In the early morning, before dawn, Tang Wen stood once again in front of the hanging yellow paper.
Last night, he had a dream about a martial arts competition and the Black Mountain Camp, which greatly increased his unease.
As his captain, if Zhou Bing were to participate in the competition, would she go alone or would the entire squad go?
Tang Wen was certain it would be the latter.
Even middle school students know to call more people when fighting over a girlfriend.
How much more so in a life-and-death struggle between factions? Surely they wouldn't just send a few people alone.
He must master the Cannon Fist as soon as possible to improve his strength.
After breaking 100 sheets of yellow paper under his sister's displeased gaze, Tang Wen put on his weighted vest, spread his legs slightly, and began practicing the Eight Section Brocade.
After completing one round, he looked at his panel:
[Eight Section Brocade, Proficient (5213→5227/6000)]
Not bad!
Recently, practicing the Vajra Skill had been yielding very little experience.
Tang Wen wondered if he could increase the difficulty by wearing weights all over his body.
Now, it seemed feasible.
He practiced the Eight Section Brocade over and over again.
As the sun rose, the temperature gradually increased.
After washing up, he headed to the camp.
He had breakfast and then practiced the earth fire stance to Enter Stillness.
For most people, practicing the earth fire stance had significant limitations. Even someone as strong as Zhou Bing could only Enter Stillness for a little over half an hour each day.
Forcing it further would cause temple pain and risk mental damage.
But Tang Wen was different. His mental strength was sufficient to allow him to practice for most of the morning.
By around 10 a.m., everyone from Hunting Squad One, except Zhou Bing, had arrived at the camp to train.
"Little Tang, come help!"
It was Wu Tian, who was carrying a massive saber on one shoulder, staggering with each step, clearly struggling with the weight.
Tang Wen quickly stepped forward, using both hands to take one of the sabers.
Wu Tian muttered, "I forgot to call you to come along. So, can you swing a 100-pound heavy saber?"
"Shall we spar?"
"Spar? This damn saber is front-heavy and back-light. You'll need to be able to swing it through a complete set of saber techniques before we can even think about sparring!"
"Alright." Tang Wen carried the saber to an open area.
He noticed that everyone seemed particularly motivated to train today.
When he casually asked about it, Wu Tian looked at him in surprise: "Didn't the captain tell you? We're going to have another competition with the Black Mountain Devil! Our captain will be participating, and we'll have to go too."
Just as he thought, Tang Wen's heart sank: "Even if we're not competing, is there still danger?"
"Danger? Hah, at least ten or eight of us will die."
"Don't be nervous, more will be injured. No, I mean, more of them will die! We'll manage a two-to-one ratio."
"..."
Tang Wen didn't say anything more. He picked up the heavy saber and began practicing with great effort.
[Wind-splitting Saber, Proficient (2717→2721/3000)]
Four points gained—not bad.
For a Proficient-level skill, simply practicing once usually doesn't yield any experience.
If it weren't for daily sparring with the hunting squad, it would have taken at least a year to reach this level with the Wind-splitting Saber.
Two hours later, Wu Tian rubbed his shoulders and headed home.
If he trained any longer, he wouldn't recover by tomorrow.
Before leaving, he saw Tang Wen using Flying Stones to hit arrows shot by Li Mingming.
He couldn't help but curse, "That freak kid!"
Liu Su, after finishing his spear practice, also cursed under his breath as he left, seeing Tang Wen still full of energy.
One by one, the members of Hunting Squad One finished their training and went home.
Only two archers remained, taking turns to practice "Flying Stones" with Tang Wen.
Buzz!
The bowstring twanged as Tang Wen aimed at the white feathers on the tail of the arrow.
Whoosh!
He missed.
Eight out of ten times, he missed.
The efficiency of his training was a bit low.
The arrows shot from a 60-pound strong bow had an initial velocity that was too fast.
Moreover, the archer was randomly choosing directions.
If the difficulty was too high, it didn't matter; he could just lower it.
Tang Wen discussed this with Li Mingming.
The latter brought out a 30-pound short bow.
Buzz, the bowstring vibrated, and the arrow was released.
Whoosh, thud!
The Flying Stone successfully hit the tail of the arrow, knocking it to the ground.
[Flying Stone, Proficient (2949→2951/3000)]
"Not bad."
After 15 arrows, the Flying Stone hit 7 times.
The efficiency was decent, and the experience increased by 14 points.
Seeing that he was about to break through, Li Mingming rubbed his sore arm and said, "You're too much of a freak, let's continue tomorrow."
Tang Wen smiled and didn't push further.
He looked at the other archer, Li Yang.
Li Yang, who had also been training all morning, picked up his bow with a bitter smile and practiced 20 arrows with Tang Wen.
The Flying Stone hit 9 times.
[Flying Stone, Proficient (2984/3000)]
Breakthrough was imminent, but Li Yang also couldn't draw the bow anymore.
With both archers gone, only Tang Wen remained in the training yard.
He simply closed the door, hung up yellow paper and parchment, and started practicing his punches.
From afternoon to evening, the panel didn't give any information.
Hmm, maybe he needed to change his training method?
Tang Wen went to the canteen, ate a meat pie as big as a round table and an inch thick, and left the camp with a burp.
On the way, he picked his teeth and thought, for a whole week, dinner had been meat pies.
The variety of food in the canteen was a bit lacking.
Maybe he should take some time to guide the chef and make some Meat Buns?
The camp also grew sweet potatoes, so they could make noodles.
Passing by the butcher shop, a strong smell of blood wafted over; the owner was at the door, announcing that he had just slaughtered a fat pig.
Tang Wen walked over, picked out fifty pounds of pork belly, and bought another fifty pounds of pure white fat, stuffing them into a sack before leisurely heading home.
"Usually, it's just me eating at home, why buy so much meat?"
Tang Tang looked at her brother with the eyes of someone looking at a spendthrift: I eat at home alone, you have no idea how much I save. A balanced meal of meat and vegetables is enough to fill me up.
Tang Wen smiled and said, "Sis, I want you to try making a snack."
The big sister narrowed her eyes, becoming wary: "A snack? What kind of snack? Didn't you eat enough at the canteen?"
"Well, sis, although we have some money, moving to the inner city and you wanting to join a martial arts school, the money definitely won't be enough. We lack a stable source of income. Why not make some snacks, sell them, and maybe earn some money."
"Earn money? You mean earn Foxtail millet? Can I earn too?" Tang Tang's eyes sparkled.
"You should be able to."
Tang Tang automatically ignored the word "should" and eagerly pulled her brother, saying, "Quick, tell me, how can we earn?"
Tang Wen roughly explained to his sister the methods of making Meat Buns and noodles.
Meat Buns weren't difficult.
The tricky part of the noodles was the alum, but it was available in the inner city pharmacy and wasn't expensive.
He knew how to make noodles because, as a child in his hometown, he had seen a neighbor make noodles using a traditional method, with sweet potatoes as the raw material.
Tang Tang carefully noted down each step.
When recording the alum, she intuitively summarized, "Buy more alum at once, store it for later use, hopefully, these noodles will taste good."
She was full of energy.
Three days passed in a flash.
In the training yard of the camp.
Tang Wen looked at the information [Flying Stone, Mastery (3000/3000)] and couldn't help but frown.
The Flying Stone had been stuck for two days.
No matter how much he practiced, there was no sign of a breakthrough.
Li Mingming looked at him and laughed, "You kid, don't be ungrateful. With your Flying Stone and your strength, even against a fully armored opponent, you can still deal significant damage. What more are you dissatisfied with?"
Tang Wen shook his head with a bitter smile.
He practiced diligently every day, and Li Mingming had a good impression of him, continuing to advise, "Alright, kid, take a break and come see my special move."
"Special move?"
Tang Wen became interested, after all, he also practiced archery.
Li Mingming drew three arrows, and with a buzz, the bowstring vibrated, three arrows in rapid succession!
The three arrows hit the target almost simultaneously.
"Great!"
"Impressive!"
Everyone clapped and praised, and Li Yang also cast an envious glance.
As an archer himself, he could only shoot two arrows in succession.
Tang
Wen's heart stirred: if arrows can be shot in succession, so can Flying Stones!
At that moment, he saw Li Mingming draw a Spiral Arrow, the arrow whistling sharply as it shot out, and with a hiss, the Spiral Force pierced through the half-foot-thick wooden target wrapped in iron.
"Spiral Arrow?" Tang Wen's eyes flashed.
(End of Chapter)