High-level martial arts: Invincibility starts with basic archery.

Chapter 2: Skill Points and Leveling Up

The three of them walked in silence to a house with a fire burning in it.

"Dad! You're back!"

Suddenly, a pale and thin boy of about twelve or thirteen years old ran out of the house and rushed into Chen Guodong's arms. He was Chen Fan's younger brother, Chen Chen.

Chen Chen looked up, glanced around, and then asked with some disappointment, "Dad, didn't you bring back any food this time?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than his stomach began to rumble.

Chen Guodong blushed and stammered, "This time, something unexpected happened. Next time, next time for sure."

"But that's what you said last time."

The boy blinked, his eyes clear and bright.

The woman quickly pulled him away, complaining, "Didn't you see your dad was injured? Be careful not to touch the wound."

She didn't dare say that this time, your father almost didn't make it back.

"what?"

The boy followed the woman's gaze and immediately took a step back in fright. "Dad, I'm so sorry."

"What's it to you?"

Chen Guodong patted the boy's head, then looked at the woman and said, "Shall we cook some rice porridge? Do you have any money at home? I'll see if we can go to Songjiabao tomorrow to exchange it for some grain."

"They're all gone now. Even the wedding ring you gave me was traded away." The woman shook her head, then went into the house, scooped a small spoonful of rice from the bottom of the jar, and started cooking porridge.

There's not much rice left in the jar. At most, it can last for another week. If we finish this, we'll really have nothing left to eat.

"Xiao Fan".

Chen Guodong waved to Chen Fan and asked with concern, "How are you feeling?"

"It's all over now, Dad."

Chen Fan tried his best to imitate the original owner's actions and tone.

As far as he could remember, the original owner seemed to be somewhat afraid of his taciturn father, which made their relationship a little distant, but for him, this was actually a good thing.

Chen Guodong opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just nodded and said briefly, "It's good that you're alright."

Dinner was thin porridge, mostly water with only a few grains of rice at the bottom of the pot.

The family of four licked the bowls clean, and Chen Guodong, the breadwinner, drank another bowl.

Afterwards, they all went to rest.

Chen Fan and his younger brother slept in the west room, where they could hear their parents talking softly. It wasn't that he wanted to eavesdrop; the room was indeed simple and the soundproofing was very poor.

"Guodong, do you know how worried I was today? I was afraid you'd end up like them, never to come back," the mother sobbed softly.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." The man's voice was steady and strong.

"But what about next time?"

The entire room fell silent.

Chen Fan sighed softly.

Despite the hardships of not knowing where the next meal would come from, many people didn't even have a place to settle down. In those cities, let alone whether people would be willing to take you in, just considering the dangers involved, an ordinary person wouldn't have enough lives even if they had ten.

Only strength, and only great strength, can ensure survival.

He closed his eyes, and with a thought, something similar to a character attribute panel in a game appeared in his mind, incredibly realistic.

Realm: None

Level: 1 (0/1)

Physical fitness: 8 (The average score for adult males is 10, the same below)

Power: 7

Agility: 7

Spirit: 5

Skills: None

Potential Points: 1 (1 points/day)

In addition, there is a large plus sign after the level, which is particularly eye-catching.

This plus sign wasn't there an hour ago; it was there last night, and it's been about 25 hours since then.

When the data panel first appeared, he thought it was his imagination. Only after checking it several times did he finally confirm that the money had been credited to his system.

This plus sign likely indicates that potential points are required.

Chen Fan took a deep breath, and his heart skipped a beat. He saw that the plus sign at the end seemed to have been pressed. Immediately afterward, a powerful surge of heat welled up from his heart and flowed to every corner of his body.

"Click, click."

A series of subtle sounds emanated from various parts of his body, bringing with them an indescribable sense of exhilaration.

"Is this... strengthening my body?"

The thought popped into Chen Fan's mind, and he clearly felt that the power in his body had increased.

A few seconds later, the heat dissipated. If it weren't for the sweat that had soaked his clothes, he would have doubted whether he had just imagined it.

Clenching my fist, I could indeed feel a surge of power, something I hadn't experienced before.

"Oh, right, system!"

He quickly looked over and, sure enough, the attributes had changed.

Realm: None

Level: 2 (0/2)

Physical condition: 8.8

Power: 7.7

Agility: 7.7

Spirit: 5.5

Skills: None

Potential Points: 0 (1 points/day)

"!!!"

His eyes lit up as he saw that all four attributes had increased by about 10%, which was barely enough to meet the standard for an adult male.

No wonder I feel stronger.

He became increasingly excited, feeling a glimmer of hope for his future. Unfortunately, his potential points dropped to zero again, while everything else remained unchanged.

"It seems I'll need another day to gain more experience points."

Chen Fan sighed, and the plus sign after the level disappeared, turning the original 0/1 into 0/2.

"It seems that if I want to continue to level up, I need to consume two potential points. I don't know how to increase the growth rate of potential points. One point a day, and now there is no food to eat. Living another day is a luxury."

Chen Fan muttered to himself, realizing that his time was running out.

My gaze slowly moved down and landed on the skills section, which was completely empty.

So, is this a reminder to myself to learn martial arts skills?

However, he had never heard of anyone in this earthen fortress who knew kung fu. He himself remembered a few Tai Chi moves, but he had learned them when he was in school and had been careless when practicing them. After entering society, he had long forgotten them.

Besides, even if we had Tai Chi, in this place where medicine is scarce, we can't just fight wild beasts hand-to-hand. Otherwise, if we get injured, we can only heal ourselves. If the injury is too severe, we can only wait to die.

If you're going to learn something, the best thing to learn is archery. At the very least, learn long-handled weapons like spears or clubs—the longer the better. Only lastly should you learn swords.

"I'll try it tomorrow."

Chen Fan quickly made a decision: to learn archery.

There wasn't much ironware in the earthen fortress, and iron bows were probably even scarcer, because only a few of my father and his men were equipped with longbows, while the others used spears, shields, and other melee weapons.

As for guns? Those are valuable items; killing low-level ferocious beasts is like child's play, so their prices are shockingly high!

But that's alright. He can use wood, a broken bowstring, or the sinews of a ferocious beast to make a wooden bow. Gathering these resources won't be difficult.

Even if archery is not a martial art or skill, it can be learned for self-defense. In the future, you can go hunting with the hunting team. After all, relying on others is not a solution; you have to earn your own living.

Otherwise, one cannot survive in this cruel world.

As Chen Fan pondered, he gradually felt sleepy and fell asleep until he was awakened early in the morning by a scream coming from outside.

(End of this chapter)