"This..." The Fifth Prince’s eyes were as wide as water chestnuts, struggling for a long time without managing to say a complete sentence.
Everyone could barely contain their laughter, as if the family matters of the Feilengcui Lord weren’t peculiar enough.
"Fifth Prince! If convenient, could you explain the principle of ’the poverty of the Cloud Qin era’ that releases a blade after the arrow is shot?" Old Liu couldn’t find any reasonable explanation for why he had a son as old as himself and could only smile awkwardly: "Forgive my ignorance, I really can’t think of any Dou Qi lineage that could delay a blade release on a weapon."
"Your Majesty Richard, our ’Arrow Gang’ is a very, very special branch within the Gangqi lineage!" The Fifth Prince smiled proudly, an undeniable aura of authority exuding from his face: "I’m not exaggerating when I say, our ’Arrow Gang’, is truly unique in this world, unmatched by any!"
"I believe your words, Your Highness." The Tenth Prince Ventéclair nodded: "Your ace archers can release blade energy through the bow and arrow, which already signifies greatness! Long-range weapons fall into the forbidden zone where Aegean Fighting Qi cannot extend, something we haven’t even theoretically achieved!"
"May I ask, Prince Ventéclair, which lineage of Gangqi do you train in?"
"Feather Rose Dou Qi! The name might sound a bit fanciful, but it’s essentially wood-element Dou Qi."
"What a coincidence!" The First Day of the Month’s Occupation, the prince clicked his tongue repeatedly: "My premier divine archer, ’the poverty of the Cloud Qin era,’ also trains in wood-element Gangqi for his Arrow Gang."
"Also wood-attribute Dou Qi?" Liu Zhenhan furrowed his eyebrows, becoming more perplexed.
Currently, the Aegean Fighting Qi lineage is quite rare, with only these five types of Dou Qi circulating: Fire Element, Water Element, Wood Element, Earth Element, and Metal Element.
Among these five Dou Qi lineages, Metal Element Dou Qi is the most widespread and widely circulated; about ninety out of every hundred Aegean warriors train in Metal Element Dou Qi; this extreme preference is mainly due to the overwhelming attack power of Metal Element Dou Qi at the initial stages compared to any other Dou Qi; and since blade energy release must be enabled through weapons, Metal Element Dou Qi is easier to learn and more accessible than other Dou Qi lineages.
Currently, Metal Element Dou Qi on the Aegean Continent has, due to a favorable environment, developed a large number of branches—Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, Tin, Lead, Zinc...and so on...Incomplete statistics suggest there are at least fifty to sixty internal branches within Aegean Metal Element Dou Qi! This is most evident in the color of Aegean warriors’ Dou Qi; due to its correlation with colored metals, most Aegean warriors’ Dou Qi colors are as vibrant as a peacock’s tail!
Yet, even though other lineage Dou Qi have almost been suppressed by Metal Element Dou Qi to the point of losing market share, wood-attribute Dou Qi has not yet vanished from the Aegean Continent!
To turn arrows into the effect of Lace is beyond the capability of any wood-attribute Dou Qi!
Liu Zhenhan and a group of consultants looked at the Fifth Prince with increasing curiosity.
Ventéclair picked up a sparrow shot dead by the first archer of Tangcang, pulled out the arrow, and examined it closely.
This inspection revealed the truth.
It turned out that the arrow used by Tangcang’s first divine archer didn’t have a metal arrowhead at all!
Since the shaft of the arrow was covered with glistening gold paint, the wooden arrowhead carved from the shaft looked indistinguishable from a metal arrowhead, and without close inspection, one couldn’t tell the difference.
"Snap!" Ventéclair lightly snapped the arrow in two.
Among the Aegean Elves, there were also archers who used wooden arrows, but these elven archers chose materials like ironwood to make the arrows, which wouldn’t break so easily. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novᴇlfire.net
"Medium type! It’s medium-type Dou Qi!" Not surprisingly, Master Stefano, the mage closest to divinity, was the first to figure it out.
"Exactly!" Old Liu and the other four great mages also guessed it.
Within the Aegean Magic system, medium-type spells are a newly emerging special magic; Lightning Elemental spells like "electrolytic metal" and the Hua Xiang Hai Hua Si’s "falling flowers and flowing water" are typical medium-type spells—these magics transform a medium they strike into a magic attack, a clear transmutation, like turning base metal into gold or a hen into a duck.
It’s well known that Dou Qi and magic lineages are entirely interchangeable; if medium-type spells can originate in magic, theoretically, Dou Qi can also give birth to the same lineage—the lack of medium-type Dou Qi so far is due to insufficient environment and research strength.
"What is the ultimate medium of this Dou Qi?" Ventéclair was still a bit confused, since it’s medium-type Dou Qi, what exactly does the wooden arrow shot by Tangcang’s archer interact with to release the Dou Qi blade energy?
"Wood air medium?" The Tenth Prince furrowed his brow, yet quickly dismissed it. Although the blade energy’s characteristics matched the air system, air fills every corner of space and if it were ’wood air Qi’, it might explode before the arrow even leaves the hand.
"Is it wood wind medium?" Master Stefano smiled: "When the wooden arrow reaches a specific critical speed in the air, the wood medium interacts with the wind, thus unleashing the power of Wind System blade energy!"
"No wonder! ’Thunderous Nine Heavens Arrow’ is a wind sonic boom, ’Lover’s Arrow’ is a wind traction, ’Nine Sun Arrows’ is wind rupture, ’Meteor Butterfly Arrow’ is imitating a wind blade! Brilliant, brilliant!" Ventéclair finally understood: "Genius! Truly genius! To comprehend medium-type Dou Qi ! It’s a stellar shift!"
"On the Silk Continent, what you call medium-type Gangqi, we term ’calm trees beget constant wind’; this wood system Gangqi is unique to divine archers, and others can’t train it successfully!" The Fifth Prince nodded with a smile: "Without the professional foundation of a divine archer, no warrior can properly calibrate the wind speed required for this Gangqi, since each type of Arrow Gang requires a different wind speed!"
"Are there any other unique lineages of Silk Gangqi?" Ventéclair couldn’t help but ask, as a Dou Qi enthusiast living on a land where Dou Qi has waned, he had been suppressed for quite some time.
"Metal air medium, this is currently the most popular Gangqi on the Silk, also known as Sword Control!"
"Two medium-type Dou Qi lineages? It seems Silk’s Dou Qi has developed to its peak state!" The Tenth Prince tightly clenched his fists, his gaze burning intensely, wanting to say something, but upon seeing the encouraging smile of the old man turning around, he firmly turned back to the Fifth Prince and said: "First Day of the Month’s Occupation Prince, I am a martial arts fanatic, would you allow your warriors to spar with me for a bit?"
"I’ve been waiting for your words for quite some time." The Fifth Prince let out a long breath, his expression at the moment was like a gambler who had just drawn a great hand, with the hope of recouping losses right before his eyes.
"Resolve quickly, aim for a draw." Meanwhile, the old man’s voice echoed soundlessly in the Tenth Prince’s mind.