Silver Fox

But Gu Sheng was only thinking about it. His body was frail, leaving no room for error. Someone might be able to knock him dead with a single punch.

Put plainly, Gu Sheng was currently a fragile glass cannon with high attack and low defense.

Back when Chopping Wood reached mastery, he could split a wild wolf in two. Now that Chopping Wood had surpassed perfection and gained the Rend effect, he was even confident he could cleave through tiger bones and bear hide!

However.

Gu Sheng also noticed that no new progress bar had appeared after Chopping Wood.

"Had it already reached its limit... Was gaining an effect after surpassing perfection the limit of grinding proficiency for martial arts? Or was it because Chopping Wood could only be considered the most basic kind of martial art?"

Gu Sheng had no way of knowing which it was.

However, Chopping Wood's Rend effect was only Tier 1 Rend, which gave rise to a few guesses in Gu Sheng's mind.

"Since there is Tier 1 Rend, perhaps there are Tier 2 Rend and Tier 3 Rend. If I learn more powerful martial arts in the future, perhaps I can grind out even stronger effects!"

"I just wonder what effect will appear when Archery is ground to its limit..."

A hint of anticipation rose within Gu Sheng.

His Archery had already reached 61% mastery. Perfection was not too far away, and beyond that came the effect.

Tier 1 Rend from Chopping Wood was already so powerful. What about Archery?

Perhaps it would be even stronger!

In the days that followed.

Gu Sheng's life became even simpler and more regular. Now that he no longer needed to spend time on Chopping Wood, he devoted all his energy to Archery.

His Archery progress was extremely gratifying.

It gradually approached the realm of perfection.

He still went into the mountains to hunt roughly once every three days.

At other times, he practiced archery and learned to read.

Gu Sheng also came to understand more and more about the Great Liang Dynasty, at least gaining a relatively clear picture of Chiyun Prefecture.

Qingzhou had eight prefectures, and Chiyun Prefecture was considered middling among them. Located in southern Qingzhou, it governed eleven county towns, as well as over a hundred villages, towns, and forts, with a sizable population.

After making a rough calculation, Gu Sheng realized that the Great Liang Dynasty's population was measured in the hundreds of millions, no less than that of the ancient dynasties in his previous life.

During this time, Gu Sheng and Gu Erniu exchanged for more grain. They learned that the war in Yunzhou had ended. The rebel army had collapsed; most had been wiped out, while a small portion scattered and fled.

Grain prices had risen by around ten percent, but thankfully not to an especially outrageous degree.

However, Gu Sheng knew that was because Canghe County was far away and the autumn harvest had been fairly good. Otherwise, things would have been worse.

Although the Yunzhou war had ended.

As he learned more and more about the surrounding situation, Gu Sheng realized that things were far from optimistic.

Bandits ran rampant, officials colluded with bandits, and gangs acted with impunity.

None of these problems had been resolved for a long time.

That could only mean one thing.

The Great Liang court had completely lost control over the lower levels. At the very least, its orders no longer reached the people and were obeyed only superficially.

Gu Sheng understood very clearly what it meant for a dynasty to reach this point. Unless something unexpected happened, its collapse was only a matter of time.

He needed to keep working to strengthen himself.

Otherwise, if a crisis arrived one day, regret would come too late.

Fortunately, everything was moving in a better direction.

"Once spring comes next year, I'll begin practicing martial arts!"

On this day.

The hunters of Gu Family Village had gathered together to eat meat and drink wine.

A huge iron pot sat in the center, a roaring fire blazing beneath it. Boiling water churned inside, rolling up chunks of meat and all sorts of herbs gathered from the mountains that could barely serve as substitutes for seasoning.

Seven or eight men gathered around it, bare-chested and eating with great enthusiasm.

They drank deeply and devoured great chunks of meat, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"Asheng, this idea of yours is really good! Hotpot, hotpot—firewood cooking a big pot. The name really fits. This is the truly satisfying way to eat meat!"

Zhang Ze laughed heartily and could not help praising it again.

The hunters around him also showered it with praise.

Gu Sheng had suggested it on a previous occasion. It was a crude version of hotpot from another world, but it tasted quite good.

Gu Sheng merely smiled and nodded, enjoying himself as well. He had been training hard all this time, and it was good to relax occasionally. Everyone brought some meat to share, and the feeling was completely different.

The group chatted freely.

They were all men, and hunters besides, so their topics naturally revolved around women and hunting.

Whenever they mentioned how pretty a certain family's daughter was, the unmarried hunters could not help looking interested. Men married and women wed; it was perfectly normal.

As they talked, a young man with pockmarks on his face grew excited from drinking, his flushed face turning red. He suddenly said:

"Have you heard? A hunter from Dahe Village found traces of a Silver Fox in Cang Mountain!"

The moment those words came out, the lively atmosphere abruptly fell silent.

Gu Sheng's heart stirred, and clarity flashed in his eyes.

He had a good tolerance for alcohol and never allowed himself to get drunk, so he quickly understood what Silver Fox this man meant.

A Silver Fox was not some demon-blooded exotic beast. It was simply an ordinary wild animal.

However, a Silver Fox's fur was silver-white all over, smooth as satin, warm and comfortable. It was a favorite among many wealthy households!

Its pelt was also extremely valuable.

It would sell for at least ten taels of silver. If the fur was intact and unblemished, it might fetch even more from a generous buyer!

The hunters present immediately grew excited.

Whoever managed to hunt that Silver Fox would not need to hunt for an entire year!

Zhang Ze shouted drunkenly:

"San Mazi, you're not fooling us, are you? Even if the Dahe Village hunter really found traces of a Silver Fox, why would he tell anyone? He would definitely search for it quietly on his own!"

San Mazi immediately stood up in agitation. Meeting the faintly suspicious gazes around him, he shouted:

"How could this be fake? My cousin married into Dahe Village. She returned to Gu Family Village a few days ago and told me herself. That hunter drank too much and let it slip after someone coaxed the information out of him. Haven't you noticed there have been too many hunters entering Cang Mountain lately?"

Several hunters immediately came to a realization. Exchanging looks, they murmured:

"Now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case. This month, we've run into quite a few hunters from other places. I even came across Li Yan from Li Family Fort."

When Gu Sheng heard Li Yan's name, his expression paused. Last month, when he and Gu Erniu entered the mountains, they had encountered Li Yan again.

He glanced at Gu Erniu and saw that Gu Erniu's expression had turned somewhat cold.

Li Yan truly had a foul mouth and a black heart.

San Mazi said indignantly:

"The people of Li Family Fort and Dahe Village have known about this for a while and have been secretly searching for the Silver Fox's trail. I revealed this news today because I don't want the people of Gu Family Village to fall behind!"

"Why would I, San Mazi, go to the trouble of lying to everyone? If you don't believe me, then just treat it as nonsense!"

Gu Sheng knew that this man was shrewd.

San Mazi's Archery was mediocre. Even if he encountered a Silver Fox alone, he might not be able to hunt it. Since that was the case, he might as well use his drunkenness as an excuse to reveal the news and earn everyone's goodwill.

Sure enough.

Seeing San Mazi's solemn, well-reasoned manner, Zhang Ze felt somewhat embarrassed. He quickly threw an arm around San Mazi's shoulders and chuckled.

"Brother, calm down. I was wrong. I'll punish myself with a bowl!"

"Brother San Mazi is righteous and doesn't keep things to himself. When we go hunting in the mountains in the future, we all need to look out for him more!"

The hunters immediately burst into laughter and nodded, and the atmosphere grew lively once more.

Yet each of them was secretly making plans. If they could hunt that Silver Fox, they would truly strike it rich!