Chopping Meat Could Also Increase Proficiency, Blade Technique Reaches Minor Accomplishment

After the morning rush, Chen Jing asked Butcher Zhang when things finally quieted down:

"Master, why don't you take a break? Let me handle the knife."

Butcher Zhang shot Chen Jing a glance.

"You've gotten addicted to holding a knife, haven't you?"

But he did not refuse. Picking up the meat cleaver from the chopping block, he said, "Slicing meat, scraping skin, chopping meat—it all looks simple, but there are tricks to it."

"Watch my hands."

"When slicing meat, cut against the grain. Only then can you sever the tendons cleanly and decisively."

Butcher Zhang brought the blade down with a smack, splitting a chunk of pork into two.

Then he turned the tip of his knife and drew it along the seam between skin and flesh with a ripping sound, peeling off a strip of membrane.

"To skin it, keep the blade close to the membrane. Don't let the edge tilt upward."

Finally, he spread the meat flat and flicked his wrist.

The cleaver rose and fell steadily, chopping across the pork in alternating directions with a rapid clatter. It was as swift as pounding war drums, and oddly pleasing to the ear.

"When chopping meat, keep the blade steady and the force even. Use your wrist, keep a heavy rhythm, and alternate your cuts."

Chen Jing watched with utmost attention. He even pressed his palms together like a blade and unconsciously mimicked the motions.

Butcher Zhang held the knife out before him.

"Here. Try it yourself."

Eager to give it a go, Chen Jing followed Butcher Zhang's demonstration. He sliced the meat first, then skinned it, and finally minced the pork into fine filling.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Chen Jing certainly made plenty of noise.

But it was nowhere near Butcher Zhang's dense, powerful rhythm. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow; sometimes heavy, sometimes light.

After only a few chops, Chen Jing felt that something was off.

Chopping meat looked simple, but to chop it evenly and finely, he had to control both the strength in his wrist and the angle of the blade. It was the sort of skill ground out drop by drop, like water wearing through stone.

"Are you chopping meat or smashing the chopping block?"

Butcher Zhang smacked the back of Chen Jing's head, then jabbed at his elbow as he barked:

"Hold the knife steady!"

"Use your wrist. Don't lock up your elbow."

"Just like slaughtering pigs, the force has to travel from your waist!"

Chen Jing took the scolding without getting angry.

He obediently adjusted his posture as Butcher Zhang had instructed.

After chopping for a while longer, he gradually found the feeling. The sound of his blade falling finally stopped stumbling and stuttering.

Chen Jing took a moment to glance at the panel.

[Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Entry Level: 28/100)]

His proficiency had gone up by 1 point!

Chen Jing was overjoyed. Sure enough, it worked!

Whether he slaughtered pigs, chopped meat, or carved bones, as long as it fell within the scope of the Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique, he could gain proficiency!

That immediately fired him up.

When Butcher Zhang saw that he had finished chopping the meat, he was about to send him off to handle something else.

But Chen Jing had already gathered up all the remaining chunks of meat on the chopping block. "Master, you rest. I'll handle everything at the block."

Butcher Zhang raised an eyebrow. With someone else willing to work, he was more than happy to take it easy, so he went to the meat stall to attend to customers.

Chen Jing gripped the cleaver tightly and began chopping up the remaining cuts of meat.

This time, he paid even closer attention to the angle and force of every strike, feeling the blade slice into the flesh and the tremors in his wrist whenever he exerted strength.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The chopping gradually found a rhythm. Though it still could not compare to Butcher Zhang's smooth, flowing movements, it was at least no longer clumsy and uneven.

Chen Jing did not leave the meat block for the entire morning.

Whenever customers came, Butcher Zhang attended to them while Chen Jing sliced and chopped the meat.

After chopping pork belly, he chopped front leg. After finishing the front leg, he chopped hind leg.

The meat on the chopping block changed batch after batch. After eating a bowl of noodles at noon, Chen Jing's wrists ached as though they had been filled with lead, trembling uncontrollably.

Yet his spirits only grew higher.

By afternoon, fewer and fewer people came to buy meat.

Chen Jing began helping with bone-carving as well.

Butcher Zhang was delighted to be idle. He stuffed the Bone-Carving Knife into Chen Jing's hand and went to the backyard for a nap.

Chen Jing was left alone to watch the butcher shop out front. He attended to business himself, chopped meat, and carved bones, taking all the work upon himself.

Seeing this, the neighbors laughed and teased him.

"Well, well, Old Zhang's little apprentice has gotten the hang of things pretty fast."

Chen Jing merely chuckled at that.

When it was time to close up in the evening, Chen Jing looked at the panel again.

[Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Entry Level: 40/100)]

Forty points already!

Chen Jing's heart bloomed with joy. A day's hard work had not gone to waste.

Though chopping meat and carving bones did not grant as much proficiency as slaughtering an entire pig, the quantity made up for it.

As long as he was willing to work, there would be progress.

When you encounter advertisements such as "Are you a real person?", simply ignore them and close them. Do not scan codes or send text messages!

At this rate, the Entry Level proficiency of the Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique would soon be filled.

Chen Jing wiped the chopping block clean and put the door planks back one by one.

With the year-end approaching, pork had sold well today. The two pigs slaughtered yesterday had been almost entirely sold out.

"Not bad. Turn in early tonight."

Butcher Zhang rarely offered praise.

After night fell, the north wind began to howl, making the doors and windows in the backyard bang and rattle.

Butcher Zhang dug out a bottle of homemade liquor from his room, brought out a small dish of fried soybeans, set them on the table, and beckoned to Chen Jing.

"Come, have a couple of drinks with me."

Butcher Zhang was in high spirits. This was the first time he had invited Chen Jing to sit at the table.

Chen Jing sat down and poured Butcher Zhang a bowl.

"Master, drink."

Butcher Zhang raised the bowl and gulped down a large mouthful. Smacking his lips, the slabs of flesh on his face relaxed, and he began talking more.

He spoke of how he had become a pig butcher in his youth.

He spoke of becoming engaged to his childhood sweetheart in the village, of how bandits had massacred the village, and of how he had joined the army afterward.

Later, after drifting from place to place, he settled down in Shuang'an Town.

Butcher Zhang was a lifelong bachelor and had never married.

Who knew whether he still longed for the moonlight in his heart?

Chen Jing drank a couple of mouthfuls with him, but his mind was still fixed on the Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique.

"Master, I'll slaughter the pigs again tonight, right?"

"Of course. Who else would slaughter them, me?"

Chen Jing was relieved.

Butcher Zhang took another two swigs and let out a drunken belch.

"Finish before dawn. Don't delay opening for business."

Not long after saying that, Butcher Zhang leaned back in his chair and fell fast asleep, his snores rumbling like thunder.

Chen Jing helped him onto the bed.

Then he went to the pigsty himself.

The moonlight was cold, and the north wind cut to the bone.

Chen Jing breathed out a plume of white mist, rubbed his hands together, seized a pig by the head, and brought his knife down in one clean, decisive motion.

After slaughtering one pig, his proficiency rose by five points.

He slaughtered another, gaining another five points.

After going through the process twice, Chen Jing's movements became increasingly deft. Draining blood, scalding hair, opening the belly, carving the bones—everything flowed in one unbroken sequence.

[Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Entry Level: 50/100)]

Still unsatisfied, he practiced his blade technique in the courtyard for another half hour. His proficiency rose by another four points before he returned to his room to rest.

He did not stay up all night again, afraid that his body would not be able to endure it.

The next day, Chen Jing rose early. After washing up quickly, he plunged straight into the butcher shop.

Chopping meat, carving bones, skinning pork.

That day, he took on nearly every task in the butcher shop that involved a blade. Butcher Zhang was only responsible for greeting customers and collecting money.

Seeing the boy work so hard, the rough man was secretly delighted, feeling that he had not picked up the wrong person.

Still, that did not stop him from barking at Chen Jing a few times, saying that his movements were too slow and the like.

Chen Jing did not talk back. His hands merely moved faster.

On the evening of the second day, Chen Jing checked his results.

[Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Entry Level: 74/100)]

On the third day, Chen Jing's blade technique proficiency continued to rise steadily. It soon accumulated past ninety points and charged toward one hundred.

Near evening, as he carved a piece of pork from the bone, a clear chime suddenly rang out in his mind—

[Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique Minor Accomplishment!]

[Awakened Talent—Butcher!]

[Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Minor Accomplishment: 1/500)]

Chen Jing felt a surge of heat rush into every limb and bone.

The strength in his arms, wrists, and even his five fingers seemed to increase sharply. Even the feeling of holding the Butcher Knife had changed.

What delighted him even more was that the panel had undergone a major change.

Name: Chen Jing

Realm: None

Martial Art: Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Minor Accomplishment: 1/500)

Talent:

[Butcher] You are extremely familiar with the Butcher Knife. While holding a Butcher Knife, your attack speed increases by 10%.

Chen Jing had not expected that advancing his blade technique would not only increase his strength, but also awaken a talent.

Moreover, the [Butcher] talent was exceedingly practical. As long as he held a Butcher Knife, his strikes would be faster.

If the speed of his blade technique improved further in the future, the effect of that boost would become even more obvious.

This was a good beginning.

Chen Jing drew a deep breath and suppressed the excitement in his heart.

Then he continued chopping meat.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The sound grew denser and crisper.

The VIP membership reading experience has been optimized. Tap the middle of the screen to bring up the menu, where you can conveniently access "Settings," "Previous Page," "Next Page," and "Back to Top."