Because at least 360 armor-piercing eagle feather arrows had to be made, the promotion of the elite bowmen was postponed until the next day. However, the promotion of the four elite shield soldiers was instantly completed.
Boom!
As Song Dachui and the other three men carried the Giant Mace over, Zhang Yang let them each stand in a corner and used the Village Building Order to fuse the demon souls and strengthen them.
In an instant, four white rays of light rose up to the sky, each enveloping the bodies of the four soldiers and the Giant Mace. At that moment, everyone heard the roar of the black hill demon and its illusory figure unexpectedly appeared within the white brilliance. It lifted its head and growled at the sky, as if it were unwilling to give up on its weapon.
This is something that has never happened before. It must be a good sign.
Soon after, a message appeared before Zhang Yang’s eyes.
[Some changes occurred when fusing demon souls with the four soldiers. Over 50 percent compatibility. Do you wish to add another 5,000 energy points to achieve the most perfect fusion enhancement within the upper limit?]
At that moment, although Zhang Yang was bewildered, he didn’t hesitate at all. He quickly added 5,000 energy points and at the same time, secretly thanked his lucky stars that he had sold all the other imperfect demon souls earlier. Otherwise, this moment wouldn’t have happened.
In fact, he just upgraded the Village Imp, cultivated the Village Imp, and used up 15,000 energy points. Including this 5,000 energy points and 300 energy points for each individual upgrade, his pockets had emptied yet again.
If something were to happen the next day when he upgraded those elite bowmen, he would probably be penniless again.
When Zhang Yang thought about it, another change occurred within that white radiance. The black hill demon soul was divided into four by an unknown power and was injected into the bodies of the four elite shield soldiers. Not only that, but the Giant Mace was also split into four and the white radiance became so dazzling that one couldn’t look straight at it.
There was no doubt that this time, Zhang Yang highly anticipated the promotion.
Five minutes later, the white light disappeared and what appeared in the eyes of the crowd were four huge, bear-like men!
Yes, they were really huge. Earlier, Song Dachui and the rest had the standard height of 1.9 meter. But now, after being injected with the black hill demon soul, they grew to 2.4 meters. They had wide shoulders and rock-solid, bulging chests. Just their muscular physique alone was enough to steal the show.
But what really captured one’s attention wasn’t the change in their body size, but the black hill demon battle marks—each covering two-thirds of their bodies, which was enough to show how compatible they were.
The leather armor they wore before couldn’t contain their massive size and had burst apart in full force, leaving only successfully reinforced weapons and equipment in their hands.
But the four of them had very different weaponry.
For instance, Song Dachui’s reinforced sword and shield were gone. All he was left with was a large iron hammer that had a handle made of fine steel and a head as big as four basketballs, which was also covered with the battle mark of the black hill demon. He could be considered to have gotten what he wished for as Song Dachui[1].
The weapon in Wang Mumu’s hands had transformed into a 2-meter-tall, 1.5-meter-wide, and 30-centimeter-thick steel tower shield. Slamming it into the ground would leave a deep hole that was a dozen centimeters deep.
And then there was Duan Kuan; the only one who upheld the true qualities of a shield soldier. The original 60-centimeter-diameter reinforced round wooden shield transformed into a 90-centimeter-diameter reinforced round steel shield. The originally 1-meter-long reinforced sword turned into a 1.5-meter-long, captain-grade sword. He could hold it with one hand or slash it with both hands; it was entirely up to him.
The last soldier was Zhou Datou. The shield in his hand had also become a tower shield, albeit not as exaggerated as the one in Wang Mumu’s possession. The size of his tower shield was 160 x 100 x 10 centimeters. As for his weapon, it had turned into nine javelins of fine steel, hanging majestically on his back and making him look bloodthirsty.
The four of them had developed in unique paths and yet, were able to cooperate with one another. One could attack, while the other defend. This was simply a perfectly-mixed squad.
At that moment, not only was Zhang Yang bursting with joy, but Wu Yuan also sucked in a breath of cold air as he stared in envy.
Zhang Yang looked at their attributes again and unsurprisingly, their compatibility was so great that some key attributes turned out even higher than that of normal captains’.
For instance, Song Dachui, whose specialty was damage output, had C- strength, while the rest of his attributes were D+. His talent was ‘Berserk’ and skill ‘Skull Crusher’. His proficiency in blocking and handling one-handed and two-handed weapons was 345.
Wang Mumu, who was completely defense-oriented, had C- defense, while the rest of his attributes were D+. His talent was ‘Iron Wall’ and skill ‘Shield Strike’. His proficiency in blocking and handling one-handed weapons was 345.
Duan Kuan, who was offense-oriented and owned a shield for defensive support like a swordsman, had C- agility, while the rest of his attributes were D+. He had no talent, but possessed three skills—’Power Strike’, ‘Chain Slashes’, and ‘Wind-chasing Slash’. His proficiency in blocking and handling one-handed weapons was 400.
Lastly, Zhou Datou, who had decent defense and could provide medium and long-range firepower, had C- strength, while the rest of his attributes were D+. His talent was ‘Stability’ and skills ‘Pursuit’, ‘Shield Strike’, ‘Javelin Hurl’. His blocking proficiency was 345.
Right now, the four men only lacked four sets of armor; otherwise, they would have already become their enemy’s nightmare.
“From now on, the four of you will be a group and replace Wu Yuan in patrolling the village. Meanwhile, I will find a way to get you a set of leather armor as soon as possible.”
Zhang Yang gave the orders and instructed Wu Yuan. “Make every minute count. Help Qin Yidao and the rest sharpen the arrow shafts and make armor-piercing eagle feather arrows. After they are all upgraded, we have to move on to village construction. Yes, we will first build a castle, followed by a city wall. Defense will be the village’s top priority in its future development!”
The men received his orders and swiftly left. Zhang Yang hurried to the barracks; he didn’t forget that there were 50 new recruits. Population had become a bottleneck that limited the development of the village. Every soldier was a treasure, especially in the next construction frenzy as they could also serve as construction workers!
What? What do you mean this isn’t in line with the rules?
Rules my *ss! I’m a village chief and yet, I ‘swore’ to become a craftsman too. So what if I command them to chop down trees or mine ores?
After recruiting 50 new soldiers in the barracks, Zhang Yang led them straight to the training grounds.
The training ground was just 200 meters away, northwest of the Tree Demon Tower, located at the bottom of the hill. It was a flat land that was 25-meter-long and 20-meter-wide, and was rather small like a courtyard.
In the northeast corner of the training ground, there was a small, simple hut, which was where the junior instructor lived.
When Zhang Yang arrived, the junior instructor was sunbathing in relaxation.
However, when he saw Zhang Yang, he stood up and respectfully saluted after a somewhat curious glance.
“Village Chief, do you need me to train those new recruits?”
“Let me see what you can do,” Zhang Yang said, scanning this sickly-looking young instructor who was no more than 25 or 26 years old and had a tiny mustache. As this young instructor looked more like a living human being than those recruited soldiers, Zhang Yang curiously sized him up.
“Village Chief, I can train new recruits to become spearmen, bowmen, and shield soldiers. I can also train some hidden soldier types, including ones once trained by former village chiefs. But it requires some specific conditions.” The junior instructor spoke at a normal pace and with a lazy expression.
“What specific conditions?” Zhang Yang asked.
“Upgrade the village to a town. Upgrade the level 1 training ground to level 5. Upgrade me to a level 5 instructor. And the town population cannot be lower than 1,000.”
Upon hearing the conditions, Zhang Yang gave an awkward laugh.
No chance. Population of 1,000? Ridiculous.
“Forget it, I want 20 shield soldiers, 20 spearmen, and 10 bowmen.”
“As you wish, Village Chief. All the new recruits will be trained within three days.”
Leaving all the new recruits at the training ground, Zhang Yang opened the village panel and found the training ground instructor section that contained all the attributes and information of that young instructor.
[Name: Qin Ge.
Age: 24
Profession: Training Ground Instructor
Level: 1
Strength: E+
Agility: E+
Defense: E+
Bow: 200 (Proficiency)
Sword: 200 (Proficiency)
Spear: 200 (Proficiency)
Salary: 1 Energy Point per day]
Did I just meet an unique NPC? Salary? Hah!
[1] Dachui in Chinese literally means ‘Big Hammer’.