I maxed out the Scholar talent at the start, but I want to be a Warrior.

When Gu Cheng and his two companions returned to the Fulong Mountain stronghold, it was already broad daylight.

The gates of the mountain stronghold were wide open, and several able-bodied men from the village were standing guard on the stronghold walls.

Seeing the three of them return looking travel-worn, they immediately surrounded them.

"Aoyama, Akawa, Makoto, how are you? Are you hurt?"

"It's alright, we're all fine."

The three of them waved their hands to show that they were not seriously injured.

"Where are the barbarians? Have they retreated?"

"They didn't retreat. We discovered the border troops are fighting them." Gu Cheng shook his head and asked, "Where's Uncle?"

"Uncle Qingshan is in the Hall of Righteous Gathering."

Gu Cheng passed through the village and headed straight for the Hall of Gathering Righteousness.

The Juyi Hall was originally the council hall of the mountain bandits, but now it has become the council hall of Anle Village.

A map was hanging on the wall of the council chamber, and Gu Chang'an was studying it.

He hadn't expected that this small bandit stronghold not only had a complete map of the surrounding area, but also a hand-drawn intelligence map of the surrounding area, indicating that it had big ambitions.

Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned around.

Seeing the bloodstains and disheveled state of Gu Cheng and the other two, Gu Chang'an frowned and quickly stepped forward.

His gaze swept from Gu Cheng's face to Gu Qingshan and Gu He, and only after confirming that neither of them was seriously injured did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"How's the situation outside?"

Gu Cheng recounted what he had seen over the past few days.

Three men, in particular, were so audacious that they set fire to the barbarian camp.

Gu He and Gu Qingshan occasionally added a few details.

Gu Chang'an leaned back in his chair and rubbed his furrowed brows as he heard about the three men's raid on the barbarian camp.

"You brat..." He looked at Gu Cheng, took a deep breath, and suppressed his anger. "You're too bold. You even dared to break into the barbarian camp."

He turned to look at Gu Qingshan and Gu He.

"Qingshan, Ahe, why don't you two stop him and let him run wild?"

Gu Qingshan and Gu He lowered their heads.

Gu Cheng opened his mouth to explain, but seeing his uncle's gaze, he closed it again.

What are the flags of the barbarian camp?

"The wolf-head flag," Gu Cheng said. "Black background with a white wolf head, standing in the center of the camp."

"Wolf Guard Cavalry." His voice deepened. "You lot have really done something big this time. These are the barbarian elite troops; aren't you afraid of being left there?"

The main room was quiet for a few moments.

"Tell me what happened next. Did you encounter the border garrison?"

"We encountered them. There were about two hundred cavalry and no less than two thousand infantry. They fought a skirmish with the barbarians," Gu Cheng said. "A seemingly second-rate but fierce general led them and routed the barbarians. However, the border garrison pursued them for a while before withdrawing."

"Don't pursue a desperate enemy," Gu Chang'an said. "Besides, the barbarians are all cavalry. When they run, the infantry can't catch up, and if the cavalry pursues them, they are likely to be surrounded."

He stood up and walked to the map.

"These next few days, everyone should be on high alert. The village needs increased security; we anticipate a significant number of defeated soldiers, and we must prevent them from escaping and causing trouble."

"Yes."

------

A month later.

The great battle ended, and the barbarians retreated.

The message was relayed back by Gu Qingshan and his men.

Since the three returned a month ago, the village has been sending people to take turns gathering intelligence on the outskirts, and Gu Qingshan took the initiative to do this job.

A traveling merchant brought the news from the direction of Shuofang City.

It is said that the barbarian Tadun personally led 30,000 cavalry southward, and the border lord Jiabu led the border troops to meet them, and the two sides engaged in a great battle.

At a critical moment, the barbarian granary was "accidentally" burned down, cutting off the army's food supply and forcing the main force to retreat.

Upon discovering this, the Dayu forces immediately pursued and killed the barbarian army, resulting in countless casualties.

The barbarian army had no choice but to retreat in haste.

......

However, the Dayu side also paid a heavy price – many soldiers shed their blood on the battlefield, and dozens of villages and towns were looted and burned.

When the news reached the mountain stronghold, Gu Cheng was practicing his shooting.

"stop."

Gu Chang'an's voice came from the side.

Gu Cheng holstered his gun and stood still.

His forehead was covered in sweat, and he was breathing heavily, but his eyes were bright.

"One more time. Third move, stab."

Gu Cheng took a deep breath and raised his gun.

The third move: stab.

The spear tip is thrust forward, the force originating from the waist, passing through the shoulder and arm, and reaching the spear tip.

"Smack."

The spearhead pierced the wooden stake, penetrating an inch into the wood.

"You have enough strength, but your waist isn't twisted properly." Gu Chang'an walked over and placed his hand on Gu Cheng's side. "Twist it half an inch to the right here, and the force will be greater."

Gu Cheng nodded, stood up straight again, and did it once more.

This time, the spear tip penetrated two inches into the wood.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

Gu Chang'an didn't speak, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

For the past month, Gu Cheng has been getting up before dawn every day to practice shooting, unleashing the same ruthlessness he never used for studying in his previous life.

Gu Cheng practiced while looking at his own panel. Each time he practiced, his gun skill proficiency on the panel would increase rapidly. This feeling was like recharging, making it hard to stop.

He honed his marksmanship step by step, practicing each move from slashing, sweeping, thrusting, picking, parrying, and parrying, and his proficiency with marksmanship improved rapidly.

Life in the mountain stronghold was more peaceful than Gu Cheng had imagined.

The people of Anle Village quickly adapted to the mountain village and regarded it as their new home.

Gu He, along with several able-bodied men, forced the captured bandits to repair and reinforce the stockade walls, and also set up three hidden sentry posts along the mountain path.

Gu Qingshan leads his men down the mountain to patrol every day, and nothing within a ten-mile radius escapes his notice.

After the barbarians retreated, the people in the mountain village breathed a sigh of relief, but no one mentioned returning to Anle Village.

The village burned down, the houses were gone, and the fields were destroyed.

What can I do if I go back?

Perhaps we should stay here for now and wait until the situation stabilizes before making any decisions.

Gu Cheng would sometimes stand on the stockade wall and look south.

The south is the direction of Anle Village.

A place that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After a month of hard training, the changes are real.

Gu Cheng brought up the attribute panel.

【姓名：顾诚】【体质：70（上限）/ 58（当前）】【力量：65（上限）/41+1（当前）】【精神：100（上限）/ 69（当前）】【战士技：无】【文士技：探查（唯一）、御飞刀（一阶）】【擅长兵器：长枪（入门86%）】【装备道具：梨花枪（力量+1）】

Constitution 56 to 58, Strength 37 to 41.

My spear skill improved from 26.7% (beginner level) to 86%.

It's almost full.

If I practice for another ten days or so, I estimate I can break through to the senior level.

Gu Chang'an exclaimed that the speed was phenomenal.

Gu Cheng assessed his current progress.

Strength 41, 9 points away from awakening combat skills.

At this rate, with another two or three months of practice, I should be able to break through to 50.

Gu Cheng secretly rejoiced, thinking that by then he would be considered both a scholar and a warrior.

The only downside is that the loosened mental barrier wasn't as easy to break through as I had imagined.

Otherwise, you could awaken a new scholar skill.

But there's no rush.

What he wants now is warrior skills.

"Cheng'er."

Gu Chang'an's voice came from behind, interrupting Gu Cheng's thoughts.

"Go back and pack your bags, and come with me on this trip."

Gu Cheng was taken aback.

"Pack your things?"

"Yes, come with me to Shuofang City tomorrow," Gu Chang'an said.

"Uncle, didn't the barbarians retreat? The village is quite peaceful. Why did you decide to go to Shuofang City?"

Gu Chang'an remained silent for a while.

"Silly child," he said. "I always thought you had no talent for cultivation, weren't strong, and weren't good at studying, so I just wanted you to grow up peacefully in Anle Village. I never expected you to have such high spiritual talent. You reached the level of a fourth-rate scholar at the age of 15, and your spiritual strength is probably over 60. I guess you were just pretending to be stupid when I made you study before."

Gu Cheng could only nod silently. His current situation was like a novice with no math background suddenly winning a major prize in advanced mathematics.

It's outrageous that a mother would open the door for someone so outrageous; it's ridiculous beyond belief.

The original owner's talent was indeed not high, and there was no possibility of awakening the favored one.

Gu Chang'an looked at Gu Cheng with a serious expression.

"But now that you've become one of the chosen ones, you can no longer stay here."

"I can teach you marksmanship, but I can't teach you the path of a scholar. Besides, your talent for the scholar is exceptionally high, and we can't let it go to waste," Gu Chang'an said. "When I return to Shuofang City this time, I want to help you find a teacher."

Gu Cheng knew his uncle was right, "Okay, Uncle, I'll follow your arrangements."

Indeed, with such high spiritual attributes, although I don't really want to be a scholar, I can't let this talent go to waste. I can develop in both directions and become a god in both, becoming a man skilled in both literature and martial arts.

"And..." Gu Chang'an paused for a moment.

"And what?"

"Your father arranged a marriage for you when you were a child."

"What?"

Gu Cheng was stunned.

"Since our Gu family has declined and you haven't shown any talent as a chosen one, I haven't brought up this marriage proposal. This trip to Shuofang will be a good opportunity to discuss it."

Gu Cheng opened his mouth.

"What the fuck?"

"A marriage arranged since childhood?"

He's a time traveler, yet he's betrothed to someone he's already married to?

He suddenly felt a little panicked for no reason.

He looked at his uncle's serious expression.

This. . .

Reality is different from fiction. What if I were given a character like Ru Hua?!

"There's one more thing," Gu Chang'an said. "Let's go to your maternal grandparents' house. I took you away from Shuofang ten years ago, and this time we're going to visit them."

"Maternal grandfather?" Gu Cheng was taken aback.

In the original owner's memories, the information about her maternal grandfather was very vague.

"Your maternal family has cultivated the path of scholars for generations, which should be of great help to your development in the scholarly field."

Gu Cheng nodded.

It was rare for my uncle to say so much in one go, which showed that he had thought about it seriously for a long time.

"Get some rest." Gu Chang'an patted his shoulder. "We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

Gu Cheng watched his uncle's retreating figure.

His steps were steady, his back straight, and most importantly, his uncle's inner demons were slowly weakening.

He scanned it with his detection spell.

【姓名：顾长安】【体质：86（上限）/83（当前）】【力量：90（上限）/ 86】【精神：65（上限）/62（当前）】【战士技：破军枪（一阶）、惊雷枪（二阶）、龙影枪（三阶）、八荒破军（四阶）封印】【文士技：坚守（一阶）、落雷（二阶）封印】【擅长兵器：长枪（宗师）】【装备道具：无】【状态：心魔未消（战力衰减14%）】

The inner demons' suppression of the uncle is gradually weakening.

Perhaps one day, my uncle will be able to return to his former glory.

Gu Cheng withdrew his gaze, lay down on the bed, and looked at the beams on the roof.

We're leaving tomorrow.

Go to Shuofang City.

Let's go down the mountain and take a look.