In just two short months, Charles Bennett had mastered a mid-level saber technique, which meant he was undergoing extremely intense training. ... It also meant that if Charles Bennett didn’t promptly use high-quality medicinal herbs to temper his body and heal the internal injuries accumulated in his meridians during cultivation, Charles Bennett’s physique could very well be ruined.

Caleb Thompson, as the chief instructor of the Upper Institute, was well aware of how serious the consequences could be.

Scholarship is for the poor, martial arts for the rich. The children of noble families have access to the best medicinal herbs provided by their clans, so they rarely encounter such problems. But as a commoner, without the money to buy good herbs, the only option is to risk going up the mountain to gather them.

He was not optimistic about Charles Bennett’s future. Many poor students seem to progress quickly in the early stages of cultivation, but later on, they end up no different from the rest.

“Since you can perform the Tiger Leap Double Slash, you should have a strength of eight hundred to a thousand jin, enough to kill a giant tiger. When searching for herbs on the outskirts of North Ridge Mountain, don’t go deep into the mountains. The deep mountains are full of tigers and wolves—you can’t handle them alone.”

Caleb Thompson had little interest in paying much attention to Charles Bennett. There were over two hundred students in the Upper Institute of North Ridge Academy; he wouldn’t waste his thoughts on a nameless student whose name he couldn’t even remember.

“Thank you, Chief Instructor!”

After receiving Chief Instructor Thompson’s permission, Charles Bennett went back, packed a bag full of flatbread and dry rations, bought a cheap but brand-new steel saber from the academy’s weapon shop, left North Ridge Academy, and followed a mountain path into the North Ridge Mountain Range.

The North Ridge Mountain Range is the largest and longest mountain range in the Wu Kingdom, stretching for thousands of li, with overlapping peaks and abundant resources, especially rich in medicinal herbs. Within a hundred li of the mountain’s outskirts, one can find third-grade herbs, and there are only a few wild beasts.

If you venture deeper, you can find even higher-grade and rarer herbs, but of course, the danger increases greatly, and you may encounter extremely ferocious beasts.

Many herb gatherers risk their lives to enter the North Ridge Mountains. If they manage to find a rare herb and sell it to a major merchant guild, they can earn a fortune—enough to live comfortably for years.

The top academy in Wu Kingdom, North Ridge Academy, was built at the foot of this mountain range for a reason.

To a large extent, it was also to make it convenient for the academy’s students to enter the mountains to gather herbs.

Of course, only Upper Institute students who have reached at least the fourth level of the Body Tempering stage dare to risk going up the mountain to gather herbs, and only if they’re lucky can they pick some. Lower Institute students, who are at the first to third levels of Body Tempering, only have basic martial skills and are too weak; if they enter the mountains, they’d just be food for the fierce tigers and wolves, so they’re not allowed to go.

The commoner students of North Ridge Academy often go up the mountain in groups to train.

Charles Bennett did not plan to do so.

“I’ll gather fourth-grade herbs on the outskirts of the North Ridge Mountains for body tempering cultivation. As long as I’m careful, it’s not too dangerous.”

Charles Bennett thought to himself.

There was no need to worry about food and shelter in the North Ridge Mountains. Charles Bennett could often hunt wild rabbits and pheasants, roast them over a campfire, and at night, he would find caves in the cliffs, lay down straw, and sleep soundly with his saber in his arms.

There weren’t many wild beasts on the outskirts of the mountains.

As long as he avoided places with traces of fierce beasts, as a martial artist at the fifth level of Body Tempering, safety wasn’t much of an issue.

Charles Bennett spent his mornings searching for herbs in the mountains. In the afternoons, he would practice the third and fourth moves of the intermediate Tiger Leap Saber Technique in open areas on the ridges. At night, he would temper his body.

Several months passed in a flash.

After entering summer, the weather gradually became hot.

“I’ve been in the mountains for three months now... Time really flies! There are only a dozen days left until the academy’s graduation assessment.”

At dawn, Charles Bennett got up. Each day, he would carve a line on the saber’s hilt to count the days he’d spent in the North Ridge Mountains.

He had already been here for nearly three months. Although he would bathe in the streams and keep himself clean, his clothes were full of tears, and the edge of his steel saber was dull and chipped, stained with the blood of many wild beasts.

His cultivation in the Body Tempering stage was improving slowly but steadily. His martial techniques were also becoming more refined day by day.

After being exposed to the wind and sun every day, Charles Bennett’s once youthful face now bore a more composed expression.

That day, as the sky brightened,

After finishing the roasted rabbit from the night before, Charles Bennett searched for herbs among the ridges, cliffs, and steep, dangerous places. The ordinary spots had long been combed over by other herb gatherers; only in perilous places could herbs still be found.

Even herb gatherers were reluctant to venture into such dangerous places.

“Ziwu Grass! ... Only four inches tall, about a fourth-grade herb, it can be used to stimulate the richness of qi and blood in the bone marrow!!”

Charles Bennett pressed his body tightly against the cliff, searching all around, when suddenly his eyes lit up.

On the left cliff, a small black herb swayed in the wind, basking in the sunlight and rain.

Charles Bennett grabbed the rock with one hand and carefully picked the small black herb from the cliff with the other, a look of joy on his face.

Charles Bennett put the herb into his basket, pushed off the rock wall with his toes, and leapt up to the cliff above.

“Although this Ziwu Grass isn’t of the highest grade, it’s still pretty good. Today’s luck is great! A while ago, I might not have found even one in several days, but today I found a herb for nourishing qi and blood in less than half an hour. I’ll use it for body tempering!”

Charles Bennett was delighted.