Transparent World, New System Function Unlocked!

Qin Qi studied for the entire night and rose on time the next morning.

He went to eat breakfast, attended his classes, and after finishing lunch, headed to the butcher's shop to work.

The backyard of the butcher's shop was quite large, and it was here that the pig-slaughtering process took place.

There were four or five people in the backyard, all hired by the butcher to assist him in slaughtering the pigs.

"Hey, kid, the basin! Bring the basin over here, hurry up!"

"Hey, kid, grab a long-handled knife—not that one, the Ox-Ear Knife."

"Water! Kid, bring the hot water over, quickly!"

The shouts of the men in the yard mixed with the miserable squeals of the pigs, creating a chaotic mess.

Qin Qi ran back and forth constantly, helping the others fetch various items.

Only after the bleeding, inflating, scraping, gutting, and hanging were completed did the actual butchering begin.

This step could only be performed by the butcher himself; the other assistants lacked the skill to handle such work.

As for Qin Qi and the others, they immediately moved on to slaughtering the next pig, only stopping to rest after finishing two in one go.

While the assistants rested, drinking water and catching their breath, Qin Qi ran over to the butcher's side to watch him work.

"Kid, do you want to try your hand at it?"

The butcher looked at Qin Qi's focused expression as he stared intently at him and laughed aloud.

"I do. Is that allowed?"

Qin Qi asked.

"Allowed, my foot! You think this is a game? Without a few years of practice, you can keep dreaming about picking up the knife."

The butcher laughed heartily, yet his movements never slowed, cleanly and efficiently detaching the pig's leg.

Qin Qi knew the butcher was just teasing him, so he didn't take offense and watched with a grin.

At the same time, he began to practice his observation according to the methods Tang Jiaren had taught him, carefully studying every one of the butcher's movements.

After a short break, the assistants began slaughtering the third pig; the pinning and binding were all handled by them.

Only when it came time to bleed the pig did the butcher step in, finishing it off with a single strike before leaving the remaining scraping work to the assistants.

"Boss, is there some secret to that strike of yours?"

Qin Qi asked curiously.

"There's a massive secret to it. In our trade, there's a saying: three years to pick up the knife, five years to carve the meat, and ten years to master the One-Knife Throat-Seal."

"Three years to pick up the knife—you have to be an apprentice for three years before you're even allowed to touch a blade. Five years, and you can start butchering the whole pig."

"Only a master of ten years dares to claim they've mastered the art of bleeding."

The butcher spoke to Qin Qi while dissecting the pig; the boss wasn't aloof and was quite fond of chatting.

"Is bleeding really that hard? It looks like just one strike to me."

Qin Qi continued to press.

"The layman watches the spectacle, the expert watches the technique."

"My strike goes straight to the heart. It must be fast, accurate, and ruthless. If your movements are slow or your aim is off..."

"If you can't kill it in one blow, the pig will start struggling. It makes the slaughter difficult, and the meat won't taste good afterward."

"That's why this strike is called the One-Knife Throat-Seal. No matter what kind of pig it is, once it comes to me, this strike ensures it dies!"

The butcher wasn't worried about Qin Qi stealing his trade; anyone capable of attending Notting Academy would at least be a Spirit Master after graduation.

They could earn far more doing anything else than by slaughtering pigs.

Qin Qi took the butcher's words to heart and continued to watch the slaughtering process with intense focus.

"Kid, I remember you're a student at Notting Academy, right? What grade are you in?"

The butcher asked.

"A first-year freshman."

Qin Qi replied.

"Oh, then I'll have to wait at least six years before I can slaughter your pig."

The butcher said.

"Huh?"

Qin Qi stared at the butcher with a blank expression. What did he mean by "slaughter your pig"? Was he really going to say something so blatantly like a black-hearted shopkeeper!

"Brother Butcher, what kind of talk is that? You've scared the kid."

"Don't be afraid, kid. Brother Butcher just meant that when you graduate and hold a banquet, he'll slaughter a pig for you."

The assistants resting nearby spoke up.

"Graduation banquet... Oh, are these pigs all prepared for the sixth-year students at Notting Academy?"

Qin Qi suddenly thought of the soul-hunting operation a few days later; surely these pigs weren't just for celebrating them?

"That's right. Every year when those young masters graduate, we have to put on a show like this."

"Sigh, they have money, don't they? If it were me, I definitely couldn't bear to spend it."

"That's why you're just a poor simpleton."

The group chatted and laughed for a while before returning to their work, and soon people arrived outside to haul away the butchered pigs.

After a busy day, when it was time to head back at night, the butcher gave Qin Qi five copper Spirit Coins.

"This is your bonus for slaughtering pigs today. Since you only did some odd jobs, it's just five copper Spirit Coins."

"But I have some dried meat here, take it back to eat."

The butcher shoved the money and the dried meat into Qin Qi's hands, then shooed him out of the shop.

This man looks quite fierce, but he's actually not a bad person.

Qin Qi looked at the butcher and smiled, then began eating the dried meat as he returned to Notting Academy.

As usual, he collected his daily wages from Wang Sheng and the others, finished his meal, and entered the Study Space to study.

"Great-Uncle, we have pigs this time!"

Qin Qi entered the Study Space and simulated the pigs he had seen during the day.

This Study Space could simulate any learning tools he had seen, though they could only be used within the space and could not be taken out.

If it were something like medicine, it would at most assist in identification; consuming it would be useless.

"Since we have pigs, I'll demonstrate for you."

Tang Jiaren looked at the pigs before him and stretched his body. He hadn't slaughtered one in many years and wasn't sure if he was still rusty.

Tang Jiaren walked toward one of the pigs and, with a speed invisible to the naked eye, performed a One-Knife Throat-Seal!

"The first strike in pig slaughtering is to drain the blood. Don't underestimate this single strike; it requires years of skill."

"Next is the cutting and butchering. You must follow the grain of the meat, especially around the bones; that is the true test of technique."

"When you act, your eyes must be precise, your hands steady, and your heart ruthless!"

Tang Jiaren meticulously demonstrated the entire set for Qin Qi, then told him to try it himself.

"One-Knife Throat-Seal!"

Qin Qi raised his knife and struck toward the direction he had observed, but he missed the mark and failed to sever the heart vein.

"Oink! Oink! Oink!"

The pig began to struggle desperately, twisting and turning while letting out an incredibly miserable shriek.

It simulated it so realistically.

Qin Qi looked at the moving pig in surprise. He hadn't seen the pigs move before and assumed they wouldn't.

"The position of the heart vein varies in every pig. You must look carefully and observe well."

"The way you exerted force when you struck was also wrong. That's why your aim was off and your power was insufficient."

Tang Jiaren taught Qin Qi every strike hand-in-hand, down to the minute details of how to grip the knife.

Throughout that night, Qin Qi grew. He learned for the first time that if you intend to kill someone with a knife, you shouldn't just stab at the chest; unless you are a professional, stabbing at the heart is likely to be blocked by the ribs!

[Ding, congratulations to the host for learning the Eighteen Pig-Slaughtering Styles. Reward: 100 study credits, 1 achievement point.]

[Ding, the approval rating of private tutor 'Tang Jiaren' has reached fifty percent. Reward: Transparent World, unlocking the physical practice function!]