Boom!
The large dead body of the demon bear right in front of them feels glad and shocked at the same time. They were both relieved to be alive, yet amazed by the sheer power and speed of the arrow. It had been fired from quite a distance yet still carried incredible accuracy and force.
The archer had to be unimaginably good to be able to do that. And just as Ash and Adam were feeling relieved, the soldiers from the village also arrived.
"Are you two alright?" Three soldiers stationed in the village quickly arrived and asked.
"Yes," Ash replied after taking a deep breath, while Adam fell to the ground, feeling relieved that he didn't have the energy to stand up.
The soldiers started to cut the demon bear skin and meat as it was a rare resource for martial artists, while slowly he and Adam returned to the village.
As they were returning, Ash couldn't help but ask about the arrow and who had fired it. A soldier proudly informed him that it was Captain Edward, one of the most renowned and powerful captains in the village, possessing the strength of a first-rate martial artist.
Unfortunately, Ash didn't get to meet him, as Edward had fired the arrow from his post—at least two kilometres away.
"Damm." He was shocked. Even with a sniper rifle, it wouldn't be easy to shoot such a distance, but the guy here used a bow and arrows.
But this fight showed him the usefulness of his eyes, as they seemed to be better than his thoughts; his judgements and movements were impressive. If his enemy had not been a beast but a human, he might have won.
His interest in archery also increased, as with his eyes he can become a great archer; maybe like Captain Edward, he will also shoot his enemies from miles away.
Even if his enemy was stronger and faster than him, he would still win easily. It also let him understand that he needed to quickly become strong, as just stepping outside he almost lost his life.
The next day arrived, and by early morning, Ash was already waiting in the garden, brimming with excitement. Today, he would begin rigorous training to become a strong martial artist.
"You're excited," Old Caine remarked, appearing beside him. He looked at Ash, who was practically bouncing with energy and couldn't help but remember his younger days when he, too, had felt that same eager anticipation.
"Alright, then. First, you already have the cultivation technique you understood yesterday, so I won't go over that again. But since you fought yesterday, you should understand the importance of combat techniques. Your punches and kicks alone weren't enough to harm a partially transformed demon."
Ash was surprised by his master's insight, as he hadn't mentioned anything about the fight. But he didn't interrupt—he had indeed felt the desperate need for a proper combat technique to improve his chances of survival.
"You're going to practice the 108-Star Empyrean Technique, which will grant you unimaginable physique and internal energy. To make full use of that power, I'm going to teach you a boxing technique that will allow you to unleash the full potential of your physical strength and channel bursts of inner energy to destroy your enemies."
"Listen carefully; the boxing martial arts I'm going to teach is 'Dragon Elephant Divine Fist'; as you understand from the name, it focuses on power like the ancient beast dragon elephant."
With that, old Caine started to show different fine movements with the unique control method of dragon-elephant boxing. And as he started to show the boxing, suddenly the aura around old Caine instantly changed from a weak old man to a fearsome beast with unimaginable strength and power.
Boom!
He took a simple step and punched, but the punch was so fast even his eyes couldn't see clearly until old Caine stopped, and a sonic boom with a gust of wind came a bit later, shocking him to the core.
The winds roared, and Ash standing there could feel the mighty power of that punch. He couldn't help but imagine what would happen if this fist hit some flesh and bones.
"So, how was it?" Old Caine asked, allowing the shocked Ash a moment to return to the present.
"Hmm, powerful, extremely powerful!" He commented with shock and desire such strength; that if he even had 1% of the strength of a punch, he would have killed the demon bear in a single hit.
"Hmm, then how much do you understand of this punch?" Old Caine nodded and asked the important question. He wanted to know how well his disciple understood him, as only learning the 108-Star Empyrean technique fully didn't show his full ability.
"Understand?" Hearing the question, Ash seemed to think for a second and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember everything, every minor detail of the punch.
He subconsciously started to use the 'Dragon Elephant Divine Fist'; his movements were surprisingly identical, and it seems like he not only fully understands it but can even use it directly.
He using the technique quickly punched in the air.
Bang!
Seeing this, Old Caine couldn't help but smack himself, as if because of his old age he started to see things. Although the punch was countless times weaker than his own, it was still a fantastic display—hard to believe it was performed by a kid who had just seen the technique for the first time.
"Damm f**k the world." Seeing this, he couldn't help but curse. Could there really be such a difference in talent? He also finally, at his age finally started to understand how countless people felt seeing geniuses improve quickly.
Ash didn't know what Old Caine was thinking, but he opened his eyes, feeling the lingering power of the punch he had just displayed. Surprisingly, it felt quite strong. He realised that if he used this technique on someone like Adam or one of the trainee soldiers, he might knock them out with a single punch.