Chapter 69: Exhausting the Strength of the Entire Nation

In the original owner's memories, this past was extremely hazy; it was unclear whether it was because he knew too little, or because it had become blurred by the passage of time.

"Wang Shu, what happened after that?" Lu Yu asked eagerly. Against a Fierce Beast strong to that degree, it seemed that among humanity's existing weapons, only nuclear weapons had the power to contend with it.

"Later, the high-level authorities at the time, after years of meticulous preparation, finally deployed thousands of nuclear warheads; the power was enough to wipe a medium-sized country off the map."

"That operation did indeed succeed in killing two Beast Emperor-Grade Fierce Beasts." Wang Liang's tone carried a trace of heaviness.

"But immediately after, every region suffered crazy retaliation from other Beast Emperor-Grade Fierce Beasts. The same strategy was difficult to make effective again, and the situation in our Yanxia Country instantly became precarious, almost to the edge of collapse."

"Did the Awakened step forward?" Lu Yu guessed.

Wang Liang nodded, his expression revealing a trace of admiration: "That's right, it was the strongest batch of Awakened who stood up, and by exhausting the strength of the entire nation, we finally cultivated three S-Class Awakened: the Thunder Emperor, the Ice Sovereign, and the War God."

"The three of them joined forces and fought fiercely for ten full days and nights against the three Beast Emperor-Grade Fierce Beasts that were within our Yanxia territory at the time, only then managing to repel them."

"After the Beast Tide receded, the three S-Class Awakened each guarded a city; those were all super-large metropolises within our Yanxia territory with populations exceeding ten million."

Lu Yu nodded; a population exceeding ten million could indeed be called a super-large city.

"This battle won a short-lived peace for our Yanxia Country. Besides those three super-large cities, large, medium, and small cities also rose up one after another in various places, all with powerful Awakened sitting in command, attracting survivors from all over to head there."

Wang Liang continued, "However, those who can enter the cities are, after all, a very small minority; more people can only set up camp outside the cities, their dwellings stretching for miles."

"Every day, people stand at the gates, gazing into the distance at the city walls, hoping that one day they can obtain the qualifications to enter the city."

"Just like Yongan City?" Lu Yu associated this with that city they had always yearned for.

"Yes, just like Yongan City," Wang Liang affirmed.

Lu Yu fell into silence; he could fully imagine that scene.

Resources were limited, and there were more monks than gruel; for ordinary people, wanting to obtain a spot to enter a city, even a small one, was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

The night was extremely dangerous for ordinary people; if they were too far from a city to arrive in time, they could only gather into a Zhai to seek self-preservation.

Perhaps only by becoming an Awakened could one possibly be accepted by a city.

Wang Liang sighed: "This is also a helpless move. It is not just our Yanxia Country; other countries in the world are also like this."

"Even more than nine-tenths of countries have already been destroyed. Now, the entire human race is in a disadvantageous position and can only defend passively. Even so, many small and medium-sized cities have still been swallowed by Beast Tides over these years."

This sounded depressing, but that was the reality. Those large human settlements appeared safe, yet they were also the most likely to attract attacks from powerful Fierce Beasts.

People living outside the city waiting to enter might have no bones left by the next day.

And those scattered in various places forming a Zhai for self-preservation, relatively speaking, as long as they did not actively provoke trouble, the probability of encountering an Advanced Fierce Beast was smaller.

Of course, once targeted by a Fierce Beast, it was not impossible for an entire Zhai to disappear overnight.

"So, we are currently maintaining a delicate balance with the Fierce Beasts. Once a fourth Beast Emperor appears among the Fierce Beasts, or our Yanxia Country gives birth to a fourth S-Class Awakened, will this balance be broken?" Lu Yu stated his own conjecture.

"Hmm, at least for now, that is how it is." Wang Liang's tone was full of helplessness.

Lu Yu took a deep breath; it seemed calm now, but in reality, it was the silence before the storm. Perhaps an even greater crisis was quietly brewing.

"Don't think too much about it," Wang Liang comforted him, "Just do what is in front of you well."

After all, with his strength, he was powerless in the face of such a big picture; the only thing he could do was pray that an A-Class Awakened could break through as soon as possible to become the fourth S-Class Awakened.

But he knew in his heart how difficult that was; back then, it had taken the strength of the entire nation to give birth to three.

"Mm," Lu Yu responded.

It could not be denied that the atmosphere was very oppressive.

If he were just an ordinary person, hearing these things might leave him with no choice but to resign himself to fate.

But he was not; Beast Emperor-Grade Fierce Beasts were indeed powerful, capable of releasing the terrifying power of thousands of tons of explosives with a casual strike.

But he firmly believed that one day, he too would possess that kind of power.

Wang Liang took down his Long Bow and picked up the Arrow Quiver beside him.

The arrows in the Arrow Quiver were larger than the previous ones; weighing them, they were probably 150 grams.

Lu Yu reached out to take them, and at this moment, he saw Wang Liang take down that 300-jin draw-weight bow as well.

"Wang Shu?" Lu Yu looked at him in confusion.

"Oh, I also intend to practice Archery," Wang Liang explained with a calm expression, "Now that there are more and more people in the Zhai, the number of people who want to practice martial arts will also increase; not everyone is interested in marksmanship."

Lu Yu understood, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly; this was indeed a good thing.

If Wang Shu could master Archery, with his martial Realm, the power of the arrows he shot would certainly not be inferior to that Neijin Realm Martial Artist from Li Jiawu.

Even if there were a stronger bow, Lu Yu had no doubt that with Wang Shu's ability, he could pull it open as well.

The two walked out of the Warehouse one after the other; at this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came from far to near.

The one coming was Qin Hai; after he asked Lu Guohao about Lu Yu's whereabouts, he had rushed over impatiently.

Thinking of how Lu Yu was still training diligently while he himself had been wandering around with the others, a surge of guilt welled up in his heart.

Finally arriving, he swept his gaze across the field and saw Lu Yu at a glance. But the next second, his entire body froze in place.

"Hmm? Qin Hai?" Lu Yu also saw him, feeling somewhat surprised, and then enthusiastically introduced him to the others.

"So he is that Qin Hai," Li Yang and the others thought to themselves, their gazes falling in unison on the bow in Qin Hai's hand.

It really was an 80-jin draw-weight bow; it seemed that, just as Brother Yu had said before, this guy was not simple.

"So it's Xiao Hai, why did you come over by yourself?"

"Yeah, where are your dad and the others? Didn't they come with you?"

Qin Hai, however, acted as if he hadn't heard, and said with a trembling voice: "You, this bow?" As he spoke, his gaze was fixed tightly on the bow in Lu Yu's hand; he remembered very clearly that the bow Lu Yu used before was not this big.

At his shout, the gazes of the others also converged.

"Is this, that 200-jin bow?" Li Yang's eyes widened into circles, and he exclaimed with his mouth agape, "Brother Yu, you, you can pull open a 200-jin bow?"

"A 200-jin bow?"

"200 jin!"

The others all gasped in succession.

"200 jin? This is a 200-jin draw-weight bow?" Qin Hai only felt his mind go blank.

What kind of joke is this? Didn't this guy use a one-hundred-catty bow before?

Only one night has passed, and it has directly doubled? And to think he is the one who is an Awakened!

"I just wanted to try it out," Lu Yu explained with a smile.

"Try it out..." The crowd was speechless; based on their understanding of Lu Yu, if he said he wanted to try, he would likely succeed nine times out of ten.

Suddenly, Li Yang shrieked again, pointing at the bow in Wang Liang's hands: "Look quickly, everyone, isn't that bow in Wang Shu's hands a three-hundred-catty one?"

The crowd looked over once more.

"Old Wang, you..." The few men beside him were so excited they couldn't even speak clearly; they knew Wang Liang was formidable, but they hadn't expected him to be this formidable.

"I'll try it out too," Wang Liang said with a dry laugh.

The group was completely speechless. Qin Hai stood frozen on the spot, as if he had been petrified, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Is everyone in the Lu Family Stockade this strong?