New Understanding

That fatal stab seemed to drain every last ounce of his strength.

But Zhou Xu knew he absolutely could not fall here.

In the process, as if he had thought of something, he suppressed the nausea that came after killing someone and activated Eye of Insight once more.

[Just as I thought.]

At that moment, under the observation of his Eye of Insight, a blackish-gray glimmer seeped out from the chest of the enemy leader's corpse...

[This is his True Word!]

With his previous experience, Zhou Xu reached directly toward that ball of glimmer this time.

In that instant, the gray-black glimmer seemed to be drawn by some force. It transformed directly into a surge of energy and poured into his body.

As the energy flowed in, Zhou Xu felt another string of strange characters begin to surge continuously through his mind.

The feeling was exactly the same as before, and it also made him clearly realize what he had obtained.

Listening to the system prompt in his mind, he did not hesitate. The next second, his lips parted slightly...

[Skeleton Control!]

In the blink of an eye, the invisible power of the True Word rapidly spread outward with Zhou Xu at its center. The skeletons that had collapsed all over the battlefield after the enemy leader's death began standing up one after another amid a series of crack, crack sounds.

The Skeleton Soldiers that had risen again did not hesitate. Following Zhou Xu's will, they charged straight at the enemy tribe's members.

"W-what's going on? Why are the skeletons attacking us?!"

The situation on the battlefield was chaotic, and some members of the enemy tribe had not even noticed that their leader was dead.

The sudden attack by the skeletons left them utterly panic-stricken.

With the enemy's ranks thrown into chaos, Dashan seized the opportunity and displayed his might once more. At the same time, freed from the enemy skeletons' entanglement, Fei Que immediately brought the forces from the rear up to support them.

A single counterattack crushed the opposing side outright.

Seizing the right moment, Zhou Xu shouted at the top of his lungs...

"Your leader is dead! Anyone who doesn't want to die, drop your weapons and kneel down to surrender!!!"

There was no need for him to say more. After Zhou Xu's shout, Fei Que and the others immediately joined in while counterattacking...

"Drop your weapons! Kneel down and surrender!!"

"Drop your weapons! Kneel down and surrender!!"

"..."

Their leader had died in battle, and the Skeleton Soldiers had switched sides. The opposing forces were already thrown into disarray, their morale shattered.

Now, the Salt Lake Tribe members' deafening unified cries completely destroyed their already precarious will!

No one knew who had started it, but they began throwing away the weapons in their hands, kneeling on the ground and begging for their lives.

From that moment on, the battle swiftly moved toward its end.

Without Zhou Xu needing to say anything more, Fei Que and the others efficiently used bark ropes to bind the surrendered enemy tribesmen hand and foot, preparing to move them first to the mine in the center of the Black Forest and hold them there.

Obviously, Zhou Xu did not dare bring these prisoners directly back to their tribal camp. If anything went wrong, it would be dangerous.

Therefore, for the time being, he planned to use the mine as a stronghold.

"Chief, what should we do with these people?"

On the way to the mine, Fei Que fell behind and quietly asked Zhou Xu what he intended.

In this primitive world, tribes swallowing one another was not unheard of. It could even be said to be perfectly normal.

But considering how desperately scarce resources were in this region, and how their own food supplies were already stretched thin, rashly taking in so many people would probably become a burden for them.

What Fei Que could think of, Zhou Xu had naturally thought of as well.

Their Salt Lake Tribe was currently showing signs of falling into a vicious cycle between its two problems: "scarce food resources" and "a lack of manpower."

To break that cycle, this group of people before them might well be the breakthrough they needed.

"Let's go to the mine first. We'll interrogate these people before deciding anything else."

Fei Que did not know what "interrogate" meant, but he could more or less understand what their chief was trying to express.

The distance was not far. Escorting the prisoners, the group soon arrived at the mine.

Once they reached the place, Zhou Xu found a stone and sat down, then looked at the group of prisoners hanging their heads before him.

"Who's in charge here? Bring me someone who can speak."

Faced with the question, the prisoners exchanged a few glances. Their gazes then fell one after another on a certain man.

Following their gazes, Zhou Xu's own eyes naturally landed on that man as well.

He was a man with a square face and a full beard.

The man did not waste time over the situation and stepped forward directly.

"What's your name?"

"Da Shi."

As soon as he received the answer, Zhou Xu wasted no words and immediately flung out Eye of Insight.

The next second, the other man's status panel unfolded directly before his eyes.

Name: Da Shi

Gender: Male

Age: 20

Race: Human

Status: Hungry, exhausted, lightly injured

True Word: None

Talent: Step by Step: Steady progress without recklessness is the absolute principle for establishing oneself amid chaotic battles!

Martial Valor: ★★☆

Intelligence: ★★☆

Spirit: ★★☆☆

Endurance: ★★☆

Command: ★★☆☆

Da Shi's status panel made Zhou Xu's eyes light up.

Four stars in both Spirit and Command—without a doubt, he was another Purple Epic.

Of course, judging solely by the five-dimensional panel, Da Shi was actually inferior to Fei Que. Fei Que's upper limit even exceeded his by one star in Endurance.

But the focus of this group was undoubtedly the other party's talent.

A good panel also had to be paired with a good talent.

According to Zhou Xu's own understanding, Fei Que's "Execution Master" was a typical general-purpose talent. It could be useful in many fields, but lacked that sense of specialization.

Da Shi's "Step by Step," however, was different. It was an extremely clear talent for commanding troops.

Considering long-term development, he undoubtedly needed a military commander like this.

Da Shi's appearance gave Zhou Xu a pleasant surprise, because he had not noticed the man's existence at all before.

And this also gave him a new understanding of his Eye of Insight.

That was, if he wanted to see someone's status panel, he first had to see that person in their entirety. Only after successfully "observing" their whole body could he possibly obtain their panel.

That was right—possibly!

Earlier, during the clash between the two sides, he had successfully observed the enemy leader, yet had been unable to open the other party's panel.

Zhou Xu guessed blindly that this might be affected by some kind of "rank."

Perhaps his Eye of Insight could only open the status panels of people whose "rank" was lower than his own.

He and that enemy leader had both mastered a True Word. Their overall strength at the time might have been at the same level, causing his Eye of Insight to be unable to see through the other man.

At the same time, it was precisely through this point that he had accidentally identified the enemy leader's identity!

The update is here. Thanks to the reader "Nii of My Hometown" for the reward!