Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 50 Junior Sister's Recommendation

Of course, Zhou Ye wouldn't be that twisted. He was simply expressing his appreciation for the beautiful scenery.

After all, Zhou Ye had heard that Du Juan would not turn 14 for several more months before she would begin formally practicing martial arts.

Du Keyuan doted on this granddaughter, using herbal medicine and medicinal baths relentlessly to lay a solid foundation for Du Juan's health. That's why the little girl has a pleasant, fragrant scent, like aged cured meat. *Ahem*

"Junior Sister, what exactly happened when the army entered the city that day?" Zhou Ye still didn't understand what had happened during the rebellion. If he didn't know the specific reasons, he felt uneasy.

"I don't know either," Du Juan answered readily. "But my grandfather said that the former garrison general is now the prefect. He killed the original prefect."

"what?"

"Anyway, you don't need to worry about these things. My grandfather also said that war disasters like this happen quite often. It's been a bit better in recent years, but in the past, it would happen every few years. So everyone is used to it. These kinds of war disasters are over and done with, you don't need to worry about them at all."

"what?"

"Just living life as before. Everything is the same. That's all I know!"

"oh oh!"

To Zhou Ye's surprise, the more he listened, the more confused he became. This was utterly absurd! But he couldn't expect too much from the young girl. Asking her to explain the situation clearly? That would be putting his junior sister in a difficult position.

That being said, as long as everything remains normal, that's good! That's good!

As Du Juan completed the registration, she explained, "Senior Brother A Ye, after you enter the realm of internal strength, you can learn a set of fist techniques—the Wind and Thunder Grappling Hand. Grandpa said that fist techniques can be used for sparring, but it's best to use weapons in actual combat. To prevent newly trained disciples from getting carried away and causing trouble, we won't teach weapons for now. Only after you reach the realm of full strength will you be taught a weapon for free. And it will be a second-rate technique following the Wind and Thunder Grappling Hand."

Zhou Ye nodded; he could completely understand this statement.

In battle, having weapons and not having weapons; having armor and not having armor; even having a horse and not having a horse—these are completely different concepts. Generally, it can lead to absolute crushing.

Of course, you could say you've mastered a fist technique to an extremely high level, or that you've trained your body to be like a solid block of iron, with every part of your body usable as a weapon? That's fine with me. Such martial arts techniques do indeed exist.

But don't forget, you didn't become a martial arts master overnight, did you? How did you get through such a long developmental period when you first started practicing martial arts?

In a fight, even if your fist is harder, you'll still get killed with a single slash or a spear thrust. Even if your fist is harder, you'll only get slashed a few more times.

Even the weapons are extensions of the hands, putting them at a significant disadvantage in terms of range. Even if one spear thrust doesn't kill you, I can stab you a hundred or two hundred times, but you can't even land a punch on me.

Therefore, when both sides are roughly equal in strength, not using weapons would be a significant disadvantage.

Of course, if you say you just like having a strong fist and want to bully weaker kids or beat up kindergarteners, then just pretend you never said that.

For this reason, Zhou Ye did not pay much attention to fist-type martial arts techniques in his previous martial arts training.

Actually, boxing is generally used for non-lethal combat, like sparring, ring duels, or even martial arts contests for marriage. Okay! There's no marriage contest here, just a martial arts match. This effectively controls the damage and prevents it from being too intense. In contrast, combat with weapons, let alone severed limbs, might result in a decapitation in the blink of an eye?

That's too brutal. In many situations where life and death aren't involved, the intensity needs to be controlled; let's compare it with fists!

That's why, during the initial stage of mastering internal strength, Du Keyuan only taught fist techniques to prevent his disciples from causing trouble outside, which might ultimately implicate the martial arts school. Only after reaching the level of mastery (manifest strength) would he truly teach weapon use, and even then, it would be a second-rate martial art.

Unexpectedly, Du Juan then gave a pleasant surprise. She said excitedly, "Senior Brother A-Ye, after you've reached the first year of your cultivation, you'll be going out to take up temporary posts. If you know nothing about weapon use, that would be too dangerous, wouldn't it? So I'm giving you an opportunity—Grandpa previously collected quite a few other martial arts techniques. They don't belong to our Feng Lei Martial Arts School. Even if you learn them, our school will never acknowledge them. Do you want to learn them?"

Zhou Ye was immediately amused. So there were unspoken rules here. He asked with boundless confidence, "How much?!"

I know these two, grandfather and grandson, are both money-grubbers. It's just a matter of money, isn't it?

"Hehehe!" Du Juan glanced over, a hint of childish charm even appearing in her eyes: "Senior Brother A Ye, you're so straightforward. 50 taels per sect."

"Junior sister, do you have any recommendations?"

"I recommend the 'Concealment Technique.' Many disciples have purchased it before, and it's quite suitable for you mountain travelers. It's very useful for hunting and avoiding wild beasts. However, it would be best to also choose a weapon-related technique. I can make the decision; if you buy both together, it will only cost 95 taels."

"I bought it!" Zhou Ye said without hesitation, patting his chest.

For him, this was simply buying free attribute points with silver. Those two third-rate martial arts techniques he'd bought before, looking back now, were incredibly worthwhile.

Du Juan covered her mouth and laughed incessantly, looking like a sly little fox: "Senior Brother A Ye, have you decided what weapon you'll use? A knife, perhaps?"

As for weapons, Zhou Ye didn't care: "Junior Sister, do you sell any first- or second-rate martial arts techniques here?"

"There are four second-rate books, but they are best practiced only at the Ming Jin stage."

"What are the prices for second-tier [services]?"

"300 taels per book. Unlike outside, we don't give you genuine copies here. We don't need to elaborate on the tampering and deception outside; even martial arts manuals that are supposed to be practiced often use coded language and hidden meanings. Many also have invalid content added. Practicing them can actually be harmful..."

"Oh?"

According to Du Juan's explanation, martial arts techniques and skills are closely guarded secrets of each sect, family, and martial arts school, and are generally not allowed to be passed on to outsiders.

But what if you carry it with you when you go out? Sometimes you need to practice on the road, and you still need it as a reference at all times. What if it gets lost? Wouldn't that mean it gets out?

So some clever people came up with a solution—to create a copy. Key words and phrases were replaced with coded language.

But secret codes and hidden messages also have their flaws. What if you forget them yourself? Or rather, if you only have this book with secret codes and hidden messages, and you forget it, won't your sect and family be lost forever?

So they came up with another idea—to flood it with water, adding a lot of invalid content.

No one else knows which parts of it are true and which are false.

For the carrier, it's much easier. Just filter out all the invalid content, and that's the original copy, isn't it?