Old Demon Nightmare's words resonated somewhat with Tang Wulin. He felt as if he'd grasped the nature of this stint of military training, but he couldn't quite articulate it into words.

Tang Wulin handed the jar over to Ye Xinglan. "You guys apply it first; I'll stand on lookout." At this moment, the pain that he was experiencing wasn't as intense anymore, so he was able to struggle to his feet. On this occasion, he didn't dare to get careless at all. He summoned his Golden Dragon Spear, and appraised his surroundings in a cautious manner.

Within a cave.

Old Demon Nightmare emerged out of thin air, and there was a massive crystal ball with a diameter of around a meter within the cave. The images being displayed within the crystal ball were none other than a live broadcast of Tang Wulin and his friends.

Old Devil Scourge stood in front of the crystal ball and clicked his tongue with sympathy. "You really are far too cruel. Didn't we agree to go easier on them? How can you be so cruel from the get-go? What if they break down right away? We won't have any toys to play with then."

Old Demon Nightmare scoffed, "Don't try to act like the good guy here; I know how excited you're getting from watching this! The difficulty of the training has to be adjusted according to the situation. Those little guys were able to make it into the valley through their own power, so they must have very good physical resistance and tolerance. We should try and ascertain where their limits lie so we can tailor a training regimen specifically for them. Come to think of it, they really are laughably naive, though; they believe everything I say."

Old Demon Scourge chuckled, "The neurotoxin wears off in only an hour, but you told them that its effects last for two hours; what did you give them just now?"

A sinister smile appeared on Old Demon Nightmare's face. "You'll find out very soon."

Tang Wulin was the last one to apply the ointment in the jar, and following its application, an indescribably comfortable and refreshing sensation settled over his skin. The wounds on their bodies had already become red and swollen from the intense agony they were suffering, but after applying the ointment, the redness and swelling quickly disappeared.

Xu Lizhi, Xie Xie, Ye Xinglan, and Yue Zhengyu had already sat up with relieved expressions on their faces.

Right at this moment, Ye Xinglan, who had applied the ointment first, gently twisted her body from side to side. "It feels a little itchy; is the injury healing already? This is some fast-acting ointment!"

Her voice had only just trailed off when a peculiar expression also appeared on Xu Lizhi's face. "It DOES feel a little itchy."

He gently scratched the area around his injury, and as soon as he did so, the itchiness intensified drastically, causing his body to writhe uncontrollably with discomfort.

"It's so itchy!"

Tang Wulin's expression changed drastically. Could the ointment have been responsible for this?

Several minutes later, an unbearable itch had manifested itself all around his injury, and it was so intense that he would tear himself apart just to rid himself of that torturous sensation.

He couldn't help but claw at his own body, quickly tearing through his own clothes and drawing blood with his nails.

Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and withstood the itchy sensation through his astonishing mental fortitude, and he immediately summoned a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines that latched onto his friends' hands and feet, thereby preventing them from scratching their injuries.

"Boss, let me scratch it! I can't take this anymore!" Xu Lizhi yelled.

A series of anguished howls rang out, and this was far more torturous than the pain they'd experienced earlier. In comparison, pain was easier to withstand, but itchiness was a different story entirely.

The extreme itchy sensation made everyone's bodies spasm uncontrollably, and Tang Wulin took a deep breath as his body trembled slightly. At the same time, he released more Bluesilver Emperor vines, jamming them into his friends' mouths on this occasion to prevent them from biting off their tongue in agony.

This wasn't military training; this was inhumane torture! It was no wonder that they were referring to themselves as demons; that was exactly what they were!

The extreme itchiness had everyone constantly spasming violently, and the torturous sensation only began to fade after about half an hour had passed. At that point, everyone was looking like floundering fish that had spent too long out of water. In particular, Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan were in the worst condition. Following that ordeal, it almost looked as if Xu Lizhi had lost a noticeable amount of weight.

Tang Wulin was gasping for breath, and only then did he untie his Bluesilver Emperor vines from his friends' bodies before gathering them around him.

Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan were deathly pale, and were in a semi-unconscious state. Xie Xie was in slightly better condition than them, and was leaning against Yuanen Yehui's body. Yue Zhengyu's face was also very pale as he held Xu Xiaoyan in his arms. Under normal conditions, he wouldn't be in such a sorry state, but due to his recent overexertion of life force energy, his physical resistance had been severely hampered.

Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui had managed to remain conscious, but their bodies were trembling slightly and would spasm violently from time to time.

Tang Wulin held his Golden Dragon Spear and took one deep breath after another, absorbing the life force energy in the air to replenish his energy. As the captain, he couldn't afford to fall. He still had to protect his friends.

It had to be said that Old Demon Nightmare had taught them an unforgettable lesson, which was that no one could be easily trusted, and that it was important to be constantly alert.

"Not bad, you all did better than I expected. You must be hungry, right? Here, have some food." Old Demon Nightmare emerged from out of thin air again, carrying a huge box of food in his hand. He made his way over to Tang Wulin and the others before opening the box, revealing eight compartments, all of which were filled with all types of delicious foods.

He placed the food before them in a very natural manner before giving them a faint smile. After extending an inviting hand gesture, he turned around and disappeared.

Tang Wulin's heart trembled slightly at the sight of the food placed before them. He loved to eat, and he'd expended so much energy earlier, so he was absolutely ravenous. In the face of so much delicious food, he was struck by the impulsive urge to pounce like a madman.

However, could he really do that? God knew whether these foods had been poisoned. They had just endured extremely horrendous torture, and if they were to be put through even more torment, there was a good chance that everyone would break down.

As such, regardless of how appealing the food looked, it had to be left alone. Tang Wulin's heart was constantly telling him that surely this wouldn't be another round of torture, so this food had to be free from poison, but if he were to believe Nightmare again on this occasion, what would happen next time? Who knew when the next test would come?

After taking a deep breath, Tang Wulin said, "From now on, don't touch anything that Nightmare gives to us. Everyone, remain alert and replenish your energy as quickly as possible; I'll keep a lookout while all of you rest. If you're hungry, then have some food from your storage soul tools. After Lizhi recovers, he can make some buns for all of us."

Ye Xinglan nodded as starlight flashed in her hands, and specks of starlight descended, tearing all of the food into shreds.

Tang Wulin exchanged a glance with her, and he knew that she was doing this to strengthen their conviction.

"Wasting food is an abhorrent sin! I swear on my reputation that this food wasn't tampered with! You're all being far too sensitive." Old Demon Nightmare's mocking voice rang out.

Tang Wulin remained unconvinced. "Your reputation was swept to the ground from the moment you gave us that 'antidote'. From now on, we won't believe anything you say. The objective of this military training is to survive here for two years, and we'll do so through our own power, so there's no need for you to worry about us."

Within a cave.

"They caught on so quickly? And they seem very determined," Old Demon Scourge mused with a surprised look on his face.

Old Demon Nightmare shrugged in response. "So what? This is only the beginning. We've only served them an appetizer, and the main course is yet to come."

With Tang Wulin on lookout duty, all of his friends gradually recovered their energy and soul power. Old Demon Nightmare didn't appear again, and they rested in shifts. With the Recovery Pork Buns being produced by Xu Lizhi, all of them were able to recover to their peak condition.

This was the good thing about having a food system Soul Master among their ranks; they would never run out of food.