[First year of practicing the saber: You focused on chopping firewood, splitting a hundred logs a day until it became second nature.]
...
[Third year of practicing the saber: You slashed at a waterfall ten thousand times and finally saw some results.]
[Name: Bai Yuan]
[Class: Hunter, Swordsman]
[Skills: Cleave (Proficient), Tracking (Proficient), Archery (Proficient), Trapping (Novice), Tiger-Crane Form]
[Enhancement Points: 12]
After raising the Swordsman's Cleave skill to Proficient, Bai Yuan had 12 Enhancement Points remaining.
Naturally, he had to make the most of them.
Bai Yuan knew exactly how to allocate his points. He'd been through this countless times and knew the optimal choice for every step.
[Skill Gained!]
[Hack][Upward Slash]
This time, Bai Yuan chose the Upward Slash. Paired with Cleave, it formed a nice little combo he had used many times before. It was very effective.
[You practice the Upward Slash, a technique where the blade moves from low to high. After a year of hard training, you have made some progress.]
[You practice your Upward Slash on trees every day, felling over a hundred trunks.]
...
[After four years of practicing the Upward Slash, you have finally achieved proficiency.]
[Name: Bai Yuan]
[Class: Hunter, Swordsman]
[Skills: Cleave (Proficient), Upward Slash (Proficient), Hack (Novice), Tracking (Proficient), Archery (Proficient), Trapping (Novice), Tiger-Crane Form]
[Enhancement Points: 0]
Bai Yuan had used his Enhancement Points to their absolute limit.
Not only had he raised both Cleave and Upward Slash to the Proficient level, but he also had just enough to unlock Hack at the Novice level.
With that, he had finally become a proper, fledgling Swordsman.
Too bad he didn't have a saber...
The dagger he'd gotten from Zhao Si Hu could pass for a saber in a pinch, but its lethality was far inferior to a standard long saber.
"Uncle, you seem... different."
While Bai Yuan was allocating his points, Xiao Qiaoniang had cooked him a bowl of meat porridge.
It was a thick stew of sorghum flour he'd bought in the city, mixed with wild greens and pheasant, and its rich, meaty aroma filled the entire room.
Xiao Qiaoniang held the bowl of porridge, looking at Bai Yuan with a hint of surprise.
Now that he was a Swordsman, he possessed a sharp, murderous aura that no ordinary farmer could ever have.
As a gentle woman, Xiao Qiaoniang was sensitive to such an aggressive presence and noticed the change in him immediately.
Bai Yuan was secretly pleased. 'My saber techniques are truly showing results.'
After raising his Cleave and Upward Slash skills to Proficient, it was as if he had genuinely practiced for ten years. A tough callus had even formed in the webbing between the thumb and index finger of his right hand—the mark of a seasoned swordsman.
The reason he'd been reluctant to spend Enhancement Points on the Swordsman class before was that its skills only became effective after reaching the Proficient level.
When he had first arrived in this world, he was nothing but a useless punk. Where was he supposed to get a dozen or so Enhancement Points? The Hunter skills had been a much more practical choice back then.
"Uncle, eat your porridge first."
"You're too good to me, Sister-in-law."
Xiao Qiaoniang didn't dwell on it, assuming her eyes were playing tricks on her. She handed the porridge to Bai Yuan.
Bai Yuan accepted the bowl and began to eat with large spoonfuls.
He was truly famished.
The bowl of meat porridge tasted exceptionally delicious.
Seeing that Bai Yuan was all right, Xiao Qiaoniang began to speak, "Sister Chen told me that a lady from a wealthy family in the city likes my handiwork. She asked if I'd be willing to work in the city. I could earn a lot more copper plates."
She stole a glance at Bai Yuan. It was only after learning that her brother-in-law wanted to join a Martial Arts Hall that she had sought out the Chen Family's women to find this money-making opportunity.
Bai Yuan paused mid-bite.
"Sister-in-law, I've almost saved up enough for the Martial Arts Hall's tuition."
He took out the two taels of crushed silver he had taken from the bearded man.
Combined with the one hundred cents Xiao Qiaoniang had saved up, he just needed to sell a few more days' worth of game, and they'd have enough.
Xiao Qiaoniang stared at the silver nuggets in Bai Yuan's hand, covering her mouth in astonishment.
Two taels of silver was no small sum for a family like theirs. It would take them years to save that much.
Clearly, this silver was connected to the wound on Bai Yuan's shoulder.
She didn't know what he had done, but that didn't stop her from feeling a pang of concern for the family's pillar of support.
Bai Yuan put down his bowl and said seriously,
"Sister-in-law, things in the city are too complicated. Go find Sister Chen tomorrow and turn down that job."
"Mm, I'll do whatever you say, Uncle."
Xiao Qiaoniang hummed softly and nodded obediently.
"Sister-in-law, give me a little more time. Once I've saved up the tuition and entered the Martial Arts Hall's Outer Courtyard, we'll move into the city."
Bai Yuan promised her solemnly.
After spending so much time together, their bond had gradually deepened.
A look of hope appeared on Xiao Qiaoniang's face.
'Moving into the city...'
It was the lifelong dream of so many poor people in Baisha Town. She'd heard the Chen Family's women say that the roads on the east side of the city were paved with bluestone slabs. 'How many silver coins must that have cost?'
...
After becoming a Swordsman, Bai Yuan's body grew more and more robust.
Under Xiao Qiaoniang's attentive care, he was back to his vigorous self within a few days.
For the past few days, he had been keeping a close watch for any reaction from the Iron Saber Gang.
He had killed their bearded member and stolen the item they were after; the Iron Saber Gang would certainly not let the matter rest.
But several days passed without the slightest response from them.
...
Meanwhile, at the Iron Saber Gang headquarters in Qinghe County.
CRASH!
A teacup shattered on the floor, thrown by the elderly man in black who had led the hunt for Peng Lianbao. His expression was utterly foul.
"Search! Even if you have to tear this place apart, find that bow-wielding Martial Artist for me!"
This was Han Tie, the Vice Gang Leader of the Iron Saber Gang.
He was the one in charge of hunting down Peng Lianbao.
Peng Lianbao had been killed by an expert archer of unknown origin, and the Tiger-Crane Form Cultivation Technique had vanished along with him.
Days went by. The Iron Saber Gang had investigated every known archery expert around Qinghe County, but still found no leads.
Han Tie, who had been relatively calm until now, finally began to panic.
In a few months, the Divine Mansion Sect would be sending representatives to Qinghe County to recruit disciples.
They would surely ask about this matter. If he couldn't provide a satisfactory explanation to the Divine Mansion Sect, not even the Gang Leader of the Iron Saber Gang could protect him.
In Huanglong Prefecture, the Divine Mansion Sect's word was law. Not even the Xuan Yang Court dared to interfere in their affairs.
It was true that the land belonged to the Xuanyang Dynasty.
But that came with a major caveat: co-rule with the great sects of the realm.
The common folk of Xuan Yang all understood one truth: dynasties were like flowing water, but the sects were forged from iron.
Sects like the Divine Mansion Sect had existed for even longer than the Xuanyang Dynasty itself; their foundations were unfathomably deep.
Kyushu was vast—so vast that not even the Grand Ancestor Emperor, who had lived for six hundred years, could fully control it.
Furthermore, that Grand Ancestor Emperor had possessed immense foresight and a bold spirit, which had led to the current state of affairs.
History had proven the Grand Ancestor Emperor's methods to be incomparably wise.
The Xuan Yang Dynasty had now stood for two thousand years—longer than any dynasty before it—and even now showed no signs of decline.
The Iron Saber Gang would rather offend the County Magistrate's Office a thousand times over than dare to provoke the Divine Mansion Sect.