Li Yun

Spring has arrived.

Everything is waking up; it is once again the season for animals to multiply.

A male pheasant was displaying its colorful feathers, singing at the top of its lungs.

The female pheasant beside it was utterly bewitched, throwing open the gates of convenience.

Swish~

A feathered arrow tore through the air.

One arrow, two pheasants.

[Archery: +1]

[Archery (Perfected): ∞/∞]

[Archery Perfection Trait: Piercing a Willow Leaf at a Hundred Paces]

A handsome young man stepped out from behind a large tree.

He looked to be seventeen or eighteen, his movements agile and vigorous, possessing a certain heroic spirit.

Li Yun.

Two and a half months ago, he was still a middle-aged, laid-off bachelor working like a beast of burden. He hit the jackpot; with a blink of his eyes, he arrived in this world.

Along with him came a proficiency panel.

No bottlenecks, heaven rewards diligence, and once attained, it is attained forever.

Having read countless webnovels, Li Yun discovered that he was different from others while exploring his golden finger.

In addition to the proficiency panel, he also had an extra 10,000-cubic-meter storage space!

Woohoo, taking off~

After merging with the original owner's memories, he felt excitement, anticipation, and a tiny bit of disappointment.

Disappointed that the original owner didn't have a child bride, a sister-in-law, or a wife entrusted to him by a friend...

There were no warm gifts at the start.

Of course, there were also no messy family squabbles, no biased grandfathers, no uncles trying to seize the family inheritance...

As for the excitement and anticipation, it was simple: this was a world of martial arts!

Which man, in his youth, never dreamed of roaming the world with a sword?

From one end of the village to the other, every fallen rapeseed flower could testify to Li Yun's heart set on the Dao.

Unfortunately, before he could even reach the village entrance, his dreams were shattered by his parents' "bamboo shoots fried in pork" (a beating).

After learning the general situation of this world, Li Yun made a vow:

He must stand at the pinnacle of martial arts.

To see the splendor of the world!

He scanned his surroundings.

Ensuring no one was around, Li Yun stowed the two shameless pheasants into his storage space.

He then identified his direction and continued hunting.

He didn't go far before discovering some bean-shaped droppings in the bushes.

"Should be a herbivore—a rabbit, sheep, or deer."

The original owner came from a family of hunters; they used a single bow for generations, the kind where the person dies but the bow remains.

He had mastered the basic knowledge of hunting.

He picked up a broken branch and gently poked at the droppings, finding them slightly moist and glossy.

Still very fresh!

On the soft soil nearby, there were also footprints.

Four clear toe prints arranged in a star shape, with the two middle toes narrower and the outer ones wider.

A deer?

This world was similar yet different from the ancient times Li Yun knew.

A catty of grain cost a few wen, and ordinary meat was about thirty or forty wen, but a deer was different; its entire body was a treasure.

Once he bagged one, the expenses for practicing martial arts would be covered!

He followed the tracks, moving slowly.

After crossing two hills, Li Yun finally spotted his prey.

Its body was grayish-brown with white spots on its back and sides, and it had antlers on its head with six tines.

However, one of the antlers was broken, hanging on by only a layer of skin.

Red deer.

Li Yun guessed based on the current situation that this stag must have failed in a mating battle and been driven out of the herd.

Li Yun approached slowly.

His movements were slight, fearing he might disturb his target.

Once he reached the optimal distance, he flicked his fingertips, and an arrow was steadily nocked onto the bowstring.

He exerted force suddenly, pulling the bow into a Full Moon.

Holding his breath and focusing his mind, his gaze locked onto the target like a hawk.

Hum~

The crisp sound of the bowstring pierced the silence, and the arrow, wrapped in a sharp whistling sound, embedded itself precisely into the red deer's neck.

"Bleat~"

The red deer shuddered violently, its front hooves rearing high as it turned with a crash, driven by intense pain, and bolted away like a madman.

A single feathered arrow had struck the red deer, which stood 1.1 to 1.2 meters at the shoulder and measured 1.3 to 1.4 meters in body length.

This shot was not fatal, but it had pierced its neck; given time, the red deer would eventually collapse from excessive blood loss.

Although Li Yun felt a pang of regret for the wasted deer blood, he did not rashly step forward.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone this four-to-five-hundred-pound red deer that had failed its mating attempt.

He only needed to follow closely behind the red deer and wait patiently.

This pursuit lasted for an hour.

He accidentally lost the trail twice during the process, but fortunately, by following the trail of blood droplets, he eventually found the red deer, which had been dead for some time, in a thicket.

He reached out to store the red deer in his storage space, rested for a moment, and continued searching for prey.

The sun set behind the mountains.

Li Yun, carrying his bow and arrows on his back and holding three wild rabbits in his hand, walked out of Crow Mountain.

On the road at the foot of the mountain, a group of people had gathered.

"The Mountain Gang decrees that from now on, all 'Peace Fee' payments are increased to seventy percent!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding villagers began to complain bitterly.

"Seventy percent? This is forcing us to our deaths!"

"Game is already hard to hunt; sometimes we go all day and come back empty-handed, and now we have to hand over seventy percent? My wife and children at home are waiting to eat!"

"The Mountain Gang is cutting off our path to survival!"

"..."

The Mountain Gang was a gang that had emerged alongside Crow Mountain.

Hunters, herb gatherers, lumberjacks... in short, anyone coming out of Crow Mountain had to pay them taxes.

A month ago it was forty percent, and now it had risen to seventy.

"Shut up! Are you trying to rebel?"

Seeing these unruly commoners getting more and more out of line, He Xiuyong slammed his hand onto the table.

Bang.

A solid wooden square table was smashed to pieces.

The crowd fell silent instantly.

"Come, come, come, whoever doesn't want to pay, step forward."

The commoners, who had just been filled with righteous indignation, looked displeased but dared not say another word.

The official members of the Mountain Gang were all strong and sturdy men.

To become a squad leader, one had to be at least a Body Tempering martial artist.

The He Xiuyong before them was one such squad leader.

As for the leader of the Mountain Gang, he was a prominent figure in the Inner City of Crow Mountain County and certainly wouldn't come to collect fees in person.

"All gone mute?

If you can't pay, stop yapping and line up one by one."

Seeing that no one made a sound, He Xiuyong couldn't be bothered to argue and ordered his subordinates, the Qian Brothers, to get to work.

Li Yun also followed in the crowd with a "distressed" expression.

He Xiuyong spotted Li Yun, who stood out from the crowd, at a glance.

Unlike the surrounding villagers, Li Yun had a ruddy complexion and a sturdy build; one look told him that he was living quite well.

"Hey, Li Yun, your haul isn't great either, only three wild rabbits."

"Heh, luck was a bit off today."

"How about that offer to join the Mountain Gang? Have you considered it?"

"Oh, I'm just a hunter. I'll see when the time comes. If I can save up some money, get myself a wife, and settle down with a family, that'd be just fine!"

The world was in turmoil, and the Mountain Gang was sitting on a golden goose, which brought no shortage of trouble.

Without any real strength, joining the Mountain Gang was nothing more than becoming cannon fodder.

The Mountain Gang did teach martial arts, but it required merit.

Yet Li Yun had no merit, so how could he learn?

And without learning martial arts, how could he earn merit?

"Hmph, ungrateful fool. You deserve to spend your whole life hunting."

"Heh heh."

Li Yun offered a "simple-minded" chuckle, handed over two wild rabbits, and then, carrying the third, strode toward the village.

Afterward, once the Peace Fee had been collected, He Xiuyong spoke to the Qian Brothers:

"Since that brat Li Yun doesn't know what's good for him, you lot go and show him the difference between having protection and having none."

"Understood, brother-in-law."