novelraw Chapter 89
Chapter 89
That very day, the dock branch recruited more than forty Outer Disciples. The total number under the branch now reached ninety.
This meant that each month, the branch had to pay out eighteen taels of silver in base salaries.
Su Wangchuan had already learned the full details of the Helm Leader position.
Each month, the branch could extract thirty percent of the unloading fees from passing cargo ships, as well as collect certain dock, warehouse, and vessel management fees. The monthly revenue was roughly five hundred taels.
However, half of that amount had to be handed over to the gang—namely, Gang Leader Yang Feiyue.
Of the remainder, fifty percent had to be submitted to the hall, meaning to Hall Master Song Minshu.
Only after paying the Outer Disciples’ base salaries could the rest be kept as personal income.
If everything went smoothly, he could pocket several dozen taels per month.
When business was good, it could exceed one hundred taels.
But if cargo was damaged or Outer Disciples were killed or injured during missions, he would have to compensate and provide pensions.During the previous escort mission, Song Minshu had suffered greatly when the Nu Tao Gang attacked without warning. Dozens of Outer Disciples died. Song had paid out several hundred taels in compensation and had even covered the entire shipping loss.
Su Wangchuan felt helpless upon hearing this.
This Helm Leader position had to be handled carefully. If mismanaged, it could easily turn into a financial liability.
Fortunately, the dangers in this stretch of water had been temporarily cleared. The water stronghold was stabilizing, with trusted allies overseeing it. There was no immediate threat.
Thus, Su Wangchuan assigned Zuo Song, Chen Ping, and Lu Huixiang—arranged by Instructor Yu—to oversee the dock, sent Chen Ergou back to manage the Weapon Room, and personally returned to the training ground to continue cultivating Lightfoot on Grass.
The county bounty had already been delivered.
Four hundred taels of silver—heavy in hand.
The four Hundredfold Steel Blades he had listed for sale were all sold, earning him sixty taels. This month’s income was astonishing. He now had a total of six hundred and nine taels.
To strengthen himself, he submitted only one hundred and nine taels to the studio. The rest he reserved to purchase a Second-Rank martial art.
Since spirit realm was dangerous—dangerous enough to affect his real-world life—he had no intention of handing over all his in-game earnings.
He needed to retain funds to improve his own strength.
Fish Scale Technique had already reached Entry-Level.
Next, once he advanced Fish Scale Technique to Practice Makes Perfect and improved Lightfoot on Grass further, he would gain three points of Stamina and two points of Agility.
Combined with the four Free Attribute Points he had saved, the First-Rank Martial Artist threshold would be within reach.
He needed to prepare for purchasing a Second-Rank martial art.
Over the following days, the Yulong Gang was extremely busy.
Materials, craftsmen, and manpower were constantly transported to the water stronghold to construct defensive fortifications and establish the new hall.
The dock branch consequently received numerous tasks. Everyone’s daily income increased significantly.
Especially the fifteen Outer Disciples from the Warring States Game Studio. Under Zuo Song and Chen Ping’s coordination, whenever a cargo ship docked, they logged in immediately and queued alongside NPC laborers to unload goods. Their daily earnings doubled, and life was quite comfortable.
Meanwhile, Su Wangchuan maintained intense training.
For an entire shichen each session, he ran across the training ground, using the Iron Dummy Stake and high walls to leap and vault, steadily increasing the experience of Lightfoot on Grass.
When tired or hungry, he quickly replenished himself with meat buns, logged out, and continued practicing parkour in his room.
To increase difficulty, he added numerous obstacles to his room, transforming his living space into a parkour course. He even blocked the delivery robot at the entrance, retrieving meals from the foyer each day.
After eight full days, he finally achieved a breakthrough.
“Ding!”
System notification:
“Lightfoot on Grass has advanced from Minor Mastery to ‘Practice Makes Perfect.’ Reward: +2 Agility.”
“Next realm: Entry-Level Mastery.”
In an instant, Su Wangchuan moved like the wind. With even greater speed, he ran up a wall and landed lightly atop it, a smile spreading across his face.
At last.
He summoned his Status Panel.
Wangchuan: Male (Hunger 70/100)
(Life Profession: Blacksmith)
(Combat Profession: Martial Artist, Unranked)
Strength 8+14; Attack 7–8;
Agility 8+9; Defense 3.4; Speed +17;
Stamina 8+3; HP 110/110;
Spirit 8: (Not Activated).
Free Attributes: 4 (Available for Allocation)
(Some martial arts have been folded.)
First-Rank Martial Art “Lightfoot on Grass”: Practice Makes Perfect; Next Realm “Entry-Level Mastery” 0/500;
First-Rank Martial Art “Fish Scale Technique”: Entry-Level; Next Realm “Minor Mastery” 0/100;
Twenty-two points of Strength, seventeen points of Agility, eleven points of Stamina.
Su Wangchuan exhaled deeply and muttered to himself:
“Now, only Fish Scale Technique remains trainable. All other techniques have reached Practice Makes Perfect or beyond and are bottlenecked.”
“It seems that advancing to First-Rank Martial Artist cannot be achieved simply by stacking techniques. Ultimately, at least one martial art must reach Entry-Level Mastery.”
He calculated carefully.
Even if he advanced Fish Scale Technique to Practice Makes Perfect and gained three Stamina, it still would not be enough to enter the Ranked Martial Artist stage.
No wonder Brother Lin Xun had entered the game half a year earlier yet had not reached First-Rank Martial Artist.
“Enough.”
“I will focus on Fish Scale Technique.”
As a martial art of the Yulong Gang, Fish Scale Technique had a known shortcut for cultivation.
But even so, it remained brutally demanding.
Because cultivating Fish Scale Technique was equivalent to self-mutilation.
It required at least a Quasi-Martial Artist with over ten points of Strength to attack the practitioner with full force.
The practitioner would activate Fish Scale Technique and endure the strikes head-on.
If the attacker was too weak, there would be no training effect.
If too strong, even a single heavy punch could cause injury and HP loss.
Often, it required ten or twenty strikes just to gain a trace of progress.
Several Martial Artists in the Yulong Gang had suffered repeated injuries while cultivating it.
Rumor had it that two unlucky individuals had damaged their internal organs during training, their strength declining back to Quasi-Martial Artist. They eventually wasted away in depression.
Another had been killed by an enemy while recovering from injuries sustained during cultivation.
Of the remaining practitioners, not one could endure the constant cycle of injury and recovery. All eventually abandoned it halfway.
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