Chapter 167: Black Lotus Construct Assembly, Heavenly Imperial Divine Arrow Style!

Qin Shi broke through the God-Breaking Pass Great Limit, undergoing the threefold trial of sweeping the Heart Obstacle, removing Shackles, and passing the Prison Gate.

The answer he gave was to kill and harm lives, no longer bound by rules.

This was a result pointing straight to his true heart.

So, in one breath he swung his saber and killed several contestants; Qin Shi's state of mind was very calm, and after dealing with them one by one, he silently gathered supplies and war trophies.

His spiritual field power was so keen that he almost never missed malice or ill intent.

"Since they all show hostile red names, me hacking them to death and having them drop some gold coins is perfectly reasonable, right?"

Qin Shi relit that pile of campfire, and by the scattered light, inventoried everyone's "gifts."

Because they were participating in the Hundred Strong Competition, they didn't have anything valuable on them, only weapons and armor.

As for the rest, the Martial Association side also doesn't allow carrying them, as it would affect the trial's fairness too much.

Moreover, the Great Rift Valley's own electronic contamination is extremely severe; hot weapons simply cannot be used, and one careless move would trigger an "Activation" disaster.

"Not much rations left either."

Qin Shi put them into his tactical backpack, then leaned against the wall and closed his eyes to rest.

The long-distance night raid and the battle just now actually consumed quite a lot.

If not for the Universe Furnace Secret Canon reaching Entry Level, raising the Body Refining Furnace tier and storing large amounts of nutrients in his flesh and blood, he might not have held out.

Especially the Great Rift Valley after nightfall, all kinds of strange plants revive, full of danger.

Over the dozens of kilometers, Qin Shi encountered two near-fatal accidents.

One was a crystal cluster resembling coral; it could emit a soft halo, attracting people to approach.

But as long as one reached out to touch it, with high probability they would be infected, skin rapidly solidifying into crystal, damaging flesh vitality;

The other was a pack of War Mastiffs patrolling the surroundings; at night they were even more terrifying than daytime, with extremely strong aggression, and once they captured a "target," they would immediately summon the rest of their kind to besiege it.

Qin Shi seemed to have silently touched into the cave, but in reality he had already suffered several vicious battles.

He relied entirely on his deep reserves to turn danger into safety.

"The contestants in the Hundred Strong Competition's Outer Area are indeed strong. That bald young man, if he hadn't been so overconfident, insisting on blocking my Electric Shock Military Saber with his head, he wouldn't have been instant-killed in one move.

That fellow who also used a saber, his physical ability and body quality weren't bad either... it's just the red-haired girl's weakness, she seemed scared stupid."

Qin Shi analyzed; from Zheng Jun's backpack he found a low-power contact instrument, very small, fingernail-sized, with a simple function: just receiving specific paging signals.

"Looks like there are quite a few 'geniuses' lacking money and resources, each wanting to hunt me down, and even equipped with special contact tools; they probably agreed on a battle plan before deployment."

He fiddled with the fingernail-sized small instrument; due to fear of electronic contamination, it not only had low power consumption, but only activated once every hour to send or receive paging signals.

"Twenty-six signals in total, rapidly approaching the Middle Layer Area entrance. Adding the small squad I wiped out, thirty-two people cooperating fully, planning to eliminate me in the Outer Area."

Qin Shi's eyes flickered, revealing a hint of dangerous aura; just as he said before, once hostile red names appear, they must be decisively removed to avoid leaving future trouble.

Since these contestants are willing to take money to do work, running errands for the Ying Clan, they should also be mentally prepared to pay the price.

"Eliminating thirty-two people in one go, doesn't that mean I have to sweep up all the Outer Area contestants?"

Qin Shi gripped the Perfect Grade Electric Shock Military Saber; fortunately the weapon quality was hard enough, so it wouldn't develop nicks later when chopping.

He only hoped the Martial Association's leaders wouldn't develop prejudice against him, treating him as a born killer.

Everything was forced, helpless, legitimate self-defense!

The temporarily erected command base; night was deep, yet here the lights were brightly lit.

Chen Ruofu had not rested, eyes fixed tightly on the screen; the light points no longer moved, like scattered stars surrounding a certain contestant.

In the God's-eye view, Qin Shi was like a small fish swimming at the edge of a fishing net; he himself was completely unaware, but the onlookers foresaw the outcome.

"Lao Chen, rest a bit. The Qin Shi your Patrol Department pushed so hard, what a pity, he kicked onto the Ying Clan's iron plate."

Fang Butang and Chen Ruofu were old partners; although their contact wasn't close, their friendship was still decent.

The Taian Education Bureau's bet was on Qiguang Heng University's Pei Han; after graduation, the other party would enter the Education Bureau system, becoming a very promising New Star Representative.

In this current Wilderness Trial, Pei Han's performance was very stable; his points had long since jumped to four thousand.

Whether collected materials or cleared foreign race creatures, neither were few in number.

Showing that the Core Area had not posed too much threat to Pei Han.

"The Ying Clan? Just Ying Lin alone. If the Ying Clan were willing to spend money, the Hengzhou Hundred Strong would have long been occupied by Haizhou and Imperial Capital geniuses."

Chen Ruofu shook his head; he and Nanhuang Dojo's Elder Zhang had a private dispute over whether to escort and protect Qin Shi.

Elder Zhang believed that since Ying Lin was willing to spend money, it should be treated as Qin Shi's tempering, letting those top students cultivated by major universities or government agencies display their skills to the fullest.

Chen Ruofu knew Elder Zhang was brimming with confidence.

He didn't believe Qin Shi, who had entered the Universe Furnace Secret Canon, would lose to any Hundred Strong contestant.

But as the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands.

A full hundred people entered; fully half secretly targeted him, and he still had to cope with the Great Rift Valley's harsh environment and hidden dangers.

This kind of "tempering" is too cruel.

One can only say, the Old Martial Arts faction declines day by day, roots and seedlings scarce, not without reason.

Chen Ruofu sipped a mouthful of cold tea, brows tightly locked:

"I believe Xiao Qin's actual combat; under the condition of breaking the Three Great Limits, he absolutely would not lose to any Hundred Strong member, but these people openly collude and gang up, using numbers to bully the few... it's a bit too much!"

Fang Butang sighed:

"What family background do they have, knowing how to use rules to handle affairs from birth. He openly spends money and scatters coins, contestants willingly take the bait; what can you and I do? Taian ultimately falls under Center City management, independence isn't that strong.

The Education Bureau's Representative clearly supports Zhou Yuanchen; the Martial Association, well, they don't release the hawk until they see the rabbit, stance very vague, and they haven't gotten close just because Xiao Qin is a Nanhuang Dojo Disciple."

Chen Ruofu heard Lao Fang's meaning, telling himself to calm down and not be affected emotionally.

Ying Lin suppressing the Nanhuang Dojo Disciple is one aspect, but as a Ying Clan Direct Line member, he couldn't possibly be unaware of Qin Shi's relationship with the Patrol Department.

Therefore it was not hard to guess that if Chen Ruofu showed dissatisfaction, or used methods to interfere with the Top Hundred competition, he would likely step into a trap, giving Center City a pretext to remove this Tiger of the Inspection Department and strengthen their control anew.

"Thanks, Lao Fang."

Chen Ruofu's expression was grave, his alertness restored; no wonder that Representative Zhou of the Education Bureau spoke so impolitely — he probably wanted to deliberately provoke him into some irrational behavior.

"Why be so distant? We're grasshoppers on the same rope."

Fang Butang lifted his enamel cup unhurriedly and waved his hand:

"It's too late; I have to sleep. If that young man you value is smart enough, withdrawing from the competition wouldn't be unwise — the future is still very long……"

Chen Ruofu narrowed his eyes; judging by his understanding of Qin Shi, he probably wouldn't make that choice.

Those Old Martial Arts people all value fierce, rapid advancement.

In He Lanchan's words, that's "Whoever chickens out is the grandson!"

Just as he was pondering, a bee-hum-like alarm sounded.

Chen Ruofu abruptly looked up, gazing at the screen.

Six light points went out in succession!

In the gap of his conversation with Fang Butang, the light point representing Qin Shi moved swiftly, like a deep-sea shark opening its bloody maw, swallowing the other six whole!

Fang Butang, who had already reached the doorway, heard the commotion and hurriedly turned back; seeing six contestants vanish before they could even deploy their electronic markers, he clicked his tongue:

"This kid, took out several death quotas in one go — pretty ruthless!"

Chen Ruofu's originally taut, gloomy face instantly cleared like clouds parting, a smile emerging:

"Let me see — Zheng Jun, Wen Han, Lin Kang…… yo, all Center City background contestants, satisfying."

The wrinkles at Fang Butang's eyes bunched together, likewise beaming, but the smile soon froze, turning to bewilderment and shock:

"Six gone in the blink of an eye — the Education Bureau representatives are gonna have a headache! Wait, what's this kid doing? Why's he running the other way? Doesn't he rest in the middle of the night?"

Chen Ruofu guessed Qin Shi's intention, hissing as if with a toothache, and said in a low voice:

"Looks like he wants to take advantage of the deep night to do a big job, trim away some threats."

Fang Butang couldn't help scratching his head, looking slightly flustered:

"Are all the geniuses from the Old Martial Arts this bold?"

……

……

Qin Shi held several protein bars in his mouth, crunching and swallowing them; relying on the Ru Shen Ti's deep accumulation, he quickly returned to peak condition.

Moreover, because of the Spiritual Residence Inner Landscape, his mind was powerful; only a very brief period of Deep Sleep was needed to satisfy the requirement.

He hurried on, operating the Hundred Aspects Refining Force; his figure seemed to merge into the air current, like a wisp of wind sweeping over cracked ground, kicking up gravel.

With the contact instrument provided by Zheng Jun, Qin Shi easily pinpointed the direction of the other squad.

Mist surged in the pitch-black, cold Great Rift Valley; many foreign-race plants emitted light, luring prey, and many pairs of green-glowing eyes hid in the ubiquitous caves.

Despite the perilous night, Qin Shi gradually adapted; he converged his breath, pressed his breathing rhythm very slow — the Old Martial Arts methods learned from Lao Liang let him move like a fish in water, exceptionally adapted.

"Lao Liang truly deserves to have been a Soldier King; what he taught really works."

Qin Shi was not reckless; he didn't blindly push forward to show his presence, continuously detouring several dangerous areas, and finally reached the other squad's "Ying Di".

Spiritual Field Power slowly spread, covering the interior; he vaguely captured three or four breaths.

"Inferior to the squad just wiped out. Only one person seems to have decent strength."

With his Spiritual Residence Inner Landscape, Qin Shi observed through a broader perspective; the breaths in the cave rose and fell — they seemed to all be asleep.

He was just considering whether to attack with his saber or pick them off one by one, when the pitch-black Great Rift Valley suddenly sprouted green light.

One modified War Mastiff after another, as if driven, rushed here, letting out gasping howls.

Such commotion naturally alerted the sentry.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

The sound of wind suddenly tore!

Three metal arrows streaked like cold lightning, striking three massive War Mastiffs squarely in the heads; the powerful force knocked them flying backward!

"There's actually an archer."

Qin Shi was secretly startled; the Wilderness Trial called the Top Hundred naturally didn't prohibit carrying weapons and armor.

Like his Perfect Grade Electric Shock Military Saber, including stab-proof vests and such, counted as normal.

But archers were relatively rare; possessing long-range strike capability, in the Great Rift Valley environment they were no different from a Sniper.

"Good thing I wasn't reckless."

Qin Shi rejoiced; if he'd been tangled up by several people, plus an archer supporting from the side, he'd probably have a headache.

His gaze sharpened slightly, gazing toward the War Mastiff pack's direction, trying to find the controller.

Before long, a figure in strange black armor, nearly two meters tall, quietly appeared.

His black armor's texture leaned soft, without a metal-like hardness; instead it was like a membrane, constantly flowing, showing a dim radiance.

From afar, it looked like a cluster of black lotus!

The black-armored creature's voice was hoarse; it threw something toward the cave — a disheveled head rolled into everyone's view.

"You outsiders, disturbing my peace! Truly courting death!"

Huh, the Final Boss can even move on its own?

Shouldn't it stay honestly in its Old Nest, waiting to be hacked to death by players with random knives!

Qin Shi raised an eyebrow; he hadn't expected the Secret Sect disciple with the highest threat level in the Outer Area to choose to take the initiative against the many Top Hundred contestants!

He stilled the Ru Shen Ti, letting it go silent; although this counted as the other side stealing the kill, he still watched quietly, waiting to see how things developed.

"It's Zou Lao's squad! Captain, we're blocked here, what do we do?"

The cave erupted like a stone stirring a thousand waves; the originally resting members were all roused awake.

"Zou Lao and the others are so strong; logically speaking, they shouldn't have let the Secret Sect disciples wipe them out so easily."

Captain Wu Tao held a composite bow; he possessed exceptional natural talent, having night vision ability, and standing at the cave entrance he could clearly see the scene outside.

"Over forty War Mastiffs alone are troublesome enough, and there's also a Secret Sect disciple. Fortunately there's no Mastiff King; otherwise, we could only forfeit the competition."

Wu Tao pondered for a moment, then turned his head and said:

"Listen to my commands; if you can't handle it, then prepare to deploy the Electronic Marker and call for the Martial Association's rescue."

The composite bow in his hand was woven from high-strength alloy and carbon fiber; the pulley sets on both sides of the bow limbs were precise as clockwork, the upper and lower wheels symmetrically distributed, the rims engraved with fine tooth patterns, like the spread wings of a raptor.

This was an extraordinary weapon!

"With 'Cang Lei' in hand, I don't necessarily have no hope of victory. As long as I create an opportunity, let me unleash the 'Tian Yu Divine Arrow Style' killing move!"

Wu Tao was extremely confident; before participating in the competition he had already signed a contract with the Ying Clan, obtaining this high-grade "Cang Lei".

Firearms have a Legendary Ten-Star classification; bows naturally do as well.

It's just that in the Great Universe Era, the latter gradually withdrew from the historical stage, far less eye-catching than those treasured Source Energy Guns.

"Originally planned to use it on the Nanhuang Daoist Hall Disciple!"

Wu Tao's gaze was sharp, like an eagle's eyes, firmly locking onto the Secret Sect disciple clad in black armor.

"The black membrane enveloping the outside, protecting the flesh and blood body, looks very much like a component of the Black Lotus Armor set; truly troublesome."

While pondering combat methods, he rapidly drew and shot arrows, his arm leaving continuous afterimages, as if countless arms were drawing in succession, blasting the heads of War Mastiffs attempting to cross the defense line and rush into the cave!

In just under half a minute, the War Mastiff pack suffered more than half casualties.

"Tian Yu Divine Arrow Style... truly niche. Only a place like Hengzhou, where hot weapons can't be easily used; switch to another Administrative Star, and bows would have been eliminated long ago."

Qin Shi recognized the other party's archery foundation, which could be traced back to the Ancient Dongxia Imperial years.

At that time, the most popular weapons were sabers, bows, long lances, great spears, and great halberds.

Legend says the most ancient Dongxia would bestow the "Martial Zhuangyuan" reputation upon the bravest on the Martial Path.

That was testing archery, driving Divine Machines, and weapon combat skills.

Certain unofficial histories record that there was once a Martial Zhuangyuan who drew his bow and shot a star to pieces.

The Tian Yu Divine Arrow Style originated from this.

(Chapter End)