Beyond Perfection

Ever since he had tasted the benefits of entering the mountains alone on the first day.

In the past, Gu Sheng had gone into the mountains once every three or four days. Of course, most of the time, he went alone.

Sometimes, he also cooperated with other hunters. After all, even if Gu Sheng managed to hunt large prey by himself, it would be difficult for him to carry it back alone.

But now, Gu Sheng generally only chose to enter the mountains with Gu Erniu when he was around. The benefits should not go to outsiders.

Gu Erniu also began entering the mountains more frequently.

With autumn arriving, the prey had grown fat, and one animal was worth two in spring.

Moreover, Gu Erniu was saving money for Gu Wan, so he worked especially hard.

In the blink of an eye.

More than a month had passed.

During this time, Gu Sheng had grown tremendously.

After gradually familiarizing himself with the mountain terrain, Gu Sheng began pushing deeper into Cang Mountain. His accomplished Archery allowed him to move through Cang Mountain like a fish in water, and his hunting success rate far surpassed that of the other hunters.

He basically never returned empty-handed.

Not only that.

He often brought down medium-sized prey like muntjacs, wild deer, and wolves, earning a fortune and making many hunters green with envy.

Fortunately, Gu Sheng was low-key and modest.

Sometimes, he entered the mountains with other hunters and gave up a share of the profits. Coupled with Gu Erniu's high standing among the hunters, the others merely envied Gu Sheng rather than excluding him.

That was only natural. To them, Gu Sheng was, in a sense, a god of wealth.

As long as they entered the mountains with Gu Sheng, they would rarely come back empty-handed unless they failed to find any prey at all.

Gu Sheng had gradually displayed Archery skills that surpassed Gu Erniu's, earning everyone's admiration.

His reputation rose day by day.

If not for his young age, it would only be a matter of time before he became the leading hunter of Gu Family Village.

But Gu Sheng did not care about such things.

He only wanted to maintain good relationships with the hunters so that hunting in the mountains would go more smoothly and he could live more comfortably, without wasting energy on trivial matters.

What he cared about more was himself.

He had never forgotten his goal.

Save money, practice martial arts!

As his hunting continued during this time.

Gu Sheng's wealth began swelling at a visible rate. He now had five taels of silver in cash alone, an amount that exceeded the savings of most villagers in Gu Family Village.

Gu Sheng remained very low-key and quietly made his fortune.

And that was not all.

Gu Sheng also had several hides at home, waiting for the next village purchasing party to head into the city so he could sell them at a good price.

Hides were different from meat. If they looked good and caught a buyer's eye, they could fetch an extremely high price.

The estate owner bought them too, but hunters generally preferred to save up more and sell them in Canghe County, where the buyers were more generous.

That day.

Gu Sheng did not go into the mountains to hunt. He was at home chopping wood.

Some time ago.

Gu He had approached Gu Sheng and said that their firewood reserves were basically sufficient. Since Gu Sheng often went out hunting as well, Gu He discussed whether Gu Sheng should simply quit his chopping-wood job. His attitude had been very sincere.

Gu He had received quite a few benefits from Gu Sheng lately, and he also intended to befriend him, so he had only discussed the matter rather than ordering him around.

After some thought, Gu Sheng agreed.

For one thing, he did feel somewhat embarrassed. Over the past month or so, he had entered the mountains more than ten times.

If he had been doing any other odd job, he would have been kicked out long ago!

Although Gu He was a steward, he could not do whatever he wanted. There were other stewards who did not get along with him, so he could not go too far.

For another, Gu Sheng saw that his chopping wood proficiency was not far from reaching 100% at the Perfection level. Since the estate owner had no more firewood for him to chop, he could stockpile some himself for the winter. That should be enough to advance to Perfection.

As for whether he could continue grinding experience after reaching Perfection, he would deal with that when the time came.

With all that considered.

Gu Sheng quit the chopping-wood job. Ten copper coins were a trivial sum to him now anyway.

Gu He felt rather guilty about it and insisted on dragging Gu Sheng to his home for a meal.

There, Gu Sheng also met Gu He's niece.

Though she was still young, she was indeed a budding beauty. Given time, she might become even more alluring than Li Lian.

But Gu Sheng had no interest in that, which disappointed Gu He greatly.

Though these thoughts ran through his mind, Gu Sheng's movements did not slow in the slightest.

Crack!

Gu Sheng did not even need to look at the firewood. The hatchet in his hand seemed to have eyes, effortlessly splitting it in two with the precision of a ruler.

Under the sunlight.

Gu Sheng was bare-chested, his upper-body muscles lean and well-defined without being exaggerated. As he lightly exerted himself and swung the blade, his muscles occasionally rose into beautiful curves, while beads of sweat dripped down in perfect arcs.

Chopping wood with a hatchet took more effort, but with Gu Sheng's current chopping wood level, it did not matter.

Crack!

Crack!

The crisp sounds of splitting wood rang out continuously, growing faster and faster. Gu Sheng felt himself enter an inexplicable state.

A mysterious force seemed to gather around the hatchet, as though divine aid were guiding him.

In a flash of insight, he knew he had reached a critical moment.

Swing the blade, split the wood, swing again, split again...

Gu Sheng's movements grew increasingly fluid, filled with a picturesque beauty. The force on the hatchet became even more distinct as it continued to brew.

He did not know how much time passed.

Then suddenly.

Gu Sheng's arms shook. His muscles surged with force as he casually swung the hatchet, and the wood before him split cleanly in two without the slightest resistance. There truly was no resistance at all, as if he had cut through air.

Gu Sheng froze, staring blankly at his hands and the hatchet. He could hardly believe he had delivered that strike himself.

It was even more profound and silky-smooth than chopping wood at Perfection. He even suspected that he had just split a hollow, rotten log.

But the two halves of wood plainly told him otherwise.

He even felt that.

With that strike just now, he could casually split even hard ironwood!

"Chopping wood perfection has finally advanced!"

Delight appeared in Gu Sheng's eyes.

After months of tireless effort, his wood-chopping had finally advanced to the next level. He had looked forward to this for a long time, and he eagerly opened his panel.

Name: Gu Sheng

Age: 14

Realm: None

Martial Arts: Chopping wood (Effect: Tier 1 Rend), Archery (Accomplished 61%)

Gu Sheng's Archery had now reached 61% proficiency at the Accomplished level. It would take at most another month or so to reach Perfection, perhaps even less now that he no longer needed to chop wood.

But what drew Gu Sheng's attention the most.

Was the information after chopping wood.

Effect: Tier 1 Rend!

"Beyond Perfection lies effects? Was that strike just now so powerful because of this Rend effect?"

Gu Sheng recalled that strike. It had felt as if divine aid guided him, as though an inexplicable force had gathered on the blade. The firewood had been effortlessly torn apart like thin paper!

He found it hard to imagine.

How terrifying that strike, with its tearing effect, would be if it landed on a person.

He even wanted to test whether his Rend effect could tear through the tough skin membrane of a Skin Refining stage martial artist.

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