For the next three hours, Wu Guang ignored everything around him and only spared a passing glance at the surroundings as a precaution against a sudden attack. Truthfully he did not expect one as most of the beasts in the forest were non-spirit ones and even if a spirit one came near, he was far capable of taking care of any of the 1st and 2nd level ones that inhabited inside. But as it turned out his precaution was unneeded as either because he was constantly using qi and so his strength was easily sensed by them or they simply evaded areas near the Sect Wall, no beast appeared during all this time.
He did not manage to reach the level of the instructor but still, he advanced his mastery. Inwardly he judged that he should have reached the proficient step of mastery as with single arrows his speed had improved almost thrice while if slowing down he could now shoot two arrows consecutively. The speed was even further improved after Wu Guang discovered that he could cover the arrows before latching them and simply renew the qi when shooting.
In this manner, he could even shoot three arrows, albeit there would be either gap between them or the speed of his initial shoot was lowered to make time for the latter arrows to hide in the trail.
The instructor had left around an hour after Wu Guang began, and returned almost exactly when Wu Guang decided to finish training.
He thanked the former for the lesson and time. He also told him that he will be returning to the sect now. The instructor agreed to such and as they walked back introduced himself as Chun. This came as part of a small exchange during he asked Wu Guang for permission to observe his bow.
Wu Guang had no qualms about it and actually, he understood the reason for such interest, after all, a blade-bow was rare even in the jianghu, no wonder it would be something even rarer in the most isolated Clans.
"It's a masterwork and can be used for both close quarters and ranged combat... But still, the range is bad, isn't it?"
"500 feet with my full strength, but for you, I think it will drop to 400. The accuracy may also become an issue for someone accustomed to hunting bows. Our strength is similar and you should be more advanced in the bow path, but I have trained with heavy weapons more and so can feel it fully"
"I see. May I try to shoot it?"
"No problem, but let's enter the Sect territory first. Weapons are indeed prohibited, but inside the outer circle forest there is no such restriction"
Wu Guang had read the rules fully as he did not want to break one somehow like it occurred with a lot of new disciples and so he fully knew the zones where he could and could not train, carry weapons, use techniques, or where he did not need to restrict his speed to the mortal pace as required.
Entering the sect through the same gate should be easy and it was so, but Chun's identity still was confirmed. This came from the fact that as a guest instructor he had a non-personal badge and so if it was stolen, anyone could pass as the owner.
Afterward, Wu Guang fulfilled his words and let Chun shoot a few arrows, well in truth a full quiver. As expected the latter had problems with accuracy that albeit negligible by mortal standards, still were considered when one spoke of cultivators. But his skills were indeed good and he was in between the 1st and 2nd Step of the Bow path, so he quickly accustomed himself, and the last five or so arrows flew perfectly.
Saying his farewells as he received the bow back Wu Guang took his leave. Originally he would return to his residence, but during the training of the 'Silent Arrow' it occurred to him that he could improve the effect if he used different arrows. Such arrows should be easy to make as they would simply need to be infused with a shard of qi crystal to help the cover maintain itself. But the effect would be great, in place of the maximum 150 feet or so range from now, they would remain hidden for at least twice the distance.
He did not have the needed points to buy something like that and he would not find such in Blue Tree city, but as he remembered that the voucher for services of the Refining Hall was still in his pouch, he decided to make use of it right away.
As he reached the store, Wu Guang quickly explained his request. The elder that came out to talk with him was not the same one that he had met, but no trouble with the voucher or request were found and so the trade was made. His requested arrows would be inlaid with a thin qi crystal piece in the center to maintain their balance, while the head would be made of dusted steel. Such a dusting made also with crystals would improve the qi capacity even further than needed, but Wu Guang wanted to make sure of the result.
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The price was agreed at 2.5 contribution points per arrow and so Wu Guang would be able to come and obtain a full quiver of twenty arrows in three or four days, which would still leave him with one or two days to acquaint himself to them before leaving the sect.
During the evening Wu Guang trained his sense of touch and so after succeeding was more than half done with the senses and similarly with the progress for the 4th Spirit level.
Dinner this time was brought in by Wei and surprisingly the latter did not bring the usually packed meals but something that seemed to be cooked by himself. He did not have his own kitchen and so used the one in the dormitories and so it was pretty simple, but still, he used meat from a spirit beast he hunted during a mission and so it was not only good in taste but also good for their cultivation as well.
Their main discussion during the now usual talk after dinner was centered on two matters. The first one revolved about the meat they ate and so Wei was thanked and praised even by the normally silent Yuan Taotu. While the second matter was the fact that Kuang Jing had found something useful for them, which was a small and quick mission meant for a team of four or five. The mission was interesting enough even for Wu Guang to accept it without the matter of the team as it involved possible undead.
Undead were creatures that appeared in places with an excess of yin qi originated from or in ritual places, from a treasure, old battlegrounds, or even from the lack of cleansing, feng-shui, or a monk during burial. Usually, the undead were extremely weak as they could not absorb, circulate or use qi and so depended solely on the original body, which could be animal, beast, or human. Granted there were some hard to deal with as ghosts and spirits, but they would still be easily eliminated by any qi technique of the yang, fire, or wood element. Or in the case of reanimated undead by simply bashing with anything enough times for the body to fall apart.
Wu Guang's interest in the theme came exactly from this fact as the undead he had seen before albeit similar in descriptions and conditions could also use qi and even evolve and so had their own classification. This Qi Undead as they were called to avoid confusion with the undead called spirits were actually extremely dangerous to an unprepared opponent and would consume qi infused flesh for sustenance and evolution, similar to the Spirit Beasts.
So in truth, his interest was simply how it could be possible for a minor plane to have such a different kind of undead and to investigate them. His own guesses were along the line that the plane had not reached yet the needed amount of qi for the real Qi Undead to spawn and so presented a unique opportunity for him to learn something new.
The mission entailed accompanying an Elder that had trained in the Holy Monastery to determine and if possible solve the cause. Taking only one day and starting in five, it was perfect for everyone in the team, including Wu Guang as his next four days were already reserved for the Qi pressure training. After everyone confirmed that they would be participating, Wu Guang added to his agenda to go and register their team for the mission first thing in the morning.
With the talks done and Kuang Jing and Wei sent off, Yuan Taotu and Wu Guang moved to the cultivation room. Yuan Taotu seemingly has been cultivating near the orb without sleeping during the past nights and so would take a break tonight. After knowing this, Wu Guang decided to stay overnight, especially as he felt that he was on the verge of advancing his cultivation. Although not a breakthrough, such an advancement would bring him a small step closer. In truth, he had not really cultivated at all during the last days, but thanks to the senses he had trained his cultivation still advanced. After all, the requirements of his current level were to master the 1st level for each of the seven senses.