Chapter 97: Chapter 95: Archery Breakthrough, Martial Arts Advances Again

Wu Liangchen had a dream.

In his dream, he was back on Blue Star, back in that familiar place.

But just as he was about to peel the black stockings off a secretary in a professional pencil skirt, black-framed glasses, and a high ponytail, he suddenly jolted awake.

His vision was filled with a vast expanse of ice and snow. Only then did Wu Liangchen gradually come to his senses.

"What time is it?" Wu Liangchen asked.

"Just past noon," Wu Mengchan said, handing him a handful of perfectly shelled pine nuts.

Wu Liangchen popped them into his mouth and chewed slowly, then realized that Yang Lian’Er and Aunt Fan were nowhere to be seen.

"Where are they?"

"Aunt Fan is standing guard outside. Sister Lian... probably went to relieve herself."

Wu Liangchen crawled out of the snow hut and saw that the sky was overcast. Although it was noon, the temperature wasn’t warm at all.

Just then, Yang Lian’Er emerged from the nearby woods, a wild rabbit in her hand. She was pleasantly surprised to see Wu Liangchen awake.

"You’re awake!"

"Yeah. What’s this...?"

"Oh, I caught it in the woods over there. I didn’t dare start a fire, so I just brought it back," Yang Lian’Er explained.

At that moment, Aunt Fan also returned, carrying two prey animals of her own.

Hunting was actually easy, especially for someone with Aunt Fan’s skills; catching a few wild rabbits was no challenge. The problem was that neither of them dared to start a fire, fearing it would give away their position.

Wu Liangchen pondered for a moment before taking the game.

"Leave it to me."

Always eating cold food in this weather wasn’t a sustainable option. Besides, the terrain here was complex; with a few tricks, starting a fire wouldn’t be a big problem.

Wu Liangchen found an earthen mound. He first dug out a firebox at the bottom, then created a flue at the top. He gathered many small stones and stacked them in a pyramid shape around the flue.

This way, any smoke would be diluted and wouldn’t drift far.

After a flurry of activity, Wu Liangchen lit the fire. Once it was burning steadily, he placed the prepared rabbit and grouse next to the flames.

Soon, the rabbit and grouse were roasted.

Despite the lack of oil and salt, to a group that had been hungry for nearly a day, it was a supreme delicacy.

After they had eaten their fill, Wu Liangchen said to Aunt Fan and Yang Lian’Er, "You two go get some rest. We’ll set out as soon as it gets dark."

"Alright!"

Without another word, the two returned to the snow shelter to rest.

Wu Liangchen extinguished the fire, then found a high point and concealed himself.

From here, he could not only observe the surroundings but was also sheltered from the wind, making it an excellent lookout spot.

But Wu Liangchen didn’t remain idle. He took out a treasured Qi Blood Pill, swallowed it, and began to practice his Martial Arts.

He had been so busy the last two days that even his unwavering daily Cultivation had been interrupted. Now that he finally had a moment, Wu Liangchen naturally intended to practice diligently.

First came the Five Animals Fist, followed by the Hunyuan Stance. After finishing these two Cultivation Techniques, Wu Liangchen felt sweat pouring off him like rain, but his breathing was smoother than ever before.

Every breath seemed to reach each and every cell in his body. With each inhalation and exhalation, his lungs, viscera, and all his internal organs grew stronger.

’This change is subtle, but persistence pays off.’

With a thought, Wu Liangchen immediately opened his status panel.

As he expected, the data in the Martial Arts section had changed significantly.

[Martial Arts Third Realms: Qi Strengthens the Lungs and Viscera (80%)]

He remembered his progress was only at 62% a few days ago. In just a short time, it had surged by a whole 18%.

This rate of progress might not be unsurpassable in the future, but it was certainly unprecedented.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he broke through again.

Not only that, but his Sun-Chasing Archery Skill was also on the verge of a breakthrough.

[Sun-Chasing Archery Skill (Proficiency 197/200)]

His proficiency had been less than a hundred before. But from the time he left the city yesterday until now, his archery proficiency had skyrocketed.

Sometimes, a single shot would increase his proficiency by seven or eight points.

This was especially true when he shot down that gyrfalcon, which directly boosted his proficiency by more than twenty points.

’It seems archery requires not just daily practice, but also application in actual combat.’

’That’s the only way to improve so quickly.’

Since he was only three proficiency points away, Wu Liangchen decided to max it out first.

With that in mind, Wu Liangchen took down his longbow, nocked an arrow, and aimed at a pine branch a hundred paces away.

At this distance, the pine branch looked no thicker than a strand of hair.

The whistling mountain wind made the branch sway back and forth, more than doubling the difficulty.

But Wu Liangchen loved challenging such limits.

He held his breath and focused his mind. The arm drawing the bow was relaxed yet taut, and his mind was perfectly clear.

Suddenly, when a certain critical point was reached, Wu Liangchen released his fingers from the bowstring.

TWANG! The bowstring sang. The arrow shot out like a meteor, instantly crossing the hundred-pace distance and snapping the thumb-thick pine branch in two.

[Sun-Chasing Archery Skill has leveled up. Current level: Expert]

As the branch fell, this notification appeared.

Immediately after, a wealth of new insights flooded Wu Liangchen’s mind, and his understanding of archery reached a whole new level.

If he were to hunt that gyrfalcon now, he wouldn’t need so many arrows, and he definitely wouldn’t have just hit its wing in the end.

One arrow!

A single arrow would be enough to shatter its head.

Just as Wu Liangchen was reveling in his private joy, the corner of his eye caught a flicker of something unusual in the distance.

He immediately turned to look, but he saw only the whistling wind and swaying pine branches. Everything seemed normal.

But his intuition told him things weren’t that simple. He hadn’t been mistaken.

’The pine branches over there were definitely shaking unnaturally just now.’

Thinking this, Wu Liangchen silently retreated and then slowly crept forward to investigate.

...

Wang Tianying had led his men on a fruitless search for the better part of the day. Naturally, they had found nothing.

This only made him, already filled with rage, even more irritable.

But at this point, there was no use saying anything else.

Wang Tianying had no choice but to order his followers to spread out and conduct a dragnet search.

Although it was still like looking for a needle in a haystack in this vast pine forest, at least it greatly expanded the search area.

At the same time, Wang Tianying had another idea he couldn’t voice aloud.

He planned to use the lives of these followers as bait to lure the hidden Wu Liangchen into making a move.

In his eyes, these followers had been living off him. It was only right that they make some sacrifices now.

And as soon as Wu Liangchen made a move, he would be able to follow the clue right to him.

It was a good idea, but his followers weren’t fools. They naturally knew they had become bait.

But circumstances were beyond their control. Even if they knew, what could they do?

The only thing they could do was be as careful as possible during the search to preserve their own lives.

That was exactly what Liu Chao was thinking.

He carefully avoided the pine branches along the path, trying his best not to make a sound, lest he invite disaster.

At the same time, he prayed relentlessly, hoping he could walk out of this forest unscathed.

Unfortunately, it seemed the god he was praying to was off duty today.

As he circled a large tree, he accidentally bumped into the trunk, causing the branches and leaves to shake.

This scared him so much his face turned pale. He stood frozen on the spot, unable to move. It took him a long while to recover before he continued forward, trembling.

Meanwhile, Wu Liangchen, who had already crept close, saw Liu Chao. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Without a sound, he nocked an arrow and abruptly fired.

SWISH!

The feathered arrow struck Liu Chao squarely in the left leg. With a THUD, he fell to the ground and let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.

The shrill sound instantly carried far and wide through the quiet pine forest.

The next moment, a figure shot through the forest at extreme speed, rushing toward the sound.

It was none other than Wang Tianying.

His hatred for Wu Liangchen had reached its peak, so he had charged over the instant he heard the noise.

Wu Liangchen, hiding in the shadows, naturally saw this. A cold smile touched his lips as he drew his bow again, aiming directly at Wang Tianying, and whispered,

"Goodbye."

With that, Wu Liangchen held his breath, focused his mind, and released!

TWANG!

The arrow shot forth like a falling star.