Chapter 37
“Senior Brother.”
“How is your left hand so strong too?”
“Yeah.”
“Our left-hand force trajectory is really hard to control, but your left-hand explosiveness is almost no worse than your dominant right hand.”
After realizing just how difficult the third stage was, Hong Kaibao and Bai Yuhui also tried the fourth-stage training. With their right hands it was manageable—after thrusting more than a hundred times, their arms turned sore and numb, and they needed proper rest to recover. But with their left hands, let alone piercing one cun into the wooden stake, they could barely even hit the stake.
They tried dozens of times in a row. Their left-hand spears skewed crookedly, scraping past the wooden stake and missing, leaving only shallow scratches on the surface.
Su Wangchuan answered frankly.
“Before I entered spirit realm, I worked out. I specifically trained my left hand for a period of time, so using both hands isn’t too difficult for me. My left-hand dexterity has long since become nearly the same as my right.”
“Damn…”
“Even fitness content creators have to grind this hard?” “There’s no way around it. I have to eat, and I have to survive.” Su Wangchuan answered with a smile.
In truth, he was grateful to the version of himself who had struggled relentlessly over the past few years. That effort had strengthened his core, forged an unyielding will, and even included deliberate training of his left hand.
Those advantages were exactly what helped him stand out among the company’s miners.
He had gone from a content creator who earned barely enough for chicken legs in a month to a six-figure-per-month laborer who ground resources for a living.
Hong Kaibao’s envy overflowed. “Senior Brother, you’re incredible. What’s your account name? I’ll follow you and learn from you.”
Bai Yuhui gave a bitter smile. “If I start learning now, I wonder if it’s too late.”
“Fitness is good for the body. It’s never too late to start,” Su Wangchuan said.
He gained two followers right afterward.
Early the next morning, he finally completed the quota of ten thousand single-handed thrusts.
“Ding!”
A system notification appeared:
“Congratulations. You have mastered Entry-Level 《Basic Spear Technique》. Next realm: Minor Mastery.”
After days of effort, Basic Spear Technique was finally initiated.
Su Wangchuan summoned the Status Panel:
Su Wangchuan: Male (Blacksmith) (Hunger 91/100)
Strength 8+3; Attack 3–4
Agility 8+2; Defense 2; Speed +10
Stamina 8+1; HP 90/90
Spirit 8 (Not Activated)
Life Skill ‘Hundredfold Steel Forging Technique’: Practice Makes Perfect; Next Realm Entry-Level Mastery 418/500
Combat Skill ‘Archery’: Minor Mastery; Next Realm ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ 87/300
Combat Skill ‘《Basic Spear Technique》’: Entry-Level; Next Realm ‘Minor Mastery’ 0/100
Current Location: Southern Sky Continent, Nanyu Kingdom, Sanhe Commandery, Huishui County, Blackstone Village
It was the third skill he had mastered.
“Congratulations, Senior Brother!”
“Senior Brother is amazing.”
His two junior disciples hurriedly offered flattery.
“Train hard. Strive to master 《Basic Spear Technique》 as soon as possible,” Su Wangchuan encouraged them, then went to report the good news to Captain Zhao Heiniu.
Instead, he was told that Captain Zhao was currently at the Blacksmith Shop.
Su Wangchuan went over and found that besides Captain Zhao and his master, Blacksmith Sun, there was an uninvited guest discussing matters with them.
The man looked to be in his early thirties. He wore clean white cloth clothing, neat and capable. His gaze was deep and sharp, his knuckles thick and distinct, and calluses covered the backs of his hands. He was clearly not an ordinary person.
Both Zhao Heiniu and Blacksmith Sun treated him with great respect, nodding repeatedly.
Su Wangchuan stayed tactfully at the doorway, not going over to interrupt.
After a while, the discussion ended. Zhao Heiniu and Blacksmith Sun escorted the man out of the village.
From beginning to end, the visitor did not even glance at Su Wangchuan.
When Zhao Heiniu and Blacksmith Sun returned to the Blacksmith Shop, their expressions were grave, as if they had encountered something extremely troublesome.
Su Wangchuan could not hold back any longer.
“Master, Captain—what happened?”
Zhao Heiniu waved his hand and shook his head, saying nothing.
But Blacksmith Sun pulled his apprentice into a corner of the back courtyard and lowered his voice.
“Just listen to this and don’t spread it… A few days ago, the county seat recruited a group of experts to leave the city and hunt the beasts coming out of the mountains… Things had been going smoothly, but for some reason yesterday, one team suddenly went missing. They were said to be moving toward the mine mountain area and were lost inside it.”
“…”
Su Wangchuan was startled.
Experts from the county seat… lost in the mine mountain outside Blackstone Village?
“Master, in weather this cold, if they’re stranded outside for a whole day and night, I’m afraid the odds are grim.”
Blacksmith Sun’s face was full of worry.
“That’s what we said too, but the county seat made it clear: if they’re alive, we must find them; if they’re dead, we must find the bodies… Not only are they ordering the county’s experts to search, they’ve also issued a directive to the nearby villages to enter the mountains and search as well.”
“Into the mountains?!”
Su Wangchuan instinctively looked toward Captain Zhao Heiniu.
At a time like this, only the best hunters could be sent.
The task would likely fall onto Captain Zhao.
Sure enough.
Seeing that his apprentice had already guessed it, Blacksmith Sun nodded and lowered his voice further.
“Captain Zhao is Blackstone Village’s best tracker and searcher. His name was specifically called to participate in this operation… They said that within the time it takes to burn one stick of incense, he must gather all weapons, rations, and manpower, then assemble at the mine mountain.”
“If Captain Zhao leaves, what about our village?”
Su Wangchuan was deeply worried.
This mountain-search operation was dangerous to begin with. If Captain Zhao was trapped as well, and something happened in the village at night, who would protect it?
Blacksmith Sun sighed.
“Recently, the beasts coming down the mountains have been hunted hard. Wolf packs and wild boar herds have decreased a lot. For now, they probably won’t threaten the village, but Captain Zhao’s mission… that’s hard to say.”
He was worried that Zhao Heiniu would meet trouble outside the village.
Unfortunately…
Zhao Heiniu did not have much time.
He stood up and walked over.
“Old Sun!”
“Since there’s no avoiding it, we’ll have to adapt as we go. Prepare three quivers of armor-piercing arrows for me.”
Captain Zhao was preparing to depart.
Blacksmith Sun did not dare defy the government’s order. He silently took out three quivers of armor-piercing arrows.
“Captain Zhao, be careful on the road. You must come back safely.”
“Mm.”
Zhao Heiniu slung the quivers onto his back, then walked up to Su Wangchuan and patted his shoulder.
“Wangchuan, while I’m not in the village, help me watch over it. Don’t let anything happen.”
“Alright!”
Hot blood surged through Su Wangchuan. He nodded forcefully. “Captain Zhao, we’ll all be waiting for you to come back.”
Zhao Heiniu nodded, turned, and left.
He took two days of rations, and also brought two hunters from the village.
Government men were already waiting at the village gate. The group of four stepped out into the thick accumulated snow and quickly vanished into the wind and snowfall.
Su Wangchuan turned his head and asked Blacksmith Sun:
“Master…”
“Captain Zhao… he’ll return safely, won’t he?”
Blacksmith Sun stood in the wind and snow, not answering.
Between heaven and earth, only the merciless howl of wind and snow remained.
Su Wangchuan’s heart slowly sank.
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