Unrivaled Archery

[Piercing Willow Archery (Entry 3/500)]

Hong Ming took a glance, and that was all it was.

He stopped paying attention afterward, lest he add to his own frustration.

Having suffered a blow to his confidence in archery, he turned to compensate by training fiercely in stance work and fist techniques.

He practiced tirelessly until noon, when Zhong Shaoying sent someone to deliver this month's stipend.

Come to think of it, he had not seen the man once since Zhong Shaoying began sponsoring him.

It seemed the other party only provided the support out of respect for Qin Hao, casting him aside once the deed was done.

Though he hadn't seen the man, gratitude was still necessary; with this money, combined with his soon-to-arrive salary, his pockets were a bit more lined.

"It is time to buy a Black Stone Bow!"

Hong Ming had long since decided how to use these funds.

For the past few days, it had been Li Mo who generously opened his purse to lend him an old bow for practice.

That was fine for the short term, but if it continued for long, it would be improper.

With money in hand, Hong Ming left the Naval Battalion and headed for the military town, making a few inquiries before heading straight to the street where bows and arrows were sold.

The vast Naval Battalion supporting the civilians within a ten-mile radius was no exaggeration.

Before him lay two long streets, entirely filled with shops selling bows and arrows.

The shops were lined up one after another on both sides of the street, some large, some small, some cheap, some expensive, with all manner of bows, crossbows, and arrows hanging from the walls.

There were long and short bows, light and heavy crossbows, beast-tendon bows, and the like; the arrows included fletched arrows, fire arrows, whistling arrows, and poisoned arrows.

The variety was vast and the selection complete, leaving Hong Ming dazzled and unable to choose.

Yet, he had a clever method: he did not rely on his naked eye to judge the quality of the bows, but rather used his traits to determine them.

As he browsed, he did indeed harvest quite a few traits related to archery.

There were traits that focused on eyesight, traits that enhanced wrist strength, and even traits that improved precision, but none of them satisfied him.

He preferred archery traits that could assist in cultivation; otherwise, merely increasing a single ability was treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.

Walking from one end of the street to the other, Hong Ming had little to show for it, but as he reached a shop on the second street, his panel displayed a new trait.

He had expected more of the usual, but to his surprise, the item gave him a massive shock.

[Trait: Unrivaled Archery (Level 2 · Cyan)]

[Status: Can be solidified]

[Required Luck: 36 points]

[Solidification Effect: Archery talent significantly increased.]

Not only was it a Level 2 trait, but it was for archery talent!

Hong Ming's heart hammered against his chest, and his joy was written all over his face.

Finally, I have found you!

Having gone through such great pains to find a satisfactory trait, Hong Ming chose to solidify it without a second thought.

The notification sound then brought him back to reality.

Insufficient Luck!

He belatedly checked his panel; his current accumulated Luck was twenty-nine points.

He was not far off from being able to solidify the Unrivaled Archery trait.

At most, in five days, he would have enough Luck to solidify the trait for his own use.

"Where is the source of the trait?"

Hong Ming cast his gaze toward the shop before him, intending to purchase the item.

Five days was not a long time, but there could always be complications; it was better to buy the item and be done with it.

"Military officer, I have already shown you most of the bows and crossbows in the shop, and you are not satisfied with any of them. Might you tell me your specific requirements?"

The shop clerk was becoming impatient with Hong Ming's pickiness.

If Hong Ming had stated his requirements, he wouldn't have wasted time; if they had it, he would give it, and if not, he would politely see him out.

But Hong Ming only looked without stating any requirements, insisting on taking the items out to inspect them, making him almost suspect the man had ulterior motives.

This trace of impatience vanished completely after Hong Ming tossed him a few coins.

Fine, look as you please; as long as you don't walk off with a bow or crossbow, you are free to do as you wish.

Without the clerk's nagging, Hong Ming's inspection became even faster.

Just as he began to suspect that the trait did not come from the bows or crossbows but from the arrows, the result appeared.

The trait did indeed come from a bow, and if he wasn't mistaken, this bow was the Black Stone Bow commonly used by archers.

It was a bit on the small side, not looking like something meant for a man, but rather custom-made for a woman.

Upon questioning the shop assistant, the man's response confirmed Hong Ming's suspicions.

He remained unfazed, convinced that any object capable of birthing a trait was extraordinary, and immediately purchased it from the assistant.

The bow was cheap, priced at five taels, but Hong Ming haggled it down to four taels and five mace, leaving with the bow under the assistant's strange gaze.

In the afternoon, he went to the Archery Battalion as usual and found Li Mo to return his old bow.

It seemed strangeness was contagious; Li Mo also fell silent for a moment upon seeing the Black Stone Bow Hong Ming was using, though he said nothing and left after providing his routine guidance.

This suited Hong Ming perfectly; he stopped practicing archery and turned to standing on the stake and practicing his fist techniques instead.

It was a matter of necessity; the former was slow in both cultivation and increasing his Luck, far inferior to the latter.

His top priority was to increase his Luck first, then solidify the trait.

Once the trait was at his side, he estimated he could achieve in a single day what currently took several.

A bit earlier than the five days Hong Ming had anticipated, he gathered enough Luck in just four days.

Without hesitation, he communicated with the panel and issued the command.

[Consumed 36 points of Luck, successfully solidified the "Unrivaled Archery" trait.]

The sound of the panel was truly beautiful, and only after immersing himself in the moment for a while did Hong Ming test the effects of the second-tier trait.

[Piercing Willow Archery +5]

[Piercing Willow Archery +6]

[Piercing Willow Archery +4]

[...]

As expected of a second-tier trait, the effects far exceeded his expectations!

It soared directly to an average of about five points per repetition.

Although it hadn't surpassed the cultivation speed of the Coiling Dragon Stake and the Frost Sky Fist, how long did it take to draw a string and loose an arrow?

By the time he finished standing on the stake once or completing one set of fist techniques, Hong Ming figured he would have emptied his quiver.

"At this rate, I can reach the entry level in less than half a month!"

Joy flickered in Hong Ming's eyes; the difference between having a trait and not having one was immediate and obvious.

Without the trait, he had no idea when he would have ever managed to bring Piercing Willow Archery to the entry level.

With this trait, half a month was enough!

With a goal in sight, Hong Ming practiced archery as if he had taken a potent tonic, fierce and relentless.

He couldn't claim to never miss or hit the bullseye every time, but within ten zhang, he was hitting five out of ten shots—a near-total transformation compared to the past.

"Is that Hong Ming?"

Li Mo, passing by, took a moment to observe and saw the results Hong Ming had achieved, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes.

Previously, he had felt that Hong Ming was putting the cart before the horse by neglecting archery to focus solely on fist techniques and stake work.

Seeing such significant progress now, he couldn't help but feel puzzled. Could it be that the boy was just practicing those to pass the time, while actually building momentum for his archery?

He stood watching for a long while before quietly departing. Regardless, progress was always a good thing.

Otherwise, if he were too incompetent, he wouldn't be able to show his face in the future, and would just be flauntingly mocked by that bastard Yu Bin.

In the days that followed, Hong Ming grasped stake work, fist techniques, and archery all at once.

His stake work was nearing completion, his archery was gradually taking shape, and his fist techniques were steadily advancing, but the remaining grain in his pockets was dwindling by the day.

"With three things going at once, my body and mind can barely hold up, but my purse is truly tight—it's becoming unsustainable!"

That day, Hong Ming tallied his silver and realized the reality of his situation.

It was time to go make some money!

Hong Ming made a prompt decision; there was no time to lose.

His method of earning money was the same as before: heading to the Chen Family Water Farm to continue harvesting clams.

Harvesting clams was an easy job for him now, but he wondered if, with the Water Breathing trait, he would be able to harvest any premium pearl clams?