Chapter 5: Entry Upgrade: Hundred-Paces Piercing Yang

It was March.

Snow still lingered unmelted in the mountains.

Only occasional flecks of green could be seen on the withered trees.

Most of the mountains still showed a dull grayish hue.

Duan Yu took the longbow from his back and tried drawing it.

He had handled bows before.

But it was a compound bow, not a traditional one, and he had only handled it—never actually used it.

So accuracy was out of the question.

He drew, aimed, and loosed a dry shot.

Feels not bad.

Just as Duan Yu felt he could give it a try, a system voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

[Ding, [Tenfold Entry] takes effect. Host draws the bow once, effect increased tenfold. Congratulations to the host on obtaining a new entry, [Archery/Mastery]]

This.....

So awesome.

Duan Yu exclaimed in his heart how awesome it was.

This Tenfold Entry is truly badass.

In his mind, a blue system interface surfaced.

Duan Yu only needed an inward glance to see the system template.

[Name: Duan Yu]

[Age: 25]

[Height: 188CM]

[Weight: 90kg]

[Entries: [Tenfold Speed - Gold] [Archery/Mastery/0/100]]

0/100?

Understood.

Duan Yu understood what was going on.

In other words, his single draw of the bow just now was equivalent to ten draws.

And ten draws of the bow were equivalent to a hundred draws.

This should be the logic.

To test whether this matched his thoughts, Duan Yu immediately began drawing the bow.

There were only thirty arrows in the quiver.

He still needed to hunt later, so of course he could not waste them.

Therefore, Duan Yu only drew the bow without nocking an arrow.

Drawing the bow ten times was still quite simple for Duan Yu.

The draw weight of the vintage bow in his hand was not that heavy, roughly around twenty to thirty jin.

Very soon, Duan Yu completed ten draws of the bow.

Sure enough, after the tenth draw was completed, the system voice rang out.

[Ding, [Tenfold Entry] takes effect. Host draws the bow once, effect increased tenfold. Congratulations to the host on obtaining a new entry, [Archery/Proficient]]

Mastery changed to Proficient.

Taking another look inside the entry system.

The experience required for the upgrade had changed from 0/100 to 0/1000.

After confirming his thoughts, Duan Yu had a clear idea in his mind.

Initially, the effect of this Tenfold Speed entry should not be very obvious.

Because the difference between 0 times and 10 times is not much.

Even the difference between 0 times and 100 times is not much.

But the further it goes, the more obvious the effect becomes. The gap between a thousand times and ten thousand times is huge.

Not to mention ten thousand and a hundred thousand times, or a hundred thousand and a million times.

This increases by geometric multiples.

In other words, in the early stages, the advantage of his Tenfold Speed entry is not great.

But the further it progresses, the more obvious the advantage becomes.

"It seems I must practice diligently every day from now on."

Saying this, Duan Yu drew the bow as he walked deeper into the jungle.

As a qualified mercenary.

Hunting was not a difficult task for Duan Yu.

Moreover, after the Archery entry upgraded to Proficient, Duan Yu experimentally shot an arrow.

The accuracy was decent.

The outskirts of Dashan were all withered trees, and there were frequent traces of human activity.

They should be traces left by firewood gatherers going up the mountain.

There would not be many animals in this kind of place.

Therefore, Duan Yu did not linger, but headed all the way into the depths of Dashan.

He walked for roughly over a shichen.

After about two hours or so, the traces of human activity gradually diminished.

Drawing the bow twice, he accurately hit two wild rabbits.

Trophies were also hung on Duan Yu's belt.

[Ding, [Tenfold Entry] takes effect. Host draws the bow once, effect increased tenfold. Congratulations to the host on obtaining a new entry, [Piercing a Willow at a Hundred Paces - Blue]]

Huh?

Duan Yu let out a soft gasp.

"The entry upgraded?"

From Mastery, to Proficient.

As Duan Yu walked this path, he continuously drew his bow.

Unknowingly, he had already drawn his bow a thousand times.

He glanced inward at the system interface.

[Name: Duan Yu]

[Age: 25]

[Height: 188CM]

[Weight: 90kg]

[Entries: [Tenfold Speed - Gold] [Hundred-Pace Piercing - Blue 0/]]

It really had upgraded.

Duan Yu was overjoyed.

He then nocked an arrow and drew his bow.

"Let's see the effect of Hundred-Pace Piercing."

As luck would have it.

Just as Duan Hu nocked an arrow and drew his bow, a fiery red figure flashed past about forty or fifty paces away.

The sharp-eyed Duan Yu instantly caught sight of that fiery red figure.

He then nocked an arrow and drew his bow, everything seamlessly merging.

The bow and arrow in his hand shot out with a wind-breaking sound.

Thwack!

The arrow accurately struck the head of that red figure.

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak!"

After the hit animal let out squealing cries, it kicked its legs and died.

Duan Yu quickly walked up to the prey.

When he saw the prey, Duan Yu revealed a satisfied smile.

Lying on the ground, killed by a single arrow from Duan Yu, was a fire fox.

Its entire body was fiery red without any other colors.

And the spot where Duan Yu's arrow struck was excellent.

It entered from the left eye atop the fire fox's head and exited from the right eye.

Without damaging the pelt anywhere.

Picking up the fire fox, then pulling out the arrow, he tied it to his waist with the rope Diaochan had prepared.

Duan Yu smiled in satisfaction.

Rabbit pelts could be sold too, and the meat could be eaten.

And this fire fox's pelt would surely be worth a fortune.

Although common folk in this era lived very hard lives.

But above the commoner class—the landlords, powerful local families, and the gentry—lived in extreme luxury.

This was caused by severe social inequality.

After hanging the fire fox at his waist, Duan Yu did not slow his steps.

Clearly, this meager prey did not satisfy his current needs.

The house at home was too crude; he needed to build a better one.

He also needed to buy Diao Chan new clothes, plus the rouge and powder he had promised her.

Then there was Diao Chan's aunt, still ill and needing medicine.

The bow in his hand also needed to be replaced with a better one.

To do a job well, one must first sharpen one's tools—this was certain.

Having only a bow and arrows was not enough.

Things like blade techniques, spear techniques, and other horse-riding skills all needed practice.

All these things required purchasing.

He also needed to buy some land for the family.

All of this required money.

After wiping the blood from his arrows and putting them back in the quiver, Duan Yu continued deeper into the mountains with his bow.

To hunt more prey, places rarely visited by people were clearly the best.

Only in such places was there abundant game.

Wucun Township.

Diao Chan's uncle Li Gouer was, as always, wandering the village with a wine skin in hand.

As a well-known figure in the village, Li Gouer's alcoholism, laziness, and rascally nature were known to all.

So he had no friends either.

On ordinary days he simply wandered the village alone.

But people often struck up conversations with Li Gouer.

It was not for any other reason.

It was only for the adopted daughter Ren Diao Chan in Li Gouer's household.

Ren Diao Chan was a renowned beauty in Wucun Township and the surrounding villages.

How many young men in the villages wanted to take Diao Chan as their bride.

But although Li Gouer was gluttonous and lazy.

He was not at all stupid.

He knew Diao Chan was beautiful.

So the betrothal gifts he demanded were not small at all.

But the villagers were all poor families.

Even some wealthier households with a bit of land could not come up with the price Li Gouer demanded.

Because of this, Diao Chan had already passed the age for marriage, yet remained at home.

At this moment, Li Gouer was leaning against an apricot tree at the village head, basking in the sun.

He shook the nearly empty wine skin in his hand.

His mind was filled with thoughts of Diao Chan's dangling hairpin.

Just as he was dozing off.

Li Gouer suddenly heard someone calling out to him.

"This fellow villager, I'd like to ask about someone—do you know if Li Gouend of the village?"