The Mutant Blood potions were highly lethal, so even though they knew that this was an extraordinary path, not everyone had the courage to do so.

When he heard that Zhou Jing was willing to take the potion, Barong was overjoyed and laughed happily. His thick and fluffy beard trembled, and the corners of his mouth almost reached the back of his ears.

“Hahaha… Then, from tomorrow onwards, I’ll personally train you. I’ll give you all my experience! The training might be tough, but I’m sure you’ll be fine!”

Barong waved his hand in a grand manner.

“Okay.” Zhou Jing nodded calmly in return.

It would certainly be more convenient to have a guide than to fumble around on his own.

…

They agreed to meet at the training ground of the village the next day. Zhou Jing bid farewell to Barong before continuing to stroll around the village with Griff.

Frostwood Village was small, but they had everything. There were small taverns, blacksmiths, leather shops, mills, and so on.

According to Griff, the Black-Clothed Forest that they were boarding was extremely vast. Stretching from the Schubert Mountains, only a portion of the forest was within the borders of the empire. The rest was outside the borders of the empire, in unknown and yet unexplored areas. The Terra Empire never had any plans for expansion, so the whole area was extremely desolate.

Frostwood Village was located in the northern part of the Terra Empire. Because it was close to the Black-Clothed Forest, it was very remote, and there were usually no merchants or travelers. Only a few Mutant Beast Hunters who intended to enter the Black-Clothed Forest would occasionally pass by the village.

There was a flourishing town a short distance to the south of the village. Frostwood Village was one of the villages owned by the lord of that town.

Zhou Jing walked around but did not see any facilities like a medical center or pharmacy. He could not help but ask in doubt.

“Why don’t I see the witch doctor in the village?”

“He doesn’t live in the village. We built him a house outside the village, some distance away,” Griff explained.

Zhou Jing was a little puzzled. “Why does he want to live outside the village? Isn’t it inconvenient if someone urgently needs a doctor?”

“Indeed… But he said that concocting medicine requires a quiet environment—and that he makes mistakes when he’s distracted.”

Griff couldn’t help but complain as he brought up this matter.

“But even so, he always failed in making medicines. Our hunter team often picked herbs for him, but he didn’t manage to make many medicines each time. If it weren’t for the lack of potions, Will might have survived…”

Zhou Jing thought of the [Death Playback] and narrowed his eyes. He pretended not to know and asked, “He didn’t give Will any medicine?”

“Sigh, he said all the medicines were used up, and he could only do some simple treatment for the wounds and pray for good luck.” Griff shook his head.

Something feels wrong about this…

Zhou Jing suppressed his doubts, thought for a moment, and asked curiously, “Why do you guys keep going to that kind of pharmacist?”

Griff shook his head. “He’s quite good at treating minor illnesses, and he often treats the hunters’ injuries. After staying in the village for several years, everyone is familiar with him. Before him, our village didn’t even have a proper pharmacist, so he’s the only one we have.”

“I understand.” Zhou Jing nodded and noted it down.

It seemed that he had to find a time to get in touch with this witch doctor…

However, he still needed to focus on his development. He didn’t need to keep this in the front of his mind.

As an outsider, it was not convenient for him to do anything before he fully integrated into the village.

Before long, Griff brought Zhou Jing to an empty room. This was the house the village had given Zhou Jing.

It used to house a family, but they had since moved to the town, leaving the house empty. It was used to store miscellaneous items, and now it would be Zhou Jing’s to temporarily live in.

The house had been cleaned, and there was a basket filled with vegetables and rice bags by the door. They were food supplies given by the village chief.

They arranged their items and settled in, and soon it was evening. Griff took his leave and went home to accompany his wife and children.

Zhou Jing closed the door, leaving Ross and himself in the room, staring at each other.

“Can you cook?”

“…”

Ross silently picked up the knife and held it in his hand. He looked at the vegetables in the basket as if he was facing a great enemy.

“Stop! Forget it, I won’t dare eat the food you made.”

Zhou Jing was helpless.

Those who didn’t know better would think that you were going to kill someone.

The living facilities in this era were more primitive, but Zhou Jing was not clueless. When he was traveling last time, he had discovered that the development phase of the Mutant World was similar to the Middle Ages era of the mother planet. Therefore, during the cooldown period of his travel, he specially checked some relevant information on living habits and made some preparations.

Although he was not used to their kinds of living tools, he could still use them.

It didn’t matter if he didn’t know about the unique vegetables in the Mutant World. He would just make a pot of stew and eat it if he felt that it was edible.

While Zhou Jing was thinking of ways to cook, Ross stood by the side and watched silently as if he was learning.

Zhou Jing glanced at him, hoping that he really understood.

This way, Ross could at least play the role of a chef in the future and be a more reliable tool man… That would beat him standing at the side like a boss, waiting to eat.

“How is this a follower? It’s just a baby I have to take care of…” Zhou Jing had mixed feelings.

…

That night.

Moonlight streamed in through the window. It was serene yet lonely.

Although it was not deep into the night, the villagers had all returned home. Frostwood Village was quiet except for the occasional dog barking and intermittent stifled moans.

…In an era without entertainment, the night was long. There wasn’t much to do besides make babies.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do…”

Zhou Jing sat at the table and mumbled to himself as he observed the weather outside the window.

There were two moons, one big and one small, hung in the night sky—one white and one green. The distant stars were shining brightly.

The system mentioned that the so-called Astral Realm exists in a complete universe.

Maybe the Mutant World that I’m on is just a planet here? Zhou Jing thought.

He didn’t have enough information, so he only thought and noted down his conjectures.

Zhou Jing already had a plan for the Apostles in this astral realm—to develop themselves. First, he would think of a way to obtain the Mutant Blood Potion. Then, he would try to survive longer and gather enough astral points. When he grew to a certain extent, he would attempt to clear the mission.

He would still receive the ability inheritance slots when an Apostle died. Even if the Apostle died, he would be able to pass the training results to the next one. Hence, there were a lot of benefits to training. The hard work would not be wasted and would be accumulated in his future selves.

Although his goal was to clear the level within two months in the main world, Zhou Jing knew very well that it was not something that would definitely happen.

Therefore, he needed a “novice village” that provided a stable environment for development… and Frostwood Village’s conditions were obviously very suitable.

“The first night in Frostwood Village was considered a preliminary integration. Everything went smoother than I expected… My last apostle’s influence was indeed very helpful. Will’s sacrifice was very meaningful.”

Zhou Jing heaved a sigh of relief, his mood light and cheerful despite the lonely night.

It was his first time here, so he had to play it safe tonight.

He got into bed and covered himself with the blanket. He suddenly thought of something and said to Ross, who was standing in the corner, reflecting against the walls.

“Oh yeah, go to the other bed and sleep. Don’t just stand there like a fool… Remember to wake me up tomorrow morning.”

Hearing this, Rose strode over to the other bed and lay down directly on it. His hands were folded across his chest like he was sleeping, but his head was turned in Zhou Jing’s direction, staring straight at him.

Zhou Jing’s face twitched when he saw this.

“Don’t stare at me, and don’t hide your pupils in your eyes…”

Ross understood and looked at the ceiling instead, lying there akin to a corpse.

“Close your eyes! Cover yourself with the blanket!”

Ross pulled up the blanket and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

But he still left a gap between his eyes and stole a glance at Zhou Jing.

Zhou Jing took a deep breath as he felt his nerves jump.

He couldn’t take it anymore. Without another word… he turned around and faced the inside of the bed.

If you can’t see it, then it doesn’t exist!

…

The next morning.

Zhou Jing was woken up by the human-shaped alarm clock, Ross. He came to the training grounds under the light of dawn and found Barong waiting there.

Seeing Zhou Jing arrive, Barong got straight to the point.

“From today onwards, I will teach you how to become a Mutant Beast Hunter… Do you know the history of the hunters?”

“I know a little about it.” Zhou Jing nodded. He had already inquired about it during his last trip.

“That’s good. Anyway, us Mutant Beast Hunters were born in the Wilderness. We have a long history and are an ancient and glorious profession that protects humans from the threat of Mutant Beasts.”

Barong looked proud as he spoke.

After a short pause, he continued, “The prerequisite for becoming a Mutant Beast Hunter is to use the blood potion and obtain extraordinary power… But the blood potion has a fatal element to it. If you rashly use it, you might die. After generations of experimentation, people finally found a pattern to reduce the danger.”

“What is it?” Zhou Jing asked curiously.

“By undergoing many rounds of tempering. If you get close to the limits of the human body, the success rate will increase… In other words, the stronger the body is before using potions, the easier it is to survive the strengthening from the foreign blood, and the better the strengthening effect.”

Zhou Jing’s eyes lit up.

The higher the basic physical attributes, the higher the enhancement… This was too advantageous for him.

It was already difficult for many people to reach the stats of having 10 points in Physical Fitness at the start of the game. Even Barong’s Physical Fitness was probably not as high as his when he used the blood potion.

At this moment, Barong suddenly took off his shirt, revealing his strong body that was covered in scars. Under Zhou Jing’s surprised gaze, he said in a deep voice,

“Your body’s talent is astonishing, but there’s still room for improvement. So the training goal I’ve arranged for you is to temper your body and try to become stronger.

As for the conventional training method, it will probably have limited effects on you. Therefore, I will teach you a technique that only circulates in the hunter circle.”

Barong’s eyes bulged as he spoke, and he suddenly took a deep breath.

“Hunter’s Breath·Forging!”

His breathing suddenly changed to a strange frequency. The muscles on his upper body began to ripple like water.

Baron picked up a stone plate from the ground and quickly raised it with one hand. However, muscle activity was different from ordinary exercise. The muscles used were vibrating at a high frequency.

Zhou Jing looked at it for a while and was confused about the principle, but he roughly understood its effect.

It seemed like… it could improve the efficiency of muscle training.

Barong raised it a few dozen times before throwing the stone plate away.

With his Physical Fitness, this should have been a very relaxing exercise. He could easily lift it a few hundred more times. However, at this moment, he was sweating all over and panting heavily as if he had gone through an intense exercise.

He wiped his sweat and calmed his breathing before explaining,

“Huff… This technique can greatly increase the effectiveness of training… but it consumes a lot of stamina. Normally, only the Mutant Blood Warriors can use it. Ordinary people will collapse from exhaustion after a few moves, but your stamina far exceeds that of ordinary people. This is the perfect method to quickly squeeze out your stamina.”

Zhou Jing was curious as he listened to Barong’s explanation.

“You invented this technique?”

“No, I learned it from my teacher.”

Barong paused for a moment, as if recalling some unpleasant memories of the past, turned slightly distracted.

But he quickly restrained his expression and looked at Zhou Jing with a solemn expression.

“The older generations of Mutant Beast Hunters gradually developed a secret technique called ‘Hunter’s Breath Techniques’ during their battles with mutant beasts. It was passed down and improved by generations of Mutant Beast Hunters, giving rise to even more variations with different uses…

Unfortunately, some breathing techniques were passed down, while others were lost along with the deaths of hunters. My teacher only knew two, so I only learned two breathing techniques.”

“One of them was what I displayed just now. It’s usually used to train your body. I’ll teach you that first. The other is to increase your strength in a battle against mutant beasts. You’re not strong enough to learn it, so you don’t have to think about it for now.”

After hearing Barong’s lecture, Zhou Jing’s eyes flickered.

Hunter’s Breath Techniques?

It sounds like a supernatural skill—I hope it’s at least more reliable than simply pumping iron.