Noob Player

[You have trained your body to the limit!]

[Congratulations! You gained +23 Vitality and +4 Endurance!]

Shen did not bother to see the popped-out screen in front of him. He laid down on the ground, breathing heavily, and closed his eyes. The pain from the beating was all over his body. The arm, the legs, the shoulder, his back, the thigh, all parts of his body were in pain, with the face being an exception.

Master Yosu was standing next to Shen, smirking evilly. However, deep inside, he was surprised that Shen endured all the beating until the end. He thought Shen would give up halfway, and then he would go easy, but his disciple never stopped trying. His disciple tried to block his attacks, but all his disciple's attempts failed. Then, his disciple tried to dodge instead of blocking, and his disciple dodged his last attack. That was a big improvement to dodge his sword when he was serious, and he was proud of the disciple he chose to inherit his legacy.

"Good job. This is it for today, and we will continue the training tomorrow at the same time, and I hope you don't get late tomorrow." Yosu put the wooden sword back in its place before leaving the backyard.

"See you later, Master…." Shen replied with a small voice. He did not even bother to open his eyes as he tried to stabilize his breathing. "I think I understand why Master shows me no mercy today." He muttered in a low voice as he figured it out when his Master told him not to come late.

"Fortunately, Master relents by changing the schedule, or else I will get beaten up black and blue by Master every day," Shen made a commitment to take Eunha to the kindergarten more often. If Master Yosu did not agree with the schedule change, this was what would happen to him each time he was late.

Shen laid down on the lawn as the pain slowly wore out. After ten minutes, he recovered a bit of his Stamina, and the pain was also gone. He opened his eyes and looked at the clear sky. "What should I do today? Keep grinding with the chicken? Or explore a new place to look for a stronger monster?"

"I don't think the chicken helps me that much to level up, but exploring a new area is not a good idea either." Despite his training and high status, Shen was not confident in his skill.

"However, exploring a new area is better because I have to get Ming the wood to make the arrow shaft and the poisonous plants for Brother Lu. Their growth will be stuck if I don't get them the new materials to work with." Shen was thinking about his friends. He thought it would be better to have fun together instead of just him, who kept growing stronger.

As the pain was gone, Shen checked the notification that rang earlier when he finished the sparring. Then he smiled wryly after looking at how much his Vitality increased after the beating. 'This is telling me that Master is indeed going harder because I was late.' Shen thought to himself.

"However, this is a good sign. I thought I had reached the limit to grow my Vitality, but as long as Master beat me hard enough, my Vitality will grow faster."

Shen stood up and stretched out his hands. He was hoping to hear the cracking noise from his body, that would be satisfying, but this was a game, after all. He did not hear the cracking noise. "Let's ask Brother Lu what kind of herbs he needs for his poison. I also need an ax to chop down the tree, and I have to ask Brother Lu how to retrieve the herb. I heard there's a technique to harvest the herb." He muttered by himself as he walked out of the backyard.

When he got out of the backyard, most of his friends had continued the training. Ming was surprisingly doing a squat with Dale, ZhongL, and Yue. He thought the guy would be too lazy to do the training after grinding his level. Brother Lu, Brother Jiang, and Master Yosu were still at the table.

"What's wrong with you, Shen? You look paler than usual." As a retired Doctor, Lu Yao quickly noticed Shen's pale countenance. Shen shook his head and sat across from his Master. "I am fine." If not for his Master was still here, he would like to share his suffering in training. He was smart enough to keep it secret in front of his Master.

"It seems Fried Chicken has become your favorite, Master Yosu," Shen commented with a smile as he looked in ZhenZhen's direction, who had just come out from her house, bringing a plate of fried chicken. "Can you get a portion of Fried Chicken too, ZhenZhen? Also, I need supplies too. I am going to explore the east today."

ZhenZhen raised her right hand, making an okay gesture with her finger as she placed the plate of fried chicken in front of Master Yosu. After that, she ran back to the house.

"Brother Jiang, do you have an ax? I need an ax to chop the Red Willow Tree. I think there's a Red Willow Tree in the east." Shen hoped Brother Jiang would have an ax, so he did not need to use his sword to chop the tree. He did not want to waste the sword's durability by chopping trees.

Brother Jiang's eyes brightened when he heard Red Willow Tree. "I have axes. I will get you ten axes. Wait a second." The older man got up from the chair and rushed back into his house. While Brother Jiang took the axes, Shen looked toward Doctor Lu Yao, or now Master Poison Lu Yao. "What about you, Brother Lu? Do you need herbs? Can you tell me what kind of herbs are useful for you? Maybe I can find one or two herbs that are useful for you."

"Hmmm, the east side, huh?" Brother Lu made a thoughtful expression while rubbing his chin. "I think there's a herb called Viper Petals and Krait Rose." Lu Yao told Shen the characteristics of the herbs. Viper Petals was a seven petals leaf, dark green but had red spots on it. As for Krait Rose, it was a flower, a yellow flower that was similar to a rose, beautiful but poisonous. "Remember Shen, just picked the bright yellow one; anything else is useless for me." Brother Lu Yao reminded Shen.

"Okay, is there anything else for me to know about these plants? Is there a certain technique to harvest them, or do I just need to root them from the ground?" That was the important part that Brother Lu did not tell him. He was afraid of dying because of how hard it was to recover from losing the level or the experience. He did not want to die by plucking a poisonous plant.

"Thank God, you remind me of this, or else you will die if you try to harvest them randomly." Brother Lu took out something from his inventory and gave it to Shen. "Use this, don't try to touch the plant with your hand. You shovel the herb with the soil and don't take it out from the soil, or else it will release poisonous gas."

Shen let out a relieved sigh and nodded. "It's fortunate that I ask you." Brother Lu nodded as he was relieved as well. "Yeah, or else, you will resent me if you die from harvesting those plants. I have heard how hard it is for you to level up, and I will feel guilty as well." They avoided the disaster.

At this time, Master Yosu stood up from his chair and looked at Shen. "If you encounter an enemy or monster, you can't see. Use your ears to hear their movement, and if you are focused enough, you could hear their movement no matter how subtle the movement is." After saying that, Master Yosu walked back toward the house.

Shen smiled ear to ear when he heard that from Master Yosu. That cleared his suspicion about the monster on the east side. 'That means there's indeed an invisible monster on the east. That's why Master reminds me of that. Hear the movement….'

At this moment, Brother Jiang returned by running toward the table. He then took out ten axes and placed them all on the ground. "This the ax, Shen. I have made a lot of axes for my practice, and now it comes to use."

"Alright, I will take the axes." Shen nodded and put all the axes into his inventory. He thought the axes would be stacked up, but they did not. Ten axes filled the ten slots of his inventory. "I think I will just take one ax with me, Brother Jiang. I have to bring a lot of stuff back, and these axes take a lot of slots."

Brother Jiang nodded and took the nine axes with him. After that, ZhenZhen came out with his food and supplies as well. After finishing his meal and with all his preparation, Shen departed toward the east of the village alone.