Xu Liyuan was dumbfounded when he heard this.
In his many years, one thing was for sure: everyone wanted to be a sword cultivator.
He felt the admiration for sword cultivators everywhere he went.
Now someone, no, a junior!
A junior, those who are the most influenceable, told him that he didn't like swords!
Confused, he looked at the other young boys and girls and saw their jealousy and confusion without exception.
"Are you sure?" he asked, thinking he might have heard it wrong.
Yugong didn't hide his admiration and said "A mighty bow with its string stretched, holding the arrow and targeting your prey hundreds of metres away, killing it with one strike!
The beauty of archery is so great, why would I want to give it up for a sword?"
He didn't think there was anything majestic about a sword.
For him, the hunt in archery was extremely tempting after hunting, but archery itself was a great cause.
Just remembering the mighty archery rituals that required extreme care, respect ignited the fire in his heart.
As for swords… well, he was sure there were things like that too, but he never had an interest.
He didn't think about arguing in an efficient way either – the bow would win absolutely in that case.
Killing your prey from a distance away, having the chance to always flee but also being able to chase and hunt…
The method of archery is very fitting for hunters in his opinion!
Cultivation is about resources and hunting is definitely a way to pave the path.
Comparably, sword cultivators are just a bit better in a battle.
Only battles of two people, any more and other weapons would be better.
At that time, Yugong clearly had one thought 'If one doesn't plan to be a bandit, then the battle ability will not be used.'
Considering this, archery that has many advantages in hunting can ensure a smooth road as resources can be gained.
As for the idea of protecting the path… every weapon dharma can protect the path very well. If it's only about protection, then the shield is definitely the best.
After contemplating inside and talking outside, he was determined and felt that there was nothing that could convince him to take a different weapon.
Finally, Liyuan saw that there was no chance, so he simply told the boy that he would be accepted into the sect as an inner disciple, unlike the previous hope of directly pushing him to a senior to accept as a disciple and make him a core disciple.
Yugong was happy about this.
No matter what, if you have to follow the path you don't want, you will not be happy.
He didn't know much about cultivation but from the books he read, he knew that being unhappy in life will be a great hurdle in cultivation.
Such as unhappiness of the path is something that can only be cured by going back.
If he returns to the bow much later, he might lose the spirit of archery he has cultivated in his heart – the biggest advantage he currently had, even though he didn't know about it just yet.
Now it has come to the current situation – Yugong sitting in his hut.
After remembering everything that happened in the past week, he felt as if his whole world had changed.
'I don't know what will happen from now on…' he was worried but also looking forward to the future.
…
The day was long and Yugong fell asleep early on.
When the daylight broke into his hut, he woke up swiftly.
As a hunter, he lived in the woods for most of the day.
He had to wake up very early to catch the waking prey. Even if he wasn't lucky enough to catch a prey, he had to check the traps he laid out the day prior.
When he woke up, he remembered his situation once more and found he had quite a lot of free time.
He wasn't told when they would go back to the sect, but his guess was that it would be today or the next day, since they had already tested everyone, a sign there wouldn't be more children.
Considering he was free, he thought of the things he could do.
Prior, he would just sleep in, but two years of being a hunter changed his mindset for a major part.
So, he instead just followed the normal exercises he sometimes watched on his phone in his past life.
Hunters don't hunt when they have prey – rotting meat is a serious issue.
With his age, Yugong feared he would get a bad deal or even be robbed if he were to sell his things – attention was something he wanted the least of.
So, he instead chose to spent his time differently.
Morning exercise was a common and rather easy thing to do. It also helped built up his strength.
Now, he could at least fight a child five years older than him – although he didn't experience the feeling of bullying just yet.
Unsure what this meant, he once actually followed fellow villagers and saw them all working.
At that time, he understood that village boys don't have the luxury of running around, causing trouble and bullying people.
As for those landowners' children, well, they were forced to learn at home and only went to the town when they were free, disdaining the simple fun of the village children.
'It seems I still have the habit of reminiscing about things. I had it when I was young and when I got older, it became worse.
My teachers told me that this habit is good for pattern recognition… well, in my past life, it wasn't too big of a help, but here I was able to do better with it.
It's also quite surprising how common knowledge in the past life is treated as a luxury out here.
Not to mention any planting technology, just the order of planting is something farmers have to figure out on their own.
This is still the behaviour of keeping your knowledge to yourself… well, it's not easy to change their idea about knowledge, especially in a world of cultivation and martial arts.'
While his thoughts were wandering, he already went into his basic position and started walking.
In the modern times, it's inevitable that you see some unique methods of training, whether they are traditional or popular.
Yugong learned the method of the Eight Trigrams Palm, which is more about footwork and agility than about palm strikes.
He didn't know why but he was once captivated by a practitioner, so he looked into it for a whole night, until he ignored it once more.
Now, he was in the world of cultivation and had a lot of time, thinking that internal strength might not be a lie, he trained it.
The eight trigrams palm focuses on circular movements – one walks in a circle while constantly changing positions – like the rotation of the moon around the earth and the earth around the sun.
Constantly changing position while walking in a circle gives him a lot of movability.
When he fought in this stance, his feet could turn and his legs were flexible.
Yugong swore himself to the bow and arrow, so any other weapon would be difficult for him to focus on.
Even if he wanted, he felt that it wouldn't be as effective as just holding an arrow and stabbing with that.
Instead, he thought about just learning footwork so he can always maintain distance, and in case the enemy still somehow catches him off guard, he can just slap them away with his palm.
Of course the martial art does not intend this, but rather focuses on redirecting the enemies' strikes…
But slapping is still easy once you train your palms to meet fists.