《Travels along the Astral Road》'Silent Arrow'
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Training such as the one Wu Guang would spend all the day on today could be said to be uncommon and unpopular. Initially, the lack of any previous applicants was written down by him to the lack of bow users in the sect, but when Wu Guang registered, he found out the real reason.
As it turned out the qi weapon technique training and lessons like 'Silent Arrow' with a cost below the 200 contribution points simply were unpopular because they did not give out a copy of the technique. Actually, Wu Guang did not even expect training that gives out a scroll to exist, after all, in his own memories teaching a technique meant showing it and explaining it once or twice, not holding one's hand, and even giving out a scroll for future training.
And so when he found this reason, Wu Guang had almost laughed about it, if the disciples that left the sect and entered the jianghu expected that everything would be so easy - then one could only worry for their future.
The location for the training was mentioned to be the forest where part of the tests had taken place, while the meeting place with the instructor was the same gate that he had crossed during it. Wu Guang had the help of his perfect memory and so he arrived right in time and without losing his way.
Clansmen were extremely punctual and this was confirmed again as when Wu Guang reached the gate the instructor was already present, even though there were a few minutes for the time left yet.
The instructor was a person from the Wolf Clan as his looks were similar to Lang Zheng, except for younger age and a mix of black and gray hair, with the latter showing that he was from the normal families of the clan as opposed to the pure silver of the leading Lang family. In truth, the silver hair was simply the visible part of the bloodline, so the greater quantity - the stronger bloodline. Going by this, it was truly unsurprising for the Lang family to be the leaders.
As Wu Guang approached he greeted, albeit more of common politeness as he did not expect to be weaker than the instructor and so could follow the clan traditions and wait for the latter to talk first.
"Wu Guang? Follow me" As if opposed to his similarity with Lang Zheng the voice of the instructor was fairly normal and could even sound melodious, especially if comparing to the former's roaring. Still, as he spoke in common the instructor showed that he was not really versed in it. His words were unsure and the phrase short to the extreme.
The Elder on the gate seemingly knew about the training as the runes were dispelled right as they approached and they were let through without any questions.
They walked for almost a mile before reaching some kind of clearing and only then the instructor stopped and spoke again
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"I will show here. You look and try to follow"
"Understood. But instructor, you can speak in the Clans language. I stayed with the Boar Clan for some time" The latter Wu Guang said in the Wildlands language that from his studies he found out to be one of the last original languages remaining in the plane. The disappearance of such languages was a normal occurrence as the Astral Road connection changed a lot of things. One of them was that cultivators would naturally learn the universal common language which was used in all the entirety of the road and as they communicated in it, the mortals would start to do so as well. Granted some races had their own common as well like the one he used with the lizardman, but it came from their bloodline and so could not really be considered something universal.
"That's good. Then I will be able to explain the technique itself" The instructor's tone did not change from the one he had used before, but his expression denoted that he was happy for being able to speak in his native language. A language considered the only one befitting the Clans and their members.
First, the instructor took off the sack that covered the bow and quiver strapped to his back, and held the bow. After he checked it and made sure that it was in the ideal condition he showed a single arrow he took out before starting to explain.
His explanation was neither short nor large and could be resumed as "The 'Silent Arrow' is not only a technique to make you shot an arrow that will be unheard and unseen by low-level cultivators but it's also capable of evolving alongside the user, as the main element in concealment will slowly shift from qi to consciousness alongside the growth of the user. The qi part is what I will teach you while the latter one can not be taught as it has to come naturally with usage and experience. This effect is reached by infusing qi to the dominant hand, through fingers and passing it from there to the arrow and string. The former as a cover of sorts while the latter to hide any sound and vibration".
Such an explanation was extremely lacking to say the truth but for Wu Guang, it seemed to be enough. He quickly traced a parallel with the 'Shivering Disruption' he learned and except for the fact that this one did not require any special circulation as it used the qi natural effect to blend with the surrounding one, still, the matter of covering a weapon or item was the same. Actually, he could find several similar techniques in his memories that would be more relatable to this but he had made the decision to study each technique of this plane as a cultivator from it, and so did not recur to anything except what he learned here.
What followed next was a demonstration and it went as expected from someone who could teach the technique. The arrow flew for fifty or so feet and lodged itself in the tree that was set as a target.
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"So as you could notice, neither the wind nor qi was disturbed during the flight. I will show again and then we will begin practice"
"Please wait, instructor. Could you this time do the process without slowing down?" Wu Guang would be considered strange as the instructor was slowing down for the former to observe the changes.
"Then observe carefully" Albeit surprised the instructor did what he was asked and the arrow was shooted almost instantly after the bow was tensed. As the arrow reached its target, he turned to Wu Guang and asked
"Do you need another demonstration? Or any questions?"
"No"
"Hmm... Well then shoot an arrow normally and then cover it with qi while willing it to merge into the surroundings. When that is reached we will advance to the bowstring part"
"There is no need, I practiced several techniques based on qi covering. Let me try to do it on my own and then please point out the difference so I can correct them" Wu Guang had already understood the main point of the technique even without recurring to his memories and as the instructor was a guest and most importantly at max a beginner Spirit realm cultivator, he did not need to hide the fact or be formal.
"..."
As the instructor did not react at all, seemingly a bit shocked by such a declaration Wu Guang took out the blade bow he had stored into his holding pouch and quickly prepared it. After tensing it a few times and checking that there were no issues either with the bow or the string, Wu Guang willed an arrow out of the pouch and assumed a firing stance.
By remembering the sensation of the cover from the 'Shivering Disruption' training and observing the instructor he understood that he would need to make two separate covers and keep his connection with the bowstring one during all the process as qi would be spent for dispersing the vibration. As for the arrow, obviously, the connection had to be severed right as the arrow left, as if not done it would not fly further than a pair of feet.
In the end, Wu Guang needed six tries to reach a result. The speed of his covering and preparation being comparable to the one he was showed the first time. As for doing it instantly and with no preparation like the instructor, Wu Guang concluded it would require to reach a more advanced level of mastery.
"Such skill! You would become one of the fangs in no time!" For the first time, the instructor spoke with emotion, although it could be expected as the result was indeed too impressive.
"Thank you, instructor. Could you please explain to me how the mastery of this technique is measured? Speed? Time? Distance?" Wu Guang knew that the fangs were the term used for the best hunters of the Wolf Clan so coming from one of their members, it was indeed high praise. As for his questions, as he had no scroll, he could not really guess how to consider the technique level - well excluding mastering it fully, but that would need a lot of time.
"The first three levels of mastery are considered to be Arrow, String, Shooting. In your case, you have skipped over them and so you should be on the... how do call it... medium mastery?"
"The common manner is to refer to the levels as novice, beginner, apprentice, intermediate, proficient, advanced, master, and at last full mastery" Wu Guang quickly explained the terms in common as logically such did not exist in the Wildlands language. Actually, there was another level after full mastery, but full integration with a technique was unknown in planes of this level as they required one to feel the Dao laws and so could be reached at earliest during the Saint realm.
"So, you would be on the fourth, which would be intermediate. Well, for the latter ones it's a mix between speed, distance, and quantity"
"Quantity?"
"Yes, let me show you" With these words the instructor prepared to shoot and did so in a swift motion. Wu Guang had noticed that contained in this seemingly single motion there were three arrows, and they were shot practically as one.
"This is my current mastery and it should be considered Advanced if going by the terms you said. Actually, the real strength of this technique only increases when you manage to shoot two or more arrows, as even an opponent with slightly better senses or prepared for your attack will most probably notice only the first arrow"
"So they follow the path of the previous?"
"Yes. The White Hunter once told me that on higher levels of cultivation the qi can be used to steer the direction of the arrows, but such is outside my own knowledge"
"Thank you for the lesson. I will remain here to train it, so could you inform the elder on the gate of it?"
"There's no need. Albeit you have learned the lesson in less than an hour the training is supposed to take over six. Also, I shall remain, but as I can not teach you anything, then I may take my leave and scout this unknown forest for a bit"
"I see. I will be here for three hours then. Please feel free to scout or remain" Wu Guang had already shown what he could do, so there was no problem if the clansmen observed his training. As for the part of the latter going to scout the forest, there should be also no problem, after all, the latter would try to evade any beasts as clan hunters only killed beasts in self-defense or while hunting for their clan.
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