The third leader of the foreign army, the curvaceous Dina, walked in. She looked at Suomo and said, “Father, is he truly your lost son?”
Suomo said, “I have no son, but from now on he shall be counted as my son.”
Dina looked at Lanling for quite a while, but the word “brother” she could not bring herself to say after all.
It was Lanling who took the initiative to speak: “Sister Dina, hello.”
“Hello.” Dina said somewhat unnaturally. This sudden familial affection still felt somewhat abrupt to her.
Suomo said, “Originally, to welcome you, we should have prepared a good meal, but as you have seen, we do not have food to last the night.”
Lanling said in astonishment, “You lead over a thousand foreign army members, how can you live in such dire straits?”
Dina said, “We foreign army are at the very bottom of the tribe. In every battle, it is we who charge at the very front. In every hunt, it is we who have the most tasks. The food we hunt accounts for one fifth of the entire tribe, but the food distributed to us is less than one percent. The vast majority of our foreign army are in a state of hunger at all times. Food is distributed daily, and the tribe gives us the worst grain, meat that is almost rotten. Even so, normally there are only three liang of grain per day, four liang of meat. Only when going on a hunt is enough grain and meat distributed.”
Three liang of grain and four liang of meat per day, for an ordinary human, this would barely suffice. And for a barbarian, this amount of food could truly only keep them from starving to death.
Lanling said, “Uncle, as the leader of the foreign army, do you also only receive this much food?”
Suomo said, “Child, remember this. In the foreign army, positions may be high or low, but status is all the same. If I, as leader, do not lead by example and share weal and woe with everyone, the foreign army would fall apart. And this foreign army is the home we rely upon for survival. Without this foreign army, none of us could survive.”
Lanling dared to understand that when material goods were absolutely lacking, one should not worry about scarcity but about uneven distribution.
Food distributed equally, absolutely fair and just, the leader sharing weal and woe with everyone. Only then would every person in the foreign army be filled with a sense of identity towards this team, only then would they unite as one, filled with morale.
It was precisely because of this that when Lanling followed Dina into the camp, although every foreign army member’s complexion was not good, tormented by hunger, their mental outlook was very high.
Once the order of fairness and justice was destroyed, the foreign army would immediately collapse.
Suomo, like his father Suolong, was a true commander, a perfect commander.
This kind of person could win the love of every soldier, and the respect of every enemy.
Lanling said, “Uncle, on the road I rescued a three-year-old girl, I consider her my daughter. She is a demon descendant, and a flying demon descendant at that. But she fell into the hands of that little monster shaman priest. In order to seize her, that shaman priest did not hesitate to push me into the volcano, to burn me to death.”
The moment these words were spoken, Suomo’s expression changed, saying, “A flying demon descendant? This is the race with the purest bloodline and strongest talent in the entire demon race. Falling into Golu’s hands, the consequences are unthinkable.”
So this little monster shaman priest’s name was Golu.
Then, his expression turned serious: “Did this little girl pass the Sky Eye trial?”
“Yes.” Lanling said.
Suomo said, “Since that is the case, then she is a person of my foreign army, no one may seize her. Rest assured, tomorrow I shall bring you to demand the little girl back. The reason we cannot go tonight is because after dark we foreign army may not leave the camp, otherwise we would be treated as invaders and shot.”
Hearing this, Lanling’s face gave a violent twitch.
The status of the foreign army in the Chimera tribe was not merely low, it was simply like pigs and dogs.
They could not live in houses, only in caves.
They hunted one third of the food, but received less than one percent in their hands.
In normal battles, they could only ever serve as cannon fodder.
They could not go out after dark, or they would be shot.
Lanling said, “Uncle, our foreign army suffers such abuse, how can you endure it?”
Suomo sighed, “Child, you still do not understand the barbaric world. Compared to the days of wandering, this is already paradise. You truly cannot imagine during my wandering, watching the people around me die one after another, that kind of despair and terror.”
Lanling now also understood why so few people passed the Sky Eye trial each time.
The so-called Sky Eye trial had no rules whatsoever, it was completely based on the shaman priest’s own will. Whoever he wanted to live would live.
And those who remained were precisely the weaker barbarians.
Because the Chimera tribe needed the foreign army to serve as a cannon fodder and hunting team.
But they absolutely must not let the foreign army grow powerful, as this would make them difficult to control.
Not only that, but they had to keep their stomachs hungry every day, so that even if they wanted to rebel and cause trouble, they would have no strength.
But even suffering such abuse, the foreign army could endure it.
After all, no matter how humiliating and difficult life was, it was still far better than the days of exile. After all, they had a place to shelter within the walls, and food every day.
Suomo patted Lanling’s shoulder, said nothing more, and said, “Let us go to the training ground outside, and test your martial arts.”
Lanling followed Suomo and Dina out of the cave, coming to this incredibly crude training ground outside.
“Lanling, what level is your martial arts roughly at?” Suomo asked.
Lanling said, “I was once equivalent to a high-level warrior among humans, but later I died and was reborn, completely exchanging my body for a new one. Everything is brand new, so I do not know.”
Hearing of death and rebirth, Dina could not help but glance at Lanling.
Suomo nodded, saying, “Let us first test your strength.”
He brought Lanling to a corner of the training ground, where there was a pile of black stone bars of varying lengths, with very regular markings upon them.
“These are black stones, with extremely high density.” Suomo said, “Do you see the markings on these stone bars? One marking is one hundred jin. Let us first see your strength.”
Lanling selected a black stone bar with ten markings, gripped it with his right hand, and tried to lift it with a fierce effort.
He discovered it was as though rooted to the ground, completely impossible to lift.
Then, he took a fierce breath, feeling the bloodline throughout his entire body boiling and heating up, and fiercely lifted this thousand-jin stone bar.
Suomo said, “Physical arm strength, less than a thousand jin. But using bloodline power to erupt, can reach a thousand jin.”
Lanling felt regret in his heart. At that time, after he had drained a werewolf’s blood, he felt the power throughout his entire body was incredibly strong. But after falling into the lava, being burned for one or two hours, his bloodline energy had continuously healed and recovered in order to protect his own body and life, consuming tremendous energy.
Otherwise, his strength would certainly be greater than this.
Suomo said, “Next we test your speed. Dina, stand one hundred metres away.”
“Yes!” Dina’s curvaceous figure gave a fierce flash, rushing out over a hundred metres at extreme speed.
This speed gave Lanling a tremendous shock. At most three seconds, fully three times the human world record. And this was only Dina’s physical power, she had not even used her bloodline magic power.
“Dina is now one hundred metres away from you.” Suomo said, “Charge over at your fastest speed, and see how many seconds it takes. Remember not to use bloodline magic power, use only physical power.”
Lanling took a deep breath, erupted fiercely, and charged frantically towards Dina.
One second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five seconds, six seconds, seven seconds, eight seconds…
Eight seconds of speed, surpassing the human world record, but the difference from Dina was enormous.
Looking at the time, there was only a gap of over two times, but when it came to actual strength, it was likely not even ten times.
Suomo nodded, then handed Lanling a blade, saying, “Swing this blade as fast as you can, and let me see how many times you can swing it in one second. Remember still not to use bloodline magic power, rely on physical power.”
Lanling took this blade, it should be around one hundred and thirty jin.
He took a deep breath, then chopped at the fastest speed.
“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang…”
Five times. One hundred and thirty jin blade, five chops in one second.
Suomo nodded, saying, “I more or less know now.”
From Dina’s eyes, Lanling could see that his martial arts level was very, very low.
“Child, you are my family.” Suomo said, “I know you once ruled over a city, possibly tens of thousands, or even a hundred thousand people!”
The moment these words were spoken, it made Dina look at him with new eyes.
However, what Lanling had once ruled was not merely a city, but a country.
Not tens of thousands of people, but a full seventy million!
Suomo continued, “I know, you certainly have some other extraordinary abilities, such as wisdom! But this is the barbaric world, where martial power is supreme! In our foreign army, this difficult and fragile group, absolute fairness and justice are even more required. Wisdom is something that cannot be measured. Only martial power can be measured, so in the foreign army, and even in the entire tribe, whatever level of martial power you possess is what position you can hold.”
Indeed, wisdom cannot be measured, but martial power can!
Suomo pointed at Dina, saying, “The reason she sits as the third leader of the foreign army is not because she is my foster daughter, but because her martial power ranks third in the foreign army.”
Up until now, Lanling had only seen the first and third leaders, and did not know who the second leader was.
Suomo continued, “Your martial power level is roughly that of a third-level warrior in the barbaric world, roughly around two hundredth in the entire foreign army, so what you can serve as is a five-man leader.”
Dina said, “Father, I heard Lanling’s spiritual power level is very high. In the cave prison, he once killed a powerful werewolf.”
Suomo said in surprise, “Oh? Tell me in detail.”
Lanling told of how he used spiritual power to attack the werewolf’s brain domain, causing its body to lose control, then bit its neck to drink its blood.
In the middle of this, the werewolf had torn him to shreds, a horrible sight to behold, but because of the demon blood in his body, he continuously healed and recovered to his original state.
Suomo said, “Spiritual talent is not valued in the low to mid-level society of the barbaric world. Because the brain structure of many barbarians differs greatly from that of humans. Their bodies possess combat memory and muscle memory. Even if you destroy their brain domain, the body can still fight according to combat memory. Can you understand the meaning of this?”
Lanling nodded, saying, “I can understand.”
This was much like a locust. Even after death, its body would still move. Pinch its thigh, and its leg could still kick out fiercely.
This was combat memory, muscle memory.
It was only that many barbarians possessed combat memory that was far more powerful. Even if their brain domain was attacked, their entire body could still fight frantically.
So, barbarians were a race born for bloodshed, a race born for battle.
Suomo said, “Let me test your spiritual power. Dina, retreat one hundred metres.”
Dina retreated one hundred metres.
Suomo said, “Lanling, close your eyes.”
Lanling closed his eyes.
Suomo said, “Can you sense Dina?”
Lanling said, “Yes, she even scratched her back.”
At a distance of one hundred metres, Lanling’s spiritual power could no longer be called sensing, but rather internal vision.
Instantly, Suomo was completely stunned, saying, “Dina, retreat another two hundred metres, make a small movement, and hold your breath, hold your power, do not let it leak out.”
“Yes!” Dina said.
Dina retreated two hundred metres, held her breath, held her energy aura, then extended two fingers.
“Dina extended two fingers, the middle finger and thumb respectively. Additionally, her tail rose approximately twelve degrees.” Lanling said.
The moment these words were spoken, Dina’s face instantly flushed red, glaring fiercely at Lanling.
Suomo was stunned, then burst into great laughter, which made Lanling somewhat baffled.
Among many demon races, a tail rising involuntarily represented a ** impulse.
Then, Suomo said, “Dina, come back!”
When Dina returned, her gaze had instinctively avoided Lanling.
Suomo turned serious, saying, “Lanling, have you specifically cultivated spiritual power?”
“I had before, but after my body was reborn, completely not.” Lanling said.
Suomo said, “Then your spiritual power talent is extremely high, your spiritual power is truly astonishing. But… martial power can be measured, spiritual power cannot. In the eyes of barbarians, high spiritual power is an inauspicious sign, you… understand?”
“I understand, much like the little monster shaman priest.” Lanling said.
“Yes.” Suomo said, “Among low to mid-level barbarians, many with high spiritual power are freaks. Barbarians worship strength and speed, they feel this is true martial power. With your spiritual power so high, you could rise to high position in the Demon Tuo Empire army, but in barbarian tribes, the only standard for measuring martial power level is strength and speed. So you can still only become a five-man leader, are you willing?”
A five-man leader, also called a squad leader, was as the name implied the leader of five men.
Lanling nodded, saying, “I am willing.”
Suomo said, “Of course, if you wish to advance, you can challenge the ten-man leader, the fifty-man leader, even the centurion. But in barbarian military challenges, you must also defeat your opponent openly and honourably with strength and speed to gain respect and recognition. Defeating an opponent with spiritual power would instead lead to ostracism, and being viewed as a heretic.”
Dina could not help but say at this moment, “Actually, spiritual power is a very noble and powerful talent, it is only that this world is too ignorant and backward.”
Suomo said, “So my child, although you are my family, and possess powerful spiritual power, you can only humble yourself as a five-man leader, I apologise. Because fairness and justice are the soul of the foreign army.”
“I understand, I am willing.” Lanling said, “I am willing to openly and honourably use my strength, my speed, to conquer everyone. I know that in the barbaric world, martial power is supreme!”
Then, Lanling said, “Uncle, there is one thing I should tell you. I have a strong craving for drinking blood, and every time I drink blood, it brings me tremendous power!”
The moment these words were spoken, not only was Suomo stunned, but Dina was also completely stunned, looking at Lanling in disbelief.
“What is it? Is this very evil?” Lanling said.
Suomo’s eyes widened, his voice trembling, “The highest ruling stratum of the Demon Tuo Empire are all blood-drinking demon races, and the Demon Emperor Dimo Tuo is a blood-drinking monarch! In the barbaric world, the blood-drinking demon race is the most powerful, most evil race.”