Chapter 11: Something to mitigate the shortcomings of a Formation master
Early the next morning, Huo Gen and Mu Feng appeared together at the entrance of Wuyou Village.
Huo Gen had prepared a light bow for Mu Feng, explaining that a heavy bow would be too difficult for him to pull. This turned out to be true, as Mu Feng, still at the First Soul stage, lacked the strength for a stronger bow. The lighter bow was more suited for someone of his current ability.
“Have you used a bow before?” Huo Gen asked.
“I’ve used one, but I’m not skilled,” Mu Feng replied honestly. During his sword training, he had dabbled in various weapons, but his focus had always been on the sword, leaving little time to master others.
Huo Gen pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and handed them to Mu Feng. “Wear these. If you keep shooting without them, your fingers might get hurt.”
“Thanks, Brother Huo Gen,” Mu Feng said gratefully. He slipped on the gloves, which fit perfectly, as though made specifically for him.
Once ready, both men carried their homemade bows—Huo Gen’s heavy, Mu Feng’s light. They each had a quiver with a dozen arrows at their waists as they embarked on their hunting trip.
With a bow in hand and no worries about close combat, Mu Feng felt confident. If they encountered another wild wolf, he was sure he could shoot it down in a few exchanges.
If he could master archery, it might compensate for the weaknesses of a formation master in direct combat.
“Shh, there’s prey ahead,” Huo Gen whispered, raising a hand to stop Mu Feng.
Mu Feng glanced forward. Other than the rustling grass, everything seemed still and quiet. He saw no signs of prey and was about to ask when Huo Gen had already drawn his bow.
“Whoosh…”
Without hesitation, Huo Gen released the arrow.
Just as Mu Feng thought it might miss, a distant cry came from the bushes nearly a hundred paces away, followed by the sound of a creature struggling for breath.
“Did he hit it?” Mu Feng was stunned. He hadn’t even seen the prey, yet Huo Gen had shot it?
In disbelief, Mu Feng walked over to where the arrow had landed.
Sure enough, a dead lynx rabbit lay in a pool of blood, the arrow having pinned it to the ground.
“Incredible!” Mu Feng exclaimed, praising Huo Gen as he bent down to remove the rabbit from the arrow.
“Wait, take a closer look at the direction the arrow landed and how the blood splattered,” Huo Gen instructed.
Mu Feng realized Huo Gen was trying to teach him something, so he carefully studied the scene.
“From the arrow's trajectory and the blood patterns, an experienced fighter could determine the archer’s position. In a battle, this would give away your location, which could be very dangerous,” Huo Gen explained.
Mu Feng etched Huo Gen’s words into his mind, understanding the lesson.
“I’ll show you another trick,” Huo Gen said. Before Mu Feng even noticed him nock another arrow, Huo Gen had already drawn the bow fully.
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“See that wild pigeon flying in the distance? That’s our dinner tonight,” Huo Gen said. Before he finished speaking, the arrow was already flying through the air.
Unsurprisingly, it hit its target.
Prediction! The word flashed in Mu Feng’s mind. Huo Gen had predicted the pigeon’s flight path, making it look as though the bird had flown straight into the arrow.
As Mu Feng recalled Huo Gen’s archery, feeling the strength behind his shots, he began to doubt that this level of skill could belong to a mere village hunter.
“To become a master of archery, you must first master prediction,” Huo Gen said with a smile.
Under Huo Gen’s guidance, Mu Feng fired several arrows. At first, he didn’t even graze his targets, but his previous experience with weapons allowed him to improve quickly. Soon, his shots were almost on point.
“Hit it!” Mu Feng shouted triumphantly as a wild bird fell from the sky. He had begun to grasp the basics of prediction.
As Mu Feng reflected on archery, he noticed similarities with formation techniques. Predicting an opponent’s movements was crucial in setting formations, just as it was in archery. After all, you couldn’t just wait for an enemy to step into your traps.
Seeing Mu Feng’s progress, Huo Gen smiled knowingly.
They piled up the small animals they had caught on a rock, intending to retrieve them on the way back.
They continued onward.
After walking for nearly half an hour, they encountered only small game like rabbits and birds. Mu Feng couldn’t help but ask, “Where are the larger beasts?”
“It is strange,” Huo Gen replied, scanning the surroundings. “Normally, we would be in an area where larger beasts roam by now.”
“Look!” Mu Feng suddenly pointed ahead.
About fifty paces away stood a strange beast, black as night, resembling a leopard. Its body was covered in black fur with faint blue cloud-like patterns, and as it growled, dim light flickered around its sharp teeth.
“A Tier One Nether Leopard, equivalent to a human at the Third Soul stage!” Huo Gen said, his voice tinged with fear. “I can’t believe there’s a spirit beast here!”
Mu Feng glanced at Huo Gen in surprise. His knowledge of spirit beasts wasn’t unusual, but it was odd for a villager to be so familiar with them.
“Roar…”
The Nether Leopard growled, its four sharp fangs glinting like blades, blood dripping from its mouth. It had clearly just devoured some of the local wildlife.
“When it charges, we strike,” Huo Gen whispered, slowly backing away with Mu Feng.
The very thing the two elders had feared—that Mu Feng might act impulsively—was about to happen. There was no way Mu Feng could abandon Huo Gen and run.
Mu Feng gripped his bow tightly and called out, “Brother Huo Gen, what’s your cultivation level?”
“Cultivation level? I’ve got no cultivation, just a bit of strength,” Huo Gen replied with a self-deprecating smile, his eyes never leaving the Nether Leopard.
Mu Feng was shocked. How could such incredible archery skills come from an ordinary person?
An ordinary man with the strength to pull a bow that required more than 200 pounds of force?
Just then, the Nether Leopard roared again, digging its claws into the ground before leaping forward, using the trees to propel itself. In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of Mu Feng and Huo Gen.
Since Mu Feng had already discarded the idea of fleeing, he knew they had no choice but to fight.
“You go left, I’ll go right. We’ll attack it with arrows and cover each other,” Huo Gen said quickly, his focus heightened to the extreme.
Mu Feng nodded, doing the same.
The Nether Leopard pounced, landing where the two had been moments before, but by then, Mu Feng and Huo Gen had already hidden themselves, using the terrain to their advantage.
Both men crouched in their hiding spots, bows drawn, arrows aimed at the Nether Leopard.
The beast sniffed the air, suddenly turning toward where Huo Gen was hiding.
Eight meters, five meters, three meters...
Huo Gen remained perfectly still, not daring to breathe. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he knew that if he moved, the Nether Leopard would kill him in one leap. Yet, he wasn’t afraid—he trusted Mu Feng.
As the beast neared Huo Gen, Mu Feng finally made his move. His bow was fully drawn, and he let the arrow fly, aiming at the Nether Leopard’s hind leg.
Wounding the leg would slow it down.
Mu Feng didn’t expect to kill the spirit beast with one shot, so he aimed for a safer target.
“Clang!”
The arrow missed.
Mu Feng wasn’t too disappointed. After all, he was still new to archery, and misses were inevitable. But his extensive combat experience kicked in, and he immediately relocated.
At the same moment the arrow hit the ground, the Nether Leopard turned, leaping toward where Mu Feng had been moments earlier.
In reality, Huo Gen could have shot the Nether Leopard when Mu Feng missed, but the shot wouldn’t have been fatal. Hitting the beast would only have enraged it, and at such close range, Huo Gen would have been killed. So he waited.
He was waiting for the moment the Nether Leopard turned to leap.
Huo Gen’s arrow flew.
Just as the Nether Leopard pounced at Mu Feng’s former location, it was at its most vulnerable in mid-air, and Huo Gen’s arrow struck true.
“Thud…” The arrow sank into the Nether Leopard’s hind leg, as though it were a lesson in perfect archery for Mu Feng.
The beast roared in pain and fury, abandoning Mu Feng and charging toward Huo Gen instead.
But Huo Gen, an experienced hunter, had already relocated the moment he fired, showing not just quick thinking but immense confidence in his shot.
The enraged Nether Leopard, its green eyes now blood-red, turned its focus entirely on Huo Gen, ignoring the pain from its leg wound.
Though it was severely injured, it was still faster than any ordinary wolf.
Losing all sense of reason, the Nether Leopard dashed toward Mu Feng’s hiding spot, intending to eliminate what it perceived as the weakest threat first.
With the beast drawing closer, Mu Feng focused intently, gripping his bow tightly, waiting for the right moment.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
The sound of arrows cutting through the air echoed, and Mu Feng’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Three arrows flew in unison, spiraling through the air with perfect force and direction.
“Three arrows with one pull!”
Mu Feng was speechless. Huo Gen’s archery had surpassed anything he could have imagined.
The injured Nether Leopard desperately dodged, managing to avoid two arrows, but the third struck its abdomen.
It slowed further, but its speed was still far beyond that of an ordinary beast.
Seemingly driven mad, the Nether Leopard charged toward Mu Feng, ignoring the pain of its wounds.
“Time to fight!” Mu Feng gritted his teeth and released his arrow.
He aimed for the Nether Leopard’s left eye.
“Thunk!” The sound of the arrow hitting flesh brought a moment of joy to Mu Feng, but it was quickly replaced by dread.
Though the arrow had struck the Nether Leopard’s left eye, it hadn’t stopped the beast’s momentum.
With a final roar, the massive creature raised its claw, its body already leaping through the air toward Mu Feng.