19 Spear of Imprisonment

The two wooden spears were placed side by side, indistinguishable from each other on the surface—practically identical.

One of them was sharpened by Zhang Yang, and the other by Wu Yuan.

But after Zhang Yang used his soul power to examine it, he was sure that the wooden spear he sharpened was superior.

The reason was also very simple.

Wu Yuan sharpened the wooden spear using experience, feel, and skill. He was like a butcher. He could well avoid hurting most of the wood fiber structure, and thus ensure that the wooden spear had the same overall stability and sturdiness.

However, Zhang Yang relied on his soul energy to clearly 'see' the internal structure in the wooden spear and sharpen it precisely. He ensured that every single wood fiber was intact and the whole internal structure was even more stable.

That was how he won without a doubt.

But I can still do better because there is a limit to the quality of the raw material of these wooden spears. I can't avoid some knots and wormholes, so I have to pick the material myself!

Zhang Yang pondered and brought Wu Yuan along to the forest.

His selection method was entirely different from Wu Yuan's. He didn't rely on the naked eye or experience, but simply touched a tree with his hands, injected soul power, and everything came to light.

Frankly, if it weren't for the fact that the deer demon would show up anytime, Zhang Yang would be interested in continuing his study in this direction.

But even so, he still considered the possibility of advancing his cultivation even further, and that was to start a specific cultivation process before a tree started growing. That would minimize its damage upon being chopped.

He was unable to extricate himself from this idea, so much so that he immediately implemented it.

He spent the whole day and even drained his soul energy twice, before finally having Wu Yuan carefully chop the tree up and carry the wood back.

"Village Chief, this is incredible. I don't know what exactly happened. Did you release some kind of mysterious spell on this tree? The quality of this tree has become twice as good—it's like iron wood."

Wu Yuan had been surprised more than once, as this completely overturned his perception of this matter.

Zhang Yang laughed with glee. In fact, he didn't know what the theory behind it was, but he found that by consuming and injecting his soul energy on a growing tree, he stimulated the more minute structures. He could make the tree grow faster at a rate visible to the naked eye and during the process, he also infused his soul energy to adjust the density of the tree fibers. Hence, this result.

"This time, you do the sharpening. Be careful, though; you can make at least 10 excellent wooden spears with this tree!"

Zhang Yang gave the task of sharpening to Wu Yuan. It wasn't that he didn't want to do it himself, but with his current strength, it was too tough for him to sharpen extremely fine wood that was as hard as steel. Instead of doing so, it was better to hand it to Wu Yuan, who was stronger and more experienced.

After eating and drinking to his heart's content, Zhang Yang went inside the Tree Demon Tower and seized the moment to recover his soul energy.

The next morning, he saw 12 wooden spears with hardness comparable to steel that had been sharpened. After examining them with his soul energy, he realized that the wood fibers and internal structure were more than 90 percent intact, so he was right to say that Wu Yuan was a monster!

At that moment, Zhang Yang officially began his soul cultivation. Even if he had to exert more effort, he strove for perfection.

The cultivation process was very simple. He just had to constantly use his soul energy to flush and refine the entirety of the wooden spear until it had as though become a part of his body. The process was only over when he could feel the spear without using his soul energy.

It was also at that moment that Zhang Yang had the urge to throw this wooden spear and make it fly like a bird in the sky.

He was pretty sure that even though he never learned the exact throwing technique, he would be able to hit the target 100 percent of the time!

Technique or what, he completely didn't need it.

But in the end, Zhang Yang suppressed this impulse. What he wanted to create was a more advanced enchanted weapon, and this enchanted weapon was something that needed to be placed in the hands of a powerful soldier like Wu Yuan to bring out its maximum power, not him.

"Imprisonment!"

Zhang Yang solemnly released the spell. This time, the spell was successfully released without any obstruction. That power of imprisonment was contained and accumulated in the wooden spear.

One second, two seconds, three seconds, five seconds, and 10 seconds!

Zhang Yang sensed the limit of what the wooden spear could hold. If he let it continue, the wooden spear would explode.

The moment he ended the imprisonment spell, a mysterious texture appeared on the surface of that originally-smooth wooden spear, and even the weight of the wooden spear doubled.

Even an ordinary person would find that this wooden spear was obviously extraordinary.

At the same time, a message mapped before Zhang Yang's eyes.

[You have successfully made an intermediate enchanted weapon: Spear of Imprisonment (Check the properties)

Spear of Imprisonment (White)

Durability: 1/1

Feature: Penetration

It will cause massive damage to the target's armor/shield, while dealing spell damage and physical damage to the target.

Feature: Imprisonment.

Upon hit, it will force the target into a soul/physical imprisonment state for 5 to 8 seconds. The target cannot be freed by attacks, but can be freed by other types of spells.]

This time, Zhang Yang didn't get overly excited. He simply smiled because he had already expected this result. This enchanted spear was 10 times greater than its previous version in terms of strength because it could penetrate protective shields.

Zhang Yang took a short break before continuing to cultivate the second wooden spear. Right now, there were more than 10 hours until the village was completely established. Meanwhile, the deer demon still didn't show up.

At that moment, a bizarre thought cropped up in his mind.

Is the deer demon waiting for my village to finish establishing?

After all, it has been four days since the last battle. With that deer demon's intelligence and strength, it didn't make sense for it to not come knocking on my door by now.

But this was ultimately just a guess because Zhang Yang couldn't think of the deer demon's motive in doing so.

It wasn't possible that the deer demon was treating this like a game.

Oh, I'm just in for the fun and deliberately increasing the challenge!

That would be utter bullsh*t, wouldn't it?

Since Zhang Yang couldn't figure it out, he stopped thinking about it. Anyway, he was getting more confident in his forces now.

Meanwhile, the simple fortress that the 12 bowmen built had finally taken shape.

The 19 elites that practiced wooden spear throwing also improved really quickly. They could already hit any target within 100 meters with a 100 percent success rate.

Wu Yuan was right. These elites had a very strong foundation, which allowed a miracle like this to happen. After all, their average attributes were E+, which was equivalent to the strength of five adults on Earth. Regardless of reaction speed, physical coordination, naked eye vision, etc., they couldn't be viewed with the standards of ordinary humans.

Not only that, but coupled with the long-range killer weapons that Zhang Yang prepared for Wu Yuan, he was looking forward to the appearance of that deer demon.