The spring season was already in full force by now.

The snow had mostly melted. Flowers were beginning to bloom everywhere, treating everyone’s eyes to a myriad of colours, and their noses to wafts of floral fragrance.

As Zhao Yunxiao waited patiently under the prominent Clear Thoughts Pavilion, he took a deep breath to relish in the pleasant scents of a spring morning on Purple Plum Mountain.

He had spent most of the night meditating after doing some light management of his inventory, and was now in a fresh state to tackle the rough day ahead.

“You are already here, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?” Nie Hanchang exclaimed in surprise as he approached. “I thought that I would be early, but you still beat me to it.”

“It’s just a force of habit,” Zhao Yunxiao answered with a nonchalant shrugged. “Is everything ready? If so, shall we head out?”

“I’m all set. Let’s go,” Nie Hanchang nodded.

Today, they would be departing for Kindness Village, where they would have to perform a rain dance to curb the drought problem.

As always, the duo took the usual route down the mountain and rented two horses from Black Tortoise Inn.

With that, they promptly began their journey towards Kindness Village.

“Just in case, I borrowed a manual on the execution of rain dances from the Sect Library,” Nie Hanchang said while they were on the way. “I might not know much about it now, but don’t worry. I will make sure that I understand the basics by the time we arrive.”

“You went to borrow it after our conversation last night?” Zhao Yunxiao could not help but smile upon hearing that. “I should be able to handle it, but I appreciate the help. Once you understand the basics, I should be able to enlist your help during the preparation process.”

It had already been night time by the time they parted from the Lightwind Pavilion last night.

For Nie Hanchang to have gone and borrowed the manual despite how late it was, it showed that Nie Hanchang was not intending to tag along just for the sake of it.

Even though Zhao Yunxiao was absolutely confident of handling this mission alone, it still felt good to know that his partner was trying his best to be of help.

“That said, there must be a reason why you are going all this way for a mission?” Nie Hanchang probed.

“Indeed,” Zhao Yunxiao answered frankly. “The mission is just an additional thing. My aim is actually Ghost Fog Valley, a place that is just slightly further away than Kindness Village.”

“Ghost Fog Valley?” Nie Hanchang repeated in confusion.

He had never heard of this place before.

“Basically, I am heading there to harvest a few spiritual plants,” Zhao Yunxiao explained. “I will tell you more when we get there. That said, the horses have been running for half a day. Let’s take a break at the stream ahead.”

“Good idea,” Nie Hanchang nodded.

The downside about being poor outer disciples was that they could only afford normal horses as compared to spirit horses.

Well, Zhao Yunxiao could actually afford to rent spirit horses with all the sect points that he had been saving up, but he would not have been able to save that much had he been willing to spend so readily in the first place.

Regardless, renting normal horses meant that not only was the speed slower, but they would also have to take a lot more breaks in between for the horses to rest.

Thankfully, the journey there would mostly be across lush terrain.

This meant plenty of grass for the horses to graze on, as well as multiple instances when they would come into close proximity of streams for the horses to drink.

“Shall we resume travelling in half an hour’s time?” Zhao Yunxiao said after leading the horses to drink at the stream.

“Anything is fine. Just let me know when you wish to leave,” Nie Hanchang agreed.

With a flick of a wrist, he immediately brought out the Grand Annihilator.

The long bow’s silver body glistened under the sun, capable of misleading those afar into mistaking it as a giant piece of precious metal.

“Hmm? Is Senior Martial Brother Nie intending to do some shooting practice?” Zhao Yunxiao asked.

“That’s right,” Nie Hanchang replied. “But you don’t have to mind me. Go ahead with whatever you intend to do. I just like to get some practice in whenever I have the time.”

“Haha, I definitely don’t mind. In fact, I am just about to get in some practice as well,” Zhao Yunxiao chuckled. “Since that is the case, would Senior Martial Brother Nie care to practise together instead?”

Indeed, the two of them had always been similar in this aspect.

Among the outer disciples, they had always been the two people best known for being more hardworking than the others.

It was to the point where it had become somewhat of a running joke that they did not have more accomplishments under their belt, considering all of the extra effort that they had put in.

The only difference was that while one was fully focused on nothing but refining his path of the bow and arrow, the other chose to spread his time and effort across numerous different fields.

If not for that, they could probably be considered two peas in a pod!

“Practise together? You mean...?”

“What I mean is this – why don’t we spar a little?”

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Nie Hanchang was initially surprised by the suggestion, but the feeling of surprise was quickly replaced by that of intrigue.

“I don’t see why not.”

“I’ll be in your care, then,” Zhao Yunxiao said excitedly.

He had been rather curious about how Nie Hanchang fought using the Grand Annihilator. Now, it was finally his chance to witness this in person!

After distancing themselves from the horses to avoid accidentally damaging the rented goods, the duo carefully sized up each other as they took their stances.

Despite Nie Hanchang being a year older than Zhao Yunxiao, both of them were currently at the Intermediate Essence Gathering realm.

This meant that they could go all out without being concerned about any unfairness resulting from a disparity in cultivation levels.

“Are you not going to draw your weapon, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?” Nie Hanchang asked with the Grand Annihilator firmly in his grasp.

“I prefer to surprise my opponents halfway through battle,” Zhao Yunxiao replied with a smirk.

“I don’t know about your previous opponents, but I’m afraid you might not have the chance to do so this time!” Nie Hanchang taunted.

“Enough talk, let’s begin!” Zhao Yunxiao grabbed a handful of soil and threw it up into the air.

The two of them remained still as the soil flew up and fell back down, their eyes fixated on each other with absolute focus.

And at the very moment when the first bit of soil hit the ground, both of them instantly made their moves without the slightest hint of hesitation.

[Xuanwu Movement Technique – Invisible Snap]

Both of them executed the fastest move in the Xuanwu Movement Technique.

One advanced while the other retreated.

However, any spectator would have been confused by the current scene playing out before them.

That was because the duo’s roles seemed to have been reversed.

Nie Hanchang was an archer, so it was only natural to assume that he would want to put more distance between him and his opponent. And facing an archer, Zhao Yunxiao should have aimed to close this distance.

But reality proved otherwise.

Nie Hanchang was actually the one advancing, while Zhao Yunxiao chose to retreat instead.

And needless to say, both of them were just as surprised by the other party’s actions.

“Aren’t you an archer? Why are you coming at me, Senior Martial Brother Nie?!” Zhao Yunxiao complained as he weaved through the trees while retreating.

“And why are you running from an archer?” Nie Hanchang questioned in response.

At the same time, he raised his bow in front of him and made the action of pulling on the bowstring.

When forging the Grand Annihilator, Zhao Yunxiao and Nie Hanchang had stopped short of attaching the bowstring, with a powerful shockwave sending both of them flying before they could do so.

It had been a bow without an attached bowstring back then, and that fact had not changed even now.

Still, Zhao Yunxiao was not nearly foolish enough to mistake it for a harmless item just because of that.

After all, he already knew for a fact that Nie Hanchang had been going on hunts with the Grand Annihilator, and it had even greatly increased his efficiency!

Indeed, when Nie Hanchang performed the drawing action, a thin ray of glowing light came into being, directly connecting the string grooves on the tips of the two bow limbs.

And as Nie Hanchang pulled his arm back, this ray of light bent along with his hand movements, exhibiting the exact behaviours of an actual bowstring being drawn.

This was a string created out of pure energy, the source of which was unbeknownst to Zhao Yunxiao.

That was not all.

As Nie Hanchang pulled back the string of glowing light, particles of energy gathered at the nocking point of the bowstring, forming together and extending forward in the shape of an arrow.

“Watch out!” Nie Hanchang cautioned.

With that, he released his drawing hand, and the arrow of energy shot forward like a thunderbolt.

It was like a ray of light that directly carved a tunnel through the air, vapourising every last bit of air particle in its way as it arrived before its target in an instant.

Pierce-!

The thick trunk of a tree proved completely defenceless against the pure power packed within this arrow, which bore straight through it before continuing into the distance.

But through the newly-formed hole in the tree, Nie Hanchang could see that he had failed to hit his target who had been hiding behind it.

Zhao Yunxiao was truly making full use of his surroundings, constantly changing up his movements to make it difficult to predict his next movements.

Nevertheless, the arrow might have missed, but the power behind it was clear for all to see.

Zhao Yunxiao frowned upon witnessing this.

What a weapon!

Had he been struck by that arrow, this spar could have ended with his defeat right there and then!

Nevertheless, he did not choose to give up out of fear.

After all, he was not intending to just remain as a sitting duck here!

From behind the thick tree, two Zhao Yunxiaos ran out in two different directions.

“So, this is why you have been running!” Nie Hanchang finally understood.

Instead of a direct confrontation, Zhao Yunxiao had wanted to engage in a battle of minds all along!

Nie Hanchang finally stopped chasing and dug his feet into the ground.

The whole reason why Nie Hanchang chose to approach from the start was to prevent Zhao Yunxiao from hiding behind the complicated terrain.

But now that Zhao Yunxiao had voluntarily exposed himself, even if there were two of him, Nie Hanchang no longer had any reason to keep chasing.

Even at this distance...

Even at the speed that Zhao Yunxiao was running...

Nie Hanchang was confident of hitting his target.

That was his pride as a cultivator who specialised in the bow and arrow!

Once again, Nie Hanchang made a pulling motion on the bowstring, creating another arrow of pure energy.

His eyes focused, and his spiritual sense extended out in a straight line.

This was not meant to lock onto his target since doing so in an actual fight could easily alert his target to his presence. Instead, it was to detect the changes in the surroundings that could influence his arrow.

“Here it comes!” Nie Hanchang shouted.

Whoosh-!

The arrow of light carved through the air once more, arriving before one of the two Zhao Yunxiaos in the blink of an eye.

“Shit!” Zhao Yunxiao One cursed in shock as he tried to raise a dagger in defence, but to no avail.

This arrow was simply too fast.

Thankfully, it zoomed right over Zhao Yunxiao One’s shoulder that Nie Hanchang had been aiming for, barely missing by the breadth of a hair.

“Hmm?” Nie Hanchang frowned.

He missed?

No, that’s impossible.

He would not have missed.

The problem here did not lie with him.

On the other hand, it was his bow that was not acting right!

Right at the moment before the release of the arrow, the Grand Annihilator had suddenly trembled slightly for some unknown reason, causing his aim to be off.

Nie Hanchang widened his eyes in realisation as he was struck by an outrageous idea.

In his mind, he could not help but bear a strong suspicion that this time, his bow was actively trying to stop him from hitting the target!