“Do you see them? Those three are the Xiongnu’s ‘Eagle Archers’!”
Inside the secret realm.
In front of a Han Dynasty pass, filled with countless traces of battle, where swords, spears, and arrows had clashed.
Huarong, clad in silver armor and wielding a silver spear, sat astride his horse. Beside him, the projection of “Flying General” Li Guang, in tiger-head armor and phoenix-wing helmet, had a crimson cloak fluttering in the cold wind of the pass.
In his hand, he held an iron arrow, its tip pointing a thousand meters beyond the pass, towards three figures dressed in fur and felt, riding horses on the grassland, each gripping a powerful bow.
The Eagle Archers were warriors meticulously chosen by the Xiongnu Chanyu from a force of 300,000 “string-pulling warriors.” Each of them could draw a heavy bow beyond the strength of ordinary men and accurately shoot down large eagles flying high in the sky!
“And these three opponents, in a past skirmish, once unleashed a barrage of arrows, killing over thirty elite Han cavalry without suffering a single injury themselves, with only two survivors. What you need to do is defeat all three of them in an archery and mounted archery duel!”
Coincidentally, in another secret realm, Shen Lian’s opponents were also a group of “foreigners from the grasslands.”
However, Huarong faced three Xiongnu “Eagle Archers” from the Han Dynasty, while Shen Lian was confronting an entire squad, ten “Jurchen scouts” from the Ming Dynasty!
“A squad of Jurchen scouts? How… coincidental!”
Observing the Jurchen cavalry, equipped with sabers and bows, who were gathered not far away, Shen Lian, hidden in the bushes and aiming with his repeating crossbow, showed a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.
His mission was to win this skirmish using only the repeating crossbow in his hand!
This scene before him was too similar to a battle he had experienced in his own world, except at that time, he completely lacked the ability to deal with so many Jurchen scouts. Instead, another man, wielding a saber alone, charged forward and, like cutting melons and vegetables, killed all thirteen Jurchen cavalry.
I wonder where you are now?
Ding Xiu!
...【Your territory resident Shen Lian has completed the ‘Silver Hero · Li Hong · Challenge Secret Realm’. You have obtained the ‘Repeating Crossbow Manufacturing Blueprint (Silver)’.】
In his territory, Xia Tian was having people wrap crossbow bolts with cloth soaked in “fierce fire oil,” light them, and shoot them into a specially cordoned-off empty space outside the territory’s protective shield, where dry leaves were piled up. He was satisfied with the fierce burning effect of the latter when a notification appeared in his mind.
“Hm, Shen Lian succeeded too. What a double blessing!”
However, compared to Da Niu, Shen Lian’s successful challenge was within Xia Tian’s expectations.
After all, he was just a relatively ordinary silver hero. After Shen Lian himself advanced to silver, he might even have more potential than this hero!
Of course, even for a silver hero, the reward for completing the recruitment challenge was very generous.
【Repeating Crossbow Manufacturing Blueprint (Silver)】
【Level】 Transcendent
【Description】 Derived from Li Hong’s design, it includes some design schemes for further strengthening and improving the repeating crossbow, allowing crossbow bolts to achieve lethality sufficient to threaten Transcendent beings.
【Note】 Requires a ‘carpenter’ who has mastered Transcendent-level power to manufacture.
“This is also a good item!”
Xia Tian praised the blueprint with a clicking sound.
Although the repeating crossbow had decent power, it was clearly insufficient against Transcendent-level beings, as could be seen from the previous battle with the Golden Winged Dragon!
With this blueprint, the ability to “upgrade” the repeating crossbow was of great significance.
The only difficulty probably lay in the fact that Li Hong, the creator of the repeating crossbow, was a silver hero of medium potential, and all territories were eligible to compete for him, making the competition extremely fierce. Even if Shen Lian completed the challenge, Xia Tian didn’t believe his territory would necessarily rank first.
However, even if he couldn’t recruit the person, obtaining this “upgrade blueprint” was already enough. As for the required Transcendent-level carpenter, though he didn’t have one yet, the difficulty wasn’t too great.
And just as Xia Tian felt satisfied, another notification appeared in his mind.
【Your territory resident Huarong has completed the ‘Golden Hero · Li Guang · Challenge Secret Realm’. You have obtained “《Arrow Classic of Piercing Clouds and Cracking Stones》 (Gold)”!】
“Huarong also successfully completed the challenge, this is a triple blessing!”
Moreover, this time Xia Tian was genuinely excited.
After all, Li Guang was a golden hero of superior potential.
And he belonged to the type with extremely strong personal combat power and great fame.
For such a hero, once the challenge was completed, the rewards obtained would definitely be of astonishing quality.
It’s worth mentioning that according to some lords’ statistics in recent days, it seems that the more famous and popular the hero, the more valuable the items obtained after completing the challenge!
And the item Huarong obtained after completing the “Li Guang Secret Realm” also corroborated this to some extent.
A skill book primarily made of gold, with a dynamic relief on the cover depicting an old general in tiger-head armor drawing a bow towards the sky. An arrow, like a white rainbow piercing the sun, broke through the clouds, and a burning meteor falling from the sky was instantly shattered by it, turning into a sky full of fiery rain.
【Arrow Classic of Piercing Clouds and Cracking Stones (Gold)】
【Level】 Transcendent
【Trait】 Inheritance (The first user can gain a portion of Li Guang’s archery insights)
【Description】 A derivative archery technique from “Flying General” Li Guang. Cultivating it to mastery allows one to “crack stones and pierce clouds.”
【Note】 Requires at least ‘Expert-level’ archery to study and learn.
“Li Guang’s archery is, without a doubt, a truly good item!”
Xia Tian’s face was excited.
Although in terms of leading troops in battle, Li Guang’s achievements were not top-tier among famous generals throughout history, in terms of archery alone, Li Guang was fully qualified to be among the top ten heroes in the vast history of China!
“In the dark woods, the wind startles the grass; the general draws his bow at night. At dawn, he searches for the white feather, embedded in the stone’s edge.” There was only one such fierce man recorded in official history who could shoot an arrow into a stone.
“The most crucial thing is that the name style of this ‘Arrow Classic of Piercing Clouds and Cracking Stones’ belongs to ‘realism’!”
Although, like Gao Shun’s “Iron-Blooded Trapped Formation Battle Classic,” the specific cultivation methods were not yet visible, according to the description, once this “Arrow Classic” was fully mastered, the arrows shot would truly be able to “pierce clouds and crack stones.”
One must know that clouds are generally at a height of one thousand to six thousand meters above the ground.
And shooting arrows into the sky, the achievable height would definitely be much closer than shooting horizontally from the ground. Converting it, it would probably be an arrow shot “ten li” with ease. What kind of experience would that be?
Furthermore, in addition to the shooting distance being enough to “pierce clouds,” the arrow’s power could also shatter meteorites, which were the hardest materials and considered by ancient people to be top-grade materials for forging divine weapons.
For such an “Arrow Classic,” let alone others, even Xia Tian himself was very interested and had the idea of cultivating it!
Coincidentally, he still had a “Bow and Crossbow Skills” skill book with experience and insights in his lord space. Combined with his “Cultivation Prodigy” trait, it would be easy to raise his archery to expert level, meeting the cultivation requirements.
“My lord, Huarong has not failed you!”
Huarong, in silver armor and with a silver bow, walked over and saluted Xia Tian.
“Thank you for your hard work, Commander Hua.”
Xia Tian nodded.
Immediately, he inquired about the specific details of Huarong’s secret realm challenge.
“It’s a pity that in the secret realm, I still couldn’t achieve complete success.”
According to Huarong’s description, he did pass the secret realm challenge, but the enemy’s strength was indeed formidable.
Because the secret realm would automatically balance the combat power of those who entered.
Therefore, the three Xiongnu “Eagle Archers” were all of blue quality, and like him, reached level nine. In a mounted archery state, fighting one against three was slightly difficult even for him.
Although he eventually killed all three with arrows, he himself was hit by an arrow.
Therefore, it was not considered a “perfect clear”!
“So, it’s possible that Li Guang cannot be recruited?”
Xia Tian pondered slightly.
After the “second fusion,” the top heroes in the Eternal Land would change from silver to gold.
In Xia Tian’s original plan, in the future, infantry would be led by Gao Shun, and cavalry by Li Guang. With two such golden combat-type heroes joining, it would be enough to ensure his territory could face any enemy without fear.
But besides Hua Tuo, whom Xia Tian believed had a high chance of being recruited, he had no absolute certainty that either Gao Shun or Li Guang would descend near his territory!
“Fortunately, I still have two backup plans.”
Xia Tian took out two items from his lord space.