Water Ink Panel: Starting with Bow Technique to Hunt the Sun and Patrol the Skies

Chapter 12: Chapter 12 Learning the Nine Skills, Cultivating Qi-Blood

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Fortunately, Chen Dahu didn't notice anything unusual.

Seeing that Shen Fang was not in the house, Shen Qing guessed she must have gone to her aunt's house.

After thinking it over, Shen Qing took two hunting crossbows and pulled out a feathered arrow before walking out.

Considering that there was already meat at home, he carefully locked the door before leaving.

Shen Qing treaded through the snow to his uncle's house and knocked, calling out, "Uncle, auntie, are you at home?"

A moment later, rustling noises came from behind the door.

With a creak,

the old wooden door opened.

Shen Xiaohu, seeing it was Shen Qing, turned and shouted into the house, "Brother Qingzi is here."

Upon hearing it was Shen Qing visiting, the aunt's face showed unexpected concern; she continued her needlework in her chair without even lifting her head.

"Ah Di," Shen Fang, who was helping her aunt with the work, saw Shen Qing return safe and sound, her face relaxed as usual with a sigh of relief.

Shen Qing glanced around the room and asked, "Where's uncle?"

Shen Xiaohu answered, "He went up the mountain with Shanwa a while ago, I reckon they should be back soon."

Shen Qing hummed in acknowledgment and placed the two hares on the ground, saying, "Today I hunted a few crossbows on the mountain, I've brought them for you, Auntie."

"Brother Qingzi, you should take them back. You and big sister don't have it easy, we have Dad, and we still have food in our house," Shen Xiaohu quickly picked up the hares from the ground and stuffed them back into Shen Qing's hands.

Shen Qing protested, "I hunted quite a lot this time, and we still have more at home; it's not that valuable."

He was slightly stronger than Shen Xiaohu, who couldn't refuse, so he had to give up.

"At least you have some conscience," the aunt muttered coldly.

"Mother," Shen Xiaohu exclaimed with a hint of complaint in his tone.

Auntie Wang gave him a glance but remained silent.

Shen Qing neatly put the hares back down and then took some arrows from under his arm, handing them to his aunt, "Today I also found the arrows I had lost, and these are the ones I borrowed from you a while ago. It's time to return them to you and uncle."

Auntie Wang, without looking up from her needlework, said as she bit off the thread, "Just put them on the table, I'll tell your uncle later."

"Alright," Shen Qing replied and placed the arrows on the table, then added, "There's nothing else now, I've bothered you for half a day, auntie. Big sister, you should come back with me."

With that, Shen Qing was about to turn and leave when Auntie Wang stopped him, "Hold on."

"What is it, Auntie?"

Auntie Wang tested an old, patched jacket against Shen Qing's frame and said, "Looks like it fits just right."

"Auntie, what's this?"

Auntie Wang explained, "I saw that your yun robes have been worn for quite some time, and many parts are too short. I altered one using your brothers' old clothes, here, put this on."

"This…"

"Don't dawdle, get going."

Auntie Wang promptly issued him to leave.

Having interacted with his aunt over this period, Shen Qing knew her temperament well and did not say more, taking Shen Fang back home.

On the way, Shen Fang quietly complained, "Qingzi, you should've just given one. Our family doesn't have much to eat either. When we're better off in the future, we can give more to Auntie's family…"

Shen Qing did not respond and, upon reaching home, he opened the door to let Shen Fang in.

As soon as she entered, Shen Fang's eyes immediately fell on the roe deer piled in the room, and her mumbling complaints stopped abruptly.

Disbelief filled Shen Fang's eyes, "Qingzi..."

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"Lucky me, bagged an extra dumb roe deer." Shen Qing turned his head to look at Shen Fang and said with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, "Sis, do you know how to cook roe deer meat?"

...

As it turned out, not only was Shen Fang beautiful, her cooking skills were indeed up to par.

Under her hands, the roe deer meat, after being smoked over firewood, became firm and elastic. Each bite allowed one to feel the toughness of the meat fibers and the chewiness.

The smoked meat's surface developed a slight char, and this smoky flavor combined with the tender meat. Although somewhat primal, Shen Qing found it exceptionally delicious.

The brother and sister hadn't eaten so freely in a long time. They feasted voraciously, devouring the roasted roe deer meat until not a scrap was left.

Even so, there was still a lot of roe deer meat left. Eating it all would only put a small dent in the amount.

With the leftovers, and considering it was winter, there was no worry of spoilage. Shen Qing planned to take half to the market in town later on to sell for some silver coins.

After filling their stomachs, Shen Fang dutifully began to clean up the housework, while the rarely idle Shen Qing took the opportunity to pull out the "Nine Skills" Martial Arts book and scrutinized it carefully.

This Martial Arts text was Entry Level, merely for refining Qi-Blood, to lay the foundation for martial masters on their Martial Arts path.

The entire text covered nine different stance trainings, without any fighting moves or killing techniques.

It was somewhat similar to the Health Cultivation Martial Arts like the Eight Sections of Brocade from his previous life.

Considering the cultivator's comprehension, the book mostly consisted of illustrated pages that were straightforward and easy to understand; one simply had to follow the pictures and practice.

However, Shen Qing knew that the easier Martial Arts looked, the harder it was to master the basics.

There were often numerous details that were difficult to notice and easy to overlook.

And often, whether one learned successfully or not depended on these details.

After reading through it once and understanding the gist of the practices, Shen Qing started to practice the first four stances (Hunyuan Stance, Mao Dun Stance, Tuo Ying Zhuang, and Floating Cloud Stance) as depicted in the book.

He placed the blue book on the table, flipped open a page, and with fists clenched, stood in the Hunyuan Stance as described.

At first, there was no discomfort, but after just a dozen or so breaths, Shen Qing started to feel a throbbing soreness below his waist and knees, growing more and more acute.

Shen Qing kept a stoic face, gritting his teeth as he endured.

After a while, his body's muscles began to tremble slightly with the rhythm of his breathing, as if an invisible force was circulating within him.

With deeper breaths, Shen Qing's body began to shiver slightly, and the Qi-Blood under his skin started to surge.

Suddenly, it was as if he sensed something.

Shen Qing's consciousness shifted.

In his vision, a drop of water ink spread out, revealing a series of water ink characters.

[Skill: Nine Skills (Entry Level)]

[Progress: 0/100 points]

[Status: Cannot be improved]

[Note: A technique for refining Qi-Blood. Continuous cultivation can increase progress, achieve Great Perfection of Qi-Blood, and gain strength like that of an ox.]

Looking at the water ink characters that appeared in his vision, Shen Qing couldn't help but smile, and a weight in his heart finally settled.

It seemed his Water Ink Panel wasn't only limited to improving Bow Technique and Hunting, Martial Arts could also have their progress increased.

Now that the Nine Skills was displayed in his vision, as long as he continued to cultivate, it would be prove forever, enhancing the progress.

Given some time, he would be able to master the Nine Skills to Great Perfection.

With this thought, Shen Qing felt as though he was filled with enthusiasm.

Even though his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, he seemed completely unaware, focusing wholly on immersing himself in cultivation.