Shackles

The Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness.

This time, only Qin Shujian and Zheng Fang were present.

"You've been at Liangshan Stronghold for some time now, Strategist. What do you think of it?" Qin Shujian asked casually.

Zheng Fang's expression turned solemn, and he cupped his hands in reply. "Your strength is exceptional, Stronghold Chief. Under your leadership, Liangshan Stronghold will surely surpass its former glory."

"Speaking of which, the techniques you practice seem to form a distinct school of their own. Are they passed down through your family?"

"To tell you the truth, I was once an outer disciple of a sect in my youth. Unfortunately, my aptitude was poor. As I grew older, I simply left the sect and eventually settled in Linchuan Market.

"I thought that was how I would spend the rest of my life.

"I never expected a famine, let alone the ravages of war."

By the end, Zheng Fang could only shake his head helplessly.

"A sect?"

Qin Shujian picked out that particular word from his explanation.

Seemingly noticing Qin Shujian's confusion, Zheng Fang gathered his thoughts before explaining, "There are many factions and schools within Great Zhao.

"Sects, however, are organizations founded by powerful individuals who stand apart from the mundane world.

"Every sect has many formidable experts.

"Someone like me, at the fourth or fifth level of Martial Entry, would only rank at the very bottom of a sect."

"Then do you know what realm comes after Martial Entry?"

"I do not."

Zheng Fang shook his head. "With my standing, I had no right to learn about anything beyond Martial Entry. But they say that breaking past the limit of the tenth level of Martial Entry brings about a tremendous transformation.

"As for the specifics, I know nothing."

At this point, Zheng Fang gave a self-deprecating smile.

"Unfortunately, all I learned in the sect was the most ordinary Everlasting Spring Technique, and that technique's limit is the Martial Entry Fifth Level. Unless something unexpected happens, I will likely never have the chance to glimpse the mysteries beyond Martial Entry.

"You, on the other hand, have already reached such heights at a young age, Stronghold Chief. You stand a chance of breaking through that limit."

Upon hearing this,

Qin Shujian did not respond immediately.

His brief conversation with Zheng Fang had given him quite a bit of information.

At first, he had thought

that other NPCs only needed to kill players to advance their realms. Later, however, he discovered that they had to kill players no more than three minor realms below themselves to advance.

Now, after hearing Zheng Fang's words, Qin Shujian realized that other NPCs faced another shackle when advancing their realms.

And that was—

Cultivation techniques!

In truth, Qin Shujian had already noticed something of this himself.

Before he could advance his own realm, he first had to improve his primary cultivation technique, which would then raise his realm.

But other NPCs lacked the ability to use Life Source to extrapolate their techniques.

That meant

techniques such as the Body Tempering Scripture and the Everlasting Spring Technique reached their limit at the fifth level.

Those who practiced these techniques could ultimately advance only to the corresponding realm.

To break free of that shackle, they would need a higher-level cultivation technique.

Although he had not actually asked Zheng Fang about any of this, and had only inferred it from fragments of their conversation, Qin Shujian was certain his conjecture was correct.

With that,

Qin Shujian became even more aware of just how powerful his ability to improve cultivation techniques with Life Source truly was.

As long as he had enough Life Source,

there would be no shackles holding him back.

The levels beyond Martial Entry Fifth Level, and even the realms beyond Martial Entry itself,

would not stop his advance.

And the prerequisite for all of this was enough Life Source.

"Strategist, how much do you know about the current state of the world? And what exactly caused the famine you mentioned earlier?"

"Alas, not a drop of rain has fallen in three months, and the crops have yielded nothing. I hear that all thirteen prefectures of Great Zhao have been affected. With regional lords rising up across the land as well, the people can barely survive."

Zheng Fang smiled bitterly, shaking his head with a sigh.

"On one side, the drought has left nothing to harvest. On the other, taxes haven't been reduced at all. Add the frequent fighting as regional lords rise up, and deserters running rampant, killing people and stealing grain, and that is how the famine came about.

"Fortunately, the Liangshan Area is remote. Otherwise, it would probably have been affected too."

Hearing this, Qin Shujian asked a few more questions.

Zheng Fang answered each of them.

Only then

did Qin Shujian gain a basic understanding of this world.

The land beneath his feet belonged to Great Zhao.

Great Zhao had thirteen prefectures, its territory spanning far beyond hundreds of millions of units.

Strictly speaking, both Linchuan Market, where Zheng Fang had lived, and the present Liangshan Territory lay within Northcloud Prefecture, one of Great Zhao's thirteen prefectures.

As for the regional lords rising up,

Qin Shujian could understand a little of that even without asking Zheng Fang.

After all, in the ancient history of the world he had lived in before coming here,

every drought and famine had brought restless individuals who sought to seize the opportunity to overthrow the ruling dynasty.

It seems no world lacks people like that.

Qin Shujian shook his head inwardly.

Afterward,

the two spoke at length for a while longer before Zheng Fang rose and took his leave.

Over the next few days,

Qin Shujian organized the Body Tempering Scripture he had extrapolated, then wrote out all its contents through the eighth level from memory.

Immediately afterward,

he taught Zheng Fang the first eight levels of the Body Tempering Scripture.

He also taught Zhao Shanlin and the other Leaders its first six levels.

As for the ordinary Bandits, he taught them nothing.

Anyone who could become a leader was at least an expert at the Fourth Level of Martial Entry, and had nearly reached the end of the five-level Body Tempering Scripture. That was why Qin Shujian passed down the technique in stages according to this standard.

This would also encourage the other Bandits to work desperately to improve their strength, in the hope of obtaining higher levels of the Body Tempering Scripture.

As for Zheng Fang,

when he received the first eight levels of the Body Tempering Scripture,

even this old man, who had spent time in a sect and could be considered worldly, could not help but feel deeply shaken.

No one understood better than he did

just how precious a cultivation technique that surpassed the shackles of the Martial Entry Fifth Level truly was.

Qin Shujian had done this to improve Liangshan Stronghold's overall strength as much as possible.

Through his conversation with Zheng Fang and his growing understanding of this world,

he had become even more aware of how difficult it was to establish a foothold here through one person's strength alone.

Still, Qin Shujian had kept something in reserve.

He had extrapolated the Body Tempering Scripture to the ninth level, but had only taught others the first eight.

Only when he extrapolated the tenth level, or even higher levels, would he pass down the subsequent portions.

This way,

he could avoid certain unnecessary problems that should never arise in the first place.

Before long,

Zhang Tieniu and Wang Tiezhu returned with several Bandits to report on their mission.

Qin Shujian immediately taught the two men the first eight levels of the Body Tempering Scripture. At the same time, he obtained the information he had wanted from them.

A piece

of news about the Rubble Forest.