There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

"It seems the ceremony was a complete success," the priest said, looking at the throwing knife stuck in the tree.

Nodding, Lu Qing shifted her gaze to her fingers.

A thin, silvery-white thread was wrapped around her slender, pink fingers. This thread was being influenced by a mysterious force, so that Lu Qing didn't even feel the pain of her fingers being tightly bound.

Of course, although she felt no pain, Lu Qing could still feel her fingers being wrapped. With a strong pull, the thin thread on her hand instantly straightened.

The throwing knife stuck in the tree was pulled by the silk thread and fell down. However, strangely, the knife did not fall to the ground, but flew back into her hand along the silk thread.

The moment the ceremony was officially successful, knowledge about it was automatically transferred into Lu Qing's brain.

This knowledge wasn't written words; it was simply information. The moment it flooded into her mind, Lu Qing understood its meaning.

This ritual has no name, and it is ineffective against other weapons.

The effect of the ritual is simple: pay a price and gain something.

The price was that her body temperature became different from that of ordinary people, but the reward was the connection that Lu Qing established with the Ripper's throwing knives.

This connection allows Lu Qing to easily control the Ripper's throwing knives. The most obvious change is that Lu Qing's hands will not be harmed by the throwing knives.

Secondly, she can control the throwing knife with her mind. Of course, she can't use telekinesis, but making the throwing knife fly back to her side instantly is not difficult.

If used flexibly in battle, this move could be a powerful weapon, but Lu Qing thinks its main use is probably to retrieve throwing knives.

After all, the Ripper's throwing knives are a single, continuous unit; if one of them is lost...

Just thinking about it made her feel a little uncomfortable. Oh, I forgot, she didn't have any testicles.

Regardless, this throwing knife is definitely the highest quality item she has obtained so far.

Looking at the throwing knife in her palm, Lu Qing liked it more and more.

“I really like this weapon.” Lu Qing looked at the priest and said, “I am so grateful to you for giving me such a valuable gift.”

Upon hearing Lu Qing's words, the priest first smiled, then shook his head and said:

"It should be the hunter and I who thank you. Being bait is a very dangerous thing."

After speaking, the priest turned around, nodded to the hunter, and then walked away into the distance.

"Come on, I'll show you around the forest and let you practice what I just taught you."

She quickly followed the priest, and after walking for a while, the priest turned to look at Lu Qing, nodded in satisfaction, and said:

"Very good, your posture is now quite correct. You just need to correct some minor errors."

Pointing out some issues with Lu Qing's walking, the two continued moving through the forest, during which the priest repeatedly taught her the knowledge he had already explained before.

"Remember, when walking in the forest, you must watch your step. Unlike man-made paths, there is very little flat and solid ground in the wild, especially in the forest."

"The forest is very damp, so you'll find yourself walking with uneven surfaces, so be sure to watch your step!"

"Before you start learning to run fast, you need to learn how to walk, but that won't take long. You'll spend more time getting familiar with the forest terrain."

"What I mean by familiarity is not memorizing the terrain, but being able to make judgments based on the surrounding environment, so that you know when to choose which way to go."

........

The priest was very patient in his teaching, and Lu Qing studied with extra care so that she wouldn't have any mishaps when she was used as bait.

Not long after, she felt the notice board vibrate, and three messages were quickly refreshed.

[Wilderness Walking - Forest Skill Proficiency Increased by 20%!]

[Wilderness Hiking & Forest Skills Unlocked!]

Current skill: Wilderness Walk in Forest (Learning progress: 20%)

After glancing at the notice board, Lu Qing analyzed the situation in her mind.

Skill proficiency seems to only become apparent when a certain stage is reached.

Both dagger throwing and wilderness walking in the forest are displayed when the proficiency level reaches 20%.

If she's not mistaken, the skill should show proficiency again at 40%, then 60%, 80%, and then 100%.

Yes, that should be correct. The rest is just her guess.

Regarding the issue of proficiency, Lu Qing believes that 20% is already a decent level.

After all, there's no "basic" level for the Wilderness Walk in the Forest skill, and her current 20% is already quite good in the old priest's eyes.

.........

The training continued until noon, during which Lu Qing had to rest quite frequently due to her health condition.

There's nothing that can be done about it, given her physical attributes; the problem of insufficient stamina simply cannot be solved in a short time.

Fortunately, the priest would treat her during breaks, and the moment the soft light shone on Lu Qing, the fatigue from practice seemed to disappear.

Well, she should be thankful that the low-temperature curse doesn't affect healing spells.

As for the statement on the sign that the low-temperature curse would cause the cursed person to experience strange sensations when exposed to sunlight, that is true.

Because of the unique nature of Misty Town, the sunlight is already obscured by the mist, and there is very little light. In addition, since they are all in the forest now, Lu Qing can hardly feel it.

Back at the location of the trap, she and the priest found the hunter wiping his bow, preparing for lunch.

After training all morning, Lu Qing's stomach was already growling loudly with hunger.

The priest, however, had anticipated this and took out some salted dried meat from his bag.

A campfire was lit, and a pot of meat soup was cooked. Since entering the dream world, Lu Qing finally tasted meat again.

Although the taste wasn't great, at least for Lu Qing, who had been eating bread and vegetable soup for several days and was still very hungry, it was a very delicious meal.

After lunch, training continued in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the notice board was not refreshed until the end of the training session.

After finishing the fire-roasted jerky, the first day of training came to an end.

The next day, the training wasn't about how to walk in the forest, but about how to skillfully use the Ripper's throwing knives.

But before that, the priest took out the yellowed book from before and handed it to Lu Qing, saying:

"The Ripper is now your weapon. I've finished reading this book, but you haven't. Let's finish reading it this morning before training."

P.S.: Don't forget to invest if you haven't already!

------------

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Ripper's Throwing Knife Technique

"The Ripper".

Lu Qing took the book from the priest and examined it carefully.

Similar to what I've seen before, this is a yellowed paper book that feels slightly frosted to the touch.

The book cover features a drop of dark blood, with the words "The Ripper" written above it.

Lu Qing gently stroked the book twice, then stretched out two slender fingers and gently turned the first page.

It's best to be careful when flipping through these old books, in case you accidentally tear them.

You should know that even when Lu Qing was in school in her previous life, the brand-new books that the school gave her could become like tattered junk after a semester.

Turning the pages, the first thing that caught Lu Qing's eye was a very familiar magic circle.

At a glance, she recognized it as the one the priest had just drawn on the ground.

[Every descendant who wishes to use the Ripper must perform this ritual to form a pact with the Ripper. After signing the pact, their body temperature will be significantly lower than that of a normal person.]

This is what is written in the book, followed by instructions on how to draw this magic circle.

It didn't specify a size, but rather described some rather detailed things.

For example, some symbols on a magic circle require special drawing methods, such as where to start.

As for the materials used to set up the magic array, according to the book, any materials that possess "spirituality" will suffice.

As for what "spirituality" is, Lu Qing wasn't quite sure.

However, it likely refers to items with some mysterious properties, such as the ghost powder used by priests.

Turning to the second page, before Lu Qing could even look at it for long, the notice board had already been refreshed.

[Special knowledge detected, currently being entered...]

Suddenly, a force came through the pages of the book in my hand, as if it were automatically turning to the next page.

However, the force wasn't very strong; Lu Qing could easily press it down with just one finger.

Two seconds after Lu Qing's finger pressed down on it, the force on the page disappeared automatically, leaving only the progress bar on the notice board in his mind.

[Ripper's Knife Throwing Technique (In Progress: 1%)]

After glancing at the information on the notice board and confirming that the pages of the book in her hand would not turn automatically, Lu Qing gently released her fingers from the pages and calmed down to read the contents of The Ripper.

As Lu Qing turned the page, the progress bar on the notice board slowly increased.

The book is not very long, only about 100,000 words. If it were a web novel, it could probably be read in an hour.

However, unlike online novels, most of the content written on Ripper is very dry.

Lu Qing needed to think while reading these things, so it was three hours later when she finished reading the whole book.

Even so, Lu Qing still couldn't remember much of the book. She could only say that she had glanced at it and remembered some of the things in the book, but there was still a lot of it that she only had a vague impression of.

However, that's enough. For the remaining unfamiliar parts, it's meaningless to just memorize the content from the book; you still need to train them manually.

"Alright, let's leave it here." The priest said, standing not far away in front of Lu Qing.

The silver-white sword was drawn from its sheath by the other party. The old priest held the sword in one hand and stared at Lu Qing.

"Just attack freely, don't worry, you can't hurt me," the old priest said, narrowing his eyes.

As soon as he finished speaking, his aura suddenly became heavy, and he stood in front of Lu Qing like a mountain.

Although startled by the sudden change in the priest's aura, Lu Qing reacted quickly, drawing her throwing knife and hurling it at him.

"That won't do."

As the priest said this, he shifted his foot slightly, and the throwing knife flew past him, piercing the ground behind him.

"Too slow! These flimsy throwing knives won't hit the enemy!" the priest said sternly to Lu Qing.

Without a word, another throwing knife flew out, this time much faster than the last one.