Chapter 48: Grade 1 Archer
Gao Jun fell with unwillingness in his eyes,
and fresh blood instantly pooled on the ground.
At the same moment, a group of Embroidered Uniform Guards rushed over, plunging the scene into chaos.
Gu Zhan pressed his hand against his chest, narrowing his eyes slightly, gazing toward the tall building outside the Hundred Households Office.
Meanwhile,
You Yangsheng too had his bow drawn, aiming at the Hundred Households Office, but now he no longer had a good opportunity—there were people all around Gu Zhan, it was absolute chaos, and Gu Zhan had deliberately moved to a spot that was a blind spot from You Yangsheng’s perspective.
You Yangsheng slowly released the bowstring, sighed, turned with his bow and leapt directly off the rooftop.
And in that instant,
Gu Zhan finally locked onto You Yangsheng’s position.
He immediately summoned the system and began allocating points:
[Spent 300 Experience Points]
[Cloud Platform Three Falls upgraded to Great Success Realm]
In that moment,
Gu Zhan picked up a Brocade Spring Saber from the ground, stepped forward, and like a specter, leapt out, his feet not even borrowing force, shooting out dozens of zhang, darting swiftly through the darkness.
Cloud Platform Three Falls, Great Success Realm,
The first fall, three zhang, the second fall, nine zhang, the third fall, twenty-seven zhang,
In the blink of an eye—nearly forty zhang,
Combining with the Big Goose Skill’s ascending technique, in a flash he soared atop the high buildings beside the street; his figure rose and fell in the night like an arrow shooting through.
Along the long street, battles raged everywhere, but all anyone saw was a faint blur—nobody could track that, in the blackness, someone was dashing through, saber in hand.
At this moment,
Beneath a tall building,
You Yangsheng was striding swiftly away, bow and arrows strapped to his back, concealed in the darkness.
He knew he had already lost tonight,
That arrow had failed to kill Gu Zhan; on the contrary, five First Grade Experts died at Gu Zhan’s hand—in this battle, he lost!
Gu Zhan was able to kill five First Grade Experts alone,
Such fighting strength was not something he could make up for by rushing over, and truthfully, he had no wish to get involved,
He was never good at close combat,
Though a First Grade Martial Artist, all his skills lay in that single bow—if dragged into a melee, he might not even defeat a Second or Third Grade Martial Artist skilled in brawling.
So the moment he realized he’d lost the chance for an arrow kill, he decisively fled.
This battle was already lost!
Snowflakes whirled as a cold wind shrieked.
You Yangsheng, dressed in nightclothes, strode quickly through the narrow alleys,
This night—both lively and silent in its way.
Across all of South City, apart from the thunderous killing around the Hundred Households Office, the rest was nothing but deathly silence—the farther from the Hundred Households Office, the quieter it became.
One could hear even faint footsteps falling on the snow.
Suddenly,
You Yangsheng, dashing quickly, paused, his ears twitching; then, with a snap, he drew a feathered arrow from his quiver, nocked it, and swiftly pulled the bow to shoot.
But then, from above, a shadow appeared, accompanied by a flash of saber light—it crashed down with overwhelming force, cleaving the darkness, so swift it was like a shooting star.
As a First Grade Expert, and an archer at that,
You Yangsheng’s crisis awareness far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators,
Facing that descending strike, he was acutely aware: if he insisted on firing that arrow, Gu Zhan might be injured, but he, for certain, would lose his head.
He immediately abandoned the shot,
Sidestepped just enough to evade the blow, and stamped his right foot hard onto the flagstones—snow burst up in a circle around his toes; with the powerful recoil, his whole body swept sideways like a leaf in a gale, flashing toward the main gate and leaping into midair.
His left elbow twisted, and the hardwood bow spun through the rain, appearing before him,
He nocked another arrow and fired,
Three feathered arrows shot from the string in unison!
All three arrows shot toward the figure in the snowstorm like bolts of lightning!
He had already recognized who it was—this was the God of Slaughter, Gu Zhan, who’d just slain five First Grade Experts in the Hundred Households Office,
He was shaken, deeply astonished,
Earlier, he had aimed a cold arrow from outside the Hundred Households Office, over three hundred zhang from Gu Zhan; afterward, he hadn’t lingered but sped off—never expecting to be tracked down by Gu Zhan.
He’d thought that, with this night’s failure, his greatest threat would be evading the Embroidered Uniform Guards’ pursuit—he never imagined disaster would arrive so soon.
But, at this point,
There was no time for thoughts—he could only deal with what was in front of him,
He knew where he was weak—close quarters was not his field,
Even knowing that Gu Zhan was now badly wounded, he wouldn’t take the risk; he instantly chose to put distance between them, loosing the three feathered arrows as he did.
An arrow at a distance, an arrow in your face.
There seemed to be murderous spirits clinging to the arrows, arrogant and unstoppable.
In a split second, all three arrows locked onto Gu Zhan, exploding forth with terrifying force.
You Yangsheng had absolute confidence in his archery; these three arrows would, at the very least, delay Gu Zhan for an instant. It was all too hasty—he didn’t expect to injure Gu Zhan, only needed to delay him, to buy precious time for himself.
Close combat was not his forte,
But as long as Gu Zhan couldn’t draw close, he could retain the initiative.
So the instant his arrows flew, You Yangsheng retreated rapidly into the depths of the alley.
However,
Just as his feet touched down,
He saw Gu Zhan move like a ghost, sidestepping all three feathered arrows, striding forward with ease, as graceful as a swimming dragon.
"Cloud Platform Three Falls!"
You Yangsheng let out a cry of astonishment.
He recognized Gu Zhan’s body technique at a glance—it was the famous Absolute Technique of the Flying White Rat King, Wang Bai.
Wang Bai was a prominent figure in Linjiang City; You Yangsheng had met him before. His qinggong dominated the Martial World, and his signature Absolute Technique was Cloud Platform Three Falls.
What astounded You Yangsheng most was,
The Cloud Platform Three Falls that Gu Zhan unleashed was, if anything, even more exquisite than Wang Bai’s own.
"Damn it!"
You Yangsheng cursed under his breath and ran for his life.
He finally understood why Gu Zhan had caught up to him—his qinggong was even stronger than Wang Bai’s!
Now, he could only fight head-on,
You Yangsheng knew that with Gu Zhan’s qinggong, there was no chance for a long-ranged duel; all he could do was maneuver, looking for an opening.
His figure leaned forward like a leopard, sprinting toward a carriage; the hardwood bow leveled in his hands, drawing again—bowstring vibrated, feathered arrows shot forth like lightning!
He ran through the snowy night, shooting as he ran.
In an instant, over a dozen feathered arrows filled the air—these arrows sliced through the night, piercing dense swirling snow, eerily threading between all obstacles, whistling straight toward Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan displayed his marvelous qinggong, waving his Brocade Spring Saber—just barely dodging or slashing apart the arrows.
More than half the arrows struck the alley walls, blasting apart a section of stone; the rest were chopped and clattered to the ground.
At this moment,
You Yangsheng had fled to a spot ten zhang from Gu Zhan,
The hardwood bow in his hands bent like a full moon,
and an icy feathered arrow tore through the night air,
This arrow—
the strongest arrow of his life!