Zhao Han was sitting cross-legged inside a tree hollow where he usually rested, looking at the panel he had opened.
Martial Artist: Zhao Han
Realm: Skin Refining
Martial Arts: Black Wolf Fist, Snake-Style Deft Hand
Simplification: Black Wolf Fist [Simplified, Unranked, Proficient 400/1000, Practice Black Wolf Fist 1,000 times]
Snake-Style Deft Hand [Simplified, Unranked, Skilled 10/100, Consume 50 snake galls]
The five snake galls from before had all been swallowed by Zhao Han, turning into ten points of proficiency.
Consuming one snake gall gave him two points of proficiency.
Fifty snake galls wouldn't be hard to get. It would even be easier and safer than killing ten wolves.
All he had to do was bring enough silver and make a trip to the County Town.
"Hmm, I hear something!" Zhao Han suddenly heard footsteps behind him and immediately tucked himself farther inside the tree hollow.
Soon, three men arrived.
"That kid's pretty damn fast. Keep chasing him."
"Just you wait. When I catch him, I'll tear him limb from limb."
"Hurry up. If he makes it back to the Mine, our silver will be down the drain."
The three men ran and cursed as they went, wishing Zhao Han were right in front of them.
Zhao Han heard every word they said.
His eyes turned cold.
I've got no grudge against those three, yet they want to kill me over a bit of loose silver.
Sure, you shouldn't flaunt your wealth, but killing a fellow member over one tael of silver is a bit too...
Maybe they saw that I was alone and weak, or maybe they saw me spending so freely. That must be why they dared to come after me.
Then I'll have to strike first.
After leaving the tree hollow, Zhao Han picked up a handful of dirt and put it in the pouch at his waist, then quietly followed the three men.
The three didn't notice him.
"Damn it, that little brat's pretty damn fast."
"Can't deny it, young people have better Legs and Feet than us."
"We're old, no good anymore."
The three seemed to realize Zhao Han had left the woods, so they stopped chasing and rested where they were.
Little did they know their target was waiting behind them, watching their every move.
"Come on, let's keep catching snakes. If we don't bring back enough, the Hall Master will chew us out."
After resting for a while, the three men hurried to their feet and headed back the way they had come. There were more snakes in that direction.
"Whoosh!"
Just as the three men passed a tree, a sudden movement came from overhead. A figure dropped from above and punched the Leader in the crown of his head.
"Ah..."
His skull caved in, and the Leader's eyes rolled back as he toppled to the ground.
"It's you!"
The other two stared in shock.
They couldn't believe that the little nobody they'd expected to be easy prey had actually been lying in wait for them.
He was ready to turn the tables and kill all three of them.
"Die!"
Zhao Han swung the cleaver in his hand and charged at them with a savage slash.
The two men drew their weapons and rushed forward to fight him.
"You've only just entered the Skin Refining Realm. How could you possibly stand against us... Ah!"
One of them was locked in a fierce exchange with Zhao Han. He had been about to taunt him, but in the next moment, Zhao Han's strength forced him back with a slash.
"Die!"
Zhao Han shouted and flung the dirt he had already clenched in his palm, striking the man squarely in the face.
"Despicable scoundrel!"
Blinded by Zhao Han's sneak attack, the man's vision went haywire. He swung his blade wildly, trying to force Zhao Han back.
But Zhao Han had already seized the opening. He slipped in from the side and slashed viciously at the man's neck.
"Ah!"
After gravely wounding him, Zhao Han immediately pulled his cleaver free and turned to attack the last man.
That man didn't run, seemingly still convinced he could take Zhao Han down.
But after just a few exchanges, his face changed dramatically. "You—you're not a newly advanced Skin Refining Realm Martial Artist!"
"What do you think? Take this!" Zhao Han sneered, pretending to reach for the dirt at his waist.
The man immediately raised his hand to block, never realizing he had fallen for Zhao Han's ruse.
Zhao Han thrust his cleaver straight into the opening, driving it into the man's belly.
"Ah! You—you despicable scoundrel!"
Having gravely wounded all three men, Zhao Han pressed his advantage and gave them no chance to recover.
He swung his cleaver with all his might. The man was running out of strength, and after a few blows, Zhao Han knocked the weapon from his hand. Without a weapon, he could only die.
"Spare—spare me... Ugh..."
After killing one man, Zhao Han turned and hacked the half-dead gang member to death.
Then he stabbed the unconscious Leader to death.
He wiped them all out!
After killing the three men, Zhao Han wasted no time searching their bodies.
"Six taels of silver in all. With mine, that makes seven. No wonder the gang's elite members are rich."
"Three copies of Snake-Style Deft Hand. I'm running out of room."
"A handbook on snakes. Nice, I can learn more about identifying venomous snakes."
"Energy Pills—every one of them had one! I've struck it rich!"
Zhao Han hadn't expected to find so many good things by searching their corpses.
These three really were loaded.
"Right, system, do you have a System Space?"
Seeing so many books left Zhao Han at a loss, so he hurriedly asked the system.
[For one tael of silver, you can unlock one cubic unit of System Space]
"There really is one. What if I spend two taels of silver?"
[Unavailable. The next upgrade unlocks ten cubic units of space and requires one hundred taels of silver]
"Right, you're a real skinflint."
After cursing under his breath, Zhao Han spent one tael of silver and unlocked the System Space in a flash.
One cubic unit of space could hold a ton of water, or 19 tons of gold.
After putting all his spoils into the space, Zhao Han felt much lighter.
"There are still so many snakes around. Getting fifty snake galls will be a piece of cake."
Zhao Han smiled easily and immediately began his great snake-slaughtering campaign.
After killing all the snakes, he had gotten 35 snake galls, which he swallowed all at once. He put all the snake meat into the System Space.
[Snake-Style Deft Hand, Skilled 80/100, Consume 50 snake galls]
He needed just ten more snake galls to bring Snake-Style Deft Hand up to the same Proficient level as Black Wolf Fist.
"I'll go back to that spot from before. There are lots of snakes there. I refuse to believe I can't catch them. But before that, I still need to..."
Zhao Han gave the three corpses a round of Black Wolf Fist, then gathered their gloves and tools and put them on.
Back at the spot where there had been lots of snakes, Zhao Han started catching them.
He was a little rusty at first, but after catching one, the rest became much easier.
People always said that getting started was hard, but once you'd begun, it got easy.
By the afternoon, Zhao Han had caught ten snakes and killed a wild wolf along the way.
He killed all the snakes and dug out their galls, collecting ten in total.
"Gulp, gulp!"
He swallowed the snake galls in one go. Zhao Han immediately felt a burning heat in his body, and strength surged through him.
His understanding of Snake-Style Deft Hand deepened, and the moves felt more familiar, as though they came naturally.
He immediately looked at the panel.
Simplification: Black Wolf Fist [Simplified, Unranked, Proficient 400/1000, Practice Black Wolf Fist 1,000 times]
Snake-Style Deft Hand [Simplified, Unranked, Proficient 0/1000, Kill a python (at least eight meters long and as thick as an upper arm)]
"I thought it'd be another thousand repetitions, but it turns out I have to kill a python."
"But a python that big and long isn't something I can handle alone."
"I'll get Black Wolf Fist to Mastery first."
Zhao Han set Snake-Style Deft Hand aside and looked at Black Wolf Fist.
With three Energy Pills in hand, he could get through the training much faster.
"Ha! Ha! Hah!"
Zhao Han took one pill and immediately began practicing Black Wolf Fist with all his strength.
Ten sets in five minutes!
A hundred sets in fifty minutes!
In less than three hours, he had used up all three Energy Pills. During that time, Zhao Han had also eaten some of the wolf meat hanging from a tree trunk. After drying in the sun for several days, it had turned into jerky.
[Black Wolf Fist, Proficient 700/1000]
"Almost there!"
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