Netherworld Bow

In his desperation, Lu Feng only felt the Essence Soul Array at the site of his life soul tremble. A trace of wondrous sensation surged through him, and then, by instinct, he slid beneath the Netherworld Leopard at an utterly bizarre angle, slapped the ground with his palm, and sprang into the open space.

He had finally mastered the second level of Exquisite Steps!

Lu Feng had practiced this movement technique for three years. It was hailed as the most formidable life-saving footwork for array masters, yet for all those three years, he had remained at the first stage. Fortunately, he had broken through at that critical moment, hanging by a thread.

Exquisite Steps was divided into four realms. The first level was called "Weaving Through Flowers and Trees." When Lu Feng had cultivated this level, he had trained for more than a full year within the Floral Sea Illusion Formation set up by Old Bai before he could achieve falling flowers touching not his body. Yet even reaching that point only met the entry-level standard for Exquisite Steps.

In Old Bai's words, the sea of flowers was dead, and the paths of falling flowers could be easily judged. A level such as passing through flowers could be achieved by any brilliant movement technique once mastered. The true power of Exquisite Steps lay in the following three realms: Shadowy Evasive Steps, White Dew Across the River, and Riding the Wind in Emptiness.

What Lu Feng had just broken through and mastered was precisely the second realm, Shadowy Evasive Steps! At this level, he could already capture the moving "sea of flowers," find the right opening amid an enemy's ever-changing attacks, and borrow force to evade.

The standard for perfect mastery of this realm was leaving no trace when borrowing force—using the enemy's strength to evade, yet remaining undetected by the enemy.

With the boost of the second level of Exquisite Steps, Lu Feng instantly grew confident. He ran as he drew his bow, firing several arrows in succession at the Netherworld Leopard.

"Well done!"

Huo Gen was overjoyed at the sight and shouted his praise. It was not merely because Lu Feng had escaped danger and saved his life, but because the moment he broke free, he had not fled. Instead, he had swiftly secured his position and counterattacked. That courage earned Huo Gen endless admiration.

Though Lu Feng's accuracy was somewhat lacking, it was enough at this moment.

His successive arrows did not inflict any substantial harm upon the Netherworld Leopard, but they restricted its route, effectively trapping it in place for an instant and turning it into a living target.

And how could Huo Gen, whose grasp of timing was incomparably precise, fail to seize that instant?

He drew his bow and nocked an arrow.

Right eye, forepaw, neck and back...

Huo Gen fired several arrows in an instant. Compared to Lu Feng, he wielded a heavy bow, and both his power and accuracy far surpassed Lu Feng's. With its movements restricted, the Netherworld Leopard had no chance of evading those arrows.

The arrows struck, and it was wounded!

Strike while it was sick and take its life. Dealing with a severely wounded Netherworld Leopard became much easier.

Lu Feng and Huo Gen worked together with remarkable tacit understanding—shoot, widen the distance, shoot again, widen the distance again...

Before long, the Netherworld Leopard was bristling with arrow shafts, and at last it collapsed to the ground on the verge of death.

The two exchanged knowing smiles as they looked at the dead Netherworld Leopard. Both were utterly exhausted, but even more than that, they felt the exhilaration of surviving a catastrophe.

"Though it's only a first-rank spirit beast, it has quite a few treasures on it." Huo Gen rubbed his hands together eagerly.

Indeed, even the lowest-ranking spirit beast possessed treasures enough to let an ordinary person live comfortably for a short while.

Once a wild beast absorbed a certain amount of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, it would evolve into a spirit beast. Spirit beasts were also strictly ranked from one to nine; the higher the rank, the more formidable their strength.

When Lu Feng had seen Flowing Light flash across the markings on the Netherworld Leopard's body, he had known there was definitely a beast core inside it. That was the most obvious characteristic of a spirit beast.

A spirit beast's core contained a portion of the energy it possessed while alive, as well as some violent spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Through certain special methods, it could be used by humans. For instance, it could be refined into medicinal pills or used as the core of an array. Some could even use secret arts to directly absorb the energy within a beast core for cultivation.

After confirming that the Netherworld Leopard was completely dead, the two moved it to a safe place. Huo Gen stepped forward and began dissecting it.

Huo Gen took a dagger from his robes and stabbed it into the Netherworld Leopard's abdomen. After cutting through its fur and hide, he reached in and pulled out the beast core.

"Take this. Sell it or keep it for yourself, either is fine." Huo Gen smiled as he held the beast core out to Lu Feng.

Because he had reached barehanded into the Netherworld Leopard's belly, Huo Gen's hand was covered in blood and carried a thick stench of gore. Yet in that filthy hand rested a shining pearl.

The pearl bore markings identical to those on the Netherworld Leopard's body and emitted a bluish-black glow.

Lu Feng did not reach out to take it, nor did he want to. Huo Gen had hunted it at the risk of his life, so this treasure naturally belonged to him.

"Take it. This thing's no use staying in the village."

Huo Gen seemed to understand Lu Feng's thoughts. He said it again, then tossed it over.

Lu Feng no longer declined. He carefully caught the beast core and cast Huo Gen a grateful look.

This beast core truly was useful to Lu Feng. When he had left Exquisite Valley this time, he had brought only several unfinished books on arrays. As for array-setting materials and jade stones, the two Old Men had not given him a single thing. In their words, jade was too expensive, and the valley's stock had run out.

Naturally, Lu Feng did not believe that. Thus, whenever he encountered any material that could be used to set an array, he treasured it dearly.

Huo Gen continued processing the Netherworld Leopard's corpse. Apart from its beast core, it still had many treasures. Its sharp claws could be made into crude claw weapons; its bones could be polished into tools; its sinews had excellent toughness and could be made into bowstrings...

"Good materials. When we get back, I'll use this Netherworld Leopard to make you a bow better suited to you." Huo Gen said as he handled the sinew in his hand.

Lu Feng smiled gratefully and casually asked, "Brother Huo Gen, where did you learn such divine archery?"

"It was passed down from my ancestors. Our village produced someone truly extraordinary a long time ago," Huo Gen said with longing and reverence.

Since it was a family inheritance, Lu Feng found it inappropriate to ask further.

The two made some simple preparations and carried the remaining leopard meat back. The dead leopard weighed several hundred jin, leaving Lu Feng and Huo Gen thoroughly exhausted.

To avoid causing a commotion, they quietly dealt with the leopard after returning to the village. The villagers merely took it for an ordinary wild leopard.

For some time afterward, Lu Feng followed Huo Gen during the day to hunt and learn archery. At night, he told Huo Niu and Huo Yu stories of the continent and shared some cultivation experience.

Meanwhile, Huo Gen continuously gathered materials from prey to help Lu Feng craft a bow that fit him properly.

What Lu Feng could not understand was that Huo Niu had clearly reached adulthood and showed no physical abnormalities whatsoever, yet he still had not awakened his life soul. Even with Lu Feng's help, there had been no response at all.

This left Lu Feng deeply puzzled, though he had no idea where the problem lay.

Beside the bonfire, everyone gathered and chatted idly.

Huo Niu asked dejectedly, "Brother Lu Feng, do you think I might be unable to awaken my life soul?"

"Don't worry. People unable to awaken their life souls do exist, but you aren't one of them," Lu Feng comforted him. If Huo Niu truly could not awaken his life soul, then so be it, but Lu Feng had distinctly sensed spiritual energy within Huo Niu's body.

As though he had not heard Lu Feng clearly, Huo Niu muttered, "People unable to awaken their life souls..." like a fool in a daze.

Huo Niu, who had held boundless longing and expectation for the path of Soul Cultivation, ultimately could not accept the reality that his life soul could not be awakened. He let out a crazed shout, then ran toward the village ancestral hall.

Huo Gen, who had just finished crafting Lu Feng's bow and stepped outside, happened to see this scene. Concerned, he asked, "What's Huo Niu doing?"

"His life soul still hasn't awakened. He's feeling upset," Lu Feng explained.

"It's fine. Whenever that kid feels unhappy, he always goes to the ancestral hall. He'll sniff the incense and candle scent for a while, then come out." Huo Gen smiled, then handed the newly made bow in his hand to Lu Feng.

Huo Gen had spent a long time gathering materials and crafting it, pouring countless efforts into it all. Lu Feng had seen every bit of that, so he treasured this new bow greatly.

After receiving it with both hands, Lu Feng examined the bow that now belonged to him. From its appearance alone, no one would have guessed it had come from a remote mountain village. It was exquisitely made, without the slightest roughness to scrape the hand. The bow's body was completely black, far darker than even the Netherworld Leopard's fur. It held not a glimmer of cold sheen and could hide well in the darkness of night.

It was a simple bow, without any flashy embellishments, practicality above all else. Special patterns were carved upon it, somewhat resembling the markings on the Netherworld Leopard's beast core, yet not entirely alike. Even with Lu Feng's knowledge, he could not fully see through them.

The bowstring was a faint crimson, like dried blood. Red against black gave it an eerie appearance, yet it seemed unable to conceal itself perfectly in the night.

"Try drawing it to full draw." Huo Gen said with some pride, as if he already knew what Lu Feng was thinking.

Lu Feng did as he said.

The originally eerie blood-red bowstring was gradually swallowed by darkness as the bow bent open. In the end, it became black like the bow itself. How strange!

The instant he drew it fully, Lu Feng smelled an unusual fragrance that seemed to be emanating from the bow in his hands.

Astonished, Lu Feng looked at Huo Gen and asked him about it.

"Haha, just a few little tricks from the mountains," Huo Gen said with a proud grin. "I soaked the originally crimson bowstring in the village's Divergent Wolf Grass. It fused with the leopard blood clinging to it, and under tension, this phenomenon appears."

"Brother Huo Gen, thank you." Lu Feng thanked him sincerely, deeply engraving Huo Gen's kindness in his heart.

"Since it's your bow, give it a name," Huo Gen said.

"Since it came about because of the Netherworld Leopard, I'll call it the Netherworld Bow." Lu Feng thought for a moment before answering.

Just as they were about to discuss the bow's remarkable qualities further, a tremendous boom suddenly rang out. Immediately afterward, billowing clouds of dust rose from the ancestral hall in the distance.

"Why did the ancestral hall collapse?!" a villager in the distance cried out in terror.

"Brother Huo Niu is still inside!" Huo Yu said worriedly. Her little face was full of fear, and she looked on the verge of tears.

"Come on, let's go take a look." Huo Gen spoke anxiously and ran over.

Lu Feng stored the Netherworld Bow in the Kirin Ring, placing it in the same space as the Netherworld Beast Core, then hurried after him.

The ancestral hall's sudden collapse filled every villager with a sense of foreboding. After all, it was a place for worshipping ancestral spirits; its collapse was an ominous sign.

By the time Lu Feng and Huo Gen arrived, many villagers had already gathered before what had once been the ancestral hall, all craning their necks to look inside.

"Make way, make way..." Huo Gen squeezed into the crowd, with Lu Feng following behind him.

As the dust slowly settled, every person present wore an expression of utter disbelief.

There was no trace of the ancestral hall left. In its place was a massive, steep-sided pit, unfathomably deep and chilling to behold.