Tch.
With a light sound, a dagger flew through the air and embedded its tip into a wooden stake.
Zhen Jin slowly withdrew his hand and thoughtfully looked at the many wooden stakes before him.
When he got up in the morning, he issued a command to collect long range weaponry.
Bows and crossbows were the most common. In addition to those, there were also some specialized throwing weapons like throwing axes and tridents. There were also some that could be used as throwing weapons like short spears and throwing daggers.
All of these weapons were now accurately thrown by him into wooden stakes near and far.
Zhen Jin moved his fingers while he examined his present performance, and inwardly evaluated himself: “Strictly speaking, throwing daggers are not weapons specially made to be thrown. Yet I have thrown a dozen daggers without any slip ups. I can hit wherever I want.”
“Daggers aside, regardless of whether it is a javelin, a throwing axe, or a trident, it is all the same.”
It goes without saying that the bow and the crossbow were the same.
“If I also had darts, I should be able to do the same.”
Darts weren’t commonly seen.
In the eastern part of the Sheng Ming Continent there was a unique battle qi art whose cultivators were light as swallows
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and had great ability in throwing darts, flying daggers, and other similar weapons.
Therefore, dart weapons were quite prevalent in the eastern part of Sheng Ming continent while being extremely rare elsewhere.
“The results have proven it: Last night was not a dream, rather I recalled another memory.”
Before this, this kind of long range throwing results was beyond Zhen Jin’s abilities.
But after last night, he accomplished it very easily, like it was instinct.
“No, this should be the results of my diligent cultivation and training in the past. I was simply unable to use it and my dream last night had unsealed my memories of it.”
“It's a pity that although the Needle Point Explosion secret skill reappeared in my memories, I am still incapable of using it.”
“If I could fully use this secret skill, it would be very powerful and would pose a great threat to the island’s fierce monsters.
Zhen Jin sighed to himself.
To this day, he still hasn't been able to activate his battle qi, the Needle Point Explosion was a battle qi art with its main premise demanding he imbue the special flying needle with his own battle qi.
Therefore, as long as Zhen Jin couldn’t use battle qi, he could not display the Needle Point Explosion’s true might.
Even so, with his memory reappearing, Zhen Jin’s strength still jumped up a bit.
Previously, he had wielded a longsword, fighting bravely in close combat. But now, because he had the ability to throw, his scope of attacks had increased to several hundred steps around himself.
“This is truly worthy of being the Bai Zhen bloodline! In terms of accuracy, the Bai Zhen bloodline is strong enough to be ranked in the top five in all of the Sheng Ming Continent. Lord Zhen Jin, you are the Bai Zhen Clan’s hope and are sure to bring the entire clan back into glory.”
As Zhen Jin was contemplating, he heard a familiar voice.
He turned around and as he expected, saw Cang Xu.
Cang Xu slowly walked over and looked at the many stakes filled with thrown weapons, his face showed a respectful expression.
But Zhen Jin shook his head.
He had been practicing since dawn, apart from confirming that the dream was a memory, his biggest expectation was wanting to use this golden opportunity to spark other relevant memories and understand how to activate his battle qi.
However, it was unfortunate that he didn’t succeed.
As a matter of fact, he had previously inquired about his subordinates’ battle qi arts and secretly attempted to use them.
Yet regardless of his great efforts, this island prohibited all low level magic and battle qi, he simply could not feel any reaction and was unable to activate the battle qi hidden within his body.
He couldn’t confide these vexations onto Cang Xu.
“Tell me, how is the current situation?” Zhen Jin stood still, regulated his breathing and asked while watching Cang Xu walk up to him.
Cang Xu was clearly here to report on the situation.
“Reporting to my lord, not one person has died.” In one sentence, Cang Xu made Zhen Jin relax and heave a sigh of relief.
Cang Xu proceeded: “We are indeed lucky that Lord Zi Di is such a pharmacist! Nearly everyone has benefited from her potions. Currently, more than half of the group has taken the medicine. These people are all very weak, some are unconscious, some have fevers, and serious illness was unavoidable.”
A sufficient amount of medicine had been made.
However, for the purpose of safety and security, Cang Xu planned to have the exploration team take the medicine in batches.
So, there was still a portion of them that hadn’t drunk the potion.
Zhen Jin nodded and asked about a key issue: “So, to what degree have the bodies of those who took the medicine declined?”
Cang Xu shook his head slightly: “The present situation is still developing, however looking at the current results, it seems all of these people are in weak health and their strength has dropped to varying degrees depending on the person. Some have trivial drops while others have comparatively serious drops. However the overall situation is still fine, at least no one has been disabled or crippled.”
Upon mentioning this, Cang Xu’s complexion sank: “My lord, I believe that the danger of magic corrosion has been resolved, and its threat to the whole group is not that great. However there is another difficult problem in front of us.”
“Food?” Zhen Jin’s eyes flashed with clear understanding.
“My lord has a clear view.” Cang Xu bowed with unconcealed worry, “We really do not have much food left.”
Zhen Jin nodded, he had been paying close attention to supplies since the beginning and was not surprised.
Originally, Cang Xu suggested hunting large amounts of goats to acquire goat meat.
No matter if it were the exploration team or the people at the beach, food was in huge demand.
The exploration team originally had abundant food, however it had been a long time since they left the beach and entered the forest. The majority of their food had been consumed.
Zhen Jin and Zi Di had plentiful food, but it was only enough for the two of them. With the current sharp increase in the number of people, the amount of food that could be shared to each person seemed sparse.
Unless Zhen Jin decided to abandon these people to preserve his own food.
“How long will it last?” Zhen Jin inquired.
The scholar immediately replied: “I’ve roughly calculated that we have enough for about fifteen days.”
Half a month.
Zhen Jin nodded, his heart satisfied with Cang Xu’s report.
“This is the role of an advisor.”
“Cang Xu is a qualified advisor.”
“He discovered the problems ahead of time and warned us of them. Many things seem very trivial and it can be hard to take care of everything
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as the leader. At this time, someone needs to check and plug the leaks.”
“Fifteen days is a long time, however it is still in the danger zone.”
A sense of urgency rose in Zhen Jin’s heart.
He had experienced dangers on this island for many days, he understood deeply how difficult it was to acquire food on this island!
Cang Xu must have understood it as well.
It was because after he had joined the exploration team, he also went through many dangers and trials, no one could gain large amounts of food in one go. The only opportunity was the goat hunt. In the end, there were many problems with the goat meat and the entire exploration team almost died.
“Do you have any good ideas?” Zhen Jin thought for a while and asked Cang Xu again.
Cang Xu hesitated before saying: “I am ashamed and I am powerless to do anything in this matter. However, perhaps Lord Zi Di can do something about it?”
When Zhen Jin heard this, his heart was moved as he looked deeply at Cang Xu.
A thought rose in the youngster’s mind.
“Cang Xu’s words are referring to something, don’t tell me he saw something?”
“Also…the grass’s secret, is actually hard to keep hidden. Perhaps it could deceive the others, but Cang Xu had been following closely from beginning to end. He has an extensive breadth of knowledge, it would be quite normal to understand this secret.”
Zi Di discovered that the goats were also victims, it was found that the real source was the seemingly ordinary grass all along, she told Zhen Jin to keep this confidential.
Zhen Jin’s thoughts swirled incessantly: “In light of the stated facts, there is one simple way to solve our difficult food problem. Zi Di could make more potions and give it to the goats. After the goats spit out the chaotic magic power, wouldn’t it be fine to eat the meat?"
“Cang Xu’s proposal seems to point towards this method, however he has not openly said it.”
“After all this grass is special, it contains dense ice elemental magic power and is a top notch natural resource. Any force would cautiously cover up this secret.”
“It is very possible that Mr. Cang Xu clearly understands while pretending to not know this. He is truly worthy of someone who has served nobility for most of his life."
Thinking about this, Zhen Jin couldn’t help but admire Cang Xu more.
The most admirable bit about Cang Xu was that he knew how to restrain his intellect and not offend others because of his wisdom. He raised his proposal just right to minimize the likelihood of resentment from others.
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But at the same time, he still followed his own principles.
Cang Xu knew: To the exploration team, food was extremely important. Currently the team had plenty of water as there was a rare replenishment spot nearby.
Food was the key.
Once there was a food shortage, the body’s energy intake would decrease, strength would continue to decline, and combat ability would fall, therefore the ability to resist external crises would fall accordingly.
If it didn’t get better, this vicious cycle would drag the exploration team into the abyss and destroy them.
As a matter of fact, everyone knew about the food reserves. Once the food reserves entered a dangerously low level, the exploration team members would involuntarily feel mental pressure.
This kind of mental pressure would increase more and more, it was very possible that no vicious beast needed to attack as the group would collapse into internal strife to fight over the remaining food.
Before this, Zhen Jin and Zi Di were only two people, they could satisfy their food needs. However, with many personnel as there was now, although many things became more convenient, it also brought about many of its own pressures and inconveniences.
Cang Xu was worried that Zhen Jin would be careless in this regard, again food was vital, therefore he pointed out this problem.
From his point of view, protecting the entire exploration team’s existence was how he protected his own life.
Cang Xu was a scholar, he didn’t cultivate battle qi. To raise his chances of survival, he could only attach himself to others. At the same time, the more people there were in the team, the greater the value of his management and scholarly knowledge would be.
Cang Xu understood how to survive.
“This kind of talent is something I really want to employ.” Zhen Jin sighed to himself.
Although Cang Xu was just an ordinary person, he possessed great scholarly knowledge, understood appropriate behavior, and possessed impressive wisdom.
“Serving as a noble steward is not suitable for him. He is not a practitioner, thus he cannot control a situation.”
“However he is completely qualified to act as an advisor, he could even be outstanding as one.”
“Cang Xu had the clan he had served for many years because he wanted to write his own work. This is his ambition as a scholar and is understandable. For an ordinary person, it is definitely better to remain at their lord’s side. Why put yourself in danger for a book?”
Zhen Jin thought about this and his heart couldn’t help but be moved.
“Previously, I had intended to take advantage of Cang Xu’s ambitious attempt to slowly draw him to my side.”
“However, now that I think about it, isn’t the present dilemma perhaps a good opportunity to recruit him?"
Zhen Jin changed his perspective of thought and his eyes slowly shined.
Before he thought to slowly scheme, but he wasn't the only templar knight going to White Sands City in the future. There were still at least two other competitors for the City Lord’s position.
Therefore, the best opportunity was not in the future but right now.
On this dangerous island. Cang Xu had to attach himself to other talented people to survive.
“So, this island is actually my opportunity.” For the first time, Zhen Jin felt the loveliness of the island.
Notes
Ha, you thought the title was referring to Zi Di? Zhen Jin is already Zi Di’s greatest investment, no way she’s letting him go for free. Also I hope you all have been enjoying Zhen Jin’s inner monologue, it probably makes up around ⅓-½ of this book.
Translation Notes
(身轻如燕: as lithe as a swallow ) (面面俱到: (idiom) take care of everything ) Editor Notes