"My attributes really are utterly ordinary."
Looking at the Attribute Panel, Gu Han couldn't help giving a bitter smile.
In this world, Gu Han had never heard of Martial Artists having different attributes.
But the normal attribute range for a First-tier Martial Apprentice provided by the system gave him a point of reference.
Aside from his Blood Qi, all of Gu Han's basic attributes were about what you'd expect from someone who had only just entered the First-tier Martial Apprentice realm.
At his normal rate of cultivation, who knew how long it would take him to become a Second-tier Martial Apprentice?
A farmer like Ma Tie was much older than him, yet was still only a First-tier Martial Apprentice.
That alone showed how difficult the path of martial cultivation was.
But the system's arrival had given Gu Han a shortcut!
All he had to do was touch a corpse and absorb its soul, and his attributes would skyrocket!
Seeing Gu Han standing there in a daze, Ma Tie immediately stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Gu Han, what are you spacing out for?"
At the sound of Ma Tie's voice, Gu Han quickly came back to his senses and realized that everyone else had already left.
Only Ma Tie and the other three were still waiting nearby.
Gu Han smiled sheepishly and weighed the somewhat worn-out knife in his hand.
"Let's go."
To keep the new recruits safe in case they ran into danger, they had been assigned to work in groups of five, so they could look out for one another.
The five of them followed Li Lei's earlier example. They set out some radishes, then hid in the bushes to wait like hunters by a stump, hoping the Great White Rabbit would come to them.
Having learned from their earlier experience, they waited patiently.
After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a Great White Rabbit finally appeared.
It was one of the most common and weakest prey animals in the mountains.
Although the Great White Rabbit had sharp teeth, it only attacked its enemies when it went berserk.
To hunt one, all they had to do was keep a safe distance, so it couldn't suddenly burst forward and take a bite out of them.
Gu Han signaled Ma Tie and the others. While the Great White Rabbit wasn't paying attention, the five of them quietly closed in around it.
All five drew their clubs and blades and swung hard at the Great White Rabbit.
But they had still underestimated its speed. A flash of white streaked past, and all their attacks missed.
Only Gu Han's blade struck the Great White Rabbit, leaving a bloody gash.
But even that hadn't inflicted a fatal wound.
"Damn it, when Senior Li killed rabbits, it looked so easy."
Ma Tie's face darkened, and he looked dejected.
"How come the Great White Rabbit's so fast when it's our turn?"
"Maybe we startled it. Keep hiding in the bushes. I'll chase it."
Leaving those words behind, Gu Han dashed after the fleeing Great White Rabbit.
Ma Tie and the others exchanged glances, then could only hang their heads and prepare the radishes again before taking up their ambush positions.
The Great White Rabbit had no other particular talents, but it was incredibly fast. It also knew the surrounding terrain well and darted all over the place.
Gu Han gritted his teeth to keep from being left behind.
Fortunately, his earlier slash had struck the Great White Rabbit's leg.
After a while, it lost too much blood and ran out of strength. Gu Han caught up and cut its main artery with one slash, ending its life.
Gu Han picked up the Great White Rabbit's corpse and said quietly,
"Absorb attributes."
"Congratulations, host. You have absorbed 2 points of speed from the Great White Rabbit's corpse."
That familiar lightness swept over him again, setting Gu Han's heart dancing.
"Hm?"
At the same time, Gu Han suddenly realized that the attributes he'd absorbed from this Great White Rabbit were double what he'd gotten from the one Li Lei had given him earlier!
Could it be that rewards for earning something yourself were greater than rewards for picking up someone else's leftovers?
Gu Han had a hunch, but he'd need to test it in practice.
After tossing the Great White Rabbit into the Snakeskin Bag, Gu Han retraced his steps.
When he returned, Ma Tie and the others were looking thoroughly bedraggled as a Great Gray Rabbit ran circles around them.
The Great Gray Rabbit was clearly slower than the Great White Rabbit, but it looked more aggressive.
Its pair of sharp teeth made Ma Tie and the others wary, and they didn't dare get close.
All they could do was attack the Great Gray Rabbit from a distance with their clubs, leaving both sides at a stalemate.
Hearing Gu Han's footsteps, Ma Tie called out without turning around.
"Gu Han, come help!"
A long weapon naturally had an overwhelming advantage over a short one.
With Gu Han joining them, the Great Gray Rabbit was quickly defeated. They slit its throat and let it bleed out!
Gu Han stepped forward without hesitation, picked up the Great Gray Rabbit, and tossed it into the Snakeskin Bag.
"Congratulations, host. You have absorbed 1 point of strength from the Great Gray Rabbit's corpse."
Gu Han frowned. Was it because he and Ma Tie's group had taken down the Great Gray Rabbit together, so he'd absorbed fewer attributes than he had from the Great White Rabbit he killed by himself?
Was the system's Soul Absorption talent a little too intelligent?
But his mild dissatisfaction quickly disappeared.
As long as he gained something, it was all good. Even a mosquito's leg was meat!
Without taking small steps, you can't travel a thousand miles; without gathering little streams, you can't form a river or sea.
All he needed to do now was build up his gains little by little.
His good days were just around the corner!
After they hid again, Ma Tie asked curiously,
"Gu Han, did you catch that Great White Rabbit from earlier?"
Gu Han smiled and opened the Snakeskin Bag, revealing the three rabbits inside.
The other three gathered around too, then gasped when they saw them.
The four of them had been in a panic just dealing with one Great Gray Rabbit. When they'd ambushed the Great White Rabbit earlier, they hadn't even managed to touch it.
And Gu Han had actually killed a Great White Rabbit all by himself?
They knew Gu Han had five older brothers who were War Soldiers, but each person was an individual in their own right.
They were all Logistics Soldiers. Gu Han had managed on his own what the four of them could barely do together. That alone was worthy of their admiration!
A little while later, another rabbit wandered into their ambush.
At Gu Han's signal, the five of them charged out of the bushes together.
This time, Ma Tie had been right beside Gu Han. But all he felt was a breeze as Gu Han darted past him in a flash, leaving him behind.
Ma Tie couldn't help staring in surprise.
"Did I just get off to a slow start? How come Gu Han's so much faster than me?"
But this wasn't the time to dwell on it. The five of them teamed up once more and, in a flurry of activity, killed the Great White Rabbit.
Thanks to their earlier experience, this time they handled the Great White Rabbit with a lot more coordination.
Gu Han gained another point in speed as well.
That confirmed for him that both scavenging and teaming up made him absorb fewer attribute points.
The five of them repeated the same trick and spent the whole afternoon lying in wait on the mountain, catching quite a few prey animals.
"With Gu Han around, we should at least rank somewhere in the middle or above on this assessment, right?"
Ma Tie grinned, and it was clear he was genuinely happy.
It was said that Logistics Soldiers who performed well could also receive some beast meat to temper their Blood Qi.
This would be their chance to advance to the Second-tier Martial Apprentice realm and become War Soldiers!
Gu Han, however, didn't think much of it.
He had indeed wanted to become a War Soldier before, but that idea had completely vanished by now.
War Soldiers had to train every day. How could that compare to Logistics Soldiers hunting beasts and gaining attributes? That was much more satisfying.
The Logistics Soldier role was practically tailor-made for him!
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