Divine Tang Era

A moment later, a series of steady footsteps came from behind the door.

Then, a light footstep was heard running by, and a cheerful voice called out, "Grandpa, Grandpa!"

"Go have fun!"

"Um"

The door opened, and an elderly man with white hair and beard appeared before Xu Dan. The old man's intention was clear when he saw what Xu Dan was carrying, but seeing that he was alone, he frowned. "Didn't your family bring you here?"

"Young man, you live alone," Xu Dan said respectfully.

The old man was Xue Shi, whose real name was Xue An. He came from a prosperous area, but disliked the hustle and bustle of the outside world, so he moved to a remote border town to teach archery to children.

Upon hearing this, Xue An didn't say anything, but opened the door and let him in.

Upon arriving at the hall, Xu Dan presented the tuition fees, which included the gifts he had bought, the meat of the monster he had hunted, and a little silver.

Xue An asked Xu Dan his name, address, and occupation, as well as whether he had practiced martial arts, and so on, to get a general idea of ​​his background. "There are no rules for learning archery here. You can come anytime, but mornings are best. Archery, apart from a little skill, is all about hard work. There are no shortcuts. Since you have practiced martial arts at the Mo Family Martial Arts School, you don't need to train your body. You can go straight to archery."

After Xue An finished speaking, he led him to another room.

The room was filled with all kinds of bows and arrows, and he was introduced to them one by one.

"This is the Kaiyuan Bow, a type of soft bow, with low draw weight and easy to draw, making it usable even for those not skilled in archery. It was commonly used by border troops. This is the Ten-Stone Bow, a type of hard bow, primarily used in infantry combat..."

Xue An explained the uses of flexible and rigid bows and various arrows to Xu Dan, leaving him dazzled and amazed.

I never imagined that a simple bow and arrow could have so many intricacies.

Leaving aside other things, just consider the arrowheads themselves. They come in various materials, including wood, bone, copper, iron, and steel; shapes, such as pointed, flat, hooked, and conical; and uses, such as armor penetration, tracking, heavy blows, command, and throat severing.

That's amazing! I've really learned a lot.

After the introduction, Xue An led him to a long table next to him, on which a row of flexible and rigid bows were laid out horizontally.

"Go over there and test your arm strength, starting with the smallest bow."

Xu Dan walked over, picked up a bow, and pulled it. It was incredibly light, so he put it down. He picked up another bow, also a soft bow, seemingly a child's toy, with almost no weight. He put the bow down and picked up another one to try.

"Wait a moment."

Xue An stepped forward, picked up a bow, and demonstrated, saying, "Remember, you draw a bow using arm strength, not wrist strength. When drawing the bow, your hips should be open, your shoulders level, your abdomen tucked in, your anus contracted, your chest slightly concave, and your back straight. Your steps, waist, and arms should be in harmony. On the battlefield, the decisive moment in defending against the enemy is often just a moment, so when drawing a bow and shooting an arrow, you must have sharp eyes, a ruthless heart, and a merciless hand."

These are all basic common sense in martial arts, which Xu Dan grasped immediately. When he drew the bow again, he already looked quite skilled.

Xue An touched his frame and nodded in satisfaction. As expected of someone who had practiced boxing, his foundation was solid, and he didn't need to build any further skills; he could start practicing immediately.

After drawing a few notes, Xu Dan felt they were all too soft and, too lazy to try the previous ones, simply walked to the back, grabbed a note, and started drawing.

A fifty-stone bow! Xue An's eyes widened in astonishment. Xu Dan, however, seemed oblivious, putting down his bow, walking to the back, grabbing a longbow with a jet-black body that gleamed with lacquer, and drawing it fully. Xue An's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. How could this be? Even he would struggle to draw that bow. It was just a decoration here; how could this kid possibly draw it fully in one go?

Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.

Feeling as if he had overlooked something, Xue An stepped forward and touched Xu Dan's body again, feeling the muscles, tendons, and bones reflected in his mind.

Only then did he realize that Xu Dan's muscles and tendons were incredibly tough, and his bones were extremely hard.

"What a promising archery talent!" Xue An's eyes gleamed. Such talent was rare indeed. He made a decision immediately, then burst into laughter.

Xu Dan had no idea what he was laughing at. Was he having an epileptic seizure? He couldn't help but glance at him, wondering if he should help find a doctor.

Fortunately, Xue An wasn't having an epileptic seizure; he was simply laughing with joy. After laughing, he picked up a one-stone bow and a quiver of arrows, handed them to Xu Dan, and led him to the courtyard to teach him archery.

"From now on, when you come here, you can practice archery here. Only when you hit the bullseye with every arrow can you move on to the next step."

"Yes."

Xue An watched for a while, corrected his posture, and then ignored him.

After that, Xu Dan would practice archery at Xue An's place every day, and occasionally go to the Mo Clan Martial Arts School to learn other sword techniques. However, sword techniques require internal energy to be effective; without internal energy, they are merely routines at best. Knowing that he could not cultivate internal energy, Xu Dan did not ask for too much. He just wanted to learn more routines to solidify his foundation so that he could apply his knowledge to other techniques and use the newly acquired Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer Technique flexibly.

A few days ago, while cleaning the Soul-Devouring Yin-Yang Hammer, I accidentally discovered that the eighteen figures on it had turned into thirty-six.

If the old hammer technique was the foundation, then the current hammer technique is an extension of that foundation, more complex, and capable of handling more situations.

However, Xu Dan lacked experience and couldn't grasp some of the hammer techniques, so he wanted to learn some sword routines to deepen his understanding of the hammer techniques. This proved to be effective; through mutual discussion and his own interpretation, he has already mastered most of the new hammer techniques.

Besides practicing archery with Xue An, Xu Dan also practiced at home after returning.

He now possesses astonishing strength, his entire being resembling a tireless machine, constantly drawing his bow and shooting arrows.

At first, hitting the target was rare, but as the number of archery attempts increased, the feeling gradually improved, and the probability of hitting the target increased, from three or four out of ten, to four or five out of ten, then to six or seven out of ten, and later, it changed every day.

"call out"

The arrow hit the bullseye.

In the course of a month, Xu Dan lost count of how many times he drew the bowstring and shot the arrow.

With practice, I've become so skilled that today I no longer need to find a target; I can shoot by feel and know whether I'll hit the target or not. Perhaps this is the essence of archery, a state of perfect harmony between mind and body.

"it is good"

Upon hearing the voice, Xu Dan turned around and respectfully greeted, "Master Xue."

"Um"

Xue An glanced at the other disciples who were watching Xu Dan shoot arrows, and they quickly went back to their own tasks. Once they dispersed, he said to Xu Dan, "Come with me."

After they went inside, the archery students gathered together again.

"My ancestor is amazing. He can hit the bullseye with every arrow in just one month."

"They've already trained at the Mo Family Martial Arts School and have a foundation. Unlike us, we still need to train our bodies, arm strength, wrist strength, and eyesight."

"I should have practiced some boxing first."

"I should have gone to school first, otherwise you wouldn't be unable to count properly."

"Who said that? I can count to one hundred."

······

Ignoring the commotion outside, Xue An led Xu Dan into the house, closed the door, took two books from the bookshelf and placed them on the table beside him, saying, "Your archery skills have improved rapidly during this time, and now you hit the bullseye with every arrow. This is inseparable from your hard work. If you just want to go into the forest to hunt some ordinary wild animals, your current archery skills are sufficient. But if you want to improve further, it's not enough to just practice hard."

Upon hearing this, Xu Dan bowed deeply and said, "Please teach me, Master Xue."