Shocking the World

A bag held thirty arrows. Lan Mu not only used up every arrow at his waist, but also borrowed one of Fang Moqi's bags during that intense rapid-fire barrage!

With six bags in total, Lan Mu fired one hundred and eighty arrows in a minute.

To everyone present, that was practically machine-like speed!

Perhaps someone could reach three arrows per second in an instant, or even five. But that was sustained for an entire minute. Someone capable of firing five arrows in one second might not necessarily fire one hundred and eighty in a minute! This was no longer merely a question of speed; it also demanded endurance, balance, and a whole range of other abilities.

"How is that possible?"

Fang Moqi stared fixedly at Lan Mu's smooth, delicate hands. His worldview, forged over more than a decade of roaming the wilderness, was beginning to crumble.

"He clearly hasn't trained with a bow for long. Why is he so fast? This speed... inhuman!"

He did not know that Lan Mu beside him truly was not human.

Wang Ling and Du Yu rushed forward at once and began counting the arrows on the ground.

Fang Moqi did not need to count. One glance was enough to tell him that he had lost.

And the gap was enormous.

The results were quickly tallied. Wang Ling stood there too stunned to speak, while Du Yu shouted excitedly, "We won!"

"One hundred and fifty gray arrows hit their targets, bringing down a total of four hundred and fifty flying targets!"

Wang Ling said softly, "One hundred and nine black arrows hit their targets, bringing down a total of three hundred and forty-seven flying targets..."

The difference was immense, practically a complete rout.

"You counted wrong. There were thirty black arrows. He fired them..."

As Fang Moqi spoke, he inspected the arrows.

He soon noticed that every one of Lan Mu's arrows had struck three flying targets, while his own had taken down two, three, four, or even five each.

"The speed of each arrow should have been steady, so with one hundred and eighty arrows in the end... he maintained three arrows per second for a full minute?"

Fang Moqi's highest firing speed was five arrows per second, but his accuracy at that rate was atrocious. In this kind of training, he could only reach three arrows per second while still ensuring the arrows hit the flying targets.

And he could not maintain three arrows per second for long. If his speed were plotted on a graph, it would fluctuate like waves.

So overall, Fang Moqi's average firing rate over one minute was—1.31/s.

That speed was enough to stand proudly at the pinnacle of the archery world, yet today he had lost so suddenly.

"How did you do it? How did you maintain a stable firing rate of three arrows per second for so long?" Fang Moqi asked.

Lan Mu hesitated, then said, "Talent."

"..."

Fang Moqi's lips moved, but he could not find the words.

At last, he suddenly said, "How about we compete again?"

Du Yu hurried over eagerly, but upon hearing that, he froze. "Brother Fang? Are you going back on your word?"

Fang Moqi's face darkened. "How could I possibly cheat? A bet is a bet. I'll fulfill all three of your requests, so long as they don't violate my principles."

Du Yu gave an odd grin. "Heh heh heh..."

"Sigh..." Fang Moqi sighed. Ignoring Du Yu, he fixed his gaze on Lan Mu again and asked,

"Can we have another match? This would just be a spar outside the bet."

Lan Mu asked curiously, "Didn't you use your full strength? You're not convinced?"

"I really didn't use my full strength..." Fang Moqi set down the large bow and took out his smaller one, which was less than two feet long.

"Fine, let's do it!" Lan Mu was also curious. Would using such a small bow really make a difference?

He understood that Fang Moqi had already reached the limits of human archery speed. Whether it was speed, endurance, or the balance and stability of his wrist, all of it was a consummate skill forged through relentless training.

"No, we won't be doing flying-target training this time."

"We're combat archers. We should shoot living things."

What Fang Moqi had the most confidence in was his hunting archery. Shooting moving targets was different from shooting moving creatures, especially creatures that could fly.

"Have you ever practiced shooting mosquitoes?"

Lan Mu froze, startled. "Shooting mosquitoes?"

Fang Moqi nodded and had Wang Ling fetch something. Before long, Wang Ling brought over a transparent jar containing ten mosquitoes.

"I started practicing shooting mosquitoes when I was twenty-seven. It took me until I was thirty to master the skill of killing them."

"You practiced shooting mosquitoes for three years?" Just how bored were you...? Lan Mu grumbled inwardly.

Wang Ling opened the jar, and the ten mosquitoes immediately flew out. They were tiny to begin with, and once released, they were like fish returning to the sea. In the vast training grounds, they vanished from sight in an instant.

Du Yu narrowed his eyes and searched everywhere. The training grounds were huge, and ten mosquitoes were far too small. He simply could not find them.

Lan Mu's eyesight was different. His gaze focused slightly, and he soon spotted four mosquitoes flying through the air. He could not find the other six and had no idea where they had hidden.

"Do we start now?" Lan Mu asked.

Fang Moqi smiled. "I've practiced shooting mosquitoes for five years, while you've never tried it before. That would be too unfair to you."

"I don't want to take advantage of you. I'll first show you how to hit a mosquito, then you can shoot!"

"Today, no matter how many times you try, as long as you hit one, I'll count it as my loss!"

Lan Mu truly had never tried shooting mosquitoes before, so he said, "Like this? Sure."

Fang Moqi stared intently across the grounds, already drawing his bow and nocking an arrow. The bow was small, and so were the arrows.

What astonished everyone was that Fang Moqi held three arrows in one hand at the same time. Lan Mu remembered that he had used the same technique before, sliding arrows onto the string.

Everyone stood quietly. Fang Moqi and Lan Mu stood atop the raised platform, silently searching for mosquitoes.

Suddenly, a mosquito flew near Du Yu. Du Yu spotted it at once and hurriedly waved it away.

Startled, the mosquito darted off in a completely unpredictable pattern.

Then came the sound of three arrows slicing through the air—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Du Yu did not even see the arrows before he dropped to the ground in fright and shouted, "Don't shoot me!"

The mosquito might be able to dodge, but he certainly could not. It had been far too close to him just moments ago.

In an instant, three dull thuds rang out as the arrows embedded themselves in the ground.

Wang Ling and Du Yu hurried over to look. Wang Ling shouted excitedly, "A mosquito! A mosquito!"

Du Yu muttered, "You can really shoot mosquitoes... and from so far away."

Three arrows were embedded in the ground. One of them had pierced a mosquito dead center, pinning it to the floor.

"Clap clap clap..."

Lan Mu could not help applauding. It was wonderful—an incredible display of archery... for a human.

The distance from the platform to the mosquito's corpse was around sixteen meters. Never mind firing three arrows instantly; simply hitting a wildly fluttering mosquito was already unbelievable.

Fang Moqi lowered his small bow with satisfaction and explained,

"Lan Mu, mosquitoes are tiny, and they do not fly slowly. To hit one within twenty meters, an arrow needs to reach a certain speed."

"Mosquitoes are extremely sensitive to air currents. The arrow has to be fast enough to minimize the distance the mosquito can move to evade it."

"And then there's the key technique... forcing its movement!"

"I fire three arrows in an instant, each aimed at a different position, predicting three possible directions for the mosquito to flee."

"My first arrow is fired a fraction of a second before the second, forcing the mosquito to evade in the direction I want. Then the second arrow is fired a fraction of a second before the third, forcing it a second time. The final arrow arrives at exactly the right spot and finishes it!"

"All three arrows must be fired within a second. In that brief instant, you need exceptional eyesight and reflexes to calculate from the mosquito's position and flight path, rapidly determine the intervals between every arrow, and complete a series of actions in an extremely short time. Only then can you kill a mosquito with an arrow."

"Besides that, the arrow speed requirements are also extremely high. I can only do it with this small bow."

"This bow was specially made for me, and its materials are unusual as well. The arrows it fires are faster than those from any other bow."

Fang Moqi explained in great detail, and Wang Ling and Du Yu both nodded in surprise.

Lan Mu gave a soft sound and smiled. "I'll give it a try!"

With that, he began to draw his bow and nock an arrow.

"Wait! Use mine." Fang Moqi handed his small bow to Lan Mu. "Arrow speed is important! I know your firing rate is fast, but arrow speed basically depends on the quality of the bow. You should use mine!"

Lan Mu waved his hand and refused.

"No need! I'll use my own."

Fang Moqi laughed helplessly and shook his head. "You can't possibly succeed. Even if you shot all day, you still couldn't hit a single mosquito!"

"It took me three full years to discover this technique, and this bow is indispensable..."

Thud, thud, thud!

Before Fang Moqi could finish, Lan Mu's three arrows had already flown out.

He had not fired them at the ground, but toward a point roughly thirty degrees above the front of him.

All three arrows struck the wall, spaced far apart. This was unlike Fang Moqi's tightly arranged arrows, which had been used to force the mosquito's movements.

Wang Ling and Du Yu both ran off to get ladders, intending to see whether mosquitoes had been killed on the wall.

Fang Moqi muttered, "No need to look. He definitely missed."

At the same time, he kept replaying those three stunning trajectories in his mind...

That was right. Fang Moqi was certain he had seen curves! Not curves caused by gravity! One arrow curved upward, one curved left, and one curved right!

"Homing arrows? No! They must just be curved arrows..."

"Those beautiful trajectories alone—although they didn't hit mosquitoes—would make it impossible for any slightly larger animal to evade! That's still an astonishing technique!"

Fang Moqi muttered to himself, failing to notice that Lan Mu had already slung his bow over his back and stepped down from the platform.

Only when Lan Mu said to Du Yu, "Let's go!"

That voice jolted Fang Moqi out of his thoughts. He walked down from the platform in confusion and called, "Lan Mu!"

"Have you given up?"

"Right... those three arrows you just fired..."

Before Fang Moqi could finish, Wang Ling suddenly cried out, "Mosquitoes!"

"Mosquitoes? What mosquitoes?"

"Huh? Mosquitoes? He hit them?"

Fang Moqi stared at the wall in shock. The three arrows were spread far apart, some more than a meter from each other, others around three meters apart.

Wang Ling pulled them out one by one and discovered in astonishment that every arrow had struck a mosquito, pinning it firmly to the wall!

Shocking the world! Inhuman!

"Three arrows... three mosquitoes..."

Fang Moqi stared blankly at the three mosquitoes and three arrows Wang Ling brought over in his hands.

"I'll be leaving first. Let me know when it's time to depart."

As Lan Mu spoke, he patted Wang Ling on the shoulder again. "I'll have Du Yu bring over my passport later. I have something to do today, so I won't be coming back this afternoon. I'll leave the visa matter to you..."

He put his bow back into his backpack and strode out of the special training room.

Du Yu laughed loudly. "Three requests! Don't forget!"

"Just wait! We'll slowly make you fulfill them! Hahaha!"

Who knew what schemes those two had in mind? After throwing out those words, Du Yu hurried after Lan Mu.

The door opened, and the people outside flooded in. Seeing Lan Mu and Du Yu leave, no one tried to stop them. Instead, they all swarmed around Fang Moqi, chattering at once.

"That took so long?"

"You won, right?"

"What nonsense! Brother Fang definitely won!"

"Brother Fang's expression looks a little off."

"What happened? Wang Ling, tell us!"

Everyone noticed that Wang Ling and Fang Moqi were standing there in a daze, with Wang Ling still holding three arrows and three mosquitoes.

They looked at each other, completely baffled.

Zheng Hui said anxiously, "What exactly was the competition? Wang Ling, that reporter already left, so hurry up and tell us!"

Wang Ling opened his mouth, about to speak, when Fang Moqi's eyes suddenly sharpened and an imposing pressure bore down on him.

"Have you forgotten the agreement?"

Fang Moqi glared at him, and Wang Ling immediately shut his mouth, not daring to say another word.

Fang Moqi pushed through the crowd and headed toward his private premium suite at the club.

"Finish the preparations yourselves. The flight leaves tomorrow night. Don't disturb me before then."

With that, he disappeared down the corridor.

He left everyone staring at one another, unable to make sense of it.

They could only keep pressing Wang Ling, but for some reason, he refused to say anything.

Inside Fang Moqi's private suite.

He was currently on the phone with someone.

"Professor Shen... please tell me, in this world..."

"Does something like inner force actually exist?"