Mounted Archery

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zhao Feng then fired three more arrows in succession, each striking the bullseye while precisely avoiding the previous arrow holes. Only the last arrow landed slightly off-center. The surrounding examinees erupted into heartfelt cheers.

After the official beside him stepped forward to inspect them carefully, he called out loudly, "Zhao Feng, ten arrows on foot: nine bullseyes, one in the eighth ring. Excellent!"

The air fell silent for a moment.

Huo Shan abruptly rose to his feet. The other disciples, including him, as well as Huo Yao, all wore looks of shock.

"How could his archery be so accurate? Unbelievable." Huo Yao's beautiful eyes widened as she gazed at Zhao Feng in astonishment. This Zhao Feng had caught her greatly off guard more than once.

"I remember now. Junior Brother Zhao told me that his ancestors were hunters, and he practiced archery from childhood." Wei Yuan slapped his thigh.

"Oh, that does seem to be the case. No wonder." Huo Shan vaguely remembered asking about his background before; he had apparently come from a family of hunters. He could not help sighing. This disciple truly kept bringing him surprises.

When Chu Fan saw Huo Yao looking at Zhao Feng with admiration in her eyes, his brows furrowed slightly. He took a deep breath and suppressed his restless thoughts. Compared to such a dazzling result, his own failure was simply ugly beyond measure.

Zhao Feng returned to the martial arts school's group with a calm expression. On that final arrow, he had deliberately adjusted his wrist slightly, causing it to stray a little; otherwise, it too would have struck the bullseye without question. It was only fifty paces.

Yet even with that deliberate restraint, it was already enough to leave people amazed. Such a result had even caught the examiners' attention.

At the edge of the training grounds, Xue Xiangling watched this scene in surprise. "I didn't expect him to have such skill in Archery," she murmured.

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

"Elder Brother, it's nothing." Xue Xiangling concealed it as she shifted her gaze away.

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

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

"Yes. Every family in the county would take notice of an eighteen-year-old with Hidden Force," Xue Jun said. The major Lineages and wealthy households often gathered information on experts who had broken through to Hidden Force.

"He has Hidden Force?" Xue Xiangling exclaimed in surprise.

"Wasn't his natural talent supposed to be poor? How could he break through to Hidden Force?"

"Who knows? Perhaps it was luck." Xue Jun shrugged. He did not notice Xue Xiangling lower her head, her expression turning somewhat unpleasant.

He continued his assessment:

"Though his foot-archery result was excellent, foot archery and mounted archery are two entirely different things. Mounted archery is far more difficult. If he cannot earn an excellent rating in mounted archery, then he cannot earn a first-class rating in the overall evaluation for the first event. Without a first-class rating, the gap will not be great. The second event, the arena matches, will still be what decides everything."

"Moreover, Zhao Feng has only just entered Hidden Force. If he encounters a veteran Hidden Force practitioner in the arena matches, he will undoubtedly lose. Therefore, he cannot possibly make the rankings unless he stumbles upon extraordinary luck."

Xue Jun spoke with certainty. In the end, martial artists still had to rely on victory and defeat in combat against one another.

Hearing her elder brother say this, Xue Xiangling's expression improved somewhat. She wiped away that tiny trace of discomfort that had risen in her heart. The result would be the same either way.

By noon, the foot-archery examination had concluded. The examinees ate some dry rations on site, and the mounted-archery examination immediately followed.

At the distant target area of the training grounds, soldiers would raise six targets woven from willow branches one after another. Their positions were irregular, meaning the examinees would not know beforehand which target position the soldiers would raise.

The riding area was around thirty paces away. In other words, the examinees had to shoot the irregularly raised targets while riding from over thirty paces away. Mounted archery did not require hitting the bullseye; knocking down the target was enough.

This is basically a moving target from thirty paces away. No problem.

The only uncertainty was his horsemanship. However, ever since becoming a retainer of the Wei Family, he had trained until his riding skills were fairly proficient. Long-distance escort work posed no problem, unless he had the bad luck to encounter a horse going mad.

Once the mounted-archery examination began, the sight was soon too miserable to bear. Martial artists usually practiced boxing and stance training; almost none were skilled at mounted archery. After watching several rounds, Zhao Feng saw that most examinees missed their targets entirely. Few could knock down even one or two targets. Among the first hundred-odd examinees, only three knocked down three targets, including Shi Mao, the senior disciple of the Huo Family Martial Arts School. This was not his first time taking the martial examination, and he had trained specifically for it, so he was able to pass.

Second Senior Brother Wei Yuan only hit two arrows. Zhao Feng knew Wei Yuan's horsemanship was fairly good; otherwise, he would not even have achieved that result.

Third Senior Brother Wang Yu missed every target and did not hit a single arrow.

Fourth Senior Sister Zhou Xue hit one arrow.

When Chu Fan took the field, he mounted his horse and began to ride. He was clearly unsteady, even nearly being thrown off. Huo Shan frowned. Chu Fan had been poor before and had never ridden a horse. After entering the martial arts school, he had mainly focused on boxing, and had only begun learning to ride recently.

He drew his bow and nocked an arrow while urging the horse onward. He fired three arrows in succession, all missing their targets. By the fourth arrow, the horse had already run back and forth twice. Chu Fan kept his bow drawn and his arrow nocked, sweat appearing on his forehead. Having failed the foot-archery test earlier, he was eager to win back some face in mounted archery. After missing all three arrows, the pressure on him was immense, and he delayed firing. He repeatedly aimed but could not bring himself to shoot.

After the horse's third pass, the examiner beside the course coldly shouted, "Time's up! Failed!"

Chu Fan seemed to awaken from a dream. Only then did he recall the rules. Filled with regret, he flushed red and left the field amid the strange looks and whispers around him.

"It's all right. Focus your attention on the second event. That is the key." After he came down, Huo Shan comfortingly patted his shoulder.

Wang Yu and Zhou Xue watched coldly from the side, both secretly sneering. Since their falling-out last time, the once-close relationship among the three had ceased to exist. Their financial support had also long been withdrawn, and they were now almost strangers. Chu Fan now associated closely with the Zhu Family and other wealthy Lineages and households, all of whom had close ties with the county magistrate.

After some more time passed, it was Zhao Feng's turn. He stood beside a chestnut warhorse with glossy mane, gently stroking its neck as his fingertips passed through its mane. Then he swung himself onto its back, lightly tightening his legs around its belly. He did not rush to spur it onward, instead first adapting to the horse's rhythm. The horse seemed to sense his goodwill and gradually calmed down, only occasionally swishing its tail.

"Mounted-archery examination, begin!" The examiner waved his command flag. Zhao Feng applied slight pressure with his legs, and the horse understood. Neighing, it charged out of the waiting area and galloped along the track. The scenery on both sides flew backward. Zhao Feng leaned forward slightly to maintain his balance while swiftly drawing a feathered arrow from behind his back and setting it to his bow.

Thirty paces ahead to the left, thump! The first willow target was raised by a soldier. Zhao Feng drew his bow and nocked his arrow, then fired after taking aim! Whoosh! The arrow brushed past the target. His first arrow had actually missed.

"Ah!" The examinees watching nearby let out regretful cries. Zhao Feng had earned an excellent rating in foot archery, so many had come to watch his mounted archery, curious what result he would achieve. Yet his very first arrow had missed.

"Looks like he's no different from us."

"This mounted archery is truly difficult."

Watching from afar, Xue Xiangling secretly let out a sigh of relief. Deep in her subconscious, she did not want Zhao Feng to achieve a good result. That way, she could extinguish the tiny spark of regret that had begun to grow in her heart.