Chapter 60: The Thunderous Bow
Translator: Mike Editor: Chrissy
The mountains were crowded with eager mutants.
The pine tree was verdant and fresh, and the cone it bore had ripened and cracked open.
The cone was crammed with pine nuts that were both plump and lustrous. The gleaming glitter sparkled under rays of the sun, like fine jade that had been carved into the shape of a pine nut.
Chu Feng held the great bow in hand, marching to the battleground with steady steps.
There was no-one within ten meters of the tree, since nearby, it was right where the battleground where the fight between the two giants fought their fierce fight.
There had been a few bold moves committed by a number of bold people, but apart from a ground peppered with lifeless bodies, nothing else about the place had changed.
Chu Feng had a murderous intent. He wanted to shoot his enemies to death!
However, as he slowly approached the battleground, his mind shifted to something different. “Why don’t I just let the two fight their way to death?” Chu Feng thought to himself, “there’s no reason for me to muddle up their fight right now.”
The two would most likely wear each other out when the battle concluded; and when that time came, Chu Feng would start to reap and harvest.
Chu Feng chose a boulder to sit on. His cheeks were rosy, and his manner was mild, keeping himself completely out of unnecessary troubles.
The crowd of onlookers, however, all showed a visible look of fear on their faces.
They were still unable to withdraw themselves from the astonishment inspired by the events they just witnessed. Crushing a military helicopter with only a bow and arrow seemed almost like a cock-and-bull story to most people from the crowd. Many of them were still lost in bewilderment.
They simply could not understand it.
The crowd of onlookers was growing in size. More and more mutants braced themselves to nudge their ways forward to the front of the crowd. Everyone had a plan of their own, but they all wanted to witness the beauty of this purple fruit.
Chu Feng stayed calm and settled. He was waiting for Yellow Ox to show itself, believing that the calf would not let go an opportunity like this. It would definitely work better for the two to go as a collaborative force than Chu Feng on his own.
…
In the distance, the battle became even fiercer.
Silver Wing dove down from the height of the heaven with his head down and his feet up. His fists were tightly clenched as he struck down on Kong Kim. His silver hair fluttered as wind brushed through his hair. His eyes were bitingly cold, like a fierce bolt of lightning striking down from heaven.
Kong Kim still looked even-tempered, but there was an evident sign of bravery and fierceness. He clenched his fists as well, greeting Silver Wing with vigorous force and deadly power!
Boom!
When the two finally clashed, a terrifying rumble exploded in the air, like a sudden clap of thunder striking in the air.
All the vegetation nearby had either been pulverized or snapped. Even the rocks and boulders could not withstand the crushing force generated by the clash. The two giants crossed swords from east to west, and from north to south. Wherever they passed, destruction soon followed.
The thunderous sequence of explosions was deafening to say the least.
The look on people’s face shifted. What power must the two carry to generate such a devastating power to bring down chaos to everywhere they passed by?
The earth quaked and trembled as one fissure emerged after another. It felt like a natural earthquake, but it was, in fact, the mere product of the two’s deadly combat.
Gale blew as the two were busy exchanging blows between one another. The fierce wind swirled up dust and unsettled pebbles. It was all a horrifying scene. Not long ago, a few mutants had just had the misfortune to be swirled into the fierce wind, but they soon found themselves having their bones fractured and tendons snapped before dying a sudden death.
A holy radiance revolved around Silver Wing, giving him a soldierly stance when fighting against his formidable enemy. Every blow and every punch he delivered was fierce and fast like a bolt of lightning.
As punches were thrown, the wings were also wavering around to function both as a fierce attack and a formidable defense. It cut left and right, up and down, giving off sound of grinding knives and flashes of sparkling lightning.
Clonk!
It was the sound of a crispy crack. Although it sounded light and insignificant, a boulder that weighed at least a thousand jin was cracked open. Silver Wing nimbly maneuvered around stones and boulders, but nothing could hinder the beast from progressing forward. He was truly an all-conquering beast and an invincible fighter.
However, Kong Kim was fearless; he was calm and composed. His skin was like a layer of yellow gold, gleaming with a yellow luster. His boxing position was one of the most powerful ones in the world. No-one could deliver power matchable to his right fist, and neither could the god himself, Silver Wing.
The battle between the two was filled with sound of clashes. Their movements were faster than the speed of sound. Every blow they delivered was only followed by a terrifying rumble of thunder afterwards. The combination of speed and sound was terrifying and horrid.
“Fight it!”
Some of the mutants from the crowd could no longer stay as mere onlookers of this battle as Kong Kim and Silver Wing moved away from the pine tree further and further. They wanted to snatch the fruit themselves, then swallow it whole. They prospected that they would evolve into something formidable all at once, and then they would be the invincible ones themselves.
Regret would have been lasting for their whole life had they missed the opportunity merely because of their indecisiveness.
The road to becoming as powerful as Silver Wing or Kong Kim was only the distance between them and the tree right now.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One silhouette after another darted forward!
“Ah…”
Blood-curdling screams echoed in the valley. Some of the mutants in the crowd had turned to cold-blooded killers. As the others dashed forward, some who fell behind stabbed their knives into the backs of those who managed to take the lead. The stabbed ones stumbled and fell; their bodies were bloodstained, and they could never stand on their feet again.
It was a cruel scene alright. Waves after waves of mutants fell in the hands of others.
Everyone’s eyes had turned red, because everyone around them was their direct competitors.
The Mountains of White Snake suddenly turned into a site of bloodshed massacre. Blood flushed the earth, but more and more mutants were moving restlessly forward for the fruit. In the end, the whole place started roaring with clashes of blades and screeches of the injured. The crowd of onlookers suddenly became a messy crowd of clashers and fighters.
Soon, Silver Wing and Kong Kim fought their way back to the battleground, but their presence seemed to have done little to intimidate the fighting mutants on the scene.
The reeking smell of blood was tingling everyone’s nerve. Their primitive nature had been released. In face of such an enticing lure, many had abandoned their fear, going wholeheartedly for the fruit. It was their one and only goal that was worth them risking their lives to fight for.
Within a hundred-mile radius, bodies started stacking up on top of each other.
A few mutants, however, proved themselves as the best of the best by managing to fight their way to the proximity of the tree. The fruit was only an arm away, but suddenly, their faces all turned black. They struggled to reach for the fruit, but they all died of poison before they could land their fingers on the fruit.
However, the rest of the jostling crowd was still fearless. They tossed the dead bodies and burnt bushes to pave the way for them to move closer to the tree. Obviously, they would not stop until they got the fruit.
Boom!
Suddenly, the sky erupted with deafening rumbles. Then, there came the sights of a helicopter formation. The choppers sprayed storms of bullets and rockets, pouring down its immense firepower indiscriminately at the crowd below. Just in the twinkling of an eye, waves of mutants were brutally killed.
The earth was stained with mutants’ blood and peppered with mutants’ bodies. This had truly struck terror into the mutants’ heart.
They were powerful as they were, but no-one dared to stand directly against such a downpour of firepower. Not everyone had unlocked the ability to dodge bullets yet.
“I’ll fight you to the bitter end!”
Someone shouted in the crowd. A pair of blue wings emerged at the man’s back, then he leaped into the air, thrusting himself at the helicopter.
Boom!
Unfortunately, there were snipers lurking around in the bushes, firing high-caliber bullets at the man without demur. Boom! The man’s skull was instantly crushed into a splash of dashed-out brains and hot blood. The headless body of the man plummeted down to its ultimate demise.
This was a form of threat to serve as a deterrent to the others.
Deity had finally showed their savage fangs, killing anyone who dared to approach the tree without mercy.
Bang!
Suddenly, one of the helicopters disintegrated in mid-air. It erupted into a tremendous sphere of flames and fires along with the deafening sound of explosion.
The crowd was all taken aback. Who did this?
In the distance, another formation of jet planes emerged in the horizon, but they were drastically different from the ones deployed by Deity.
“Guys from Bodhi Genes!” Someone from the crowd pointed out.
Bodhi Genes was an equally powerful tycoon in the country. They were like Deity both in terms of structure and in terms of magnitude. Neither of the two was afraid of going to war with the other; therefore, both companies had deployed the best of their war machines to contest for the fruit.
Hang!
A snort of contempt sounded in mid-air. Silver Wing had abandoned Kong Kim once again. He turned into a bolt of lightning, hastily driving himself away.
The speed of Silver Wing’s movements was so swift that few were allowed enough time to see the trajectory of his movements.
In the twinkling of an eye, he had already showed himself before one of Bodhi’s jet planes.
He spread his wings, and the luminous radiance started to shine once again. It illuminated the entire stretch of the sky, like a second sun rising to the heaven, both glaring and dazzling.
Crack! His wings pierced through the air, then they lacerated a jet plane right in the middle. He thrust his body along with force of his wings, completely separating the head of the plane from its tail.
With a thumping boom, the disintegrated plane crashed onto the earth. The burning wreckage of the plane erupted into a dazzling ball of flames along with an ear-splitting sound of explosion that trembled the entire forest at the Mountain of White Snake.
Everyone stood in awe of Silver Wing’s great power. It was a plane after all, but it still could last its deadly firepower before it was taken down single-handedly by a man. Many stood in shock; some held their breath in disbelief.
Bodhi Gene caused Deity to lose a helicopter, but Silver Wing soon taught Bodhi a lesson by tearing their jet plane apart. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!
Silver Wing stood in the air, bathing in a sphere of silver radiance. He had made an impressive show of his courage and power through just the destruction he had inflicted upon the enemy’s plane.
On the ground near the fruit-bearing tree, Kong Kim scurried his way over for the cone. With just a leap, he had made a few hundred meters in distance. When Silver Wing was now finally out of his way, who else could keep him under check?
Boom!
He ferociously stamped on the earth, and the earth soon started sprawling with fissures. It was like an earthquake, but all the surrounding mutants seemed as if they had been stricken by lightning. All became stupefied by the tremble on the earth at first, then all were sent flying backwards into all directions.
For Kong Kim, the crowd of mutants was a bundle of rice straws!
Kong Kim stretched out his arm, reaching for the alluring purple fruit on the tree.
Pong!
Suddenly, the earth collapsed, and Kong Kim almost fell through the crack.
He hastily leaped backwards into the air before landing somewhere safe. Then, he turned around and looked over at the site where the earth had just collapsed.
The space underground had all been emptied. The special little tree, along with bundles of roots and stocks, were all locked in a sizeable iron chest. The bark and the branches were a mere extension of the parts that were hidden away within the box.
There was also a crowd of mutants from Deity cuddling around the iron chest. They had been hiding there for a prolonged period of time. Had they not been waiting for the fruit to ripen, they would have probably sprung out from their hidings and snatched the fruit already by now.
Of course, this was a setup for an ambush as well!
Kong Kim’s skin began to glow a yellow radiance. He bellowed and roared, like a Buddha roaring in a fury, making noises that were deafening to say the least. The wave of his sound made his enemies feel dizzy, causing them to almost lose their consciousness.
Then, Chu Feng hopped into the gaping hole in which the mutants had been hiding.
Guns started firing. The bullets were as thick as a heavy rain, all spraying precisely onto Kong Kim’s torso.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
Kong Kim wavered his Buddha Blade, chopping many of the raining bullets in half. Some landed on his skin, but the course of these bullets were all deflected to injure the shooters themselves.
However, the room underground was limited. No matter how fast Kong Kim could react, there was no chance that he could dodge all the bullets.
The bullets that hit on his skin made Kong Kim flinch in pain, but none had managed to pierce through his skin to injure his body.
Those gunners started to feel frightened. What kind of monster were they up against? The man’s skin was as firm as a slab of steel, deflecting all bullets that were being fired at it. How terrifying!
The crowd above the ground was also witnessing the battle below them. They were no less frightened than the gunners. It seemed like the rumors had been proven true in this case. Kong Kim did have an impenetrable layer of skin which enabled him to have no fear for any kinds of firepower.
After Kong Kim finally gained his bearings inside this underground space, he started rampaging through the crowd of his enemies like a mad lion. No-one could stop him at this stage.
Many of the mutants who were run into by the beast had fractured bones and snapped tendons. As his enemies had all been sent flying, Kong Kim landed his grip on his iron chest.
He was afraid that the fierce battle down here might harm the purple cone.
“Kong Kim, there’s no escape for you now!” Silver Wing was forced to re-join the battle against his sworn enemy.
Boom!
In the distance, continuous gunfire was exchanged between the two sides. Planes and helicopters roaming in the sky fired rockets and rained bullets at each other. An all-out war between the two tycoons of the country had been prospected by internet users and medias alike long before today, and now it seemed like it was about time to say that the war had begun!
The crowd all showed an anguished look. They were bitter in heart. They knew that now that the battle between the two magnates finally began, there left almost no room for the unaffiliated to win any edge over the others.
There were still, however, a few people revelling in this world of chaos. The filming crew led by Zhou Yitian seemed to have thrown all the possibilities of death out of window; instead, they were busy shuttling back and forth between scenes and scenes, moving themselves dangerously close to the actions.
Battles between mutants, duels between magnates. Scenes like these were absolutely rare to come by. For a shooting crew, being able to film something almost surreal was the chance of a lifetime. They trembled, quivered, and screamed. It was not that they were fearful of the actions taking places, but it was their uncontrollable excitement and passion that had clearly gone overboard.
Chu Feng, on the other hand, showed no emotion. He sat by the boulder, calmly watching the mess taking place. Then, he decided that it was time for action.
Yellow Ox had not let him down. He expected the calf to show up at a right time, and sure enough, it did. The calf acted like a furtive thief, pretending to be just another random mutant, covertly sneaking its way to where the fight between Silver Wing and Kong Kim had been taking place.
The two had indeed reached a tacit understanding between each other. They looked at each other in the eye, then their action began!
Silver Wing versus Kong Kim. It was a fight that had rendered both parties willing to risk one’s life to ensure the defeat of another. In a critical moment like this, no-one would be willing to just give in.
Kong Kim carried the iron chest in one hand and battled his enemy with the other. Obviously, this had put him at a disadvantage against Silver Wing. He suddenly threw the iron chest into the air, poised to cut it open with his cutting blade, completely deserting the concern of someone shooting the purple cone with an unfortunate bullet.
However, right at this moment, another mutant in his proximity suddenly launched an open attack at him. The mutant’s strength was way beyond that of the others.
Kong Kim was taken aback by the sudden appearance of a third contender for the fruit. He tried to flinch the man’s attack, but it was too late. The man’s power was by no means inferior to that of Silver Wing. Who was he?
The world had only four mutants who could have such extraordinary talents.
Clonk! Clonk!
Without scruples, the “man” trampled over Kong Kim’s arms with one “foot” and knocked on the back of his head with the other. The surprise attack was a huge success!
Had these attacks been landed on someone else, his body would have been trampled to a complete mess by now; however, Kong Kim only made a stumble and a totter. He had not been injured at all.
The invincibility of his body was incomparably terrifying to anyone who dared to claim as his enemy!
Yellow Ox had exerted all its force to its tramples, but little harm had been done to this beasty man.
Whoosh!
Yellow Ox was not bothered by the lack of damage dealt by its attack. The calf skimmed by the staggering body of Kong Kim and caught the falling chest with its gnawing teeth. Since running upright had proven to be much of a trouble for the calf, it now started running on all four. The calf gnawed its teeth firmly into the handle of the chest, bolting like a wild horse away from Kong Kim.
Kong Kim burst into a fury. He tried to stabilize his body from the knock on the head as he watched his attacker scurrying away with the tree. He roared to vent out his furious rage, then immediately embarked upon a hot pursuit after the abominable cheater.
Silver Wing, meanwhile, was met with a surprise attack too.
Chu Feng kept time with Yellow Ox’s action. Just now, Chu Feng had used his arrow to force Silver Wing to draw back from the battleground. The arrow, however, still managed to chafe the skin on Silver Wing’s arm, drawing blood from Silver Wing’s flesh as the arrowhead skimmed by.
Silver Wing was injured, but after realizing that the injury had been caused by the same person for the second time, the rays in his eyes bloomed to a full radiant blossom. He was now a man filled with murderous intent!
He looked over his shoulder and saw Kong Kim chasing down the tree snatcher. He trusted that Kong Kim would bring the cheeky brazen thief to justice at last, so he turned his chilling eyes to Chu Feng, glowering at him with a boiling murderous intent.
In fact, Kong Kim had grown rather anxious, but he had to swallow his bitterness. The mutant of his pursuit ran so briskly without a break that the two had almost made their ways out of the Mountains of Taihang.
He would eventually lose his target of pursuit if this were allowed to be continued.
“Boom!”
In mid-air, Silver Wing had displayed a glistening radiance around his body. He became the second sun once again, illuminating not just the sky but the entire universe. He allowed a powerful pulsation of mystical power to erupt from within his system, then without demurs, he dove down for his enemy.
Whoosh!
Chu Feng pulled the bowstring and bent his bow, then released the tension and let fly of his arrow. The deafening sound of thunder exploded in mid-air, alongside with the piercing lightning. The arrow pierced through the air, darting towards that diving silhouette in the air.
The look in Silver Wing’s eyes were terrifying to say the least. He hastily merged his body sideway to dodge the cutting edge of the arrowhead. At the same time, he struck down the blade of his palm onto the arrow shaft. With a boom and a bang, the arrow exploded with an eruptive power in mid-air.
Silver Wing’s arms were burnt black by the detonated arrow, but he was not injured.
The look in Silver Wing’s eyes had turned even colder.
Up to now, Chu Feng had to admit the terrifying power his enemy possessed.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Chu Feng fired several consecutive shots with great power along with great precision. Instead of aiming down sight, he started firing only with his instincts. He could precisely assess in his mind the exact position at which his enemy would be found.
This ability of his functioned in the same way as the one that enabled him to dodge bullets. It was a form of pre-warning, and now it had been used as an offensive tactic.
Silver Wing’s heart trembled with fear. He began to realize that it was almost impossible for him to dodge the incoming arrows. They were like homing missiles, chafing the skins on his arms and his legs left and right. The precision of the shots was astonishing to say the least!
Given how fearless he was in face of the most potent firepower, seeing himself being injured by mere arrows was something beyond his imagination! Hell! These arrows seemed to be even deadlier than bullets!
“It was the power of thunder and lightning!” His eyes became increasingly cold. Amidst the rain of arrows, he attempted to dive down at his enemy, but the heavy fire had proven to be more than just an utter annoyance. He had been covered in cuts and bruises, but none was fatal. The constitution of his body was way too powerful to be overcome. As a man who could withstand the spray of bullets, his power was boundless.
Had the Thunderous Bow not proven to be something so special, the fight would not have left Silver Wing a single bruise on his skin.
Boom!
Suddenly, the rain of arrows started carrying more electric arcs as they whizzed through the air. Lightning and thunder of much higher intensity struck down from heaven to haunt the world below, rendering the scene utterly atrocious
Puff!
A splash of blood splattered in the air. Silver Wing groaned and moaned. He was in such a pain that he almost plummeted down to earth.
He noticed that the arrow was different this time; it was a white arrow purely made of bone. It had pierced through his shoulder blade, taking out a sizeable chunk of fleshes on his shoulder. He was now an injured man.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Arrows had suffused the air with their electric arcs. Chu Feng had chosen to use the bone arrows in this critical moment with a clear and simple intent; and that was to kill the flying beast with no mercy.
“Ah…”
In the air, Silver Wing cried an unearthly cry. His voice trembled the Mountains of White Snake. His body was drenched in blood, but the murderous look in his eyes was evident. He coldly glowered at Chu Feng with a deathly stare, moving downwards towards Chu Feng inches by inches.
However, his valiant attitude was greeted with even greater troubles. Amidst the crowded arrows, another arrow entirely made of bone pierced through his silver wing. It then exploded at the spot where the penetration had taken place.
Dripping with blood, an entire section of the wing had been removed from the rest of it. He lost his balance in the air and almost plummeted to his demise.
The Mountains of White Snake had been a place of endless chaos and heartless killings only seconds ago, and now the clamorous crowd suddenly fell to a complete silence. Everyone held their breath and fixed their gaze, all looking at one direction.
Was that Angel Ox!
He was firing arrows at Silver Wing, severely traumatizing this man whom they had all deemed as a holy god!
Everyone began to quake with terror. To them, this scene was astonishing in the extreme!
Lin Naoi stood at the summit of the same mountain. She had seen what everyone else had caught in eyes. This was a shocking result for her too. The once invincible Silver Wing was now a man on the verge of death!
“Ah…”
Silver Wing roared and bellowed. He glided under the vast expanse of sky, looking for an opportunity to dive down and to execute the man to seek for his revenge.
“Come back!” Lin Naoi ordered. She feared that Silver Wing would actually be turned into a dead man. She had witnessed the fatal power of the arrows, and it was of every likelihood that they might kill Silver Wing with just another strike.
In the distance, Ding Sitong, the “goddess of the nation” had also been taken aback. She had never expected that so-called Angel Ox could prove himself to be of such astonishing power. In fact, it was so astonishing that even Silver Wing was no match for him.
Everyone had been truly astounded.
The air froze in the Mountains of White Snake, but the silence was only momentary before clamors amongst the crowd took the dominance once again.