Within a Hundred Paces, My Arrow Is Fast!

The day after redeeming himself, Sun Yu did not immediately head into the mountains.

He spent a few taels of loose silver in Nanqiao Town on a flask of cheap wine and half a roast chicken, then pushed them before an old man missing his left arm.

The old man had once been a menial at the Iron Mountain Martial Hall in town. Later, for secretly watching inner disciples practice, he had one arm brutally broken and been thrown out. Yet his head was crammed with quite a bit of common knowledge from the martial world.

Using his only remaining right hand, the old man tore off a chicken leg and crunched through skin and bone alike, washing it down with a gulp of cheap wine before lifting his clouded eyes.

"Want to learn martial arts? You?" The old man gave Sun Yu a once-over, clearly looking down on him.

Sun Yu was not angered. He merely smiled. "Not exactly. I'm just curious and wanted to ask about the ropes. How are martial cultivation realms divided?"

"Heh. Since you seem sincere, I'll tell you."

"The first threshold of martial cultivation in this world is the Houtian Realm. Beneath it are three minor realms: Skin Tempering, Bone Forging, and Organ Tempering."

The old man tapped the chipped wooden table with a greasy finger.

"Those guards of the Qian Family mostly practice outer-school hard techniques. At best, they count as Skin Tempering. They train their skin and flesh until it's like old oxhide—ordinary wooden clubs and iron rulers won't even leave a pale mark. A swing of one arm carries three or four hundred jin of brute strength."

"Bone Forging is where true experts begin. Those lofty young masters of the Qian Family are all at this realm. Their bones are like refined iron; when they throw a punch, you can hear the crisp snap of bowstrings breaking inside their bones. They can even punch a dent into a cast-iron shield!"

"As for Organ Tempering... in all of Nanqiao Town, only the masters of those martial halls and the heads of great families have reached it. Their five viscera and six bowels are like furnaces. They can hold a breath underwater for half a shichen, or run a hundred li of mountain roads without even panting!"

The old man burped, then gave a cold laugh and stared straight at Sun Yu.

"But if you want to step across that threshold? Harder than climbing to the heavens!"

"Even the lowest-grade breakthrough techniques from the town's martial halls start at a hundred taels of silver! And that's not all—you have to take a master, be their dog, and sign a death contract! Even if you got the technique, a poor bastard still couldn't cultivate it!"

"Martial cultivation means squeezing your body dry. Without fish and meat, without secret medicinal meals costing dozens of taels per dose to nourish you every day, forcing yourself to train is courting death! In less than three years, you'll suck your own vitality and blood dry and turn yourself into a dried corpse!"

Sun Yu sat in the shadows without replying.

Only then did he fully understand what that shackle within his body—the one that seemed impossible to break through—really was.

So I'm about to break through... Sun Yu thought.

"Of course, it's not like poor bastards have absolutely no path to martial cultivation."

The old man lowered his voice. A gleam of greed and awe intertwined in his eyes. "The demon beasts deep in Black Crow Mountain—the ones that have absorbed the essence of the sun and moon! Their flesh and blood contain tyrannical vitality essence. One bite of Demon Beast Meat is worth ten bowls of ginseng soup! But those beasts... even Skin Tempering martial artists are fated to be chewed to pieces in a single bite if they encounter one..."

Three days later, deep within Black Crow Mountain.

The snow here had already risen past his thighs, and the surroundings were so still that even the wind carried a chilling chill.

Sun Yu lay in ambush atop a dead tree so wide that several people would be needed to encircle it, his breathing suppressed to the utmost limit.

His eyes were fixed on the enormous black shadow in the snow hollow below.

It was a wild boar the size of a small calf.

Unlike an ordinary wild boar, a row of dark red hard scales stood erect along its back. With every breath, the white vapor blasting from its nostrils faintly carried sparks, melting a patch of snow beneath it.

A demon beast—the Red Scale Wild Boar!

Holding his breath, Sun Yu slowly drew a Refined Iron Armor-Piercing Arrow from behind his back, one he had purchased at a steep price on the black market.

He nocked the arrow, drew the bowstring, and pulled it into a full moon.

His fingers loosened!

Whoosh!

The arrow became a streak of black light, shooting straight for the boar's most vulnerable point—its neck.

Clang!

A crisp clash of metal exploded.

The Red Scale Wild Boar reacted with incredible speed. In that flash of lightning, it violently twisted its neck. The armor-piercing arrow slammed into the dark red scales on the side of its neck, scattering sparks. It pierced only half an inch before being forcibly lodged there!

Roar!

The searing pain instantly drove the Red Scale Wild Boar into a frenzy.

Its pair of blood-red eyes locked onto Sun Yu in the tree. Its four hooves blasted apart the snow as it crashed thunderously into the dead tree!

Bang!

The trunk, thick enough for two people to encircle, shuddered violently. Great sheets of snow came crashing down, while the tusks in its mouth tore away more than half the bark.

Sun Yu's pupils contracted. Without the slightest hesitation, he kicked violently off the trunk, launching himself into the air like a great bird.

In midair, the muscles of his waist and abdomen suddenly exerted force, forcibly twisting his body around.

He drew his bow again!

This time, it was not one arrow, but two iron arrows clamped between two fingers!

The muscle memory of perfected archery erupted to its absolute limit at this instant.

Thrum! Thrum!

The two heavy bowstring twangs nearly overlapped into one.

The Red Scale Wild Boar had just raised its head and had yet to recover from the stiffness of the collision when the two armor-piercing arrows shot with flawless precision through its gaping bloody maw and deep into its throat!

Pfft!

The sharp arrow pierced flesh and blood, driving deep into its organs.

The Red Scale Wild Boar let out a shrill, miserable howl, its massive body rolling frantically through the snow.

Bowl-thick dead trees were smashed apart in swathes beneath its charge, dark red blood spraying across the ground.

Sun Yu landed steadily ten paces away and did not rush closer.

He stared coldly at the demon beast struggling in its death throes and drew two more arrows. Only when the boar had completely run out of strength, lying in a pool of blood with nothing but breath left in it, did he mercilessly send an arrow through its eye socket and straight into its brain.

The twitching ceased.

Sun Yu let out a long breath of stale air and lowered his aching arm.

Hunting a demon beast with such thick hide and tough flesh took an immense toll on one's concentration. If not for the fine control granted by his perfected archery and the foundation of the Vajra Skill, he would not even have been able to dodge that charge.

He drew the hunting knife from his waist and strode forward, preparing to cut off the most valuable Red Scales and tusks first.

Just then, an exceedingly faint crunch of footsteps on snow drifted into his ears with the wind.

Sun Yu paused, immediately lowering himself into a crouch.

The shrubs ahead were roughly shoved aside, and four brutes clad in thick animal hides, their faces full of flesh, emerged from within.

They carried bloodstained machetes and spears in their hands. They had been cursing and muttering, but one glance was enough to nail their gazes to the Red Scale Wild Boar corpse sprawled across the snow.

"Dear mother... a Red Scale Demon Boar?!"

The Scarface leading them sucked in a cold breath, greed growing wildly in his eyes like weeds.

This was a demon beast!

Drag this whole thing into town, and it would fetch at least fifty taels of silver. Even its flesh and blood could be sold to martial arts halls as potent medicine!

Then Scarface spotted Sun Yu beside the corpse, alone and lightly dressed.

"Well, well, a familiar face. Isn't this Sun Yu from the Qian Family?" Scarface grinned, revealing his yellowed teeth as the machete in his hand slowly rose.

These four were old hunters from the Zhao Family of Nanqiao Town. They had done no small amount of murder and robbery in the mountains.

Seeing that Sun Yu was alone, the four silently spread out and closed in on him in a half-encirclement.

"Boy Yu, this Red Scale Boar isn't something your skinny arms and legs can carry."

Scarface burst into laughter and pointed his blade directly at Sun Yu. "Leave the demon beast behind and hand over the silver on you. Grandpa will leave you an intact corpse. How about it?"

With heavy snow sealing off the mountain, they did not believe for a moment that Sun Yu had killed it.

Sun Yu looked coldly at the four desperadoes closing in.

His left hand dropped naturally, while his right settled over the quiver on his back.

"Oh ho, get him! Chop him up!" A vicious glint flashed through Scarface's eyes as he suddenly roared.

"Clang!"

The four brutes drew their blades and charged at once.

Thirty paces!

Sun Yu drew arrows so quickly that only an afterimage could be seen.

Bow in his left hand, his right index and middle fingers plucked Bowstring in rapid succession!

"Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!"

There was no shrill whistle of arrows slicing through the air—only three nearly imperceptible muffled sounds.

The savage expressions on the faces of the three brutes charging in front had not even had time to fade.

The next instant—

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Like three ripe watermelons brutally smashed apart by iron hammers!

Three refined iron arrows entered through their brows, blasting the crowns off the backs of their heads!

Red-and-white brain matter mixed with scalding blood erupted through the air, splattering across the snow.

Driven by momentum, the three headless corpses staggered two more steps forward before collapsing in unison into the snowdrifts.

The entire process took less than a single breath!

"Ah!"

Scarface, charging at the rear, was sprayed full in the face with warm brain matter.

He jerked to a stop. Looking at his three companions with exploded heads at his feet, his pupils shrank abruptly to pinpoints, his heart seeming to be gripped tight by an icy hand.

Terror instantly shattered Scarface's psychological defenses.

With a strange scream, he threw down his machete, spun around, and scrambled madly toward the shrubs on all fours.

Run! He had to run!

Sun Yu remained where he was, his gaze as cold as deep pond water.

He unhurriedly drew out a fourth arrow and set it to the Bowstring.

He pulled it to full draw, then released.

"Whoosh!"

"Aah!!!"

A hundred paces away, Scarface, just about to duck into the woods, let out a scream so shrill it was beyond miserable.

The Armor-Piercing Arrow punched cleanly through his right thigh. Its tremendous force sent his body flying, and with a thunk, nailed him firmly to the trunk of a pine tree behind him!

Blood streamed wildly down the trunk.

Sun Yu slung the wooden bow onto his back, carried the blood-dripping hunting knife, and stepped across the snow stained red with blood as he walked toward Scarface one step at a time.

In the silent depths of the mountains, only the crunching squeak of snow beneath his feet could be heard.