Legendary Son-in-Law: The Man with Poison Talismans

He thought for a moment, then turned and went back into the house, closed the door, and blew out the lamp. Better to avoid trouble than cause it; never mind.

-

Now, the old man is talking about assassination swordsmanship, but to be honest, he's not really paying attention.

As a Taoist priest, listening to such things wouldn't be of much use to a warrior.

The key point is that the same content has been explained several times, and he has already written it down in his notebook and memorized it. But what's the use of just memorizing it?

This thing requires "understanding," it can't be learned by rote memorization.

How could a Taoist priest, who lacks the spirit of a warrior, possibly attain enlightenment?

But he had to admit that the old man did have some merit.

The martial arts school didn't send him here to listen to these things because they didn't expect him, a Taoist priest, to learn warrior skills.

The principle is simple: know yourself and know your enemy.

In the future, on the battlefield, as soon as the opposing soldier raises his hand, he will know what move the opponent is going to make, where their luck is, where their weakness is, and how to dodge and how to break through.

Teamwork with teammates is also more seamless, as they know the limitations of the opponent's skills, when to fill in, and when to retreat.

These are things you can't learn by fighting and killing.

People in this world only have one life. There's no way you can slowly figure things out in battle. By the time you understand, you're long gone.

The skeleton listened attentively.

Just like when he was teaching basic swordsmanship, he sat upright, his eyes fixed intently on the old man on the podium, more serious than anyone else.

But simply listening to lectures is not enough.

Every afternoon during his free time, Lin Mu would take it to the edge of the training ground to watch the soldiers wield their swords.

The skeleton stood there, motionless, the flames in its eye sockets following every movement of its blade, from the start to the end, without blinking.

After reading it for a few days, one afternoon about two weeks ago, it pulled out the book "Basic Swordsmanship" from between its bones and opened it.

Chapter 152 Teleportation Array

The pages rustled, turning into tiny specks of light that melted into the skeleton. Then, the words "Basic Swordsmanship Lv.0" appeared in the skeleton's status bar.

In the days that followed, Lin Mu would take the skeleton to the training ground every afternoon to spar with the royal martial arts masters.

The practitioner wore heavy protective gear, wrapped from head to toe, the metal plates rattling as he walked, making him look like a moving iron tower.

The skeleton stood opposite, holding an axe, and Lin Mu repeatedly reminded him, "Take it easy."

This is a real person, not an NPC in a game; they really can die.

The martial arts instructor, speaking in a muffled voice through his iron mask, said, "It's alright, let him come."

The skeleton swung its axe down, and the martial arts master swayed, took a step back, looked down at the white mark on his breastplate, and remained silent for a long time.

He let the skeleton swing its axe a few more times, each blow forcing him to take a half-step back, leaving deeper and deeper marks on his protective gear.

Lin Mu watched with a pounding heart, fearing that he might accidentally cleave the person inside in two with a single blow of the axe.

The practitioner remained calm, waved his hand and said it was nothing, and continued.

After practicing for half a month, Skeleton's basic swordsmanship had reached level three. His axe strikes became faster and more accurate, leaving afterimages. He could also control his strength at will, a stark contrast to when he first entered the martial arts school.

Lin Mu later asked the training master, "Don't you find it strange to use skeletons to practice skills?"

The instructor shook his head, his tone indifferent: "What haven't we seen in the martial arts school? This is nothing."

Lin Mu nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave with the skeleton.

Once his figure disappeared at the end of the corridor, the martial arts master removed his heavy protective gear, rubbed his chest which was numb from the shock, and muttered to himself, "This skeleton... it really has strength."

-

The skeleton was listening intently, while Lin Mu leaned back in his chair, staring blankly out the window.

The instructor on stage glanced at him, saw his absent-minded look, shook his head, but said nothing, and turned back to continue speaking.

There weren't many students present, and those who could sit in this classroom all came from prominent families. As an instructor, he didn't need to offend anyone.

Moreover, the instructor's gaze lingered on Lin Mu and the skeleton for a moment before he looked away.

Someone from the palace had come specifically to give him instructions, so there was no need for him to say anything more.

Lin Mu didn't know any of this, nor did he want to know.

He was just thinking that the Royal Martial Arts Academy was the place where the Golden Guards were trained, and the young people in the class were all trainees before entering the Golden Guards.

Was he sent here to be groomed into a Golden Guard?

He couldn't figure it out, nor did he want to think about it anymore. He still preferred leveling up freely, going wherever he wanted, fighting whomever he wanted, without being controlled.

Today is the end of the month, and I have my usual three-day holiday. I can finally go out.

The people in the lecture hall were clearly distracted; some had already started packing up their things. The old man didn't seem to care. After finishing the last page, he closed the book and slowly walked out.

Lin Mu stood up, stretched his shoulders, and patted the skeleton's shoulder blade: "Let's go for a walk."

The skeleton stood up, a full head taller than him, its joints cracking twice, and followed him out.

As he passed by the training ground, he saw a large crowd gathered there, making a great commotion, much more lively than usual.

He glanced at it, not paying much attention. Today was a routine day off, but also the day the Royal Martial Arts Academy was selecting new students.

Those respectable young men, ranging in age from fifteen or sixteen to twenty, stood in the training ground wearing medium-sized armor, waiting for the test.

Some people were trembling, some were secretly wiping away sweat, some were muttering to themselves, and some were clenching their fists.

The teacher conducting the test sat on a high platform, expressionless, flipping through page after page of the booklet in his hand.

Lin Mu didn't pay much attention and led the skeleton out of the martial arts hall.

Not far from the gate, the light in my mind lit up again, and behind me, the shadow, neither too close nor too far, followed.

Luckily, I was cautious, and the person didn't leave.

But Lin Mu ignored him and went to the street to buy some dry food and supplies.

Just like in the game, the palace is located in the northwest corner of Bichon City. Lin Mu always found it strange that the palace wasn't built on the central axis like the Forbidden City. Why was it tucked away in a corner? But that wasn't something he should be thinking about.

The Royal Martial Arts Academy is located next to the Royal Palace, and naturally it is also close to the northwest corner.

He went out the door, rode his horse a few hundred meters forward, and saw the river that ran through Beach City, its waters shimmering in the sunlight.

He crossed the river from a large bridge to the south bank.

The south bank was much more lively than the north bank, with shops lined up one after another, their signs swaying in the wind.

There were more people on the street than usual, gathering in twos and threes, some holding newspapers, others pointing at the newly posted notices on the wall and discussing them.

Lin Mu listened intently for a moment.

It turned out there was a poetry gathering at the end of the month. He shook his head; it was just a poetry gathering, he had no interest in it. He tightened the reins, quickened his pace, and focused on buying supplies.

Lin Mu strolled along the street and bought sesame cakes, dried meat, stir-fries, and water pouches, stuffing his entire Qiankun bag full.

I went to the pharmacy again and bought more than a dozen packets of medicine powder.

With everything ready, he mounted his yellow horse and rode eastward along the east-west riverbank, towards the central square.

Just like in the game, the Beech veteran is in the central square.

Lin Mu rode his horse through several streets and alleys, and in the distance he saw the tall building, which was the teleportation array.

The stone pillars are grayish-white, and the dome is covered with densely packed runes.

Below the teleportation array was a small hut with its door open. A white-haired male mage was sitting in the doorway, basking in the sun with his eyes closed, leaning on a magic wand with the tip resting on the ground, as if he were asleep.

Lin Mu dismounted, walked over, and asked, "How much does it cost to go to the Beech Mine?"

The old monk didn't open his eyes, but pointed to a wooden sign next to him.

The wooden sign leaned against the wall, its edges worn and the lettering somewhat blurred, but still legible.

[Orc Tomb 10 Gold Coins];

[Woma Forest 10 Gold Coins];

[Snake Valley 15 Gold Coins];

[Beach Mine Area 10 Gold Coins];

[Border Village 15 Gold Coins]

That's all, just these few places.

These are all areas within the territory of Bichon, the furthest being no more than three days' journey. It seems the teleportation array has significant limitations; places like Bai Ri Men, Feng Mo Gu, and Meng Zhong Province are simply inaccessible.

Lin Mu stared at the price on the wooden sign, muttering to himself.

He remembered that the first time he took a boat to the Woma Forest, it only cost 5 silver coins. But the teleportation array was different; it increased the price by 200 times.

But then he calculated the time. He only had three days off. If he rode a horse to the mining area, there wouldn't even be enough time for the round trip, let alone fighting monsters.

It's expensive, but so be it.

He took out ten gold coins from his Qiankun bag and stacked them on a wooden tray on the windowsill of the small house.

The gold coins clinked together, making a crisp, tinkling sound.

The old mage opened his eyes, glanced at him, then at the skeleton behind him, said nothing, stood up, leaned on his wand, and slowly walked into the hut. He took a key from the wall and opened the barrier of the teleportation array.

Chapter 153 Beech Mine

Lin Mu thought to himself, it seems that teleportation arrays are really not cheap, and most people can't afford them. The old mage probably doesn't make any business anymore.

Lin Mu followed him into the teleportation array.

The teleportation array was small, only a few feet in circumference. The ground was paved with bluestone slabs, which were covered with densely packed runes, with faint flowing light swirling between the patterns.

In the center of the formation was a stone platform, on which was embedded a rough, bumpy ring—a teleportation ring.

The gemstone on the ring glowed with a faint blue light under the reflection of the runes, flickering as if something was breathing inside it.

The old monk pointed to the open space in front of the stone platform, indicating that Lin Mu should stand on it.