Mounted Archery

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Next, Zhao Feng fired three more arrows in succession, all striking the bull's-eye and precisely avoiding the previous arrow holes. Only his final arrow went slightly wide. The candidates around him erupted in heartfelt cheers.

An officer beside the range stepped forward to inspect the target carefully, then announced loudly, "Zhao Feng, ten arrows in foot archery, nine bull's-eyes and one in the eight-point ring. Excellent!"

After a moment of silence.

Huo Shan shot to his feet. He, the other disciples, and Huo Yao all looked shocked.

"How is his aim so accurate? Unbelievable." Huo Yao's beautiful eyes widened as she gazed at Zhao Feng in admiration. He had surprised her more than once.

"Now I remember! Junior Brother Zhao told me his ancestors were hunters, and he'd practiced archery since childhood." Wei Yuan slapped his thigh.

"Oh, that sounds right. No wonder." Huo Shan vaguely remembered asking about his background, which did seem to be hunting. He could not help marveling at how this disciple kept springing surprises on him.

But when Chu Fan saw the admiration in Huo Yao's beautiful eyes as she watched Zhao Feng, his brow furrowed slightly. He took a deep breath and suppressed his irritation. Compared with such a stunning result, his own failing grade looked utterly disgraceful.

Zhao Feng returned to the martial arts school's group with a calm expression. On that final shot, he had adjusted his wrist slightly to send the arrow a little wide. Otherwise, it would undoubtedly have struck the bull's-eye too. It was only fifty paces.

Yet even with that deliberate adjustment, his performance was enough to leave everyone amazed. His results had already drawn the examiners' attention.

At the edge of the drill ground, Xue Xiangling watched in surprise. "I never imagined he had such skill in archery," she murmured.

"Xiangling, what are you looking at?" Her elder brother, Xue Jun, the Xue Family's eldest son, walked over and followed her gaze.

"Elder Brother, nothing." Xue Xiangling looked away to conceal her interest.

"Zhao Feng's archery is indeed quite good." Xue Jun nodded. He had seen Zhao Feng shoot just now too.

"Elder Brother, you know him?" Xue Xiangling asked in surprise.

"Yes. Every family in the county takes notice of an eighteen-year-old who has attained hidden force," Xue Jun said. The major lineages and wealthy households regularly gathered information on experts who had broken through to hidden force.

"He's attained hidden force?" Xue Xiangling asked in astonishment.

"Wasn't his root bone very poor? How could he have broken through to hidden force?"

"I don't know. Perhaps he was lucky." Xue Jun shrugged, failing to notice that Xue Xiangling had lowered her head and her expression had turned somewhat ugly.

He continued his assessment:

"Although he earned an excellent grade in foot archery, foot archery and mounted archery are two different things. Mounted archery is much harder. If he doesn't earn an excellent grade in that, he won't receive a first-class overall grade for the first event. Without a first-class grade, there won't be much of a gap, and the second event, the arena bouts, will still be decisive."

"And Zhao Feng has only just attained hidden force. If he faces a veteran hidden force practitioner in the arena, he's certain to lose. So there's no way he'll make the rankings unless he stumbles into incredible luck."

Xue Jun spoke with certainty. In the end, martial masters still had to let victory or defeat in combat speak for them.

Only after hearing her elder brother's words did Xue Xiangling's expression improve. She brushed away that tiny trace of displeasure that had risen in her heart. The outcome would be the same regardless.

By noon, the foot archery assessment had finished. The candidates ate a little dry food on-site, and the mounted archery assessment followed immediately afterward.

In the target area at the far end of the drill ground, soldiers would pull up six targets made of willow branches in succession. Their positions were irregular, meaning the candidates would not know beforehand which target position the soldiers would raise.

The riding track was about thirty paces away. In other words, the candidates had to shoot from horseback at targets raised in irregular positions thirty paces away. Mounted archery did not require a bull's-eye; knocking the target down was enough.

These are effectively moving targets at thirty paces. No problem, Zhao Feng thought as he looked at the wooden targets made of willow branches.

The only uncertain factor was his riding skill. However, since becoming a retainer for the Wei Family, he had grown quite proficient at riding. Even long-distance escort work posed little trouble, unless he was unlucky enough to get a horse that went berserk.

Once the mounted archery assessment began, the results soon became too miserable to watch. Martial masters spent their days practicing boxing and stance training; almost none were skilled at mounted archery. After watching several rounds, Zhao Feng found that most candidates missed entirely. Few could knock down even one or two targets. Of the first hundred-odd candidates, only three knocked down three targets, including Shi Mao, the Huo Family Martial Arts School's Eldest Senior Brother. This was not his first Martial Examination, and he had trained specifically for it, allowing him to pass.

Second Senior Brother Wei Yuan landed only two shots. Zhao Feng knew Wei Yuan was a decent rider; otherwise, he would not even have managed that result.

Third Senior Brother Wang Yu missed every target, failing to land a single arrow.

Fourth Senior Sister Zhou Xue landed one shot.

When Chu Fan's turn came, he mounted his horse and set off, visibly unsteady and almost getting thrown from its back. Huo Shan frowned. After all, Chu Fan had come from poverty and had never ridden before. Since joining the martial arts school, he had focused on boxing and had only recently begun learning to ride.

He urged his horse onward, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and fired three shots in succession, all missing their targets. By the fourth arrow, the horse had made two passes back and forth. Chu Fan kept his bow drawn and his arrow nocked, sweat appearing on his forehead. Having failed foot archery, he was desperate to regain some dignity in mounted archery. After missing all three of his first shots, he was under immense pressure and delayed releasing his arrow, aiming over and over without taking the shot.

After the horse's third pass, the Examiner beside the track barked coldly, "Time's up! Fail!"

Chu Fan snapped awake as if from a dream, only then remembering the rules. Bitter regret filled him, and he left the field red-faced amid the strange looks and whispers of those around him.

"It's all right. Focus on the second event. That's what matters." Once he returned, Huo Shan patted his shoulder reassuringly.

Wang Yu and Zhou Xue watched coldly from the side, both inwardly snickering. After their last falling-out, the warmth the three had once shared was gone. Their financial support had long since ended as well, and they were practically strangers. Chu Fan now maintained close ties with the Zhu Family and other wealthy households and powerful lineages. What these lineages had in common was their close association with the County Magistrate.

A little later, it was Zhao Feng's turn. He stood beside a chestnut warhorse with a glossy mane and gently stroked its neck, running his fingertips through its mane before swinging into the saddle. He lightly gripped its flanks with his legs, but did not hurry to urge it forward, first adjusting to its rhythm. The horse seemed to sense his goodwill and gradually settled down, only flicking its tail now and then.

"Mounted archery assessment, begin!" The Examiner waved his signal flag. Zhao Feng applied a little pressure with his legs, and the horse understood, neighing as it charged out of the waiting area and galloped along the track. The scenery on either side flew backward. Zhao Feng leaned slightly forward to steady himself while swiftly drawing a feathered arrow from behind him and nocking it.

Thirty paces ahead to his left, thump! A soldier pulled up the first willow-branch target. Zhao Feng drew his bow, aimed, and released! Whoosh! The arrow skimmed past the target. His very first shot had actually missed.

"Ah!" The other candidates watching from the sidelines cried out in disappointment. Zhao Feng had earned an excellent grade in foot archery, so many had come to watch his mounted archery, curious about how well he would do. They had not expected him to miss his very first shot.

"Looks like he's just like us."

"Mounted archery really is hard."

Watching from a distance, Xue Xiangling secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Deep down, she did not want Zhao Feng to do well. That would extinguish the tiny spark of regret growing in her heart.