Chapter 164: Passing the Association Assessment

"President, I have come this time to introduce a rare talent to you."

Liu Yong said with a smile, pointing his palm in the direction of Lu Yu, "It is this friend here. He is quite extraordinary; all by himself, he used only a bow and arrows to shoot and kill over ten Intermediate Fierce Beasts, and he even dragged over ten thousand catties of prey with one hand for dozens of miles."

"What?" Upon hearing this, a look of shock instantly flashed across Song Tian's eyes.

To be able to kill over ten Intermediate Fierce Beasts in succession, and using a bow and arrow at that, he must be at least an Dark Energy Martial Artist, right?

"May I ask this friend's surname? If it is convenient, could you remove your mask so I may see your face?" Song Tian asked politely.

"I can." A voice completely different from before rang out.

Liu Yong, standing to the side, was suddenly stunned. This voice... why was it different from before?

Soon, he opened his mouth in surprise, his face revealing an expression of extreme shock.

Because the person before him was not the steady man in his thirties he had imagined, but a young lad of seventeen or eighteen!

Song Tian's face also revealed a look of incredulous shock.

He looked at Lu Yu's young face, then at the dumbfounded Liu Yong beside him, and pondered to himself: This, this young man, is actually an In-Jin Martial Artist?

What kind of joke is this? Where would one find such a young In-Jin Martial Artist?

"Lu, Little Brother Lu, you..." After a long while, Liu Yong finally squeezed out a sentence, stuttering.

"Apologies, because I did not want to attract unnecessary trouble due to my young appearance, I wore a mask." Lu Yu smiled at him with a hint of apology.

"No, no problem, this is only right, only right." Liu Yong nodded hurriedly.

Thinking about it carefully, Lu Yu must have attracted many covetous gazes along the way while dragging so much prey.

Although he did not need to fear anyone given his strength, it was indeed true that it is better to avoid extra trouble.

"President Song, I wonder what kind of assessment is required to join the Association?" Lu Yu turned to look at Song Tian, cutting straight to the point.

"The assessment is very simple; you only need to demonstrate your strength to me," Song Tian said, then asked: "What is your current Realm?"

"Dark Energy." Lu Yu replied after a moment of thought.

Although his various physical attributes far exceeded those of an average Dark Energy Martial Artist, in terms of energy control, he was indeed still at the Dark Energy level.

"Dark Energy!" Liu Yong could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, thinking to himself, it really was so.

However, for Lu Yu to reach the Dark Energy realm at such a young age was truly far beyond his expectations.

If another three to five years passed, the Yong'an City Branch might just gain a Vein Refining powerhouse. One must know, President Song himself was only a Transformation Energy Martial Artist.

Hearing Lu Yu's answer, a hint of solemnity appeared in Song Tian's eyes, and he spoke to warn him: "Little Brother Lu, you must think clearly before answering. Because in a moment, you will have to spar with me. If you do not have the strength of Dark Energy, it will be very easy to be exposed."

Lu Yu smiled slightly at him, then took a step forward and slowly struck out with a palm.

This palm strike was extremely slow, even giving one a feeling of being soft and powerless.

Seeing this, Song Tian struck out with his right palm without hesitation. The moment the two palms touched, a burst of energy quietly invaded his body from Lu Yu's palm.

He immediately widened his eyes, as if he had seen some rare treasure, looked at the young man before him in disbelief, and blurted out: "You really are a Dark Energy Martial Artist!"

Lu Yu withdrew his palm and asked with a smile: "President Song, does this count as me passing the Association's assessment?"

"It counts! Of course it counts!" Song Tian was so excited that his voice even trembled.

Good heavens, such a young Dark Energy Martial Artist is definitely a genius encountered once in a hundred years! The Branch has really struck gold this time!

"Then, President, can we talk about the matter of weapons now?" A harmless smile appeared on Lu Yu's face, though his eyes revealed a hint of eagerness.

Hearing Lu Yu's words, Song Tian and Liu Yong could not help but look at each other, then laughed out loud in unison.

"Of course, that is no problem at all."

Song Tian said with a confident smile, "According to the established rules of the Association, if an In-Jin Martial Artist joins, the Association will gift them a 20 mm Autocannon for free, along with one thousand rounds of ammunition.

For a Dark Energy Martial Artist, the benefits are upgraded; the Association will provide a 30 mm Autocannon for free, and the number of bullets is increased to five thousand.

And if it is a Transformation Energy Martial Artist, the Association will even generously gift a 40 mm Autocannon, plus ten thousand rounds of ammunition."

He paused for a moment, looked at Lu Yu with eyes full of appreciation, and continued: "Little Brother Lu, although you are only a Dark Energy Martial Artist, you are definitely a special case. Considering your outstanding performance, you can receive a 40 mm Autocannon, and the number of bullets will be given directly as twenty thousand."

Hearing this, the smile on Liu Yong's face grew even richer.

He knew in his heart that the President's arrangement clearly showed he valued Little Brother Lu highly, giving him the top-tier configuration right from the start.

After all, do not look at the 40 mm Autocannon as having a caliber only ten millimeters larger than the 30 mm; its power is several grades stronger!

One must know, a 30 mm Autocannon can easily penetrate 50 mm thick composite armor within an effective range of 400 meters; at a distance of 1000 meters, it can also penetrate 38 mm thick steel plate.

This means that even a massive Armored Rhinoceros could potentially be blasted to death by a single shot from over a thousand meters away!

And the 40 mm Autocannon has even more astonishing power; when firing explosive shells, the initial velocity can reach 1000 meters per second, with an explosion power equivalent to a 50 mm shell; when firing armor-piercing shells, the initial velocity can soar to 1640 meters per second, enough to penetrate 140 mm thick steel plate.

Even an Advanced Fierce Beast with thick skin and flesh would surely suffer heavy injuries once hit by such an attack.

If the distance were even closer, it would not be impossible to kill it outright.

"Auto, Autocannon?" Lu Yu opened his mouth slightly; this reward seemed far from what he had originally envisioned.

"Yes, what is wrong?" Song Tian was slightly stunned, thinking to himself, doesn't everyone use Autocannons when going out to hunt Advanced Fierce Beasts?

Of course, there are a few people who choose to carry rocket launchers, but the initial velocity of a rocket launcher is too slow, and it is very easy to be dodged when encountering an agile Advanced Fierce Beast.

"President, actually, I would prefer a Strong Bow," Lu Yu said sincerely.

"A Strong Bow?" Song Tian and Liu Yong widened their eyes in surprise at the same time.

"Yes," Lu Yu nodded affirmatively, "I hope to have a bow with a draw weight of over five thousand catties; the higher the draw weight, the better."

"Five, five thousand catties!" Hearing this number, both people in the room could not help but widen their eyes, their faces full of disbelief.

"Little Brother Lu, are you sure you want a bow with a five-thousand-catty draw weight?" Song Tian was stunned into speechlessness; one must know, even he himself could not pull such a Strong Bow today.

"Yes, I am sure." Lu Yu smiled and nodded again, his attitude very firm.

Song Tian and Liu Yong looked at each other once more, their eyes filled with doubt and confusion.

"President, is this request very difficult to satisfy?" Liu Yong could not help but ask.

"As for that, it is not exactly difficult."

Song Tian said after a moment of thought, "The bow body can be made directly from alloy, and the materials to make the bowstring are not hard to find."

Look at those Advanced Fierce Beasts that weigh nearly ten tons yet can still leap ten to twenty meters high; the elasticity of their fascia is truly astonishing, and it can absolutely be used to make bowstrings.

"It's just, little brother Lu Yu, do you really want to give up the 40mm Machine Cannon and choose a bow with a five-thousand-catty draw weight instead?"

Song Tian had two concerns in his heart; for one, he felt Lu Yu's request seemed a bit too ambitious, as after all, a five-thousand-catty draw weight was equivalent to lifting a five-thousand-catty heavy object with one hand, a level of strength that, within the Association, only a Martial Artist at the Vein Refining Realm or above could possibly possess.

Secondly, the range of a bow with a five-thousand-catty draw weight was far inferior to that of the Machine Cannon, being only about half the range of the Machine Cannon, which undoubtedly greatly increased the risks during hunting.

"That's right, little brother Lu Yu, we all know your Arrow Technique is superb, but those Advanced Fierce Beasts are not easy to deal with; choosing the Machine Cannon would be much safer," Liu Yong also couldn't help but advise.

"Thank you both for your kind intentions, I really have already thought this through thoroughly," Lu Yu responded with a smile.

He had his own calculations in mind, estimating based on the fact that a bow with a two-hundred-catty draw weight could pierce through a 3-centimeter-thick steel plate within one hundred meters.

A bow with a five-thousand-catty draw weight, even if calculated at a 25-fold ratio, should have no trouble piercing through a 75-centimeter-thick steel plate within one hundred meters.

What kind of concept is a 75-centimeter-thick steel plate?