Chapter 22

When He Ping heard movement outside and realized he had been exposed, his first reaction was to grab Wolf as a hostage and then force his way out. However, when he reached out, he discovered that the old man lying on the bed was not Wolf at all. It seemed that Wolf had been well-prepared, finding a substitute to sleep in his main tent to lure He Ping into making a move. Seeing this panicked old man, He Ping felt a bit of admiration for Wolf.

Although he had not been in the military world for long, He Ping had already gained some understanding of the basic situations of the Tianhua and Auckland empires. The nobles of Auckland were all extremely arrogant, acting as if they were the lords of everything, and they did not even consider the commoners of Auckland to be human. This was especially true for Wolf, an old noble of the Lance family.

But to confuse He Ping and lure him into an assassination attempt, and then use this as a trap to give He Ping a surprise, Wolf actually had a commoner old man sleep in his main tent, even on his own luxurious bed. This was a significant sacrifice for a noble, and in fact, He Ping had not anticipated this move, leading to his exposure.

With his first plan failing, He Ping's second idea was to hide in the tower. From there, he could observe the surroundings while remaining unseen by others. However, the downside was that to leave the tower, he would have to return to his starting point. Therefore, He Ping planned to stay in the tower for a day, waiting for Wolf to lower his guard before considering a breakout. But he did not expect that one of Wolf's commands would jeopardize this plan.

"First battalion, seal off the military camp! Surround the entire camp, leaving no gap larger than ten meters. Anyone with a Tianhua face is to be killed on sight! Second battalion, patrol the entire area to ensure the camp is under surveillance. Third battalion, surround my main tent and prevent anyone from leaving. The bodyguards prepare for a raid, and the longbowmen prepare oil arrows to burn out anyone inside! Everyone, the target may suddenly disappear, but don't panic. Just hold your positions!"

He Ping was dismayed to find that Wolf had already deduced his pattern of disappearance based on his previous actions. Although Wolf did not know about the tower, it was clear that he had caught on to the fact that He Ping's re-emergence point had not changed. According to Wolf's plan, He Ping might have to wait for several days for the other side to lower their guard, which was not what he wanted.

What should he do? As the longbowmen were about to launch their flaming arrows to burn down the main tent, He Ping still had not come up with a reliable plan. The only thing that seemed to offer some hope was to take Brian from the cell as a hostage to break out, but He Ping had only seen this in TV shows. He had no confidence in actually doing it, especially since the soldiers outside were not weak, particularly in their weapon skills, which He Ping could not match.

Weapon skills? He Ping thought about something. At his current level, he could not break out of this situation, even with his astonishing strength and speed, and even with Brian as a hostage. However, if his weapon skills were also highly proficient, combined with his strength and speed, there might be a glimmer of hope!

With this in mind, He Ping acted immediately. He ignored the frightened old man who had fainted and disregarded Wolf's calls for surrender from outside the main tent. He returned to the tower and went straight to the special skill training area, opening the extra skill options. Although his special skill points were already used up, he still had 10 extra skill points that he had not used.

There were five categories of weapons: long weapons, short weapons, thrusting weapons, ranged weapons, and exotic weapons. How should he allocate the 10 extra skill points? He Ping had already made up his mind before coming here. In the current situation, specialization was better than versatility. Using all the extra skill points on one skill would yield the best results. Instead of learning how to use various types of weapons, he should master one type to the highest level.

Which skill should he learn? He would definitely have to fight many soldiers, and to ensure his survival, there was no need to hesitate. The only skill suitable for him to learn now was Long Weapon Proficiency. Only long weapons could ensure his successful breakout and allow him to fully utilize his combat power on an open battlefield. Without hesitation, He Ping allocated all 10 extra skill points to Long Weapon Proficiency.

Swish, swish, swish!

With each level increase, He Ping felt his understanding of long weapons improve. Methods of using long weapons that he had never considered before now flooded his mind. In an instant, he transformed from a complete novice who could only use a halberd like a fire poker to a master of long weapons. He Ping felt that no matter what long weapon was given to him, he would not fear any enemy.

He Ping opened his eyes and saw that the Long Weapon Proficiency skill had reached level 10, and the entire row had turned golden. It seemed that the maximum level was 10, and He Ping had maxed out Long Weapon Proficiency, unable to allocate any more extra skill points to it. In the available skills section, four terms appeared: "Staff Proficiency," "Hammer and Axe Proficiency," "Spear and Sword Proficiency," and "Scythe and Halberd Proficiency"!

Although only eight types of long weapons were listed, He Ping felt that these eight types could represent all the development directions of long weapons. For example, in Staff Proficiency, He Ping also understood the use of weapons like the mace. In Spear and Sword Proficiency, he could find the use of weapons like the trident and the horse spear. In Scythe and Halberd Proficiency, besides the large scythe, halberd, and long halberd, he also learned the use of more complex composite long weapons like the hook scythe and the five-pronged spear.

He Ping took a deep breath. The effects of maxing out Long Weapon Proficiency far exceeded his expectations. Originally, He Ping did not plan to spend extra skill points on these skills, thinking he could learn them without them. However, he now realized that without using skill points, it would take at least 20 years of hard training to reach his current level. But at this moment, he instantly possessed all the results of 20 years of hard training!

[PS: Finally made it to the category signing new book list, thank you all for your support. As a heads-up, starting from Sunday, there will be recommendations, so the update frequency will increase from two updates per day to three! I will post a separate chapter to explain the specific update times. Please continue to support me, thank you!]