Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 94 Ming Jin Junior Sister

To be honest, Zhou Ye has now occupied a rather unique ecological niche. By leveraging differentiation, he has made a fortune in the mountains.

Those who are skilled in the Ming Jin (明劲) style, or even those who have reached the mid-to-late stages of the Ming Jin stage, generally choose to venture into the deep mountains, focusing on the monsters and precious herbs found there. They don't really care for the ordinary produce from the outer mountain areas.

This is easy to understand. After all the trouble of going up the mountain, shouldn't they at least bring back some valuable items?

Mountain herders operating in the outer mountainous areas are generally weaker. Therefore, they only stay in familiar mountainous areas and almost never dare to venture into unfamiliar territories.

This also includes the mountain dwellers and bandits, who generally operate within their familiar areas. Although both mountain dwellers and bandits live in the mountains, they still choose places with better natural environments and more convenient transportation.

After all, many daring merchant caravans would trade with mountain people and bandits. How could they exchange goods in such remote areas?

However, Zhou Ye's small home was surrounded by complex terrain and rugged roads, making it essentially a remote, isolated island. Normally, no one would venture in. To put it bluntly, even if someone did manage to get in and gain something, it would be very difficult to take that stuff out. Unless one possessed Zhou Ye's level of strength, passage was virtually impossible.

After all, carrying hundreds of kilograms of stuff along a long, treacherous mountain path is something that ordinary people simply cannot do.

Similarly, because mountain dwellers are quite rare here, the natural environment is better and the flora and fauna are more abundant.

The fixed campsite, Little Home, also saves a lot of trouble.

For those mountain hikers, a hunter's hut where they can rest is a priceless treasure. The location of their temporary campsite is like a family heirloom, never to be revealed to outsiders.

Not to mention permanent campsites like Little Home, which have complete facilities.

Of course, the most important thing was salt. With salt, food could be preserved in large quantities. It also allowed for large-scale hunting.

Besides that, there's Zhou Ye, the king of survival. He's already invincible at the Entry-level, yet he's still staying in this newbie village? So not only is hunting incredibly easy, but the surrounding wild beasts pose absolutely no threat.

Therefore, all these conditions are indispensable. In fact... very few mountain hikers can meet them.

As for ordinary mountain herders, if they could earn around 10 taels of silver a month, they were considered extremely lucky. Even the most skilled mountain herders could only earn one or two hundred taels of silver a month. Considering the high risks in the mountains, it would be much better to simply hold a temporary post in the county town.

However, Zhou Ye suddenly thought, setting aside the thousands of Ming Jin, nearly a hundred An Jin, and a mere few Hua Jin in the county town, what about that fish demon that soared into the air, and that human who flew through the air?

Without a doubt, a Ming Jin martial artist could not do it, and even Du Keyuan, a master of the late An Jin stage, could not fly in the air.

What level of attainment is that? It must be unimaginably high.

So stay calm and don't be reckless. Just play it safe and develop your character in the starting area!

"Senior Brother Aye, let me tell you, I've already broken through to the Ming Jin realm! Hehehe." Dujuan blinked her big eyes triumphantly and covered her mouth with a coquettish laugh.

Zhou Ye: "..."

What I hate most are these kinds of geniuses; they really hurt the self-esteem of us mere mortals. Yuan Zhen reached the Ming Jin stage in ten months, and this junior sister is only about eleven months old? That's ridiculous! She hasn't even been a year yet?

"Congratulations! Uh... Xiao Cui must be practicing martial arts too, right?"

"Don't interrupt! She's incredibly stupid. You can't teach her anything."

Xiao Cui rolled her eyes: "I don't have any talent, how can I compare to you, Miss?"

"Don't worry, Xiao Cui. Grandpa has prepared so many medicinal resources. I won't need them anymore after I reach the Ming Jin stage, so I can share some with you."

"Thank you, miss. Hehe."

"Hey, junior sister, I can actually be your maid too."

"Ugh! Shameless!" Du Juan and Xiao Cui burst into laughter. "A Ye, from now on you have to call me senior! Hmph."

"Alright—! Aunt Juanjuan. From now on, this old man will be your senior brother?"

"Giggle giggle..."

The two exchanged some trivial words. Zhou Ye then asked, "Why haven't I seen Senior Brother Song? Is he happy for you?"

"He's definitely happy! Why do you ask that?"

"I thought he would be jealous because you broke through to the Ming Jin stage faster than him."

"Hmph. He's not as petty as you," Du Juan said sweetly. "Actually, Zhongqi is very hardworking. He's about to leave for the capital."

"To the prefectural capital?"

"Yes! Have you heard of Mr. Nie Liang, the gentleman known as 'Gentle Breeze and Fine Rain'?"

"Never heard of it."

"You're such a country bumpkin, you've never even heard of this. You're supposed to be a martial artist, aren't you?"

"How can you blame me? I'm busy running around in the mountains every day, all I can remember are those few wild boars? Oh, and those few bears too?"

"Hehehe. Never mind. Let me tell you! Old Master Nie is one of the top late-stage Transformation Realm experts in our prefecture, just one step away from breaking through to the Innate Grandmaster level! He also really likes to mentor the younger generation. This time he's celebrating his 50th birthday, so many young masters from all over have gone. Just take the Ten Talents of Fufeng County, for example, eight of them are preparing to go!"

"Oh! Junior Sister, why aren't you going? What a perfect couple!"

Du Juan rolled her eyes: "I'm not even married to him yet. Why would I go with him? Don't we have any reputation left? Tch, Senior Brother A-Ye is just so annoying."

Amidst the banter, Zhou Ye finally understood. He was just lazing around in the newbie village, while Song Zhongqi had found his comfort zone and needed to constantly build his reputation.

So let's not laugh at each other. Everyone has their own way of living!

"Junior Sister, how long does Senior Brother Song plan to be gone?"

"It would take about a month to travel to the state capital. Plus, he's going ahead to make friends with other young masters. His birthday isn't until six months later. And after that, he plans to travel with his friends. In any case, he should be back before the wedding, right?"

"That's fine then."

"By the way, Senior Brother A-Ye, I heard from Senior Sister Wei-Wei that you're helping someone break through to the next level of internal energy cultivation?"

"Huh? It's not that exaggerated, it's just a little bit of support."

"That's great! I heard one person can earn 10 taels of silver?"

"Hehe. Actually, your junior sister can also make introductions, right? How about I give you two taels for every successful introduction?" Zhou Ye said half-jokingly.

"Great!" Du Juan's eyes lit up unexpectedly; she actually took it seriously. "I know quite a few fellow students from other martial arts schools. I'll contact you then."

"what?"

"By the way, when are you planning to open?"

"Um...how about after the holiday?"

"Great!" Du Juan said, rubbing her hands together excitedly. "After the New Year, we're going to have a big showdown! Hehehe."

"Cough cough cough..."