Proficiency Level Four

Zhou An felt that this had been the most comfortable period of his life.

Over the next month, nothing happened, and he lived a steady, routine life every day.

Grinding Butcher the Ox Knife, practicing Object Juggling, dodging dirt clods.

Worth mentioning was that the Constable Captain had a new candidate: an inconspicuous constable who usually went unnoticed.

While all the constables were desperately trying to prove themselves, he came up with an ingenious method.

—Giving gifts.

Master Xu was quite satisfied and made the decision on the spot, appointing that constable as Constable Captain.

It seemed a little hasty, yet the County Magistrate actually agreed.

Great Chu's constables and Constable Captains had never had an especially strict selection system.

If every one of them had to undergo three generations of background checks like the Demon Suppression Division, Great Chu would never have developed to its current state within ten years.

The Emperor of Great Chu knew there were drawbacks as well.

But one could not demand development while also demanding that nothing slip through the cracks. Some things had to be sacrificed.

None of this had anything to do with Zhou An.

The constable promoted to Constable Captain received a slightly higher salary, but he did not go around making a big show of authority as a newly appointed official.

Zhou An became even more of a slacker.

After more than a month of hard work, his proficiency had greatly improved.

A line of text appeared before him, and Zhou An nodded in satisfaction.

Butcher the Ox Knife lv.3 (Speed +2, Precision +1): 39540/40000
Object Juggling lv.3 (Strength +2, Destruction +1): 37658/40000
Soaring Dragon Steps lv.3 (Speed +2, Evasion +1): 33456/40000

All three skills had gained proficiency.

Butcher the Ox Knife in particular would reach level four before long.

I'll focus on grinding it for the next few days, Zhou An thought.

He had a slight compulsive streak. When something was nearly full like this, he had to grind it to the next level, or else he would always feel like something was missing.

"Time to cook."

It was nearly noon again. Zhou An prepared lunch, ate, then planned to continue grinding Butcher the Ox Knife for a while in the yamen kitchen.

He would get it to level four first, then work on the other two skills.

"Lao Yu, I'm heading out first."

Zhou An patted Yu Hang on the shoulder and prepared to go to the kitchen.

Yu Hang was still studying hard. With the Imperial Examination drawing closer, he was growing more and more nervous.

Arriving at the kitchen, Zhou An followed the usual routine. He took out a piece of wood and carved it according to the greens on the table.

By now, Zhou An's carving skills were exceptional.

With a casual stroke, the rough form of a vegetable had already appeared.

Compared with his previous efforts, this carved vegetable closely resembled a real one, both in shape and spirit.

The only difference was its color.

After all, wood was not the color of vegetables.

His proficiency continued rising as Zhou An continued carving.

Before long, wood shavings flew through the air, and Zhou An had carved a wooden vegetable.

Zhou An stared at the wooden vegetable before him, his brows tightly furrowed.

He recalled Chef Liu's words.

Chef Liu had once said that if he could carve a vegetable indistinguishable from a real one, he could proceed to the next stage of Knife Skills training.

Zhou An always felt that this vegetable was missing something.

"The color?"

"No, not the color."

"Right! I understand now!"

After placing the two vegetables together and examining them repeatedly, Zhou An finally understood where the problem lay.

The veins!

Vegetables had veins too, but he had not carved them.

"If I carve the veins of the vegetable as well, wouldn't I be able to make it completely identical?"

Thinking this, Zhou An grew slightly excited and picked up another piece of wood.

This time, he observed it even more carefully.

For every glance he took, he made another cut in the wood.

Beyond the rough outline and basic expression, he paid closer attention to the vegetable's veins this time.

From the roots to the stalk, then to the ridges along the edges, Zhou An was extraordinarily careful at every step.

With his mind intensely focused, the passage of time became strangely subtle.

Zhou An felt as though he had entered a very special state.

Everything around him ceased to exist. He could not hear any sounds around him, nor could he sense where he was.

In his eyes, there was only the wood, the knife, and the vegetable resting on the stove.

Every cut was incomparably precise.

Every cut sent up a spray of wood shavings.

Zhou An held the wood in his left hand, as steady as an old dog.

His other hand danced up and down like a butterfly flitting through a sea of flowers.

Time continued to pass.

When Zhou An completed the final cut, he suddenly felt extremely exhausted.

He set down the knife in his hand, then placed the wooden vegetable beside the real one and carefully examined their patterns.

Every vein was exactly the same. Even the ridges along the edges showed no difference.

If he dyed the wood green, no one could tell the two apart when placed together.

A line of text appeared before Zhou An.

Butcher the Ox Knife lv.4 (Speed +2, Precision +2): 1/60000

A vast amount of information flooded into his mind.

At that moment, Zhou An suddenly felt something profound.

Unable to help himself, he picked up the long knife from the floor and chopped at the vegetable on the table.

The blade shot forth like a long dragon, unstoppable in its momentum.

If this strike landed solidly, it would split even the stove in two.

Yet when the blade fell upon the vegetable, it did not even move.

Zhou An withdrew the long knife.

An abnormal change suddenly appeared in the vegetable on the stove.

Starting from the outermost layer, it turned into strands as fine as hair.

From the outside in, in the blink of an eye, the vegetable had become incredibly fine.

Every strand was like a hair.

"Perfect control, lifting heavy as if it were light—I've taken another step forward."

Zhou An smiled.

"My blade techniques have already surpassed Chef Liu's."

Back in that alley, when Chef Liu had used his ultimate move, it was Zhou An's first time seeing blade light that could turn corners.

Now he had mastered it too. Not only had he mastered it, he had gone a step further.

Another point of Precision had brought a qualitative transformation.

Butcher the Ox?

No.

Dissecting People!

With a single strike, minute wounds would stack upon one another until they ultimately left a person dying a gruesome death.

Zhou An let out a long breath, then picked up the wood again and tried carving it.

After carving for roughly the time it took to burn an incense stick, his proficiency had not increased in the slightest.

"As expected, I'll have to switch to another method. Fortunately, Chef Liu gave me plenty of suggestions back then," Zhou An thought.

He was very tired now.

"Fortunately, qi can make up for the expenditure. I'll be fine after resting for a while."

Zhou An found a place to sit, intending to grind some of his other skills after his mental energy recovered.

He closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and waited patiently.

But before he had even closed his eyes for long, they abruptly snapped open.

"Wait!"

"Qi! Why has my qi become like this?"