Ideas, Part Four

Chapter 46: 046 Ideas, Part Four

Yu Hong flipped through the later pages.

'Humus Soil needs to be dug up from beneath trees. Try to dig in areas with more rotting branches and leaves, as the soil dug from there will be richer in nutrients. After digging it up, the soil needs to be placed under the sunlight for three days to kill the insect eggs and weed seeds inside.'

The rest covered related details, such as how to put the soil into the box, how to maintain the humidity, how much water to add, how to add the Culture Medium, how often to inspect it, and how to handle various problems that might arise.

Every conceivable detail was there.

The few short pages contained not a single superfluous word. There was even a reminder about preventing Mushroom Lung.

After reading the section on mushroom cultivation, Yu Hong had roughly planned out the process of raising them.

"The key problem is that I don't have Culture Medium—or a Breeding Box!" He frowned. "So this is where you were leading me."

He returned to an earlier page and saw a line written beneath it: If you need to purchase Culture Medium or a Breeding Box, come ask about the exact prices.

Yu Hong shook his head speechlessly, continued strengthening a new rune formation, and then flipped through the following content.

This time, he read faster, merely skimming through it once.

Then he discovered a problem.

'Mushroom cultivation is actually the foundation of the other forms of cultivation?'

'After growing mushrooms, you use them to raise cockroaches. Once you have enough cockroaches, you use them to raise lizards. One link leads into the next. But the initial seed for every link has to be purchased from the Post Office.'

He finally understood how Lao Yu had previously managed to provide mushrooms, cockroaches, and lizards all by himself.

As for wild vegetables, they were everywhere in the forest. Together with Little Stutterer, he had already learned to recognize quite a few.

After finishing the survival booklet, Yu Hong picked up the Fighting Leg Technique Manual.

"Mm." He stared at the illustrations in the booklet, somewhat speechless.

The entire booklet contained only three moves.

Low Section Kick, Sideways Grab Kick, and Upward Kick.

According to the illustration, the Low Section Kick involved kicking the opponent's calf to make them lose their balance and fall.

The Sideways Grab Kick was much more vicious. You grabbed the opponent's arm, turned sideways, and kicked their waist or abdomen with your heel. Since their arm was being pulled while the kicked area was being torn and wrenched in the opposite direction, the move had tremendous killing power. Once it landed, an ordinary person would suffer severe internal injuries and collapse instantly.

The Upward Kick was the simplest move of all: kicking upward at the vulnerable area between the opponent's legs.

'Just these three moves? I might have come up with them myself if I'd given it some thought.' Yu Hong was at a loss for words, but continued flipping through the manual.

The content that followed did pique his interest.

The booklet explained how to use those three leg techniques as quickly as possible in various situations and conditions, and when one found oneself in different positions and postures.

'That's more like it.' He nodded slightly.

After carefully studying the two booklets, he found that it was dark outside once again.

He cooked some food, lit a fire, and continued strengthening the rune formations.

For three days straight, he went nowhere. He either trained in the Advanced Physical Training Method inside the Cave or studied and copied the survival manual and the Leg Technique Training Manual.

The strengthened charcoal pencil produced extremely fine lines, and he soon finished copying the contents of both booklets.

He copied them onto thin wooden boards Yu Hong had split out with an axe. Stacking the boards together made a booklet.

After finishing the copies, he returned the booklet to Li Runshan and asked him about three problems he had accumulated.

Li Runshan answered the questions readily, then began peddling the mushroom Breeding Box and clean Culture Medium he had just made, as well as a crude wooden dummy for practicing the leg techniques.

That fellow had his sights set on Yu Hong and was determined to fleece him for all he was worth.

But for the sake of self-sufficiency, Yu Hong still used a Large Glowstone to buy the box and Culture Medium.

After bringing them back, he began digging and sun-drying soil while preparing enough clean water for the cultivation later on.

He also needed to dig out a separate space in the Cave to serve as a mushroom cultivation room.

Although he had a dedicated Breeding Box, the spores released when the mushrooms matured could fly out through any gaps, and they posed a considerable danger.

He had no desire to end up coughing, feverish, and weak like Lao Yu.

Soon, another two days passed.

At last, all of Yu Hong's rune formations had been fully strengthened. The rune formations covered the entire Cave, perfectly sealing every corner and forming the standard Glowstone Secret Chamber state.

The Black Mark could finally spare some time to strengthen other things.

And what Yu Hong wanted to strengthen—what mattered most—was the Fighting Leg Technique Manual.

Inside the Mountain Cave Safe House.

He quietly looked at the copied wooden boards stacked before him. There were thirteen boards in all, and together they made up the Leg Technique Training Manual Li Runshan had sold him.

'The ordinary physical training was strengthened into the Advanced Physical Training Method. So what will this ordinary leg-fighting skill become once strengthened?'

Yu Hong felt the trace of Cooling Qi that had appeared inside his body. He had now cultivated a total of four strands of Cooling Qi, which meant he could replenish his stamina four times when utterly exhausted.

In other respects, he was still no different from an ordinary person. At most, by practicing running regularly, he could run a little faster.

The existence of the Cooling Qi had completely turned Yu Hong into a little superhuman distinct from ordinary people! 'If an average person can run at most five thousand meters, then I can run four times that—twenty thousand meters. If they can run ten thousand meters at most, then I can run forty thousand! With the High Body Method (Advanced Physical Training Method), the earlier it is strengthened, the better. That way, it can create a snowball effect and grow stronger and stronger.'

With that thought, Yu Hong let out a long breath and pressed his hand against the wooden boards.

He silently recited the words in his mind.

'Strengthen the Leg Technique Training Manual. Direction: inner-force martial-arts leg techniques!'

Last time, his thoughts had leaned toward a martial-arts style, which was why he had obtained the High Body Method. Having tasted the benefits, he now imagined scenes from the martial-arts films he had watched in the past.

A black line flashed.

The Black Mark immediately sent back a response.

'Begin strengthening?'

Yu Hong lowered his head and saw that a countdown had indeed appeared on the wooden boards: 4 days 17 hours 41 minutes.

"It really works!?" His spirits soared, and intense anticipation shone in his eyes.

The High Body Method had given him a tremendous physical advantage. Now, if the strengthened leg-fighting skill could also greatly improve his combat ability, then in this harsh environment, he would have an enormous guarantee of survival when facing other people.

Able to fight and run, then further strengthened with a complete set of bulletproof equipment—he would truly be armed to the teeth! 'I hope it becomes strong enough!' Yu Hong looked forward to it. 'Strengthening the High Body Method last time took only a little over nine hours. This time it's going to take more than four days, so it must be far more powerful than the High Body Method!'

***White River City.

Inside a gloomy underground passage.

The ground was covered by abandoned railway tracks, blackened except for occasional patches of red rust. Piles of assorted junk and refuse had been heaped at intervals along the way.

Xu Yang led two team members inward along the edge of the tracks, carrying hand-cranked rechargeable flashlights.

As they passed pile after pile of junk and refuse, their noses filled with the strong stench of mildew and the foul, filthy odor of stagnant water.

The three of them walked while observing both sides.

The walls on either side were covered in all kinds of messy drawings and slogans. Beneath the slogans, at regular intervals, stood rooms with lights glowing inside. Noisy curses and laughter drifted out from them.

Xu Yang frowned as he continued inward. Before long, he arrived at a room with Old Cat Bar written above it.

Green mold covered both walls beside the entrance, glistening with a slick sheen.

Xu Yang looked up and found that the top of the tunnel seemed to be leaking. A thin stream of water trickled down the wall, split apart at the doorframe, and dripped onto the floor.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust and entered the room.

It really was a bar. Red lighting dyed the individual sofas crimson.

Each sofa was separated by wooden partitions.

Around a dozen people sat scattered throughout the room. Lightly dressed female servers moved back and forth, bringing food and drinks.

Beside one of the central sofas, four people had gathered around, loudly playing cards. The noise came from them.

"Want a glass of mushroom wine?" As soon as Xu Yang and the other two entered, they attracted a girl with a ponytail wearing only three strips of cloth.

"We're looking for someone." Xu Yang impatiently pushed her aside and walked straight toward the corner of the bar.

The three were fully equipped and wore military uniforms belonging to the United Army. The bar's security guards, who had been preparing to stand, frowned but did not dare approach.

Soon, the three arrived before a burly man at least two meters tall in the corner.

"Mr. White Python Guo?" Xu Yang asked in a low voice.

The burly man had his head lowered and both hands sprawled across the tabletop, like a bear slumped over it. His black hair was disheveled, and several buttons of his gray shirt were undone, exposing his powerful chest muscles.

He looked to be in his early forties. His features were troubled, his eyes cloudy, and dry traces of vomit clung to the corners of his mouth.

He was a man down on his luck.

"Something you want?" The burly man raised his head coldly and glanced over the three of them.

"There's a job. We'd like to ask you to take care of it. The payment is negotiable." Xu Yang lowered his voice.

"Talk. What kind of job?" White Python asked coldly.

"Go to the vicinity of the Glowstone Mine two hundred kilometers away, find someone, and bring him back. You have half a year." Xu Yang answered.

"Too far. I'm not going." White Python spoke coldly. "And you don't even know anything about the man."

"He's just an ordinary adult male. He may have some equipment, but even an ordinary new recruit could deal with him easily. The main difficulty is the journey." Xu Yang spoke quickly. "We can offer fifty kilograms of dried meat, twenty kilograms of dried mushrooms, and one hundred kilograms of synthetic flour."

"Too little." White Python did not even raise his head. "Add five Silver Coins."

Xu Yang fell silent for a moment.

"All right. Pay one-third as a deposit before departure, and the rest in full after you return."

"Fine." White Python said coldly. "Come back here in three days. Give me the goods then, and I'll set out immediately."

"Good!"

Xu Yang and the other two left.

After they exited the bar, one of the team members finally could not hold back.

"Captain Xu, that's five Silver Coins! Are we really agreeing to this? One Silver Coin can be exchanged for ten to fifteen kilograms of dried meat!"

"White Python is very capable. He's well-rounded in firearms, combat, stealth, and every other aspect. His attitude is poor, but everything else is fine. Besides, as long as we capture that man, none of this will be a problem. If the man is dead, then even if White Python fails the mission, we won't have to pay the remaining balance." Xu Yang smiled.

"Also..." He paused. "You remembered the exchange rate incorrectly. These days, one Silver Tower Silver Coin from the national bank can be exchanged for twenty-three kilograms of dried meat. After all, it's a mineral-based synthetic currency that can be refined into Sunshine Series Materials."