Chu Lingguang had finally mastered the first level of Skillful Force. After two months of arduous training, he could finally force Da Wang back. The two were now almost evenly matched.
Da Wang looked displeased.
He had originally thought Chu Lingguang would get the short end of their deal. He figured he’d at least pick up so pointers for the Hundred-step Piercing Willow technique. To his dismay, after nearly a month, he hadn’t learned a single thing from Chu Lingguang. Instead, it was Chu Lingguang who had mastered the first level of Skillful Force.
And it seed like Chu Lingguang’s Archery was getting stronger and stronger, too.
That afternoon, the two went to the mountain behind Liu Family Gully to practice Mounted Archery. After missing several shots in a row, the disgruntled Da Wang sat down on the ground, leaning his back against a rock.
"Wang, you have to go back to your Escort Agency tomorrow. Aren’t you going to use the ti to practice a bit more?"
Chu Lingguang reminded him kindly.
"Training with you is pointless. I’m not learning anything."
Da Wang said sullenly.
"I’m sorry. I really have told you all the essentials of Hundred-step Piercing Willow."
Chu Lingguang looked apologetic.
"Like this? And this?"
"SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!"
Sitting on the ground, Da Wang mimicked how Chu Lingguang drew his bow and nocked an arrow, even providing his own sound effects.
"Besides demonstrating it for you, I really don’t know how else to explain it."
Chu Lingguang looked awkward.
"Hmph. Are you worried that if you teach Hundred-step Piercing Willow, I’ll beat you in the Daoist Examination?"
Da Wang said suspiciously.
"Wang, how could you think that?"
Chu Lingguang had an innocent look on his face.
"Forget it. I’ll just assu I’m too stupid to learn."
Da Wang stood up, dusting off his pants.
"Hey, Wang! I just had an idea. It might help you master Hundred-step Piercing Willow."
Chu Lingguang felt a little guilty and genuinely wanted to help Da Wang. After thinking it over, he finally had a plan.
"Spit it out."
Da Wang was desperate, as if grasping at a lifeline.
"My master once said that you can’t improve in Kung Fu just by burying your head and training alone. My mastering Skillful Force had a lot to do with sparring against you every day. So, I was thinking... maybe the reason your Archery hasn’t improved is because you’re not sparring?
This whole ti, you’ve just been practicing shooting targets with . We’ve never actually shot at each other. Perhaps after an archery duel, you’ll be able to see the trajectory of my Archery and grasp the secret to Hundred-step Piercing Willow."
Chu Lingguang said, a flash of inspiration in his eyes.
"That... You have a point. True knowledge cos from actual combat. That must be why I can’t master Hundred-step Piercing Willow."
"Co on, let’s have a duel!"
Da Wang was eager for a breakthrough, and his whole body trembled with excitent at the suggestion.
He shouldered his quiver and picked up his Great Bow, ready to face Chu Lingguang.
But, being clever, he didn’t forget to add a reminder. "Right. Your Archery is masterful. When you’re shooting at later, you can’t shoot to kill like I’m so kind of prey."
"Don’t worry, Wang. I know my limits."
Chu Lingguang knew that much, of course.
"Let’s go!"
With Chu Lingguang’s assurance, Da Wang was fired up.
The two of them backed away from each other.
Using the trees for cover, they moved toward each other, drawing their bows and nocking arrows.
"SWOOSH!"
Da Wang eagerly rushed forward. The mont he saw Chu Lingguang’s silhouette, he drew his bow without hesitation. But Chu Lingguang was faster. SWOOSH! An arrow flew past, nearly piercing through a pine tree right next to him.
’That bow of his packs a huge punch.’
Da Wang couldn’t help but exclaim in shock as he saw the arrow embedded deep in the wood, its tail still quivering.
The bow in Chu Lingguang’s hands was a gift from Big Saber Hong. He planned to use this bow in the Martial Arts Examination, so he had been training with it exclusively to perform better when the ti ca.
"SWOOSH!"
Da Wang seized an opportunity and shot at Chu Lingguang.
Chu Lingguang quickly ducked behind a rock.
Although Da Wang’s Archery wasn’t as good as his, that didn’t an it wasn’t lethal. Chu Lingguang was worried that even if Da Wang didn’t intend to hit him, a stray arrow from his poor technique might just find its mark.
So, whenever he saw Da Wang draw his bow, Chu Lingguang felt just as nervous and would imdiately find cover, waiting for the arrow to fly past before shooting back.
"SWOOSH!"
And so, the two exchanged shots.
Chu Lingguang had the clear advantage in Archery. He was able to keep Da Wang suppressed, forcing him to hide behind a tree trunk, afraid to peek out. However, since the main purpose of their duel was to improve Da Wang’s Archery, Chu Lingguang held back the urge to use his rapid-fire techniques.
Da Wang, on the other hand, fired multiple shots at Chu Lingguang whenever he got the chance. Sotis, when he saw one of Chu Lingguang’s arrow shafts coming, he’d assu it was aid at a tree trunk and muster the courage to duck his head out for a look.
"SWOOSH!"
But when he heard the arrow whistling through the air, followed by a THWACK as it hit the tree, his heart would pound in terror, and he’d tell himself not to risk trying to track the trajectory of Chu Lingguang’s shots.
Yet, for the sake of getting a good rank in the Daoist Examination, Da Wang couldn’t stop himself from trying to watch the arrow’s path.
Even if he could only catch a fleeting glimpse of the trajectory, he felt it was worth the risk.
As for Chu Lingguang, watching Da Wang’s arrow shafts fly past the rock one after another, he was reminded of the day Guo Wei had demonstrated the Three-Star Linked Pearls technique on Cyan Cloud Mountain.
For a target as small and agile as a sparrow, Guo Wei could fire three arrows in quick succession from a galloping horse—a perfect Three-Star Linked Pearls—and not a single arrow missed.
That level of Archery filled Chu Lingguang with admiration. He longed to be like Guo Wei, to command the world from horseback and slay enemies a hundred ters away with just his bow.
So, as he watched Da Wang’s rapid shots, Chu Lingguang gradually fell into a trance.
This training session could improve Da Wang’s Archery, and Chu Lingguang was no exception.
"SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!"
Da Wang fired three shots in succession.
Chu Lingguang peeked out from behind the rock and saw three arrow shafts coming one after another. Although their points were aid at wildly different spots, and Da Wang’s accuracy was poor, the speed of his shots was decent.
The three arrow shafts flew past the side of the rock.
Chu Lingguang erged from behind the rock again and fired two quick shots at the tree trunk next to Da Wang.
Da Wang pressed his body tightly against the tree. Even though he knew Chu Lingguang wouldn’t hit him, the sight of the arrows arriving in the blink of an eye still scared him into hiding.
THUD! THUD!
Only after hearing the arrow shafts strike the tree and seeing the trunk in front of him shudder did Da Wang dare to step out and draw his bow on Chu Lingguang.
This ti, however, he saw Chu Lingguang’s body completely exposed from behind the rock. ’He’s probably trying to guide ,’ he thought, and without a second thought, he quickly fired an arrow at Chu Lingguang.
Chu Lingguang clearly saw every detail of Da Wang drawing his bow and nocking the arrow. In that instant, he could even see the image of the arrow shaft leaving the bowstring, its head vibrating.
At that mont, Chu Lingguang seed to have grasped a crucial piece of information.
Watching the arrow shaft leave the bowstring, he felt the arrowhead rapidly expand, just like the Black Panther King’s eyes that day, growing to the size of a basin.
He couldn’t help but draw his own bow.
"SWOOSH! SWOOSH!"
He fired two shots in a row—a Double-Star Linked Pearls.
The two arrows flew nose to tail.
The first arrow struck the head of Da Wang’s incoming arrow. The two arrows collided in mid-air, their heads twisting as the shafts instantly shattered. The second arrow shot through the resulting shower of splinters.
Da Wang had just nocked his second arrow on the bowstring and hadn’t even had ti to draw it when he felt a long, dark shadow flash past his shoulder. The force of it knocked him to the ground.
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