Dongting Immortal Clan

The second day after Chen Xiaohu went to the Immortal Sect.

At home.

Old Zhang began instructing Chen Dajiang and Chen Changhe in shooting.

Each of them held a gun barrel carved from ash wood.

Old Zhang spent more than half a month polishing it, making the shaft straight, smooth but not greasy, very comfortable to hold, and it gleamed with a hint of ivory in the morning light.

"Godfather".

"How do I use this pole?"

Chen Changhe weighed the gun barrel in his hand and asked.

Old Zhang took the gun barrel, stepped back two paces, and gripped the middle section with one hand.

With a slight flick of the wrist, the pole seemed to come alive, its tip vibrating rapidly like the wings of a bee.

He flicked his wrist, and the gun barrel drew a gray shadow in the air, the sharp, piercing sound of it cutting through the air actually shaking the dust off the wall from a distance.

Seeing this, the Chen brothers, Changhe and Chen Changhe, perked up.

That skill is no simple feat!

"The spear is the ancestor of all weapons."

Old Zhang stopped and slammed the end of the gun barrel to the ground.

"No matter how well you practice your fists and feet, you can't beat someone with a knife; no matter how well you practice your knife skills, you can't stop someone with a gun."

"An inch longer, an inch stronger; this has always been the case."

He handed the gun back and personally taught him the basic techniques of marksmanship.

Block, seize, tie.

"Block" means to parry to the left, "take" means to deflect to the right, and "thrust" means to thrust straight forward.

These three movements are not fancy, but each has its own intricacies.

When blocking, the spear shaft should be tilted, not rigidly blocked; when seizing, the wrist should be rotated, not forcefully twisted; when thrusting, the waist and stance should be coordinated, with power originating from the feet, not just the arms.

Old Zhang urged the two of them to practice these three movements at least three thousand times a day, twice a day, morning and evening.

Chen Dajiang is physically strong, so this amount of training is nothing to him.

Chen Changhe was resilient and had magical powers protecting him, so he was able to persevere.

After a day of practice, Chen Changhe's palms were blistered and his tiger's mouth was cracked, but he never stopped.

Old Zhang squatted under the eaves smoking his pipe, the embers flickering. Most of the time he just watched silently, only occasionally offering a word or two of pointers when the two were doing something wrong.

They practiced like this for three days.

Once they are familiar with the basic gun stance.

Old Zhang began instructing the two in archery again.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Early morning, in Old Zhang's courtyard on the east side of Cun Village.

The hillside was still shrouded in a thin mist.

Old Zhang took out two bows from the house; they were made by him from bamboo and mulberry wood.

The bow is long and slender, with a tightly wrapped hemp rope around the handle, and the bowstring is made of tanned cowhide and is very taut.

"Archery is different from marksmanship; it's a skill that can kill from a hundred paces away."

Old Zhang handed a wooden bow to Chen Changhe, and said in a steady voice:

"Your body is not fully recovered, so you are likely to be at a disadvantage in close combat. You should practice your archery skills more often. When it comes to killing, a bow and arrow are much more powerful than a spear."

"However, there's one thing you must remember!"

"Never let an enemy you can kill from a hundred paces away come within fifty paces; this is the principle of self-preservation!"

Under the jujube tree outside the courtyard, there was a straw target hanging on the ground. In the middle and on top of the target, two pieces of straw paper, one large and one small, were pasted on to represent the head and chest.

"The essentials of archery are mainly the five basic techniques: standing shot, crouching shot, turning shot, leaping shot, and moving shot."

"And two levels: 'Quick Hands and Eyes' and 'A Hundred Steps in a Row'."

Old Zhang gave the bow a half-hearted grip, but didn't draw it; he merely glanced at the two men.

"The former requires perfect hand-eye coordination, and the ability to hit the target every time, regardless of the weather, whether on flat ground or on horseback. Only by reaching this level can one be considered a master archer."

Old Zhang paused, his gaze seemingly fixed on the vast lake outside the courtyard, and continued:

"When it comes to a real life-or-death struggle, it's often a matter of a split second; no one will wait for you to draw your bow and carefully aim."

"Therefore, in this second stage, one cannot be bound by techniques or postures; one only needs to seek five words—'Where the mind goes, the arrow will follow.'"

"If one day you two can reach this level, then your archery skills will be considered truly mastered."

After saying that, he handed the bamboo bow to Chen Dajiang.

"Now, let's start practicing standing shooting."

……

Chen Dajiang was strong and his bow was steady, but his posture was rough and reckless.

Old Zhang walked up behind him, stretched out two fingers, and poked him lightly on the back.

"Keep your back straight and relaxed, sink down!"

"You're shooting arrows, not carrying things!"

Chen Dajiang groaned and immediately adjusted himself, beads of sweat already appearing on his forehead.

On the other side, Chen Changhe's stance was more upright, but his strength was slightly insufficient. When he drew the bow to about seven-tenths of its length, it began to tremble, and the arrowhead kept shaking.

Old Zhang glanced at him but didn't speak immediately. After he persisted for a moment, he stepped forward and grasped his right wrist.

"You can't put all your strength in your arms."

His palms were rough and warm, causing Chen Changhe's right arm to sink slightly.

"This force must originate from the lower feet, pass through the waist and spine, flow through the shoulder blades, and then be sent to the fingertips. You must learn to use skillful force, rather than trying to forcefully resist the bowstring."

Chen Changhe adjusted according to the instructions.

"Where are the eyes!"

Old Zhang suddenly raised his voice, his eyes flashing like lightning as he shot towards Chen Dajiang.

"Why are you staring so hard?"

"An arrow is shot out by 'seeing,' not by 'glaring.' Focus your gaze on one point, and everything else will be wasted!"

Old Zhang then turned to Chen Changhe, seeing him intently aiming with fairly standard movements, and couldn't help but shake his head:

"Erlang, don't fixate on the bullseye. The target is inanimate, but people are alive."

"Your God will cover a three-foot radius around the target; the wind, the grass, the rise and fall of breaths will all be under your control."

"Only in this way can the arrow possess a spirit when it is shot."

Chen Changhe stopped fifty paces away and drew a white-feathered arrow from his quiver.

Nock the arrow, draw the bow, and aim.

They practiced these movements repeatedly.

As the sun rose higher, only the heavy breathing of the two brothers could be heard in the courtyard.

Sweat trickled down Chen Dajiang's temples, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, his body as strong as iron.

Chen Changhe's face was pale and his body trembled slightly, but he tried his best to keep his movements straight.

Old Zhang squatted back under the eaves, lit his pipe, and as the smoke curled upwards, his gaze never left the two figures.

"In terms of physical attributes, Dalang is better; he has strong bones and muscles and is a natural-born martial artist."

"However, Erlang has better comprehension, and I can't say for sure what he will achieve in the future."

"receive."

As the incense stick burned out, he slowly uttered two words.

The two felt as if they had been granted a pardon, but they dared not relax immediately. They slowly withdrew their stance, put down their bows, and their arms were already sore and numb.

"Shooting and archery are skills that require years of practice; there are no shortcuts."

Old Zhang knocked off his cigarette ash, stood up, and said:

"Go inside to eat, and practice 'crouching shot' and 'turning around' in the afternoon."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the days that followed.

Chen Dajiang continued to chop wood, practice standing meditation, and train his martial arts routine every day.

Now, however, there are additional lessons in shooting and archery practice every morning and evening, filling their days completely.

Chen Chuansheng remained taciturn. When he sat in front of the stove adding firewood, he would often stare blankly at the leaping flames for a long time, lost in thought.

Chen Changhe, on the other hand, is even busier.

He would practice boxing and spear fighting in the morning, study scriptures in the afternoon, practice magic and archery in the afternoon, and practice martial arts every night without fail.

He had already examined the jade slip containing the "Mysterious Treatise on the Spiritual Treasury of the Water Element" bestowed upon him by Zhou Yan countless times.

It contains more than ten basic techniques:

Lightness of body, golden light, spiritual awareness, water repellency, insect repellency...

These are all subjects that outer disciples of the Taixu Sect must master, and they are the foundation for their livelihood.

Chen Changhe naturally started by practicing the easiest-to-learn lightness technique.

The method is not complicated; it only requires directing magical power downwards and infusing it into the feet.

It sounds simple, but it's a different story in practice.

Not to mention that the power of magic cannot be controlled smoothly, the circulation of energy in the meridians is often sluggish and obstructed.

After a month of training, he was able to fall from a height of ten feet without getting injured, and he could run quickly without expending much energy, but he was still far from being able to "walk without leaving a trace in the snow and travel a thousand miles a day".

The Golden Light Technique is even more difficult.

This technique combines offense and defense.

It can transform into golden light to kill enemies, shattering gold and jade, or it can condense into a light membrane to protect the body, making it impervious to weapons.

To master this technique, one must guide the magical power to circulate flexibly within the body, either concentrating it at a single point or dispersing it throughout the skin.

The requirements for manipulating magic power are ridiculously high.

After two months of arduous practice, Chen Changhe was able to condense a thin, palm-sized patch of golden light in his palm. It was as thin as a cicada's wing, with a subtle, flowing light, yet it could not withstand even a slightly swift palm strike and would crumble upon contact.

He opened his palm and watched the golden light flicker in his hand before vanishing in an instant.

The most difficult is the art of spirit detection.

This technique is used to perceive the flow of spiritual energy between heaven and earth, to observe spiritual veins, identify spiritual acupoints, and find spiritual objects.

Chen Changhe realized after only a short period of cultivation that he could not master it at this moment; he would need to shed his wooden body and develop spiritual consciousness first.

Life in this small fishing village is like the waters of Dongting Lake, rising and falling silently.

The spring grass has turned greener and deeper, and the lake breeze has warmed and heated.

Before they knew it, the day of Chen Dajiang's wedding arrived.