Chapter 70: The Two-Hundred-Jin Heavy Bow

A hard bow with a draw weight of two hundred jin has astonishing power; if it were not fired from a distance of several hundred meters away, the target would simply be unable to withstand a single strike from it.

However, the Zhai is no more than two or three hundred meters in length and width, so Lu Yu and Wang Liang had no choice but to take the target and walk outside the Zhai.

Qin Hai hesitated for a moment, but followed them anyway; he had to witness it with his own eyes to believe the facts before him.

Once outside the Zhai, the scene before them was one of overgrown weeds; the air seemed to have solidified, without a whisper of wind, and the silence was somewhat oppressive.

Lu Yu placed the target five or six hundred meters away, then ran back.

With his left foot forward and his right foot back, he raised the Long Bow steadily, aimed the arrow at the bullseye, and slowly pulled the bowstring.

Qin Hai looked at Lu Yu, then glanced at the focused Wang Liang, and finally cast his gaze into the distance.

How could this be possible? In his eyes, that target was nothing more than a tiny black dot; at such a distance, could one really aim and hit it?

The bowstring was pulled back bit by bit; the muscles on Lu Yu's arms bulged high, and the veins were clearly visible, yet his arms did not tremble in the slightest from start to finish.

The seemingly long process of drawing the bow actually took no more than a second or two before the bowstring was pulled into the shape of a full moon.

Qin Hai suddenly held his breath; his throat felt as if it were blocked, and he could not say a single word.

Immediately following, a sound louder than a firecracker rang out, and the arrow, over a meter long and as thick as two fingers, shot out like lightning.

In less than two blinks of an eye, a crisp sound came from the target five or six hundred meters away; the arrow had pierced straight through the target and flown out the other side.

"So fast!" Lu Yu could not help but exclaim.

When he previously used that Long Bow with a draw weight of one hundred jin, the arrow's flight speed was about one hundred meters per second, and he could still barely see it.

But the arrow shot from this Long Bow with a draw weight of two hundred jin had a speed approaching the speed of sound; even he could only see a blurred afterimage.

"It is indeed very fast, about equivalent to the speed of a standard handgun bullet," Wang Liang said from the side.

"?" Qin Hai stared at the two of them, dumbfounded. He had heard that crisp sound clearly; it was indeed the sound of the target being pierced.

To hit a target from five or six hundred meters away—how terrifying must this Archery be?

Yet these two were discussing the speed of the arrow as if it were nothing, as if hitting the target were a matter of course.

Lu Yu glanced at his Skill panel: 【Basic Archery: lv6 (45.5%)】

The battle that took place at the Wang Family Zhai earlier had increased his 【Basic Archery】 proficiency by forty-five point something percent.

In other words, this shot just now had increased his proficiency by 0.3%. Just a normal shot resulting in such an increase was already quite good.

To max out the remaining proficiency would probably take only a hundred or so shots.

Of course, given his physical strength, shooting twenty arrows in a minute was about his limit; if it were Rapid Shot, he would likely be exhausted after three Continuous Shots.

"Wang Shu, would you like to try?" Lu Yu handed over the bow and arrow in his hand. "I'll watch your form, and if there's anything wrong, I'll correct it for you."

"Alright." Wang Liang took the bow and arrow, recalled the posture Lu Yu had just used, drew the bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed at the target.

"Wang Shu, you're too nervous; your body is too tense, and your hand is shaking a bit..." Lu Yu said while helping him adjust his posture.

Wang Liang felt a bit embarrassed, but Lu Yu's level of Archery was beyond doubt.

After adjusting his posture, Wang Liang released his fingers, and the arrow flew out; shortly after, a crisp sound came from the distance again, clearly a hit.

Wang Liang took a deep breath and took a second arrow from the Arrow Quiver.

Qin Hai watched from the side, feeling a bit ashamed.

He had originally thought that although his Archery wasn't top-tier, it was still decent, but according to what Lu Yu said, he had made many mistakes common to beginners.

If he didn't correct them in time and let them become habits, it would likely be very difficult to improve his Archery in the future.

Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Qin Hai's forehead; was it still in time for him to change now?

After Lu Yu had instructed him for about ten minutes, Wang Liang walked to the side to practice on his own.

After all, there is a big gap between knowing and doing, and it can only be bridged through constant practice.

"Um, Lu Yu." Qin Hai seized the opportunity and said stammeringly, "Could you instruct me as well?"

After speaking, he felt nervous and didn't dare to look Lu Yu in the eye, fearing he would be refused.

After all, the two had known each other for less than two days, and he had previously boasted that he would surpass him; now that he was actively asking for guidance, it felt embarrassing no matter how he thought about it.

"Sure." Lu Yu agreed without hesitation.

"You, you agreed?" Qin Hai looked up, his face full of surprise.

Lu Yu couldn't help but laugh: "What, did you think I would refuse?"

Qin Hai didn't speak, but the expression on his face had already betrayed his thoughts.

Lu Yu patted him on the shoulder and said, "We are people of the same Zhai now, aren't we?"

"Yeah." Qin Hai nodded heavily. That's right, as of this morning, the Qin Family Stronghold no longer existed.

"Lu Yu, thank you. I admit, you are much more formidable at Archery than I imagined. However, I will surpass you one day." Qin Hai said with a determined look.

"Good, I look forward to that day coming," Lu Yu said with a smile.

Having a goal is a good thing; if this could motivate Qin Hai to keep growing and become stronger, that would be for the best.

However, Qin Hai's aptitude was much worse than Wang Liang's.

Wang Liang wouldn't make the same mistake twice after being corrected, but Qin Hai was always neglecting one thing while attending to another, which made him feel quite embarrassed himself.

Lu Yu had a good mindset; he knew that Archery, like marksmanship, is easy to enter but difficult to master.

One might be able to hit the target within ten meters, but fail at fifteen meters, not to mention that now it was often a matter of being over a hundred meters away, or even two hundred or three hundred meters, with too many factors to consider.

After instructing him for about twenty minutes, Lu Yu returned to his position, his gaze falling on 【Phantom Archery】, which had 0 skill proficiency.

Although the shot he had just fired had slightly increased his 【Basic Archery】 proficiency, the proficiency of 【Phantom Archery】 had not changed.

"It seems that if I want to increase the proficiency of Phantom Archery, I can only use Rapid Shot," Lu Yu thought, raising his Long Bow and aiming at the target.

"Pop!" A loud explosion rang out.

Qin Hai glanced over, feeling a bit envious. But before he could think much, a second and then a third explosion followed.

"!" Qin Hai's eyes widened instantly; what was going on? How many sounds had just rung out?

"Huhu..." Lu Yu's chest heaved violently, and his arms trembled uncontrollably.

As expected, with a Strong Bow of two hundred catties of draw weight, three Continuous Shots were already approaching his limit; if he were to attempt four, his body certainly wouldn't be able to handle it, unless he stimulated the power of True Qi within his body.

But for one thing, there was no need, and for another, he didn't know how to stimulate it either.

Just at this moment, he seemed to hear the sound of liquid flowing inside his body, like a babbling little brook, flowing with a gurgling sound.

When this warm current flowed past his chest, his breathing became a bit steadier; when it flowed past his arms, the trembling in his arms lessened significantly.

"It's Meridian Clearing!" Lu Yu's eyes lit up.