Fortunately, nothing went wrong this time. Yu Hong smoothly carried dried meat, dried mushrooms, and other supplies out of the house, along with some Glowstones that he had not yet had time to mark with symbols.
Finally, he took the iron pot and other tools. There was nothing else useful left in the house.
By the time he returned to the Cave, more than an hour had passed. Panting heavily, he put everything away and arranged it by category.
The reinforcement of the main gate had also just finished.
After a blurry flicker, the reinforced boards fitted perfectly into the back of the gate, merging into one with it. This made the entire gate at least half as thick as before.
The heavy gate was clearly much harder to open and close than before. But it also gave Yu Hong a stronger sense of security.
After finishing all this, he closed the gate, sat down on the wooden bench inside the Cave, and began boiling water.
While the water boiled, he used a charcoal pencil to write and draw on a newspaper.
The charcoal pencil was thick and difficult to write with. But for the sake of his body, he endured the discomfort and carefully wrote a line after thinking it over.
'Comprehensive Physical Training Method'
Then, beneath that line, he used numbers as headings.
'1—Jog slowly for fifteen minutes every day.'
'2—At least thirty push-ups every day, in sets of ten.'
'3—At least thirty sit-ups every day, in sets of ten.'
That was it: three lines of writing, a very simple training plan.
Then Yu Hong extended his hand and pressed it against the newspaper covered in writing.
The thought of strengthening it flashed through his mind.
At once.
The surface of the Black Mark rippled, and a black line flowed out and drilled into the newspaper.
'Insufficient completeness.'
A mechanical voice suddenly entered Yu Hong's ears.
"??"
He froze, withdrew his hand, and stared at the newspaper with a slight frown.
This had been an experiment. He had written down some random training methods and guided the direction in his mind, wanting to see whether the Black Mark could strengthen them into various powerful and efficient training methods.
But now it seemed... "Insufficient completeness? What does that mean? What's missing?"
He picked up the newspaper and examined it carefully.
"The training methods are all there, and the frequency is there too. Isn't that enough? Wait! I understand."
His expression suddenly sharpened. He picked up the charcoal pencil and began adding more beneath it.
'4—Pay attention to supplementing protein, carbohydrates, and trace elements every day.'
'5—Train six days a week and rest one day. Ensure at least ten hours of sleep every day.'
Pa pa. He flicked the charcoal dust off the newspaper. This time, Yu Hong nodded, put it down, and pressed his hand against it, once again directing his thoughts.
Soon.
'Strengthen Comprehensive Physical Training Method?'
At last, the Black Mark's prompt appeared.
At the same time, the required strengthening countdown surfaced on the newspaper: 5 days, 12 hours, 16 minutes.
Joy rose in Yu Hong's heart. He knew that his test had succeeded! Judging by the displayed duration, it would take a full five days. He did not confirm it immediately, but released his hand and canceled the strengthening.
It was currently the High Tide Period. If he strengthened it now, the Black Mark would be unusable for the time being. He could wait until the High Tide Period passed, when he had more time, and then do it.
'Since I've confirmed that it works, let's try again!'
Yu Hong, now greatly interested, turned the newspaper over and wrote another title on it: Combat Technique.
Beneath it, he wrote the basic combat techniques he had once skimmed online. After racking his brains, he finally cobbled together a set covering attack, defense, evasion, pursuit, and escape, filling out its completeness in every aspect.
Full of anticipation, Yu Hong pressed down on the newspaper.
'Strengthen Combat Technique. Direction: fantasy cultivation!'
At that moment, having read far too many novels, he waited nervously for the Black Mark's answer, filled with longing for the future.
A ripple spread across the surface of the Black Mark. Then a black line flowed out and entered the newspaper.
'Insufficient completeness.'
The feedback came swiftly.
The anticipation on Yu Hong's face stalled. Although he had guessed that this would most likely happen, seeing it for real still left him somewhat disappointed.
Then he thought for a moment, flipped the newspaper over again, and placed his hand on Comprehensive Physical Training Method.
'Strengthen Comprehensive Physical Training Method. Direction: life evolution!'
Hiss.
Black lines surged from the Black Mark once more and flowed into the newspaper.
The feedback soon came again.
'Insufficient completeness.'
Yu Hong was not disappointed. Instead, he raised his hand once more and pressed it down again.
'Strengthen Comprehensive Physical Training Method. Direction: Human Limit Training Method.'
Hiss.
The black line appeared again, rushing from the Black Mark into the newspaper.
This time, the Black Mark fell silent for quite a while.
Finally.
'Strengthen it into Human Limit Training Method?'
"It worked!!!" Yu Hong let out a low cry. Unable to suppress it, a smile spread across his face.
Then he looked at the numbers that had appeared on the newspaper.
"..."
The smile on his face slowly vanished.
In its place came disappointment and speechlessness.
The numbers appeared in the middle of the so-called Comprehensive Physical Training Method.
'678 days, 12 hours, 6 minutes.'
"..." Yu Hong was rendered speechless. He stood up and paced around several times.
Soon, he sat back down.
'My target must have been set too high. I'll try lowering it a little more.'
He pressed his hand against the newspaper again.
'Strengthen Comprehensive Physical Training Method. Direction: Advanced Physical Enhancement.'
This time, he did not mess around. Since he already knew that the more difficult something was, the more time it required, he no longer reached for the skies. Instead, he honestly lowered the requirement to the minimum.
He merely imagined nudging it slightly toward internal energy and martial arts.
As expected, the Black Mark's prompt appeared again.
'Strengthen it into Advanced Physical Enhancement?'
Numbers also surfaced on the newspaper. Compared with before, they were much more normal this time: 9 hours, 16 minutes.
'Yes!'
This time, Yu Hong finally gave a definite answer.
He could reach that point after sleeping once. He wanted to see exactly how the strengthened content differed from ordinary training methods.
Full of anticipation, he boiled water in the Cave, ate some dried meat, and blew on it before taking a few sips. He had not even gone outside to gather firewood when a shout came from outside.
"Yu, Hong! Yu, Hong, are you there?"
A somewhat familiar voice carried from far away.
Amid the noise of branches being crushed underfoot, someone hurried toward the Cave.
Yu Hong's expression changed. He rushed to the gate and looked outside through the Viewing Window.
In the bright woodland outside, a short figure in camouflage was rapidly approaching.
The figure wore a steel helmet, brown hiking boots, a camouflage tactical vest, Goggles, and a black breathing-filter mask.
With that entire outfit on, no one could recognize who she was.
But Yu Hong identified her as Little Stutterer Lin Yi Yi from her voice! "Yi Yi, is that you?" he hurriedly called. "1726495!"
"2, 3, 2!" Little Stutterer froze, then immediately replied.
"It's you!!" Yu Hong flung open the gate, carefully checked the surroundings, and went out to meet Little Stutterer.
The two soon met on the woodland slope.
"You're, fine, that's, great!!" Little Stutterer grabbed Yu Hong's hand, her relief mixed with joy.
"I, thought, you, were, gone!" she said while gesturing, taking a letter from the outer pocket of her vest.
"I'm, leaving! The letter, read it."
Her face showed obvious happiness and helplessness.
"Where are you going?" Seeing her outfit, Yu Hong had a faintly ominous premonition.
"I was, recruited, into the, Coalition, Army. I must, immediately, follow, the main, force, far, away!" Little Stutterer answered laboriously, pointing at the letter.
"Everything, I need, to say, is, in here," she said helplessly. "It's, good, that you're, fine."
For a moment, Yu Hong did not know what to say.
In this environment, being dragged into the army was an extremely dangerous situation.
But now the deed was done. He quickly took out the letter and unfolded it.
The handwriting was more fluent than before. Clearly, either someone else had written it for her, or Little Stutterer had practiced until she was familiar with it.
The letter said that as soon as she arrived in town, she had used the Enhanced Glowstone in her possession to scatter three consecutive Ghost Shadows. Her physique was also robust and her strength great, so she had caught the Garrison Army's attention.
Little Stutterer had no resistance to joining the army.
At least she would have food and water after enlisting, instead of having to search everywhere by herself every day, sometimes hungry and sometimes full.
She would also have clean clothes, equipment, and a place to live, which was far better than being alone in the village.
The end of the letter also mentioned that the effects of the Enhanced Glowstone had already caught the attention of the town's Garrison Squad. The Garrison Squad might come later to trade with him.
Although Little Stutterer did not know where the Enhanced Glowstone came from, she had seen through those people's intentions.
"Be, careful!" Little Stutterer earnestly warned him.
"Mm! I know!" Yu Hong nodded. Before giving Little Stutterer the Enhanced Glowstone to take to town, he had already mentally prepared himself for this. He just had not expected it to happen so quickly.
"I'm, leaving. The time, has, come," Little Stutterer said at last.
She turned and ran into the distance. After covering more than ten meters, she suddenly turned around and looked at Yu Hong.
"You can, write, letters. The Post Office!" she shouted, pointing toward the wooded hills where the Mailman had previously lived.
White Mound Village's means of communicating with the outside world had relied on the Post Office ever since order collapsed.
The Post Office's Mailman was the only channel for maintaining external contact.
They received wages and supplies distributed by the state, trained their physical fitness every day, and had only one job: contacting each region so that higher-level units could grasp the many kinds of intelligence and local specialties in their area.
Little Stutterer's letter also mentioned that the Mailman shouldered the task of a general merchant as well. He would take the local specialties of nearby residents to distant gathering places, sell them, and purchase the supplies everyone needed, earning a price difference in the process.
There was also the letter-delivery service. The letter said that the Mailman could deliver letters for a fee, but only to nearby outposts, and the price was not cheap.
In the woodland.
Yu Hong watched Little Stutterer travel farther and farther away, gradually disappearing into the forest.
He understood that it would truly be difficult for them to meet again after this.
Standing at the mouth of the Cave, he remained unable to calm his emotions for a long time.
Little Stutterer had been the one guiding him from the very beginning. Without her, he might have died in the wilderness right from the start, or fallen ill and died.
I wish you a safe journey.
After silently saying that in his heart, Yu Hong turned and walked inside, just about to close the gate.
Suddenly, the sound of feet trampling leaves came from outside.
The sound was chaotic but not hurried or stealthy. Clearly, whoever was coming had no intention of hiding themselves.
He turned around, quickly closed the gate, and looked outside through the Viewing Window.
Outside the window, two figures in camouflage had just emerged from the woodland.
Both were more than a meter eighty tall, broad-shouldered and powerfully built. Each held a slender metal staff, using it to part the grass ahead as they approached the Cave.
Before you continue