Goal Achieved

Seeing Gu Sheng's resolve, Gu He silently waved his hand.

"Forget it. Since you've made up your own mind, just pretend I never mentioned it. Don't make things difficult for yourself."

Although Gu Sheng had refused him, Gu He would not make things difficult for him over such a trivial matter. If he were that sort of person, he would have made countless enemies over the decades and never risen to become a steward of the main branch.

Gu Sheng dipped slightly in apology.

After a month of interaction, he knew Gu He was not narrow-minded, which was why he had spoken plainly rather than leave both sides uncomfortable.

Gu He nodded and finally said:

"If you change your mind, you can come find me."

He truly thought highly of Gu Sheng. After observing him for the past month, he found Gu Sheng's character, perseverance, and aptitude all outstanding. At least within Gu Family Village, few could compare to him.

Gu Sheng expressed his gratitude again before turning to leave.

Gu He meant well, but this was not the path Gu Sheng wanted. If he were to start a family in Gu Family Village and gain attachments in the future, how could he continue forging ahead fearlessly? It was indeed a shortcut, but it was not as reliable as slowly building up wealth through hunting himself.

A small grove.

Gu Sheng practiced archery alone.

His gaze was sharp and free of distractions. His left arm held the bow, steady without the slightest tremor, while his right hand drew the string into a full moon before releasing it.

The arrow whistled through the air, carrying a fierce gust as it shot out and buried itself in the fist-sized bullseye in the distance.

Arrow after arrow flew out.

Gu Sheng could feel every tiny bit of progress. Every now and then, he gained a new insight. Practicing archery was tedious, but once there was feedback, it became immensely satisfying.

After firing all his arrows, Gu Sheng pulled them from the target and continued practicing.

He repeated the process over and over without the slightest impatience.

When his arms grew slightly sore, he stopped to rest. That allowed him to train for longer.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sound of arrows cutting through the air rang continuously through the woods.

The progress bar for his archery rose steadily. It had already increased by 2% today, an astonishingly efficient rate.

Whoosh!

Another arrow flew out with a piercing whistle, followed by a voice of praise from afar:

"Fine shot!"

"Ah Sheng, if I hadn't seen you learning archery with my own eyes, I truly wouldn't believe you've only been practicing for ten days."

Gu Erniu walked over with a face full of amazement. Beside him stood another sturdy young man, slightly older-looking than Gu Erniu, with a somewhat flattened nose.

Gu Sheng recognized him as Zhang Ze, a hunter from the village. Zhang Ze's family had drifted to Gu Family Village in his father's generation, and he had now settled down there. He was on good terms with Gu Erniu.

Zhang Ze stared at Gu Erniu in shock and asked incredulously:

"Erniu, he's really only been learning archery for ten days?"

Gu Erniu laughed.

"Why would I lie to you?"

He secretly felt pleased. Back when he had first seen Gu Sheng's progress, he had been utterly shocked too. Seeing Zhang Ze so stunned now made him feel much more balanced.

Zhang Ze was somewhat doubtful, though he did not show it. He merely said:

"Being able to hit a fist-sized target from fifty meters away is indeed decent, but prey won't foolishly stand still. If he enters the mountains, he has to listen to instructions. Otherwise, if he startles the prey, our gains will be greatly reduced."

Gu Erniu nodded repeatedly.

"Of course."

As he spoke, he called Gu Sheng over.

"Ah Sheng, this is Zhang Ze. We plan to enter the mountains together tomorrow, so we thought we'd take you along and let you familiarize yourself with the situation in the mountains."

He had originally planned to take Gu Sheng into the mountains only after at least another month, but Gu Sheng had improved so quickly that he came to invite him now.

With Gu Sheng's current archery skills, he might not be much help, but at least he would not hold them back.

When Zhang Ze had first heard they were bringing a novice into the mountains, he had refused no matter what. Only after Gu Erniu treated him to drinks had he agreed to come take a look. After witnessing Gu Sheng's archery just now, he had reluctantly agreed.

Hearing Gu Erniu's invitation, Gu Sheng hesitated.

He would enter the mountains sooner or later, but not yet.

His beginner-level archery did not give him enough of a sense of security. At the very least, he needed to reach minor mastery and accurately hit running prey. At his current pace, it would take no more than ten days for Gu Sheng to grind his archery up to minor mastery.

He did not want to rush these ten days.

Gu Sheng said apologetically:

"Brother Erniu, my archery has only just reached the beginner level. I plan to practice for another ten days or half a month to consolidate it a little before entering the mountains."

Gu Erniu was slightly taken aback, then smiled.

"Fine. Since you have your own plans, just tell me when you want to enter the mountains. I'll be heading in tomorrow, so please look after your sister-in-law a little."

This was only an ordinary hunting trip, and they would basically not spend the night in the mountains, so Gu Erniu was not overly worried.

Zhang Ze secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Though Gu Erniu said Gu Sheng had only learned archery for ten days, Zhang Ze did not believe it. He assumed Gu Erniu had deliberately exaggerated so that he would agree to bring Gu Sheng along.

Now that Gu Sheng himself did not want to enter the mountains, Zhang Ze was more than happy with that. Bringing a novice increased the danger of going into the mountains, and if that person did not listen, it could even lead to disaster.

He smiled. "More practice would be good. Once you're in the mountains, those wild beasts won't play house with you."

Gu Sheng merely nodded.

Watching the two leave, he could not help shaking his head with a laugh. He had refused both Gu He and Gu Erniu in a single day. He wondered what kind of luck he had today.

But Gu Sheng did not care. He had his own principles for doing things.

Continue practicing archery!

The next day, Gu Erniu and the others entered the mountains early in the morning.

Gu Sheng continued chopping wood instead. In only half a day, he split a thousand pieces of firewood and also figured out the pattern for how chopping wood proficiency increased after reaching perfection.

"Splitting roughly a thousand pieces of firewood raises proficiency by 1%. That means it will take more than three months to reach a realm beyond perfection!"

Gu Sheng looked forward to seeing what would happen once he maxed out the perfection realm.

Half a day later.

As usual, Gu Sheng practiced archery. With half a day's worth of archery practice, his rate of improvement became even faster.

Gu Erniu and the others returned to the village before nightfall. Ordinary hunting trips rarely involved staying overnight in the mountains, because it was too dangerous.

Gu Erniu brought over a large chunk of wild boar meat, looking regretful.

"Ah Sheng, it would have been great if you'd entered the mountains with us today. We got lucky and hunted a wild boar this time. If you had been there, you could have gotten a share too."

Gu Sheng felt some regret as well, but he remained firm in his decision.

No regrets.

This time, they had indeed found a harvest rather than danger, but what if they had encountered danger?

Every year, hunters from the village died in the mountains. It was nothing unusual.

Leaving his life in someone else's hands was not Gu Sheng's way of doing things. He would not throw away his food for fear of choking, but he wanted to reduce risks as much as possible.

After that, Gu Sheng's life was unaffected and remained as regular as ever.

Half the day was spent chopping wood, and the other half practicing archery.

Gu Erniu sometimes came by at night to teach Gu Sheng hunting skills, such as simple traps, identifying certain herbs, and the habits of wild beasts. Gu Sheng lived a fulfilling life, able to feel his progress every day.

That day.

Gu Sheng practiced archery in the woods.

His eyes were sharp, his body stood like a pine tree, and the longbow in his hands was as steady as Mount Tai, without the slightest tremor.

Whoosh!

In a sudden flash of inspiration, Gu Sheng loosed an arrow. With a sharp whistle, it accurately buried itself in a coin-sized target in the distance.

The arrow's tail quivered, and delight appeared in Gu Sheng's eyes.

He opened the panel.

The martial arts section had already changed.

Archery (Minor Mastery 0%)!

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