Chapter 219

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Li Changning's face changed instantly — what you fear comes to pass; he really didn't want the Hall Master to find out about them scheming against him. Although it was a minor matter, and the martial arts hall wasn't a government agency, it still wasn't exactly aboveboard.

She Lei reacted a bit slower; by the time he grasped the situation, the change on his face was even greater, his heart pounding "bang bang."

Chen Yi nowadays constantly wrapped himself in thirty centimeters of douqi even when idle; how could he not hear the change in She Lei's heart rate?

But he merely looked at Wu Jingjing, his eyes not changing in the slightest.

Lin Yuan, on the other hand, stared strangely at the person beside her, completely unaware she had already fallen into a petty scheme...

Wu Jingjing, seasoned in business circles, keenly sensed something amiss, so she pursed her lips and smiled, responding to infinite changes with constancy.

Chen Yi likewise smiled, glanced at She Lei and Li Changning, then turned his face and said: "Every time Chen Family Martial Arts Hall recruits new students, I give them some stimulation. However... you probably have no interest in joining, right."

"Can't we take a look?"

"No."

"Perhaps after you demonstrate, we'll all be interested in joining the martial arts hall? Mizan is a regular at the Damah Martial Arts Hall, and spends generously."

Mizan stepped forward with his head held high; he rarely had the chance to be introduced by name by Wu Jingjing.

Chen Yi still shook his head: "My martial arts hall charges no fees, and refuses sponsorship."

"Why?"

"Whoever holds the funds holds the decision-making power; there is no charity and no free lunch in the world."

Mizan finally found a talking point, stammering: "How can there be no charity and no free lunch? My family donates money to hospitals and schools every year, asking nothing in return."

"So you get the best treatment at hospitals and schools." Chen Yi shot him a sarcastic glance.

"We pay according to regulations."

"But you get the best doctors and the best teachers." Chen Yi said with a shrug: "Do we really need to keep discussing this issue?"

Wu Jingjing "giggle-giggled" twice, saying: "Mr. Chen's martial arts hall presumably doesn't need social funding."

Her personality was introverted; although she had gained more experience, speaking to this extent was already her limit.

Rather, her assistant, a slightly chubby girl, smiled: "Mr. Chen is the youngest billionaire on the Continent; willing to devote his time and energy to martial arts, it must be true passion.."

A rather tactful flattery, one that withstands the test of technique and time.

Lin Yuan was a bit sensitive to the term "billionaire"; although she knew and could guess it, hearing someone else say it made her unconsciously think: with so much money, he should help more people, not open a martial arts hall... hmm, although opening a martial arts hall did help some people...

Mizan, meanwhile, snorted jealously; he had a reason for not rushing up immediately — as a Malaysian rich kid, a second-generation heir with 50,000 US dollars monthly allowance, he felt some awe toward billionaire-level figures; after all, his father's assets were only in the hundreds of millions of US dollars.

Wu Jingjing crooked a finger behind her, and someone immediately brought two bows and crossbows, one of which was a compound bow; she adjusted it slightly and handed it to Chen Yi.

This was a short bow, comparable in length to an arm, with a very large curvature on the arched back, and painted with colorful lacquer, very beautiful. It had two pulley mechanisms at top and bottom, used to store energy at full draw, allowing the archer to maintain full draw with less force, thus having more energy for aiming.

Modern compound bows, although named compound bows, actually differ greatly from traditional Chinese or European compound bows; the mere existence of pulleys would have been a veritable divine artifact in ancient times — spend a thousand bucks to buy a hunting bow, its labor-saving mechanism, in professional terminology, has a "let-off" of at least 60% or more; in other words, if drawing the bow takes 100 pounds of force, only 40 pounds are needed to hold full draw. In fact, compound bows reaching 100 pounds draw weight are few and far between in the world, their let-off certainly above 80%, and with high-let-off gears, 90% isn't difficult either.

Chen Yi had run the martial arts hall for three months total, and knew compound bow draw weights rarely exceeded 40 kilograms. This appeared to be the face-saving bow Wu Jingjing left for herself.

He gripped the compound bow with his left hand, pulled the bowstring with his right, and smiled: "Such a short bow, using Mongolian draw?"

"Mongolian draw is better."

The Mediterranean draw commonly used by Europeans — the three-or-four-finger aiming draw seen in Hollywood medieval films — only suits longbows. Modern compound bows, or the horn bows and cavalry bows frequently appearing in Chinese ancient history, are generally very short; to draw them fully, the acute angle formed by the bowstring is very small, so although Mediterranean draw is easier and aiming more convenient, limited by conditions, there isn't enough bowstring space for the fingers, so one can only use the "Mongolian draw" with the thumb.

"Nice bow." Yet Chen Yi handed it back to Wu Jingjing.

Mizan smiled: "Can't pull it? 40 kilograms is indeed a bit much."

Due to draw length, compound bows are harder to draw than longbows. In the eyes of these semi-professional archers, being able to draw a 100-pound bow basically falls into the superhuman category.

Chen Yi hehe-smiled: "I don't know Mongolian draw."

"Aren't you Mongolian?" Mizan said this without malice; Chinese belong to the Mongoloid race in anthropology, and the draw methods Chinese use are mostly Mongolian draw; Malaysia, though in Southeast Asia, has upper-class Malays who graduated from European textbooks.

Chen Yi shrugged; the West Continent and Saint Qiao Kingdom don't use short bows. Those small short bows and arrows are either for hiding in trees to hunt, or for riding horses to kill; but whichever, they don't suit the Magic Continent, because they have all kinds of tall mounts. Like Holy Knight Grindel — when he sits on an Earth Dragon, he uses a 4-meter Magic Longbow, not only immensely powerful itself, but able to inlay numerous magic sigils, thereby linking with the Magic Net.

Wu Jingjing was Chinese, and had to intercept before Chen Yi: "Mizan meant no harm; we just heard from your students you can draw several hundred pound bows, and were curious. Since you're unwilling, forget it."

She originally just wanted to see a demonstration, and didn't want Chen Yi to lose face, so she gave him a 70-pound compound bow first — if he could draw one bow, even if he couldn't draw the next, it wouldn't be too embarrassing. In her view, Chen Family Martial Arts Hall students could all draw 100-pound bows; there was no reason Chen Yi couldn't draw 70 pounds.

However, Chen Yi didn't even know Mongolian draw, clearly lacking foundation.

Chen Yi smiled without speaking.

In ancient times, three-Pocket five-Pocket small bows were indeed common, especially in siege defense; the gravitational potential energy from wall height naturally increased the arrows' kinetic potential energy. A five-Pocket bow producing eight or nine Pocket of force was normal, and the latter was already the standard of elite soldiers. As for the one-shi bows and two-shi bows the martial arts hall students start learning, placed a thousand years ago, they equaled the promotion credentials of junior officers and Pi Jiang.

However, the power developed over millions of years of accumulation by the Magic Kingdom has long surpassed what Earthlings can understand and control. A Level 9 Combat Positive Knight roughly reaches the physical limit; lifting 400-500 kg weapons is nothing, instantly drawing a 300 kg strong bow is also easy — this is also the most powerful longbow the martial arts hall possesses, a full 6-shi, from Shanglie Village on the West Continent.

And in China's unofficial histories, every one or two hundred years, a divine general capable of drawing a ten-shi bow (900+ kg) occasionally appears, and seemingly no one objects.

Chen Yi is Chen Zhongguo's grandson; he fears no one causing trouble over his great strength. But he also has no interest in performing.

Before Mizan could speak first, Chen Yi looked at She Lei and asked: "Which of my students told you I can draw a 6-shi bow?"

She Lei suddenly felt some worry.

He recalled Li Changning's words.

Li Changning himself regretted even more; he knew the Hall Master's attitude, yet still helped She Lei; his worry now was even greater. Perhaps given another chance to choose, he would be more cautious. Who knows.

Only to hear Mizan smilingly say: "If you can draw this crossbow, I'll tell you."

Crossbow and bow draw weights are completely different; 100-pound (45 kg) compound bows are nearly extinct in modern times, but 130 kg crossbows and 280 kg heavy crossbows appear often. Precisely because of the latter's formidable performance, in China, bows and arrows are allowed for private ownership, but crossbows are not.

What Mizan handed Chen Yi was a 240 kg Waist-Spanning Crossbow, operated by stepping on it with both feet and using waist strength to span it. With simple training, an adult male's waist strength exceeds 400 kg, so spanning it is very easy.

Li Changning, holding this meter-long big fellow, deliberately changed the subject: "Big crossbow, how did you get it through customs?"

"Bought locally; my family has some business in China." Mizan's expression was smug.

Chen Yi "oh"-ed, looked around at the athletes, smiled and said: "Actually, if you're willing to come learn at the martial arts hall, I'd still welcome you; Chen Family Martial Arts Hall belongs not only to Jiangning, not only to China, but to the world. However, to learn something from the martial arts hall, students must also shoulder greater responsibility..."

He paused, letting the gymnasium staff translate for the athletes to hear.

Once the translation was finished, he continued: "This responsibility is not only a moral responsibility in the general sense, but also requires fulfilling the stricter traditions of a Chinese-style martial arts hall... As for disciples who do not abide by them, they will only find out later what they have lost."

As he spoke, he pressed the front of the waist-spanning crossbow with his left hand and slowly drew it back with his right, actually pulling open the 240-kilogram waist-spanning crossbow as if drawing a bow.

This is far more difficult than drawing a 240-kilogram bow.

A group of people nearly had their tongues drop in shock; they had brought out the crossbow mechanisms, mostly prepared to watch the spectacle, never expecting someone would actually span it by hand.

"Are you an elephant?" Mizan asked stupidly.

Only Lin Yuan did not understand why, clapping her hands there as if she had finished watching a performance.

The athletes clapped along in a daze, feeling as if their lifelong worldview had been shattered.

But some quickly came to their senses and asked: "What are the conditions to join the Chen Family Martial Arts Hall?"

……(Unfinished, if you want to know what happens next, please log in to www. qidian. com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)