Archery
Within the Tai'a Divine City, there is a shooting range for practicing archery.
When Yi Yun arrived at the shooting range, there weren't many people there.
The shooting range is a hundred feet wide and a thousand feet long, with an overall rectangular shape. One end of the rectangle is for the archers to practice archery, and the other end is for the targets. These targets are all made of Purple Tungsten Steel, the same material as the Purple Tungsten Steel Wall that Yi Yun was pierced by the Primordial Arrow.
Yi Yun was deeply impressed by this Purple Tungsten Steel; it was incredibly hard.
The shooting range in Tai'a Divine City has rows of targets, some of which are half a foot thick, while the really heavy targets are six feet thick, the same length as the blade of the Thousand Army Saber!
This target is so thick, it's even more exaggerated than the Purple Tungsten Steel Wall that Yi Yun could pierce with his Primordial Arrow.
These targets were all fixed to the ground with thick iron pillars, each one a shocking sight!
When Yi Yun actually saw these targets, he gasped.
In the center of the target, rows of arrows were stuck in the ground, each one so deeply embedded that the fletching was completely inside!
This type of arrow is the standard long arrow used at the shooting range, specifically designed for use with a longbow, and it is four feet two inches long.
An arrow four feet two inches long, embedded itself completely in the Purple Tungsten Steel Wall —how much force must that have taken?
Even more striking, Yi Yun noticed several arrows piercing through the entire target, with a small, chilling tip peeking out from behind it!
Yi Yun felt a chill run down his spine. He recalled how, just over ten days ago, he had charged at the Purple Tungsten Steel Wall with the heavy Primordial Arrow, only to manage to create a hole a foot deep twice, without even managing to plant the arrow securely.
And this archer, with just a light arrow, was able to pierce so deeply.
That's amazing!
Yi Yun exclaimed sincerely, "Young man, who shot those arrows that pierced the target?"
Yi Yun asked one of the trial participants beside him, "You mean those arrows... those were shot by Li Xiao, who's ranked third on the Heaven Ranking!"
"Ranked third on the Heaven Ranking? Li Xiao!"
Yi Yun remembered this name. He remembered the people who ranked high on each of the Heaven, Earth, and Human Lists.
In the Divine Wilderness, there are vast wastelands where various powerful wild beasts lurk.
Among them are many elite-level wild beasts, Beast General level, and even King-level Savage Beast!
Not to mention those Ancient Remnant Species lurking deep within the Divine Wilderness!
The truly powerful trial participants in Tai'a Divine City certainly wouldn't do menial tasks like sparring or blacksmithing. They earn Dragon Scale Rune primarily in two ways.
One type is trading or gambling with others!
Especially those trial participants who are themselves Savage Heaven Master, Weapon Refiner, or Alchemists, can acquire materials and then create finished Desolate Bones and Pills to exchange for Dragon Scale Rune.
For warriors who don't know any other skills and only know how to fight, the most important way to earn Dragon Scale Rune is to hunt wild beasts!
After killing a wild beast, hand over its bones, flesh, tendons, horns, and other materials to Tai'a Divine City, and Tai'a Divine City will reward you with Dragon Scale Rune.
At the same time, all the trial participants will be ranked according to the number and strength of the wild beasts they have hunted. This is the Heaven Ranking!
In the Tai'a Divine City, there are three rankings: the Human Ranking is the Dragon Scale Ranking, and the Earth Ranking is the Arena Ranking. However, based on the conventional ranking order of "Heaven, Earth, and Human," the Heaven Ranking hunting wild beasts is subtly ranked above the other two rankings!
The Dragon Scale Ranking is a symbol of wealth. Although resources and wealth are of paramount importance for martial arts practitioners, in the Tai'a Divine Kingdom, many martial artists have the support of Lineage and sects. As long as you have enough talent, resources will be provided for you.
To truly rely on one's own efforts to earn resources for cultivation is something that comes after reaching the Saintly Realm.
Therefore, the Dragon Scale Ranking, which symbolizes a martial artist's ability to earn wealth and resources, is temporarily ranked third.
As for the competition rankings, those are battles against other martial artists, while the Tai'a Divine Kingdom believes that the main threat to the human race comes from wild beasts.
Those wild beasts occupied vast wildernesses, and within those desolate wildernesses lay endless treasures waiting to be explored.
In their divine kingdom ideology, they do not encourage warriors to kill each other, but rather encourage everyone to hunt wild beasts.
Therefore, among the three lists, the Heaven Ranking is the Heaven Ranking for hunting wild beasts, and the corresponding rewards are the highest!
"Haha, you're new here, aren't you? I see you're carrying a bow too, hmm? It's a good bow, made by the Zhang family, right?"
Yi Yun casually struck up a conversation with a martial artist who possessed remarkable insight, recognizing the quality of Yi Yun's bow at a glance.
"Practice hard! Mastering archery will give you a huge advantage in the Heaven Ranking! Senior Brother Li Xiao's archery skills are superb! I personally witnessed him shoot an Ironclad Giant Rhinoceros to pieces from a thousand paces away with an arrow the thickness of a thumb!"
The trial participant who spoke was only fifteen or sixteen years old. He talked about the scene he had witnessed with great enthusiasm, as if the glory belonged to him.
Yi Yun was also deeply moved.
The Ironclad Giant Rhinoceros, a wild beast renowned for its defensive capabilities, was torn to pieces by Li Xiao's arrow. It wasn't dead, it was torn to pieces!
That archery skill is terrifying!
For martial artists, archery is not about accuracy. Martial artists have strong eyesight and mental strength, so it is not difficult for them to shoot accurately!
The real challenge lies in the energy and power infused into the bow and arrow!
The truly terrifying archer is not one who can hit a target from a hundred paces away, but one who can shoot down a small mountain with a single arrow from a hundred paces away!
Those who are skilled with bows are often powerful martial artists themselves. Their primary weapon may not be a bow, but rather a sword, spear, or other similar weapon. The bow is just one of their weapons. They are equally skilled in close combat, and their physical strength is terrifying.
Yi Yun knew this Li Xiao; he was also ranked in the top ten on the Earth Ranking!
In ancient mythology, there is the legend of Hou Yi shooting down the suns, and the national treasure bow of the Tai'a Divine Kingdom is called the Star Shooting Bow.
When archery is used to an unparalleled level, it can even shoot down the sun and Stars in the sky! While this may be an exaggeration, it illustrates the power of the bow and arrow.
For Yi Yun now, bows and arrows have a significant advantage in fighting wild beasts, as their hunting speed is naturally unmatched by melee weapons.
Seeing Li Xiao's arrows, what could Yi Yun say? Just keep practicing!
Within a year, Yi Yun will use his bow and his sword to earn a place on the Heaven Ranking and the Earthly Ranking!
To be among the top 1,000 within a year is considered exceptional, earning the attention of major powers in the Divine Kingdom! But Yi Yun's ambitions extend beyond that!
The Tai'a Medicine Mountain stretches endlessly, containing countless spiritual and extraordinary places, and containing countless undiscovered treasures of heaven and earth!
At this moment, the sun shines brightly in the sky, and a boy dressed in hemp clothing moves swiftly through the mountains and forests, as agile as a cheetah.
He carried a jet-black longbow on his shoulder and a huge quiver on his back, as thick as an adult's waist, filled with bundles of gleaming, cold arrows!
Despite his bulky luggage, the boy's movements were not hindered in the slightest. The countless steep cliffs and dense foliage in front of him were nothing to him.
"Boom! Boom!"
The boy's steps were heavy; each step was like a massive hammer falling.
It landed on the mountain rocks, and the rocks shattered!
It landed on the tree trunk, and the trunk shattered!
Suddenly, the boy drew a gleaming longsword. With a sweeping motion, he cut three large trees, each as thick as a person's embrace, in half as thin as grass. The cut was so smooth it looked as if it had been sanded.
The boy hugged a large tree, planted his feet on the ground, and used his legs to drive his waist, unleashing his full strength as he swung his arms out!
"Call out!"
With a piercing shriek, a tree as thick as a person's embrace flew out like a meteor, shooting straight into the sky!
The boy did the same thing, picking up the other two trees that were still in mid-air and throwing them out together.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Three giant trees pierced the sky, Yi Yun leaped up, holding the Great Cang Bow, drawing the bow and nocking an arrow!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The bowstring, made of the tendons of the Savage Giant Python, vibrated continuously, and Yi Yun fired three arrows in quick succession!
The three arrows exploded with a loud bang the moment they were fired, and the chilling arrowheads stirred up visible ripples in the air, creating a thin mist around them!
This is the sonic boom caused by the arrow breaking the speed of sound. Yi Yun's body speed is not yet able to reach the speed of sound, but the arrow he shoots easily reaches the speed of sound!
Three arrows chased after three large trees.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Three consecutive explosions rang out! The tree, which had already flown far into the horizon, was pierced by three arrows and exploded, shattering into countless wood chips and branches in mid-air!
Seeing this scene, Yi Yun breathed a sigh of relief.
As of today, Yi Yun has been practicing archery for ten days.
Over the course of ten days, Yi Yun bent the bow countless times, his fingers bleeding from the cuts in the bowstring.
As of today, Yi Yun's archery skills, while not yet comparable to those of the seasoned trial participants, are probably unmatched among the newcomers.
"In four or five days, after making the final preparations, I can go and capture that Primordial Relic Medicine!"
Yi Yun already had a complete plan in mind regarding capturing the Heavenly Auspicious Purple Sun Ginseng. Whether he could succeed or not depended on this one gamble!
(The annual meeting and the company's promotional activities all happened at the same time, and it also happened to be Cocoon's birthday. I had to postpone everything I could, but there were some things I couldn't avoid. I still won't miss any updates. Even if I unfortunately miss an update, I will definitely make up for it.)
...(To be continued~^~)