Basic Poison Technique

A clearing surrounded by lush trees, with birds flitting about on all sides.

Zhou Ye stood in the middle of the clearing. Beside him were two bamboo baskets filled with snakes.

Using the iron tongs in his hand, he clamped out a Bamboo Leaf Green. Pinching its head and forcing its jaws open, he collected the venom from its fangs into a bottle...

Before long, Zhou Ye had filled an entire bottle. After putting the Bamboo Leaf Green back into the basket, he carefully took out three arrows and two throwing spears, coating their tips with snake venom. He then sealed the bottle containing the remaining venom.

This was Zhou Ye's newest method. He had already tested it—a single tiny drop of snake venom was enough to poison an animal weighing over a hundred jin and bring it down on the spot.

Whenever he went out in the future, these three arrows and two throwing spears would be Zhou Ye's final solution.

Yet at that moment, the panel stirred again—Basic Poison Technique (Mortal): Uninitiated (0/10)

And this Basic Poison Technique was actually listed beneath [Cultivation Methods]?

After blanking out for a moment, Zhou Ye could somewhat understand it. Poison techniques counted as a kind of cultivation method... right? Though they could not be used for self-cultivation, their lethality was utterly terrifying. How many experts had died with bitter resentment after being poisoned? Even the frailest women and children could use it, completely ignoring the level of one's cultivation realm.

But what did that "Mortal" mean? Were there beings that were not mortals? Transcendents? Gods? Immortals? Or something else entirely?

Then again, the original owner's knowledge had been limited, and the information Zhou Ye had obtained was far too scarce. He likewise could not figure out the reason.

Still, there was no point dwelling on something he could not understand. No need to wear himself down over it. At the very least, he had gained another cultivation method. Maybe he could grind out some points from it... right?

At that moment, Zhou Ye felt somewhat resentful. This damned panel was always like this—so fond of speaking in riddles, actually making him keep groping around and figuring things out for himself. Sometimes, it might suddenly bring him a surprise. But at other times, it might just as suddenly give him a fright.

He should get back to training his martial skills first.

He clamped out another Bamboo Leaf Green that had already had its venom extracted and tossed it onto the clearing.

The Bamboo Leaf Green seemed a little dazed. After having its venom taken, it was even somewhat listless. But the instant it realized it had regained its freedom, it immediately tried to slither away.

Yet a Terrifying Upright Ape blocked its path. With a savage grin, Zhou Ye spun his blade. With a swish, the snake's head flew from its body. Basic Chopping experience +2.

Zhou Ye could not help laughing. This was killing two birds with one stone—was that considered exploiting a bug? Tell him, did this count as fighting venomous snakes or not?

Just like that, after killing seven or eight Bamboo Leaf Greens, Zhou Ye finally smiled. Basic Chopping had advanced to Major Accomplishment.

[Zhou Ye (Ordinary Person): 14]

Bone Structure: -3

Comprehension: +3

[Basic Stats]

Health: (80/80)

Strength: -2

Agility: +5

Constitution: -2

Spirit: +4

Charm: -2

[Cultivation Methods]

Basic Poison Technique (Mortal): Uninitiated (0/10)

[Martial Skills]

Basic Chopping (Unranked): Major Accomplishment (0/500)

Basic Archery (Unranked): Beginner (16/50)

Basic Thrusting (Unranked): Beginner (14/50)

Basic Throwing (Unranked): Proficient (59/100)

Basic Movement (Unranked): Proficient (23/100)

Basic Shield Strike (Unranked): Beginner (1/50)

Basic Hammering (Unranked): Beginner (1/50)

Basic Fist Technique (Unranked): Uninitiated (0/10)

Free Attribute Points: 1

Having entered the Major Accomplishment stage, Basic Chopping underwent another qualitative leap. But calculating at eight experience points a day, it would take more than two months? That seemed a little too long.

But then he thought about it again. He was only fourteen years old. Even if he maxed out all these martial skills, he would only be around twenty. He was still very young. So he could not rush things—he had to be patient!

Returning to the Little Homestead, he placed the remaining Bamboo Leaf Greens in a corner. There were several more baskets of Bamboo Leaf Greens there as well, all caught from the bamboo grove. With his high Agility and iron tongs, catching these venomous snakes was not difficult as long as he spotted them in time.

He also stored away the remaining snake venom. Over the past few days, he had already collected two whole bottles. They could be saved for later use.

Next, he needed to inspect the surrounding area. Firing bricks took many days, and people generally could not venture too far away. What he feared most was wild beasts causing trouble. What if the brick firing failed?

Therefore, he planned to set aside two days to conduct a thorough search.

Amid the hazy morning mist, Zhou Ye strolled through the mountain forest.

In truth, there was nothing wrong with the direction of the great river, the direction back to the Old Camp, or the direction of the bamboo grove. Only two directions remained: one was the area he was inspecting today; the other was beyond the steep cliff, in the direction out of the mountains.

When he suddenly spotted a pine forest, Zhou Ye smiled faintly.

He needed to remember this place. Pine trees could yield resin. After processing, it could be separated into turpentine and rosin.

Turpentine could be used in oil lamps. It could also be used to wipe down armor and weapons. At present, he was using that jar of vegetable oil, and even Zhou Ye himself found it painfully wasteful. Once he had turpentine, he would no longer need to squander it.

Rosin, meanwhile, could be used as fuel. He could make several more torches. There were plenty of usable materials in the mountain forest—it all depended on whether he could discover them.

Continuing onward, he soon spotted several chestnut trees, as well as quite a few apple trees over there.

Zhou Ye could not help smiling. Was this whole area an orchard? The wild apples were still green, though, and would need some more time to ripen. He needed to remember this location too... Hm?

All of a sudden, Zhou Ye was both shocked and delighted. There were actually quite a few grapevines over there? Clusters of grapes gave off an enticing fragrance, while many birds pecked at them.

Zhou Ye immediately roared, "Put down those grapes! Let me handle them—!"

A flock of startled birds shot into the sky...

That night, nearly ten baskets of grapes sat before Zhou Ye. His inspection that day had not uncovered any danger, and his only gain had been these grapes. So he picked them all and brought them back. He even made a bamboo trellis at the Little Homestead and transplanted two grapevines to his home.

He selected some of the better ones, intending to supplement his diet with fruit over the next few days.

After washing all the other grapes, Zhou Ye crushed them and layered them into clean empty wine jars. He then poured in some wine to serve as a starter. Finally, he sealed the jars and waited for them to ferment into grape wine.

It had to be said that this mountain forest was truly a treasure trove, with surprises everywhere.

But tomorrow, he would be heading beyond the steep cliff. He did not ask for any discoveries—he only hoped everything would go safely.

He checked his equipment once more. Leather armor, leather boots, a blade, throwing spears... He still had five throwing spears, but two of them had been replaced with venom-coated ones.

And so, when dawn came the next morning, Zhou Ye set out once more, fully equipped...