Chapter 253

But the contest was not over; Arjuna was still mechanically drawing his bow.

His mind was still stuck in the previous moment, so he didn't put down the bow, but instinctively continued shooting.

Drona, who was originally standing on the sidelines, transformed into a whirlwind and rushed between the two.

However, faster than Drona and more ferocious than Arjuna was Karna, whose weapons had been destroyed.

Many years ago, Hebe had said this to her.

—If one day you lose the weapon you trust, and you are facing a powerful enemy, what should you do?

"Find another weapon?"

Little Karna asked tentatively.

"Fool!"

Hebe raised his fist. "By then, your fist will be your weapon."

Karna released his grip the instant the longbow broke.

Her serene features magnified before Arjuna's eyes, and a faint fragrance seemed to waft towards him.

But Arjuna had no time to think about that.

Bang!

Karna's fist slammed into Arjuna's chest, leaving him wide open.

Intense pain erupted from deep within his body; Arjuna mouth and stuck out his tongue, but no sound came out.

He released the bow and arrow from his hand and staggered to his knees.

"Don't create problems you can't solve, and don't make promises you can't keep."

Karna mimicked Hebe's tone, looking down at Arjuna condescendingly, "Otherwise you are a fool, and in this world, good people don't die, bad people don't die, only fools die!"

Drona was about to go up when he heard Karna's words and stopped in his tracks.

He knew it must have been Hebe who said it.

In order to hear more of Hebe's wisdom, let's make Arjuna suffer a little longer.

"What... what are you saying...?"

Arjuna clutched his chest.

Karna raised her hand and clenched her fist, a faint golden color emerging from it. Although the Golden Armor only covered her torso, it was merely a manifestation of her divinity.

Arjuna realized that Karna had not been wearing her thumb guards, yet her thumb was completely unharmed.

Karna clenched his fist. "What I mean is, you're stupid—but not stupid enough not to change. Otherwise, there's only one outcome for you: death!"

The Bandhu brothers, who rushed over upon hearing the commotion:?

No, you really don't treat your brothers like outsiders.

The hot-tempered Bhima and Sahasra rushed forward, wanting to fight Karna, but fortunately, Yudhishthira and Anapasrita held them back.

"You don't dare to make a move."

Karna spoke calmly, "I will kill those who want to kill me, even if their bows are empty of arrows."

She pulled out a copper coin and threw it at her feet. "Pick up your bows and arrows. I bet you a copper coin that you'll see your own brains before you even draw your bows."

The Pandavas were caught in a dilemma.

Duryodhana watched with great interest from afar, secretly hoping that the Pandavas Pandita would actually fight Karna.

Judging from the current situation, the five are no match for Karna, but unfortunately Duryodhana that this great show won't happen today.

"Karna, where did you learn your 'Vedic Archery'?"

"My mother taught me archery."

Karna answered.

Although Hebe could shoot arrows, her interest ultimately lay elsewhere; she only taught Karna some of the concepts of Cathay archery.

It was Kamadiya who truly used sugarcane as a bow and flower stamens as arrows to teach Karna archery, hand in hand.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Arjuna broke through the defenses and cried out.

Could any random housewife teach such amazing archery skills?

What about Drona?

To everyone's surprise, after hearing Karna's answer, Drona nodded solemnly. "I see, I understand."

What do you understand?

Everyone's eyes twitched, and their faces turned grim.

"Karna, I've noticed you're very fast."

Drona smiled. "When you released the bow, you reacted almost instantly, or perhaps you were already prepared?"

"It's a combination of both."

Karna frowned. "When I realized the quality of this bow was poor, I was already prepared for close combat."

Arjuna, still lying on the ground, watched the two people talking.

He felt from the bottom of his heart that he shouldn't be here, that he should be under the car, but it was getting dark so fast it seemed like it was too late.

Karna exchanged a few more words with his teacher, then took his leave and headed towards the cafeteria amidst the awe-inspiring gazes of the crowd.

"Oh, I almost forgot."

Drona reached out and helped Arjuna up. "You also performed exceptionally well, son of King Pandu. You will surely become the greatest archer in the world in the future."

If Arjuna first heard these words, now he felt confused and ashamed.

"Teacher!"

Arjuna said, "I have already lost to Karna, but I have not done anything wrong otherwise. Do you have to humiliate me like this?"

"Arjuna, do you think I am humiliating you? No, no, no, you are wrong."

Drona laughed heartily and sat down on the spot. The students realized that their teacher was about to give an impromptu lesson, so they all sat down around the big tree.

"I am indeed praising you, because you were able to keep shooting arrows until the very last moment despite such unfavorable circumstances."

Drona was delighted. He counted on his fingers, "Look, you were shooting at each other at a distance of only five meters, and Karna had the first move, and even in the end, it was her... his bow that broke first."

The other students suddenly realized.

Yudhishthira his thigh hard. "That's right! That means Arjuna won! He's the one more suited to be an archer than Karna!"

The Pandavas clapped, and more and more students did the same.

Drona patted Arjuna on the shoulder to comfort him, "Child, you don't need to be disappointed, because Karna will not be your rival, much less pursue the path of archery."

Arjuna:?

If you don't know how to comfort people, then don't offer comfort.

So when night fell, Arjuna, tossing and turning, took his bow and went deep into the forest.

The pain, anger, and shame of the day churned within him, causing him to burst into tears after only a few arrows had been fired.

Tears blurred Arjuna's vision; night vision was already difficult, let alone archery.

He sighed, wiped away his tears, and was about to turn back when he heard a whooshing sound coming from afar.

Is someone shooting arrows?

Arjuna squinted and tiptoed toward the sound.

He saw a young man with skin even darker than his own, standing in the woods blindfolded and shooting arrows!

Before Arjuna could even utter a sigh, a wild dog suddenly came running from afar and barked at the young man.

Immediately afterwards, Arjuna witnessed a scene that shocked him greatly: the blindfolded young man simply drew his bow and shot more than twenty arrows, silencing the wild dog and preventing it from making a sound.

And after doing all that, the stray dog was still alive.

Arjuna was greatly affected.

Losing to Karna is one thing (but it's not so easy to accept), but who the hell are these tribesmen who have such profound skills in Vedic Archery?

Arjuna staggered back to his dormitory.

For the next few days, he seemed distracted and his movements were listless when he shot arrows.

Seeing this, Drona decided to talk to Arjuna.

"Teacher, do you think it's really possible for someone to master Vedic Archery without a teacher?"

Before Drona could even ask a question, Arjuna asked his own.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible."

Drona waved his hand, "Vedic Archery is essentially a technique for Brahmin to communicate with the Snow Mountain Pure Land, which is why it is difficult for non- Brahmin to use. Although you Kshatriya may have the potential to learn it, you still need instruction from Brahmin."

"But I saw a tribesman who had mastered Vedic Archery without any instruction!"

Arjuna's voice was excited, "If you don't believe me, I'll take you to see!"

"That won't do... Alright, take me there."

Drona initially wanted to refuse, but remembering Hebe's previous advice, he changed his mind.

Another night fell, and the master and apprentice entered the deep forest one after the other. Sure enough, they heard the sharp sound of wind breaking in the same place again.

As Drona parted the leaves in front of him, making a slight sound, the young man who was practicing archery in the forest brushed his fingers across the bowstring.

Four arrows traced arcs as they shot toward Drona from different angles.

"It really is Vedic Archery!"

Drona swept his hand in front of him, and the incoming arrows scattered at the same time.

The young man quickly removed the blindfold, and when he saw Drona, he was stunned for a moment, then knelt down with his hands clasped together in surprise.

Only after kneeling did Drona notice a statue made of clay behind him.

This statue is strikingly similar to his appearance Drona!

What exactly happened?

When faced with Drona's questions, the young tribal man answered them all.

It turns out that his name was Ekalavya, and according to the caste system, he belonged to the fishing and hunting tribe among the untouchables, which was considered the lowest caste.

After witnessing Drona's archery skills, Ekalavya was filled with admiration and wanted to become Drona's apprentice, but he hesitated because he was from the lowest caste.

Therefore, he could only sculpt a statue of Drona out of mud in the forest and take the statue as his teacher, constantly practicing his archery skills according to his own abilities.

All I can say is that their imagination is beyond that of ordinary people...

Drona looked at the kneeling Ekalavya, then at his own statue, and finally at the silent Arjuna.

Chapter 311 Oh my god, this is a senior year cram school!

In the original epic, the fates of Guru Drona and the Nishada Ekalavya have been recorded as follows—

Arjuna, a man of steel, skilled in both martial arts and literature, and with Ekalavya 'Drona hard work and dedication. However, he knew that if he were to take Ekalavya as his apprentice, Arjuna would certainly not become the greatest archer in the world.

[The guru, Drona, unwilling to break his vows, made a shocking decision—he agreed to accept Ekalavya as his disciple, but asked him to present something as a gift as a formal acceptance.]

[Ekalavya was delighted and asked his teacher what he wanted. Drona replied: "I want your right thumb." Ekalavya then swung his sword and chopped off his own right thumb.]

Drona then took Ekalavya as his disciple, and the first thing he asked Ekalavya to do was to go to the farthest place in Bharata and never return.

[The guru, Drona, in a near-vicious manner, killed a natural-born archer to fulfill his vow.]

This is a story recorded in the Mahabharata, which foreign readers always find regrettable.

It is both Ekalavya and a Drona.

However, in Bharata, Drona's behavior was not considered shameful.