Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 49 Giving Gifts Everywhere

Zhou Ye found this kind of youthful rivalry rather boring.

Although he only spent 55 days, it wasn't actually 70 days, but I have no intention of correcting it; let them misunderstand!

However, Zhou Ye discovered that Cheng Jianghe seemed quite cunning. While others acted as lackeys simply for the sake of being lackeys, Cheng Jianghe did so with a purpose. He constantly flattered Xu Feng, exploiting his vanity to gain benefits for himself.

Isn't that exactly what's happening now? As soon as Xu Feng gets a little carried away, Cheng Jianghe gets the resources for his second breakthrough, right?

What's it to me anyway! Everyone has their own way of living. You can't say Xu Feng is stupid, nor can you say Cheng Jianghe is despicable.

Perhaps one seeks emotional fulfillment, while the other is driven by ulterior motives. Could they then be mutually attracted?

However, based on the data calculations, Xu Feng and Wu Jun both used more than 20 days, which should be 1 point every two or three days, since there are still a few days left before they break through. Their innate talent should be around 0, which is the average level of an ordinary person.

黄生7天气感圆满，他就是一天1到2点，他的根骨应该+1、+2

No, no, that calculation is wrong!

According to Huang Sheng, Du Keyuan once told him that he was very likely to break through to the Ming Jin level within a year.

That means that the initial cultivation speed was relatively slow due to a lack of experience, and only reached normal speed later on. In that case, Huang Sheng's innate talent should be at least +5? Far surpassing those with ordinary innate talents, he truly is a genius!

I hate geniuses the most. They make me so jealous I'm practically twisted in anger!

Even Xu Feng and Wu Jun, who broke through their cultivation levels in a single breakthrough, had at least +3 to their innate talent, which is also beyond the range of ordinary innate talent. Therefore, we must never underestimate the heroes of the world!

However, on the other hand, I still have advantages. Once one is perfected, I can break through the barrier directly without needing time to prepare. The other one won't fail either, as there are no bottlenecks to breaking through.

This can save a lot of time.

For example, Cheng Jianghe. He breaks through a barrier every 20 days or so. But after failing to break through, he needs several months to recuperate and prepare for his second breakthrough.

In this case, their speed will definitely be much slower than mine.

Putting all that aside, after the commotion, Zhou Ye went to the inner courtyard and gave his third senior brother, Han Guang, a bottle of honey. Although the gift wasn't expensive, he still expressed his gratitude and told him the good news that he had entered the realm of internal strength.

Han Guang was equally delighted: "Junior Brother Zhou, I never expected you could actually reach the level of Qi cultivation! I heard them talking about it a few days ago, and I thought you had given up. I was worried something might have happened to you and wanted to look for you. I just didn't know your home address."

"No. I just went hiking in the mountains..." Zhou Ye repeated the same reason. This third senior brother was actually very enthusiastic.

"That's good. Although your cultivation speed is a bit slow, you only need to break through once. Maybe after twenty or thirty years of hard work, you can reach the Ming Jin level around the age of forty."

"Thank you for your kind words. Hehe."

"Oh! Don't forget, when you register with your junior sister later, ask her for a favor. It'll be easier for you in the future. According to the martial arts school's custom, after a year of mastering the internal energy level, you can take up a temporary position outside. That'll at least provide you with some income. Running around in the mountains isn't a long-term solution; it's too dangerous. You'll be starting a family eventually, right? You can't let your family live in fear."

"Yes, yes."

"..."

Martial arts schools do indeed have this practice. After a year of training at the Jin level, the school will select the best students to take up temporary positions outside the school. After all, they aren't very useful when they first enter the Jin level. But after a year, they will have learned at least a few martial arts techniques.

As for sponsorship from powerful and wealthy families? That's absolutely impossible.

Who knows if you're human or a ghost? No matter how high your martial arts level is, what if you let a wolf into your house?

Therefore, they generally would never hire people from outside. Unless they were extremely skilled, they might be hired as retainers. But even then, they wouldn't be core members of powerful families; at most, they would be mercenaries hired to do things for money.

For prominent families, they have their own martial arts schools, where they train their own people.

Priority is given to the family members, followed by the scions of dependent families, those small and insignificant households that have been dependent on them for a long time.

Another tier includes the servants of wealthy and powerful families, children who have been slaves in their households for generations. This way, their backgrounds are known, and one can use them with peace of mind.

Then there's another tier: the children of ordinary people within the population controlled by powerful and wealthy families. For example, these families controlled numerous farms, mines, and forests, and many ordinary people depended on them for their livelihood. These included children from families like tenant farmers and miners.

The lowest tier consists of those trained in martial arts schools run by powerful families. They might teach fancy moves to outsiders, but there are always a few geniuses who catch the eye of these families.

Even such a genius, because absolute loyalty cannot be guaranteed, is still relatively marginalized.

In other words, powerful and wealthy families actually controlled a large population. With such a large population base, children with martial arts talent emerged in droves. They generally didn't need to seek out outsiders.

On the other hand, because powerful families can select talents from among all the people, they can maintain their strength and their high status.

However, besides the wealthy and powerful families, there are also many small merchants, small workshop owners, and small landowners... What should they do?

In the county town, these relatively wealthy families formed a merchant guild, selecting martial artists from various martial arts schools to protect them. With the guild's guarantee, they were... somewhat reassured!

Therefore, for ordinary martial arts school disciples, their only way out was through the merchant guild. Of course, there were also government officials or joining the army.

However, most of the time, those moderately wealthy families don't need very expensive Ming Jin martial arts masters. A few Ru Jin martial arts masters are enough to scare people.

After saying goodbye to his third senior brother Han Guang, Zhou Ye found his junior sister Du Juan.

"Wow! Senior Brother Aye, you can actually master internal energy! I'm so happy!"

"Hehe. Junior sister, I brought you a bottle of honey. And these are all gifts for Master. They're just some cheap mountain produce: two pheasants, a basket of wild eggs, and these bamboo rats. Bamboo rats are quite delicious. But you must keep their pelts. One pelt can sell for 250 coins."

"Wow! You're so cruel. How could you bear to eat such cute mice? I'm going to keep them as pets. Hehe, this one will be called Fatty, and this one will be called Momo."

"Whatever you want. As long as you're not afraid of trouble."

"It won't be a problem. I have Xiao Cui to help me, and I also have Grandpa. Hehehe."

Okay then! That's just how little girls are; food inexplicably turns into pets.

In just a few days, the azalea had grown considerably. She was bright and lively, occasionally revealing a touch of allure that stirred the heart, as if it were some kind of innate talent?

Girls change a lot as they grow up. This little girl has finally grown up!