10: A fierce arrow, the future—above the martial artist, the martial master!

"Xiao Yang is impressive."

"Xiao Yang can be considered a master archer, right?"

"Haha, Old Tian, your life was saved by Xiao Yang."

"Yes, yes, yes. Xiao Yang, just watch Uncle Tian's performance."

"..."

After putting away the Cui Ya Snake, everyone was in high spirits and kept joking around. The bright smile on Ye Yang's face never faded as he scratched his head to play along.

"Little brother Xiao Yang's strength has improved quite quickly."

Suddenly, a firm yet soft pressure came from his arm, and Ye Yang's whole body tensed up. The smiles on the others' faces also became strange. First, Red Rhombus's actions were too bold; second, everyone had just realized that Ye Yang's strength had indeed improved significantly.

They hadn't considered a problem just now: if Ye Yang were still a low-tier Martial Apprentice, even with excellent archery skills, it would be impossible to easily kill the Cui Ya Snake with two arrows. Moreover, that alloy bow had a maximum draw weight of only 1,000 kilograms, and even if a compound bow saved effort, it couldn't be fully drawn without four or five hundred kilograms of force. Not to mention firing two arrows so quickly.

This woman!

Ye Yang felt a bit frustrated. He had been playing dumb and deliberately avoiding it, but he hadn't expected Red Rhombus to expose his strength anyway. If it weren't for... He stole a glance at his arm being held and decided to show the magnanimity of a man. Forget it! His mid-tier Martial Apprentice cultivation level could no longer be hidden.

"Ahem, my cultivation has improved a bit since going back. I've tested it; I am now at the mid-tier Martial Apprentice level."

Hearing Ye Yang's explanation, everyone suddenly understood. That's what I'm saying! If a low-tier Martial Apprentice had this kind of strength, how could they even compete? However, having ranged attack methods is really convenient. Should I learn archery too? This thought didn't just occur to one or two people; even Liu Wu had the same idea. But the moment this thought emerged, it was ruthlessly extinguished.

A person's energy is limited. It's already difficult to obtain one martial technique, and studying and practicing it takes a lot of effort. If one were to learn archery as well... Forget it, I'm not some genius. This issue was left at that. Talking and laughing, the group set off again.

Regarding Ye Yang's improvement in cultivation, the members of the Hunting Group were only happy, with no one feeling jealous. After all, the only weak point in the team had been compensated for, making their strength greater and their safety greatly improved. Moreover, looking at those two arrows just now, Ye Yang's combat power could rival that of a high-tier Martial Apprentice. Thus, the team now had four people with strength equivalent to a high-tier Martial Apprentice.

After demonstrating his sharp archery skills, Ye Yang became more active in subsequent operations. He even carried his bow and followed Uncle Liu to learn how to identify traces. These methods were simple and practical, relying mainly on keen eyesight. Since Ye Yang had good vision and the guidance of Uncle Liu, an old hunter, combined with his quick mind and good memory, he actually managed to learn most of it after a while. What was needed later was validation through extensive practice.

...

The sun slanted westward. Uncle Liu didn't plan to go any deeper but turned to head back out of the mountains. A single Cui Ya Snake was already a bountiful harvest. If they hunted a few more low-tier Evolved Beasts on the way back, they could return to the city. Greed is an original sin. Especially in this dangerous world, in the dangerous wilderness.

On the way back, Ye Yang walked behind the two Blade and Shield Users, with Uncle Liu to his side and slightly behind him. Ye Yang liked to learn, and Uncle Liu was naturally willing to teach. While teaching, he sighed at the child's aptitude, thinking to himself: If only my eldest son were this smart. He looked back at the big, foolish guy carrying an iron spear and ultimately gave up on this unrealistic fantasy.

Walking in front, Ye Yang naturally obtained more opportunities to attack. Red Rhombus, the other ranged attacker in the team, had no objections to this.

Swish, swish, swish... The alloy arrows were very sturdy, and with the specially chosen three-edged armor-piercing arrowheads, a group of Iron Tooth Rabbits encountered on the way back was almost wiped out. Thirteen adult Iron Tooth Rabbits were taken away by the Hunting Group.

After the Iron Tooth Rabbits, it was the Thorn Pig herd they had encountered earlier. After discovering Ye Yang's "piercing a willow leaf at a hundred paces" archery, where every arrow hit its mark and had extremely strong attack power, Uncle Liu got a bit greedy. He led everyone to find the Thorn Pig herd they had discovered on the way in. There were fifteen Thorn Pigs in total. Nine adults and six sub-adults. But regardless of whether they were adults or not, the price of these Thorn Pigs would not change, and compared to the Iron Tooth Rabbits, these things were more destructive.

This time, Red Rhombus and Ye Yang attacked together, prioritizing the big guys, starting with the adult Thorn Pigs. They carefully approached to a distance of one hundred meters, with Liu Wu leading people to follow and protect, while Red Rhombus set up her sniper rifle in the distance.

Closer. Ye Yang drew his bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at the second-largest target in the Thorn Pig herd. As for the largest target, he left it to Red Rhombus. The rune gun in her hands was very powerful; one shot could blast away half the head of an adult Thorn Pig.

But the bow and arrow in Ye Yang's hands were significantly inferior. Unless it hit a vital part, given the massive size of the Thorn Pig, it would at most leave a hole and cause some pain, not even counting as a minor injury. However, Ye Yang's arrows were accurate!

Drawing the bow and nocking an arrow, swish, an alloy arrow flew out. Swish... swish... swish. After firing one arrow, he reached to his right shoulder, and another arrow was in his hand, then he easily drew the bow and fired. This time, his arrows were faster and more accurate.

Bang! As Ye Yang fired his second arrow, Red Rhombus fired her gun. The head of the Thorn Pig leader instantly exploded with a large hole, and it fell down without even a whimper.

Puchi, puchi... At the same time, the arrows fired by Ye Yang also arrived. Three arrows arrived almost simultaneously, piercing the eyes of three Thorn Pigs, each weighing at least 400 jin. The armor-piercing arrows easily entered, penetrating the brain tissue, and killing them in one hit.

Ying ying ying... The Thorn Pigs made sounds, similar to domestic pigs. They discovered the enemy, and regardless of their leader being dead, they relied on their numbers to charge toward the location of Ye Yang and the others.

More than ten Thorn Pigs charged over with blood-red eyes, and the formation looked quite large. But Ye Yang had already retreated, firing lethal arrows while retreating. Many of the pigs had not been facing forward before, and the bow and arrow in his hands couldn't kill them in one hit. Now that these Thorn Pigs were foolishly charging over, they were facing forward. Such a good opportunity could naturally not be missed. Moreover, there was support from Red Rhombus in the distance. As for Liu Wu and the others, they wanted to kill the pigs but were afraid of being suddenly gored by a Thorn Pig, so they kept retreating with Ye Yang.

The path of a revenge charge is inevitably accompanied by blood. These Thorn Pigs might not have heard this saying, but they had truly experienced it. Of the fifteen Thorn Pigs, Ye Yang killed ten, just enough to make a round number. Red Rhombus killed five.

It wasn't that Red Rhombus's marksmanship was inferior to Ye Yang's archery, but that she had to look after the others. Whenever she noticed Thorn Pigs charging toward others, she had to immediately fire to rescue them. This back and forth naturally wasted time.

The battle ended. Ye Yang closed his eyes and giggled, opening them only after a long while. The others were already collecting the spoils of war. Red Rhombus sat on a high spot, took a meaningful look at Ye Yang, and then withdrew her gaze.

Sensing that he was being watched, Ye Yang looked toward the direction of Red Rhombus, but saw that she was not looking at him. Never mind, anyway, there was no malice.

His optimistic personality made Ye Yang put away his small thoughts, and he focused his consciousness: Brain Domain Evolution Tier 0 (32/100). Two hunts, seventeen evolution points. The Iron Tooth Rabbits contributed seven, which was because Red Rhombus did not take action, and at the same time, Uncle Liu and the others did. That time was a deliberate opportunity given to him to test his real strength. Then there were the ten evolution points from this time, plus the fifteen points before entering the mountains...

He clenched his right hand, feeling the surging power within his body, recalling the reaction speed he had deliberately held back just now, and gazed into the distance. Ye Yang's heart was very hot: He would definitely be able to become a Martial Master, or even above a Martial Master! And this time would not be too long. Now, Ye Yang had upgraded his goal from raising his sister's tuition fees to becoming a Formal Martial Artist, to becoming a Martial Master. A Martial Master, that was an existence above a High-tier Warrior; there weren't even a few in the entire Base City...