Chapter 48: An Insurmountable Gap

"Here’s the Blood Boiling Liquid you wanted."

CLACK. Two vials of Blood Boiling Liquid were pressed into Jiang Qiu’s trembling palm. Wu Shan’s brow furrowed, his voice as cold as stone. "There’s no need to push yourself so hard. Firing a few more arrows for a short time won’t instantly grant you proficiency. It’ll just damage your arm.

Drink a vial of Blood Boiling Potion to replenish your Qi Blood and rest for a bit before Liu Yong and the inspector from the Military Department arrive. If you lose the archery match, so be it. Just make sure you don’t slip up with your Spear Technique..."

"Mm."

Jiang Qiu nodded, popped the cap open with his thumb, and downed the liquid in one gulp. Blood seemed to erupt from his heart like a spring in a vast desert, a warm current rushing through his parched limbs. In an instant, his face flushed, and the blood vessels in his eyes streaked like red lightning.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!

His heart hammered against his chest, as rapid as falling rain.

Just then, students from the various other training grounds began to pour in from the corridor.

"Brother Jiang! Brother Jiang! Holy crap, looks like Brother Jiang just finished his archery practice!"

"Is that the Qi Blood Bow? So cool!"

"Wow, I haven’t seen Brother Jiang sweat this much in a long time. I’d heard that cultivating the Bow Technique is exhausting, like having your blood drawn, but the tempering effect on the body is also really powerful..."

Nearly a hundred students surrounded Jiang Qiu, walking with him towards a long bench as they stared in amazement at his [Black Flood Dragon] bow. "Brother Jiang, you started directly with the Qi Blood Bow, isn’t it hard? What’s it feel like? Are you accurate?"

"Li Si, what kind of dumbass question is that? Brother Jiang only started practicing with the bow the day before yesterday, so of course that’s his weak point! You can only start thinking about accuracy after reaching the entry-level!"

Zhang Shan yelled at Li Si, then looked at Jiang Qiu with his thick brows raised. "Brother Jiang, when you compete with Liu Yong in Spear Technique later, crush him completely! Show those students from First Middle School how their so-called number one prodigy goes home in defeat!

If they win the archery match, it’s only because they have an advantage. But if they lose the spear competition, it’ll just prove how shortsighted they are, haha!"

"Exactly! Brother Jiang, be a bit more ruthless later. Show that inspector from the Military Department what a prodigy outside the Prodigy Program can do!"

Amid the clamor, Jiang Qiu offered a slight smile and wiped the sweat from the corner of his mouth. "Alright."

The surging blood nourished his muscles and bones. The slight tremor in his right arm gradually subsided, and his fingertips tingled with the phantom readiness of nocking an arrow and drawing the string...

Soon.

KRR-CHUNK—

The large steel gate opened, and everyone’s gaze shifted towards it. They saw Wu Shan jut his chin. "Everyone move to the open space over there to watch. Pay close attention and learn what you can. A sparring match of Spear Technique at the Mastery Level isn’t easy to come by."

After a patter of footsteps, all the students turned their gazes back to the doorway.

CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP.

Director Zhao led the way, his hands clasped behind his back. A middle-aged man with a jawline as sharp as a blade and a cross-shaped scar on his cheek followed with heavy steps. Beside him walked a youth holding a Black Tassel Spear, its black tassel fluttering like dense smoke. A purple-backed Great Bow was slung across his back, a Red Pearl on it glowing faintly.

"Captain Yang Qi, this is Eighth Middle School’s archery range. The grounds have been prepared," Director Zhao said in an unhurried tone, gesturing with an open hand toward the area. "Shall we begin as soon as you’ve inspected it, or do you need more time to prepare?"

"Director Zhao, time waits for no one. The sooner this challenge is over, the sooner I can report back to First Middle School and the Military Department. Since your school is ready, allow me to check if anything has been overlooked."

Yang Qi, the special inspector, smiled imposingly and turned to Liu Yong. "You’ve just arrived at Eighth Middle School. Go and test the feel of their arrowheads."

"Alright."

With a clipped word, Liu Yong casually tossed his Black Tassel Spear aside. The shaft swung through the air and landed on an empty wooden rack with a clatter.

He strode towards the 200-meter line. His narrow eyes fell upon a youth in a sweat-soaked black shirt, who had stopped his stroll beside a basket of Post Arrows. In his left hand, the youth held a jet-black Qi Blood Bow. His glance felt like the reflection of a goshawk in a deep abyss.

’Eighth Middle School’s training hunt was also sabotaged by the Demon Race. Most of their top students were trapped in a Secret Realm. I heard some student named Jiang Qiu comprehended the Path of Mastery for the Ancient Martial Spear on the brink of death, turning the tide and slaying a Demon Plant on par with an Advanced Demon Beast.’

’This guy was always a nobody, never even showed up at the inter-school martial arts exchanges before. It’s like he just appeared out of thin air.’

’And he’s never even practiced with a bow, yet Zhao Gongzheng personally fought to get him a spot in the Prodigy Program!’

At this thought, Liu Yong snorted coldly. He glanced sideways at the distant black screen wall. "Excuse me, could you set the aiming point on the target wall to rotating mode? I’m not used to it being stationary."

As soon as he said this, the students in the spectator area frowned. The sound of clenching fists could be heard as their voices tightened. "Fucking hell. I’d heard this Liu Yong was arrogant. He fought Li Juefeng to a draw and still walked away with his nose in the air. Now he comes to our Eighth Middle School alone and decides to put on such a show?"

"Uh... so what’s a target wall? What’s an aiming point?"

"We’re not doing Spear and Bow Dual Cultivation, so who cares!"

Amidst the crowd’s whispered complaints, Wu Shan walked expressionlessly behind the black screen wall. A low hum sounded, and large white ripples began to emanate from the center of the wall. The small white dot in the middle spiraled outward with the vibrations, like a star journeying through a black sky.

After a moment, the white dot began to trace a counter-clockwise circle, like the path of a second hand, about an arm’s length in diameter.

"..."

Jiang Qiu’s brow twitched. He glanced at Liu Yong, who was standing five paces away beside the basket of Post Arrows. With a soft thud, the Great Bow leaped from Liu Yong’s back into his hand. In the blink of an eye, he had nocked an arrow.

DRAW—

In that instant, his silhouette resembled an ancient Buddha lifting a great cauldron. His shirt stretched taut over his bulging back muscles, and his arms locked onto the bowstring like iron clamps. The blood-red patterns on the bow hummed, its pearlescent light flowing!

At that moment, the watching students’ eyes went wide. All sound died out as if a candle had been extinguished in a storm. Their own hearts seemed to thump erratically, suppressed by some invisible rhythm.

Even those who had never practiced with a Qi Blood Bow knew that reaching the entry-level of Bow Technique was difficult. A person with mediocre talent might not achieve it even after ten years of practice.

But once one reached the entry-level, the Qi Blood Bow would become as natural to handle as a spoon or chopsticks, and even ordinary shots would be as steady as an iron tower!

So that was Liu Yong... To have already trained his Bow Technique to the entry-level! His talent in the Archery Dao was clearly no empty boast!

TWANG, WHOOSH—

A sudden roar tore through the air. A lock of hair on Liu Zili’s temple fluttered up an inch as a black streak flashed past her eyes. Her gaze slowly turned to follow it.

BANG!

She was just in time to see ripples spreading out from the inner ring of the rotating white dot. The point of impact was perhaps less than a decimeter away from the dot itself.

"Incredible..."

Liu Zili clenched her fists, her lips pressed tight as she looked at the youth silently bending over, picking up a fletched Post Arrow.

’You can do it.’

"Director Zhao, Liu Yong reached the entry-level for Ancient Martial Arrow a month ago. His fundamental skill in wielding the Qi Blood Bow is, by previous standards, enough to qualify directly for the Military Department’s tests," Yang Qi said, his gaze intense and his voice deep as stone. "I hear Jiang Qiu has only been practicing the bow for a few days. Why don’t we just call off this part of the competition? We can treat this as a martial arts exchange that I’m presiding over. How about they just test their spears?"

"..."

Zhao Gongzheng stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes like deep pools, his breathing heavy.

Just then, the sound of something tearing through the air made the corners of his eyes twitch. Yang Qi also looked towards the source of the sound, only to see an arrowhead strike the black screen wall, sending out faint ripples.

"Oh?" Yang Qi’s eyebrow twitched. "His control of the Qi Blood Bow isn’t bad. He’s probably not far from the entry-level. It seems, Director Zhao, that there were some details you didn’t make clear to General Mo, hmm?"

"No. Jiang Qiu only started practicing with the bow the day before yesterday."

Director Zhao’s eyebrows shot up, and a glint of light flashed across his glasses.

...

"And here I thought he had no practice at all," Liu Yong said, shaking out his right arm with a smirk. "So, you do know how to use a Qi Blood Bow."

’But that’s the extent of it. He can’t even land a shot inside the circle the aiming point is tracing. He’s off by at least half a meter. He’s still a long way from my level.’

’If his talent isn’t good enough, he won’t be able to close this gap in a year or two...’

TWANG, WHOOSH—

The sound of another arrow tearing through the air interrupted his thoughts.