In the schoolhouse, the clear sound of reading aloud couldn’t suppress the children’s excited discussions.

“My father said if I can get the spot, he’ll buy me a complete set of writing materials!” a chubby boy wearing silk clothes boasted loudly.

“I heard from my second uncle that Qingshi Town is huge, a hundred times bigger than our village!”

Su Ming turned a deaf ear, spreading out the hemp paper Su Shan had bought him, carefully copying the lesson text stroke by stroke with his new brush.

His concentration caught Teacher Zhou’s attention, and also drew dissatisfaction from another person.

“Hmph, what’s the use of cramming at the last minute?” a sarcastic voice sounded.

Su Ming looked up—it was Zhao Rui, the village chief’s son. His family was well-off, he was one of the top students in the schoolhouse, and also the strongest contender for this spot.

Zhao Rui glanced sideways at the new paper and brush on Su Ming’s desk, curling his lips: “Oh, got new gear? Your family’s really willing to spend. But even with the best brush, what you write still looks like chicken scratch.”

Several followers immediately burst into laughter.

Su Ming ignored him, lowering his head to continue writing.

While Su Ming endured torment in the schoolhouse, Lin Yu was taking stock of his “assets” inside the ring.

“Ah, I’m really dirt poor.”

His soul form floated in the storage space, looking at the scattered items before him.

In the corner sat a small pile of dull, lackluster stones—a few low-grade spirit stones with nearly depleted spiritual energy.

“Just this little stash isn’t even enough to fill the cracks between teeth. If used for Su Ming, I probably wouldn’t even hear a sound.”

Beside them stood a broken sword, with only half the blade remaining and an ancient hilt, covered in rust stains.

“A murder weapon, pass. This thing has too much killing intent—Su Ming’s frail body would get seriously ill just from touching it.”

What concerned Lin Yu most were three jade slips lying quietly.

He moved his soul form closer, extending his consciousness into one of them. Complete chaos—the restrictions on it couldn’t be broken with his current soul power.

“Damn, encrypted files.”

He probed the second one, succeeding this time. Countless pieces of information flooded his mind—it was a cultivation method called “Greenwood Longevity Art.”

“A wood attribute technique, balanced and gentle, actually suitable for beginners. But…” Lin Yu carefully “read,” “The opening requires drawing energy into the body, visualizing green wood, communicating with the essence of Yi Wood… This kid doesn’t even recognize all the characters yet. If he misunderstands a single word and visualizes the essence of Yi Wood as the big locust tree behind the outhouse, qi deviation would be the least of his worries—he might instantly turn into a vegetable.”

He shook his head, abandoning this tempting idea.

“No, the risk is too high. On the path of cultivation, one wrong step leads to countless more. Practicing recklessly without guidance equals suicide. We still need to solidify his cultural foundation first, then find a reliable sect to serve as the ‘starter village’—that’s the safest strategy.”

He looked at the final jade slip, which only had two ancient characters carved on it—”Alchemy Formulas.”

“This might be useful later.”

After finishing his inventory, Lin Yu let out a long sigh.

“A pile of scrap metal, a few dead batteries, and three pieces of software that need ‘activation codes’ and ‘beginner tutorials.’ My golden finger is practically a hell-difficulty start.”

Before school ended, Teacher Zhou conducted his usual questioning session.

His gaze swept across the room, finally settling on Su Ming.

“Su Ming, you tell us—what does ‘reviewing the old to know the new’ mean?”

This question was very simple; almost everyone knew the answer.

Zhao Rui’s face showed a contemptuous smile as he waited to see Su Ming embarrass himself.

Su Ming stood up, nervously clutching the hem of his clothes: “Teacher, this student believes ‘reviewing the old’ means reviewing what has been learned. ‘Knowing the new’ means understanding new principles.”

“Hmm, what else?” Teacher Zhou pressed further.

Su Ming paused, then followed the train of thought Lin Yu had taught him last night, speaking haltingly: “This student thinks… reviewing old knowledge is like repeatedly walking a path you’ve taken before. The more you walk it, not only do you remember the path better, but you might also notice flowers and plants by the roadside that you didn’t pay attention to before, or find a new shortcut. That’s the ‘new.'”

This analogy was simple but very vivid.

Teacher Zhou’s eyes lit up.

He nodded approvingly: “Well said! The metaphor is simple, but the principle isn’t shallow. When studying, the biggest taboo is swallowing dates whole. To have such insight shows you’ve truly applied yourself. You may sit down.”

Zhao Rui’s face instantly turned beet red.

Su Ming sat down, quietly sighing with relief in his heart.

“Excellent!” Lin Yu snapped his fingers in Su Ming’s mind. “You both demonstrated your depth of thinking and maintained the ‘simple and dull’ persona. Now when Teacher Zhou looks at you, he’s probably automatically added eight layers of ‘uncut jade filter.'”

The sun gradually sank westward.

In the small Su family courtyard, the atmosphere was so oppressive it felt suffocating.

Mrs. Chen paced back and forth in the yard, occasionally looking toward the village entrance.

Wang Chuntao had also stopped her work, sitting on the doorstep with worry filling her eyes.

After eating dinner, Su Shan brought a stool and sat at the courtyard gate.

The sky darkened bit by bit.

Su Ming’s heart also sank along with the fading light.

“Master, they… couldn’t have had an accident, could they?”

Lin Yu: “Don’t scare yourself. Your eldest brother is an experienced hunter—he knows his limits.”

Although he said this, Lin Yu’s soul form was also tense.

His weak spiritual sense couldn’t extend far beyond the ring. Right now, he was just as blind and deaf as Su Ming—they could only wait.

This feeling of being unable to control the situation made him utterly despise it.

Just as the atmosphere in the courtyard was about to freeze solid, faint footsteps came from the direction of the village entrance.

One stumbling, one heavy.

Su Shan abruptly stood up, while Mrs. Chen and Wang Chuntao rushed to the courtyard gate.

Two dark figures slowly approached under the moonlight.

It was Su Feng and Su Yang!

Su Yang was dragging a dead river deer with one hand! Su Feng seemed to be carrying another smaller prey on his shoulder.

“They’re back!” Mrs. Chen’s voice carried urgency and finally released tension as she rushed forward first.

“Brother!” Su Ming also rushed over. Under the moonlight, he saw clearly: Su Feng’s sleeve was torn with a gash, his arm showing some scrapes and dust; Su Yang’s clothes were splattered with dark red bloodstains, clearly from the prey, his face showing exhaustion but his eyes bright.

“It’s nothing,” Su Feng grinned, showing white teeth, his smile full of weariness and pride. “We spent half the day dealing with that wild boar—it just grazed me, didn’t even break the skin. Finally took it down in the end!” He threw the smaller prey he was carrying onto the ground with a dull thud.

“Little Ming, we have enough money for going to town.” Su Feng patted his younger brother’s shoulder, his voice filled with satisfaction.

Su Ming looked at the two heavy prey on the ground, at the bleeding scrapes and dust on his eldest brother’s arm, at the large dark red stains on his second brother’s clothes and the sweat still on his forehead—something scalding surged into his eyes.

He didn’t cry, just bit his lip hard.

He stepped forward, silently taking the largest river deer from Su Yang’s hands, using all his strength to lift it onto his own thin shoulders.

The weight was heavy, almost crushing the breath out of him.

He knew this wasn’t just the weight of a river deer.

This was his future, the future his two brothers had fought with all their might to secure for him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep