Chapter 245: Perfect Mastery

Five-Finger Rapid Shot!

Wangchuan’s archery realm was far stronger than it had been before.

With four arrows loosed at once, the growth rate of experience for 《Archery》 was astonishing;

Meanwhile, the experience for 《Five-Finger Rapid Shot》 also surged upward—three points, two points at a time.

Zhao Heiniu and Chen Ergou were not players, but they also understood how rare an opportunity like this was for practical cultivation. They, too, fired four arrows at once, shooting down the venomous snakes in the second segment.

Hiss… hiss…

One venomous snake after another was pinned into the ground on the route slithering down the mountain, tongues flicking as they hissed. The number only grew, until it looked like demons dancing in chaos—spectacular in its own grotesque way.

Many Caobang disciples were experiencing a scene like this for the first time, and their scalps went numb with dread.

“Damn it!”

“So many snakes!”

“Kill them! Do not let them come down!”

As the number of shots increased, everyone gradually adapted.

After all, nearly all of them were full-fledged Martial Artists or higher. Their archery realms were solid.

It was rare for snakes to slip past four segments.

The Quasi-Martial Artists brought by Lin Xun were responsible for the final ten-meter zone…

Even so, they soon broke into wild delight.

“I broke through!”

“My 《Archery》 broke through to ‘Entry-Level Mastery’!”

Lin Xun immediately glared at them.

“Stop making a racket. Cultivate properly! Do not embarrass me!”

“Yes!”

The Yulong Gang disciples hurriedly fell silent.

On the Caobang side, the opening and closing of bows was steady and controlled.

Most of them were watching Helm Leader Wangchuan’s movements.

Four arrows released at once was a sight that shook the heart.

Especially when all four arrows could strike different venomous snakes—each shot unfailingly true—the impact was so intense that it inspired genuine awe.

It was the same feeling Wangchuan and the others had once experienced when they witnessed Bai Jingtang’s archery—something almost beyond belief.

At this moment, Wangchuan also came to understand: Captain Bai’s 《Five-Finger Rapid Shot》 realm had been extraordinarily high, at least at the level of Integration.

Impressive!

After opening and closing the Iron-Reinforced Bow some two or three hundred times—

“Ding!”

A system notification rang out:

“《Archery》 has advanced from ‘Integration’ to ‘Perfect Mastery.’ Reward: +2 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Stamina, +1 Spirit.”

“Detected: 《Archery》 realm has reached ‘Perfect Mastery.’ Martial art transmission ability unlocked!”

“Permitted: Consume 100 Internal Power over three hours to create one 《Archery》 manual. Limit: one martial arts manual per day.”

Wangchuan’s heart jolted at the notification.

A reward of five attribute points was normal.

But he had not expected…

That reaching “Perfect Mastery” in 《Archery》 would allow him to teach the martial art 《Archery》!

At last, he understood why some NPCs in 《spirit realm》 could teach martial arts while others could not.

However, the 《Archery》 he could “teach” was certainly not the same as what Captain Zhao Heiniu had taught him before.

Captain Zhao had guided him step by step, helping him grasp technique and enter the basics.

Wangchuan, on the other hand, could directly consume Internal Power and time to create a martial arts manual.

He would test it after returning.

Although exhilarated, Wangchuan knew this was not the time for distractions.

Right now, they needed to keep killing snakes as quickly as possible.

《Five-Finger Rapid Shot》 was about to break through.

Thrum!

Thrum!!

With the breakthrough in 《Archery》, his draw became even smoother and faster, and the force, edge, and accuracy all seemed to rise noticeably.

Not long after—

“Ding!”

System Notification:

“《Five-Finger Rapid Shot》 has advanced from ‘Entry-Level Mastery’ to ‘Integration.’ Reward: +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Stamina, +1 Spirit!”

Wangchuan was overjoyed.

A double blessing!

The first objective of this expedition to purge the Snake Den had been completed.

He had gained nine attribute points in total.

With both archery techniques improved, his combat power rose again.

The Snake Den was still vomiting forth venomous snakes…

And everyone else had gained a great deal as well. Their enthusiasm for cultivation was burning hot.

Arrows were consumed rapidly!

Before long, both the mountain slope and the ground below were densely bristling with arrows. Countless venomous snakes lay like condemned bodies in a hell of execution, the sight brutally tragic.

Just then—

A sound seemed to come from within the forest…

And then a Caobang elite assigned to sentry duty appeared, as though he had seen something unbelievable. Using Lightfoot on Grass, he hurried toward them, shouting in alarm:

“Helm Leader!”

“A bear!! A huge bear!!”

Someone in the crowd immediately laughed.

“In mountains this big, of course there are blind bears.”

“A big bear? How big can it be?”

Wangchuan did not take it seriously at first and was about to send his men to deal with it.

Then came a heavy crash.

One section of Blackwind Stronghold’s thick wall actually collapsed.

A dark mass rose slowly behind the breach.

Everyone’s mouths fell open.

“Holy—!”

“So big!”

The black bear reared up like a man, towering as high as the stockade wall—five or six meters tall!

Its body was like a wall of flesh.

It was absurdly enormous.

Even Wangchuan felt an unbreakable pressure rolling off it—just like the moment he had faced a Crimson Pavilion assassin, when his heart had suddenly tightened.

Wangchuan instantly abandoned the thought of sending his subordinates to their deaths.

“You keep controlling the snake tide!”

“Helm Leader Zhang, Chen Ergou, Captain Zhao—come with me!”

With a shout, Wangchuan nocked an arrow. The Iron-Reinforced Bow bent into a full moon as he locked onto the giant bear within the stronghold.

The bear clearly had not expected so many people to be hidden here. Staring toward the lakeside, its deep, ink-black eyes reflected the dense field of snake corpses and the human martial artists drawing bows. It hesitated, not charging immediately.

It seemed to be thinking.

At that moment, Zhao Heiniu appeared to recognize what it was.

“The Mountain God!”

“This is the Mountain God!”

Terror filled Zhao Heiniu’s eyes as he said urgently,

“Wangchuan, do not attack! Our arrows cannot hurt the Mountain God.”

Wangchuan froze.

“What Mountain God?”

Captain Zhao was still superstitious?

But at that moment, someone could not help himself and loosed an arrow.

Whoosh!

A common arrow flew nearly a hundred meters and struck the bear.

It did not even make a sound.

The arrow simply dropped to the ground.

A shot that could pierce a poplar at a hundred paces could not even scratch its fur.

In an instant—

Fear coiled around every heart.

At the same time, the bear seemed to have gauged the strength of the human martial artists from that single arrow. A vicious light flashed in its eyes as it opened its cavernous maw.

ROAR!!!!

The bear’s roar shook the forest!

Then it slammed through the stockade wall and surged forward, carrying an overwhelming, unstoppable ferocity.

By then, Wangchuan had already switched to Armor-Piercing Arrows and drawn the Iron-Reinforced Bow.

At the same time—

He activated 《Xuanwu Art》.

Since they had encountered a bear stronger than a Third-Rank Martial Artist, he had to pour everything into this.

Four Armor-Piercing Arrows gathered power on the Iron-Reinforced Bow. Under the surge of 《Xuanwu Art》, their edge grew even sharper…

THRUM!!!

The Armor-Piercing Arrows struck like lightning—hitting the bear’s front leg, its face, its shoulder, and its throat…

The Armor-Piercing Arrows, imbued with armor-breaking attributes, bit into four different points on the bear’s body.

They did not sink deep, but blood did appear.

Especially the arrow to its face—it made the bear howl in pain, its head jerking sideways as it smashed a nearby tree to pieces.

Immediately after, Zhao Heiniu, Chen Ergou, Zhang Cha’er, and the others all drew and fired as well. One Armor-Piercing Arrow after another embedded into the bear’s body, but only shallowly, hanging there as if in mockery.

The injuries were almost negligible.