Chapter 26: Chapter 22: Iron Bow 2
Translator: 549690339
With my current strength, only a one-stone bow, or even a two-stone bow, can fully display my archery skills.’
As he entered the mountains for these days, his continuous hunting slowly confirmed this. He also gradually understood what his strongest means were now.
The answer is archery.
Indeed, even if he had practiced martial arts, for Lu Yuan, his strongest ability to save his life was still the archery he first encountered.
There is no other reason.
Only relying on the Cloud Palm Technique, even though he had already mastered the Submerging Water Technique, and initially penetrated the Hand’s Taiyin Lung Meridian, practicing some inner strength.
However, these methods were still not enough when facing a fierce wild beast.
About half a month ago, Lu Yuan tried to use martial arts to deal with an injured leopard.
But in the first encounter, even though his palm power was amazing and his speed was swift, he was almost hit by the leopard’s sharp claws, which almost left a few marks on his body.
Since then, he knew that his current martial arts skills were still not worth much.
It makes sense.
It’s just a palm technique, and barely developed inner strength. In Lu Yuan’s attribute panel, his strength is still low-level.
With such a little ability, challenging the top hunters in the mountains for close combat is indeed a bit arrogant.
So, after that, Lu Yuan put aside some of the pride he had developed due to practicing martial arts and became cautious again.
Since then.
Several subsequent hunts were mainly ambushes, supplemented by bow and arrow shooting.
Indeed, this worked wonders.
Just like before, he hunted in succession, two leopards, and one Fierce Tiger, all of them were killed without even getting close. “This is all thanks to my superb archery skills.”
Lu Yuan touched his hunting bow and felt quite proud.
He is confident that relying on his own archery skills, as long as he keeps his distance and has a suitable environment, he can kill dozens of enemies one by one.
And these are not what the current martial arts can provide.
“Therefore, I still need to change to a good bow. A good bow is necessary for good archery.” Lu Yuan touched his somewhat worn-out hunting bow, and his desire to change to a better bow grew stronger.
But now he is in the mountains, and this matter cannot be rushed for the time being.
However, he had long planned for this. Once he returns from this trip, he can implement it.
Putting away the bow and coming to the leopard’s side, he pulled out the arrow from its eyeball and, after a slight cleaning, put it back in the arrow quiver.
After completing these tasks and checking the cave, making sure nothing was overlooked, Lu Yuan carried the leopard on his back and walked out of the cave step by step.
Leopard skin is very valuable, and selling it on the market would fetch at least ten silver tales. Not to mention the meat that would bring in one or two silver tales more.
Since entering the mountains, including this one, he has obtained three leopard skins, one tiger skin, and five wolf skins. The total value is more than a hundred silver tales.
By selling these, sixty silver tales would not be difficult to obtain.
As for the other various meats, he has a total of five to six hundred jin, which Lu Yuan has preserved.
When he was practicing martial arts, his consumption of various meats was enormous. These meats may seem abundant, but they are only enough for him to eat for three or four months.
“However, with these gains during the winter, the needs for next year’s martial arts training should be almost met.”
Under winds and snow, Lu Yuan carried the leopard on his back and faced the frost, feeling very happy.
One month later.
Outside the blacksmith shop in Yangmei Town.
Lu Yuan carried some dried meat and arrived early at Master Sun’s house.
“Uncle Six, are you home?”
He shouted from inside, and after a while, a burly man with a bushy beard came out.
This man was a blacksmith in town, and because he ranked sixth in his family, he was called Sun Six by everyone.
“It’s Little Lu,”
Sun Six looked at the man at the door and immediately smiled: “Come in, I’ve heated up some plum wine, let’s have a drink together.”
“Alright.” Lu Yuan came in and then handed over the dried meat he brought.
Master Sun directly took it to steam, and in a short while, he served it as a side dish for drinking.
After the two drank for a while, Lu Yuan brought up the main issue: “Uncle Six, how is the matter I asked you to take care of a month ago?”
Ever since a few months ago, when he had the idea of changing to a better bow, he had been preparing for it.
However, since he couldn’t make bows himself, he had to find someone to help him.
And the person to help him was naturally the only blacksmith in town – Uncle Six.
Nowadays, ordinary people hiding knives, arrows, and hunting bows may not be a big deal, and the court would not pursue it.
But if one were to hide armor and strong bows and crossbows, it would be considered a major crime, equivalent to rebellion.
Once exposed, the whole family would suffer as a result.
Therefore, Lu Yuan knew this would be difficult to accomplish, and if the relationship wasn’t good, others definitely wouldn’t help.
So, half a year ago, he began to interact with the blacksmith Master Sun. He occasionally gifted him game that he hunted, and after a long time, their relationship made significant progress, becoming close friends.
It wasn’t until a month ago that Lu Yuan finally dared to ask the other party to forge an Iron Body Bow for him, thinking their relationship was close enough.
But even so, it still scared Uncle Sun quite a bit at the time.
It was only when Lu Yuan offered ten silver taels as payment and promised not to leak any information that he finally persuaded Uncle Sun, along with some soft persuasion.
Forging an Iron Body Bow wasn’t an overnight task. Plus, Uncle Sun had no prior experience, so he needed time to figure out how to do it. Therefore, they agreed to deliver it in a month.
The time had come for the one-month deadline.
“It’s done.”
Hearing Lu Yuan’s words, Uncle Sun put down his wine glass, got up, went to the back room, and returned shortly, holding a long box.
Placing the box on the table, he looked up and said, “Take a look. I put quite a bit of effort into making this!”
Lu Yuan immediately showed interest.
Upon opening the box, he saw a dark-colored, ice-cold longbow, about 1.2 meters long, quietly lying inside.
Next to the longbow, there were ten prepared arrowheads which, once attached to the arrow shafts, would become deadly weapons.
He picked it up and felt the coldness and heaviness of the bow. Without much testing, he knew this was a powerful weapon, not suitable for ordinary use.
However, after continuous training and the boost of his inner strength, Lu Yuan, in some sense, was comparable to a naturally strong warrior.
“Great bow! Great bow!”
Caressing the Iron Bow, Lu Yuan could already imagine himself holding it, hunting countless powerful enemies in the jungle.
While martial arts skills are powerful,
Even martial arts experts are still vulnerable to strong bows and crossbows, and would not dare to confront them head-on.
Take Ma Jiqing, for example, with his cultivation of inner strength. So what if his sword techniques were superb?
When facing him, Ma Jiqing still fell victim to his arrows.
“Here’s the remaining payment, five silver taels. Check to make sure, Uncle Six.” Previously, he had already given five silver taels as a deposit. Now that Lu Yuan received the merchandise, he promptly paid the balance without hesitation.
Uncle Sun took the silver, and his eyes lit up when he saw the shiny color. However, remembering something, he warned, “Xiao Lu, let’s get this straight:
once you’re out there, you must never say I made this bow for you. You didn’t come to me, and I didn’t accept your money, understand?”
He did not mention not using the bow to do harm.
It was clear that hunting bows were sufficient for hunting, and there was no need for iron bows.
Such a powerful weapon was obviously not for hunting, but for bigger accomplishments.
“I know and promise not to get Uncle Six involved.”
Lu Yuan nodded, then closed the wooden box, carried it out, and left.
With this Iron Bow, he could finally sell the valuable beast skins and tiger whips stored at home, worth hundreds of silver taels.
Originally, he had been hoarding these valuable items, not daring to exchange them for money.
A hunter couldn’t make a transaction worth hundreds of silver taels; doing so would be no different from a child flaunting gold in a marketplace.
“But with this Iron Bow, everything is different.”
At home, Lu Yuan attached arrow shafts to the ten arrowheads, picked up the Iron Bow, and pulled the bowstring made of tiger tendons. The iron bow body slightly bent under the tremendous pulling force.
He released his fingers.
With a hum, the sharp arrow flew out, instantly sinking into the mud wall. The Iron Bow trembled, and the bowstring bounced. Under the tremendous force, the air seemed to vibrate.
This bow could be used to kill people.
It could even kill martial arts experts…
“Good bow.”
Lu Yuan chuckled, wrapped the Iron Bow in a cloth and fastened it to his waist. He picked up a short knife, checked the nitrate-treated skins in his backpack, and left the house.
He was off to sell his merchandise..