The archery avatar was completely focused, with no distracting thoughts, wholeheartedly practicing archery as if tireless.

After a while, the number above the archery avatar’s head changed.

Avatar, Basic Archery (2%)

Meanwhile, Henry Clark’s understanding of archery had clearly deepened.

“If it works like this, then I don’t even need to practice—won’t my archery keep improving on its own?”

Henry Clark was overjoyed, clenching his fists in excitement. This was his chance to change his fate.

“How do I exit with my consciousness?”

Just as he thought this, his consciousness suddenly withdrew, returning to his physical body.

But as long as he concentrated, he could still clearly ‘see’ the scene in his mind.

The archery avatar continued to practice archery with undivided attention. With each practice, Henry Clark gained a deeper insight into archery.

But in less than half an hour, the archery avatar stopped moving, completely still, and the number also froze at 3%.

At the same time, Henry Clark’s stomach rumbled, a strong sense of hunger washing over him.

“Does the archery avatar need to absorb energy to keep practicing? Now that I’m hungry and have no energy to provide, it stopped.”

Henry Clark speculated.

To figure it out, he just needed to test it. Henry Clark immediately went home, and it happened to be lunchtime.

Lunch was wild yams with wild greens.

Henry Clark was famished and quickly finished off two wild yams, each over a pound, and a plate of wild greens.

Sure enough, after eating his fill, the archery avatar started moving again, continuing to practice archery.

But about an hour later, the archery avatar stopped again, with progress stuck at Novice (8%).

Two wild yams and a plate of wild greens increased progress by about five percent.

Henry Clark’s stomach rumbled again.

Henry Clark didn’t want to say he was hungry right away, so he waited another hour before telling Olivia Smith that he was hungry.

“You’re still growing, that’s why you get hungry so fast. I’ll cook you two more wild yams.”

Olivia Smith said with a smile.

After eating two more large wild yams, the archery avatar started moving again, but stopped after another hour.

As expected, progress increased by 5%, stopping at 13%.

Henry Clark noticed a pattern: the improvement in archery progress was related to the energy contained in the food.

The last two wild yams were a bit bigger, about the same as the two yams and plate of greens at lunch, so the progress increase was also about the same—5%.

There were still a few hours until dinner, so Henry Clark didn’t ask for more food.

First, the family’s food stores weren’t plentiful and couldn’t withstand too much consumption.

Second, getting hungry too quickly would seem suspicious and might arouse his parents’ doubts. Henry Clark didn’t want anyone else to know about the Dao book.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust William Clark and Olivia Smith, but if either of them let it slip, it could bring disaster.

Henry Clark endured his hunger and practiced archery in the bamboo grove.

Whoosh!

The bamboo arrow hit the target steadily, landing on the sixth ring—a big improvement from before.

“In just a few hours, I’ve made as much progress as I would in half a month of hard training.”

Henry Clark gripped his hunting bow, full of hope for the future.

“I wonder if the Dao book will react to martial arts training.”

Henry Clark pondered, planning to first improve his archery, then go hunting with William Clark, sell the game, and once he had enough money, go to the martial arts school to train.

Dinner was wild yams stewed with wild rabbit meat.

Olivia Smith served Henry Clark a big bowl, mostly rabbit meat.

Henry Clark didn’t stand on ceremony and finished the whole bowl. The faster he improved, the better he could repay his parents.

After eating, Henry Clark lay quietly on the bed, reducing his body’s energy consumption so more energy could be absorbed by the Dao book.

The archery avatar resumed practice, and this time, progress increased by 30%, reaching Novice (43%).

As expected, meat provided much more energy than wild yams and greens—a pound of meat increased progress by six times as much as two wild yams.

Time flew by, and by the afternoon of the third day since the archery avatar appeared, Henry Clark was sitting cross-legged in the bamboo grove. Waves of insight from long hours of archery practice surfaced in his mind, and Henry Clark’s understanding of archery improved rapidly.

Avatar, Basic Archery: Minor Achievement (1%).

Archery had reached a new level.

Chapter 4 Martial Arts Training

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Henry Clark stood up, drew his bow, and shot three arrows in one smooth motion. Two arrows hit the third ring, and one hit the fourth ring.

A qualitative improvement over before.

“In less than three days, I’ve made as much progress as an ordinary person would in a year of hard training.”

Henry Clark murmured, unable to hide the joy on his face.

And this was with a lack of food. If he could eat meat three times a day, or have a constant supply of food energy so the archery avatar could always be training, the progress would be even more astonishing.

The Dao book’s mysteries were beginning to show.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Henry Clark kept practicing, and soon there were more than a dozen bamboo arrows stuck in the target. Henry Clark walked over, pulled them out, and started practicing again.

The archery avatar would stop practicing when out of energy, but he himself couldn’t waste time. Practicing on his own also improved progress, deepened his understanding of archery, and strengthened his body.

He kept practicing until dusk before returning.