Chapter 113

Ye Huanhuan heard the sound from nearby, and her heart somewhat relaxed. Just now Ling Shaoyang's performance was too stunning, shocking everyone. She also tried to imagine: if it were her, she wasn't even sure she could hit the first willow leaf within ten arrows.

Such a difficult Hundred-step Willow Piercing, even though Ye Qingran is confident, she probably only scores slightly better than Gu Dongliu; she dares to assert that Ye Qingran absolutely cannot reach Ling Shaoyang's level!

Compared to Ye Qingran taking first place, she would rather the winner be Ling Shaoyang!

If Ling Shaoyang wins, everyone thinks it's as expected, nothing strange. But if Ye Qingran wins, then the nature is different.

A mere waste, in one fell swoop defeating the genius archer Ling Shaoyang who has won five consecutive terms, will surely shock Xiliang; then everyone will probably mock Ye Huanhuan, a genius of one term, for losing to a waste—where will she put her face?

No, Ye Qingran, you must lose!

Your turn!

Ling Shaoyang turned to remind Ye Qingran, his fighting spirit soaring to the clouds.

To be honest, he really wants to know Ye Qingran's score. After all, in his view, he is quite satisfied with his own performance just now.

If there were a few more willow leaves, perhaps he could try four arrows. Of course, four arrows is about his limit. As for five arrows, he hasn't even considered it.

Ye Qingran nodded, took Wuhen's borrowed bow and arrow, and walked to the marked white line.

Outside the competition, Ye Qingran usually has a lazy, casual demeanor, but once she stands there in a suit of White Silver Soft Armor, she looks all the more coldly beautiful and noble, heroic and imposing, like a female war god.

Ye Qingran gazed into the distance at the willow tree a hundred steps away; her gaze seemed to penetrate the heavy spacetime, returning to the China of the thirty-first century.

Past and present lives, time flows slowly.

"Master, look, I can already do Hundred-step Willow Piercing! I am a godly archer of Hundred Shots, Hundred Hits!"

A peerless maiden with a face like spring flowers wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and exclaimed with great delight to the white-haired old man not far away.

The old man had kind eyes and benevolent brows, but in his every gesture lay a hidden sharp edge.

"Have you considered that once your strength is exhausted, if you miss even a single arrow, your reputation of Hundred Shots, Hundred Hits will be affected? A true expert archer should pay attention to preserving his reputation!"

The old man spoke lightly, yet it inspired awe in those who heard.

The maiden showed a puzzled expression; the old man patiently coaxed her...

Amidst green mountains and clear waters, the scene of master and disciple teaching and learning is warm and timeless, forever frozen.

Ye Qingran blinked, a sour feeling at the tip of her nose reddened her eye sockets, and a surge of longing suddenly welled up in her heart.

That maiden was her former self; that old man is the master who taught her archery. The master is a descendant of his lineage; his clan are all divine archers, and in his generation he is the foremost, capable of Hundred-step Willow Piercing and Ten Thousand Arrows Simultaneous Release.

Besides archery skills, the master also taught her the philosophy of being a person.

However, the master left when she was twenty. Even though thereafter, through her diligent study and hard practice, her skills continued to improve, even surpassing the master's achievements of his time, yet no one could share her joy, could pat her head and say: 'You did well!'

Time passes, circumstances change, the stars shift; looking back, it feels like a dream.

Ye Qingran slightly lifted her head, closed her eyes, and held back her tears.

The past is past; she will keep that longing hidden in her heart, and look toward the future with hopeful eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, there was no sorrow, only a sharpness like a blade.

Everyone didn't know that in such a short time, Ye Qingran's state of mind had already undergone a tumultuous rise and fall.

What they are curious about is how far Ye Qingran can actually go.

Is it like Gu Dongliu, shooting one arrow after another, or like Ling Shaoyang, releasing multiple arrows at once?!

Amidst the scorching gazes, Ye Qingran moved!

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…

The crowd's gazes gradually solidified.

Ye Qingran actually took seven arrows at once!

"Is she crazy? Is she going to release seven arrows at once?"

"Good heavens, if this is true, I'll go crazy!"

"This is too crazy, right? My heavens!!!"

……

Gu Dongliu's eyes widened like copper bells.

"No way, no way?"

"It couldn't really be what he imagined, could it?"

The usually unflappable Ling Shaoyang's pupils contracted sharply.

"Seven arrows?!"

He had considered many possibilities, but never dared to imagine that Ye Qingran would shoot seven arrows at once!

"Could it be that six arrows are not her limit?"

If Ye Qingran understood the Mind Reading Technique, she would surely laugh this off.

In the world of archery, there are no limits!

Just as her master told her, if you have sufficient ability, releasing ten thousand arrows at once is not impossible; shooting an arrow at the sun is not merely myth!

Wuhen's gaze was like a torch.

This woman constantly updates his understanding again and again!

The surrounding sounds have been blocked by Ye Qingran; at this moment, her heart is like still water.

Beyond a hundred steps, the willow tree sways back and forth in the mountain wind; those feeble branches dance with the wind, almost without any pattern!

But just as everything in this world has its reason, any movement also follows certain regularities; this requires a keen eye for observation and a mind adept at analysis.

The seven willow leaves reflected in her eyes separated from the others, gradually enlarging in her field of view until only those seven leaves remained; then Ye Qingran's lips slowly curved upward.

Immediately, release the arrows!

Swish Swish Swish~

The seven arrows left the hand together, emitting a tearing-through-air sound, each as fast as lightning; in the blink of an eye, they had already flown beyond a hundred steps.

Everyone held their breath in anticipation.

The moment Ye Qingran let go, he turned his head and fixed his gaze on the willow tree.

He saw seven arrow shadows shooting toward him, their target clear, as if drawn by a mutual magnetic field—neither biased nor lacking, neither too many nor too few, neither fast nor slow, in the order red, orange, yellow, white, black, blue, purple, aimed precisely at the center of the willow leaves, and they shot down the seven willow leaves that had been colored!

The vast camp, with a scale of hundreds or thousands, was at this moment so quiet you could hear a pin drop; only the lingering wind in the mountains and the soft rustling of leaves stirred by the breeze remained.

"Seven arrows, all hit!"

After the examiner in charge of the examination finished checking, he shouted loudly toward this side.

In an instant, everyone looked at Ye Qingran with the gaze of someone looking at a monster, without saying a word.

Seven arrows released simultaneously, seven shots all hit—can a person actually do that?

This Ye Qingran—surely she isn't a monster in disguise?

Ling Shaoyang's hand at his side clenched into a fist, and the veins on his exposed arm bulged.

Those dark eyes, as black as ink, stared unfathomably at Ye Qingran, within them gathering heavy dark clouds; those who didn't know would think he was about to kill Ye Qingran.

"What, you want to kill your teacher?" Ye Qingran crossed her arms, leisurely watching the boy before her with a strange reaction.

Ling Shaoyang always remembered their previous bet.

Ye Qingran said, if he lost, he would have to take her as his teacher.

At first, he didn't think so, firmly believing he would not lose.

But all his confidence was shattered by her arrows, one after another.

"Rest assured, a gentleman's word is hard to retract—I won't go back on my word!"

He was actually not angry; instead, he felt his blood boiling.

How can that feeling be described?

Sometimes, being invincible is a very lonely thing. As the saying goes, 'the higher you go, the colder it gets'; five years of consecutive wins made him find archery bland, and life was the same.

But now, although he lost, he thereby found motivation for life.

However, having him now take Ye Qingran as his teacher is a hurdle he cannot get over just yet.

"Give me some time." He pressed his lips and said in a low voice.