"The Scripture of Primordial Origin Truth Expounded by Dao Lord Shuhua of the Divine House"

One sweep of his arm could hold back three horses.

With such terrifying strength drawing the bow, even a solid boulder of blue stone in his path would be pierced and shattered.

Every innate Embryonic Breathing practitioner skilled in archery was effectively a siege crossbow that could move and leap. A single arrow not only killed its victim, but seldom left a presentable corpse, often reducing the body to bloody pulp, bursting bellies and rupturing guts.

The yellow-robed men Chen Heng had picked off one by one were the best proof.

Yet down by the waterside pavilion, the youth clutching his stomach and screaming seemed in no danger of dying, apart from looking a little pale.

"A defensive talisman artifact. Congratulations, junior brother."

On another white horse, Xu Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly, fixing his gaze on the Five-Color Pendant shimmering at the youth's waist, and said with a smile:

"With that in hand, your journey to the Earth Abyss will be all the safer. His aura looks unstable and agitated. I imagine he only recently attained his realm. Just keep shooting to drain his Embryonic Breathing, junior brother. Whatever you do, don't let him get close. That way, you'll have his head within half a cup of tea at most."

The youth, who had been clutching his belly and rolling about in agony, suddenly stiffened.

He had intended to feign weakness, lure Chen Heng closer, then seize his chance to unleash another talisman artifact and strip the skin from him, leaving a bloody corpse.

But if Chen Heng really kept firing from a distance-

He reckoned that even if the arrows did not kill him, sheer exhaustion would...

"Chen Heng, have you gone mad? That lover of yours, Yan Zhen, is already dead! Where did you get the heaven-defying nerve to provoke me?"

The youth scrambled wretchedly to his feet:

"Do you know who my father is? He also has six sworn brothers, all dear uncles of mine! I can even come and go freely through the Rong Kingdom emperor's inner palace. If you dare touch a single hair on my head, you-"

Before he could finish-

Another arrow knocked him flat on his back.

When he climbed up again, his face livid, Chen Heng looked down from above and saw that the Five-Color Pendant was no longer as bright as before.

"How many more times can your Embryonic Breathing activate that Talisman Artifact?"

Chen Heng's eyes were dark and fathomless. He merely drew the Six-Stone Bow into a full circle once more and released it with explosive force, sending the arrow flying like lightning!

Its passage through the air sounded like tearing silk, like thunder.

Chen Heng loosed dozens of arrows in one breath. Beneath that relentless volley, crackling like a downpour striking banana leaves, the light of the youth's Five-Color Pendant flickered ever more wildly. Finally, with a scream from him, it went out completely and fell silent.

Thrum!

Nothing stopped this arrow. It pierced straight through his left shoulder. Had his innate Embryonic Breathing senses not warned him at the last instant, making him instinctively tilt his head, he would already have been a corpse on the ground!

"Aaaaaaah!!!"

The savage pain left the youth streaming tears and snot, his eyes bloodshot.

But as he wailed, another arrow cracked like a thunderbolt and pierced his left knee.

"The next arrow will hit your right shoulder."

Chen Heng dismounted and took the quiver from the woman in the fox-fur white cloak. Ignoring her face, flushed so red it seemed ready to drip, he casually fastened the quiver at his waist.

"Wait, I have-"

Whoosh!

The youth threw his head back and screamed as the arrow carried him backward, pinning him fast to a vermilion pillar of the waterside pavilion.

"Just listen to me first-"

Whoosh!

Another arrow.

With a mournful cry, his right knee shattered. Bloodied bone fragments flew far into the pond, sending rings of crimson ripples across the water.

"Brother Heng, Brother Heng, it's me, Wang Duanbao! Boo-hoo-hoo..."

The youth burst into sobs. "For the sake of our close friendship as children, spare my life! It hurts so much. I'll never dare do it again..."

Fifty paces away.

A vicious gleam appeared in Chen Heng's eyes.

He leisurely picked up a feathered arrow. Amid a teeth-grating creak, he nocked it and slowly drew the bowstring into a full moon. In his hands, the movement was pleasing to behold, flowing like clouds and water, with a cruel beauty.

By then, tears had blurred Wang Duanbao's eyes, and he was crying so hard he could barely breathe. Naturally, he failed to witness the sight that would have shattered his courage.

"My father doesn't care about me at all. Last year, he even stole my lawfully wedded wife! Brother Heng, spare me, and I'll help you deal with that old bastard."

He sniffled and sobbed. "I know plenty about that bastard. You-"

Just then, he opened his eyes.

All he saw was a feathered arrow flying like lightning.

"..."

Wang Duanbao froze, speechless.

He watched helplessly as the arrow came from fifty paces away, carrying a shrill howl of wind, piercing wave after wave of air as it hurtled toward the space between his brows.

Death!

I'm going to die!

I can't stop this arrow! I'm certainly going to die!

Wang Duanbao shuddered in horror. An immense, unprecedented terror buried his heart. He bitterly regretted coming down the mountain so recklessly the moment he attained Embryonic Breathing, only to provoke this born killer.

He had never imagined that even after going up the mountain to become a kept man, this fellow's archery would be no worse than before-indeed, it was even more viciously deadly!

Years ago, after one fleeting glimpse, he had mistaken this man for a woman dressed in men's clothes and asked a scholar in the city to send him a love letter. That very night, the man had ridden him down in the wilderness, drawn his bow, and fired three arrows at him. Every arrow had aimed for his head, shooting him straight off a cliff.

By the time Wang Duanbao narrowly escaped death and climbed back up, Yan Zhen had already taken Chen Heng to Little Sweet Mountain. From then on, his mind, which had never worked particularly well, grew even more muddled.

I shouldn't have relied on the Five-Color Pendant to withstand his arrows. Right, I should have used that Six-Yin Heavenly Ghost Banner.

As the arrow closed in, a thought suddenly stirred in Wang Duanbao's mind:

Yes, Xiao Yu taught me before we married: attacking is better than defending. I forgot...

But it was already too late for regret.

Wang Duanbao watched the arrow draw closer and closer. In that instant, the boundary between life and death stretched out, and one last thought flashed through his mind:

If I die here... will Xiao Yu and Father still think of me when they sleep together?

Crack!

The arrow struck the crown binding his hair dead center, making the entire waterside pavilion tremble slightly and shake loose a fall of dust. Only afterward did Wang Duanbao's body begin to shake, and his trousers grew wet.

At the residence gate.

Xu Zhi also dismounted and asked in bewilderment, "Why spare his life, junior brother? Do you really intend to use him as an inside man and kill his father too?"

"Blazing Mountain is a fine place, with abundant spiritual energy. It's wasted on that old Daoist. Besides, the enmity is already there. A thief can strike in a single day; how can anyone guard against him for a thousand?"

Chen Heng calmly lowered his bow. "Wang Duanbao, after all these years, what cultivation has your father reached?"

"You just shot one of his father's sons dead. Hoping the remaining son will serve you is probably asking too much." Xu Zhi shook his head. "Still, his father's cultivation shouldn't be too high, should it?"

"Immortal master, immortal master, that curly-bearded man Brother Heng shot earlier was his nephew, not his son! Not his son!"

Wang Duanbao's lips trembled after his narrow escape from death. "I'm his son, I'm his son! That man always wanted to devour Xiao Yu. The son and the nephew weren't on good terms!"

"He asked about your father's cultivation! What does Xiao Yu have to do with it? Tell us the truth, quickly!" Xu Zhi glared.

"The sixth level of Qi Refining! The sixth level of Qi Refining!"

Chen Heng and Xu Zhi exchanged a glance. The latter hesitated for a moment, then finally gritted his teeth and gave a slight nod.

"Thank you, senior brother." Chen Heng bowed deeply, his clasped hands reaching toward the ground.

"Between you and me... there's no need for thanks. But let's agree on this first..."

Xu Zhi pulled a long face. "If we really can't beat him, I'll take you and run. No forcing the fight! Don't worry. Your senior brother has spent years practicing the Land-Escaping Art. Never mind someone at the fifth level of Qi Refining-even someone at the seventh or eighth couldn't catch me!"

While they were speaking-

The household-born servants and guards of the Chen Residence, whom Wang Duanbao had poisoned earlier, also struggled to their feet, clutching their heads and groaning. They hastily armed themselves with sabers and swords and hurried over.

Inside the hall.

Blood spread across the floor. The remaining clan elders supported one another as they approached Chen Heng, their gazes filled with an indescribable mixture of emotions.

"Heng..."

"Uncle."

Chen Heng smiled faintly. "And the clan chief and all the elders, too. It's been a long time."

"Heng, you..."

"Just now, did you mention any belongings my late father left behind?"

The clan chief, Chen Kuang, whose arm bones had both been shattered, was about to offer a few gentle words of comfort when Chen Heng calmly interrupted him. Meeting those dark, still eyes, Chen Kuang's heart gave a violent jolt and every hair on his body stood on end. He was so frightened he nearly stumbled backward.

"Give them to me."

Chen Heng held out one hand, utterly calm.

A few days later, inside a quiet chamber.

Chen Heng frowned and closed the yellowed pages, a glint shifting in his eyes.

It was an old, timeworn book.

Several large characters stood on its worm-eaten cover, giving its title:

"The Primordial Beginning True Origin Scripture, expounded by Divine House Pivot Splendor Dao Lord"