Gifts Everywhere

Zhou Ye found this kind of youthful clash of pride utterly boring.

Though he had only spent fifty-five days, not seventy, he had no intention of correcting them. Let them misunderstand.

However, Zhou Ye noticed that Cheng Jianghe seemed quite calculating. Others became lackeys just to be lackeys, but he had a purpose in doing so. He constantly heaped praise on Xu Feng, exploiting his vanity to seek benefits for himself.

Wasn't that exactly what was happening now? Xu Feng got a little carried away, and wouldn't Cheng Jianghe's resources for his second breakthrough come right along?

What the hell does it have to do with me? Everyone had their own way of living. You couldn't say Xu Feng was terribly stupid, nor could you say Cheng Jianghe was terribly low.

Maybe one wanted emotional validation, while the other racked his brains to provide it. Perhaps they were simply a devoted pair, one willing and the other eager?

But judging by the numbers, Xu Feng and Wu Jun had both taken over twenty days. That should have meant one point every two or three days, since they also needed several days to break through. Their bone aptitude should have been around 0—an ordinary person's average level.

Huang Sheng had reached the full sensation of qi in seven days. That meant he gained one to two points a day. His bone aptitude should have been +1 or +2.

No, no, that calculation was wrong!

According to Huang Sheng, Du Keyuan had once told him that he would likely break through to Bright Force within a year.

That meant the initial stage of training had been relatively slow because he lacked experience, while his later training speed was what counted as normal. In that case, Huang Sheng's bone aptitude had to be at least +5, right? Far beyond those ordinary aptitudes. He really was a genius!

Geniuses were the most annoying. Let jealousy twist my face into a mask!

Even people like Xu Feng and Wu Jun, who had passed their first barrier, probably had bone aptitudes of at least around +3? They too were beyond the range of ordinary aptitude. So he absolutely could not look down on the heroes of the world!

But on the other hand, he still had his advantages. First, after reaching completion, he did not need time to build up momentum and could break through directly. Second, he would not fail; there was no bottleneck at all in breaking through.

That could save an enormous amount of time.

Take Cheng Jianghe, for example. His first breakthrough had taken over twenty days. But after failing to break through, he would need several months to recuperate and prepare for his second attempt?

That being the case, his pace would definitely be much slower than Zhou Ye's.

Putting that aside for now, after all the commotion, Zhou Ye went to the inner courtyard and gave his Third Senior Brother, Han Guang, a bottle of honey as well. Though the gift was not valuable, it still expressed his gratitude. He also told him the good news that he had entered Force.

Han Guang was equally delighted. "Junior Brother Zhou, I never expected you to enter Force too! A few days ago, I heard them saying that and thought you had already given up. I was even worried something had happened to you and wanted to look for you, but I didn't know your home address."

"No. I just went into the mountains..." Zhou Ye repeated the same explanation. This Third Senior Brother was actually quite warmhearted.

"That's good. Although your cultivation speed is a little slow, it's fine as long as you pass the barrier in one go. Maybe if you grind away for twenty or thirty years, you can reach Bright Force by around forty."

"I'll borrow your auspicious words. Hehe."

"Oh! Don't forget—when you go register with Junior Sister later, have her help you out. It'll make things easier for you in the future. According to the martial hall's custom, after entering Force for a year, you can take up an outside post. At least it gives you an income. Going into the mountains isn't a long-term solution; it's too dangerous, after all. You'll have to start a family someday, right? You can't keep your family worrying about you."

"Yes, yes."

"..."

The martial hall indeed had such a custom. One year after entering Force, the martial hall would select the best disciples and recommend them for outside posts. After all, someone who had just entered Force was not much use. But after a year, they would at least have learned several martial techniques.

As for sponsorship from aristocratic clans and wealthy households? That was absolutely impossible.

Who knew whether you were man or ghost? No matter how high your martial realm was, what if they invited a wolf into the house?

Thus, they generally never recruited outsiders. Unless someone was a true master, in which case they might be hired as a retainer. But even then, they would not become part of an aristocratic clan or wealthy household's core. At most, they were mercenaries paid to do a job.

For aristocratic clans and wealthy households, they had their own martial halls and trained their own people.

The first priority was naturally family descendants. The next tier consisted of descendants of vassal families—the small households that had long been attached to them.

Below that were the household-born servants of aristocratic clans and wealthy households: the children of servants who had served their families for generations. They knew their roots and background, so they could be used with confidence.

Below even that were the children from commoner families among the population controlled by those aristocratic clans and wealthy households. For example, if they controlled many farms, mines, forests... many ordinary people depended on such families for their livelihoods. The children of tenant farmers, miners, and the like.

The lowest tier was those trained in the martial halls of aristocratic clans and wealthy households. Didn't they teach outsiders a few flashy but impractical moves? Yet there would always be a handful of geniuses noticed by those great families.

But even such geniuses were comparatively marginalized because their absolute loyalty could not be guaranteed.

In other words, aristocratic clans and wealthy households controlled vast populations. With a sufficiently large population base, children with martial talent emerged one after another. Generally speaking, they had no need to seek people from outside.

On the other hand, because aristocratic clans and wealthy households could select talent almost as broadly as the entire populace, they could remain powerful and maintain their lofty position.

Yet outside those aristocratic clans and wealthy households, there were still many small merchants, workshop owners, small landowners... What were they supposed to do?

Here in the county city, these relatively wealthy households formed a chamber of commerce. They selected martial artists from the major martial halls to protect them. With the chamber of commerce acting as guarantor, they could... barely be considered trustworthy.

Thus, the path forward for ordinary martial hall disciples lay with the chamber of commerce. Of course, they could also join the government offices or enlist in the army.

But in many cases, those modestly wealthy households did not need expensive Bright Force martial artists. A few Force Entry martial artists were already enough to scare people off.

After bidding farewell to Third Senior Brother Han Guang, Zhou Ye went to find Junior Sister Du Juan.

"Wow! Senior Brother A-Ye, you entered Force too? I'm so happy!"

"Hehe. Junior Sister, I brought you a bottle of honey. And these are all for Master. They're just some worthless mountain goods—two pheasants, a basket of pheasant eggs, and these bamboo rats. Bamboo rats are quite tasty. But be sure to keep the pelts. One can sell for 250 coins."

"Wow! You're so cruel. Those little mice are so cute—how could you bear to eat them? I'm going to raise them. Hehe, this one will be called Chubby, and this one Fluffy."

"Suit yourself. As long as you're not afraid of the trouble."

"It won't be troublesome. I have Little Cui to help me, and I have Grandpa too. Hehehe."

Fine then! That was just how little girls were—food somehow turned into pets.

It had only been a few days, yet Du Juan had blossomed considerably more. Bright and lively, she occasionally revealed a trace of bewitching charm that set one's heart adrift, as though it were some kind of talent.

A girl changed eighteen times as she grew. This little girl had finally grown up too!