Fragment of Hope

"It looks like both of us can be saved."

Zhang Yang finally let out a sigh of relief. The Fragment of Hope could be used to detoxify Wu Yuan, while he decided to use this Lord-Grade Demon Soul that could raise all attributes himself. It had to be him, because in that battle just now, he had truly benefited from having a sufficiently powerful soul.

If his soul had not possessed C+ strength, he would have croaked on the spot. Who could have guessed those two spiders would secretly cast demon arts?

It had scared the baby half to death.

Glancing at the Elite Spearman Wu Yuan and seeing that he could hold on a little longer, Zhang Yang hurriedly examined that incomplete Lord-Grade Demon Soul.

Because it was incomplete, this Demon Soul was valued at only 500 Energy on the Golden Scales.

But even incomplete, it was still a Lord-Grade Demon Soul, so its effects were still quite impressive.

"Using an incomplete Lord-Grade Demon Soul can cultivate powerful warriors or promote Elite Soldiers into Captain-Level Soldiers. Currently possesses one Level 2 incomplete Lord-Grade Demon Soul, which can cultivate 5 Elite Spearmen/Archers/Sword and Shield Soldiers, or promote 1 Elite Spearman/Archer/Sword and Shield Soldier into a Captain-Level Soldier."

"Note: Soldiers who personally killed the Spider Lord gain a 30% increase in cultivation success rate."

"Note: Even an incomplete Lord-Grade Demon Soul will 100% enhance a soldier's weapon. (Elite Grade/Captain Grade)"

"Requires consumption of 50 Energy, 5 coils of Demonized Spider Silk, and 5 units of Demonized Venom. Base success rate: 60%. Every additional 10% success rate for Elite Soldiers requires 5 Energy. Every additional 5% success rate for Captain-Level Soldiers requires 20 Energy."

"Perfect!"

Zhang Yang slapped his thigh and made up his mind.

He would use that complete Lord-Grade Demon Soul himself. He had to improve his strength and ability to survive. Although he held a Village Building Order, the problem was that he was in a Fantasy Setting. He could not afford to provoke anything here, truly could not.

That incomplete Lord-Grade Demon Soul, meanwhile, would be used on Elite Spearman Wu Yuan to promote him into a Captain-Level Soldier. Naturally, the poison in both of them would then be cured. Had he not seen that venom was required during the cultivation process?

As for that Fragment of Hope, he would keep it for now. Zhang Yang felt that this thing might have a greater use someday. For instance, I want a windproof lighter.

Smack!

What? What was that?

What had happened?

Zhang Yang was utterly dumbfounded, but when he looked again, he became even more dumbfounded. That Fragment of Hope had already shattered, and a windproof lighter had genuinely appeared in his hand.

"I—I asked your sister out? This worked too?"

Zhang Yang wanted to cry but had no tears. He no longer dared to act recklessly and hurriedly upgraded Spearman Wu Yuan first. Then he used the Demon Soul fusion himself. He could not delay any longer, or he would bleed himself to death just from vomiting blood.

A flash of white light passed, enveloping both of them at once. It felt dreamlike and unreal. No one cared how Wu Yuan felt, but Zhang Yang's feeling was truly wonderful.

It was like soaking in a hot spring, with countless little hands pressing, rubbing, and kneading his body. That comfort was simply beyond words.

Then five minutes passed. When Zhang Yang opened his eyes, he felt that everything around him had become incomparably quiet. He could hear his own heartbeat, the heartbeats of the soldiers around him, and birdsong and insect calls farther away.

Then the world in his eyes seemed clearer. He could probably make out the twisted grain on the trunk of a large tree a hundred meters away. It was like clearly seeing a lighter from a hundred meters away with the naked eye.

Then there was nothing else. Truly nothing else, apart from feeling unusually energetic.

Opening the attribute panel projected by the Village Building Order, he discovered that all his attributes had indeed risen by one level.

Strength: F+

Agility: F+

Defense: F+

Soul: B-

Soul Trait Obtained: Keenness. Passive. Allows the user to sense signs of approaching danger in advance. (Explanation: An inherent trait of B-grade soul strength. No consumption.)

Spell Mastered: Bind. Consumes the user's Soul Energy to launch Bind against low-speed or stationary targets, placing the target in a continuous state of complete physical/soul confinement. Maximum casting range: 200 meters. Has a high chance of failure if the target is moving at high speed. (Explanation: Soul Energy can slowly recover on its own. This skill cannot be cast on targets with Soul strength greater than the caster's, or it will fail and turn into lesser mental shock damage.)

As for that compatible Battle Runes, it had not appeared. Apparently, they had not confirmed their gaze.

At this moment, Spearman Wu Yuan had also successfully advanced. This time, the poisoned state on his body was automatically removed first. Then he grew at least ten centimeters taller, looking even more robust and imposing. His bulging, muscular arms were almost as thick as Zhang Yang's thighs.

Moreover, the Enhanced Spear in Wu Yuan's hand had been enhanced once again, becoming a Captain-Grade weapon.

The entire spear was black, patterned with strands of silver filigree. It was as thick as a goose egg, and who knew what material it had become. The shaft was two meters long, the spearhead fifty centimeters long, with six ridges. Under the sunlight, it gleamed with black sharpness. It was definitely even sharper now.

Wu Yuan's attributes had changed even more drastically, which Zhang Yang found hard to understand. He had used a complete Lord-Grade Demon Soul, yet all his attributes had only risen by one level.

But as long as these soldiers advanced, they were guaranteed to leap several levels.

As ordinary soldiers, they had been F+. When promoted to Elite, they became E+. Now that he had become a Captain, he was D+. There was simply no fairness in it.

But one thing was clear: soldiers generally had very weak souls. Even Wu Yuan, now a Spearman Captain, had only raised his Soul strength to E+.

Fortunately, this did not affect combat power, because Spearman Captain Wu Yuan had gained another skill.

Among them, the original Gale Pierce had become Gale Triple Pierce, which meant its instantaneous damage had tripled.

The new skill was called Soul Severing Stab. It could increase damage fivefold in an instant and inflict a concussive stun effect on the target.

By Zhang Yang's estimate, Spearman Captain Wu Yuan alone could challenge ten Level 1 Azure Wolves, three Level 2 Black Bears, and one Level 5 Red Eagle at the same time. Of course, against the Spider Lord from before, even just one of them would kill him without question. He could not resist those two demon arts, Bind and Soul Seizure, at all.

"This world is truly both dangerous and wondrous!"

Zhang Yang sighed, then first took stock of the remaining soldiers. He had them chop some wood, light torches, and begin a thorough search of the spider nest.

The process was utterly without difficulty. Dozens of torches illuminated the spider nest as brightly as day. With Spearman Captain Wu Yuan leading the way, they slaughtered their way through it, leaving no Black Spider to escape. As for whether there were any more Spider Lords inside, that was impossible.

Half an hour later, the entire spider nest had been searched. All remaining Black Spiders had been killed, while spider eggs, webs, and everything else had been burned. Zhang Yang did not try raising any spider pets. Though he had heard this was the greatest trope in the Fantasy World, he still felt that those not of our kind must harbor different hearts.

In the end, Zhang Yang found no secret treasure, precious mineral vein, human skeletons, treasures, or anything of the sort. There was nothing at all. What he had gained was merely a semi-enclosed underground space. Block the entrance, and it would become the perfect place to spend the night.

Zhang Yang even felt an impulse to throw the Village Building Order down here. In the end, reason stopped him. Counting everything up, he had only one Spearman Captain, three Elite Archers, twenty-one Longbowmen, forty-five Sword and Shield Soldiers, and twelve Spearmen left. All the other soldiers had died. Even his Village Building Order had only nine recruitment slots remaining. Even if he wanted to farm or log trees now, he no longer had enough farmers or Lumberjacks to use.

In one sentence, this village chief of his was basically finished.

If this were a game channel, he could call himself Little Zhang and apply to enter the palace to serve Her Majesty the Empress. But thankfully, this was a Fantasy World. As long as he was alive, anything was possible.

"So now, I finally have the time and the conditions to carefully examine this whole matter and flesh out this world's background."

Zhang Yang sat on a large rock, relaxing his whole body as he thought. Things had been too urgent earlier. He had not had time to deal with many spoils or details. Now, he needed to sort everything out again.

The Golden Scales appeared before his eyes. On one end lay an incomplete Fantasy Village Building Order, very similar to the Village Building Order in Zhang Yang's hand. However, the writing on it was different, and he could not recognize it. Could it be some kind of Spider Script?

On the other end of the Golden Scales were exactly 300 Energy. It seemed this thing was not even worth as much as an incomplete Lord-Grade Demon Soul or a complete Level 5 Demon Soul.

So what was its use?

"Using an incomplete Fantasy Village Building Order can improve the quality and level of a Village Building Order. Currently possesses one incomplete Fantasy Village Building Order, which has a 55% chance to upgrade the Village Building Order in hand."

"Note: Energy can be used to raise the upgrade chance. Every 100 Energy increases it by 5%."

Zhang Yang smacked his lips. He would put this matter aside for now. He could not bear to spend 1,100 Energy to upgrade the Village Building Order, much less when the Energy in his hand was nowhere near enough. He had only 650 left.

Then he looked at the next item.

Black Spider Tribe Civilization Code Blueprint. It sounded so lofty and impressive, but unfortunately it was even cheaper. Selling it would only earn him 100 Energy.

As for its use, well, it increased the Village Building Order upgrade chance by 10%. Good, this would do. Its value doubled in an instant.

The next item.

Demonized Black Spider Silk, 50 coils, worth 200 Energy.

Use: It could be used to make three Enchanted Bowstrings. Prerequisites: an Arrow Crafting Workshop, a master craftsman, and 100 Energy.

The next item.

Demonized Spider Venom, 50 units, worth 200 Energy.

Use: It could be directly applied to weapons. Side effect: demon meat killed with venom could not be eaten.

After examining all the spoils, Zhang Yang's originally excited heart gradually calmed. He knew that what lay ahead of him might be a world even more complex and dangerous than he had imagined.

The reason was those two Spider Lords. They actually possessed a Fantasy Village Building Order similar to his, and they had truly established a Spider Tribe.

Then, in a sense, did that not mean he was no different from those two Spider Lords?

"So what exactly is this Fantasy Village Building Order? Who the hell is playing this prank? What is this world really like?"

No one could answer Zhang Yang's questions, and he did not intend to search for answers. He first had to find a way to survive.

"Those two Spider Lords were actually very strong. The reason they failed was simply because their luck was too bad. They encountered someone like me, whose Soul strength was greater than theirs, directly causing them to waste two precious spell slots."

"Another point is that I killed all their underlings beforehand. Otherwise, if hundreds of Black Spiders had swarmed forward, there was no way they could have lost no matter how things played out. So the question is, they did not seem stupid. Why would they do something so foolish?"

"Perhaps the answer is that they were also afraid to enter the forest. There were things inside that frightened them even more."

"Or perhaps they had no choice but to guard their nest, to protect their tribe, because something important was happening here."

"Perhaps the real truth was that they had not discovered me immediately either, just as I had not discovered them within Level One Vision."

"Forget it. They were dead already, so why was I thinking so much? I was not leaving my Village Building Order here anyway. Farming? Farm my ass!"

"I'm going out to roam! I'm going to develop quietly and miserably!"