Never Fear Again

Only by watching a Great Worm charge at him with his own eyes did he truly understand what it meant to have the momentum of a fierce tiger descending the mountain.

Chen Sanshi remained calm and unhurried as he nocked an arrow and drew his bow.

Another arrow.

This time, he chose its softest target: the eyes.

The charging tiger was swift as lightning, and its imposing presence was terrifying. Hitting its eyes on a moving target was no different from piercing a willow leaf from a hundred paces away.

Yet Chen Sanshi could do exactly that.

"ROAR—"

A mournful howl that shook the five viscera sounded as the arrow blinded the tiger's left eye.

"Whoosh—"

Then came the right eye.

Both of the tiger's eyes were blinded, blood staining its white whiskers red.

The terrifying part was that, even in such agony, it did not stop charging. Using the last of its vision, it leaped up and scrambled onto the tree in a few strokes, determined to tear its attacker to pieces.

Tigers could absolutely climb trees.

Chen Sanshi had long been prepared. He leaped onto a neighboring tree a step ahead, not forgetting to turn and fire another arrow.

A cornered beast's struggle was especially terrifying.

The Great Worm looked as though it was not dead yet, but it would not hold on much longer.

He only needed to stall. There was no need to rush.

Relying on its remaining hearing to judge his position, the tiger also leaped after him.

Chen Sanshi changed trees and fired arrows; the Great Worm was struck.

This cycle repeated several times.

No matter how fierce the tiger was, it was still only a beast. With several arrows in its body and both eyes blinded, it quickly could not hold on any longer and fell from a tree more than ten meters high.

Having lost that savage "breath," the Great Worm could no longer endure the pain. It thrashed wildly, swinging its claws and fangs as it spun in place, blood dyeing the muddy ground red and leaving furrows behind.

It was over.

Just as Chen Sanshi was preparing to end the hunt, his ears twitched, catching the sound of rapid footsteps approaching.

The two martial arts school disciples from earlier appeared.

"Brother, I'll help you kill this beast."

As Wei Xu spoke, he drew his sword and was about to rush forward.

The tiger was already at death's door and needed only one final blow. Why would he need anyone else's help?

They clearly wanted to use helping as an excuse to get a share of the spoils.

"Get lost!"

Chen Sanshi was sparing with words. In an instant, the Kaiyuan Bow had already loosed an arrow.

A chill breeze brushed past his neck, and Wei Xu froze where he stood, unable to move for a long while.

Only when crimson-hot blood trickled down his neck and into his collar did he suddenly snap awake.

A hair's breadth!

Just a hair's breadth more, and his artery would have been pierced!

"Senior Brother..."

The junior disciple beside him was equally terrified.

Why was this man so ruthless?

They had only wanted to join in and split some silver. They had never intended to hurt anyone. Yet this bastard... this bastard had opened with an arrow?!

And what a fast arrow!

They had only seen him reach toward the quiver at his waist. The next second, the arrow was already flying at them.

Wei Xu covered the wound on his neck and retreated again and again. How could he dare step forward another half-step?

Fight back?

He was not blind.

That Great Worm was nearly dead at Chen Sanshi's hands. Would killing him be any harder?

Up in the tree.

After intimidating them, Chen Sanshi put away his bow and arrows. Holding the Reed Leaf Spear upside down in both hands, the veins in his arms bulged like little snakes winding around them. He aimed the spearhead at the tiger's head and leaped down from above.

"Squelch—"

The sharp spearhead pierced through the tiger's skull and nailed it to the ground. He dropped to one knee atop the tiger, feeling its vital aura rapidly weaken. Only after it stopped moving completely did he pull out the long spear, its tip smeared with red and white matter.

After dealing with the Great Worm, Chen Sanshi dragged over the roe deer from earlier and carried both prey animals on his shoulders.

Less than a thousand jin.

That was nothing to a martial artist proficient in Blood Refining.

Only then did Wei Xu recover his senses.

Watching the young man carry the tiger's corpse, they kept retreating to maintain their distance. He spoke with a slight stammer, "Who are you, to be so overbearing?!"

"Just a Squad Leader in the army."

Chen Sanshi was utterly fearless.

Everything was decided by strength.

If those two truly dared retaliate, they would be shot dead before they could even raise their hands.

Put simply, if they could not withstand his arrows, having a higher realm than him was useless.

Blood Refining martial artists did not possess bodies capable of resisting blades.

Bullshit!

Wei Xu had never seen a Squad Leader with archery this good.

Besides, his master had warned them that Xiang Tingchun had recently been looking for trouble. They absolutely could not provoke anyone from the army, or nobody would care even if they died.

He and his junior brother tremblingly moved aside, terrified that Chen Sanshi would shoot another arrow.

Chen Sanshi walked straight past them in broad daylight.

He would never fear again!

Deep within the prosperous Second Mountain, not only could he come here, he could make the people from the martial arts school bow their heads!

This tiger hunt had increased the proficiency of both skills.

Tracking (Minor Accomplishment)

Progress: 55/1000

Skill: Archery (Minor Accomplishment)

Progress: (150/1000)

His archery was improving more and more slowly.

It had to do with the bow.

The Two-stone Bow Chen Sanshi had specially obtained earlier had become light as a feather to draw after his martial cultivation improved.

"Looks like I need to change bows and arrows again."

"Bows above two stone need to be custom-made at the craftsmen's forge of the Thousand Household Office."

"Come to think of it, this Great Worm's bones are obviously harder than those of ordinary fierce beasts. Could I use them as part of the materials for my new bow?"

"Thanks to Uncle Zhao Qiao. Otherwise, in a mountain this large, I'd have been exhausted before finding the tiger's hiding place."

Crossing the stream.

Chen Sanshi returned to the southern side of Second Mountain.

Zhao Qiao, Wu Da, and Zhuang Yi were all unexpectedly waiting there.

After all, he had gone tiger hunting. They were worried.

They were also afraid that the martial arts school disciples would target the young man.

Even if something did happen, they would be unable to help much, but they still wanted to wait.

To put it more harshly, if something really happened, at least someone would be there to collect the body, so he would not be left with neither corpse nor bones. That was also why hunters banded together.

It seemed they had worried for nothing.

"Brother Chen, you're incredible!"

Zhuang Yi stared at the Great Worm's claws and fangs. Even dead, it made him shudder; he did not dare imagine how terrifying it must have been alive.

The hunting dogs at his feet were crouched low as well, not daring to make a sound.

Wu Da's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "People who practice martial arts can kill tigers too?"

"Stone has really made something of himself. Not only can he kill tigers, it looks like no one dares give him trouble either."

Zhao Qiao smiled. "Then let's hurry down the mountain."

Chen Sanshi looked at them.

By comparison, their earnings seemed pitifully meager.

They had only caught pheasants, rabbits, and the like, without any large prey.

"..."

Chen Sanshi suddenly stopped, set down the tiger and roe deer, and said, "Uncle Zhao, I can't carry these by myself. Can you help me carry them to the County Town? We'll still follow the usual rules."

"Brother Chen, you can kill a Great Worm. You should be able to carry them, right?" Zhuang Yi said foolishly.

"Shut up!"

Zhao Qiao glared at him.

This fool—could he not see it? Stone saw that they had gained nothing, so he wanted to use helping carry the goods as an excuse to give them some Copper coins.

The group of four arrived at the County Town.

After appraisal, this Great Worm truly was unusual. Though it did not count as a strange beast, neither was it an ordinary fierce beast, so its price was relatively higher.

The tiger weighed seven hundred jin in total and was worth over one hundred and fifty taels. However, Chen Sanshi kept the Tiger Heart, tiger gall, Tiger Skin, tiger bones, and fifty jin of Tiger Meat for his own use, leaving him with sixty-eight taels of silver.

The foolish roe deer fetched one tael of silver.

"The resources for Minor Accomplishment in Blood Refining are about enough."