Chapter 8: Benefitting From The Dispute Of Others
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Mister, when you chose this bow just now, no one told you that this is a defective product that had been discarded?" the celestial beauty asked in a surprising tone.
Those worn out bows on the table were defective goods; the quality of the material, bowstring, accuracy of the bow and so on, had serious problems and were cast aside, ready to be disposed of.
However, it was very strange that the young man managed to use this bow and hit the 100 target five consecutive times!
With a thread of suspicion, the celestial beauty herself used the bow and shot an arrow. In the end, even with her good archery skills, she still missed the bull's eye. Moreover, the arrow did not even hit the target at all!
Su Yu's mind emitted a feeling of shock. Which scoundrel placed the defective goods over there?
"Try shooting with my bow." The white shirted lady removed a huge, fragrant, scarlet bow that was hanging on her shoulder.
The quality of the bow was commendable. When looked at from afar, the bow not only looked like raging flames, it also looked like a red jade.
As Su Yu held the bow in his palms, he could feel a lukewarm sensation that came from the bow itself as well as the residual warmth from the celestial beauty's jade-like hands.
"This is a good bow." Even though he did not know how to appreciate bows, his instinct told him that the bow he held was good.
He looked forward to using the bow. When he tried to pull the bowstring, he realized that the bow did not require a lot of strength and was suitable for a non-muscular man like him or a woman.
With great concentration, Su Yu focused all the energy in his body to his arms. He revolved his crystalline-pupils to their maximum and could see the 100 meter bull's eye clearly.
Whiz－
A bright, clear and sharp noise pierced through the silence of the weapon pavilion square.
Boom－
The iron arrow had hit the bull's eye! Moreover, it had hit the most center part of the target which had the size of an eyeball.
The power of the Hundred Feet Piercing Arrow was just so much!
The celestial beauty revealed an expression which showed that Su Yu had met her expectations and she was amazed. "Indeed, it was the problem with the bow. You are really amazing! In just half an hour, you transformed from nothing into an expert in Hundred Feet Piercing Arrow.
Master Jiang was surprised. However, he still felt that Su Yu was a lecher. He thought that Su Yu was already highly skilled in archery and he deliberately pretended to be a newbie so that he could earn the favor of Miss Xia.
However, he could not deny the fact Su Yu was an archery genius, as he possessed the technique of Hundred Feet Piercing Arrow at a young age of 14 or 15.
Su Yu heaved a sigh of relief as he had managed to execute Hundred Feet Piercing Arrow.
"Thank you fairy. I will take my leave now." Su Yu needed to speed up his training. As he left, he returned the bow back to the celestial being.
"Mister Su, if you feel that this bow suits you, you can have it. In the weapon pavilion, there are no bows that you can choose from as new bows are still being made." The celestial beauty was generous and she laughed quietly, suggesting that she was indifferent to fame or gain.
Su Yu was startled. Even though they had never met before, the celestial beauty gave him her precious bow. It was obvious that this bow did not belong to the weapon pavilion; it was the celestial beauty's personal bow.
Su Yu muttered to himself, took over the bow from the celestial beauty and thanked her sincerely: "Since I borrowed your bow today, I will return it back to you one day. May I know where you stay? When the time comes, I will return your bow back to you."
"It's fine. This bow belongs to you now." The celestial beauty laughed, indifferent to fame and gain, and took her leave swiftly, leaving behind a delicate fragrance.
As Master Jiang could not hold back his laughter anymore. He sneered, "Kid, when something good comes your way, just accept it. There have been many lechers, yet this is the first time that Miss Xia had given her personal bow away as a present!" However, you were still not satisfied and even tried to pay her a visit at her house. Don't waste your time, she is not someone that a person of your caliber can make friends with."
Su Yu laughed indifferently. He was too lazy to explain the misunderstanding that Master Jiang had.
No matter if it was Jiang Zhishi or Master Jiang, he hated this pair of brothers.
Su Yu carried the bow and went to the mountain that he always trained in. However, he did not stop at the usual spot that he always trained at; he continued going deeper into the mountain.
The martial arts training institute was built along the extension of the Twilight Mountains. By passing through the mountain behind the training institute, one could enter Twilight Mountains. There were many wild beasts living there. There might even be demonic beasts!
The so-called demonic beasts referred to the wild beasts in the mountain which had devoured the universe's Miracle Mineral Plant. Under the influence of medicine, they started to develop intelligence and also become a more superior type of wild beasts.
These demonic beasts were extremely dangerous, as not only do they have high intelligence, they were also gifted with impressive abilities.
Su Yu entered the Twilight Mountains for two reasons. Firstly, he wanted to increase his abilities by experiencing actual combat.
Secondly, he wanted to hunt for wild and demonic beasts so that he could earn silver taels to buy spirit elixirs which could strengthen his body and raise his inner strength.
The period before the practitioner could make a breakthrough to Level Three of the Martial Path was considered as "The Period to Refine One's Body" and the practitioner needed to strengthen his body to a certain extent.
The spirit elixir was commonly used to refine one's body. As it was made with many kinds of rare ingredients, it was very expensive. A single low grade of spirit elixir cost a hundred taels of silver.
The training institute gave one tael of silver every month. By subtracting the cost of daily expenses, there would only be a few copper coins left.
As a child that came from a poor family, Su Yu had absolutely no way of coming into contact with a spirit elixir. As for those who had financial support from their families, even 10,000 taels of silver was nothing to them.
As for gold students, they would get 100 taels of silver every month.
"Even though they sit at home quietly and do nothing, they could still get spirit elixirs to allow them to easily strengthen their physique as long as they asked for it. As for me, I still need to go into the deep and old mountainous forest to fight with the wild and monster beasts!" Su Yu recalled that in his previous life, it was an age where one had to depend on his father's wealth and prestige to be successful. He did not expect this world to be the same!
"I don't believe that if I put in 10 times more effort than the rest of you, I won't be able to catch up!" Su Yu's heart had a feeling of dissatisfaction.
After half a day, Su Yu entered the Twilight Mountains.
"Hiss－" Su Yu could hear a faint noise.
Su Yu immediately took precautions and revolved his crystalline pupils to their maximum to take a look around his surroundings.
Suddenly, about 10 feet away from him, at a space below a few fallen leaves that was hidden from view, there was a snake that had a color similar to the leaves and it was quietly gliding towards the direction of Su Yu.
The snake had dark yellow eyes, a triangular head and was scarlet in color. It was the seven step poisonous snake that was famous across the world!
"Ah!" Su Yu's silhouette was like a wind, and the shadow of his leg was like a whip.
Rustle－
The seven step poisonous snake was like a rope that was sent flying and it fainted after hitting the trunk of a tree.
Su Yu leaped towards the snake and took out a small knife which he had prepared. With the small knife, he carefully removed the snake's gallbladder and soaked it inside a wine bag. He then swiftly removed the snake's skin and its poisonous fangs, bundling it meticulously. Lastly, he removed the snake's meat and kept it properly.
The snake's gallbladder, skin and poisonous fangs could be sold for around 10 copper coins. As for the snake's meat, it would serve as Su Yu's food.
100 copper coins can be exchanged for a tael of silver. Su Yu was lucky; the moment he entered the mountain, he obtained 10 copper.
For the next five days, Su Yu leaped through the trees.
Just like Cloud Shadow, his movement was agile and natural. It was also as though a duckweed was floating gracefully in the sky, capturing the attention of those who caught a glimpse of it.
He revolved his pupils to their maximum, searching for wild beasts that he could kill and exchange for money as he moved.
When the night came, Su Yu hid himself in a cave along a small lake. He started a fire outside the cave, deterring wild beasts from approaching it.
"Two seven step poisonous snakes, five wild rabbits, two wild chickens, three local chickens, two pangolins, one wild wolf, two wild boars and one big golden eagle." Su Yu counted his harvest, and roughly estimated that it could earn him about 1,002 hundred copper coins, which is around 12 taels of silver.
"Sure enough, experience counts. I was able to earn a year's worth of money that the school would have given me for support within five days." Su Yu was satisfied with his returns over the past five days.
In addition, he was most satisfied with the changes in his body.
"The shortcut to success is to put one's skills to practice. These words are indeed authentic!" He did not feel any fatigue for the past five days. Within his realm, he had unknowingly achieved Level Two Upper Tier of the Martial Path, which was just a few steps away from Level Two Peak.
At the same time, he had also achieved Stage Three Lower Class in Universal Stroke. His Universal Stroke used to consist of four layers of attack with both his fists and legs. However, as of now, it had increased to eight layers of attack.
When Universal Stroke was at Stage Three Upper Class, it would be able to do 16 layers of attack. When it was at Stage Three Peak Top Class, it would be able to do unlimited layers of attack, meaning that the punches and kicks could go on continuously forever until the enemy became unable to sustain himself.
There was also good progress for Cloud Shadow. Initially, Su Yu's Cloud Shadow was at Stage One Lower Class. However, he had then successfully achieved the realm of Stage One Upper Class which had a speed comparable to someone who was at Level Two Peak.
Su Yu had also achieved the highest degree of perfection for Hundred Feet Piercing Arrow. He was able to hit anything within 100 feet; his archery skills were exquisite and comparable to an archery expert.
Su Yu's progress was not only thanks to the abilities of his eyes; it was also thanks to the excellent quality of the scarlet bow which made the bow easy and convenient to use.
"I am indebted to the celestial beauty. When I return this bow to her one day, I will definitely repay her." As Su Yu held the scarlet bow which gave off a warm sensation, his heart was filled with gratitude for the celestial being.
Crash－
A distinct sound of trees crashing could be heard. It seemed as though a big monster had caused the mountain forest to shake. At the same time, a faint sound of humans could be heard.
Su Yu's expression changed. With this kind of phenomenon, was someone fighting with a very strong wild beast?
A ray of light shone through Su Yu's eyes. He then extinguished his fire and disappeared into the darkness. For Su Yu, darkness was no different from daytime with the help of his pupils.
He activated Cloud Shadow and started to leap between trees. Not only did he look like he had the shadow of the white clouds, he also looked as though he was a duckweed floating in the sky, strange and shrouded in mysteries.
After three minutes, Su Yu landed on a big tree and hid himself within the thick branches where he could not be seen.
When he looked down, he was in awe. Below him, there was a large scarlet python that was so huge and sturdy that Su Yu gasped.
The python's body was as big as a water bucket and it appeared much stronger and tougher than Su Yu! Not only that, it also had a head so big that it could completely swallow Su Yu!
What truly surprised Su Yu was the fact that the huge python was covered in flames. Moreover, at the areas that the python had been to before, almost all the trees around those areas had been burnt.
"It is a demonic beast!!" Su Yu's pupils shrunk.
If it were a normal python, why would its body be covered in flames? Only demonic beasts would show this kind of phenomenon!
Although this snake was a category one demonic beast, it had extremely frightening abilities. From observation, its abilities seemed semi-matured and it was in a realm that was comparable to a human who had achieved Level Three Upper Tier; it was a demonic beast that Su Yu had no hope of defeating.
The good thing was that below Su Yu, there were three people who were fighting against the huge scarlet python.
Among the three people, the purple shirted young lady was at the realm of Level Three Lower Tier, while the petite young lady wearing a light yellow dress and the green shirt young man was at Level Two Peak.
The three of them worked together and had managed to trap the huge scarlet python.
"Hurry up! Once we catch this fire dragon, we would be rich! This fire dragon can be sold for no less than 1,200 taels of silver!" The petite young lady wearing a light yellow dress was shouting loudly and throwing needles at the huge scarlet python from a safe distance. At the same time, she was also scared and excited.
One thousand two hundred taels of silver? Su Yu felt a rush of excitement! That was 10 times the amount of money that he had earned for the past five days!
However, Su Yu was speechless as the three people were in a dire situation.
The purple shirt young lady and the young bodyguard looked pale as they had expanded almost all their energy. On the other hand, the huge scarlet python which the small child referred to as fire dragon, was very strong and powerful.
These three people had used most of their energy to trap the snake. This was not a good idea, as they might lose their lives.
After all, the fire dragon was in a realm of Level Three Upper Tier. As for the three people, the purple shirted young lady was at Level Three Lower Tier, while the young man and the petite young lady wearing a light yellow dress was only at Level Two Peak.
Rustle－
The fire dragon was intelligent; it seemed to be able to tell that two of them were physically exhausted. Its eyes were filled with craftiness. After avoiding the combined attack of the three people, it raised its giant tail to a great height. Just like a whip, the fire dragon swung its tail around its surrounding violently.
The strength of the giant tail was so powerful it was as though it could topple the mountains and overturn the seas. Upon witnessing this, Su Yu felt that he was suffocating.
As the purple shirted young lady and the young man had expanded all their energy, they were unable to avoid the attack in time. At the same time, they spit out a mouthful of blood and were sent flying backwards, hitting a tree and fainting on the spot.
The fire dragon was cunning. Rather than taking that opportunity to swallow the two persons who had fainted, it opened its big and bloody mouth and threw itself at the petite young lady who was still standing, preventing her from escaping.
The petite young lady's expression of excitement froze. At the same time, she was so scared that she turned her body and ran, screaming at the top of her lungs: "Ah! Xiaozi please save me quickly, it bit me…"
However, both the purple shirted young lady and the young bodyguard had fainted.