12: Chapter 12 Internal Strength Breakthrough, Divine Attribute Effect

After leaving the Martial Arts Training Ground, Lin Ye walked straight towards his second uncle's house.

On the way, Lin Ye checked the attributes of [Basic Staff Technique].

[Basic Staff Technique] (White)

Quality: Normal

Realm: initial insight (5/1000)

Attribute: Essence +1

Effect: Increases attack power by 20% when used.

Compared to Basic Qinggong, the effect of Basic Staff Technique was much simpler, merely increasing attack power.

However, techniques are different from other Cultivation Techniques; their attribute bonuses are secondary. The technique itself is more important.

As Basic Staff Technique broke through to initial insight, Lin Ye clearly felt his understanding of staff techniques ascend to a new level.

That feeling of physical memory merging with skill was the greatest combat power boost a technique could give a player.

"No wonder so many people are obsessed with the Martial Dao; this feeling is indeed addictive." Lin Ye reached out and made a grasping motion, as if holding an invisible staff, eager to practice on the spot.

But now, he had important matters to attend to.

Captain Zhao was right; his main threat currently came from the wild beasts on Heifeng Mountain.

And against those thick-skinned, tough-fleshed beasts, shooting them from a distance with a bow and arrow was clearly much safer than fighting them head-on with a staff.

Entering the small courtyard, his second uncle was organizing various forging tools, seemingly preparing to start working.

"Second Uncle," Lin Ye greeted with a smile.

"Why are you back again? Didn't I say I don't provide dinner?" Hearing Lin Ye's voice, his second uncle couldn't help but flinch.

"Second Uncle, you've misunderstood, I'm not here for a free meal." Seeing his second uncle's wary expression, black lines immediately appeared on Lin Ye's forehead.

Good heavens, what kind of image do you have of me, huh?

A glutton?

"Oh, then what are you here for?" Hearing Lin Ye say he wasn't there for a free meal, his second uncle visibly relaxed.

They say a growing boy can eat his father out of house and home. After witnessing Lin Ye's astonishing appetite, his second uncle, who had originally planned to provide two meals, decisively reduced it to one.

No choice, even the landlord's family didn't have surplus grain anymore.

"It's like this, Second Uncle, I just joined Captain Zhao's militia team."

"The captain said he'd teach me archery, but I don't have a suitable bow."

"So I wanted to ask you to help me forge a longbow." After speaking, Lin Ye looked at his second uncle with anticipation.

"You joined the militia team?" His second uncle paused his tool-tidying, looked up at Lin Ye, his expression somewhat displeased.

"Uh, yes." Lin Ye forced himself to explain, "Don't worry, Captain Zhao knows I'm an apprentice here with you, so he specially allowed me not to train with the team. It definitely won't delay the work here."

"Hmph! It better be, otherwise I'll definitely go find Zhao Shanhe and have a word with him!"

Hearing that Lin Ye wasn't giving up his apprenticeship, his second uncle's expression finally softened.

He had finally found a good talent for blacksmithing; how could he let someone poach him?

"You want to forge a bow, right? Any specific requirements?" When it came to his profession, his second uncle immediately displayed the confidence of a Half-Step Great Master blacksmith.

"Well... I don't know much about it, Second Uncle, just make it as you see fit. Anyway, the longer the bow's range, the better!"

"Heh." Hearing Lin Ye's request, his second uncle was so annoyed he laughed.

"You've got quite the big mouth, 'the longer the range, the better.'"

If I really forged you a Profound Iron Embryo Bow, you'd still need to be able to draw it!"

Alright, I generally understand. Come pick it up tomorrow morning." His second uncle waved his hand at Lin Ye, signaling him to leave.

He then waved his hand at Lin Ye, gesturing for him to leave.

"Alright, thank you, Second Uncle!"

Lin Ye thanked him and then turned to leave.

The bow problem was settled; next, it was time to grind Cultivation Technique proficiency.

Opened the attribute panel.

[Character]: Lin Ye

[Identity]: Villager

[Realm]: Unranked

[Essence]: 6

[Qi]: 4

[Spirit]: 5

[Cultivation Techniques]: Basic Breathing Method (proficient 2825/10000), Basic Qinggong (initial insight 285/1000), Basic Forging Method (initial insight 85/100), Basic Staff Technique (initial insight 10/1000), Basic Appraisal Technique (Novice 65/100)

[Talent]: Heaven Rewards Diligence (Red)

[Life-Bound Weapon]: ruyi jingu bang (Seal)

It had been less than two days since he entered the game, and he had already learned five Cultivation Techniques.

This could already be considered a dream start.

Even if some lucky players found a divine Secret Manual at the start, their overall strength would definitely not catch up to Lin Ye's.

After all, the higher the quality of the Cultivation Technique, the greater the difficulty of Cultivation.

Even with the System's help in learning a Cultivation Technique, subsequent Cultivation would be quite a headache.

Not everyone could relentlessly grind Cultivation Technique proficiency like Lin Ye.

"By the way, which one should I grind first?"

Sometimes, too many Cultivation Techniques can also be a bother.

After a brief thought, Lin Ye decided to grind Basic Breathing Method.

No other reason, it was the most convenient, only requiring him to master the breathing rhythm.

The only drawback might be that prolonged control of breathing frequency consumes a lot of mental energy.

However, with 5 points of Spirit attribute as a foundation, he could handle this level of consumption.

After wandering around the village, Lin Ye finally chose the Old Locust Tree in the north of the village as his Cultivation Dao field.

The key was that this location was secluded enough that no one would disturb him.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Ye pushed off with his feet and quickly climbed onto the treetop.

It must be said, climbing trees with Qinggong was indeed convenient.

Finding a thick branch, he sat down cross-legged, and slowly closed his eyes.

Exhale—

Inhale—

With each breath, the faint wisp of innate qi within his body began to flow slowly through Lin Ye's body, following the rhythm of his breathing.

Wherever the warm current passed, the fatigue in his body instantly eased.

"Proficiency +5"

"Proficiency +5"

"Proficiency +5"

...

Lin Ye slowly immersed himself in this feeling, forgetting the passage of time.

The sun dipped to the west, and dusk began to fall.

Lin Ye sat quietly on the tree branch, motionless, as if he had merged with the Old Locust Tree.

After an unknown amount of time—

"Ding! Basic Breathing Method Realm has increased. Current Realm: Flowing Water (5/100000)"

Whoosh~~

Lin Ye suddenly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, slowly opening his eyes.

He could feel that the Qi flow within his body had nearly doubled compared to before.

[Basic Breathing Method] (White)

Quality: Normal

Realm: Flowing Water (5/100000)

Attribute: Qi +6

Effect: Increases basic stamina by 140% (7*20%), increases Cultivation Technique power by 140% (7*20%). (Note: The amplification effect of Internal Skill is influenced by both Qi attribute and Cultivation Technique Realm. The higher the Internal Skill quality, the larger the base amplification at the same Realm.)

"Qi attribute +6... counting the original 1 point, my current Qi attribute has reached 7 points!"

He had a premonition that when his Qi attribute broke through the 10-point mark, there would be a qualitative change, perhaps related to the so-called Ranked Martial Artist.

But when he saw the long string of "0"s after the Cultivation Technique proficiency, he couldn't help but sigh again.

"100,000 proficiency points... Although I can now gain 5 proficiency points in about 40 seconds of breathing and Tu Na Method, even so, it would require continuous Cultivation for over 100 hours."

This also made Lin Ye realize that while Heaven Rewards Diligence was powerful, it had certain limitations.

It claimed the Cultivation Technique Realm had no upper limit, but the key was that the later the Realm, the more time it consumed.

This was only the fourth Realm, and it already required ten days of continuous Cultivation without eating or drinking to break through. So what about the fifth, sixth... tenth Realm? Wouldn't that take 100 years?

Whether he could live to that age was questionable.

"It shouldn't be that bad. Right now, I can only gain 5 proficiency points at a time. When my Spirit attribute increases in the future, the efficiency of gaining proficiency should also improve accordingly."

As for why Lin Ye knew that the [Spirit] attribute would affect the speed of proficiency gain, this was not difficult to infer.

His Spirit attribute was 5 points, and each time proficiency increased, it was exactly 5 points, which was quite a coincidence.

Of course, these were just his speculations.

As for the specifics, he would have to see if proficiency increased when his Spirit attribute increased in the future.

No longer dwelling on it, Lin Ye got up and jumped down from the locust tree, using Qinggong to rush to Brother Gang's house.

There was nothing he could do; he didn't have his own residence yet, so he could only continue to bother Brother Gang.

Although it was late at night, when Lin Ye returned, he still received a warm welcome from Wang Gang.

"You were gone so late, I thought you found a place to stay yourself." Wang Gang said with a smile, punching Lin Ye lightly, his words filled with concern.

"Sorry, Brother Wang, I was too engrossed in practicing martial arts and forgot the time." Lin Ye scratched his head sheepishly.

"You really are a martial arts fanatic, come on, I saved you some dinner." Wang Gang said, pulling Lin Ye into the house.