Archery at Perfection, Eight Hundred Pounds of Physical Strength

At dusk, in the Wilderness.

Within a patch of dense brush, a Black Bear standing two or three meters tall rampaged through the woods. Suddenly, with a sharp whoosh, an arrow streaked across the sky like lightning and struck the Black Bear's right eye.

It pierced straight through the Black Bear's entire head, sending a spray of blood soaring into the air and taking all its Life Force with it.

With a bang, the Black Bear's massive body crashed heavily onto the ground. Until its death, it never knew where that arrow had flown from.

At the same time, atop the trunk of an ancient tree a hundred meters away.

Lu Chuan narrowed his eyes. On the System Panel within his Sea of Consciousness, a notification flashed.

[Archery +10]

[Martial Skill: Basic Archery (Perfection, 4/1000)]

Boom!

At that moment, a powerful intent flooded into his mind, as though it had pulled his entire being into another world.

In that world, Lu Chuan had practiced Archery since childhood. After exhausting his entire life, he had finally Raised it to the Perfection Realm and become a Divine Archer.

The surging memories merged with Lu Chuan like enlightenment pouring into his head, allowing him to completely grasp every essence of perfected Archery. At that moment, he was like a Divine Archer who had trained in Archery for decades.

His mental state, eyesight, and arm strength were all transforming toward those of a true Divine Archer.

And this transformation was utterly terrifying—subtle and silent, yet incredibly swift. In almost an instant, everything had completely changed.

"Hoo..."

As he exhaled a breath of turbid air, Dazzling light flashed in Lu Chuan's eyes. Ecstasy appeared on his face. "Archery at the Perfection Realm has not only made me a Divine Archer, but also strengthened my physique.

My physical strength has probably reached eight hundred pounds.

Once one cultivates Internal Strength through Martial Dao and becomes a true Martial Artist, their physical strength is roughly one thousand pounds.

By that standard, I should soon reach one thousand pounds and cultivate Internal Strength, right?"

The more he thought about it, the more excited Lu Chuan became.

Eight hundred pounds of physical strength was already infinitely close to a Martial Artist's power. At last, it gave him a sliver of strength to protect himself in this dog-eat-dog world.

"It's getting late today. I can't keep hunting—I need to hurry back."

Lu Chuan looked up at the sky. As the heavens grew darker, a trace of tension rose within him.

In this world, the Wilderness at night and the Wilderness by day were like two entirely different worlds. Its dangers increased by more than tenfold. Not only did countless ferocious birds and beasts emerge, but true Fierce Beasts also roamed freely.

Beyond that, he had heard there were unpredictable Demon Ghosts. Once encountered, even Martial Artists would certainly die.

Lu Chuan only took the Bear Paws and Bear Gallbladder from the Black Bear, discarding all the rest, including its meat.

It was not that Lu Chuan looked down on it, nor was it because he lacked the ability to carry it back.

In truth, this Black Bear weighed at most five or six hundred pounds. With his current strength, he could easily carry it back.

But Lu Chuan would not take it, because bringing it back would only benefit others.

The East District of the Outer City of Fengle City, where he lived, was under the Fierce Tiger Gang's jurisdiction. These lackeys chosen by the old masters of the Inner City were exceptionally ruthless in their exploitation of Outer City slum dwellers.

Lu Chuan was certain that if he dared carry this Black Bear back, the Fierce Tiger Gang would snatch it away within minutes.

Since that was the case, Better to throw it away than let those beasts worse than animals profit from it.

"Only by becoming a Martial Artist can I gain even a sliver of a voice and avoid being exploited by the Fierce Tiger Gang..."

Lu Chuan swiftly put the Bear Paws and Bear Gallbladder into his backpack.

He looked up at the sky, immediately quickened his pace, and rushed back like a tiger or leopard.

Perfected Archery had brought him more than merely increased physical strength—it had improved every aspect of his physical condition.

His strength, speed, vision, and more had all undergone a transformation.

His speed and vision in particular seemed to have improved even more than his strength. As he sprinted all the way, he was like a tiger or leopard, racing like wind and lightning.

A journey that normally took two or three hours took him less than an hour today.

At this moment, a broad road was crowded with people and flowing traffic.

One steel monster after another sped down the road. Seated inside were men and women radiating powerful Sha Qi.

These were true Martial Artists.

Martial Artists also left the city to hunt, but they generally traveled more than a hundred li from Fengle City and ventured deep into the Wilderness specifically to hunt Fierce Beasts.

At that moment, Lu Chuan saw that some vehicles even had the corpses of enormous Fierce Beasts piled in their compartments.

Though already dead, they still emitted astonishing Blood Fiend Energy that made people shudder.

"I've heard Fierce Beasts have Crystal Cores Inside the body. Those things are condensed from the essence of a Fierce Beast's energy and are extremely valuable. Even the lowest-grade Fierce Beast Crystal Core can sell for tens of thousands.

"But Fierce Beast corpses are valuable too. They're the favorite food of many rich people in the Inner City..."

Watching the Fierce Beast corpses loaded in the speeding vehicles, Lu Chuan's thoughts drifted far and wide.

He wanted to hunt Fierce Beasts too.

But with his current strength, he could not withstand even the weakest Fierce Beast.

Only by becoming a Martial Artist would he be qualified to fight Fierce Beasts.

"Soon... With the Entry's support, becoming a Martial Artist is only a matter of time."

Lu Chuan thought to himself and immediately accelerated forward.

About ten minutes later, he arrived at the Outer City gate.

The city gate forged from refined iron stood more than ten meters tall, while walls built entirely from bluestone enclosed an area spanning a hundred li.

This was Fengle City, a small Base City and the only Base City within a thousand li.

It was said that its permanent population had already surpassed five million.

The four major slum districts of the Outer City alone housed more than a million people, while the entire Outer City held nearly four million.

The Inner City, meanwhile, had only a little over one million.

Yet Fengle City's Inner City occupied no less land than the Outer City.

Its living conditions and resources were even less comparable to those of the Outer City. In many people's eyes, the Inner City was the true Fengle City.

The Outer City was merely a slum, a buffer zone the masters of the Inner City used to resist Fierce Beasts and Demon Ghosts.

"Once I become a Martial Artist, I'll qualify to apply for entry into the Inner City. I've heard the defensive Great Array covering the Inner City can withstand large-scale Fierce Beast Tides and defend against Demon Ghost invasions as well..."

Many thoughts flashed through Lu Chuan's mind.

He narrowed his eyes and looked along the main street toward its end.

At the end of the wide street stood a city shrouded beneath a luminous barrier like a Sky Curtain.

That barrier was the so-called defensive Great Array.

It divided Fengle City into the Inner and Outer Cities. Separated by a single wall, they were two entirely different worlds.

One side was heaven; the other was hell.