A Small Punishment, a Stern Warning; Preparing to Enter the Mountains

Sun Yi's proposal was like cold water splashing into boiling oil, instantly detonating the entire training ground. A Thirty-Pace Moving Target! This far exceeded the assessment standards for newly promoted guards. He clearly intended to crush Li Bufan completely, turning all his previous efforts to dust and making him a laughingstock.

From the platform, Lin Zhiyan's single word—"Approved"—was cold and merciless, yet it shoved Li Bufan straight into the eye of the storm. Every gaze converged on him: pity, mockery, indifference, and the faint, barely detectable anticipation of a very few.

Li Bufan drew a deep breath, suppressing the racing heartbeat brought on by the immense pressure in his chest. He knew full well that if he retreated now, he would be doomed beyond redemption. The little standing he had earned through all his struggle would vanish without a trace. Only by facing the challenge head-on could he find a sliver of hope.

"Kid, I'll have a taste of Captain Sun's skill!" His voice was calm, but it carried an unquestionable resolve as he strode toward the moving-target area.

Sun Yi sneered, triumph flashing in his eyes as his scheme succeeded. He walked to the shooting position first and declared arrogantly, "Since I proposed this extra round, I'll go first. Let this country bumpkin open his eyes and see what true archery is!"

The moving target was set thirty paces away. Two guards pulled ropes to make a wooden target roughly the size of a washbasin dart irregularly from side to side, simulating a fleeing beast.

Sun Yi held his breath and focused, raising his clearly superior heavy bow. He drew the string to its limit, his sharp gaze tracking the rapidly moving target.

Whoosh!

The arrow left the string, swift as lightning!

Thunk!

The arrow struck the moving target precisely, but perhaps because the target moved too quickly, or perhaps because he had been a touch too impatient, the arrowhead did not hit the bullseye. It landed instead in the eighth ring.

"Eight rings!" the target caller announced.

A faint commotion and several regretful sighs rose from below. Eight rings on a high-speed Thirty-Pace Moving Target was already an extraordinary result, enough to show the solidity of Sun Yi's archery. Yet his failure to strike a higher ring still left a trace of suspense.

Sun Yi himself seemed somewhat dissatisfied. He frowned, then turned to Li Bufan, the pride returning to his face. "Your turn. Kid, it's not too late to admit defeat. Better than missing the target later and making an even bigger fool of yourself."

Pressure like a mountain weighed on Li Bufan's shoulders. Eight rings from the first shooter was an extremely high benchmark. If he shot poorly, even if he got seven rings, he would lose, and all his previous efforts would go down the drain.

He said nothing, only walked silently to the shooting position. He picked up the old hunting bow, his fingers brushing over its cold frame as though he could draw a trace of the courage and steadiness his father had left behind.

In the distance, the wooden target began darting left and right again without any pattern.

Li Bufan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The blood and qi at Minor Mastery slowly circulated within him. His ears twitched faintly as he tried to catch the sound of the target splitting the wind and discern the rhythm of its movement. The focus and powers of observation sharpened through experiments in his previous life were pushed to their limits at this moment.

The next instant, he snapped his eyes open, nocked an arrow, drew the bow, and aimed! His movements still held a trace of awkwardness, yet they possessed an unusual steadiness and concentration.

He pulled the bowstring to seven-tenths full, the muscles in his arms taut as iron.

Everyone's hearts rose into their throats.

Whoosh!

The arrow flew from the string!

Time seemed to slow at that instant. The crowd watched the rust-stained arrow cut through the air. It did not fly straight at the target, but carried a subtle prediction as it shot toward the place the wooden target was about to reach!

Thunk!

A crisp sound rang out! The arrow sank deeply into the edge of the bullseye—the ninth-ring area!

Silence!

A deathly silence!

Then an enormous uproar shot into the sky!

"Nine rings?! He hit nine rings?!"

"A Thirty-Pace Moving Target! Nine rings with one arrow?! This..."

"Luck! It has to be luck!" Sun Yi cried out, his face turning incomparably ugly as he utterly failed to accept the result.

On the platform, Lin Zhiyan's hand holding her teacup froze in midair, the surprise in her beautiful eyes deepening. Coach Qin abruptly straightened his back, his gaze like lightning as he stared fixedly at Li Bufan, as though trying to see through him.

The target caller's trembling voice rang out. "M-Moving Target, thirty paces, n-nine rings!"

Li Bufan slowly lowered his bow, his back already soaked with cold sweat. That shot had drained all his concentration, strength, and understanding of archery, along with perhaps a sliver of luck bestowed by fate. But he had done it!

He looked at Sun Yi's ashen face and said calmly, "Captain Sun, thank you for letting me win."

Sun Yi's lips trembled as he tried to say something, only to be cut off by Coach Qin's cold snort. "The result is decided! Li Bufan wins! There will be no further discussion! Everyone, form up and prepare for tomorrow's Winter Hunt!"

With the coach speaking, no one dared question it further. Yet the looks cast toward Li Bufan became even more complicated.

That night, the moon shone bright and the stars were sparse.

Li Bufan dragged his exhausted yet exhilarated body back to the crude communal sleeping quarters. The moment he pushed open the creaking wooden door, a stifling atmosphere hit him in the face.

Inside, Zhao Mang, whom he had defeated during the day, Sun Yi, and several other guards who clearly followed Sun Yi's lead were sitting or standing about, eyeing him with ill intent. The other apprentices from the shared quarters had long since vanished, evidently cleared out beforehand.

"Li Bufan, you really are lucky." Sun Yi spoke first, his voice icy and thick with resentment. "You stepped in dog shit during the day and lucked into one shot. Do you really think that makes you somebody?"

Li Bufan's heart tightened, but his expression remained unchanged. "What do you mean, Captain Sun? The coach has already ruled on the match."

"Bullshit!" Zhao Mang slammed a hand against the edge of the kang bed and roared, "If you hadn't pulled strings through the Eldest Miss, how would trash like you deserve to be a close guard? Tomorrow's Winter Hunt is fraught with danger. How can a lucky fool like you be fit for it? If you know what's good for you, go resign to the Eldest Miss yourself and give up the spot! Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Li Bufan's gaze gradually turned cold. He did not want trouble, but when trouble came to his door, he was never afraid of it.

Sun Yi slowly rose to his feet and clenched his fists, his knuckles crackling. The aura of the Skin Tempering Realm spread from him, carrying a clear threat. "Otherwise, we'll let you get 'accidentally' injured so you can't go on tomorrow's Winter Hunt! Kid, choose for yourself: one broken arm or one broken leg!"

Before his words had even faded, he suddenly stepped forward and drove a fist straight at Li Bufan's chest. The force of the punch was fierce, and he showed no mercy whatsoever!

The change came incredibly fast. The Li Bufan of half a month ago would have found it impossible to evade.

But times had changed!

A cold gleam flashed through Li Bufan's eyes. He had been prepared! His footwork shifted, using the exquisite steps of the Nameless Fist Technique. He narrowly avoided the fist, while his left hand shot out like lightning—not to block, but to precisely seize the pulse point on Sun Yi's punching wrist!

Sun Yi felt his wrist go numb, and his fist immediately stalled. Alarm surged in his heart. He had not expected his opponent to react so quickly! He hurriedly changed moves, his other hand becoming a palm chop aimed at Li Bufan's neck.

Yet Li Bufan did not meet him head-on. The hand gripping the pulse point twisted and shoved sharply, while his body slipped to the side and forward. His shoulder slammed viciously into Sun Yi's unguarded chest like a mighty ox!

Bang!

With a dull thud, Sun Yi felt a surging, overwhelming force crash into him. His chest tightened and his blood and qi churned. He staggered back several steps before crashing into the earthen wall behind him and barely managing to stop. His face was filled with shock!

He had been an expert at Skin Tempering Initial Insight for a long time, yet he had suffered a loss in a single exchange?!

Zhao Mang and the others beside him were also stunned, then they roared and charged together.

Li Bufan's eyes were icy. Since they had started this, he would show no more mercy! In the cramped room, his body twisted, turned, and weaved, evading most of their attacks. Whenever he struck, his blows were tricky and ruthless, targeting weak points such as joints and ribs! His defenses at Minor Success in Skin Refining far surpassed theirs. The occasional blow that landed on him was neither painful nor bothersome, but his own fists, when they landed, were enough to drive pain into their bones!

[Nameless Fist Technique] Minor Mastery (255/2000)

[Mighty Ox Fist] Minor Mastery (89/2000)

His fist-technique proficiency rose rapidly in actual combat!

In barely a dozen breaths, Zhao Mang and the others were all sprawled on the ground with bruised and swollen faces, groaning endlessly. They looked at Li Bufan as though they had seen a ghost!

Li Bufan walked over to Sun Yi, whose face had gone pale as he leaned against the wall and panted heavily, then looked down at him from above.

"Y-you... what are you going to do?" Sun Yi shouted, fierce on the outside but weak within.

Li Bufan said nothing. He simply brought his foot down hard! He did not stomp on Sun Yi's vital parts, but precisely on the wrist that had thrown the punch earlier!

Crack! A faint sound of fracturing bone, enough to set teeth on edge, rang out.

"Aah—!" Sun Yi let out a pig-slaughtering scream. Agonizing pain drilled into his wrist. It was clearly fractured.

Li Bufan's voice was cold as iron. "Captain Sun, tomorrow's Winter Hunt will take you along rugged mountain roads. Be careful when drawing a bow and controlling the reins. If you get 'accidentally' injured again, I'm afraid you may never touch a bow for the rest of your life."

After saying that, he no longer looked at Sun Yi's bloodless face or the trembling men on the floor. He turned, returned to his sleeping place, and lay down fully clothed as though nothing had happened.

The room was deathly silent, leaving only heavy breathing and suppressed groans of pain.

Reward and punishment in equal measure? He could not learn all of Eldest Miss Lin's methods, but today, he had given these blind fools a small taste of the word "deterrence"!

The room remained silent, with only Sun Yi's muffled groans and the others' heavy, frightened breaths. Li Bufan lay fully clothed on the cold kang bed, his eyes closed in feigned sleep. Within him, his blood and qi slowly circulated, restoring the energy spent in the brief fight while he remained alert for any possible counterattack.

Yet the expected retaliation never came. Sun Yi and the others helped each other up and slipped away in a miserable state. They did not even dare leave behind another threat. The absolute gap in strength, along with Li Bufan's ruthless and decisive final stomp, had thoroughly crushed their pitiful sense of superiority and desire for revenge.

Only after their footsteps had completely faded beyond the door did Li Bufan truly let out a breath, his taut nerves relaxing slightly. But then a faint worry rose in his heart.

Sun Yi and the others were mere jumping clowns. What truly made him wary was tomorrow's unknown Winter Hunt. In the deep mountains and old forests, setting aside savage beasts and venomous insects, human hearts were unfathomable. They had just formed a grudge; if someone secretly tripped him up during the hunt, the consequences would be unthinkable. Eldest Miss Lin appeared to value him, but her thoughts were impossible to read, her favor and severity ever-changing. In her eyes, his meager abilities were likely no different from an ant's—something she could discard at any time.

"Strength... I still don't have enough strength!" Li Bufan clenched his fists, his nails nearly digging into his palms. If he possessed Tendon Tempering or even Bone Tempering cultivation, why would he fear these petty tricks? Why would he need to place his fate in the hands of another person's passing thought?

He took a deep breath and suppressed his turbulent emotions. Worry was useless. He could only seize every moment to improve himself.

The sky had fully darkened, but there was still some time before Lin Manor's curfew. Li Bufan got up and decided to return home. Tomorrow he would enter the mountains, and whether fortune or disaster awaited was unknown. He needed to put Ping'an's mind at ease.

He quietly left Lin Manor and followed the cold moonlight back to the dilapidated thatched hut outside the city.

When he pushed open the brushwood gate, the oil lamp flickered like a bean. Li Ping'an sat by the kang bed with his small hand propping up his cheek, staring eagerly toward the door. He had clearly been waiting for his brother to return.

"Big Brother!" At the sight of Li Bufan, Li Ping'an immediately jumped down from the kang and ran over. His little face was full of worry. "Are you all right? I heard people say... the fighting at the manor was very intense today..."

"I'm fine." Li Bufan smiled gently and rubbed his younger brother's head. "Your brother's doing great. Not only am I fine, I won the match. Tomorrow, I'll be accompanying the Eldest Miss into the mountains for the Winter Hunt." He deliberately left out the conflict with Sun Yi and the others.

"Really?!" Li Ping'an's eyes instantly lit up, but they quickly dimmed again. His small hand clutched Li Bufan's sleeve. "But... the mountains are very dangerous..."

"Don't worry." Li Bufan's voice was steady, carrying a reassuring strength. "Your brother's quite formidable now. When I come back from the Winter Hunt, maybe I'll even bring Ping'an some game to try. Stay home and behave. Lock the door tight, and don't open it no matter who calls."

He gave his brother careful instructions, then stuffed the last few coins he had into his hands for emergencies.

Seeing his brother's calm confidence, the worry in Li Ping'an's heart gradually gave way to pride. He nodded heavily. "Mm! Big Brother is the best! I'll wait for you to come back!"

After having a simple meal at home, Li Bufan did not stay long. He had Ping'an rest early, while he himself returned to the familiar little courtyard and assumed his stance once more.

This time, he did not practice the fierce and violent Mighty Ox Fist. Instead, he performed the more rounded and flowing Nameless Fist Technique. His fist movements were gentle, and his blood and qi circulated calmly with them, washing away the hostility and fatigue left by the day's fierce battle and bringing his body back to its best condition.

Moonlight spilled like water over his tranquil, focused face. Move after move, he was neither hurried nor impatient. His aim was to nourish his strength and conserve his energy, not to force a breakthrough.

[Nameless Fist Technique] Minor Mastery (257/2000)

After practicing the fist technique several times, his body and mind completely settled. Li Bufan returned indoors and lay on the cold earthen kang amid his brother's even breathing.

He closed his eyes. No chaotic thoughts remained in his mind, only calm deductions of every possible situation that might arise during tomorrow's Winter Hunt, and... a clear awareness of his own strength.

Only by gathering enough spirit could he respond to every changing circumstance.

Deep in the night, the cold wind swept past the thatched hut with a mournful howl, yet it could not disturb the young man's deep, steady breathing within.

Tomorrow, the hunting grounds deep in the mountains would be the true place of trial.