A Match

The main goals from here on

were to improve at Moving Target Shooting and Traditional Bow Shooting.

Jiang Ran took his attention off the panel and turned to Meng Xi beside him. "Which training room is she in?"

Meng Xi raised a hand and pointed toward the end of the corridor. "Room Three, the Traditional Bow area."

Jiang Ran nodded, handed the signed contract back to Meng Xi, and turned toward the room.

The door to Training Room Three was ajar.

Jiang Ran pushed it open.

The room was softly lit, with a row of standard fifty-meter targets directly across from the entrance.

A tall figure stood with her back to the door, holding a Seven-Dou Traditional Bow.

It was Li Xintong.

She wore a black athletic outfit, her long hair tied back in a neat ponytail. Even from behind, she radiated an intense focus.

Whoosh...

The arrow left the bowstring with a crisp whistle.

Another arrow appeared in the bull's-eye fifty meters away.

Dead center.

Li Xintong slowly lowered her bow, apparently unsurprised by the result. Then she turned around, her cool gaze settling on Jiang Ran at the door.

"You're here."

At her words, the corner of Jiang Ran's mouth twitched slightly. He nodded.

Li Xintong set down her bow on a nearby rack. "I heard you haven't practiced archery in a long time?"

"It's not too bad." Jiang Ran walked into the training room, pulling the door shut behind him. "I still do it now and then."

Li Xintong stared at Jiang Ran for two seconds, as if weighing whether he was telling the truth.

Then she nodded, turned, took another Seven-Dou War Bow off the rack, and handed it to Jiang Ran.

"Let's switch to Seven-Dou Bows this time. You up for it?"

"Sure." Jiang Ran nodded calmly.

A Seven-Dou Bow had a draw weight of around ninety pounds. That was already a heavy bow for an ordinary person, and few could draw it steadily and hold their aim.

But for him now...

It was ridiculously easy.

The two of them stood side by side behind the shooting line.

Li Xintong pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked it. She turned her head and glanced at Jiang Ran.

"Same rules as always: ten arrows, fifty-meter target."

"Three, two, one..."

The instant she said "one," they both released their bowstrings.

Thrum!

Two nearly overlapping twangs rang out.

The arrows shot off like a pair of black streaks.

Jiang Ran didn't even look at the target.

The moment his arrow left the string, he already knew the result.

His body's instincts, the feedback from his heightened senses, and the intuition granted by Prediction let him sense the arrow's trajectory clearly.

Dead center.

No, that wasn't all.

He heard the arrow pierce the target paper and lodge in the backstop behind it.

Li Xintong had clearly heard it too. Her movements paused almost imperceptibly, but she immediately returned to normal and swiftly pulled a second arrow from her quiver.

Nock, draw, aim, release.

Her movements flowed together seamlessly.

Jiang Ran didn't pause either.

They fired arrow after arrow, at a frightening pace.

The training room echoed with nothing but the twang of bowstrings and the whistle of arrows.

They shot all ten arrows in less than thirty seconds.

When the last arrow left the string, Li Xintong lowered her bow.

She looked at the target fifty meters away.

Then her delicate brows slowly furrowed.

There was only one arrow on the target...

Its fletching was blue. It was hers.

And it was in the two-ring.

As for Jiang Ran's arrows... not one of his ten, with their red fletching, had remained on the target.

That meant Jiang Ran hadn't just hit the bull's-eye with all ten arrows. Each subsequent arrow had gone straight through the bull's-eye...

Li Xintong was silent for a long time.

She turned to Jiang Ran, her expression complicated.

"You..." She parted her lips as if to ask something, but in the end, she said nothing.

Jiang Ran met her gaze calmly.

If his senses hadn't been so heightened and his bodily control hadn't reached a superhuman level, he might not have won the match so easily...

Li Xintong's skill had improved far too quickly.

When she had used a Five-Dou Bow, she had already been quite good, but she was now on an entirely different level, handling the bow with seemingly effortless ease.

The Seven-Dou Bow seemed to take little effort for her to draw, and her movements were frighteningly steady.

That wasn't normal.

Even if an ordinary person trained every day, going from a Five-Dou Bow to a Seven-Dou Bow within a few months while maintaining that kind of accuracy was almost impossible.

Muscles needed time to adapt, and the way one generated force had to change.

That wasn't a gap that could be crossed with willpower alone.

Unless...

A thought flashed through Jiang Ran's mind, but he didn't let it show.

"Tomorrow, we continue," Li Xintong suddenly said, her voice cool.

With that, she turned and left without even retrieving her arrow from the target lane.

Jiang Ran watched her walk away, lost in thought.

But now wasn't the time to dig into it.

Jiang Ran shook his head, returned the bow to the rack, and left the training room.

Over the next few hours, Jiang Ran began teaching at the club in earnest.

Just as Meng Xi had said, his classes were completely full.

But few of the people who showed up were actually there to learn. Most of the students had clearly come for his looks.

"Coach Jiang, is this stance right?" A young woman in tight athletic clothes struck an obviously incorrect drawing pose, but kept sneaking glances at Jiang Ran.

"Lower your wrist a little." Jiang Ran walked over and indicated the position without touching her, deliberately keeping his distance. "Use your back muscles to generate force. Don't rely on your arms alone."

"Coach Jiang, could you guide me hands-on? I can't seem to get the feel for it," another woman asked with a blink.

"Practice the way I just demonstrated. Once you get a feel for using your back muscles, we'll talk." Jiang Ran's tone was calm and unmoved.

Teaching here was much harder than at the fighting gym.

At the fighting gym, most students genuinely wanted to improve their fighting skills—or at least they seemed to.

But here...

Jiang Ran looked at the students who were obviously distracted and sighed inwardly.

At least his experience was still increasing.

[Compound Bow Shooting experience +2]

[Traditional Bow Shooting experience +3]

[Moving Target Shooting experience +1]

The growth was slow, but it was better than nothing.

At six in the evening, Jiang Ran finished his last class. Only when he left the club did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He took out his phone and checked the address Old Chen had sent him.

It was less than five hundred meters from the archery club, in a newly built commercial building.

It was an easy walk.

Five minutes later, Jiang Ran stood in front of a six-story building.

The sign at the entrance read Voyage Group Training Center.

Jiang Ran pushed open the door and went inside.

The lobby was spacious and brightly lit. A young woman in business attire sat at the front desk.

When she saw Jiang Ran enter, she immediately stood up with a professional smile.

"May I ask if you're Mr. Jiang Ran?"

"That's me." Jiang Ran nodded.

"Mr. Chen told me to expect you." Her smile grew warmer. "You can head straight up to the third floor. He's waiting for you in the conference room."

"Thanks."

Jiang Ran thanked her, walked to the elevator, and pressed the button for the third floor.

When the elevator doors opened, Old Chen was already waiting outside.

"You're here?" Old Chen patted Jiang Ran on the shoulder, smiling, though his bloodshot eyes suggested he hadn't slept well. "Come on. I'll show you around."

He led Jiang Ran down the corridor.

"This place was originally meant to be a training center for senior executives," Old Chen said as they walked. "But recently... circumstances changed, so we adjusted the plan."

He pushed open a set of double doors.

Inside was a standard combat training facility, even larger than the main training area at Hurricane Fighting Gym, with more complete equipment.

Besides the usual punching bags and ring, there were floor mats for ground training. In the corner stood several pieces of equipment Jiang Ran couldn't identify, which looked like some kind of reaction-training devices.

"What do you think?" Old Chen asked.

"It's great," Jiang Ran replied honestly. "The equipment is professional."

As he listened, the smile slowly faded from Old Chen's face.

He walked to the center of the training area, turned around, and looked at Jiang Ran, his expression turning serious.

"Jiang Ran, I'll skip the pleasantries." His voice dropped. "You have only one job: train them to handle real combat."

He paused, then emphasized, "Pay attention: real combat.

"Not flashy moves for show, and not rule-bound techniques for competitions.

"I want them to be able to protect themselves, strike back, and handle problems under any circumstances."

Jiang Ran nodded calmly.

He understood why the other man was doing all this.

There was no need to ask more.

Seeing his reaction, a trace of approval flashed in Old Chen's eyes.

He walked to the wall and pressed a button.

A door on the side of the training area opened, and five men walked in.

They were all in their twenties or thirties, lean and fit, with quick, decisive movements.

They lined up, all five pairs of eyes fixed on Jiang Ran.

Old Chen walked up to the five men and gave Jiang Ran a brief introduction. "This is the first group. More people will rotate through later."

He turned to the five men, his voice stern. "Jiang Ran will be your coach from now on. You all know what you're here for. His word is my word."

The five men replied in unison, "Understood!"

Old Chen nodded, turned, and walked over to Jiang Ran, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm leaving them in your hands."

With that, he left the training area, and the door closed softly behind him.

In the vast space, only Jiang Ran and the five men remained.

Jiang Ran looked over the five men.

One brief look was enough to tell him that all five had some experience already.

But although they appeared obedient, their eyes clearly held a trace of doubt.

They were sizing him up too.

He was far too young, seeming even a few years younger than the youngest of them.

His build was well-proportioned, but he didn't look like one of those hulking fighters with exaggerated muscles.

His temperament was more gentle, like a schoolteacher rather than a real-combat expert.

Jiang Ran had encountered this situation several times at the fighting gym.

The solution was simple.

Jiang Ran walked up to the five men and spoke calmly. "I'll be responsible for improving your real-combat skills from now on.

"Before we begin, I need to understand your current level of real-combat ability."

At that, the buzz-cut man at the far left brightened and immediately stepped forward, eager to give it a try. "Coach, how will you do that? Sparring?"

He clearly wanted to trade a few moves with Jiang Ran and test him out.

Seeing this, Jiang Ran paused briefly, then nodded.

"Yes." His voice remained calm. "But what I mean is..."

"All five of you, come at me together."