Given Wan Jiang's performance during the previous demon tide, the reserve squad would have wasted his talents, while he still lacked the experience for the main squad.
A guerrilla squad, an organized unit that gave him freedom to act, suited him better.
Thinking of the requirements for unlocking the Demon-Sealing Tower's second floor...
Wan Jiang gripped his spear and hurried toward the defensive line with light steps, eager to kill enemies.
The Medium Demon Tide contained many evil demons, including demon lord-class ones, so the border troops would abandon the first defensive line outside the city and fall back to the second, using the city's defensive weapons to repel the enemy.
While killing enemies, Wan Jiang could also cover his comrades' retreat.
With his current strength, he could already handle low-level evil demons with ease.
"The Medium Demon Tide really is fiercer than the small one last time, and much larger..."
"Found one! A demon monster-class evil demon!"
After killing several evil demons in succession, Wan Jiang's eyes suddenly lit up as he spotted his target.
It was a hideous monster over two meters tall, its twisted body covered in a layer of flowing blood, like a creature of flesh stripped of its skin.
"A Blood Demon. Demon monster-class, with the strength of a level 30 Epic-Class Professional."
Wan Jiang recalled the military's evil demon catalog. Blood Demons were among the stronger demon monster-class creatures.
But to Wan Jiang now, it was an enemy he could finish in a single exchange!
"Armybreaker!"
His spear thrust out like a dragon, its destructive power crushing the Blood Demon with ease.
The next moment, Wan Jiang vanished.
[You have met the condition for unsealing the Demon-Sealing Tower's second floor: kill a demon monster-class evil demon!] [Automatically beginning the Demon-Sealing Tower's second-floor trial.]
"Everything about the Demon-Sealing Tower is great, except the way it suddenly teleports you inside. That's pretty annoying."
After grumbling, Wan Jiang headed straight into the trial space.
[Demon-Sealing Tower, second-floor trial: kill 10 Blood Demons...]
Unlike the bewilderment he had felt upon first entering the Demon-Sealing Tower, Wan Jiang was now brimming with confidence.
As ten Blood Demons emerged from the darkness of the trial space, he faced them.
Wan Jiang gripped his spear with both hands and drove it into the ground, sending a formation blazing with golden light rippling out beneath his feet.
"Spear Shadow Formation!"
Notably, the ten Blood Demons before him provided Wan Jiang with a 30% attribute boost, making them even quicker to kill!
[Second-floor trial cleared. Talent reward obtained: Spirit Shaping!] [Spirit Shaping: cleanse the flesh with spirituality to mold a transcendent physique!]
The trial ended, and the Demon-Sealing Tower's second floor shone brilliantly as invisible spirituality, like clear spring water, flowed into Wan Jiang's body.
Unlike the crushing pressure of body tempering, Spirit Shaping felt incredibly refreshing, as though every part of his body had been purified.
"That feels amazing!"
At that point, all five of Wan Jiang's senses were enhanced...
His sight, hearing, smell, touch, and other senses improved dramatically. He could even perceive fluctuations in spirituality and anticipate danger or an enemy's actions!
[Talent: Perfect Thousand-Jun Body Tempering has merged with Talent: Spirit Shaping. Prerequisites for a transcendent physique have been met!]
Seeing this new notification, Wan Jiang's face lit up with delight.
He had never imagined that the legendary transcendent physiques were already within his reach!
A new attribute appeared in his talent panel-
[Transcendent physique: none] (Prerequisites for activating a physique have been met. A physique must be obtained/activated.)
Simply put, Wan Jiang had gained the qualifications to possess a transcendent physique, but did not yet have one.
However, the Demon-Sealing Tower's information gave Wan Jiang a hint:
The third-floor trial would directly reward him with a transcendent physique!
"The condition for opening the third floor: kill a demon spirit-class evil demon!"
Excitement surged through Wan Jiang.
Demon spirit-class-if he gave it everything he had, he might stand a chance!
"The Boss gave me a Legendary Class and rewarded me with legendary equipment. If I don't get stronger, how can I live up to his faith in me?"
I'll go for it!
After considering it for a long time, Wan Jiang finally resolved to challenge a demon spirit-class enemy!
A recruit challenging a demon spirit-class evil demon would probably have terrified his regiment commander if he found out, but Wan Jiang intended to challenge more than just one.
Wan Jiang's fighting spirit was unrivaled, yet the moment he left the Demon-Sealing Tower, he froze.
The instant he appeared, countless pairs of scarlet eyes around him were staring fixedly at him!
He was surrounded by evil demons!
At Dingcheng's border defense command post, every regiment commander, including Chang Wei, was stunned.
"Didn't we confirm that everyone had withdrawn from the first defensive line?"
"Then why has someone fought his way behind the evil demons?!!!"
All the allied troops were baffled, and the two battalion commanders responsible for the withdrawal were even more confused.
"Exactly. Everyone really did withdraw just now..."
Against the Medium Demon Tide, the original battle plan had been to fall back to the second defensive line and withdraw all troops from the first.
Yet no one had imagined that someone would appear out of thin air, surrounded by evil demons!
Above Dingcheng.
Wei Yuan surveyed the battlefield with an impassive expression, until he spotted Wan Jiang amid the Evil Demons Horde.
"That's the squad member under Yi Tian... What is he doing?"
At that moment, Wan Jiang realized he had fallen into the evil demons' encirclement.
Wan Jiang felt no fear, no terror—only excitement!
Because right now, he was terrifyingly strong!
[Peerless: ignore all negative status effects; for every 1% decrease in health, all four core attributes increase by 1%; for every enemy nearby, all four core attributes increase by 3%!]
The range of "nearby" was not very large, but the Evil Demons Horde was so densely packed that sixty or seventy evil demons were still within it.
They increased Wan Jiang's attributes by nearly 200%!
An unprecedented sense of power sent waves of fighting spirit surging through Wan Jiang's chest.
He swept his spear sideways, and that casual strike instantly killed nearly ten evil demons.
"What a rush!"
Exhilaration coursed through his body, but Wan Jiang did not charge recklessly. He was no fool and understood his situation perfectly.
The Medium Demon Tide included demon lord-class evil demons, enemies on an entirely different level from him. Facing one would mean certain death.
His immediate priority was to seize this chance to unlock the Demon-Sealing Tower's third-floor trial.
After the previous two trials, he had realized that the monsters within a trial were the same as the evil demon he had killed to activate it.
Demon spirit-class evil demons were powerful, equivalent to level 50 or 60 Epic-Class Professionals, and difficult to handle. His best option was to pick an opponent he could counter!
"There's one!"
Wan Jiang fixed his gaze on a dwarf-like monster surrounded by viruses that resembled black mist.
[Plague Roar (demon spirit)] [Level: 55] [Attributes: strength 565, agility 565] [Constitution 600, spirit 595] [Description: releases large quantities of viruses that inflict countless negative status effects. Contact transmits a deadly plague.]
Plague Roar was an extremely troublesome monster for the border troops, and many professionals were unwilling to face him.
The viruses he released were simply too nasty. Infection caused excruciating suffering, and treatment after the battle took a long time.
But for Wan Jiang...
This was practically a bonus stage!
His talent, [Peerless], let him ignore all negative status effects!
That included viruses and plagues.
"Armybreaker!"
With that thought, Wan Jiang moved without hesitation, darting swiftly toward Plague Roar.
His spear tore through the evil demon's body. With Peerless's enormous attribute boost, the demon spirit crumpled at the first touch.
The next moment, Wan Jiang vanished again.
"When did he get this strong?!"
Inside the command post, Chang Wei, commander of the Vanguard Regiment, was stunned, then quickly grew bewildered again. "Why did he disappear again?"
Someone beside him asked suspiciously, "Could his class be a spatial assassin...?"
The Demon-Sealing Tower, third floor.
Wan Jiang focused completely, his nerves taut, for ten Plague Roars stood before him!
Moreover, Peerless's enormous attribute boost had vanished. Facing ten enemies, he had only a 30% boost left.
Even with his immunity to negative status effects, his raw strength was still significantly lacking.
Without hesitation, Wan Jiang stabbed himself several times with his spear!
He lowered his health below 50%, increasing his attribute boost by 50%!
At that moment, his strength attribute shot up to 882!
"Fuck, that really hurts!"
Wan Jiang grimaced in pain, but his fighting spirit blazed. "Transcendent physique, here I come!"
"Kill!"
Meanwhile.
After Wan Jiang instantly killed a demon spirit, the border troops began clearing out the demon tide.
The other races of the Yagu Dynasty had originally intended to exploit the opportunity to create chaos and disrupt Great Xia's defensive deployment.
But with Wei Yuan overseeing the entire battlefield and the Crimson Emperor absent, none of the other races dared act rashly.
The reason Great Xia was weak...
Lay in its scarcity of high-quality classes, insufficient resources, and the excessive number of external enemies brought by the other races' passageways.
Yet once professionals with high potential and high-quality classes matured, they were in no way inferior to those powerful other races.
On the Demon-Sealing Tower's third floor, Wan Jiang's health had fallen to 20%, but his momentum had not diminished.
Only three Plague Roars remained before him.
Even with immunity to the plague's negative status effects, demon spirit-class evil demons were still formidable fighters. This was the most dangerous battle Wan Jiang had faced to date.
If I'd known, I should have had the Boss hold a meeting before I came to challenge this...
As that thought crossed his mind, Wan Jiang immediately felt ashamed of his current attitude.
He had a Legendary Class, legendary equipment, and even employee benefits from the Boss that granted him immunity to fatal damage once. Yet he still did not dare put his life on the line!
I'm still not pushing myself hard enough!
Wan Jiang's expression turned resolute, his eyes filled with unprecedented fighting spirit.
Then he stabbed his already grievously wounded body twice more with his spear!
His health dropped to 5%, but his attributes reached unprecedented heights!
"One Man Holds the Pass!"
Wan Jiang swung his spear and leaped into the air, his imposing might far surpassing that of the three demon spirit-class evil demons.
"Armybreaker!"
Boom-!
The powerful strike carried devastating force, sending violent tremors through the trial space.
The three Plague Roars died instantly, and Wan Jiang rose to level 23.
At the same time, this marked his completion of the third-floor trial!
[You have cleared the third-floor trial. Reward available: random transcendent physique (choose one of three)!]
"Three transcendent physiques to choose from!"
Wan Jiang sat cross-legged on the ground, his powerful vitality still healing his injuries as he excitedly examined the rewards.
A transcendent physique could be described as an extraordinarily powerful passive ability that merged with and strengthened the entire body. Most existed only among the other races.
He eagerly looked at his choices as three illusory, card-like images appeared before him.
[Black-iron overlord physique (A-rank): greatly increases defense and constitution, and converts incoming attacks into energy for powerful counterattacks (damage scales with constitution and defense).]
"What powerful defense and damage reflection!"
It was extremely well suited to damage-soaking tank classes and could practically raise their combat power by an entire tier.
Even an A-rank physique was almost comparable to the abilities of a Legendary Class.
But Wan Jiang's class leaned more toward a warrior, and he wanted warrior-type abilities instead.
He glanced at the next option, only to be left rather stunned:
[Phoenix form (S-rank): greatly increases agility; attacks inflict substantial additional flame and light damage; allows rebirth upon death.] (Note: selecting this will transform you into a woman and greatly increase your charm.)
Wan Jiang: "..."
He had initially been very tempted. An S-rank transcendent physique! Not only did it greatly increase agility, but his attacks would also deal damage of two additional elements!
It was simply more powerful than a Legendary passive.
But of all things...
Of all things!
He had to turn into a woman!?
Wan Jiang took a deep breath and silently looked away.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Yi Tian was roaming the various Dungeon Centers. He had searched countless dungeons that day, all to find the Black-Robed Man with special potential.
Unfortunately, the odds were far too low when his target could travel between dungeons.
Yet at that moment, Yi Tian felt a sudden stirring of confusion:
Why do I feel like I just dodged a bullet?
He noticed that Wan Jiang had already met the requirements for a transcendent physique. Once it was shared with him, it should have been good news...
Strange.
Before you continue