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

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock…

Rain threads cascaded off the ancient village's eaves, turning into beads that rolled down the tiles and struck the bluestone pavement, emitting a crisp and melodious sound.

Xiao Man carefully stacked the dry wood he had just gathered and kindled a bonfire. The flames leaped, illuminating his focused face, a glint of relief in his eyes.

"The rain came so suddenly; it was clear just a moment ago, but then dark clouds gathered and it poured forth, almost turning us into drenched chickens."

The brothers huddled close to Shang Jin, sitting beside the bonfire and chimed in, "Thank goodness Lord Shen was here, otherwise we really wouldn't know what to do in the rain."

Whenever Lord Shen's name came up, their tones filled with gratitude.

Had Shen Qing not noticed the change in the weather and used his spiritual power to carry them, finding timely shelter, they would probably still be on the muddy mountain paths, in utter disarray.

Shen Qing stood at the doorway, silently listening to their conversation without interjecting.

He surveyed the surroundings and realized that many of the big and broken items in the house were not very dusty, and many scattered belongings were left inside, indicating that the homeowners had not evacuated long ago.

Shen Qing guessed that many villagers had already heard some news and sensed something amiss, choosing to leave early.

Now, they had no idea where these people were taking refuge, perhaps in some deep mountain forest, leaving these houses readily available for them.

However, Shen Qing felt that hiding was not very effective.

With their abilities as martial masters, if they truly searched, they would definitely be able to find these people.

If any martial master in the Jing Luan Assembly wanted to accumulate evil qi, these people wouldn't be able to hide.

Shen Qing looked outside the door, saw the dull weather, and rain curtains like drapes enveloping both distant mountains and nearby fields in a haze, feeling a pang of sympathy for these fellow mountain folk.

In the past, when he lived in Hongshan Village, he often heard the elders talk about the past, saying, "Bandits comb through, soldiers rake through."

In the villagers' eyes, soldiers were even scarier than bandits.

In reality, they, these cultivating martial masters, were far scarier than those soldiers.

Soldiers could be resisted to some extent when they hurt people, but for them, killing these ordinary folks was as easy as slaughtering chickens and dogs.

Indiscriminate killing was almost inevitable.

Shen Qing did not delve deeper.

Inside the house, Shao Hongling and Shang Jin each leaned against one side of the wooden hut, closing their eyes and regulating their breaths.

After running around for two consecutive days, they had deeply entered the territory controlled by the Huang Tian Sect, and there might be several fierce battles ahead.

They needed to conserve their energy in preparation for any surprises.

As the sky gradually darkened, Shang Jin's spirit recovered, and he voluntarily woke up to take over for Shen Qing.

"Call us at once if there's any rustle of wind or movement of grass."

"Okay."

Shang Jin had climbed up from being a city gate guard step by step to a colonel. Guarding was his professional duty; he was adept at such tasks.

He knew the current environment was complex and could not be careless.

Under Shen Qing's reminder, he became even more diligent.

After handing over, Shen Qing sat back by the bonfire, listening to the continuous outside rain sometimes mixed with thunder, and the cries of unknown beasts in the distant mountains, silently regulating his breath.

Hearing the noise, Shao Hongling habitually opened her eyes and ended her meditation.

Her cultivation might not be bad in their small place, but she knew very well, in this crouching tiger, hidden dragon Jingluan Assembly, she was not enough.

Now, her only reliance was Shen Qing.

Luckily, although she was a lady from a prominent family in Lu'an Prefecture, the small place was involved in low-level business, so she didn't have the delicacy of a real prominent family; she could manage many household chores and miscellaneous tasks.

Seeing Shen Qing resting, she took the initiative to prepare food for Shen Qing, doing as much as she could manage.

Shen Qing was not resistant, and after back and forth, he also gradually became accustomed to her service, and their relationship grew much closer.

Being the only woman among them, and an exceedingly beautiful one at that.

Everyone saw the changes in Shao Hongling.

Shang Jin and the others hence took careful note internally, avoided any reckless talk, and were very perceptive.

The rain was heavy and sudden, lasting an entire night before it barely weakened.

After the next day dawned, the rain had completely stopped.

At this point, looking around, the distant mountains washed by the rain were lush and vibrant.

Vapors hovered among the mountain and countryside.

The droplets falling from the eaves struck clear sounds, and the village paths emitted a muddy, earthy smell.

But the sky was still overcast, without a glimpse of sunlight.

Shen Qing felt the moisture in the air, not likely to rain again soon.

They were about two to three hundred miles away from Dan Zhou, and with their speed, it would take approximately two to three more days.

He planned to lead everyone to continue on, hoping to reach their destination outside Dan Zhou as soon as possible.

Shang Jin and the others naturally followed Shen Qing's lead, moving forward with him.

The group followed the guided route and trekked along a major road. The road after the rain was full of mud, full of footprints.

Some of the footprints were even quite fresh.

Shen Qing immediately realized that a large group of people had just passed on this road.

And judging by the depth of the footprints, there were those among them with high cultivation levels.

"Wait a moment."

Shen Qing halted, gazing forward, and released his Divine Sense.

With the continuous breakthroughs in his Heavenly Bow Technique, Shen Qing's divine sense had become increasingly sharp and resilient.

Within a hundred meters, nothing could escape his perception.

Under this cover of divine sense, the surrounding mountain and forest environment was vividly detailed.

Each tree, each leaf's texture was fully detected by him.

Shen Qing concentrated and focused his divine sense on the mountain path.

Soon, on the muddy path, rows of footprints of varying depths and traces washed by rainwater all clearly appeared in his consciousness.

Despite his detailed investigation, within a hundred meters, he found no trace of anyone.

What was going on?

Shen Qing slightly furrowed his brow.

Undeterred, he continued to employ the Tracking Technique, and immediately, footprints of varying colors appeared in his sight.

Many of them bore traces of spiritual power.

This proved that someone had definitely passed by nearby recently.

Something was amiss.

"Lord Shen, what's the matter?" Shang Jin stepped forward to ask.

Shen Qing said, "Nothing much, we won't take this road. Let's go through the mountains."

He had recently broken through to the Spirit Void Realm, and among the many martial masters involved in the Jingluan Assembly, his strength was enough to be ranked near the top.

However, he didn't become arrogant or act recklessly; instead, he was even more cautious.

To his knowledge, families like the Cui and Wang had deep roots spanning nearly a thousand years, unlike the newly risen Xue Family which only had decades of history.

These families certainly possessed many profound skills; the Xue Family's weakness did not imply weakness in the others.

Shen Qing had noticed signs of people here, but the inability to discern more made him feel uneasy.

So, it was better to be more cautious.

At Shen Qing's beckoning, their group entered the forest trail.

Raised as a hunter, Shen Qing had roamed these mountains and forests since childhood, not to mention he possessed the Hunting Scripture Martial Arts, making navigating the forest like walking on flat ground for him and leading Shang Jin and the others was effortless.

Even more to say, with cultivation, he had become incomparably stronger.

He continued to advance cautiously, his spiritual power surging, his figure constantly flashing through the woods.

Nowadays, he mastered many martial arts; his primary techniques, the Eight Desolate Annihilation Seal and the Six Path Whale Swallowing Technique, were progressing slowly.

Both techniques were nearing the level of the Martial Arts path to the Great Power realm, requiring an understanding of the natural order of heaven and earth, continuously integrating the spiritual energy of the universe to form a primordial spirit in order to breakthrough.

The process was rather difficult; in the Great Zhou, no one entering the Primordial Spirit Realm was below a hundred years old; most broke through only around two hundred.

If he wanted to break through using these two arts, it would definitely require more dedication and time.

On the other hand, Da Xu Technique and Heavenly Bow Technique, which he had been using more frequently recently, were progressing smoothly.

These two techniques, one ancient martial art from the Huangfu family and the other a basic bow technique evolved from nothing that doesn't entail the pathway of the primordial spirit.

Once their progress was complete, both could smoothly break through to the next stage.

Shen Qing planned to focus his main efforts on these two arts, wanting to see what changes would occur after a breakthrough from a lower-level martial art to its zenith, and also anticipating the potential of the Great Void Shifting Technique refined by the Da Xu Technique.

This Jingluan Assembly presented a good opportunity to enhance these two arts.

When the time was right, he could leverage the Water Ink Panel to help him break through his current bottleneck, potentially leading to unforeseen results.

However, Shen Qing was not in a rush for success; with martial arts, especially, if one blindly seeks progress, it might backfire.

After the rain, as Shen Qing led the group along the damp forest path using the Da Xu Technique...

Suddenly, deep in the dense forest, a hazy yellow light flickered in and out of visibility like the flame of a candle appearing unusually in the midst of the mist.

Shang Jin and others promptly stopped, hiding on the side and whispering curiously, "What is that?"

Shen Qing's expression tightened, and he hastily extended his divine sense to investigate.

To his surprise, when his divine sense touched that hazy yellow light, it felt as if it had touched a black hole; all his divine sense was devoured, rendering the space void.

Had he not seen it with his own eyes, it would seem as though such abnormality did not exist at all.

This greatly astonished Shen Qing.

This was, after all, the first time he had encountered such a phenomenon.

Shen Qing did not give up; his eyes shone brightly, possessing sharp eyesight.

The distant scene appeared to be magnified several times, presenting itself in front of him.

Upon a closer look, that beam of light resembled an overturned yellow bowl.

Just as he curiously stared, within the yellow light, a ripple emerged, and an individual walked out from the ambiguous yellow light.

His arm was wrapped with a yellow cloth strip, and his head was covered with a Yellow Turban.

Shen Qing's expression changed.

A Saint!

It was someone from the Huang Tian Sect.

This was a formation set up by the Huang Tian Sect.

They were lying in ambush.

Shen Qing's heart chilled, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized the figure emerging from the yellow light.

The figure had a cold expression, profound eyes, and was enveloped in an indescribable aura.

He took the treasure bow from his back, silently signaling his companions to remain vigilant.