William Clark brought Henry Clark to a bamboo grove not far outside the village. On one of the bamboo stalks, a wooden target was already hanging.
The wood had been carved into a circle, with a black dot drawn in the center using charcoal. Taking the black dot as the center, nine rings of varying sizes were drawn outward, each marked with the numbers one through nine.
"Archery, first of all, your body must be steady, and your hands and shoulders level..."
William Clark began explaining the key points of archery, and Henry Clark listened attentively.
"Watch closely."
After finishing the explanation, William Clark stood thirty meters from the target, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and with a whoosh, the arrow shot out like lightning, hitting the bullseye.
"Yan'er, you give it a try."
William Clark looked at Henry Clark.
"Alright!"
Henry Clark took the newly made hunting bow, drew out a bamboo arrow, and also stood thirty meters from the target. He tried hard to recall the key points William Clark had explained, then drew the bow and shot. With a whoosh... the arrow missed the target by several meters.
Henry Clark's face flushed, but he let out a soft "huh," showing a hint of surprise.
Because at the moment he shot the arrow, the 'book' in his mind suddenly appeared, and a light flashed.
This had never happened before.
Henry Clark focused his mind, trying to communicate with the book, but there was no response at all.
"Could it be related to archery?"
Henry Clark wondered to himself.
Seeing Henry Clark in a daze, William Clark thought he was discouraged by missing the target, so he comforted him, "Yan'er, it's normal to miss on your first try. When I first learned, I was even worse than you. Just keep practicing and you'll get better. There were a few things wrong with your form just now..."
William Clark corrected some of Henry Clark's mistakes and let him continue practicing.
Henry Clark drew his bow and nocked another arrow, shooting again.
This time, he noticed that as he shot, the book in his mind once again appeared and flashed.
So it really was because of archery, not an illusion.
Henry Clark became excited and kept practicing. Of course, most of the bamboo arrows still missed the target, but with some luck, he managed to hit it a few times.
Each time he shot, the book in his mind would flash.
He practiced like this until noon, his arms aching, before stopping to go back for lunch. After eating and resting for a bit, Henry Clark went back to practice again.
The next day.
"Yan'er, archery is easy to learn but hard to master. You've pretty much grasped the basics. From now on, it's all about practice. With time, you'll naturally become proficient, maybe even a true expert. Today, I won't accompany you. You can practice on your own."
William Clark said. Since the bamboo grove was right by the village, there was no need to worry about Henry Clark encountering danger.
"Okay, Dad."
Henry Clark eagerly took the hunting bow and bamboo arrows to the bamboo grove to continue practicing.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
He practiced over and over, losing track of time, until it was almost noon.
Thunk!
An arrow hit the target, landing steadily on the 'ninth ring.'
"Three consecutive hits on the target."
Henry Clark showed a hint of a smile. After so much practice, he was finally seeing results.
At that moment, the book in his mind underwent a tremendous change, emitting a dazzling light, and it felt as if a powerful force was pulling Henry Clark's consciousness toward it.
Henry Clark felt his vision go black, his consciousness sinking into darkness. The next moment, he found himself in a boundless, endless space. In front of him, an ancient-looking book floated, radiating brilliant light.
"Is this my mind? Or perhaps, my consciousness space?"
Henry Clark wondered.
It wasn't his physical body that had entered, but his consciousness.
Then, Henry Clark's attention was completely drawn to the book.
The book looked ancient, neither gold nor jade, its material unknown. On its surface, rune-like lines flowed continuously, and the light was emitted from these lines.
Gradually, the light dimmed, and two characters appeared on the book's cover: 道书.
Then, the Dao Book opened on its own, revealing pristine white pages. There were no words, but a humanoid figure appeared.
After a moment, this humanoid figure actually detached from the book and flew out, landing beside Henry Clark.
What shocked Henry Clark was that this humanoid figure completely transformed into a 'person,' with clear facial features, looking exactly like Henry Clark.
The only difference was that it wasn't wearing clothes, its body almost transparent, with muscles, meridians, bones, and internal organs all clearly visible.
"There are words on its head."
Henry Clark looked closely and saw: Clone, Basic Archery, Initial Insight (1%)
After this clone appeared, a hunting bow appeared in its hand, and a quiver of light arrows appeared at its side. It drew a light arrow, nocked it on the bowstring, took aim, and shot.
The shooting posture was exactly the same as Henry Clark's.
After shooting one arrow, the clone, fully focused, drew another arrow and continued shooting.
This time, compared to the last, both the posture and strength had been adjusted, making it better and steadier.
Suddenly, Henry Clark gained some new understanding in his mind, as if he himself had just shot the arrow, and his grasp of archery deepened a little.
It wasn't much, but it was real progress.
Could it be that the results of the archery clone's practice would be fed back to him?
Henry Clark was overjoyed, watching the archery clone with great excitement.