32: Bone Refining

Then, he continued to lead Li Ergou and the others into the deep mountains to start hunting that barbarian beef.

Having gained experience from the last time, Gu Chang was clearly much more cautious.

He still used his agile movement techniques to inflict certain injuries on the barbarian beef, causing it to fall into a berserk state, after which he immediately increased the distance, letting it rampage and destroy things in the mountain forest.

Even when the barbarian beef finally collapsed on the ground, exhausted, Gu Chang remained unmoved; this time, even if he had to endure, he was determined to make it through the night!

"Moo~~"

Finally, in the dead of night, accompanied by the last roar the barbarian beef made before dying, this behemoth finally lost its life completely.

"Whew! Finally succeeded!"

Facing this result, Gu Chang actually felt a sense of relief; hunting such a giant beast was truly not easy, and a slight carelessness could lead to death.

However, the harvest this time was also quite huge; this barbarian beef probably weighed ten thousand catties, and just the meat alone would last for who knows how long.

It was naturally impossible for them to bring the complete barbarian beef back with their strength alone, so Gu Chang directly dismembered the barbarian beef, dividing it into several parts: legs, head, body, and internal organs.

Fortunately, there were quite a few people who came this time. Gu Chang alone could carry a thousand catties of meat and horns, and the others could also carry hundreds of catties of meat. Although their speed was relatively slow, they could eventually bring it back.

"Let's go! We're heading back!"

"Yes!"

Following Gu Chang's order, everyone headed towards the valley with great excitement.

The journey was not very smooth, as they encountered two groups of wild beasts that wanted to attack them.

Gu Chang had to personally intervene to drive them away, but even so, they still had to discard some meat to lure these wild beasts away.

It took them two full days to return from the deep mountains. Everyone was exhausted and only breathed a sigh of relief after returning to the valley.

Next was the time to process the meat and distribute the spoils.

Gu Chang mainly took the horns and some bones and meat, while Li Ergou and the others divided most of the remaining meat, and another portion was distributed to the other ordinary people in the valley.

With this foundation, those boys could also start practicing martial arts.

Time passed quickly. Under the support of tiger bone wine, barbarian horns, and barbarian beef, Gu Chang's strength continued to improve, but this time it took him three full months to finally reach Minor Achievement in Refining Bone!

At this stage, his Qi and blood were as vigorous as a furnace, and even if he were naked in the ice and snow, he would not feel any discomfort.

At the same time, his internal Qi had also connected the extraordinary meridians, starting to continuously cleanse his tendons and bones, strengthening his Physique, making his bone strength exceed that of ordinary people, reaching a level comparable to raw iron.

"The Refining Bone Realm can actually be divided into several levels, but it is not as obvious as the Iron Skin stage. Once one reaches Major Achievement in Refining Bone, the entire body's bones are like refined steel, strength can increase several times over, and physical strength far exceeds that of ordinary people!"

Gu Chang thought about his state while moving his body.

Now he finally understood how powerful the captain's strength was; no wonder Zhou Yun had defeated him back then without any effort.

And now he had finally reached this level, and furthermore, he could become even stronger!

"Big Brother! Ergou and the others are back!"

At this moment, Wang Da Niu's voice rang in his ears. His strength had also improved during this period, barely reaching the Iron Skin level, but at this point, he had reached his limit.

"Hmm, let him come over!"

Gu Chang nodded upon hearing this and spoke directly to him.

"Alright!"

Wang Da Niu immediately agreed, then quickly left to call Li Ergou.

Over the past few months, the strength of the soldiers under Gu Chang had gradually been raised to the limit, and continuing to practice martial arts was of no use to them anymore.

Therefore, under Gu Chang's suggestion, they began to build the valley and manage their forces.

Now, there were over a hundred households inside the valley, with a total population exceeding five hundred, and cultivated fields were everywhere in the valley.

The reason was simple: as the situation outside the mountains became increasingly dangerous, many people began to bring their families into the deep mountains to escape the war.

Gu Chang did not refuse these people; as long as they were honest and law-abiding, they could be arranged to live in the valley.

At the same time, the benefits of having many people gradually became apparent. Now, in the valley, some people specialized in farming, some in raising livestock, some were responsible for training and defense, and others were responsible for contacting the outside world to collect resources and population.

"Big Brother!"

Soon, Li Ergou, who had grown significantly taller, appeared before Gu Chang.

"Hmm, how was it this time? Is the fighting still going on outside?"

Gu Chang did not even lift his head upon hearing his voice, but continued to hone his Move one after another.

"Yes! But the Yellow Heaven Great General probably won't be able to hold on much longer. The Xuan King has many soldiers and capable generals under his command, and after several engagements, the Yellow Heaven army has been slaughtered, losing soldiers and generals."

Li Ergou appeared very excited when talking about this, deliberately using lines from plays.

"Alright, alright, get to the point!"

Gu Chang was really speechless about his habit. Although this guy was obedient enough, he was still too young after all.

"Hehe, Big Brother is right!"

"Simply put, several cities have now been taken by the Xuan King, and the Yellow Heaven army should be driven away soon. However, these bastards engaged in rampant burning, killing, and looting before leaving; who knows how many things were destroyed and how many people were killed!"

"This time when I came back, I saw that many people were pitiful, so I brought them back too."

Li Ergou couldn't help but scratch his scalp, then said somewhat awkwardly.

"Exactly how many?"

Gu Chang stopped his movements immediately upon hearing his last sentence and then turned his head to ask him.

"A-about two hundred people."

Li Ergou felt his heart go cold from Gu Chang's gaze, so he answered cautiously.

"You certainly have a good heart, but how will you solve the food problem?"

"It's already not easy for us to feed five hundred people here; how do you intend to feed them too?"

Gu Chang's expression remained unchanged as he threw these questions at him.

"B-Big Brother, there are wild vegetables, wild beasts, and various wild fruits in the mountains; we can always survive."

"There is really no way to live outside; who knows how many people have starved to death or been killed. The journey there was truly miserable."

Li Ergou was flushed red from Gu Chang's words, but he still couldn't help but explain to him.

"Yes, it's clearly not a year of great disaster, yet people are starving to death in large numbers. What do you think is going on here?"

Gu Chang let out a deep breath upon hearing this.

"It's King Mu! It's the Yellow Heaven Great General! And the Xuan King!"

"None of these people are any good!"

"It's because of them that we had to hide in the mountains; who knows how many people have died because of them!"

Li Ergou answered Gu Chang without hesitation!

As the saying goes, one takes on the attributes of those one associates with; having stayed by Gu Chang's side for a long time, the awe they once had for those kings and generals was long gone.

"Well said, but the most critical thing is that order has been lost!"

"Without order, there is nothing!"

"What we are building in the mountains is order; only by relying on order can we survive!"

Gu Chang said to Li Ergou in a deep tone. The latter didn't fully understand, but still nodded honestly and remembered these words.

"That's it. Get those people settled, and handle the specifics according to what I planned before."

"There are things in the mountains that can fill stomachs after all, even if the food is a bit poor."

Finally, Gu Chang didn't ask any more questions and made the decision directly.

"Yes! Big Brother!"