So Terrifying

Bang!

An arrow streaked across several hundred meters and struck the bullseye dead-on. Spiraling Qi Force rotated around it, shredding the target apart almost instantly.

Another target was raised, and another arrow from several hundred meters away tore it to pieces again.

"That really is an impressive skill."

Su Bei put away his bow and sighed in admiration. After being repaired by the skilled craftsmen of the military department, the longbow in his hands had completely changed. Wen Xiangwei had originally disguised it to look utterly ordinary, but now its true colors had finally been revealed.

The bow was a faint gold, dazzling to behold. It was not made of metal, but of an extremely resilient wood. It did not feel overly heavy in his hands.

After watching Su Bei's two arrows, Liu Shan was completely convinced.

On Su Bei's first day practicing archery, he could barely hit a target within fifty meters. Liu Shan had laughed himself silly watching him.

On the second day, Su Bei could easily hit targets within a hundred meters. Liu Shan began to hesitate.

On the third day, within three hundred meters, Su Bei's arrows seemed to have their own guidance system. Liu Shan was dumbfounded.

By the fourth day, Su Bei could even fire arrows carrying spiraling Qi Force. That was just inhuman.

He had reached the entry level in archery in only three days.

And even so, the guy kept sighing and lamenting, saying his talent for archery really was utterly ordinary. Liu Shan had been so furious he wanted to fight him for three hundred rounds on the spot.

Still, Su Bei's hard work was plain to see. He stayed in Wuji Martial Hall all day, firing several thousand arrows every day. His body was like that of a beast; he seemed to need no rest at all...

He could fire several thousand arrows one day, then be perfectly fine the next, still shooting like mad. He simply did not seem human.

And that was only archery. He had other training every day as well, and Liu Shan had even joined him. The two sparred from time to time—though Liu Shan held back most of his strength, he could still crush Su Bei with ease.

Overwhelming strength defeated all techniques.

That had been one of the few things making Liu Shan happy these past few days.

As a Third-order Martial Artist of the Vitality and Blood Gate, bullying a Quasi-Martial Artist would not sound good if word got out. Still, he acknowledged Su Bei's strength—let alone Quasi-Martial Artists, he had seen few First-order Fleshly Body Gate Martial Artists as freakishly gifted as Su Bei.

"Brother Liu, let's go."

They had originally planned to set out as soon as Su Bei arrived at the military department that morning. However, the longbow had just finished being repaired, so he decided to test it at the training grounds first.

Su Bei now wore the military department's standard combat uniform. He was tall and lean, with a pale purple spear on his back. Though still young, there was no trace of childishness on him. His eyes were calm and profound, and from the side, his broad back and powerful waist exuded raw masculine charm.

Liu Shan secretly envied Su Bei's fine appearance, but he said, "Aren't you going to test the spear?"

"No need."

Su Bei stroked the spear, a smile appearing on his face. "I already got familiar with it earlier."

This spear was also the Mystic Treasure weapon Li Xiongshan had promised him. It had arrived together with the bow today. It was entirely pale purple, two-point-one-eight meters long, and carried an air of mystery. The Mystic Treasure had no special traits aside from one—extreme hardness. Su Bei had liked it the moment he got his hands on it.

He truly was not picky in that regard. As long as a weapon felt right in his hands, it was fine.

Not long after.

The two arrived before a helipad, where a lightweight flying shuttle sat quietly.

Because of the Exotic Beasts, ordinary aircraft could not support long-distance travel. They were far too likely to be destroyed midair, killing everyone aboard. That was how flying shuttles came into being.

Lightweight flying shuttles did not have especially high output, but even so, when overclocked, they could reach speeds of Mach 3. Ordinary Exotic Beasts did not dare approach them at all.

According to Liu Shan, such flying shuttles were standard equipment for the powerful. Many strong Martial Artists owned shuttles exclusively for themselves. They were truly top-tier luxury goods.

Su Bei could enjoy one by himself this time only because of Li Xiongshan.

Li Xiongshan had not come. He had only warned Su Bei not to be sweet-talked by the flashy temptresses from other military departments. Naturally, Su Bei knew what mattered.

There might truly not be many superiors who treated him this well. How could he possibly do something like that?

"Be careful."

After boarding the flying shuttle, Su Bei waved to Liu Shan outside the window. The next instant, the shuttle launched into the air, broke the sound barrier in a flash, and shot straight into the clouds.

After only a few breaths, it was nothing more than a black speck in the distance.

Meanwhile.

At the Jinnan Military Department airport, someone waited in utter boredom.

"Do you think this Su Bei is reliable? The captain didn't explain much to us. I heard quite a few people wanted to stuff someone into the team afterward, but the captain rejected every one of them."

"The other four have already been training together for a week, yet this guy is only just arriving. The captain has been grinning every day and even told us to pick him up. He isn't usually this easygoing."

The other man spoke up as well. "Who knows? The squad captain position still hasn't been decided. They said they would wait until everyone arrived before choosing one."

"There'll be another mess for sure."

"This newcomer was selected through the Martial Evaluation. That doesn't carry much weight, and he doesn't have any background. He better not be some softie, or he'll have a hard time after arriving."

"But did you hear? The Shattered Battlefield has been showing major fluctuations. It might open ahead of schedule."

Everyone knew the Martial Evaluation had been established for ordinary people. It had some value, but compared with those raised and trained by true clans since childhood, it was indeed far inferior.

The man frowned, not because he took pleasure in Su Bei's misfortune.

He was genuinely troubled.

They belonged to the Jinnan Pioneer Army sequence. This Shattered Battlefield incident happened to fall within their jurisdiction.

Naturally, the task of training several Quasi-Martial Artists had fallen to them. Every single one of those who arrived was exceptionally strong, but they were all wild and hard to tame. The ones recommended by their own military department were somewhat better, while the others... though they had basically been beaten into submission.

It was not that they were difficult to manage. Everyone knew this was a good opportunity, and no one wanted to fall behind anyone else.

Their tactical and combat training had been going reasonably well, and military-style training was useful. But they did not look like a team at all. Every one of them had an attitude of refusing to yield to anyone else.

They could keep them under control for now, but once they entered, a single disagreement might cause them to split up and fight on their own.

"Anyone who can arrive at a time like this is bound to be extraordinary. Every one of them is frighteningly talented. Su Bei is probably the only average one. This is the result of all sides pulling strings, and he got lucky from it.

"Anyway, the basic tactical training is nearly complete. What comes next is beyond our control."

"He's here!"

As the two spoke.

A flying shuttle appeared on the horizon. In the blink of an eye, it rapidly approached the airport, then swiftly descended.

A tall young man stepped out of the shuttle. He said something to its pilot before turning around and walking toward the two of them.

He strode forward in long strides, head held high and chest out, looking incomparably confident.

However, with both a longbow and a spear on his back, he gave off the impression that he had learned too many things at once, making the two men somewhat doubtful.

"Su Bei?"

Su Bei nodded.

"Wang Zelu." Wang Zelu was the man who had spoken first. He shook Su Bei's hand briefly. "The two of us were sent to pick you up. Come back to the military department with us."

Seeing that both men wore lieutenant insignias, Su Bei did not slight them. He respectfully addressed them as Squad Leader. He did not understand the ranks anyway, but he could not go wrong calling them that.

Though neither man revealed his aura, Su Bei could sense that they were probably not much weaker than Liu Shan. Both were Third-order Martial Artists of the Vitality and Blood Gate.

This realm was considered the backbone of the force and was the most numerous within the military department. Neither man put on any airs.

The three quickly got into a car.

Not long after they got in, Wang Zelu asked, "Su Bei, are you from Sky Lake?"

"Yes. I grew up there." Su Bei looked around the Jinnan Military Department and inwardly remarked that it was indeed much larger than the Tianhu Military Department as he answered.

"You're good with both the spear and the bow?" Zhao Fei turned around and asked.

Su Bei felt that if he said his footwork and spear technique had reached the Greater Achievement Realm, while his fist technique had reached Fist Technique Perfection, people might easily mistake him for a lunatic.

So Su Bei held back a little. "My archery just reached the entry level. My spear technique should be usable enough, but my fist technique is actually my strongest."

"So you're quite... well-rounded?" Zhao Fei said coolly.

How long had he been cultivating before becoming a Quasi-Martial Artist? It was already rare to master even one weapon, much less two. And now there was fist technique on top of that...

A complete dabbler.

Zhao Fei said, "But if you use a spear, you might get along well with our captain."

Su Bei said, "Hm?"

"You'll know when we get there." Zhao Fei did not explain further.

It was already rare for him to ask a few questions. The two men barely spoke the rest of the way.

Part of it was their personalities. More importantly, a Third-order Martial Artist and a Quasi-Martial Artist were simply too far apart in status.

To put it bluntly, a Third-order Martial Artist could probably crush a Quasi-Martial Artist to death with one hand.

Not everyone was like Liu Shan and Li Xiongshan.

Wang Zelu glanced at Su Bei and said somewhat enviously, "You're lucky. The four people who came before you are all top-notch in talent and strength. As long as you follow them steadily and make it back alive, you'll be able to earn some military merit."

"You'll save yourself years of hard work."

Su Bei did not take it to heart. He merely nodded. "Thanks to the military department."

"Don't act unconvinced."

Seeing Su Bei's calm expression, Wang Zelu assumed he was dissatisfied and explained, "You'll understand after hearing this. Every one of those four has independently killed a Level One Exotic Beast!"

Su Bei nodded in deep agreement.

"That kind of talent really is terrifying."