Chapter 16: Chapter 16 Chopping Wood Perfect
Time flew by swiftly.
In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.
Gu Sheng's days followed a remarkably disciplined routine: chopping wood in the early morning, practicing archery in the afternoon, and pulling the bow while standing in a steady posture at night to train his physical stability. This was a little trick Gu Sheng had discovered by chance to accelerate his proficiency in archery.
In just ten days, Gu Sheng's archery skill had reached 40% at the entry-level stage, progressing even faster than he had anticipated!
At this rate, perhaps within half a month, his archery skill could reach the small success stage.
Currently, Gu Sheng—
—already mastered the motion of nocking, drawing, and releasing the bow. His arms were steady and unwavering, and his arrows could consistently hit a fist-sized target fifty meters away.
Although there was still a considerable gap between him and Gu Erniu, for a novice, this progress was nothing short of extraordinary.
After integrating the archery skill into his panel system, Gu Sheng began to display an almost supernatural aptitude.
Initially, Gu Erniu thought that within a month, as long as Gu Sheng could shoot arrows stably and somewhat accurately without straying too far, it would already be commendable. Yet the results utterly shocked him.
He realized—
—Gu Sheng was a freakish prodigy. With every shot, there was visible improvement, and any mistake made once would never be repeated a second time.
Furthermore, Gu Sheng continuously refined and corrected his shortcomings.
Coupled with Gu Sheng's unparalleled diligence—his wood-chopping proficiency growing higher day by day, allowing him to free up more time to practice archery—it became essentially impossible for him not to improve.
Eventually, Gu Erniu found himself with nothing left to teach Gu Sheng.
All that remained was for Gu Sheng to grind it out steadily with time.
Gu Erniu sighed aloud, admitting he had entirely underestimated Gu Sheng. This was no middle-tier talent; this was clearly an archery genius!
After his initial astonishment, Gu Erniu was filled with great joy. The stronger Gu Sheng's talent, the faster he could reach profound heights in archery, and the sooner he could assist Gu Erniu. This was a good thing—envy had no place here.
If Gu Sheng one day truly rose to prominence, Gu Erniu could even share in some of the glory.
However, in response to Gu Erniu's praise and astonishment, Gu Sheng merely smiled without a hint of arrogance.
Only Gu Sheng himself knew that his advantage came solely from the panel system he'd been relying on. There was no room for complacency—he needed to work even harder.
On this particular day—
—Gu Sheng was chopping wood at the manor of the head of the family.
Crack!
Crack!
...
The crisp sound of wood splitting echoed rhythmically in the woodshed, the repetition orderly and precise.
Currently, Gu Sheng's wood-chopping proficiency had reached 99% in the great success stage. His strength was now entirely under his command; the moment the axe touched the wood, he could clearly feel the shifting grain. With just a small exertion of force, the wood would split effortlessly.
This was also why Gu Sheng was spending less and less time chopping wood. Using less power meant he needed less rest, effectively saving time.
"Having achieved great success in chopping wood allows me to harness full-body strength, with power emanating at will. But a perfect-level mastery goes a step further—it allows me to sense the grain of the wood and strike at its weakest points!"
Gu Sheng's eyes shone brilliantly.
He had completely grasped the direction toward achieving the perfect stage in wood-chopping.
This was a more profound level, transitioning from action to perception, from brute force to precision.
At this moment—
—Gu Sheng swung his axe freely. One piece of wood after another was split in half under his axe with uniform precision, as if measured by a ruler.
Then, in one particular swing, a sudden surge of perception flooded Gu Sheng's mind. It was as though he could see every intricate detail within the wood, down to the finest fibers.
Crack!
The axe followed the grain perfectly, and Gu Sheng felt as if he had merely guided the axe forward lightly. The piece of wood effortlessly split into two halves, falling neatly to either side.
Gu Sheng stood there in a daze, silently savoring the miraculous experience earlier, his eyes gleaming with joy.
"So this... is the perfect stage? How powerful!"
Gu Sheng vividly felt the significant leap in the strength of his wood-chopping—it now exuded a martial arts-like essence.
"If I can sense the grain in wood, then in striking a person or a beast, I should be able to detect their vulnerabilities—to sever bones and tendons, like a butcher dismembering an ox!"
Understanding dawned upon Gu Sheng. If he'd possessed perfect-level mastery of wood-chopping during that night when the wolves attacked, just a single strike might have been enough to take down a wolf with ease, without even needing to sever its spine.
He opened the panel, and behind the wood-chopping skill, the text now read: Perfect 0%!
"Hmm? There's a stage beyond perfect?"
Gu Sheng was taken aback.
He vaguely remembered that in his previous life, the panel's martial arts system only consisted of four realms: entry-level, small success, great success, and perfect. Yet now, with a progress bar appearing after the perfect stage, it clearly implied that the skill could still be further honed!
"Could it be that the panel also underwent some changes after transmigrating with me?"
Gu Sheng's gaze flickered as he considered various possibilities, his heart filled with anticipation—looking forward to discovering the surprises that lay beyond the perfect stage.
After taking a short break to calm his emotions, Gu Sheng resumed chopping wood.
When the remaining 300-plus logs had been split, the progress bar for wood-chopping still had not risen to 1%.
Gu Sheng was not in a hurry. There was always tomorrow—so long as there was a progress bar, he wasn't worried. Hard work would get him there!
That said, it wasn't all bad news.
Based on the earlier rate of progress, he estimated that he could now split 1,000 logs in just half a day. This meant he would have more time available to practice archery.
Not only that, chopping wood consumed less energy now, allowing his arm muscles to stay in better shape. This would also significantly boost his efficiency during archery practice.
When combined, this would accelerate Gu Sheng's progress in archery by at least 50–60%!
Thinking of this, Gu Sheng couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile.
Fast-paced improvement in strength was undoubtedly a good thing.
After tidying up, he received ten Copper Coins from Gu He as payment for the day. Gu He's eyes were full of amazement.
He had witnessed this boy's step-by-step growth firsthand. Now, Gu Sheng no longer bore any trace of his once frail demeanor. His body had visibly bulked up, and his progress in wood-chopping was truly staggering.
In just over a month, he'd gone from barely managing to split 200 logs a day to easily handling over 1,000 logs ahead of schedule.
Gu He often marveled at how perceptive and gifted Gu Sheng was, especially in terms of exerting strength—his talent was far from ordinary.
"Gu Sheng, have you ever considered pursuing martial arts in the future? Practicing martial arts requires a great deal of wealth."
Gu He offered a hint.
"My third brother's family has a daughter about your age..."
Speaking to a clever person requires no further elaboration. Gu He's meaning was simple—if Gu Sheng were to marry into his family, Gu He would be willing to sponsor his martial arts training.
It was a mutually beneficial proposal. In the past, Gu He had alluded to this a few times, but not as explicitly as he did now. It seemed he had received approval from the other side.
Gu Sheng froze momentarily before carefully replying, "Thank you for your kindness, Manager, but I am still young and have no plans for marriage at the moment. I can only decline your generous offer."
Gu He fell silent immediately.
He couldn't understand why Gu Sheng would refuse. For the son of a tenant farmer, this was an excellent opportunity. While it wasn't as lofty as marrying a noblewoman, gaining Gu He's backing would still make any future martial journey tenfold smoother.
Gu Sheng was a smart young man—he shouldn't have refused.
But Gu He didn't know Gu Sheng's ambitions.
Though he was currently confined to the small world of Gu's Manor, Gu Sheng's aspirations were vast. One day, he would explore the wider world beyond.
Perhaps he would marry someday, but it certainly wouldn't be now.