Winter Approaches

Name: Gu Sheng

Age: 14

Realm: None

Martial Arts: Chopping Wood (Effect: Tier 1 Rend), Archery (Mastery 0%)

Gu Sheng opened the panel. As expected, his archery had already reached mastery.

"Now, if I had a powerful bow in hand, I could kill an enemy from over two hundred meters away! It's just that the one-stone bow I have isn't strong enough, so I can't fully bring out my archery yet."

"Not only that, my dynamic vision has reached its peak, greatly enhancing my close-combat abilities as well. If I use chopping wood, I can see my enemy's weaknesses even more clearly."

Gu Sheng silently assessed his own strength.

As things stood—

His strength had completely surpassed that of ordinary people.

As for martial artists, that was harder to say. He would only know after facing one head-on.

But Gu Sheng felt that he would not be helpless against one. If he kept his distance, he might have a chance to contend with one—or even kill one.

After all, even the strongest martial artist had no skin membrane covering vital spots like the eyes.

He glanced at the hunting bow in his hand, reluctant to part with it. Though it had only been with him for a few months, it had undoubtedly witnessed the beginning of his rise.

"Li Yan's bow can't be used openly for now. Once I get into the city, I can use it openly. Only then will I truly be able to fully unleash my archery."

Gu Sheng had examined it before.

The bow was finely made, but it was not some custom-made item. It was probably a powerful bow produced by some weapons workshop.

Once he added a few decorations to it later, there would be no chance of it being recognized.

"For arrows to fly fast, force-generating technique is one factor. That's the software. I've already pushed the software to its limit, but the hardware is just as indispensable."

Gu Sheng sighed.

"Still, according to Brother Erniu, there seems to be even stronger archery—Archery Martial Art! I wonder just how extraordinary that kind of archery is. It must possess exceptional power."

Longing filled his eyes.

The martial path was the true path to the extraordinary.

Body and skill, developing together and advancing side by side—this was something ordinary people could not understand. Gu Sheng had always yearned for this extraordinary power that had not existed in his previous life.

Fortunately, he was getting closer and closer to his goal.

"I'll set Archery Martial Art aside for now. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If archery breaks beyond mastery, it will definitely produce an effect like Chopping Wood did!"

"Tier 1 Rend is already this powerful. I wonder what kind of effect archery will produce once it goes beyond mastery?"

Gu Sheng looked forward to it.

Next, he still had to keep training hard.

There was no end to becoming stronger. Gu Sheng enjoyed this feeling of gradually growing stronger bit by bit. It allowed him to feel the meaning of his existence.

Time passed.

Gu Sheng's life became even more regular.

Now that he did not need to enter the mountains to hunt for the time being, he had more time to practice archery. After two days, his archery had finally advanced by a little over 1%.

That also meant—

It would take roughly half a year for his archery to break beyond mastery.

This was about half the speed of Chopping Wood. The difficulty was high, but it only made Gu Sheng look forward even more to the effect archery would produce afterward. Would it allow him to truly rival martial artists?

Besides practicing archery—

Gu Sheng would also visit Gu Erniu.

Gu Erniu's left leg was healing quickly. He could now walk on his own without support, though it was still somewhat difficult. In another half month, he would probably recover enough to walk normally.

But if he wanted to move as swiftly as before, it would still take some time.

"Ah Sheng, you came at the perfect time. I asked around. Before winter begins next month, the village will organize a group to enter the city and buy supplies. By then, my leg should be almost healed too. The two of us can go into the city together, sell the furs we've stored up, and prepare for winter."

Gu Erniu was in high spirits.

Gu Sheng was delighted as well. He had finally been waiting for this.

The timing of the village's purchasing trips was uncertain, and their scale varied. This purchasing trip before winter would have stronger martial artists accompanying it, making it safer.

Gu Erniu lowered his voice.

"This time, Lord Gu Dajiang will be accompanying us..."

Gu Sheng froze, his heart tightening. He knew that Gu Dajiang was one of the three greatest experts of Gu Family Village, alongside Gu Changming and Gu Jingang.

He could not help asking,

"Did the village send martial artists of Lord Gu Dajiang's level to escort these trips in the past as well?"

Gu Erniu waved his hand.

"Don't worry. It's common enough. Whenever it's a relatively large purchasing trip, one of Lord Gu Changming and the other two will usually escort it. There may even be other martial artists along as well."

Gu Sheng relaxed somewhat.

That was normal enough.

The road to the city passed through quite a few forests. Running into bandits and roving outlaws was nothing unusual. Without powerful martial artists to suppress them, the group could easily be robbed.

Gu Erniu looked around, then lowered his voice further.

"When the time comes, hide those bows among the furs. I'll carry two for you too. No one will notice. Once we sell them in the city, no one will be the wiser."

Gu Sheng nodded lightly to show that he understood.

Over the past few days, Gu Erniu had also told him about some things in Canghe County. However, Gu Erniu did not know all that much. Most of what he knew concerned channels for selling furs and things he had seen and heard.

Besides that—

Gu Sheng would occasionally visit Gu He as well.

Though he no longer chopped wood, Gu He was a steward of the main family and had far better access to information and a wider network of connections. Gu Sheng felt that there was no harm in maintaining a good relationship with him.

More importantly, Gu He was a decent person.

Even after Gu Sheng repeatedly turned down his matchmaking offers, he had not become annoyed.

Gu Sheng also confirmed the matter of the village's purchasing party entering the city with Gu He. The answer was not much different from what Gu Erniu knew, but there was an additional piece of good news.

"Purchasing steward Gu Renxu and I are on good terms. I'll speak to him about you two entering the city when the time comes."

More than half a month had passed since Li Yan's death.

The effects of the incident had begun to slowly fade. All the hunters who had bravely entered the mountains during this period had returned safely. Though none of them had hunted the Silver Fox, their other gains were quite good.

After all, fewer hunters had entered the mountains, so there was less competition.

Many people immediately began to grow tempted.

Fear only lasted for a time. As people gradually began returning to the mountains to hunt, the previous negative impact dissipated even faster.

But what left everyone sighing in regret was—

No one had managed to hunt the Silver Fox. It was as if the Silver Fox had never appeared in the mountains at all, vanishing into thin air.

Some guessed that the Silver Fox had noticed so many people hunting it and fled deeper into the mountains.

Others guessed that the Black Sand Gang had already caught the Silver Fox and simply had not released any news.

But no one knew that the Silver Fox had long since fallen into Gu Sheng's hands.

Gu Sheng also resumed his hunting routine. Previously, he had only stayed home to recover so as not to stand out from the crowd. Now that the commotion had passed, he naturally returned to his former hunting rhythm.

He entered the mountains to hunt once every three or four days.

After his archery reached mastery, even with the one-stone bow in his hands, Gu Sheng could kill prey from over a hundred meters away. Hunting became much easier.

However, it was also visibly apparent—

The prey in the mountains was gradually decreasing.

The animals that had grown for a year reached their peak in autumn, then gradually declined before increasing again the following year. Hunters who lived off the mountains also understood that they could not drain the pond to catch all the fish.

Gu Sheng began reducing how often he entered the mountains.

Winter was approaching.