"Ethan, this doesn't prove anything. Other people can do the same thing, and probably even better than me."
Old Bird still lacked confidence.
"Again."
Ethan ignored his doubts. This time, he picked up two pebbles and tossed them into the air.
Old Bird didn't believe he could hit two targets that small in succession, especially when they were flying so quickly. Still, if only to make Ethan give up, he drew an arrow and raised his bow.
Yet the instant he moved, an indescribable sensation surged through him.
His movements suddenly became extraordinarily smooth. He drew, nocked, and released in one seamless motion before immediately firing a second arrow.
For some inexplicable reason, the moment the arrows left the string, Old Bird knew.
They're going to hit.
The sensation was mysterious and almost impossible to describe, as though he had suddenly entered an extraordinary state far beyond what he could normally achieve.
Sure enough—
Crack! Crack!
Both arrows struck their targets.
Almost simultaneously, they hit the two pebbles flying in different directions and knocked them out of the air.
Old Bird stared in disbelief.
Even he could barely believe what he had just done.
"Continue."
This time, Ethan picked up four pebbles and threw them into the air.
Old Bird had exactly four arrows left.
Almost instinctively, he reached for them.
His fingers moved like phantoms.
One arrow after another flew from the bow.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Four arrows tore through the air.
One after another, all four pebbles were struck from the sky.
The accuracy was so astonishing that even Old Bird himself found it difficult to believe.
More surprisingly, he still felt unsatisfied.
It was as though if Ethan had thrown one more pebble, he would have been able to shoot that one down as well.
Old Bird stared blankly at the hand holding his bow.
"Old Bird, don't underestimate yourself."
Ethan walked over and patted him on the shoulder.
"You've always been exceptional. Your talent as an archer is unique. Hitting every shot isn't difficult for someone like you."
"Stop limiting yourself."
"Have some confidence."
"One day, you'll become the greatest archer in the world."
Ethan now had his answer.
Cheerleader's Soul worked on cultivators as well.
And its effects were even better than he had expected.
It could actually improve something as precise as archery accuracy.
Shooting accurately was far more difficult than most people imagined, especially when the target was moving. There were simply too many unpredictable variables involved, making a one-hundred-percent hit rate almost impossible.
Yet Cheerleader's Soul had managed to increase Old Bird's accuracy to such an astonishing degree.
The amount of hidden potential it could awaken was genuinely frightening.
"The greatest... archer... in the world..."
Old Bird slowly repeated those words.
A surge of heat rushed straight to his head.
It felt almost as though he had suddenly experienced enlightenment. His mind became light and strangely euphoric, and for a moment, he felt almost invincible.
Hitting every shot?
That suddenly seemed like child's play.
Ethan, meanwhile, was secretly nervous.
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This was the first time he had ever used Cheerleader's Soul on another human, and he had no idea whether Old Bird would notice something unusual.
If his ability was discovered, Ethan had already prepared an explanation. He would simply reveal a deliberately weakened version of his talent while hiding its true capabilities.
But Ethan soon realized that his worries were unnecessary.
Old Bird hadn't noticed anything.
He didn't realize that his sudden improvement in accuracy had anything to do with Ethan.
Instead, he genuinely believed exactly what Ethan had told him—that his poor performance recently had been caused by a lack of confidence.
That made sense.
Cheerleader's Soul didn't inject external power into its target.
It merely stimulated the potential already hidden within them.
Because of that, even someone under its effects couldn't tell that they had been enhanced.
They would simply believe that they were performing unusually well.
"Ethan, you were right!"
Old Bird suddenly grabbed Ethan by the shoulders.
"When I first entered the hidden realm, I suffered setback after setback. Somewhere along the way, I lost myself and stopped believing in my own abilities. That's why my accuracy disappeared."
His expression became increasingly excited.
"You woke up the real me!"
"Now I understand. As long as I have enough confidence, with my talent, I can definitely become a powerful archer!"
"I'll make everyone who looked down on me regret it."
"And Scarlett Hayes..."
Old Bird's eyes burned with renewed determination.
"I'll make her regret kicking me out of the elite team!"
"Old Bird, I believe you can do it."
Ethan's gaze remained unwavering, his voice firm and powerful.
"When it comes to archery, you've always been the best."
He continued feeding Old Bird exactly the kind of emotional encouragement Cheerleader's Soul needed.
"Let's go!"
Old Bird's confidence had completely exploded.
"I'll take you somewhere we can hunt Mystic Spirits and level up. Once we both reach Level 10, we'll go to Demon Idol Valley, kill that Demon Idol, obtain its Peerless Mystic Treasure, and make Scarlett and the others regret everything!"
At that moment, Old Bird looked as though he wanted to charge straight into Demon Idol Valley and kill the creature with a single arrow.
Fortunately, a small amount of rationality still remained.
Part of him wondered whether his incredible performance just now had merely been temporary luck. He wanted to continue hunting and leveling while confirming whether his accuracy would remain this good now that he had supposedly "rediscovered himself."
"Ethan, what Secret Art are you cultivating right now?" Old Bird asked as they walked.
Different Secret Arts absorbed Origin Energy and increased levels through different methods.
Old Bird himself currently cultivated the Rare-grade Assassination Art, which he had obtained from a Rare Mystic Spirit known as the Assassin.
The Assassination Art allowed him to absorb a portion of the Origin Energy released by a Mystic Spirit after killing it.
Unfortunately, the amount he could absorb was relatively small. It could only collect Origin Energy naturally dispersing from the corpse rather than actively extracting it.
Compared with the Bloodsucking Art, its efficiency was considerably worse.
Still, cultivating the Assassination Art gave Old Bird a 1.63 increase in maximum Origin Energy per level, while also providing a significant enhancement to his physical body.
"I'm still cultivating the Longevity Art," Ethan replied. "I haven't found a suitable replacement yet, so I'm still Level 1."
He paused before continuing.
"If possible, I'd rather obtain a high-quality Secret Art—something like Unique-grade—before I start leveling."
Ethan deliberately made his goal clear.
If the Demon Idol eventually dropped a Secret Art, he needed to make sure that it belonged to him.
Otherwise, cooperating with Old Bird to hunt the Demon Idol would lose much of its value.
"Ethan, you're being way too idealistic."
Old Bird shook his head.
"Do you think something like a Unique-grade Secret Art is that easy to obtain?"
"If you can get a Rare or Exceptional Secret Art with growth above 1.6, you should cultivate that first. Once your level rises, you can hunt stronger Mystic Spirits and replace it with something better later."
"You won't lose that much Origin Energy."
As he spoke, Old Bird reached into his pocket and pulled out a Mystic Core.
He handed it to Ethan.
"I've been saving this. It contains the Rare-grade Vajra Art."
"Like the Longevity Art, it works by absorbing the natural Origin Energy within the hidden realm, but its absorption speed is much faster."
"You can cultivate this for now. Once we obtain a higher-quality Secret Art, you can replace it."
"Even if I reach Level 10, my personal combat strength still won't be particularly impressive, so I won't be much help."
Ethan glanced toward Rouge.
"With Rouge and your archery, we should already have enough offensive power to kill the Demon Idol. We should prioritize raising Rouge's level instead."
Ethan paused before looking directly at Old Bird.
"Let's agree on something."
"If we kill the Demon Idol and it drops a Secret Technique, Mystic Treasure, or becomes a Spirit Pet, you can have it."
"But if it drops a Secret Art..."
"Give that to me."
"No problem."
Old Bird agreed without the slightest hesitation.
"Deal."
Then he suddenly looked toward Rouge.
"By the way, what level is your bunny?"
"Level 2," Ethan answered truthfully.
Old Bird's eyes widened.
"Level 2?!"
He stared at Rouge in disbelief.
"A Level 2 pet managed to cut off a Mutated Corpse Fiend's head with a single strike?"
"That attack power is ridiculous!"
"Are you sure it's only Level 2?"
Old Bird had originally assumed Rouge had to be at least Level 5 to decapitate the Mutated Corpse Fiend with a surprise attack.
"It only recently reached Level 2," Ethan replied. "There's no mistake."
"So a Unique Mystic Spirit is really that much stronger than an ordinary one..."
Old Bird couldn't help sighing in amazement.
"A Mystic Spirit with its own Mystic Treasure really is different."
The more he thought about it, the brighter his eyes became.
"With a Spirit Pet like this, maybe we really can kill that Great Dark Heaven Demon Idol!"
After thinking for a moment, Old Bird continued.
"Your pet might be powerful, but its level is still too low. Taking it somewhere with high-level Mystic Spirits would be too dangerous."
"Let's go to Corpse Fiend Forest first."
"Ordinary Corpse Fiends are only around Level 4 or Level 5. That Mutated Corpse Fiend from earlier was only around Level 6 or Level 7."
"If your pet and I work together, we can handle them."
"As long as we don't venture too deep and encounter the Level 10 Corpse Fiend Forest Lord, we shouldn't be in much danger."
Ethan had no objections.
With Rouge accompanying him, he followed Old Bird upstream.
The creek wound between the mountains like a long green python.
Strange flowers and exotic plants grew along both banks. Colorful fungi emerged beneath ancient trees, while bizarre fruits of every imaginable shape hung from branches and vines.
Most of them were rarely seen outside Blessed Lands.
Some natural treasures found within Blessed Lands could even directly increase a cultivator's maximum Origin Energy.
The academy's Hidden Realm Botany courses documented many mysterious fruits with extraordinary effects.
Among them was an extremely rare treasure known as the Primordial Yang Fruit.
Eating one could supposedly increase a cultivator's maximum Origin Energy by more than one hundred points overnight.
There were many other rare fruits with equally miraculous effects.
Unfortunately, treasures of that level were exceedingly difficult to find.
Most strange flowers, grasses, fungi, and fruits growing inside Blessed Lands actually contained toxins and couldn't be eaten casually.
Over the years, countless cultivators had died simply because they consumed unknown plants without properly identifying them first.