Chapter 32 New Breathing Techniques

Hire Me As a Guard

Zhou Jing’s heart stirred. He knew why Luther had singled him out.

The lord must have asked other hunters before, but they didn’t agree. Now that he had noticed this newcomer, he came to ask him.

It wasn’t necessarily because he was so special; the lord probably invited all the new hunters in White Plains City.

Zhou Jing’s eyes darted around. He didn’t refuse immediately but instead asked, "If I become your guard, I won't have to hunt strange beasts?"

"The duty of a guard is mainly to protect my personal safety." Luther nodded and smiled, not saying it directly, but the meaning was implied.

Zhou Jing was curious, "I saw that you already have some guards around you. It doesn’t seem like you encounter any danger in White Plains City. Why do you need more guards?"

"The threat of strange beasts is against everyone in the city, but some threats are directed at me personally, because I am the lord. Some people who oppose me may plot against my life. And now that the world has changed, some different-blooded warriors possess power but want to do evil. A lord isn’t always safe." Luther shook his head.

"I see..." Zhou Jing thought for a moment. "What kind of compensation can you offer to hire me?"

Luther immediately perked up.

He had extended the invitation to the new hunter as usual, but only with a try-it-and-see attitude. Many hunters before had directly rejected him out of a hunter’s sense of honor before he could even mention the compensation.

Now, seeing Zhou Jing ask about the commission, Luther felt that there was a chance and said,

"Eighty Terra silver coins every ten days, and various potions supplied at cost price."

That's it?

Zhou Jing shook his head inwardly.

Eighty every ten days, only two hundred and forty a month. The income of a strange beast hunter wasn’t necessarily lower than this. As long as the number of hunts in a month was high, it could exceed this.

But then he thought about it, this commission was almost risk-free, basically like free money. Without risking one’s life to hunt, some different-blooded warriors who didn’t dare to be hunters would be more willing to earn this stable money.

But... Zhou Jing wasn't too interested in the money of the strange beast world.

This place was barren, and even if he had money, there was a limit to what he could buy.

A lord in a remote area didn't seem to be able to come up with any rare resources... Even if he could, he wouldn't use them as a commission, right?

"Never mind, I'd rather be a hunter."

Zhou Jing shook his head. He was just asking about the market price. The Star Realm Apostle’s "life goal" was to be a strange beast hunter, so he naturally wouldn't change careers easily.

"...Okay." Luther took a deep breath, squeezed out a smile, "My invitation is always valid. If you change your mind one day, you can come to me."

I'm afraid that day won't come...

Zhou Jing didn't say anything. He said goodbye to Luther and left the lord's longhouse.

All the hunters had left. Luther waved away all the servants and paced back and forth in the banquet hall, where he was the only one left.

At this time, a figure emerged from behind another door. It was the crew-cut man.

Luther looked over, "You heard what I said just now, right?"

The crew-cut man calmly grunted. He had been hiding behind this door the whole time.

Luther was used to the crew-cut man's magical performance and didn't ask how he had concealed himself from the perception of a group of hunters, or how he could hear their conversation so clearly from such a distance. He chuckled:

"It seems you guessed wrong. None of the hunters were lost."

"I heard the situation. The new hunter named Jason took a risk and quickly solved one of them. Lucky."

The crew-cut man's tone was calm.

Luther stroked his chin and suddenly said, "What do you think of this Jason? I heard other hunters say that he seems to be a genius. He just became a hunter, and his strength can be compared to a second enhancement..."

"He has some ability, but that's about it. He's no different from other hunters."

The crew-cut man didn't care.

...

Zhou Jing returned to the inn and rested for a night. The next morning, the reward money was delivered.

One was the selling price of the strange beast submitted to the workshop, and the other was the reward promised by the lord, totaling two hundred and twenty Terra silver coins.

The workshop recovered the strange beast's corpse, and the total price was fixed. It wouldn't give more money just because there was one more person. Distributed among the twelve hunters, the money each person received was limited, but it was still a considerable reward.

Zhou Jing was immediately much richer and paid back the money he owed Barron as soon as possible.

He also dragged him to the workshop to transfer the share of different-blooded potions he had just obtained to Barron to make up for the debt.

This time, killing two Riftclaw Bears, the workshop gave each participating hunter two opportunities to exchange for different-blooded potions. Zhou Jing returned one, and he still had one exchange opportunity left in his hand.

However, the workshop currently had no inventory of different-blooded potions, so he didn't use it.

But Barron seemed to have an idea.

"You want to reserve a Riftclaw Bear potion? Aren't you planning on a second enhancement?"

The person in charge of the workshop looked at Barron in front of him, his tone surprised.

Barron scratched his head and laughed, "The Riftclaw Bear's enhancement direction is very suitable for me. Even if I don't want a second enhancement, it's good to prepare a different-blooded potion suitable for me in advance. If I change my mind one day, I won't have to look for potions everywhere."

"That's true." The person in charge of the workshop nodded.

Zhou Jing stood beside him and asked curiously, "By the way, how many different-blooded potions can these two Riftclaw Bears make?"

"That depends." The person in charge of the workshop analyzed, counting on his fingers, "I've already looked at your needs. After deducting the materials used to make the equipment you want, the remaining materials should be able to make five to eight different-blooded potions."

The output is okay... Zhou Jing nodded.

Twelve hunters participated in the extermination, but hunters have always taken what they needed. If they didn't need the Riftclaw Bear potion, they wouldn't exchange it. The remaining unwanted potions would become the workshop's inventory.

"By the way, congratulations on becoming an official hunter." The person in charge of the workshop smiled.

"Thanks."

Zhou Jing nodded and then asked, "How long will it take for this batch of equipment to be made?"

"The two long knives you want are relatively simple and can be made in twenty days, but the leather armor is more troublesome. The Riftclaw Bear's fur has to be specially treated, which may take a little longer, about two or three months. Come and get it then."

"That's still quite long."

Zhou Jing scratched his brow. He was used to the fast production capacity of the interstellar era and was not used to such a long manual production cycle.

Barron patted him on the shoulder, "That's good. You've solved a high-risk strange beast and are already an official hunter. Next, I don't think you need to go hunting. You need a new round of practice. I'll teach you another breathing technique back in the village. At your learning speed, you'll be able to master it in about three months."

He was already used to the abnormal learning speed of "Jason Wood." He found that once he accepted this setting, it was quite exciting.

"Alright." Zhou Jing nodded.

Having embarked on the path of different-blooded enhancement, he felt that he needed to supplement his skills before carrying out the second enhancement, and find a way to increase the success rate of the second enhancement.

At this time, Barron suddenly smiled, "By the way, I told Weiss yesterday, and he plans to visit Frostwood Village and pass on the breathing technique he has mastered to you, so you have to learn two breathing techniques at the same time."

Zhou Jing was stunned, only to realize this now.

"Didn't you say that learning too many breathing techniques is useless?"

"I did say that... But you're different."

Barron laughed.

Because of Zhou Jing's strange learning speed, Barron wasn't prepared to stick to his common sense anymore. He felt that it might not be a bad thing for Zhou Jing to learn more breathing techniques.

He only knew two breathing techniques himself, so he invited Weiss in private to teach a new breathing technique.

"Weiss's breathing technique is different from mine. His breathing technique can improve speed and agility, which is perfect for your enhancement direction."

"...Thanks."

Seeing Barron planning for him like this and secretly helping him find a new teacher, Zhou Jing was a little touched.

What a dedicated and responsible mentor.

He silently calculated that because of the rewards from \[Entering Transcendence] and \[First Kill of a Strange Beast - High Risk], he had more than 2400 Star Realm Points in his hand, which was much more spacious.

If a breathing technique was practiced to lv4 mastery, it would cost 700 points. Two techniques would cost 1400 points, so his Star Realm Points were definitely enough, plus the daily income from each shuttle and placement.

And it would take about three months to practice to this level, which was about three or four days in the main world.

The first step of different-blooded enhancement had been completed. Now he only needed to achieve the second different-blooded enhancement to complete the remaining two \[Life Goals]. With a clear route, this development time could be invested.

...

After receiving the reward and setting a pick-up time with the workshop, Zhou Jing and Barron didn't continue to stay in White Plains City. They went to the tavern to find Weiss, and the group left town and headed to Frostwood Village.

Weiss didn't mind spending some time living in the village and teaching Zhou Jing breathing techniques.

On the one hand, he wasn't a garrison hunter himself and usually roamed around at will, so it didn't matter where he stayed.

Another reason was that he also felt that Zhou Jing had unlimited potential and wanted to get to know him, and didn't skimp on the breathing techniques he had mastered.

By the way, Weiss also wanted to see if Barron was bluffing him when he said that Zhou Jing could master a breathing technique in a few months... If this was false, he could win two hundred silver coins from Barron.

Anyway, Weiss felt that he was bound to win. If someone wanted to donate to him, he wouldn't refuse.

The group traveled all the way back to Frostwood Village.

Smoke curled up from the village's chimneys. There was no noise of the town, and it was quite peaceful and quiet.

The group came to the entrance of the village and found a little kid squatting dejectedly by the roadside, poking at manure with a tree branch. It was Lyner.

Lyner turned his head and saw Zhou Jing and the others, and immediately said angrily, "You're finally back. That's too much. You even lied to a child!"

Zhou Jing couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

It had been a few days ago, and he was still brooding over it. Was he that vindictive?

But when Lyner saw Weiss in the crowd, he suddenly became pleasantly surprised

"Uncle Weiss!"

"Hahaha, it's little Lyner. Come here and let uncle hug you."

Weiss grinned and bent down to pick up Lyner, who was rushing over, and tossed him into the sky a few times.

He had a good relationship with Barron and had been to Frostwood Village a few times before, so he knew some of the villagers.

Especially Lyner, who would pester him every time to ask questions. Weiss, the chatterbox, never refused and would always ramble to the child.

Maybe Lyner's longing for the outside world was to some extent tricked by Weiss.

With Weiss, Lyner ignored Zhou Jing and was giggling from Weiss's teasing.

Seeing this, Zhou Jing secretly admired Barron's wisdom.

He should have invited Weiss over earlier, so he wouldn't have been pestered by Lyner long ago.

After teasing Lyner for a while, the group went to find the village chief.

The village chief also welcomed Weiss's arrival, and the members of the Griff Hunter Team also came to meet Weiss.

Everyone knew each other. After chatting a few words, they helped Weiss solve the accommodation problem.

After solving all the life problems, Barron immediately pulled Zhou Jing and Weiss to the training ground and got straight to the point.

"The Hunter Breathing Forging you learned is only used to train your physical fitness, while the breathing techniques that Weiss and I are about to teach you are specially used for combat, which can allow you to unleash stronger abilities when facing enemies."

In the training ground, Barron faced Zhou Jing and demonstrated another hunter breathing technique he had mastered.

He suddenly took a breath and shook his body, and the muscles all over his body seemed to swell a circle, and the muscles twisted like living snakes.

Hunter Breathing - Might!

Barron jumped forward, his whole body leaping into the air, and then he punched down.

Bang!

Dirt and rocks splashed, and a small pit was smashed into the ground by the fist.

Barron slowly exhaled this breath, and the swollen muscles returned to their original shape. He explained:

"My breathing technique can temporarily increase strength, whether it's wrestling with strange beasts or increasing destructive power at critical moments, it can be used."

Understood, this is a "Berserk" buff... Zhou Jing nodded.

Seeing this, Weiss also moved his body and was eager to try.

"His breathing technique is generally used to confront strange beasts head-on, while my breathing technique is to improve speed and agility. As long as you are flexible enough, the strange beast won't be able to hit you, and you can find opportunities to severely damage the vital points of the strange beast."

As soon as he finished speaking, Weiss took a long breath, and a whistling sound was heard.

Hunter Breathing - Swift!

He strode forward and ran wildly at an astonishing speed. Moreover, in the process of running, he made a series of skilled dodging actions, which was quite flexible and easy.

Weiss suddenly moved his eyes and had the mind to tease him. He turned his head and ran wildly around Barron, and from time to time poked Barron's bald head with his fingers.

"Show it if you want, don't touch my head!"

Barron twitched his eyelids and wanted to raise his hand to grab Weiss.

But Weiss avoided it time and time again, turning around like a phantom with Barron, and always teasing his bald head from behind.

At this time, Weiss suddenly changed direction and ran towards Zhou Jing, wanting to do the same trick and let Zhou Jing personally experience his flexibility after using the breathing technique.

But as soon as he stretched out his hand, Zhou Jing had already captured his movements, and his reaction was as敏锐as lightning.

Zhou Jing cleverly dodged Weiss's hand, and by the way, he squatted down, drilled under Weiss's armpit, and turned back to hug Weiss's waist.

"Hey!" Weiss was startled and immediately released this breath, wanting to break free.

"Take this!"

Zhou Jing grinned and without hesitation used a back throw, returning Weiss's operation when they first met to him.

Thump!

Weiss fell to the ground with a big butt, covered in dust.

Barron laughed loudly from the side, gloating.

Weiss spat out a mouthful of sand, turned over and sat up, secretly scolding himself for his miscalculation.

Knowing that Zhou Jing's strength was amazing after the enhancement, he shouldn't have teased him.

Weiss coughed to cover up his embarrassment.

"Anyway, my breathing technique is this effect, making your movements faster... Although you were caught, there's nothing wrong with the breathing technique itself. The more agile you are, the better the effect of the breathing technique."

"I can see that."

Zhou Jing held back his laughter and nodded.

Weiss's speed was indeed faster than usual. This breathing technique was indeed quite suitable for himself, who had enhanced the high-agility and high-burst route. No wonder Barron had specially pulled Weiss to teach himself this breathing technique.

The two showed it off, and did not continue to joke, and began to guide the essentials of these two breathing techniques.

Zhou Jing quickly memorized it, and the panel immediately popped up the relevant information.

\[Learning \[Hunter Breathing - Might]]

\[One of the Hunter Breathing Techniques, temporarily increases strength]

\[Skill Level: lv0- (Not Started)]

\[Minimum Cost for Accelerated Practice: 100 Star Realm Points]

——

\[Learning \[Hunter Breathing - Swift]]

\[One of the Hunter Breathing Techniques, temporarily increases agility]

\[Skill Level: lv0- (Not Started)]

\[Minimum Cost for Accelerated Practice: 100 Star Realm Points]

The cost of accelerated practice for the two breathing techniques was the same as for \[Hunter Breathing Forging].

Zhou Jing did not hesitate and immediately turned on accelerated practice, deciding to first practice the two breathing techniques with the two of them in the next period of time.