Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 48: Arrival at the Martial Arts School

A few days later, Zhou Ye's warehouse was filled with more than a dozen vats of honey. Who would have thought a honey thief... this is really exciting!

However, after calming down, Zhou Ye was inspired.

Recalling the swarm's frenzied attack, he wasn't afraid, especially since he was wearing a double-layered, fully sealed smock made from canvas. But if it were an ordinary person or a wild animal, it would definitely be a disaster, and could even be life-threatening.

At that moment, Zhou Ye thought of that beginner-level poison technique. He had already learned so much theoretical knowledge, so shouldn't he put it into practice and make some poisons?

To be honest, Zhou Ye's theoretical knowledge was indeed quite extensive. Although his basic poison skills had long been maxed out and no longer gained experience points, he still read through the pharmacopoeia several times.

And with some special poisons, we'll have an extra trump card in future battles.

Since that's the case, then... let's give it a try?

Three days later, three kinds of pills were placed in front of Zhou Ye.

There were tiny ones, no bigger than a fingertip. These were the antidote pills Zhou Ye had concocted. He had plenty of ingredients on hand; he'd gathered quite a few herbs these past few days. Although he didn't know the specific effects of these antidote pills, they should at least have some detoxifying properties… right?

Anyway, Zhou Ye was very confident that it was definitely better than those common detox pills sold in pharmacies.

The other two types are about the size of a pigeon egg.

One of them is called a "stink bomb." It has absolutely no other effect. It's simply a refined and fused mixture of several particularly disgusting and foul-smelling materials. When thrown and explodes, it releases an unbearable stench.

To this end, Zhou Ye even went out of his way to catch several nests of weasels. As for the specific process of catching them? That's a story full of bitter tears.

Another type is called a "colored smoke bomb." When thrown and explodes, it produces a large area of ​​colored smoke. It can also cause nausea, eye irritation, and difficulty breathing.

It's just a huge cloud of colorful mist, and it looks extremely poisonous. If you're so brave, go inside.

To be fair, these two could be considered poison gas, right? But they're both non-lethal poison gas bombs, kind of an upgraded version of the lime-throwing thugs used in fights.

The reason for choosing non-lethal poison gas was mainly because Zhou Ye was timid. After all, this was his first time preparing poison, and he was afraid of accidentally killing himself. That would be quite ridiculous.

However, after completion, the panel gave a pleasant surprise. The "+" for the basic poison skill finally lit up, and clicking it would upgrade it? But after further investigation, it was discovered that upgrading required 4 free attribute points?

After a brief consideration, there's no need to hesitate this time. Spending 4 free attribute points, Basic Poison Skill → Intermediate Poison Skill (Mortal): Not Yet Mastered (0/10)

And then the experience points kept increasing: +3, +2, +2, +1...

The accumulated theoretical knowledge was continuously transformed into experience points. Eventually, it rose to—Intermediate Poison Skill (Mortal): Proficient: (43/100)

Also, you get 1 free attribute point as a starting bonus.

Seeing that 1 free attribute point, it's like a 25% discount, and my free attribute points are back to 2.

Zhou Ye couldn't help but smile broadly, feeling as if his strength had increased once again!

Having been discovered for over ten days, Zhou Ye prepared to return to the county town to take a look.

This time, I brought over 100 kilograms of charcoal, two jars of honey, some salted meat and fish, and other items.

Although there were many things, none of them were particularly valuable. In case the chaos in the county town hadn't ended, he would still need to escape back to his small home.

Since entering the realm of internal strength and gaining a +4 increase in power, Zhou Ye discovered that his load capacity had reached approximately 400 jin (200 catties).

It's no exaggeration to say that when he was serving his corvée labor, he saw that inhuman junior officer. In fact, Zhou Ye's strength is now about the same as his.

And so, on the 15th day after leaving, Zhou Ye finally returned to the long-lost county town.

……

Unexpectedly, Zhou Ye proceeded with extreme caution on the entire journey back to the county seat. However, everything remained calm and peaceful until he arrived home. The local people seemed no different than before. Zhou Ye even began to wonder if the earlier rebellion in the county seat had been a figment of his imagination.

Let's not worry about that now. As long as things return to normal, that would be the best outcome. All we ordinary people want is peace and stability.

So the next day, Zhou Ye, carrying a load of goods on a shoulder pole, arrived at the Fenglei Martial Arts School...

As expected, when they arrived at the martial arts school, Huang Sheng and Wu Jun were practicing hard in the training ground.

He called his two friends over: "These are for you, a pack of wolf jerky and a bottle of honey for each of you."

Each bag of wolf meat jerky weighs a hefty 20 jin (approximately 10 catties), but it doesn't taste very good. Therefore, it's suitable to give it to Huang Sheng and Wu Jun, as they will at least have the same effect of replenishing their qi and blood.

The sudden gift surprised the two friends: "Ah Ye, why did you suddenly give us a gift? Also, where did you go before? We were worried about you!"

"I'm so happy! I'll let you in on a secret: I successfully broke through the barrier!" He laughed as he gave his prepared explanation, "Wasn't there a war? So I fled into the mountains. Unexpectedly, on a whim there, I decided to break through the barrier and succeeded in entering the inner strength realm on my first try!"

"Ah? You've reached the Core Formation stage too?" Huang Sheng and Wu Jun were equally delighted. "That's great! Best brothers forever! We're both Core Formation martial artists now!"

The three friends were happy for a while. But just then, several annoying figures appeared beside them. It was Xu Feng and his group: "Junior Brother Zhou, it's been almost two months, hasn't it? We thought you were dead...gone!"

Before Zhou Ye could speak, Huang Sheng jumped up: "How dare you talk like that? A-Ye has already entered the realm of Qi, and he broke through on his first attempt. How many of you have broken through on your first attempt? It seems like not many of you have even entered the realm of Qi yet, how dare you laugh at a master who has entered the realm of Qi?"

"Huh?" The surrounding martial arts students were immediately abuzz upon hearing this. They all gathered around to watch this lucky guy who had only reached the fifth level of Qi Sensing... Although it had taken him so long to enter the Qi Sensing stage, he had at least entered it, and even managed to break through on his first attempt!

Regardless of what the other disciples were thinking, at least on the surface, most of them offered their congratulations, and Zhou Ye expressed his gratitude to each of them.

However, mocking voices arose again, from Xu Feng and his group: "What's so smug about? Counting today, Junior Brother Zhou should have been in training for a little over two months, right? Even if he's reached the Qi Refining stage, he has no future."

"It's none of your business. Even if you have no future, you're still much better than a useless piece of trash like you who failed to pass the level."

As the conversation progressed, even Xu Feng lost his temper. He patted his chest and said, "Jiang He, aren't you about to break through to the second stage? You can ask me for anything you need. Just get into the swing of things quickly and show them who's a waste!"

Cheng Jianghe, with an expression of overwhelming gratitude, said, "Brother Feng, I will definitely live up to your expectations and succeed. Besides, you didn't break through in one go; you only took a little over 20 days. So don't get angry over a piece of trash who only reached the Qi level in 70 days."

"That's right! Let's go! Let's see who has the last laugh!"

"..."