[Available points: 0]
Going from 1.0 to 1.3 looked like an increase of only 0.3, but an ordinary person would need years of grueling practice to achieve that much improvement. He had done it in just two days.
"Good, good, good!"
Naturally, Li Xuan had his reasons for going all in on Physique.
He would definitely keep heading into the mountains to hunt for money. If his stamina couldn't keep up, that simply wouldn't do.
Besides, Li Xuan had ambitions.
Those mountains held all sorts of game. If he was going to hunt, he would hunt the big ones.
And that meant drawing a stiffer bow.
His Archery Mastery had already reached proficient, which was certainly enough for his needs, so his equipment had to keep pace too!
After weighing it all up, Li Xuan had a plan.
Early the next morning, daylight was just beginning to show.
Feeling the abundant strength coursing through his body, Li Xuan went to find Li Shan, who was smoking in silence beneath the eaves.
"Dad," he began, "that old bow... the one we have at home. Could I take a look?"
He meant the stiff Ox-Horn Bow Li Shan treasured.
At his words, Li Shan studied him with clouded eyes for a long moment, seemingly examining the composure in his youngest son's gaze, so unlike his usual restlessness.
After a long while, he tapped out his pipe and slowly rose. "Come with me."
From the most secluded corner of the east room, he took out a long bundle carefully wrapped in oilcloth.
He unfolded the oilcloth, revealing the Mulberry-Hardwood Bow in its entirety.
The bow had smooth, graceful lines, and its grip had acquired a patina.
Yet its fine original craftsmanship and formidable power were still apparent. That battered Mulberry Wood Bow couldn't begin to compare.
"Your grandfather left this behind. A real hunting bow." Li Shan stroked its limb, his voice thick with mixed emotions.
"It takes too much strength. You couldn't draw it before, and I... haven't touched it in a long time either. You want to learn?"
"Yes." Li Xuan nodded. "That Mulberry Wood Bow just doesn't have enough power."
Li Shan looked at the resolve in his son's eyes, then recalled how resourcefully he had handled the Xu Family's mother and daughter yesterday, along with the game he had brought home over the past two days. At last, he nodded.
"All right. I'll teach you. If you can't manage it... don't actually draw it. Be careful, or it could snap clean through and hurt you."
The two went to an open patch in the backyard.
Li Shan took the bow, despite the trouble with his legs.
But as he gripped the bow's limb, turned slightly sideways, and assumed a proper stance for drawing it,
his stooped back seemed to straighten in an instant, and the steady, seasoned bearing unique to an old hunter naturally emerged.
"Watch closely. Stand firm, like a pine with its roots sunk deep." Li Shan demonstrated slowly. "Push the bow with your left hand. Keep your arm straight and your shoulder down. Hook the string with your right hand, drawing with the broad muscles of your back, not just brute force from your arm. Your eye, the bow's tip, and the target must form a straight line. Keep your mind quiet and your breathing steady. Release decisively, like a knife slicing through tofu..."
He explained carefully, and Li Xuan listened attentively.
These fundamentals were actually much the same as the muscle memory and insights he had gained after the system raised his skill to "proficient," though those were even more systematic and refined.
But hearing his father teach him in person carried an entirely different meaning.
Just then, Li Xiuer passed nearby with a little girl around her age. Curious at the sight, they stopped and watched from a short distance away.
The little girl wore old clothes that were patched but washed clean. Her hair was yellow and dry, and her frame was small and thin, but her eyes were bright. At that moment, she was watching Li Xuan and his father without blinking.
After explaining the basic stance, Li Shan handed the damaged bow to Li Xuan.
"Copy what I did. Try the draw without an arrow and get a feel for how to apply your strength."
Li Xuan took the weighty Mulberry-Hardwood Bow. Its feel in his hands was worlds apart from the Mulberry Wood Bow.
He planted his feet as instructed, his left foot slightly forward and his center of gravity lowered, holding the bow's limb loosely in his left hand while curling his right index and middle fingers as though hooking the string.
As he adjusted his body into the ideal stance according to his "proficient" muscle memory and his father's instructions,
a peculiar sense of harmony arose, as though the bow had always been an extension of his arm.
He didn't actually pull with any force. Without an arrow, there was no way to discharge that force, and he could hurt himself.
He merely moved slowly through the motions of drawing the bow. Strength flowed naturally through his shoulders, back, arms, and fingers, utterly fluid, his posture as precise as if he had practiced it thousands upon thousands of times.
When he pretended to lock his gaze onto a tree ahead, an intangible sharpness even began to seep from him.
Watching beside him, Li Shan had initially been ready to correct the finer details. But the longer he watched, the wider his eyes grew, until his face was filled with incredulous shock!
That stance... that steadiness... that faintly seasoned touch in the way he applied his strength...
How could someone who had still been blindly fumbling yesterday, someone who had never properly learned archery before, possibly do this?!
A short distance away, Li Xiuer was dumbstruck too.
The thin little girl beside her instinctively covered her mouth, her wide eyes brimming with wonder. She couldn't help whispering to Xiu'er,
"Xiu'er... your third brother... he's amazing! That pose looks even better than the man in the picture outside the martial arts school in town!"
Sharing in his glory, Li Xiuer puffed out her little chest. "Of course! My third brother is really amazing now!"
Watching Li Xuan's straight-backed figure as he finished the motion and stood upright, the thin girl's eyes shone with even greater admiration. Suddenly, she leaned toward Li Xiuer's ear and whispered dreamily,
"My mother says that when I find a husband someday, I should find someone capable like that, someone who can shoulder things... Xiu'er, if your third brother starts looking for a wife, do you think... would I do? My family may be poor, but I can work!"
Li Xiuer had been basking in pride, but at those words, she instantly became a kitten whose tail had been stepped on. Her eyes widened warily, and she grabbed her friend's arm, blurting out,
"Xing'er! What are you saying! You... you're still little! You're not old enough to talk about marriage! And... and have you no shame!"
She suddenly felt the alarming possibility that someone else had set their sights on her most cherished treasure.
The little girl named Xing'er blushed at her rebuke, but her gaze still couldn't help drifting toward Li Xuan as she muttered,
"I was just saying... it's not like I actually did anything..."
Naturally, Li Xuan didn't hear their whispers.
He slowly finished the motion and respectfully handed the bow back to Li Shan, who was still dazed.
Li Shan accepted it, his fingers stroking its limb. Looking again at his youngest son, who seemed to have been reborn, his lips moved. In the end, a thousand words became one long sigh, and he patted Li Xuan's much sturdier shoulder.
"Good... good lad... your father has nothing left to teach you."
He looked up toward the mountains behind the village and said slowly,
"This bow is yours. Now... go make your way in the mountains with your own abilities. Remember, the mountains are high and the forests dense. Be careful with every step."
Li Xuan nodded firmly. "I understand, Dad."
Beneath the old locust tree at the village entrance, the winds of gossip quietly shifted.
Mention of the Li family's third son had once drawn sneers. Now, the aroma of meat and a hint of curiosity seasoned every word.
As the sun sank westward, several women gathered as usual beneath the crooked old locust tree at the village entrance, stealing a little leisure to chat after finishing their household chores.
Whether they were stitching shoe soles or twisting hemp rope, their tongues worked far more nimbly than their hands.
"Have you heard? The smell of meat was wafting out of Old Li's house again yesterday! Even stronger than the day before! I could smell it from two fences away. It had my boy clamoring that he was hungry!"
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