Night of Despair

Weight training....

"The heavier the weight, the greater the power...."

Yu Hong carefully memorized the essential points of this leg technique, stood up, and began to position himself to start training.

The training method was simple. There were three moves in total, divided into three levels, and the first move practiced was the low sweep leg.

It was just a motion to kick at someone's lower leg, and it seemed to fit Yu Hong's body perfectly. He practiced it with incredible ease, as if each move was a habitual action he usually performed.

It was just that the visualization needed to be practiced in coordination.

Everything that followed went quite smoothly. Yu Hong trained his high body technique and the first move of the leg skill from dawn till dusk every day. It wasn't until seven days later, when Li Rushan harvested mushrooms, that they traded some fresh mushrooms, mixed with other food to make soup, which tasted much better, that they took a break.

The stone house by the post office, in the courtyard.

The sky was overcast, and it looked like rain was imminent.

Yu Hong and Li Rushan stood in the courtyard, looking at the yellow mush of mixed mud on the ground.

"This is almost done." Li Rushan put down the wooden stick and looked at the lump of mush contentedly, saying quietly, "Next is the cockroach cultivation. Cockroaches reproduce quickly, lay many eggs—each ootheca can have dozens of them—and fatten up quickly. I brought quite a few ootheca with me this time, so they'll come in handy."

"What's mainly in this?" Yu Hong asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Mushroom fragments, some moss I've found, roots, oil plants' fruits, feces." Li Rushan casually mentioned a few ingredients. "Just like growing mushrooms needs sawdust and such, breeding cockroaches requires additional things, or they'll just die off."

Yu Hong's face was expressionless. He had initially wanted to raise them himself, but it seemed now.... before his private room was carved out, he definitely didn't want to do it.

"I kind of understand why people prefer eating lizards," he sighed.

"Yeah, there's a big difference between eating it directly and indirectly," Li Rushan chuckled.

He turned to look at Yu Hong and asked, "How's the training been going lately? Remember to eat, drink, and sleep. Just training incessantly without minding anything else can lead to exhaustion."

"Not bad. I sleep ten hours a day, eat well, and am hydrated, absolutely no problem. But when will you teach me slingshot shooting?" Yu Hong asked.

"Give it some time. First, you should make a slingshot stock yourself, then practice." Li Rushan smiled, "Also, I'm planning to go to the Pyroxene Ore Mine in a few days; are you familiar with it?"

"Not really..." Yu Hong frowned.

"Then how did you get those Large Pyroxene Stones? You might fool others, but not me." Li Rushan laughed.

"...." Yu Hong remained silent. Currently, he had cultivated four strands of cooling energy with his high body technique, and as for the leg technique, having focused on the first move, his intense week of training had finally started paying off.

From morning till night, all Yu Hong did was focus on the leg technique, apart from eating, drinking, relieving himself, going out to gather firewood, finding water, and digging for vegetables.

The Black Mark continuously reinforced the silver talisman arrays. By now, he had four silver talisman arrays, including the one made earlier, and excluding the one behind the door.

An excellent benefit of the silver talisman array was it could be replenished and restored after use, making it good as new again.

He had many more ordinary talisman arrays, the exact quantity uncounted, but he often strengthened them whenever he was free and threw them in a pile in the corner. Ordinary talisman arrays were consumables, irreplaceable, and wasted after use, but the strengthening time was short, making them good for emergencies.

"Large Pyroxene Stones are useful against shadows, but not enough against Evil Shadow, requiring a buildup of quantities instead," Yu Hong said solemnly.

"You're right, the main use of Large Pyroxene Stones isn't to combat Evil and shadow. Rather, it's as an additive, a catalyst in the production of other items. Ever since the discovery of the Black Disaster and the establishment of the joint organization Silver Tower, 'Sunlight Series' materials have been the true scarce items," Li Rushan said, his face showing his habitual smile. "I am about to acquire some 'Sunlight Series' materials. They're excellent coatings to disperse ordinary Blood Tide, conceal presence, and avoid shadow. Even Evil Shadow can be held off for a long time as long as it's electrically charged."

".....Sunlight Series, is it really that strong?" Yu Hong was somewhat incredulous.

"The Black Disaster first struck Hope City, as did the Evil Shadow. There are even more monsters stronger than ordinary Blood Tide, Evil Shadow included. What do you think has kept the country going?" Li Rushan replied matter-of-factly. "In big cities, there are things way beyond your imagination."

"By the way, when's the supply convoy arriving?" Yu Hong asked as last.

"Tomorrow, as per the notification, but the exact time is unclear. If you've got tradeable goods, you can come to find me. You can even get food and useful tools in exchange," Li Rushan said.

Yu Hong nodded and turned to leave. He had come this time to check if the cockroaches had been cultivated. Now that everything seemed okay, he was relieved.

Back in the safety cave, he practiced the leg and high body techniques for a while, then started to strengthen new items.

Standing at the cave entrance, he took a saw and an ax, and began making some thick wooden boards.

These weren't for talisman arrays but were intended to be fashioned into full-body protective gear.

He couldn't make cylindrical ones easily, toppled a tree might be easier.

But it was too hard to make. His attempts had easily cracked. So, if the supply convoy came tomorrow, he'd plan to trade for equivalent protective gear like body armor.

After some woodworking, Yu Hong returned to the cave, ensuring another round of talisman array strengthening had finished. He gained yet another ordinary talisman array.

Then, he brought out everything he could still strengthen, placing the most important ones in front.

A solar generator, a dagger, a handgun, and a pair of boots.

With these items in front of him, Yu Hong picked up the boots first. They were Jenny's lady boots, whose previous owner was unknown. They were waterproof long boots with hard leather.

He then glanced at the dagger, the boots, and the dagger... together....

Yu Hong had an idea forming in his mind.

He took them both aside and pressed them together.

*Strengthen the spiked boots I can wear, direction....*

In his mind, he pictured those long boots that extended blades from kung fu movies he'd watched before.

Soon, the Black Mark gave feedback.

"Would you like to strengthen the spiked boots?"

When this feedback appeared, it meant the Black Mark could strengthen it. It wasn't a matter of insufficient integrity.

Yu Hong felt relieved, looking at the countdown on the boots: 1 day, 3 hours, 5 minutes.

"That's a decent amount of time," he acknowledged the Black Mark's feedback.

The countdown immediately began, and the boots and dagger flickered as numbers appeared on their surfaces.

"It seems that combining items placed together can also be synthesized and strengthened by the Black Mark. This is an extra fusion function."

Yu Hong was intrigued.

*With combined synthesis, there are more possible uses....*

After a short nap in the cave, he got up to practice the leg technique again.

The strengthened leg technique, he had given a fitting name—Heavy Leg Skill.

The name was straightforward and clearly highlighted the emphasis of the technique.

In the cave, Yu Hong's legs continually swept forward, his mind simultaneously considering the diagram in the training manual. He controlled the cooling energy within his body to flow and circulate along the meridians and blood vessels depicted in the diagram.

With this multitasking, Yu Hong initially wasn't very adept, but after a week's worth of practice, he could easily coordinate movements.

This leg skill was precisely tailored to his physical and mental state, progressing very smoothly.

By now, he had faintly sensed that a fifth strand of cooling energy was gradually condensing within him, likely to materialize soon.

After a while, Yu Hong stopped to eat something, then resumed chiseling stones.

As dusk fell, he continued practicing the Heavy Leg Skill.

*The first move of Heavy Leg Skill, also the first level, required training until he could instantly mobilize the cooling energy at will. Meanwhile, the meridian diagram had to fully activate before and after a kick.*

The firelight flickered as Yu Hong stood bare-chested in the cave, pondering carefully.

After standing for about five minutes, he suddenly rocked his right leg and kicked forward at an angle.

Swish!

It felt as though someone stood in front of him, their outside calf catching his kick.

The low sweep was still fairly normal, with speed and strength at an average male's level.

Yu Hong then withdrew his leg and swept forward fiercely once more.

Thump.

This time, his eyes became vacant, and a fine line emerged, crawling swiftly along the skin of his abdomen and flowing rapidly into his right leg.

This low sweep was much faster than before and carried a faint whistling sound.

"The power and speed increased a lot... That's the drive of one cooling energy stream. Now, let's try with two cooling energy streams...."

Yu Hong closed his eyes and attempted the previous move again.

After standing motionless for several minutes, he first kicked his right leg forward suddenly.

Thump!!

Immediately, a muffled sound resonated within the cave, much louder than the previous time.

The whistling noise was far more pronounced than before.

Yu Hong opened his eyes, appearing a bit tired.

"Two cooling energy streams definitely offer much greater power, but.... requiring full concentration to control makes them far less convenient than a single cooling energy stream."

He attempted the technique a third time, this time driving the skill with the last cooling energy stream.

Swish!

This time was noticeably faster than the initial move as well.

However, this time all four strands of cooling energy within him were depleted. It would take at least half a day of rest to recover.

"The consumption is too fast.... I can probably test the actual power tomorrow," Yu Hong pondered as he set his gaze on the boots being strengthened, feeling somewhat hopeful.

After a restful night's sleep, the next morning, he headed to the post office stone house to check on the supply convoy.

Before he even reached it, Yu Hong saw a middle-aged man with a large backpack in the distance, chatting with Li Rushan.

This man had a full beard, messy hair, and a slightly slimmer physique than Li's, but exuded an inexplicable sharpness.

He stood alone outside the fence, keeping a relatively safe distance from Li Rushan.

Seeing Yu Hong approach, Li Rushan was the first to wave enthusiastically.

"Ah, Yu, come on over! This is Old Zhou, he came with the supply convoy and plans to settle here."

Old Zhou?

Yu Hong nodded, directing his attention to Old Zhou.

"Hello. I'm Yu Hong, the pyroxene supplier around here. If you need any, feel free to trade for pyroxene with me."

'Pyroxene manufacturer,' that's the identity Yu Hong set for himself. Ever since Li Rushan detected something fishy about the protein bars last time, Yu Hong had become more cautious, avoiding selling any of his strengthened items. Selling a few could be credited to luck in finding old stock, but selling more would be problematic.

In contrast, selling strengthened Large Pyroxene Stones could be powdered and turned into ordinary talisman arrays for a far safer selling strategy.

After all, many people could grind pyroxene into powder and draw talisman arrays, the difference being these were consumables, requiring time and effort to make while ensuring quality.

*As long as my talisman arrays perform slightly better than others, I could secure stable business and keep an endless supply line,* Yu Hong schemed inwardly.

Selling Large Pyroxene Stones directly seemed wasteful, while talisman arrays provided convenience. They were lightweight and more effective.