The Mystery of Blood Qi

This time, when the light emerged, it formed a bow made of pure white light. It was around a meter in length, and as soon as the shining subsided, he saw its black body and almost invisible string.

"A bow?" Alexander muttered disappointed. "Well, at least I got a weapon out of it."

The reason he was so disappointed lay in the martial arts manual he practiced. His father gave him a copy of "Foundation Martial Arts" long ago and he had already studied it from the beginning to the end. Even though the main focus of it was on unarmed combat, it also contained chapters on various types of weapons. The type of weapon Alexander was the most proficient with was the spear. The second one was the sword. As for bows, he never really had much practice with them.

He picked up the bow to inspect it and noticed that it actually came with a quiver. There were around a dozen arrows within, each one sharing the same black color as the bow.

"This is... way too little." He mumbled to himself. "Anyways, let's try it."

Alexander picked up the bow and tugged on its bowstring. It did not move at all.

'It's... tight.'

He gradually applied more strength to it and the bowstring finally began to move. After pulling the string to a half draw, light sweat appeared on his forehead.

'If I can't even draw it, it is completely useless...'

With a determined look, he continued to tug on the string. Several seconds later, it was finally fully drawn, but it has taken him full exertion of his strength to achieve it.

'Damn it! It will be completely useless this way.'

He furrowed his brows and summoned a strand of blood qi from inside his body. Immediately, he felt empowered, but at the same time, he also felt a draining sensation from the bow. He tried to stop it, but it happened too quickly for him to react properly. In an instant, a shimmering red glow appeared on the bow and condensed into a glowing half-transparent arrow.

'What?' Alexander did not expect this and released the bowstring accidentally.

Whoooosh! Boom!

The red arrow flew down the hallway and blasted a sizeable hole in the wall of the building. Alexander gasped loudly. The impact was strong enough for him to feel the shockwave, even though he sat almost twenty meters away.

That thing was incredible! How much power does that bow possess? Was it even possible for a normal person to use it?

After recovering from the initial shock, he checked the bow itself.

["Rainbow Breaker"]

[Grade: Rare]

[Type: Magical Bow]

[Attack Power: 112]

[Armor Penetration: Up to Level 30]

[Bonus Stats: Agility+0.50]

[A powerful magical bow. Can condense arrows if enough energy is supplied. Attack power varies. Requires considerable strength to draw.]

"Alright, it is really powerful," Alexander whispered in awe. However, after firing one shot he felt that he was somewhat tired.

'I should be able to shoot around ten times before I'm exhausted...' His gaze fell onto the quiver. 'I might be able to reuse those. Still, it is hard to draw it. As long as I can make the first shot from safety though...'

He put away his bow carefully and turned his attention inward. His blood qi was not as abundant as before, but he could feel it slowly replenish itself, but the speed was too slow. If he waited for it to be fully replenished, it would take him at least a day in best case scenario. Since he has checked all the crystals, he decided to meditate for a bit to adjust his state as close to the peak as possible before leaving.

He sat right on the floor and steadied his breathing. Slowly he began to execute both of the techniques taught by his father. The meditation technique to clear his mind, and the Blood Qi Activation Technique to refresh his body. As soon as he approached the state of heightened senses, he noticed that the air here seemed to be extra fresh, despite him being inside the building.

He felt a little energized with each breath he took, and it felt quite comfortable to finally clear himself of accumulated fatigue, even if just a bit. At this moment, he had become aware of his sense of hunger. As he proceeded with meditation, the feeling intensified, way beyond what he usually felt. His body began to tremble, and he suddenly felt the strand of the blood qi inside his body to grow.

That made him to focus on continuing regardless of what else he felt. It was an opportunity!

The strand of blood qi inside him continued to grow. It became noticeably larger, and it felt like it also became more saturated. He felt as if it was a gas and his meridians were a gas tank. The pressure inside continued to grow and now it was as if his meridians were filled with said gas to the brim.

A wave of weakness suddenly enveloped his body. He felt so weak, that he couldn't even keep himself in a sitting position and fell lying on the floor. It took him several moments to overcome his dizziness.

He checked his body once again. His blood qi was now plentiful, and he could feel a mighty strength contained within it. But it was as if all that energy was concentrated there, while his body felt weak. And hungry. Extremely hungry.

'Could this be... the reason why father always prepared such lavish meals after meditation?' He wondered aloud in his mind. He remembered how his father stood in front of multiple pots filled with various dishes each time he finished his meditation. He would always feel hungry, but he mostly chalked it up to the sparring beforehand. But it made sense. According to what his father told him, blood qi was the type of energy that was produced inside one's body. If one was to condense all the energy they had, then they would have to replenish the losses.

Thus the overwhelming feeling of hunger he felt at this moment.