Chapter 13 - 13 Chapter 12: Critical Chop_1 (2/2)

On the eleventh chop, the Chinese red pine thunderously fell to the ground.

“My blade technique still needs improvement!”

Qin Niu was not very satisfied with the efficiency.

If it were an ordinary woodcutter, chopping down such a thick pine would require no less than a hundred swings without fail.

He only needed eleven, which was already quite astounding.

The pine’s wood is hard and rich in resin.

It makes for excellent firewood.

The only drawback is that it’s hard to chop, comparable to tough woods like camellia or hornbeam trees.

Bringing it down was only the first step.

Next, he had to chop it into sections and then carry it back home.

Qin Niu started by trimming the branches, and then he began to chop it into two-meter-long logs before carrying them back home.

Thump, thump, thump…

The sound of his diligent wood-chopping echoed through the silent mountains.

He didn’t count how many swings it took.

After felling the fifth pine and when he was cutting it into logs, one swing seemed to bring about a significant change.

It was hard to describe, but that swing felt more effortless and effective.

It also had greater power.

It seemed he had a deeper understanding of how to leverage strength.

He swung his blade for another chop.

Thwack!

The trunk, as thick as an adult’s thigh, was penetrated by half with a single swing.

The blade was embedded in the tree, and it took a great effort to pull it out.

“This… is too fierce! That swing I just made had a different sensation, and the power increased several-fold.”

Qin Niu realized that his Slash Martial Skill proficiency must have leveled up.

He checked his attributes.

Martial Skill: Slash Technique, slightly accomplished at 100.02/1000 (10% chance of Critical Chop).

So that strike was called a Critical Chop.

The power was truly terrifying.

If it struck a person, even a burly man like Wang Haikun, it would probably only take one swing.

To kill an enemy with one blow, what’s that called?

It seems like it’s called an instant kill.

Everything else was good; it’s just that the chance of Critical Chop was a bit too low.

One in ten swings might execute a Critical Chop.

After leveling up his Slash Martial Skill, Qin Niu felt even more motivated.

Before, he needed eleven or twelve swings to chop down such a thick tree. Now, if a Critical Chop occurs, it would only take about three swings. Even without a Critical Chop, a consistent performance would take only about six to seven swings to chop it down.

The increase in strength was visible.

“I should be capable of hunting wolves now, shouldn’t I?”

Qin Niu licked his lips.

It had been a while since he last tasted wolf meat. More than missing the taste of meat, he preferred the sensation of his cultivation rapidly improving after consuming wolf meat.

During these six days, without wolf meat, his cultivation only increased by a tiny bit each day.

That’s the downside of not practicing a cultivation technique.

Natural growth in cultivation is extremely slow, even halting completely after reaching adulthood.

After bundling the chopped wood, he could carry two logs at a time.

Any more weight and he wouldn’t be able to move.

A log of fresh wood weighed around one hundred pounds, so two logs were two hundred pounds. With the load on his back, he couldn’t even lift his head.

Finally getting the two logs home, he cooked some corn mixed with wild vegetables, then took the piece of pork Wang Wanyan had given him from the well and cut off a bit to boil in the pot.

He couldn’t help it; the work he did now was more than before, and with the growth in his cultivation, his appetite had substantially increased.

With only so much grain at home, he had to mix in a lot of the unpalatable wild vegetables to stave off hunger.

Luckily, these hard days of suffering should end in no more than two more months.

The corn in the fields should be ready to harvest in less than two months.

Given this year’s yield, there would be no problem for him to eat his fill all by himself.

“Now that my Slash Martial Skill has reached slight accomplishment, and my cultivation level has reached Mortal Realm Onefold 37.6, I should be able to afford some game,” he thought to himself.

While eating his meager meal, he contemplated quietly.