Basic Poison Technique at Maximum Level

It had to be said that salted fish was quite popular. A steady crowd of customers had gathered around Zhou Ye.

However, the moment this young man appeared, everyone else immediately shrank aside. Their expressions varied as they stood at a distance to watch the show.

With a glance from the corner of his eye, Zhou Ye became alert as well. An idea struck him. "Sorry, I don't deliver goods. Why not buy it here?"

To his surprise, the young man's expression changed slightly. "Didn't we agree that you'd be paid once you came to our residence?"

"We trade here," Zhou Ye insisted. "You're a magnanimous gentleman, so I'll have to trouble you to make the trip. I'll save the salted fish for you."

Now that he was suspicious, Zhou Ye became all the more cautious. If he went to some Li Residence and they turned hostile, he would not even be able to escape.

Seeing this mountain barbarian before him being so oblivious to what was good for him, the young man's face darkened as well. "I'm only asking you to make one trip!"

"If you want delivery, I can lower the price by 100 coins. You can easily hire someone else."

"..."

The two argued for several exchanges. Seeing that Zhou Ye was impervious to persuasion and insisted on trading at the market, the young man angrily threw out, "Mountain barbarian, then just wait here. Hmph!"

Watching the young man leave, Zhou Ye's expression flickered between light and dark. But just then, he spotted Shopkeeper Ding among the onlookers. When Shopkeeper Ding saw him, he hesitated for a moment before discreetly giving him several meaningful looks.

Zhou Ye reacted quickly. Shopkeeper Ding was warning him—the young man was definitely trouble.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Ye immediately abandoned everything there, even the remaining salted fish, and shoved his way through the crowd with all his strength. "Make way! I need to relieve myself."

Once he had squeezed out, Zhou Ye sprinted in another direction and fled the town. After taking a long detour, he entered the mountain pass and returned to the forest...

The journey passed without incident.

Even after returning to Little Homestead, Zhou Ye was still furious. It was just a business deal worth a few taels of silver. Was that really necessary?

That said, after this incident, Zhou Ye began to reflect.

One issue was the oppression of the powerful and influential. They were practically lawless. That was why ordinary people lived from one day to the next, never knowing what tomorrow would bring. One careless misstep, and they might offend such people.

The other issue was salt. There was no doubt that trafficking private salt was extremely dangerous—far more dangerous than he had imagined. Even with salted fish as a cover, he could not prevent others from harboring evil intentions. It would be easy to attract predators who robbed predators.

Since that was the case, he would lie low in the mountains for a while!

He swore that he would not leave the mountains before winter ended. And he would strive to grind Basic Chopping to its highest level!

Winter arrived, and the temperature grew lower and lower.

Zhou Ye made several more trips to Old Camp, carrying back over 1,500 jin of charcoal. He officially decided to hole up at home for the winter.

However, Zhou Ye still found some gains while he was out. He happened upon several chestnut trees nearby and harvested three sacks of wild chestnuts. He also went to a pine forest and picked plenty of pinecones, so he would be able to roast pine nuts later.

Interestingly, while picking pinecones, he discovered that quite a few squirrels were busy at the same task. Zhou Ye casually shot several bamboo arrows and actually got lucky enough to hit several squirrels, obtaining a few squirrel pelts...

Outside the window, the north wind howled. Cotton-wool snowflakes drifted slowly down. Winter's first snowfall had arrived.

Before the warm fireplace, Zhou Ye tossed several pinecones into the flames. They had been dried after the pine nuts were removed, and when they burned, they gave off a wonderfully fragrant pine scent.

Holding a cup of hot tea, Zhou Ye cracked pine nuts while carefully reading the Pharmacopoeia Compendium.

The experience points for Basic Poison Technique kept increasing by +1, +2...

Several hours later, Zhou Ye finally burst into laughter. After all these days of effort, he had finally grinded Basic Poison Technique to maximum level. What sent him into even greater ecstasy was that his comprehension had increased by 1, his constitution by 1, and he had additionally gained 4 natural attribute points.

[Zhou Ye (Ordinary Person): 14]

Bone Structure: -3

Comprehension: +4

[Basic Data]

Health: (90/90)

Strength: -2

Agility: +5

Constitution: -1

Spirit: +4

Charm: -2

[Techniques]

Basic Poison Technique (Mortal): Complete (1000/1000) (+)

[Martial Skills]

Basic Chopping (Unranked): Complete (662/1000)

Basic Archery (Unranked): Beginner (45/50)

Basic Thrusting (Unranked): Beginner (21/50)

Basic Throwing (Unranked): Minor Success (141/200)

Basic Movement (Unranked): Proficient (81/100)

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

Basic Hammering (Unranked): Beginner (17/50)

Basic Fist Technique (Unranked): Not Started (0/10)

Basic Throwing (Unranked): Not Started (1/10)

Free Attribute Points: 5

He truly had not expected the rewards this time to be so generous. Even his comprehension could increase by 1? That was exceedingly rare. After all, key attributes like bone structure and comprehension were difficult to obtain.

Furthermore, maximum level meant Complete; there was no higher realm beyond it. Upon reaching Complete, there were also completion rewards, which likewise granted various attribute points.

There was also an additional "+" after Basic Poison Technique. It was currently gray and could not be lit up for an upgrade. Without question, the necessary trigger conditions had not yet been met. But he did not know what they were at the moment and could only slowly explore them in the future.

But no matter what, there would definitely be a higher-level Intermediate Poison Technique.

Of course, reaching maximum level in this technique had also increased his strength considerably. Next, he should train Basic Chopping to maximum level as well.

As for the 5 free attribute points, Zhou Ye considered it briefly and decided not to use them for now. Even if he added a mere few points to each attribute, it would not bring about any fundamental change. Besides, he had been active around Little Homestead and generally did not encounter much danger.

It would be better to wait until spring next year, when he left the mountains, and then strengthen whatever was needed according to the circumstances.

For the first time in a long while, Zhou Ye felt relaxed in both body and mind. He decided to take it easy for a while.

Since it had only recently snowed, he would use these days to finish building the two hunter cabins. That would also make it more convenient to leave the mountains after spring arrived. Once the heavy snow sealed off the mountains in a few days, he likely would not be able to work anymore.

Having made up his mind, Zhou Ye gathered his weapons and tools and headed to the mountain pass once again...

Two days later, the hunter cabin at the mountain pass was successfully completed. Zhou Ye then set off on his return journey, arriving at the hunter cabin in the middle...

However, Zhou Ye had still been a little too slow. By the time this hunter cabin was finished, several days of heavy snow had blanketed the mountains and plains in thick snow.

Fortunately, Little Homestead was no longer far away. Zhou Ye simply spent the night in the hunter cabin, planning to return home the next day.

When he woke at dawn, only dying embers remained in the cabin's campfire. Yet the room was still warm.

Using the lingering warmth of the fire, Zhou Ye finished breakfast. When he opened the door and stepped outside, an icy wind rushed straight at him, instantly jolting him fully awake...