Yu Hong flipped through the subsequent pages.
'The humus soil needs to be dug from below the trees.
Try to excavate areas with more decayed branches and leaves; the soil extracted this way will be richer in nutrients.
After digging up the soil, it needs to be placed under the sun to dry for three days to kill the insect eggs and weed seeds within it.'
The following pages contained details on how to place the soil into boxes, how to maintain humidity, how much water to pour, how to add the fungi, how long to wait before checking, and how to handle various problems that may arise.
Every detail, every question was addressed.
There was even a reminder on how to prevent mushroom blight.
After finishing the mushroom cultivation section, Yu Hong had a general idea of the process he needed to follow.
"The key is I don't have the fungi or the cultivation boxes!" he frowned.
"So that's what I’ve been waiting for!"
He returned to the previous page and noted a line that read: 'If you need to purchase fungi and cultivation boxes, please inquire for the specific prices.'
Shaking his head in silence, Yu Hong continued to reinforce a new talisman formation before flipping through the remaining content.
This time, he skimmed through more quickly, just glancing over the main points.
Then he discovered a curious concept.
'This mushroom cultivation is actually the foundation for other types of breeding?'
Once the mushrooms are grown, they can be used to breed cockroaches.
After raising enough cockroaches, one can use them to raise lizards.
Each step leads to the next.
But the initial seeds for each step must be bought from the post office.
Now, he understood how Lao Yu managed to provide the three types of food: mushrooms, cockroaches, and lizards.
As for wild vegetables, they were everywhere in the forest.
He, along with the stuttering boy, had already gotten to know quite a few.
After finishing the survival manual, Yu Hong picked up the manual for combat leg techniques.
“Ugh.” He looked helplessly at the illustrations in the manual.
There were only three techniques in total.
Low leg kick, side grab kick, upwards kick.
The low leg kick, as illustrated, involved kicking an opponent’s lower leg to make them lose their balance and fall.
The side grab kick was more brutal; it involved grabbing the opponent's arm and using one's heel to kick them in the abdomen.
The tearing pull from their arm being held, combined with the kick, created massive damage.
If executed successfully, it could severely injure the opponent's internal organs, causing them to fall helplessly.
The upwards kick was the simplest technique, where one kicks directly at the opponent's vital area between their legs.
‘Just these three techniques.
I could probably come up with something better myself.’ Yu Hong thought, continuing to flip through.
The rest of the content sparked his interest.
The manual wrote about how to unleash those three leg techniques as quickly as possible in various situations, positions, and postures.
‘Now that’s a bit better,’ he nodded slightly.
After carefully studying both manuals, the sky outside had turned dark again.
After cooking something to eat, he lit a fire and continued to reinforce the talisman formation.
For three continuous days, he didn’t go anywhere.
Whenever he wasn’t training high-level physical exercises in the cave, he was researching and copying the survival and leg techniques manuals.
The enhanced graphite lines were very fine, and soon he had copied both manuals in full.
The pages were made from thin wooden boards that Yu Hong had split with an axe, stacking them together into a single manual.
Once he finished, he returned the manual to Li Runshan and brought up the three tough questions he’d been saving.
Li Runshan answered smoothly and then began peddling the mushroom cultivation boxes and clean fungi he had just made, along with a simple wooden dummy for practicing leg techniques.
This guy was clearly trying to milk Yu Hong for all he could.
But for self-sufficiency, Yu Hong still used his large luminous stones to buy the boxes and fungi.
After bringing them back, he started digging and drying the soil while also preparing enough clean water for the upcoming cultivation.
The cave also needed an extra space carved out to serve as a mushroom growing room.
Even though he had specialized cultivation boxes, once the mushrooms ripened, the spores they released could escape through any gaps, posing a significant risk.
He didn’t want to end up like Lao Yu, coughing, feverish, and weak.
Before long, another two days passed.
All of Yu Hong's talisman formations were finally fully reinforced.
The formations covered the entire cave, perfectly shrouding every corner and creating a standard luminous stone concealed state.
The black imprint could finally be freed up to reinforce other things.
What Yu Hong wanted to enhance most was the combat leg techniques manual.
Inside the safe space of the cave, he quietly stared at the thirteen wooden boards stacked before him, which together formed the leg techniques training manual Li Runshan had sold him.
‘If regular physical training can be upgraded to high-level physical exercises, then what can this basic leg combat skill be enhanced to?’
As cooling energy started to flow within him like a gentle breeze, he realized he had cultivated four strands of this cooling energy, meaning he could replenish his stamina four times even under extreme exhaustion.
Although he remained the same as an ordinary person in most aspects, his running had improved slightly.
The presence of this cooling energy made Yu Hong stand out like a small superhuman!
‘While an average person can run a maximum of five thousand meters, I can run four times that—twenty thousand meters.
If they can run a maximum of ten thousand meters, then I can manage forty thousand meters! This high-level physical exercise is best reinforced as early as possible, so it can snowball and grow stronger and stronger.’
Thinking this, Yu Hong let out a long breath, placing his hand on the wooden boards.
He silently chanted.
‘Reinforce the leg technique training manual, direction: internal force martial arts leg techniques!’
Last time, he had leaned towards a martial arts style in his thinking, which had allowed him to enhance his high-level physical exercises.
Since he had tasted success, this time he concentrated on the action scenes he had seen in martial arts films.
A dark line flashed.
Immediately, a response came back from the black imprint.
'Would you like to start the reinforcement?'
Yu Hong looked down and saw a countdown appear on the wooden board: 4 days 17 hours 41 minutes.
“Really!?!?” His heart surged, filled with eager anticipation.
The high-level physical exercise had given him a huge stamina advantage, and if these reinforced leg combat skills could significantly enhance his fighting ability, he would have great survival assurance in this harsh environment.
With the ability to fight and run, if he further reinforced a complete set of bulletproof gear, then he would be armed to the teeth!
‘Hope it strengthens well!’ Yu Hong thought in excitement. ‘Last time, strengthening the high-level physical exercises only took over nine hours, but this time it’s going to take over four days—this must be much more powerful than the high-level physical exercises!’
*
*
*
Bahe City.
In the gloomy underground tunnel.
The ground was covered in abandoned railroad tracks, dark and occasionally rusted red, with various junk piled up at intervals.
Xu Yang led two team members, holding hand-cranked flashlights, walking along the edge of the tracks.
As they passed by piles of garbage, the smell of mold and the foul stench of dirty water filled the air.
The three walked, observing left and right.
The walls on both sides were covered in crazy patterns and slogans; shining rooms were placed at intervals, where the sounds of cursing and laughter echoed.
Xu Yang frowned as he made his way deeper, soon arriving at a room marked "Old Cat Tavern".
At the entrance, the walls were covered with green mold, reflecting a slimy sheen.
Xu Yang looked up and noticed that water seemed to be leaking from the tunnel's ceiling, with tiny streams running down the walls, splitting at the doorframe, and dripping onto the ground.
Disgusted, he wrinkled his nose and entered the room.
It truly was a tavern, with red lights casting a crimson hue over individual sofas separated by wooden boards.
Inside, about a dozen people were loosely seated, with service girls in scanty clothing moving about serving food and drinks.
In the center, four people surrounded a sofa, loudly playing cards.
The noise was emanating from them.
“Would you like a glass of mushroom wine?” As Xu Yang and his team entered, they were immediately approached by a girl wearing barely three pieces of fabric.
“We’re looking for someone,” he impatiently brushed her aside, heading straight for a corner of the tavern.
The three were fully equipped in uniforms belonging to the United Army, which made the tavern's security frown but they dared not approach.
Soon, the three arrived at the front of a towering man, at least two meters tall.
“Mr. White Python?” Xu Yang asked in a low voice.
The burly man looked down, arms resting on the table like a lumbering bear.
His messy black hair and open gray shirt revealed strong muscularity beneath.
He looked to be in his forties, his features were troubled, with cloudy eyes and remnants of vomit clinging to the corners of his mouth.
He appeared to be an unfortunate man.
“What do you want?” the burly man lifted his head coldly, glancing at Xu Yang and his team.
“There’s a job I’d like to ask you to take on. The reward is negotiable,” Xu Yang lowered his voice.
“Speak, what’s the job?” White Python asked, disinterested.
“Go two hundred kilometers to a luminous stone mine, find a person, and bring them back within half a year,” Xu Yang replied.
“Too far, I won’t go,” White Python replied coldly. “And I don’t even have any information on the person.”
“Just an ordinary adult male, might have some equipment, but even a regular rookie could handle him easily; the main challenges lie in the journey.” Xu Yang quickly explained. “We can offer fifty pounds of jerky, twenty pounds of dried mushrooms, and a hundred pounds of synthetic flour as payment.”
“Too little.” Without raising his head, White Python said, “Add five silver coins.”
Xu Yang paused for a moment.
“Fine. We’ll pay a third as a deposit before departure, the rest upon return.”
“Agreed,” White Python replied coldly. “Come back here in three days, and I will set out immediately once you provide the goods.”
“Good!”
Xu Yang's team left.
Once outside the tavern, one team member couldn't help but speak up.
“Xu team, that’s five silver coins you just agreed to! Do you really want to take him up on it? A silver coin can be exchanged for ten to fifteen pounds of jerky!”
“White Python is very strong—his skills in firearms, combat, and stealth are all top-notch. Besides his attitude, he’s quite capable. And if we manage to capture that person, it won’t be a problem. If that person is gone, then it would count as a failed mission for White Python, and we wouldn't have to pay the rest.” Xu Yang smiled.
“Also,” he paused. “You’ve got the conversion rates wrong. Now in the national bank, one silver tael can be exchanged for twenty-three pounds of jerky. After all, that’s synthetic currency refined from sunlight series materials.”
(End of Chapter)