Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 78 Leaving a Legacy of Kindness

Fortunately, Zhou Ye remained relatively clear-headed despite the generous compensation.

The fact that so much could be offered as compensation suggests that it couldn't have been decided by a young girl like Dujuan; there must be some old man behind it.

In fact, Du Keyuan's meaning was quite clear. On one hand, it did indeed imply compensation; but on the other hand, it gave a hint—hoping that Zhou Ye would go to the martial arts school less often in the future, and preferably have less contact with Du Juan.

Anyway, I've already given you the cultivation method and the martial arts skills, so why don't you practice martial arts at home?

Perhaps it was Du Juan's sense of guilt that made Du Keyuan unwilling to let his granddaughter ruin her martial arts mindset, so the old man simply spent money to avoid trouble.

Ultimately, Du Keyuan didn't really pay anything. Aside from the two mid-grade Qi and Blood Pills, all the other cultivation techniques and martial arts skills could be learned for a fee. Martial arts schools are open to students; they're not inactive businesses. To put it bluntly, they simply collected a little less tuition.

Since that's the case, then we shouldn't refuse the old man's... Dujuan's good intentions. Otherwise, we'll just needlessly create animosity.

To be honest, Zhou Ye didn't want to cause any more trouble, so let's just leave it at that!

"Junior Sister, could we switch from the Wind and Thunder Blade to spear techniques?" Zhou Ye suddenly remembered that he still had a Black Dragon Spear. Moreover, in close combat, a spear could keep the enemy several feet away, making it relatively safer.

"Sure." Seeing Zhou Ye agree, Du Juan smiled brightly. "I'll change it to the Wind and Thunder Spear for you right away."

"By the way, junior sister, let's keep things separate. I'm here today to pay my tuition for the next six months. Oh, and give me three more bottles of low-grade Qi and Blood Pills."

"Oh?" Du Juan exclaimed with delight. "Senior Brother A-Ye, are you still planning to stay at the martial arts school?"

"Why not?" Zhou Ye laughed. "When my junior sister becomes famous throughout the martial arts world, I, as her senior brother, will also have a lot of face, right?"

What Zhou Ye really wanted was to remain affiliated with the Fenglei Martial Arts School. To the outside world, he would still be a disciple of the school. Although he would try to avoid appearing at the school as much as possible, he would still maintain a connection. And within the school, there were quite a few senior disciples like him.

Du Juan covered her mouth and giggled. Perhaps the little girl hadn't thought that far ahead: "That's great! Senior Brother A-Ye, then... then will we still be friends?"

"Of course! We're definitely good friends! Hehe."

"..."

Back home, Zhou Ye couldn't help but recall the incident, and he still felt both amused and exasperated.

Life is unpredictable! Accidents can happen anywhere!

Now I have an additional skill: Wind and Thunder Technique. This is the follow-up technique to the Lesser Wind and Thunder Stance, which can only be practiced after reaching the Ming Jin stage.

There's also the Wind and Thunder Spear, a second-rate martial art. However, given the system's nature, I'll definitely need to start practicing from the basics of a third-rate one.

The distinction between first-rate, second-rate, and third-rate martial arts skills doesn't have many limitations in terms of skill level. As long as one reaches the "entering the realm of internal strength," even an ordinary person can generally learn martial arts. At most, without the support of proper techniques, one might end up with flashy but ineffective moves. As for the level of martial arts mastery, it's simply a matter of the magnitude of power. However, the foundational stage cannot be omitted. There is absolutely no way to reach the pinnacle in one step.

Such a thing would never happen under normal circumstances: someone who has only practiced first-rate martial arts for a few days thinks he can defeat an opponent who has been practicing third-rate martial arts for over a decade.

However, since his third-rate martial arts skills no longer offer entry-level rewards, they're not very meaningful. The only guaranteed reward is a minimum of one free attribute point upon reaching the maximum level, but that's a long way off.

As for the Immaculate Glazed Skill? It's actually a body tempering method. Judging from the name, it should originate from Buddhist body tempering methods.

However, Buddhist body tempering methods have very distinct characteristics—they can use auxiliary medicines, medicinal baths, etc., or they can be used without them. It's a body tempering method for the poor. Moreover, the practice is extremely painful, and ordinary people would find it difficult to endure.

I don't know what kind of perverse pleasure those monks have, they just like to make themselves suffer.

Therefore, although the Immaculate Glazed Tile Skill is a top-tier martial art, very few people practice it. This is because it is extremely painful. However, since the poor have few other options, it becomes the most suitable choice.

However, one shouldn't bite off more than one can chew. Zhou Ye already possessed quite a few martial arts techniques. Therefore, after a brief review, he temporarily set these two techniques aside.

Let's not worry about that for now. There seems to be a lot going on lately, and Zhou Ye needs to sort things out.

The first priority is making money. Financial resources, companions, methods, and location are all quite important.

In the small enclosure, there's still a second batch of over 20,000 jin (approximately 10,000 kg) of salted fish and meat, which can be processed gradually. However, the profits from ordinary wild animals are no longer significant, so there's no need for dedicated hunting in the future.

Let's divide the hunting season into spring and autumn/winter. Hunting will be the primary activity, supplemented by herb gathering. The remaining six months or so will then be dedicated to intense, dedicated work.

Furthermore, during the hunt, you can also hone your martial arts skills and gain a lot of experience points.

So, from now on, it should be the spring hunting season?

At this stage, it's hard to say how many monsters you'll catch; it all depends on luck.

However, you must max out the Ten Forms of Swordsmanship. Also, level up the Thread-Pulling Hand technique to Minor Mastery. Since the Basic Throwing skill has already been integrated into Thread-Pulling Hand, you only need a dozen or so experience points to reach Minor Mastery, which should be achievable.

Especially with the max level of the Ten Sword Techniques, there should be 3 free attribute points out of the 5 points awarded for reaching the maximum level, right? That would accumulate another 5 free attribute points, allowing my constitution to increase by another +1...

In that case, let's get ready to head to our little home!

……

Two months later, at a temporary camp outside the Black Forest.

Zhou Ye was quite satisfied with this hunting season. He hunted down three demonic beasts, one of which was at the mid-stage of the Qi Refining realm. He obtained a batch of demonic beast materials and less than 400 jin of demonic beast meat.

To be honest, monster meat is more valuable. Salted meat made from this batch of monster meat can sell for at least 200 taels.

In addition, there were herbs. There were more than twenty high-value herbs, and more than a dozen other items were collected incidentally. Most of them have already been moved back to the small farm.

What's even more gratifying is that all the goals of this martial arts training have been achieved.

The Silk-Pulling Hand technique has reached a minor mastery level, and the Ten Forms of Military Swordsmanship have also reached the maximum level. Furthermore, the maximum level reward has been obtained: Strength +1, Agility +1, and 3 free attribute points.

However, now there is a happy problem.

After fusing the basic shield bash and the ten forms of military swordsmanship, Zhou Ye was surprised to find that new content appeared on the panel, changing it to "Military Swordsmanship and Shield Techniques." And then a "+" appeared next to it?

With just 2 free attribute points, you can upgrade it to a second-rate martial art—Intermediate Military Sword and Shield Technique?

This made Zhou Ye hesitate, wondering which subject he should add first.