Hah!
One strike!
Then another!
Sweat beaded on Logan’s forehead, dripping down to soak the dirt beneath his boots.
The Miao dao felt impossibly heavy now, every single swing sending a tearing ache through his sore arm muscles.
Three hundred strikes.
He was still a long way from the thousand Lin Bing had demanded.
Only now did he truly understand how grueling these seemingly simple basics could be. Lin Bing’s standards were ruthlessly strict—she wasn’t just counting numbers; every single chop required flawless posture and exact force generation.
"Drive it from your hips and legs, not just your arms! What are you doing, chopping firewood?!"
"Too slow! Your strike needs explosive power!"
The woman was practically a drill sergeant from hell.
Still, the results spoke for themselves. Just three hundred reps in, Logan felt a subtle, distinct improvement in his body control. It was no longer just mindless, brute-force swinging; he was learning how to channel his entire physical weight right into the cutting edge.
Right then, a rich, smoky aroma of roasted meat mixed with burning charcoal drifted into his camp.
"Chief! Come get some food!"
Ye Xing’er’s bright voice rang out from nearby.
Logan paused, wiping his brow, and looked over.
The camp hearth, fueled by their new starter block, was burning steadily. A few girls hovered around the flames, roasting chunks of wolf meat skewered on sharpened sticks. Fat sizzled as it dripped into the fire, sending up mouthwatering clouds of smoke.
Logan’s stomach let out an immediate, hungry growl.
He walked over to the firepit, where Bai Nian handed him a skewer charred to a crisp on the outside and tender within.
"Try it. Teacher Chen said the wolf meat would be tough, so we cooked it a bit longer."
Logan took a bite. The texture was undeniably coarse with a faint gamey tang, but to a group of starving college students, it tasted like a five-star meal.
"Chief, try this! I just picked it from the woods over there—it’s super sweet!"
Gu Xinran hurried over, holding out a fist-sized, bright red wild fruit like a prized offering. It looked plump and juicy, giving off a tempting, sweet scent.
Logan took the fruit, but hesitated. He didn’t recognize the species, and as a rule of thumb in the wild, the brightest colors usually meant trouble.
"Is this thing... safe?"
Gu Xinran immediately puffed out her cheeks in protest, pressing a hand to her chest.
"Of course it is! I tried it myself! I ate a few while picking them, and look at me, I’m totally fine—ouch!"
Mid-sentence, her expression warped. Her face scrunched up into a tight ball.
Clutching her stomach and crossing her legs, she transformed into a panicked blur of motion and bolted straight into the nearby tree line.
The surrounding girls stared for a second before bursting into helpless laughter.
"Ha! That’s what you get for being greedy, Xinran!"
"Serves you right! Good thing the rest of us didn’t touch it yet..."
Yu Le, the purple-haired nerd, trotted over with a mischievous grin.
"Hey, Xinran, did you find anything to wipe with? No Charmin out here, you know."
"Obviously!" Xinran straightened up defiantly. "I used the biggest, softest leaves I could find!"
With a mock growl, she lunged at Yu Le’s chest. "You’re still laughing at me! Take this!"
"Hey! No fair!"
The two bikini-clad girls tumbled onto the grass wrestling and laughing, flashing enough skin to draw a chorus of approving whistles from the crowd.
Logan shook his head with a quiet smile. These girls certainly didn’t lack energy.
Once everyone had eaten and caught their breath, Teacher Chen brought up a critical logistical issue.
"We have food and fire, but we still haven’t found a steady supply of clean water. We can trade for it in the market, but that’s not a long-term fix."
She pointed toward the dense western thicket. "My major in college was geography. Based on the vegetation out this way, there’s a very high chance of a river or stream two or three kilometers west."
"I’ll take a team to scout for water!" Bai Nian volunteered instantly.
"I’m going too!"
"Count me in!"
Seven or eight girls immediately stepped forward.
"I’ll go with you."
Logan stood up. As the only guy and the appointed chief, taking on the security risk was his job.
Before he could take a step, however, a cool voice cut him off.
"Your task is sword practice."
Lin Bing materialized beside him, her gaze calm. She shifted her attention to the group of ready girls.
"I’ll go with them."
Logan blinked.
Lin Bing’s tone remained completely flat. "I’m better suited to handle sudden jungle threats than you are."
Logan couldn’t argue with that. Her combat skills were practically a cheat code; having her tag along made the scouting run far safer than if he went. Plus, she was deliberately carving out uninterrupted training time for him to level up.
"Thanks, Lin Bing," Logan said sincerely.
She offered a minimal, almost imperceptible nod, then led Teacher Chen, Bai Nian, and the rest of the scouting party into the deep forest.
Logan watched them disappear, took a deep breath, and gripped his Miao dao once more.
Back in the open clearing, he resumed his brutal, monotonous training routine.
Four hundred!
Five hundred!
...
Nine hundred ninety-nine!
One thousand!
As the final stroke tore through the air, Logan felt his arms go completely numb, robbed of all sensation. He collapsed onto the grass, chest heaving as he dragged in lungfuls of air.
At that exact moment, a system prompt materialized in his field of view. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
[Your Blade Technique (Novice) has advanced to Blade Technique (Proficient).]
[Blade Technique (Proficient): Your control over bladed weapons has increased slightly. Attack speed is enhanced, and your strikes are significantly more precise.]
His blade technique had leveled up! Which meant the next benchmark would be Mastery.
A wave of intuitive understanding washed over him. Logan raised his hand and gripped the hilt again.
The feedback was entirely different this time.
The weapon felt like a natural extension of his arm—no longer a heavy weight, but a living, responsive tool tied directly to his nervous system. He gave it a casual swing, and the blade sheared through the air with a sharp whistle, moving noticeably faster than before!
"Logan! We’re back!"
"We found water! It’s a crystal-clear stream!"
As Logan basked in the warmth of his upgrade, the scouting party returned.
The girls beamed, carrying makeshift buckets woven from broad leaves and vines, brimful of sparkling water.
"Great job!" Logan praised them genuinely.
Securing a stable water supply firmly anchored their survival baseline.
*Screech—!*
Just as the camp relaxed into cheerful chatter, a sharp, terrified shriek cut through the air from the nearby woodcutting clearing!
Followed immediately by a heavy thud and a girl’s desperate crying!
Every smile froze instantly.
Logan’s chest tightened. Snatching up his Miao dao, he sprinted blindly toward the noise.
He burst into the clearing and froze, fury instantly overriding his shock.
Tang Qingyu—now wearing her clean T-shirt—cowered on the ground, a bright red handprint stark against her cheek, crying quietly with a bloody lip.
Standing right in front of her were two strange men!
One was tall, heavily built, and deeply tanned, wearing only tattered shorts and radiating a vicious, feral aura. The other was leaner, holding a thick wooden club.
A nearby woodcutting student spotted Logan and cried out through her tears:
"Chief Logan! They... they just showed up out of nowhere asking for food!"
"Rain... Qingyu didn’t expect trouble, she told them we hunted wolves and had meat... and they tried to forcefully trade a couple of rotten wild fruits for all the wood we spent hours cutting!"
"When she told them to back off and that this was our territory... that big guy hit her! And then... he tried to grab her!"
The two men barely blinked at Logan’s sudden arrival, their faces twisting into sneering grins.
A punk who looked like he’d barely graduated high school?
Backed by a bunch of pretty, helpless girls in swimsuits?
The man with the club sized up the girls behind Logan like a predator inspecting livestock, then pointed his club at Logan’s pile of stacked lumber.
"Listen up, kid. These logs and your food belong to Boss Hao now."
"Be smart, and hand the supplies over without making a fuss."