A flash of light appeared in his hand as Xia Tian retrieved two items from his Lord's Space.
One of them was a "Tungsten Steel (Green)" he had opened from a "treasure chest" last night. The fact that the upgraded treasure chest could yield modern Earth items of green quality pleasantly surprised Xia Tian!
Arrows made from this modern material would clearly be far superior to ancient bronze or iron.
As for the material for the arrow shafts, it was loot acquired yesterday morning: seventy-two black and white tail feathers obtained from the "Transformed" Black-and-White Pheasant using the "Hand of Gathering."
"Craft them!"
Placing the materials into the "Military Workshop," Xia Tian chose to craft them by expending luck. With anticipation in his heart, he watched as the materials transformed and combined in a silver glow.
Finally, they became seventy-two heavy arrows, black and white in color. The arrow shafts glowed with a warm luster, like white jade and black jade, respectively, while the arrowheads were incomparably sharp, displaying a matte silver-gray metallic sheen!
Upon closer inspection, one could see that the basic form of the arrows was almost identical to those Hua Rong used yesterday.
Speaking of Hua Rong, just as Xia Tian finished crafting the arrows, Hua Rong, fully dressed in his silver armor, arrived.
"Commander Hua, you've come to bid farewell, haven't you?"
Before Hua Rong could speak, Xia Tian looked at him and said.
"I am eternally grateful for your Lordship's hospitality and healing, Hua Rong."
"However, the parents of those children are still waiting anxiously in the village. Hua Rong needs to send them back."
Hua Rong nodded, a look of shame on his face as he spoke.
They had eaten and drunk at Xia Tian's expense and even used a considerable amount of his "immortal medicine." Yet, when he and his soldiers rummaged through their belongings just now, they found nothing presentable to offer in repayment!
He could only secretly resolve to return first, gather some gold, silver, and jewels, and then personally bring them back as a token of gratitude.
"Hmm, it is time to go back!"
Upon hearing Hua Rong's words, Xia Tian nodded, agreeing quite "readily."
"However, you must be extremely careful on your journey."
"Yesterday, a group of half-human, half-horse barbarians came to my territory, demanding that I hand over the person who killed their scout commander."
"Naturally, I couldn't hand anyone over, and I even drove them away with the Divine Arm Crossbow. Those centaurs became enraged and threatened that their prince would lead a large army to besiege my territory today. It would be dangerous if you encountered the centaur army on your way!"
However, Xia Tian then added to Hua Rong.
"What, half-human, half-horse monsters?"
Hua Rong's eyes widened instantly, and his eyebrows shot up.
"My Lord, if I'm not mistaken, the person who killed their commander yesterday was Hua Rong. I didn't expect to cause your Lordship such great trouble."
"Hua Rong humbly requests that your Lordship allow us to stay and help your Lordship kill these barbarians who dare to invade our human territory!"
Hua Rong immediately abandoned the idea of leaving now.
After all, those half-human, half-horse barbarians were there because of him. If he were to leave now, wouldn't he be too ungrateful?
"Is that so... Alright, my territory is indeed short on manpower at the moment. Although I've manufactured a lot of weapons, they still need someone to use them..."
"By the way, Commander Hua, what do you think of these arrows in my hand?"
Xia Tian pointed to the crafted "Black-and-White Feather Arrows" and asked Hua Rong.
"Truly excellent arrows, definitely worth a thousand gold!"
Upon seeing the arrows, a master archer's eyes couldn't help but light up.
He was a connoisseur. Although he had never seen arrow shafts entirely black and white like jade, just from the incomparably sharp arrowheads radiating a fierce killing intent, he knew they were "treasure arrows" that were hard to come by, even for a thousand gold.
Moreover, the style of these arrows seemed to be the same as the heavy arrows he had specially ordered from the blacksmith?
"Could it be..."
Hua Rong thought of a possibility, and his heart rate suddenly accelerated.
"I'm not particularly skilled in archery, so these arrows would be useless in my hands. Let's entrust them to Commander Hua for this battle. With your archery skills, they will surely not be wasted!"
Xia Tian had already handed him the "Arrows of Black and White."
This gesture made Hua Rong almost blurt out, "If your Lordship does not disdain me, Hua Rong is willing to..." However, the words changed into, "Your Lordship values me so, Hua Rong will not fail his mission!"
Xia Tian's act of giving the arrows was not to manipulate this "Little Li Guang," but merely stating a fact. The tail feathers of the "Black-and-White Pheasant" contained some "rule characteristics," making the crafted arrows unique. Ordinary people would likely find them difficult to wield, and only Hua Rong, with his master-level archery skills, could use them freely!
With Hua Rong staying, along with the help of a group of Qingfeng Stronghold soldiers, the territory's preparations for this battle were undoubtedly more thorough.
When everything was ready, as the sun shone brightly, approaching noon.
"Thump-thump-thump..."
Suddenly, a dense sound of hooves echoed from within the jungle.
Immediately, a large number of centaurs, like a torrent, trampled the vegetation along their path, emerging from the jungle and appearing on the outskirts of the territory!
They then ran around the territory like guards, holding bows and arrows, but not shooting.
"Hold your fire for now, let's observe the situation!"
Seeing that these centaurs didn't immediately engage in battle, Xia Tian didn't order Da Niu and the others to act.
After all, these centaurs were very fast, and even the Divine Arm Crossbow couldn't guarantee a hit beyond a certain range.
Therefore, the best time to start the battle would be when all the centaurs had gathered around the territory.
"Human, was it you who killed Karim, the scout commander of this prince?"
A centaur with brown curly hair, wearing a blood-red cloak, holding a black bow, with a silver quiver adorned with colorful gemstones on his left side, and a golden wine flask on his right, stood among the horse herd.
His gaze swept around before landing on Hua Rong, who was in silver armor and bore a bow and arrows within the territory. He spoke coldly in the common language of the Eternal Land.
【Centaur Prince (Silver)】
【Level】 Eighth-tier
【Physique】 7.0
【Spirit】 6.3
【Talent】 Blessed by Clan Luck
【Attributes】 Exquisite Archery, Genius Archer
【Description】 The prince of the centaur tribe, hailed by his people as a once-in-a-century genius archer.
"Yes, it was I!"
Hua Rong replied in the common language as well.
After learning from Xia Tian that the so-called "monsters" were merely ordinary creatures from another world, he no longer held any fear towards them.
"Very well. Among the tribe, Karim's archery was second only to this prince. That you could kill him in an archery duel, I am very interested in your archery!"
"Bring them out."
The Centaur Prince said coldly.
Then, at his command, some centaurs led ten ragged humans out of the jungle with ropes.
"Help! Save me!"
"Don't kill me! I am a royal relative, spare me! I can give you money, gold, silver, banknotes..."
"Bah, you beasts, you monsters! Give me back my daughter's life, she was only eleven, you beasts!"
These people were bound at their upper bodies, and their reactions to the centaurs varied: some were numb, some pleaded for mercy, and some cursed loudly... "Human marksman, this prince wants to have an archery duel with you."
"These fellow humans of yours will be the targets for our contest!"
"If you win, I will spare these lowly human lives. If you lose, hehe..."
The Centaur Prince, however, completely ignored these "captives." Instead, he looked at Hua Rong within the territory, a cruel smile appearing on his face, which was not much different from a human's.