Chapter 125: Familiar Face

No reaction!

He spent fifty-one years of his lifespan on each technique, raising Shadowless Arrow and Energy-Gathering Arrow to perfection.

The system gave no response whatsoever!

Was it because the attributes of the several archery techniques overlapped? Or was there simply too little connection between them?

The ability of Shadowless Arrow could be summed up in one word: speed.

The arrow, once shot, moved so swiftly that it left no shadow on the ground.

As for Energy-Gathering Arrow, before the arrow left the bowstring, it gathered the surrounding energy of heaven and earth, allowing it to fly faster and strike with greater force!

From this perspective, Shadowless Arrow, Energy-Gathering Arrow, and Explosive Arrow Technique formed a complete chain, able to draw upon and reinforce one another.

Together with Nine Arrows Over the Mountain, they would create a perfect archery style—fast, powerful, capable of turning corners, and able to explode.

Yet the system remained unresponsive, leaving Tang Mubai at a loss.

Since the techniques could not be fused, he could only wield the abilities of Shadowless Arrow and Energy-Gathering Arrow himself.

His identity as a divine archer was becoming ever more firmly established.

Thinking about it carefully, this was not necessarily a bad thing. If he could one day reach the realm of the Arrow God, perhaps even innate masters could be slain!

…

Early the next morning, Tang Mubai rose, casually ate a few bites of the breakfast Fang Shuixian had prepared, and then, before his little cousin left the house, hurried to the garage, climbed into the modified truck, and drove out through the gates.

The large truck, completely enclosed in metal plating, made a conspicuous journey out of the city. After being inspected and cleared at the checkpoint, it reached the Domain Wall, where it was subjected to another inspection.

Only after passing through the Domain Wall did Tang Mubai press the accelerator to the floor and speed toward Forbidden Zone No. 9.

“Rumble, rumble, rumble…”

The roar of the engine echoed through the mountains and forests.

Before long, Tang Mubai had driven the truck beyond the fifty-kilometer safety zone.

According to the map, the large truck raced across the broad, boundless wilderness.

It kicked up clouds of dust and shook the earth as it tore recklessly through the gentle morning sunlight.

Until—

“Caw!”

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

A series of sounds suddenly came from directly ahead: the sharp cries of flying birds, the piercing shriek of wind being torn apart, and the muffled roar of automobile engines.

Through the cameras, a spectacular scene appeared on the electronic screen mounted above the truck’s dashboard in Tang Mubai’s cab.

Birds!

One after another, enormous birds with bodies as black as night and beaks of metal, each the size of a washbasin and boasting wingspans of five or six meters, filled the sky and ground as they wheeled through the air.

They were densely packed, layer upon layer. At a glance, there were at least five hundred of them.

In the center of the “whirlpool” formed by the gigantic flock, three modified cars appeared and vanished amid the chaos as they sped along. From time to time, people inside fired outward, attempting to drive the birds back.

Unfortunately, it was useless. The flock had fixed its attention on those three cars.

As they circled and swooped, sheets of black feathers drifted down from above like blades and arrows, striking the roofs of the vehicles with a series of wet thuds.

If the tires had not been protected by special housings covering half their surface, they would have been pierced and blown out long ago.

Tang Mubai followed behind in his truck, wondering whether he should help.

If the flock did not scatter, he would also come under attack. But he was alone, and if he stopped to lend a hand, he might well be dragged into the danger himself and trapped within the birds’ encirclement.

Just as he hesitated—

“Clang!”

The ringing cry of a longsword being drawn suddenly resounded, spreading across the sky and earth.

On the roof of the second car in the speeding convoy, a ten-meter-long sword aura burst into existence without warning and swept across the sky.

Swish, swish, swish!

“Pfft!” “Pfft!” “Pfft!”

Wherever the sword aura passed, birds were torn apart one after another. Blood, feathers, and shredded flesh scattered through the air.

After several passes, the remaining birds circling the cars abandoned their assault and scattered with shrill cries.

Seeing this, Tang Mubai seized the opportunity to accelerate, overtook them, and disappeared beyond a rise in the ground.

…

“Damn it, that car really knew how to take advantage of the situation!”

Inside the vehicle, Fang Lin exhaled and complained resentfully.

“What else did you want? For them to help us? Forget it,” said a burly, heavily muscled young man lazily. His name was Gao Lianhu.

“Gao Lianhu is right. Once you leave the Domain Wall, not taking advantage of someone else’s misfortune is already considered kind,” agreed a handsome young man with sharp brows, bright eyes, and an intense gaze.

“That is not entirely fair. It is not easy for anyone to venture beyond the Domain Wall. If they can help, most people will do so under ordinary circumstances.” A clear young woman’s voice came through the intercom.

“There are people who help, but there are also plenty who kick you while you are down.”

“All right, what is there to argue about? If the instructor had not intervened just now, we might have been forced to stop. Instead of wasting our energy arguing, we should think about what plan to adopt once we reach Forbidden Zone No. 9.”

“Do we not already have a plan? First collect Star-Net Grass, then lure out and capture the Twin-Headed Stone Turtle?”

“Big sister, that is only the capture plan. The problem is that we do not even know where Star-Net Grass grows! Forbidden Zone No. 9 covers hundreds of thousands of acres. We will not know where to enter until we conduct an on-site assessment!”

“Uh…”

“Chen Zhonglai, shut up! You said it yourself—we will decide after the field assessment. We have not even reached Forbidden Zone No. 9 yet, so why are you shouting so loudly?”

“I only wanted everyone to discuss it in advance…”

…

The arguing over the intercom continued without end.

Fang Lin exchanged a glance with Zhou Hailong, who was driving, and curled his lips.

Although they had an instructor leading them this time, the instructor had no intention of interfering with their specific plans or actions.

The reason he had come along was simply to keep an eye on them and prevent them from dying young.

Anyone capable of being admitted to Canghe Martial Academy was an elite of the Thirty-Eighth Domain.

It would be a waste for even one of them to die.

Therefore, before their third year, whenever students organized operations or ventured outside to complete missions, an instructor would accompany them.

Of course, true prodigies whose strength became comparable to—or even surpassed—that of an instructor after only one or two years at the academy were free to act independently.

Fang Lin and the others were not among them. They could only travel with an instructor.

…

After breaking through the flock’s encirclement, the three cars accelerated amid the continuing arguments and headed straight for Forbidden Zone No. 9.

As they neared their destination, the lead car turned toward a secluded spot at the foot of a nearby mountain and prepared to stop.

Only when they arrived did they discover that another vehicle was already parked there.

“What should we do? Someone is already parked here. Should we find another place?” came a voice through the intercom.

The two cars behind came to a halt. Their doors opened, and the people inside leaned out to look toward the foot of the mountain.

“This place is so large. Do we really need to look elsewhere?”

“Exactly. If anyone should move, it should be that truck.”

“You idiot. They already left. There is no one inside.”

“I do not think we need to find another place.”

…

The group began discussing the matter.

Fang Lin did not join in. He stared fixedly at the truck. Then, as though suddenly realizing something, he spoke in surprise.

“Come to think of it, do you not feel that truck looks somewhat familiar?”