Martial Arts: I Have a Wilderness World-Chapter 67: Entering the Ninth Grade

"You want to go into the mountains tonight?"

Hearing his son’s words, Cheng Guanghai immediately understood what he meant. His expression turned serious.

Cheng Zongyang nodded. "That’s right. We don’t know what might happen tomorrow. If we build a simple house tonight, we can at least get some people settled."

Zhou Hansong agreed. "I agree with Yang’Er. The sooner, the better. The Government Office doesn’t care that the villagers’ families are being torn apart and people are dying, yet they still come to impose conscription—and for both labor and military service at that. This means our previous suspicions were almost certainly correct."

"We have enough people to build one or two temporary wooden houses overnight. Then, we can bring everyone else into the mountains first thing tomorrow morning."

Zhou Hanchang nodded as well. "Right. If there’s one thing we have, it’s manpower."

Feeling a surge of excitement, Zhou Zhenyuan and Zhou Zhendong both chimed in, "We can help too!"

However, Cheng Zongyang said, "No. I mean *everyone* goes into the mountains tonight. We’re not staying behind! I’ll come back for our things tomorrow!"

At this, everyone froze.

Cheng Guanghai frowned. "It’s pitch black out there, and we have nowhere to stay. Are you suggesting the elders and children go the whole night without sleep?"

Cheng Zongyang replied, "I’ve already cut down some wood and bamboo over there. We can build a simple lean-to to get us through the night. As long as we light a few bonfires, we won’t have to worry about the cold mountain wind."

"Dad, something feels very wrong about this conscription. Whether it’s for labor or military service, there are countless people outside the city desperate to survive who would jump at the chance. So why would the Government Office specifically come looking in a dilapidated village like ours?"

"We can defy the order, but there’s no guarantee how many men they’ll send tomorrow."

"We have the elderly, children, women, and the wounded with us. It’ll be a hard night, but it’s better than facing unnecessary danger."

"Fine!" Cheng Guanghai gritted his teeth, finally agreeing. But then he added worriedly, "What about your second uncle..."

Cheng Zongyang replied, "Don’t worry. Once we’re settled in the mountains, I’ll go into the city to check on him."

With that, Cheng Zongyang left them to discuss the finer details.

Before dinner was served, Cheng Zongyang slipped out of the house. He entered the Wilderness World and began brewing a Body Refining Medicine.

He also took the ginseng, Antler Mushroom, and Python Gall that were hanging on the wall and placed them on the counter.

Looking at the items, Cheng Zongyang felt a pang of regret, but he knew he had to sell them to prepare for what was to come.

’I’ll find more Medicinal Materials sooner or later. But I might never find these other two things again.’

"Sell... huh?"

Just as he was about to sell, Cheng Zongyang’s gaze fell on the dense tangle of the ginseng’s roots, and an idea suddenly struck him.

Thinking for a moment, he snapped off a few of the smaller, non-essential Ginseng Roots and set them aside. Then, holding up the main ginseng, he said:

"Sell ginseng."

A voice immediately echoed through the small cabin:

[One 109-year-old ginseng stalk. Value: 300 Points. Confirm sale?] 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"No!" Cheng Zongyang’s eyes lit up.

He carefully selected and snapped off a few more Ginseng Roots, then made the inquiry again.

When the prompt still showed 300 Points, a grin threatened to split Cheng Zongyang’s face.

Once more, he gingerly snapped off a few more small Ginseng Roots, these ones slightly thicker than the last. He moved them aside and called out again.

When he heard the price drop to 299 Points, he knew that breaking off any more would lower the value further. He sold everything at once.

Points +749

——Points: 991

With the Points in his account, Cheng Zongyang could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He then turned his attention to the two orbs of light on the counter.

Foundation Establishment Medicine Recipe and Basic Saber Technique!

As his hand touched each one, the familiar sensation returned.

A moment later, two sets of incredibly detailed information flooded his mind.

It was as if he had spent years researching them himself.

’This Foundation Establishment Medicine Recipe requires quite a few ingredients, but thankfully, none of them are particularly rare,’ he mused. ’I’ll have to keep an eye out for them in the mountains from now on.’

Next, the knowledge of the Basic Saber Technique surfaced in his mind. Just like the Body Refining Skill, the various training methods were explained in such exhaustive detail that it was hardly different from learning it by directly allocating points!

All he had to do was follow the instructions and train.

But despite its simple name, it contained ten fundamental offensive forms—

Chop, Hack, Flick, Thrust, Sweep, Parry, Slice, Waist Slash, Tornado Slash, and Chain Slash.

Ten basic moves, yet they covered attacks targeting every part of the human body!

All advanced Saber Techniques were expanded upon, evolved, and created from these fundamental moves.

Every expert was once a beginner!!

’No need to rush,’ he thought. ’I’ll practice step by step.’

Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked at the dozen or so Ginseng Roots on the side, his smile growing wider.

’A nice little bonus.’

"The roots of a Centennial Ginseng are still a hundred-year-old medicinal ingredient. I should be able to use these to make a medicinal broth, right?"

Muttering to himself, Cheng Zongyang immediately took out a packet of ingredients for the medicinal broth and began to wash and soak them.

In the market cabin, there was also a sika deer and a Deer Antler left behind by the wolf. *(The origin of the sika deer was changed in a previous Chapter.)*

The wolf hadn’t eaten it, probably because it found the smell too gamey.

But Cheng Zongyang paid it no mind. He ignored the sika deer and instead picked up the Deer Antler.

He cut it open with a knife, washed it repeatedly with water, then scrubbed it with salt, flour, and other things.

Once it was clean and free of any greasy film, he chopped off the ends, discarded them, and cut the remainder into three sections. He then soaked them in a light saltwater solution to draw out the blood.

The medicinal ingredients for the broth also needed to be soaked after being washed.

This would soften the ingredients, and the soaking water itself could be used for the final brew, so there was no need to replace it.

While he waited, Cheng Zongyang didn’t stay idle. He took out the Insect Repellent Medicine and set it aside, ready to be taken out of the world.

’I didn’t expect to use these five packets of powder for our new camp,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, the insects in the mountains would be a serious problem.’

Next, he began to chop down bamboo.

’I might need to bring this bamboo to the outside world,’ he considered. ’It would save a lot of time.’

As the Body Refining Medicine finished brewing, the medicinal broth also began to simmer.

The forty-centimeter-long Deer Antler had already been chopped into three sections. Following the recipe, Cheng Zongyang waited for the water to boil, skimmed off the bloody froth, and then picked out three of the Ginseng Roots to add in as a test.

’These were roots from a Centennial Ginseng, after all. I have no idea how potent they are. Better to test them first and not be wasteful.’

Suppressing his excitement, Cheng Zongyang eagerly—almost impatiently—stepped into the tub.

It was as if a beautiful woman were waiting for him in the tub.

Half an hour later, Cheng Zongyang leaped out of the tub and quickly began striking his body.

This time, however, as he struck his body all over, the warm current inside him didn’t dissipate. Instead, it began to converge toward his abdomen.

It was like drinking a cup of hot water on a cold morning, feeling the warmth travel down your throat. Or like gulping down ice water in the peak of summer, tracing the path of the chill as it spread.

At this very moment, Cheng Zongyang could clearly feel a warm current gathering from every corner of his body and converging on his Dantian.

However, the warm current didn’t coalesce in his Dantian. Instead, it merely swirled around once, as if taking a brief tour.

Finally, the mass of heat erupted from his Dantian and surged throughout his entire body! In that instant, every pore on his skin opened, the hairs on his arms stood on end, and his scalp went numb!

A wave of pent-up heat, with nowhere else to go, suddenly vented from every pore.

It was like the satisfying shiver that runs through you when, fighting a cold, you drink a bowl of hot ginger soup and feel the warmth spread.

"An eruption of strength, a refinement of skin and hair... this is how one enters the Ninth Grade..."

Cheng Zongyang muttered, feeling a sense of Power in his body that was far greater and more abundant than before.

Just like that, he had stepped into the Ninth Grade Realm, the most fundamental level for a Martial Artist!

And it had only taken him five days!