3 points remaining.
In other words, with a 10% success rate, Song Cheng had to try 13 times to succeed.
'Add points.'
Without hesitation or waiting, he added the 3 points to "Mysterious Turtle Step".
Instantly, the progress of "Mysterious Turtle Step" became "Entry Level (1/4)".
A sense of rooted stability began to emerge.
Although slight, that feeling of interconnected strength flowing through his flesh was already taking shape.
In the fenced yard, a young man stood in the biting winter, clad only in a thin, unlined garment.
The cold wind was clearly felt from outside, but the blood and flesh inside him burned like a vigorous furnace, warding off the chill.
Inside the house, the lady of the house yawned and walked out, holding a fur coat she had just finished sewing.
It was made by attaching to the original jacket and even had a fluffy gray tail at the collar that looked very warm.
"Head of the household, try it on."
The lady of the house was sleepy-eyed.
She subconsciously looked up and saw Song Cheng, dressed only in a single layer of cloth, that lightly covered but delineated a robust and slightly wild physique. Remembering that it was this powerful body that had assailed her own flesh last night, her cheeks flushed with redness again.
Song Cheng, looking at his petite wife, approached, took the clothes, yet with a flick, draped them over Tong Jia's shoulders.
Tong Jia was stunned for a moment and pushed him, saying, "Aren't you being sickly sweet?"
Though she said so, her heart felt sweet.
Sweet as it was, she still tugged off the coat; after all, it was made for her husband.
"You wear it. Martial artists have vigorous Qi and blood, they can withstand the winter cold in the mountains," Song Cheng said, holding her shoulders.
Tong Jia struggled a bit and said, "It's made for you, I'll make mine later."
Song Cheng still pressed on her.
Tong Jia moved slightly, feeling a sour numbness in her waist and legs, so she bashfully glared at Song Cheng, saying, "Why are you using so much strength?"
Song Cheng laughed and said, "Isn't a little demoness waiting for me?"
Tong Jia remembered the past when Song Cheng was thin and weak, and after bedroom activities, it was usually Song Cheng with weak legs. She used to tease him with "a little demoness is waiting for you", but now the roles had reversed and she was the one with weak legs.
The lady of the house snorted, turned her face away, and said, "Are you really thinking I'm afraid of you?"
Song Cheng didn't banter further and scooped her up around her waist.
The lady of the house's legs dangled over his arm, kicking repeatedly, while her defiant little face lost its color as she cried out continuously, "Are we going to work today or not, are we going to... mmm mmm mmm..."
...
Life in the mountains is shamelessly unabashed.
After adding points, Song Cheng warmed the bed again with his wife.
It wasn't until noon that the two of them got up.
For lunch, it was meat again.
Wolf meat with a hint of gaminess, and a soup Tong Jia prepared with some herbs from the mountains.
The soup was light, with a faint scent of herbs.
After eating the meat, both didn't feel like talking much.
Without grain and with few condiments, how good could the meat taste?
Moreover, eating the same thing every day not only became tiresome but even made them feel unwell, most likely resulting in weakness in the limbs and lack of vigor.
This was a result of a monotonous diet.
"Head of the household, there are some frozen mushrooms on a nearby mountain I've seen. Let's go pick some during the day to improve our meals," the lady of the house suggested.
Song Cheng nodded but then remembered his wife's enthusiasm for practice and said, "Not today."
"Why?"
"You will practice 'White Snake Blade' this afternoon.
Starting tomorrow, you'll practice with the blade in the morning, and we can look for food in the mountains in the afternoon," Song Cheng suggested.
Once settled, he began to ponder the matter of "Longevity".
He might achieve longevity, but the lady of the house was an ordinary person.
Ordinary people seldom live past seventy.
But practicing could probably extend one's life.
The moment Song Cheng saw "Yellow Level Grade D", he roughly understood the classification of realms.
He didn't know how people outside referred to realms, but he had never heard anyone mention "Yellow Level Grade D".
So, it was highly possible that this classification came from the panel.
In other words, no matter what people outside called it, the panel had already divided the world's realms into four levels: "Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Yellow" and four grades: "A, B, C, D".
Even just at Yellow Level Grade D, he already felt powerful, let alone the realms that followed?
Practicing was definitely a way to extend one's life.
Therefore, he hoped his wife would follow and practice.
If she practiced well and lived longer, he wouldn't be heartbroken a hundred years later.
However, Song Cheng harbored more anticipation than worry about "heartbreak a hundred years later".
"Longevity" was something many people dreamed of but could never achieve.
It meant he could experience different lives and enjoy life to the fullest.
Once he became strong, he wanted to experience different roles, play them all once: scholar, farmer, artisan, merchant, chivalrous warrior, general, monk, Taoist, and even prince and immortal...
He not only wanted to experience these roles but also different beauties, to witness all the styles in the world, to indulge in every luxury in human life.
As for those sublime notions of detachment, Song had no interest in them.
He was passionate about life.
He was full of enthusiasm for living.
To be blunt, it was about the basic needs and pleasures of life.
He didn't like the things touched with the aura of immortals; he was more passionate about the mundane.
Of course, these were just his daydreams.
First, he needed to get stronger and survive in the world of "Endless Hell".
And as Tong Jia was his first bound wife, he naturally hoped she would stay by his side... for as long as possible.
"Practice martial arts!"
Song Cheng pulled the lady of the house to her feet, then handed her the bamboo blade he had made and started explaining the most basic parts of "White Snake Blade" and "Mysterious Turtle Step".
In the past at Rejuvenation Hall, he had no meat to eat, so his body couldn't become robust and he couldn't practice martial arts.
But now, in these deep mountains and ancient forests... meat, he had plenty.
...
Half a two-hour period later.
Lady Tong Jia had turned into a puddle of water, repeatedly crying out, "I can't do it, I can't, I really can't..."
Song Cheng smiled, picked her up, and laid her on the bed. He sat beside her, performing some simple stretches on her to enhance the effectiveness of the training. Then, he shut the door and went out to chop wood, light a fire, cook meat, and prepare a meal.
```
In the deep winter, in the mountains, the sky turned black very early, and it was that pure kind of darkness that had almost no light at all.
A fog had risen outside the window.
White fog.
The fog was chillingly cold.
Song Cheng locked the door tightly, then also settled onto the bed, looked around, saw neither data attributes nor that startling red, then snuggled up with his little wife and went to sleep.
The lady from the east side grimaced in pain, saying, "It hurts, it hurts... don't move..."
In the middle of the night, strange beast noises resounded in the mountains, resembling wolf howls and tiger roars, mixed with the unidentifiable sounds of insects and the piercing wind through the crevices, combining into a harrowing ensemble.
The lady from the east side was in pain all over and couldn't sleep well, just shivering in Song Cheng's arms.
Song Cheng also felt as if he was completely cut off from the human world.
...
The next day.
Tong Jia couldn't go up the mountain nor practice martial arts, so she stayed at home sewing "fur clothes."
Song Cheng added the newly acquired 7 points to "Mysterious Turtle Step," making the progress "Minor Accomplishment (4/8)."
And his strength increased to "14~27."
The increase was small.
Song Cheng thought for a moment and felt it should be "because all his real skills were actually in the blade."
He dropped the blade and checked his strength again, which changed to "11~11."
Indeed, the battle method of "White Snake Blade" could only be executed with the blade, and the upper limit of his strength was sustained by this battle method.
Viewed in this way, the "very small increase" wasn't surprising.
On the other hand, it was probably due to "limitations of the realm itself."
Thinking this, Song Cheng practiced with his blade in the yard.
Suddenly, the door opened, and the lady from the east side walked out, leaning on the wall and holding a long strip of wolf pelt product, shouting, "Husband!"
Song Cheng hurried over, picked up the long strip of wolf pelt product she had made, and suddenly realized, "A scabbard?"
Tong Jia laughed, "Don't dislike it."
Song Cheng's scabbard was lost in the water before, and these past days the blade had been exposed.
He tried it, and it fit perfectly.
Clearly, Tong Jia had put effort into it.
With the leather scabbard, Song Cheng could now strap the long sword on his back.
In a short while, he picked up an axe and began to continue clearing the miscellaneous trees around the wooden house, firstly to open up the view, and secondly to store firewood.
By evening, he was about to start a fire to cook when he suddenly looked up and noticed three sets of data on the distant mountainside.
[Strength: 6~10]
[Favorability: ??]
...
[Strength: 0~0]
[Favorability: 60]
...
[Strength: 1~1]
[Favorability: ??]
The question marks in favorability were because they had never seen Song Cheng before, so naturally the favorability was not determined.
But the one with a favorability of 60 was obviously a child from Tang River Village.
Because Song Cheng never left his house or his yard, only the villagers of Tang River Village would recognize him.
Song Cheng squinted his eyes. He glanced at his own "14~27," then at the other party's "6~10," and a killing intent surged within him.
The most likely companions of the Tang River Village villager were the bandits who had escaped.
He suddenly sprang into action, rushing into the house and said, "Wife, follow me."
After saying that, they quickly climbed the mountain and hid by the only path to this small house, watching the distance.
Forbidden killings were subject to rules.
Yune becoming taboo might also be a recent change; her strength might not be that strong yet.
Therefore, Tang River Village, and even the bandits, might not be completely wiped out.
'Are these the ones that slipped through the net?'
'Perhaps I can use them to learn about the situation in Tang River Village.'
As he thought this, the three people on the other side seemed to also notice the small house and the traces of life left behind, so they quickened their pace.
When they got closer, Song Cheng pulled off his scabbard ahead of time and made a gesture to Tong Jia to cover her mouth.
Tong Jia obediently complied.
And Song Cheng, peering through the gap in the trees, got a clear view of the three of them.
Leading them was a brutish man with a hooked nose and hawk eyes, his face covered in savage flesh, with a strength of "6~10."
Following him were two disheveled young women.
One was Nan Hui, a pretty young woman from Tang River Village. She was the daughter-in-law of the Village Chief, whose husband had been pulled into the army and died on the battlefield. The villagers whispered that the Village Chief was sleeping with her, but no one dared to say it to his face.
Song Cheng had seen Nan Hui during his soul traveling at night.
The other girl was a beauty with snow-white skin, whose temperament and grace did not resemble the rustic country girls at all.
Even though the girl's hair was hastily done, her elegance was not diminished.
After noticing the marks around the small house, the brutish man pushed down the two young women and said viciously, "Wait."
Then he added, "If you run, I'll hang you on the tree and let the wolves finish you."
Nan Hui shivered with fear.
But the other girl said, "I won't run."
The brutish man then groped her chest and said, "You're indeed from a big family."
The girl's eyes were ice-cold, but she did not resist, apparently having resigned to her fate.
After giving directions, the brutish man bent down, grasped a knife, and quietly approached the wooden house, hugging the shadows of the trees, his sharply angled eyes full of ferocity.
He was planning to ambush!
Hidden behind a tree, Song Cheng had a clear view and figured the brutish man must be a bandit, so when the bandit passed by him, he suddenly lunged out. His legs stomped, his waist twisted, and the brute force trained from "White Snake Blade" lined up in his body, concentrating power into his blade with a tricky and unpredictable force.
A slash from behind.
Swish!
The bandit's arm that was grabbing the knife broke.
The blade's motion, like the coiling of a snake, twisted around, the snake head ferociously biting through his leg.
In the blink of an eye, the bandit who was about to ambush instead had his arm broken and leg wounded, screaming miserably as he tumbled down the slope.
Song Cheng quickly followed and stepped on his other hand, the blade of his knife pointed at the man's neck.
The process was smooth, executed in one breath.
The practice hadn't been in vain!
```