In the predawn hours, before the sky had brightened, Tang Wen stood once again before the hanging sheets of Yellow Paper.
Last night, he had dreamed of the competition, of Black Mountain Camp. The unease in his heart swelled.
If Zhou Bing, his captain, was going to the competition, would she go alone, or would the entire team have to go?
Tang Wen figured it had to be the latter.
Even middle schoolers knew to call for backup when they got into a gang fight over a girl.
So for a life-or-death struggle between factions, would they really send just a few people out on their own?
'I have to master Cannon Fist as soon as possible and increase my strength.'
After shattering 100 sheets of Yellow Paper under his sister's displeased gaze, Tang Wen put on the Weighted Clothing, spread his feet slightly, and began practicing the Eight Vajra Techniques.
Once he finished a set, he looked at his Panel:
[Eight Vajra Techniques, Mastery (5213→5227/6000)]
'The results are good!'
Lately, practicing the Vajra Technique had been yielding very little experience.
Tang Wen had been wondering if he could wear weights all over his body to increase the difficulty.
Now, it seemed, that was a viable option.
He practiced the Eight Vajra Techniques again and again.
As the sun began to rise, the temperature slowly climbed.
He washed up, dried himself off, and headed to the camp.
He ate breakfast and practiced Earth Fire Pile Meditation.
Ordinary people faced significant limitations when practicing the Earth Fire Stance. Even someone as strong as Zhou Bing could only maintain Meditation for a little over half an hour each day.
Pushing any further would cause a throbbing pain in their temples and could easily damage their spirit.
But Tang Wen was different. His Spiritual Power was enough to support him for the better part of a morning.
A little after ten in the morning, everyone from Hunting Team One, except for Zhou Bing, gradually arrived at the camp to train.
"Xiaotang, come help!"
It was Wu Tian. He was carrying a massive blade on his shoulder, and with each trembling step, it was clear the weapon was incredibly heavy.
Tang Wen hurried forward and, using both hands, took one of them.
Wu Tian muttered, "I forgot to ask you to come with me, kid. What do you think? It's a 100-jin Heavy Blade. Think you can swing it?"
"Are we going to spar?"
"Spar? Forget sparring. This damn thing is front-heavy. See if you can even complete a full Sword Skill routine with it first!"
"Alright." Tang Wen said, carrying the blade to an empty spot.
He noticed that everyone was training with exceptional enthusiasm today.
When he asked about it, Wu Tian looked at him in surprise. "The captain didn't tell you? We have another competition with the Black Mountain Ghosts! Our captain has to fight, which means we have to go too."
'So it's true,' Tang Wen's heart sank a little. "We don't have to fight, but it's still dangerous?"
"Dangerous? Heh, at least eight or ten people will die."
"Don't be nervous. Even more will be crippled. No, I mean, more of *them* will die! We can usually manage a two-for-one kill ratio."
"..."
Tang Wen didn't say another word. He took up the Heavy Blade and began to practice with great effort.
[Wind-breaking Blade, Mastery (2717→2721/3000)]
'A four-point increase. Not bad.'
For a Master Level Skill, simply running through the motions once basically wouldn't increase its experience anymore.
If he hadn't been doing Sword Practice with the Hunting Team every day, it would have taken at least a year for his Wind-breaking Blade experience to reach its current level.
Two hours later, Wu Tian went home, rubbing his shoulders.
If he trained any longer, he wouldn't recover by tomorrow.
Before leaving, he watched Tang Wen using Flying Stones to intercept the arrows shot by Li Mingming.
He couldn't help but curse, "Freakish kid!"
After finishing his spear practice, Liu Su saw the still-energetic Tang Wen and also left, muttering curses.
One by one, the members of Hunting Team One finished their training and went home.
Only two Archers remained, taking turns helping Tang Wen practice his "Flying Stone" skill.
TWANG!
As the bowstring vibrated, Tang Wen took aim at the white fletching on the arrow's tail and threw.
WHOOSH!
A miss.
He was missing eight out of ten times.
'The training efficiency is a bit low.'
The arrows shot from the 60-jin Strong Bow had too high an initial velocity.
On top of that, the archer was shooting in random directions.
'The difficulty is too high? No problem, just lower it.'
Tang Wen discussed it with Li Mingming.
The latter took out a 30-jin Short Bow.
TWANG! The bowstring vibrated as an arrow was loosed.
WHOOSH—CRACK!
The Flying Stone successfully struck the tail of the arrow, knocking it to the ground.
[Flying Locust Stone, Mastery (2949→2951/3000)]
"Not bad."
After 15 arrows, his Flying Stones had hit their mark 7 times.
The efficiency was impressive, and his experience had increased by 14 points.
Seeing that Tang Wen was on the verge of a breakthrough, Li Mingming rubbed his sore arm and said, "You're too much of a monster, kid. Let's continue tomorrow."
Tang Wen just smiled and didn't insist.
He looked toward the other Archer, Li Yang.
Li Yang, who had also been training all morning, picked up his Bow and Arrow with a wry smile and helped Tang Wen practice for another 20 shots.
The Flying Stones hit 9 times.
[Flying Locust Stone, Mastery (2984/3000)]
A breakthrough was imminent, but Li Yang could no longer draw his bow.
The two Archers left, leaving Tang Wen alone in the Training Hall.
He simply closed the door and hung up sheets of Yellow Paper and Kraft Paper.
He began practicing his Fist Force, his punches landing with a series of sharp cracks.
From afternoon until evening, the Panel showed no new information.
'Hmm, maybe I need to try a different training method?'
Tang Wen went to the canteen, ate a meat patty as large as a round table and an inch thick, and left the camp, letting out a satisfied burp.
On the way, he picked his teeth and thought, 'It's been nothing but meat patties for dinner for a whole week.'
'The variety of food in the canteen is a bit lacking.'
'Maybe I should find some time to teach the head chef how to make something like roujiamo?'
'They also grow sweet potatoes in the camp, so we could make vermicelli too.'
As he passed a butcher shop, the thick smell of blood wafted out. The owner was at the entrance, calling out that he had just slaughtered a fat pig.
Tang Wen went over, picked out fifty jin of pork belly, and bought another fifty jin of pure white fat. He packed it all into a burlap sack and walked home at a leisurely pace.
"I'm usually the only one eating at home. Why did you buy so much meat?"
Tangtang looked at her younger brother as if he were a spendthrift. 'When I eat at home by myself, you have no idea how frugal I am. A balanced meal of meat and vegetables is all I need to feel full.'
Tang Wen smiled. "Sis, I want you to try making a snack."
His sister's big eyes narrowed warily. "A snack? What kind of snack? Didn't you get enough to eat at the canteen?"
"Well, Sis, we may have some money on hand, but it's definitely not enough to move into the Inner City and for you to open a Martial Arts Hall. We need a stable source of income. I was thinking, why not make snacks and sell them? We might be able to earn some money."
"Earn money? You mean earn millet? I can earn it too?" Tangtang's eyes lit up.
"You should be able to."
Tangtang automatically ignored the word "should," grabbed her brother, and asked urgently, "Quick, tell me! How do we earn it?"
Tang Wen gave his sister a rough explanation of how to make roujiamo and vermicelli.
The roujiamo wasn't very difficult.
The tricky part about the vermicelli was the alum, but it was available at the pharmacies in the Inner City and wasn't expensive.
He knew how to make vermicelli because he had seen his neighbors back in his hometown make it using a traditional method when he was a child. The main ingredient was sweet potatoes.
Tangtang carefully wrote down every step.
When she got to the part about alum, she came to a conclusion all on her own. "I'll buy a lot of alum at once and use it slowly. I hope this vermicelli turns out delicious."
She was full of motivation.
「Three days passed in a flash.」
In the camp's Training Hall, Tang Wen frowned as he looked at the information on his panel: [Flying Locust Stone, Mastery (3000/3000)].
His Flying Locust Stone skill had been stuck for two days.
No matter how he practiced, there was no sign of a breakthrough.
Li Mingming looked at him and laughed. "Don't be so insatiable, kid. With your strength, your Flying Locust Stone can cause significant damage even against an opponent in full Iron Armor. What more could you be unsatisfied with?"
Tang Wen just shook his head and gave a wry smile.
Seeing his relentless daily practice, Li Mingming had a good impression of him and continued to console him. "Alright, kid, take a break and come watch my special move."
"Special move?"
Tang Wen's interest was piqued. After all, he practiced archery too.
Li Mingming drew three arrows. TWANG! TWANG! TWANG! The bowstring vibrated as he unleashed a three-arrow volley!
The three arrows struck the target almost simultaneously.
"Nice!"
"Amazing!"
The crowd applauded in praise, and even Li Yang looked on with envy.
As a fellow Archer, he could only loose two arrows in succession.
An idea sparked in Tang Wen's mind: 'If you can fire multiple arrows in succession, you can do the same with Flying Locust Stones!'
Just then, he saw Li Mingming draw a Spiral Arrow. The arrow shot out with a piercing whistle. CHUNK! Driven by the Spiral Force, it tore a large hole through the half-foot-thick, iron-plated wooden target.
"A Spiral Arrow?" A glint flashed in Tang Wen's eyes.