"Hiss!"
Zhou Chen was stunned. Such a huge fierce tiger, clearly no ordinary beast, had been killed in a single strike by Zhang Long.
"Is this what a martial artist can do?"
"Terrifying, absolutely terrifying!"
Zhou Chen's heart raced with excitement, though it was a pity that Old Man Cao had never told him anything about martial artists. He didn't know whether Old Man Cao simply hadn't known or had chosen to keep it from him.
Yet if Old Man Cao was truly just an ordinary person, perhaps he really had no idea.
Whether in his past life or this world, knowledge and resources were always monopolized by the upper classes. For those at the very bottom, trying to rise above their station was desperately hard.
"The Yi Archery hidden in the sole of Old Man Cao's shoe... that must be a martial arts manual, right?"
"It has to be!"
Zhou Chen prayed silently. If the timing weren't so wrong, he would have taken it out right then and there to inspect it.
"The lord's saber technique is truly formidable!"
"Though this fierce tiger has only just undergone transformation and its strength isn't fully matured, it still counts as a fierce beast. Its meat is exceptionally nourishing, and the lord will surely advance even further!"
Three constables stepped forward, surrounding Zhang Long with flattering smiles.
"No wonder Zhang Long was so eager to head into the mountains to hunt the tiger—he had his eyes on the beast's meat all along!"
Comprehension dawned on Zhou Chen. He stepped up to Zhang Long, wearing an expression of awe and amazement.
"The lord's divine might is truly an eye-opener!"
It wasn't that Zhou Chen was being intentionally sycophantic, but rather that the times demanded it.
To ordinary commoners, human life was as worthless as blades of grass.
If he didn't offer a few flattering words, just in case Zhang Long and his men took a dislike to him and casually struck him down, there would be nowhere for him to seek justice.
Aside from Qin Hongyu, no one in this world would care whether he lived or died.
Even if Zhang Long killed him, no one would pursue the matter.
Even if Qin Hongyu asked questions, Zhang Long could easily dismiss her with a casual remark that he had been eaten by a fierce tiger.
It wouldn't even be out of the ordinary for Zhang Long and his men to fabricate some excuse and seize Qin Hongyu for themselves.
Such was reality.
The authorities had it all their own way; if someone wanted to crush you, it was effortless.
He might have wished to defy the heavens, the earth, and everything in between like protagonists in other stories, but he was certain that if he actually acted like that, he wouldn't survive past the first chapter.
"A mere fierce tiger, nothing worth mentioning. The day is getting late, let's head back!"
Zhang Long sheathed his saber, his expression calm and serene as still water.
Two constables immediately stepped forward to lift the fierce tiger.
Seeing this, Zhou Chen abandoned any thoughts of offering help.
The fierce tiger weighed at least a thousand pounds conservatively, and in these mountain woods, he probably wouldn't even be able to lift it.
"You, lead the way down the mountain!"
Zhang Long ordered Zhou Chen.
"Yes, my lord!"
Zhou Chen hurried forward, guiding the group back.
Zhang Long followed right behind him, while the other three constables took turns carrying the fierce tiger, moving as swiftly as flying even amidst the dense forest trees.
"All three of these constables must have practiced martial arts, otherwise they couldn't possibly have such supernatural strength!"
Zhou Chen glanced back at the constables carrying the tiger who hadn't fallen behind, secretly startled.
"As expected, the ultimate destination of the universe is a government-issued uniform!"
For ordinary people, learning martial arts was exceedingly difficult.
Although Qinghe City had martial arts schools open to all applicants regardless of background, the initial tuition fee alone was twenty taels of silver, and that only covered half a year of instruction.
How much you could actually learn in those six months depended entirely on the individual.
After half a year, if you hadn't mastered it and wanted to continue, you had to pay all over again.
Ordinary people simply couldn't afford to learn.
Zhou Chen didn't look for trouble, such as trying to pick up scraps of the kill; instead, he led Zhang Long and his men straight down the mountain.
As Dahe Village came into view, Zhou Chen couldn't help asking, "My lord, this fierce tiger should have more than one ghost thrall. How come we didn't see the others?"
Aside from Widow Chen, Old Man Qin at the very least must have turned into a ghost thrall.
"This fierce tiger's strength is too weak; its ghost thralls cannot endure direct sunlight and generally stay hidden inside its body during the day."
"The Widow Chen who appeared earlier was hiding in the shadow of a large tree—she was just bait used by the fierce tiger to lure passersby!"
Zhang Long glanced coldly at Zhou Chen and said, "With the death of the fierce tiger, the ghost thralls will also directly scatter into nothingness!"
"I see. Thank you, my lord, for clearing up my confusion!"
Zhou Chen hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
Although Zhang Long seemed cold and aloof, Zhou Chen felt he wasn't doing too badly.
Anyone else might not have even bothered to acknowledge a mud-legged hunter like him.
"The county lieutenant is back!"
Amidst rising shouts and commotion, Zhou Chen realized that quite a few villagers had gathered not far ahead.
Clearly, Village Chief Qin Jianghe had organized the villagers to welcome Zhang Long here.
Qin Hongyu was also in the crowd. Seeing Zhou Chen return safely, her worried pretty face broke into a radiant smile.
"Such a huge fierce tiger!"
"Could this beast have turned into a demon spirit?"
"Is this the very same beast that ate Old Man Qin and Widow Chen?"
Seeing the fierce tiger carried by the two constables, the villagers cried out in astonishment.
Many of them had seen tigers before, but they had never laid eyes on one of such monstrous size.
Qin Jianghe hurriedly led the villagers forward to welcome and salute them.
Zhang Long's gaze swept over the crowd like lightning, his voice ringing out like a great bell: "This fierce tiger had turned into a demon, using ghost thralls to lure villagers out alone at night before hunting them down. Now, it has been slain by me!"
"Everyone can rest easy!"
"Thank you, my lord! On behalf of all the villagers of Dahe Village, this old man expresses our deepest gratitude for your kindness!"
Qin Jianghe led the crowd in bowing deeply in thanks, and even prepared a purse of silver to present as a token of appreciation.
Zhang Long accepted the silver without staying for a meal, and departed Dahe Village in a hurry with his men and the carcass of the fierce tiger.
Envy stirred in Zhou Chen's heart. He recalled how, when he used to go sell game with Old Man Cao, not only were there all sorts of taxes to pay, but they were also subjected to extortion and bullying by constables and gang members alike.
For people at the bottom, trying to earn a little silver was truly too difficult.
"Brother Chen, are you alright?"
Qin Hongyu hurried over to Zhou Chen, looking him up and down as if afraid a limb might be missing.
"I'm fine. Let's go home!"
Zhou Chen took Qin Hongyu's soft little hand and hurried home with her, eager to examine the item hidden in the sole of Old Man Cao's shoe.
"Brother Chen, did my father really..."
Qin Hongyu's eyes were red, and she couldn't help asking.
"You still have me!"
Zhou Chen squeezed Qin Hongyu's soft little hand and comforted her gently.
"Brother Chen, you're so good to me!"
Back home, Qin Hongyu pushed her grief aside and went to the kitchen to cook.
Zhou Chen entered his room, closed the door, and drew a pair of worn cloth shoes from inside his tunic. The right shoe was severely damaged, revealing the martial arts manual hidden within.
Using a knife, Zhou Chen carefully cut open the cloth shoe and pulled out the manual.
The manual was made of a material resembling silk, yet it was not silk; Zhou Chen could not identify what it was.
However, to the touch it was fine and smooth, instantly marking it as extraordinary.
It was covered in dense, tiny characters and diagrams, with three golden characters in the upper right corner: Yi Archery.
"It's a martial arts manual!"
Zhou Chen confirmed it instantly and could not hold back his surge of pleasant surprise.
He hurriedly tore open the other shoe, but regretfully, there was nothing else inside it.
Though he felt a twinge of disappointment, managing to acquire a genuine martial arts manual was already supreme fortune.
He picked up the manual and began to read it carefully.
As it turned out, Yi Archery was a superior martial arts manual with extraordinarily harsh cultivation requirements: one either had to be born with a natural archery physique or have achieved divine mastery in archery before one could even begin practicing it.
Old Man Cao had practiced archery his entire life, yet he had only reached the Great Accomplishment stage, always remaining a step away from perfection in archery, let alone achieving divine mastery.
Divine mastery in archery meant reaching a state of supernatural perfection where person and bow became one—similar to the sword-unity of those who practiced swordsmanship.
"With the Fengyue Mirror, I should be able to add points and cultivate it, right?"
Anticipation welled up in Zhou Chen's chest. Even if he couldn't directly add points to cultivate it, he could still raise his archery mastery to the realm of supernatural perfection using points before practicing.
In short, no matter what, he would be able to master it.
Zhou Chen read through the text meticulously, absorbing the entire contents of Yi Archery from start to finish.
The next moment.
He noticed that the technique section of his personal stat panel had changed.
[Technique: Yi Archery]
...