From Robinson Crusoe

The night is deep.

After using his spear and sword techniques, Bi Kai appeared extremely exhausted, as if his bones and muscles had been removed.

He sat back down on the bench, put the animal skin back on, and mustered his spirits. He picked up a twig and began to draw and write on the ground, further explaining the essentials to Chen Zhou.

During the process of teaching kung fu, Bi Kai's biggest worry was that Chen Zhou had a poor memory and wouldn't remember what he said.

While martial arts manuals may strive for rhyme, most of their general principles are difficult to pronounce, containing numerous technical terms, acupoints, and meridian names.

Ordinary people who want to learn martial arts, except for soldiers who only learn the techniques, must start by learning the meridians and acupoints little by little, and only formally enter the field after they are familiar with them.

Different schools of thought have different understandings of acupoints in the human body, and therefore have different interpretations.

People are most intelligent when they are young. Once they memorize something, they will not forget it even when they are seventy or eighty years old. However, even if adults memorize something temporarily, they will forget it soon if they do not review it every day.

Those who practice martial arts are not afraid of forgetting what they have learned, nor are they afraid of remembering it well. The only thing they are afraid of is forgetting some parts. If they remember only a little, then they will not be able to do it properly and may even harm themselves or others.

This was precisely what Bi Kai was worried about. Therefore, even though Chen Zhou was his benefactor, he still dared not lower his standards in this regard, and every word he uttered was carefully considered.

Unexpectedly, Chen Zhou's performance in terms of memory also far exceeded his expectations.

The spear and sword techniques he had just recited consisted of at least three or four thousand words, and he had only read it once. Yet, Chen Zhou was able to recite it verbatim after hearing it just once, and even imitated his accent perfectly.

This performance truly amazed Bi Kai, who repeatedly praised it sincerely during the explanation.

"With your talent, my benefactor, you could become a prime minister or a marquis. Even if you didn't want to be involved in officialdom, you could still be a great hero who would be remembered for centuries."

……

After confirming that Chen Zhou had a correct understanding of the formula and outline, Bi Kai, despite being extremely tired, still forced himself to guide Chen Zhou on the specific moves, how to exert force, and where the key points of the movements lay.

Chen Zhou's performance was equally flawless.

Chen Zhou's extraordinary neural response makes his body like a piece of metal with memory properties. No matter what the action is, as long as it is done a few times, it will be deeply imprinted in his muscles and then replicated exactly.

Bi Kai had seen people who could recite poems and books and remember them after a single glance, but he had never seen a prodigy like Chen Zhou who could also remember martial arts moves after a single glance.

In his view, Chen Zhou simply lacked most of the common knowledge of martial arts and did not understand the application of power and the effects that different martial arts techniques emphasize.

If Chen Zhou were given enough time to complete this knowledge, he could create a true encyclopedia of martial arts.

This refers not only to memorizing martial arts manuals, but also to the terrifying ability to replicate an opponent's moves at a glance. In that case, anyone who relies on exquisite moves to win will probably not dare to display their martial arts skills in front of Chen Zhou.

Once the fight begins, no matter how exquisite their family's martial arts are, they will have to teach their benefactor the skills.

Moreover, because Chen Zhou's strength and physical abilities are extraordinary, the same moves become even more powerful when performed by Chen Zhou, something that no one can envy.

With this guidance, the more Bi Kai taught, the more regrettable it seemed.

He estimated that after tonight, at most three days, he would die here.

If he continues to force his way through with violence, he probably won't live past 12 hours.

Otherwise, he would have insisted on teaching Chen Zhou all the unique skills he possessed.

It's like a jade carver finding a rare piece of jade. Even if the jade is covered with a thick outer layer, you can still see the vibrant green jade inside after cutting it open.

With such material, how could a jade carving master not be tempted?

In Bi Kai's opinion, if there had to be one person in the world who could cultivate swordsmanship to the point of ascending to immortality like his ancestor Bi Kun, then it would be Chen Zhou.

If he could complete their family's sword manual, perhaps Chen Zhou could truly accomplish what he could never achieve in his entire life.

Unfortunately, the sword manual was incomplete, and the man's days were numbered, so everything became empty talk.

……

The techniques and methods of Yue Family Spear do not incorporate military strategy and are more suitable for those who are engaged in battle.

The head-wrapping knife technique is also a simple and easy-to-learn knife skill. It does not have any fancy moves and is mostly related to basic knife skills.

If you seriously learn these two martial arts, you can get the basics down in three to five months at most. As for how far you can go with these two martial arts, that depends on your personal talent.

Although the kung fu was simple, finishing the lesson in just one night was a test for Bi Kai and Chen Zhou.

Knowing he might not have the energy to repeat himself a second time, Bi Kai was determined to explain everything clearly and thoroughly at once, so as not to lead Chen Zhou astray.

Therefore, this lecture lasted all night.

It wasn't until dawn that the resting great antler deer stood up and began waiting for Bi Kai to lead them out, at which point Bi Kai finished speaking.

During the explanation, Chen Zhou showed great comprehension. Although his lack of knowledge about martial arts made many of his questions laughable, he was a prodigy when it came to learning techniques.

In the end, Bi Kai had Chen Zhou demonstrate each move one by one, and after confirming that everything was correct, he finally couldn't hold on any longer.

He only said that he was going back to the hut to rest and would teach the reindeer herding method after he woke up, then he staggered away from the campfire and went into the hut, leaving Chen Zhou alone outside.

……

Knowing that Bi Kai was tired, Chen Zhou had repeatedly urged him to rest during the lecture, but Bi Kai was extremely stubborn and insisted on staying up until the lecture was finished before going to sleep.

He added more firewood to the campfire, then stood motionless at the entrance of the hut, looking at Bi Kai's thin body curled up in animal skin, his brows furrowed as if he were making some kind of decision.

That night, the three saw-toothed tigers didn't sleep well, constantly being woken up by Chen Zhou and Bi Kai.

In the early morning, they were still hungry, staring at the deer carcass by the campfire. They wanted to eat it, but dared not without the leader's permission. They could only anxiously circle the fire, looking around, never leaving the deer carcass.

Their lingering footsteps mirrored Chen Zhou's inner turmoil.

He is making a difficult decision—

Should we give Bi Kai the potent regenerative injection we carry with us?

Chen Zhou pulled the gleaming silver syringe from the inside pocket of his clothes, turned around, sat back down by the campfire, and examined it carefully.

Logically speaking, he had already saved Bi Kai's life, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to accept any gift now.

Moreover, he did not seek revenge for Bi Kai and Gao Yao; in fact, he offered to avenge them if given the chance. From a rational perspective, his actions were not inappropriate.

But when it comes to things, you should not only look at yourself, but also at others.

Regardless of whether Bi Kai was determined to die, Chen Zhou honestly felt that if he were the one dying, he might not have been able to resist the temptation to live a few more days and risk his life to benefit others.

More importantly, he felt that if it were him, he probably would also find it difficult to be so loyal and devoted to his friends.

Animals are selfish, and humans are even more so.

But it is precisely because most living beings in the world are selfish that those who sacrifice themselves for others are so precious.

……

The sun rose, and the silver syringe, bathed in sunlight, twirled between Chen Zhou's fingers. For anyone familiar with the purpose of injections, the slowly flowing liquid within the syringe was undeniably alluring.

"High-potency regenerative injection".

It means that, aside from aging, anyone who possesses it can gain a second life.

That's an unlimited margin for error, and it also represents the hope of turning things around even when facing dire straits.

Even though Chen Zhou didn't think he would ever be on the verge of death, life is unpredictable, and who dares to say that they won't encounter that one-in-a-lifetime event?
To be willing to give one's "other life" to save someone you admire or respect—this kind of courage is probably not something everyone possesses.

Moreover, the society was not yet in a normal social order at that time.

The harsh rules of challenge govern everyone on this land; helping others is tantamount to aiding the enemy, even if the person has no ill intentions.

Moreover, even if we take a step back and help Bi Kai now, allowing him to live until the end of the challenge, only two people can leave at that time, and he will still die.

Alternatively, one could choose to give up the challenge, leave the challenge area, and remain in this ancient wasteland forever, which would also be a form of torment.

Upon closer examination, there are far too many reasons not to support him providing Bi Kai with the precious and potent regenerative injection.

But when doing something, you don't often need too many things that aren't worthwhile; just one worthwhile thing is enough.

The syringe in his hand finally stopped spinning, the flat needle pointing upwards, and Chen Zhou stood up.

……

Lowering his head, Chen Zhou walked into the shack and leaned against the sleeping Bi Kai. He could hear his faint breathing.

Without making a sound or actively waking Bi Kai, he reached out a hand and carefully grabbed Bi Kai's useless arm.

At this moment, Chen Zhou was extremely nervous.

He wasn't worried about waking Bi Kai up, nor was he distressed about the injection, nor was he afraid of wasting it by making a mistake during its use.

He was afraid that a prompt would suddenly appear in front of him, explicitly forbidding him from continuing.

The additional clauses in the challenge rules mention this—

"To ensure this challenge is interesting enough, please do not give up and end it early, and do not cooperate privately, which will make the challenge lose its competitive nature."

Dozens of days ago, his interactions with Bi Kai and Gao Yao had already crossed the line into a private collaboration, but that contact was brief and they did not meet again afterward, so it did not constitute a collaboration.

Now that he has reunited with Bi Kai, and even though they are not in the same group, he still took out the injection from the supplies and gave it to Bi Kai, which undoubtedly confirms the cooperation.

He knew the capabilities of the Time and Space Administration; every move of every challenger was being monitored by this group of almost godlike beings.

Chen Zhou's biggest fear is being prevented from doing his thing by force majeure.

To his surprise, even after he pulled Bi Kai's soft arm out of the animal skin coat and placed the needle on his skin, there was no indication of anything unusual, nor did he hear any strange sounds.

Finally, when Chen Zhou quietly injected the entire syringe, nothing happened, as if the Time and Space Administration had turned a blind eye to his actions.

……

The silver sheen faded, and the corroded syringe was carelessly tossed among the broken branches used to build the hut.

Chen Zhou, having left the shack, did not continue to wait there.

It's hard to say whether Bi Kai's martial arts skills will be restored after the injection takes effect, but his life is certainly not in danger for the time being.

Worried that Bi Kai would ask him what happened after he woke up, or insist on doing whatever he wanted for him, or pester him to give him the deer herd, Chen Zhou thought it would be better to leave first.

……

He gently called for the three-headed saw-toothed tiger to follow him. Before leaving, Chen Zhou added enough firewood to the campfire to prevent Bi Kai from freezing to death in his sleep.

Then, without looking back, he led the little ones out of the woods and headed up the mountain.

The most important thing right now is to fill the stomachs of the saw-toothed tigers, and of course, to solve his own breakfast as well.

……

Early morning is when many wild animals leave their nests and become active, making it the most productive time for hunting.

As Chen Zhou climbed the ridge, he looked around for prey while pondering a question that had puzzled him for a long time—

Was he one of the 100 people who participated in the challenge, or the 101st person who was not part of the challenge plan?

Does the challenge of the rules actually work for him?

After the challenge ends, will he be able to return to his world?

This matter has been shrouded in mystery since the very first day of the challenge.

As one of the "challengers," Chen Zhou strangely did not receive any of the survival tools mentioned in the rules.

Moreover, he seemed to have arrived much earlier than the other challengers; at least Paul appeared after Paul had already started making fire by friction.

At that time, Chen Zhou only thought that as a member who joined the challenge midway, he had suffered some kind of punishment from the Time and Space Administration, or that because his physical fitness was far superior to that of the other challengers, he had been given some kind of balance.

But as the days went by, he gradually realized that things seemed to be quite different from what he had imagined.

The first thing to shake his resolve was the man in black.

The black-robed man's physical abilities and combat skills were clearly far superior to those of the other challengers, which should be considered an imbalance.

What's even more unbalanced is that the man in the black robe also has equipment that's practically cheating.

His stab-proof armor alone was enough to withstand most physical attacks. He also had at least two weak regeneration pills, a longsword that could be described as a divine weapon, and smoke bombs.

If the Time and Space Administration really did set up a hidden balancing system in the challenge, it's impossible for such a supermodel to appear.

Shortly after the first suspicious point emerged, Chen Zhou encountered a second suspicious point—

Gromov, the hat owner who came from the same world as Paul.

Although Paul naively believed that Gromov's death was due to the old general's partner coldly abandoning him or dying in an accident beforehand.

But Chen Zhou knew perfectly well what was going on.

Perhaps Gromov was Pavel's true partner, and his appearance and subsequent cooperation were merely a product of coincidence.

After all, Gromov died in a location very close to where Paul appeared, and the two came from the same world and spoke the same language.

As for him.

If he hadn't been forced to deal with that Russian, and hadn't developed an interest in Russian while translating secret documents on the deserted island, he probably would still be communicating with Pavel through charades and gestures.

In other words, if he had been standing next to an Indian, they probably would have already started fighting because of the language barrier, and he would have made his first fortune. (End of Chapter)