Unerring Aim

An archery hall class lasted one hour.

After finishing the first lesson, Lu Yunhai felt like he could barely take it anymore. He had nearly failed to maintain his confidence as an archery coach and had begun questioning whether everything he had learned over the years was correct.

Over that hour, Ji Xinghuo had improved tremendously.

But it could also be said that he had not improved at all.

His great improvement lay in the fact that, after correction, Ji Xinghuo's archery form had become extremely standard.

From posture and shooting procedure to force application, as long as Lu Yunhai taught it once, Ji Xinghuo could master it after practicing a few times. He never made the same mistake again, and his shooting speed had improved somewhat as well.

Yet he had made no improvement because, throughout the corrections and practice, every arrow Ji Xinghuo fired had landed in the ten ring. Whether his form was wrong or right, he always hit the bullseye.

What was the primary goal of archery? Hitting the target! Since he could hit the bullseye every time and achieve unerring accuracy, whether his shooting form was standard became irrelevant.

It was even utterly meaningless!

For ordinary people, incorrect archery form and force application might cause some physical damage over time.

But for a Ranger, the impact was negligible.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have signed you up for classes." Lu Yunhai regretted it a little. "At most, you'll only need two or three lessons to completely master archery technique. After that, you just need to practice on your own, build Muscle Memory, increase your shooting speed, extend your range, and raise the bow's draw weight."

He could have simply found some time to teach the material from several classes privately and saved the registration fee.

Ji Xinghuo understood what Lu Yunhai meant and smiled. "It's fine. I used the archery hall's facilities, after all. Just consider it a usage fee."

"You don't have a job yet. Save where you can." Lu Yunhai shook his head.

Ji Xinghuo fell silent for a moment.

His finances truly were not very comfortable, but he had no immediate need for a large amount of money.

The Asia-Pacific Community had excellent welfare benefits. Citizens without jobs, whether adults or minors, received a monthly assistance payment. There were also additional benefits during holidays and festivals, with no time limit; the payments continued until death.

The assistance payment was not much, generally around 3,000 Asia Yuan.

If a citizen had contributed to society or the country, the payment could increase significantly. However, the vast majority of people could only receive the lowest tier.

Three thousand Asia Yuan was enough for one person to cover daily living expenses. If they were frugal, they could even save a little each month.

Of course, that money was only enough to keep someone alive at the most basic level. They would not go hungry or sleep on the streets.

But there was not much enjoyment in it.

If someone wanted a more comfortable life, to indulge their interests, pursue their dreams, and live colorfully and luxuriously, they had to work hard for it themselves.

However, many people with little material desire chose never to work and relied on the government for their entire lives.

As a result, the Asia-Pacific Community's unemployment rate had never fallen below 35%!

Fortunately, technology was now advanced, and productivity had increased dozens of times over compared to two centuries ago. Resources were abundant. Let alone supporting over a billion citizens, the Asian Commonwealth government could afford to support several billion more. Supporting people who did not work had never accounted for a large proportion of the Asia-Pacific Community's fiscal spending.

Ji Xinghuo had received assistance payments since birth. He was not extravagant with money, and his largest monthly expenses were rent and food.

He had saved everything left over, but it was not much.

At present, he had only a little over seventy thousand Asia Yuan in savings.

In the past, that money would certainly have been enough. But now that he had become an Aberrant, if he wanted to advance faster and farther along the path of life evolution, he had to think about how to make money.

Training as an Aberrant was extremely expensive. It was practically a money pit! Purchasing Ability Seeds was only the most basic expense.

With money, one could even hire an entire training team to serve them.

The team would include a head coach, martial arts coach, ability coach, and several sparring partners; a professional chef responsible for meals; an apothecary who assisted with training; a recovery therapist for post-training treatment; a private doctor; and data analysts who constantly gathered the Aberrant's physical information, tailored training plans, optimized training efficiency, and so on.

In addition, many major corporations developed specialized training methods, large-scale equipment, and even more advanced and expensive support methods.

Purchasing weapons and equipment was also a major expense.

Training as an Aberrant was like a bottomless pit. Even if someone threw several hundred million into it, they might not make much of a splash.

In short, an Aberrant had to have money!

The reverse was also true: only those with money could become powerful Aberrants.

In fact, Ji Xinghuo had recently been considering how to make money.

For example, he could use his status as an Aberrant to apply for a high-paying job. But no matter how high an Elementary Esper's salary was, he could not make a great deal of money in a short time.

"Keep practicing. I need to teach other classes." Seeing that Ji Xinghuo was not speaking, Lu Yunhai patted his shoulder. "Don't rush off later. Let's have dinner tonight. My treat!"

"Okay."

Ji Xinghuo watched his good friend leave, cast aside his distracting thoughts, raised his compound bow, and continued shooting.

After training ended, the two left the archery hall together.

They had a lavish dinner at a nearby restaurant and drank several bottles of alcohol.

Although they had graduated less than a month ago, having truly left campus and entered society, they could not help feeling somewhat sentimental.

Ji Xinghuo and Lu Yunhai's alma mater was Fengming Language University, a university focused on language majors. Besides teaching languages from countries around the world, it also offered Star Realm language courses. Its overall standing was far from that of elite universities, and it could only be considered a second-tier domestic university.

In truth, Star Realm languages were Fengming Language University's flagship specialty.

The Star Realm was vast and boundless. Humanity had explored and come into contact with more than a dozen civilized races so far, nearly all of whom had different languages.

Ji Xinghuo had majored in Xinya Lak Language.

It was one of the mainstream common languages of the Star Realm's human race. He had also minored in Celestial Race Language and Dragon Language, mastering three Star Realm languages in total. His academic performance was considered quite good.

By comparison, Lu Yunhai's studies had been a complete mess because part-time jobs took up too much of his time. He often failed courses and had nearly been unable to graduate.

"Let's go back to school and take a look."

The alcohol had gone to Lu Yunhai's head, and he grabbed Ji Xinghuo and headed off.

Fengming Language University was in Qishan District, not far away. Ji Xinghuo had lived there for the past few years, so he did not stop Lu Yunhai.

However, when they reached the school gate, the evening breeze sobered Lu Yunhai up.

Looking at the familiar entrance, both of them smiled.

"Haha..." Lu Yunhai laughed awkwardly. "Work pressure has been pretty heavy lately. I lose my composure after drinking. Sorry you had to see that."

"If something's wrong, tell me. Don't bottle it up." Ji Xinghuo had noticed long ago.

Clearly, Lu Yunhai's pressure did not come solely from work. Something had gone wrong in his relationship as well.

Over the past few hours, Lu Yunhai had not mentioned his girlfriend once. She was also their classmate, though she still had another year before graduation.

"Let's go. We'll take a walk around campus."

Ji Xinghuo led the way through the school gate, and they strolled around the campus field.

It was summer break, but many people had remained at the university. Watching the student couples passing by, Lu Yunhai was stirred by the sight and finally said, "She and I broke up."

"Why?" Ji Xinghuo found it a little strange.

When they had traveled for graduation, Lu Yunhai and his girlfriend had still been inseparable, looking as though they were headed for marriage.

"What else could it be? She fell for someone else." Lu Yunhai gave a self-mocking smile. "When she came back after winter break at the beginning of the year, she told me someone from her hometown had pursued her. He was an Aberrant, but she had firmly rejected him. Last week, she went home and suddenly messaged me to break up."

Ji Xinghuo sighed. This sort of thing was far too common.

The gap between ordinary people and Aberrants showed itself in every aspect of society, especially when choosing a partner. Aberrants possessed an overwhelming advantage.

Between an ordinary person and an Aberrant, most people would make the same choice.

It was mutual and voluntary, with nothing to criticize.

Even so, when it happened to oneself—especially when one was the person being abandoned—anyone would feel bitter.

"She really has that little faith in me?" Lu Yunhai was clearly unwilling to accept it.

Ji Xinghuo did not know how to answer.

Past statistics showed that the first fusion with an Ability Seed had the highest success rate. The success rate for the second attempt dropped by half, and each subsequent attempt was more likely to fail.

By the third or fourth attempt, there was basically little hope left.

And Lu Yunhai had already failed once.

For a second attempt, he would have to buy an Ability Seed himself. Lu Yunhai's family circumstances were average and could not provide much support, so he could only rely on himself.

His monthly salary at the archery hall was over ten thousand, already a very good job, but he was still far from saving enough money.

"Work hard."

That was all Ji Xinghuo could say to comfort him. "We're still young. Put relationship matters aside for now. Becoming an Aberrant is more important than women."

Lu Yunhai nodded heavily.

"Actually, I've come to terms with it. I can accept the breakup." He barely recovered his usual confidence. "I just never expected her to change so quickly. The day before she went home, she even asked me to meet her parents during summer break. I couldn't tell at all that she'd already changed her mind."

"Women..." Ji Xinghuo shook his head. "You're not a Mind Hacker. How could you possibly guess what she's thinking?"

"True."

Lu Yunhai fell silent.

After a moment, he suddenly said with a solemn expression, "One day, I'll make her regret it."

The two took a lap around the campus, then went their separate ways and returned home.

After that, Ji Xinghuo adjusted his training plan.

Every afternoon, he set aside two hours to attend classes and practice archery at the archery hall.

Lu Yunhai spent three days teaching Ji Xinghuo the elementary archery course, then moved on to advanced lessons without changing the fee. In only ten days, he had taught Ji Xinghuo all the archery knowledge he possessed.

The rest was practice.

With repeated practice, Ji Xinghuo's shooting form and force application became increasingly skilled. The compound bow's draw weight gradually increased until it stabilized at 83 kilograms, or 184 pounds. His shooting distance also grew, from thirty-meter targets to one-hundred-meter targets.

Against stationary targets within one hundred meters, he was unerring, every arrow landing in the ten ring! However, when facing moving targets and random targets, he could only guarantee bullseyes within fifty meters. Beyond fifty meters, the farther the distance, the lower the score.

Even so, Lu Yunhai was stunned.

He had practiced archery for nearly ten years, yet Ji Xinghuo caught up to him in ten days and surpassed him.

At the end of archery training that day, Lu Yunhai stopped Ji Xinghuo and handed him a black package. "Xinghuo, take this."

"What is it?"

The moment Ji Xinghuo took it, he had a rough guess.

When he opened it, he found a silver-gray Compound Hunting Bow inside, along with several dozen training arrows.

"Your twenty-second birthday is coming up. It may be the most important birthday of your life. I don't have anything particularly good to give you, so this Yi Feng is one of the compound bows in my collection. Take it as a birthday present."

Lu Yunhai smiled. "Don't stand on ceremony with me. Just don't forget to give me a hand when you make it big someday."

Ji Xinghuo had wanted to refuse, but hearing that, he could only nod. "All right, I'll accept it."

Yi Feng was a well-known hunting bow brand.

According to ADC evaluation standards, this Compound Hunting Bow was a one-star "premium" product. It used the best current materials and manufacturing techniques, and sold for around twenty thousand Asia Yuan.

Lu Yunhai looked very happy when Ji Xinghuo accepted the gift.

"Every good archer needs a good bow of his own." He began discussing archery theory. "You usually use the hall's bows, and you have to adjust the settings every time you come. Their performance is also mediocre, so they can't bring out your full ability."

"Although this Yi Feng isn't a superpowered weapon, its performance is much better than the hall's bows."

"Once you get used to it, your strength will improve further."

As Ji Xinghuo listened, he took out the compound bow and adjusted it according to his own specifications: draw length, sight, and draw weight.

Yi Feng had a wide draw-weight range, from seventy kilograms to one hundred thirty kilograms. It should last him a long time.

"Shoot a few arrows and try it out," Lu Yunhai said.

"Okay."

After calibrating the bow, Ji Xinghuo immediately gripped it. The feel of the handle was completely different.

Because it was designed for Aberrants, both its materials and design prioritized sturdiness and durability without the need to consider lightweight construction. As a result, Yi Feng was much heavier than an ordinary compound bow. The bow and its accessories weighed over seven kilograms, which was just right for him.

He nocked an arrow, drew the string, aimed, and released.

Smack! An arrow embedded itself in the center of the target one hundred meters away.

He fired continuously. In only thirty seconds, he sent all twenty arrows flying in one breath, filling the ten-ring bullseye with arrows.

It was not Lu Yunhai's first time seeing it, but he still marveled at the sight. Shaking his head, he said, "With your talent, once you practice moving and random targets some more, you can enter competitions. You'll definitely place."

"What competitions?" Ji Xinghuo asked.

"Chang'an holds many archery competitions every year, and there are competitions all over the country as well. They range from amateur to professional levels, including indoor shooting competitions, outdoor field archery competitions, online simulated combat, and more. They draw plenty of spectators, and the prize money isn't bad either." Lu Yunhai gave him a brief introduction.

Ji Xinghuo's eyes lit up. "How much is the prize money exactly?"

"Generally, anyone who ranks near the top gets prize money. The champion of Chang'an's highest-level field archery competition should get several hundred thousand. But that depends on the sponsor. If the sponsor is generous, a champion's prize of over a million is perfectly normal."

"Over a million!"

Ji Xinghuo was immediately tempted. "When is the field archery competition?"

"It was held in May. The next one won't be until next year." Lu Yunhai chuckled, seeing that Ji Xinghuo wanted to participate. "But there is a small competition next week. Several Chang'an archery halls are jointly hosting the Shoot Leaf Cup. The prize money is also over a hundred thousand."

"Are there any registration requirements?"

"There are no restrictions for ordinary people, but Aberrants can't be above Intermediate Rank." Lu Yunhai explained, "The Shoot Leaf Cup is a semi-professional competition, so it's relatively small in scale."

"I'll sign up."

Ji Xinghuo thought that it suited his needs perfectly.

Large, high-level competitions might offer greater champion prizes, but the competitors would also be stronger. If he attracted too much attention, it might cause some trouble.

A semi-professional competition like this was small, the prize money was easy to win, and it would not attract too much attention.

"Good. Then I'll register you." Lu Yunhai said expectantly, "If you can win the championship, I'll get to share in the glory too. After all, I taught you, and you're a member of the archery hall. Maybe the Hall Master will even give you some extra rewards."

Ji Xinghuo nodded.

If he could win prize money, this might be a good way for him to make money quickly.