support. But their arrows could not pierce the crimson eagle's defenses at all. When the final two Spearmen were also cut into several pieces, nothing stood between Zhang Yang and the crimson eagle. He could even see the longing and madness in those cold, razor-sharp eyes.

Incomparably delicious food, wasn't he?

Whoosh!

The crimson eagle flapped its wings and rose crookedly into the air, its two talons reaching for Zhang Yang. It probably could no longer unleash those terrifying cyan wind blades, but it still had more than enough strength to kill a hundred Zhang Yangs.

But at that moment, Zhang Yang suddenly activated Level One Protection.

He had his final point of Energy left.

Bang!

The protective barrier did not explode. After all, the crimson eagle was badly wounded by now. Its pounce was different from the force of its earlier dive from a thousand meters in the sky, so the barrier blocked it.

In that brief delay, Zhang Yang went mad. He gripped the Enhanced Spear with both hands and viciously thrust it into the crimson eagle's chest!

The Enhanced Spear was incomparably sharp. Without the slightest resistance, it pierced through and burst out its back. The crimson eagle gave a mournful cry, flapped its wings wildly for a while, and finally fell dead to the ground.

At the same time, Zhang Yang collapsed to his knees, utterly drained. Cold sweat soaked his entire body, and he did not know whether the moisture on his face was tears or sweat.

A white light shone from the Fantasy Village Building Order, enveloping the crimson eagle's corpse.

"Successfully strangled a Level 5 Red Eagle Demon."

"Successfully captured one complete Red Eagle Demon soul."

"Obtained 150 Energy."

"Obtained 500 Red Eagle feathers, imbued with wind-element magic power. Can be used to make weapons."

"Obtained Red Eagle heart. Function unknown. Can be sold."

"Obtained 50 units of Red Eagle Demon blood (contains a small amount of Demonic Energy; can be used to make Talismans or inscribe Battle Runes)."