07 Sagittarius

"Two lives!!"

Xigou stared at the panel at the bottom of his eyes, his tongue flicking in and out, excitedly humming, "Mhm, let me research this."

The next moment, the shadow beneath Xigou's feet suddenly ballooned and with a 'pop', it inflated like a bubble and burst.

In the blink of an eye, from the burst bubble, a puppy emerged, looking exactly like Xigou.

Fang Zhixing glanced at the two Xigous, indistinguishable from each other, and exclaimed in shock, "Holy crap, a shadow clone?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Xigou immediately swelled with pride, responding, "The number of lives I have is the number of 'me's I can create. Likewise, killing one of me still leaves another."

Fang Zhixing took a deep breath, "You can resurrect, isn't that freaking awesome?"

"Hehehe, same goes for you."

Xigou grinned, showing all his teeth; now he had two lives and could afford to die one more time.

And this meant that his dog life would have one more opportunity for trial and error than others.

Fang Zhixing clicked his tongue in amazement, about to sing Xigou's praises even more, but then he saw the two Xigous chasing each other in circles, tirelessly licking each other's fur.

`(*>﹏<*)′

Fang Zhixing could not help but despise, "You'll never be lonely again."

"Huh?"

Xigou suddenly snapped back to reality, coughed awkwardly, and with a flicker of his mind, another him turned into streaks of black mist and sank into the ground.

Xigou then said earnestly, "Hurry, try out your cheat, see if it really works."

Fang Zhixing turned his attention back to the panel.

"Do 20 continuous push-ups..."

He inhaled deeply and immediately lay down on the ground, hands pressing against the ground, pushing his body up.

Lower down, push up!

Lower down, push up!

"Huff huff!" Fang Zhixing had only done two push-ups when he began to breathe heavily.

Xigou watched from the side, mocking, "Can you even do it or not?"

Fang Zhixing didn't say a word, just clenched his teeth and did three more.

At this point, his arms had begun to tremble slightly, feeling sore.

Xigou paced back and forth, impatiently watching.

Fang Zhixing was panting like a bull, took a few more breaths and did three more, barely managing to push up, with his arms shaking wildly.

Xigou clicked his tongue, "It's over, you're too weak."

No sooner had he spoken than Fang Zhixing collapsed onto the ground, having done only eight in total.

He flipped over, lying on the ground, his chest heaving violently, his whole body uncomfortable.

It couldn't be helped, his physique had suffered from long-term nutritional deficiency, and his physical endurance was terribly poor; managing to do eight push-ups in one go was already quite an achievement.

Xigou said disdainfully, "You're just not up to it, and here I thought you were a talent, but it turns out you're just a weakling."

Fang Zhixing was also quite frustrated and answered listlessly, "I haven't eaten breakfast, have no energy."

At the mention of "food," Xigou also suddenly felt hungry.

The man and dog quickly came to an agreement and set out to forage.

Fang Zhixing, with practiced ease, fished for clams and snails in the river and casually caught four or five crayfish floating on the water grass.

Grill, eat.

After resting for half an hour, Fang Zhixing tried again. This time there was some progress, and he managed to do ten continuous push-ups.

"Your physique is so pitiful it could make people cry." Xigou took delight in Fang Zhixing's misfortune, laughing heartily.

"So much crap."

Fang Zhixing ignored him and mused, "It seems that I can't rush, I need to nourish my body gradually."

Xigou suggested, "Why don't you try the second condition?"

[Hit the bullseye from at least 10 meters away 5 times]

Fang Zhixing brought his bow and arrows over, he first found a rotten tree and used the ashes to crudely draw several concentric circles, creating a target.

He then measured out ten meters using his stride and, to ensure the distance was sufficient, he stepped back a bit further.

Fang Zhixing raised the bow with his right hand and took an arrow from the Arrow Bag with his left, resting it on the bowstring.

A sudden surge of familiarity flooded through him.

It was the muscle memory of Da Niu; he had seriously practiced archery under the guidance of his father.

Whoosh!

The arrow shot forth, hitting the large tree, but sadly missed the bullseye.

Fang Zhixing shot another arrow, still hitting the big tree, several centimeters off the bullseye.

However, he gradually found the feeling, slightly adjusted his breathing, and released the third arrow.

Thud~

The arrow buried itself in the trunk, and the tail of the arrow vibrated in a circle.

He hit the bullseye!

[Task 2, Hit the bullseye from at least 10 meters away 5 times (1/5)]

"Whoa, one in three, not bad!"

Xigou clicked his tongue, "You might actually have a talent for archery!"

Fang Zhixing caught his breath, with a slight upturn at the corner of his mouth, he said, "It's only a ten-meter distance, even with eyes closed, one should be able to hit it."

"Pfft, I just made a casual remark, and here you go, putting on airs, huh."

Xigou continued, "Ten meters is roughly the length of a volleyball court. Hitting that big tree may not be difficult, but hitting the bullseye is much harder."

Fang Zhixing knew all too well the difficulty, based on past experience, that at first, an archer's physical strength is abundant, making the bow pulling stable and the aim quite good, but after shooting several arrows in succession, as one gradually exhausts, the accuracy worsens.

Fang Zhixing aimed for stability, controlling the pace, shooting three arrows then taking a break.

Unknowingly, an hour and a half had passed.

[Task 2, Hit the bullseye from at least 10 meters away 5 times (Completed)]

Fang Zhixing wiped his sweat, took a deep breath, and raised his eyebrows at Xigou, "You see, this is the style of a divine archer."

"Hmph, just keep showing off!"

Xigou said disdainfully, "Oh right, who was it that couldn't even do twenty push-ups?"

Fang Zhixing clenched his teeth.

He could feel that ever since Xigou confirmed he had two lives, his attitude became much more arrogant.

But never mind his little cocky thoughts, Fang Zhixing quickly devised a training plan.

"Nine years of compulsory education wasn't for nothing."

Running, long jump, sit-ups, pull-ups, plank holds...

Aside from gathering ample food, Fang Zhixing trained in the morning and also in the afternoon, persisting nonstop.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Fang Zhixing looked at his body, feeling that he had put on some muscle, bulking up a bit.

After all, he ate meat every day, plus with a scientific training method, the results were quite pronounced.

It wasn't only Fang Zhixing who had gotten stronger; Xigou also visibly swelled up a size, his fur becoming denser and more lustrous.

"Come on."

Fang Zhixing took a few deep breaths, lay down, and began doing push-ups.

One, two, three, four...

"Fifteen, sixteen, keep it up! You're almost there!"

Xigou cheered on the side.

Fang Zhixing's face turned beet red from holding his breath, gritting his teeth in determination, repeatedly pushing down and lifting himself up.

"Nineteen, twenty!"

Xigou immediately looked at the System Panel above Fang Zhixing's head, and as the text blurred, it reappeared.

[Task 1, Perform consecutive push-ups 20 times (Completed)]

"You did it!"

Xigou jumped up to announce.

Fang Zhixing stood up, his face flushed with excitement, and boasted, "Hey, easy peasy."

Xigou asked, "How do you feel, notice any changes?"

Fang Zhixing felt his body carefully.

Almost at that moment, the System Panel displayed a glowing line of text.

[Full Level conditions achieved, congratulations on advancing to Apprentice Archer!]

In an instant, a wealth of memories and experience of practicing archery flooded into Fang Zhixing's mind.

At the same time, a series of electric-like shivers continually stimulated his physical body.

As if he had practiced archery for three long years, accumulating and enhancing his skills continuously.

Ultimately, he metamorphosed into an Apprentice Archer.

[Full-Level Apprentice Archer: 100% hit rate within 30 meters range; 80% hit rate between 30-50 meters range; less than 20% hit rate for distances exceeding 50 meters.]