Chapter 261: Dou Qi Thread + Spiritual Perception = Long-Range Sniping!
"You said your attack power was weak, didn't you?" Hai Bodong, sitting beside Jiang Lin on the tower, looked at the muscular young man, who was slowly putting away his black-feathered heavy bow. Just moments ago, the light released by this young man exceeded the explosion speed of a Dou Huang!
"But my cultivation is high." Slowly lowering his bow, Jiang Lin glanced down at the mercenary groups scattering in every direction and smiled at Hai Bodong. The yellow-clad middle-aged man and Xiao Yan's Mo Tie Mercenary Group were pretty much in a deathmatch, so Jiang Lin didn't hesitate and let the bowstring go at the final moment.
However, it was Xiao Yan who liked to make the final move to save others. Due to the unique nature of Yao Chen, Xiao Yan was mostly invisible to Jiang Lin's spiritual perception. If Jiang Lin knew Xiao Yan was going to appear, he usually wouldn't act.
"A three-star Great Dou Master barely managing to shoot down a one-star Great Dou Master… I suppose that's not too unreasonable? After all, you did mention that there are differences between cultivation levels," Jiang Lin said with a smile. He had only used his Crimson Gold Dou Qi, and what he had just used was his semi-finished Dou Technique, the Dou Qi Thread. This technique, in its current stage of development, could only rely on surprise attacks, such as when the yellow-clad man hadn't activated his Dou Qi armor. At that point, he could shoot a headshot from a thousand meters away. If the opponent had activated their Dou Qi armor, the Dou Qi thread would hit the armor like a rifle bullet striking a tank—probably just a few sparks and minor fireworks.
The semi-step Earth-class Dou Technique, Dou Qi Thread, could also be understood as "Dou Qi Arrow." Jiang Lin often enjoyed making pun-like wordplay in his techniques.
The unique feature of this technique lay in the word '游' (meaning "to float" or "to roam"). The Dou Qi moves through the heavens and the earth. Just like a Dou Wang expert could use Dou Qi to resist gravity and "swim" in the vast ocean of the world, Jiang Lin's semi-step Earth-class Dou Technique was his application of this principle.
Starting from the Dou Shi stage, one could sometimes use Dou Qi to manipulate small objects, like pills or books, through the air. At this point, they were already using techniques that were typically only available to Dou Wang experts, using Dou Qi to wrap objects and reduce their weight.
Many of the Mystical-class archery techniques Jiang Lin saw in the Refiner's Guild were based on this principle: the fusion of Dou Qi with arrows to make them defy gravity, increasing their precision, speed, and power.
But Jiang Lin went a step further, temporarily abandoning physical arrows, allowing the energy arrows to "return to the earth," creating a highly exaggerated effect. The speed of the Dou Qi Arrow in the air was comparable to light, nearly impossible for the naked eye to track!
"... Even so, as a three-star Great Dou Master, it's not reasonable to kill a one-star Great Dou Master with a single arrow, is it?" Hai Bodong flinched slightly at Jiang Lin's words, his gaze flickering with surprise. His expression shifted, and he looked at Jiang Lin with a strange look.
"This doesn't really count as a Dou Qi weapon anymore, does it? This is just a long-range Dou Technique. Why use a bow and arrow at all?" Hai Bodong's confusion was valid. In his understanding, and in the traditional understanding across the continent, Dou Techniques were something humans could directly use. If someone could use it, they likely wouldn't need a weapon.
"That's what you think." Jiang Lin glanced at Hai Bodong with a faint look of disdain and then turned to walk downstairs. "Without a Dou Qi weapon bow, could you gather such a solid Dou Qi arrow?"
Jiang Lin's Dou Qi Arrow required the energy patterns on the black-feathered heavy bow to compress the energy, and only by externalizing the energy patterns could he accomplish things that went beyond his cultivation boundaries. It's like in the technological world—if you wanted to compress the volume of an aluminum can and tried using just your fists and feet, it wouldn't work as well as if you just used a stone to do it.
The human body is best suited for fine tasks, while repetitive, simple tasks are better left to other tools.
"... I can't compress it." Hai Bodong stood there in silence for a while, watching Jiang Lin's retreating figure, before shaking his head. What Jiang Lin had just done—using a Dou Qi weapon to condense a Dou Qi arrow—was something even a Dou Huang like him couldn't manage. The human body and machines are different. The human body instinctively rejects tasks it can't perform, while machines, as long as they have enough energy, will execute their programs until they break or run out of power.
"However..." Hai Bodong's eyes suddenly lit up. "Does this mean this could be a standard ability for the Dou Qi weapon bow? Could I use it?"
Hai Bodong excitedly chased after Jiang Lin.
But Hai Bodong was somewhat overly optimistic. Even if he learned the Dou Qi Arrow technique using a Dou Qi weapon, it would probably only serve as an assassination tool, unable to play a significant role in open combat. After all, even a three-star Great Dou Master like Jiang Lin, with his solid Crimson Gold Dou Qi, had trouble breaking the defense of a one-star Great Dou Master.
And for someone of Hai Bodong's level, what kind of opponent was he facing? Dou Huang experts! Not to mention the fact that Hai Bodong, as a two-star Dou Huang, couldn't use the Dou Qi Arrow to break anyone's defense, even if he tried to use it for assassination. Shooting a Dou Huang from a thousand meters away? That was a bit of a joke. The moment you gather your energy, a Dou Huang could just chop you down.
Of course, Hai Bodong could attempt longer-range sniping, but could he even see targets at that distance? If he couldn't lock on, how could he even shoot?
After all, not everyone was like Jiang Lin, who was naturally endowed with three growth halos. By the time he reached the Dou Shi level, his sensory range already exceeded a thousand meters. When he reached Hai Bodong's level, perhaps he could achieve long-range sniping!
This is why Yao Chen had told Xiao Yan that Jiang Lin's developed techniques were mostly tailored to him, with outsiders only able to benefit from a few select advantages. Perhaps people from the spirit clan could benefit more, but there was always one thing they couldn't replicate—Jiang Lin's constantly gathering Five Elements Dou Qi energy within his body!
Some might argue that high-level Dou Qi practitioners could also use other attributes of Dou Qi energy, but their combat prowess wouldn't be as strong as their primary Dou Qi.
That's right, those were high-level Dou Qi experts, who had reached Dou Zong or Dou Zun. But right now, Jiang Lin was only a Great Dou Master, and he had already started controlling four elements!
What was even more terrifying was that Jiang Lin didn't just use the energy.
He was a master!
(END CHAPTER)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Franklin1