Chapter 25

After Professor Xiuyan left, the many noble children looked at Soren (Lanling) in shock.

It was well known that the previous Soren was a complete wastrel, and political theory classes were too boring, so Soren had always been sleeping during class. No one expected that today's class would turn into a stage for Soren's performance.

How could the once utterly incompetent and ignorant Soren suddenly become so smart? Was it all an act before, or did the death of Count Solon bring about such a significant change?

At this moment, Zhi Min sneered, "Soren, your sister is truly a renowned talent. I bet it was hard for you to memorize it, wasn't it?"

As soon as these words were spoken, some people suddenly understood. It turned out that these were not Soren's views as a wastrel, but the views of the famous Tian Shui fairy, Suo Ningbing, merely spoken through Soren.

With this, everything made sense.

Lanling smiled faintly, saying nothing, but in his heart, he thought, "If the royal children are all as useless as you, Zhi Min, I can rest easy."

"What, feeling guilty because I hit a nerve?" Zhi Min sneered triumphantly, then he walked over and whispered, "Soren, no one can save your family, not even Duke Zhitin. Just wait for your family's destruction. At the very least, you won't pass the martial arts section of the final exam, and you won't inherit the title."

The next class seemed to verify Zhi Min's words; it was a martial arts class.

...

For the martial arts subject, Soren chose archery, and the final exam in over a hundred days would also be in archery.

Therefore, for Lanling to pass the final exam smoothly, he had to pass the archery test, at least to a passing standard. To pass, what kind of performance was required?

A 180-pound bow, a fixed target, 90 meters away, 20 arrows, 12 must hit. A moving target, 50 meters away, 10 arrows, 5 must hit.

On Earth, whether in ancient or modern times, this was the level of an elite archer.

Especially a 180-pound bow, in ancient China, only very strong warriors could use it.

But in the capital city's academy's final exam, this was just the passing line. Of course, this was normal, as the academy almost gathered all the elites of the kingdom. Moreover, the people in this world had the enhancement of dragon power.

However, for Lanling, this was an impossible task.

First, the combined strength of his two hands was only about 100 pounds, meaning he could only pull a 50-pound bow at most. A 180-pound bow, he couldn't even pull, let alone shoot.

So, normally speaking, it was completely impossible for Lanling to pass the archery exam this year, more difficult than hell.

If so, could he change to another subject, like swordsmanship?

Of course, but the difficulty of any other martial arts subject exceeded archery, which was already the simplest and had the least competition.

Because those with high dragon bloodline talents were not content to be mere archers. Compared to swordsmen, knights, etc., archers had the least prospects.

During the archery class, Lanling noticed that the number of students was much smaller. The strategy class had over a hundred students, but now, in the archery class, there were only sixteen, nine of whom were women.

Lanling was almost certain that Soren chose archery to flirt with girls.

Soon, the archery instructor appeared. Yes, an instructor, not a professor.

This archery instructor was a woman named Li Nianzhen. She wasn't particularly beautiful but had a distinctive appearance. She had short hair, a rare trait for a woman, a well-built and fiery figure, standing nearly 1.8 meters tall, and wore a set of archer's attire, looking very spirited.

The moment Li Nianzhen saw Soren (Lanling), she was first taken aback, then frowned. She detested Soren because he came to flirt, and she felt this wastrel completely defiled the archery class.

What was even more intolerable was that Soren, in his quest for novelty, had even tried to flirt with Li Nianzhen. Yes, he had pursued the beautiful Nia, and even Li Nianzhen, a very androgynous woman, he didn't let go of. He was truly obsessed with his teachers.

The most despicable thing was that of the nine noble women who chose the archery course, three had been flirted with by Soren, and it seemed they had all been slept with.

This scoundrel, relying on his good looks, sweet talk, and thick skin, had disrupted her classes. For a time, every day in her class, a girl would break up, and the culprit was Soren, this pretty boy.

The most unbearable thing was that due to Soren's persistent pursuit, she had almost fallen for him. But Soren was just curious, and once his patience was exhausted, he ignored her. So, Li Nianzhen truly wished to tear this pretty boy apart.

Now, after several years, the girls in this archery class had completely seen through Soren.

So now, the girls all kept a wide distance from him, as if being looked at by him would make them pregnant. Three girls even regretted their blind eyes, having been deceived into bed by this scoundrel.

Li Nianzhen's gaze automatically filtered out Soren and said, "There are still over a hundred days until the final exam. All the necessary teachings have been given, and all the necessary learning has been completed. From now on, we will focus entirely on preparing for the final exam, with each class being a practical training session. Everyone, go get your bows and start training."

The students went one by one to get their bows.

Lanling searched for a long time but couldn't find his bow.

"Soren, you don't need to train. You can't even pull a 50-pound bow, so you're destined to fail the final exam," Li Nianzhen said.

As soon as these words were spoken, the other students burst into laughter.

Lanling ignored them and, after searching for a long time, finally found the lightest bow, marked at 60 pounds. In the capital city's academy, there was no lighter bow, only one-third the strength of the exam bow.

Wearing a finger tab, Lanling tried to pull the bow.

He found it extremely difficult. Although he could barely lift 100 pounds with both hands, pulling a bow was a completely different matter.

He couldn't pull it, and with a sudden force, his arm ached, and his muscles were strained.

Anyone could tell that before pulling a bow, one must fully stretch and massage the muscles.

Immediately, the sixteen students began to pair up, two by two, to massage and relax their muscles and tendons.

Soon, an awkward situation arose. There were seven male students and nine female students.

The six male students quickly paired up into three pairs. Among the nine female students, eight formed four pairs.

Lanling was left out, and one girl was also left out. She backed away, hugging herself, as if Lanling would transform into a madman and pounce on her at any moment.

"Professor..." she looked pitifully at Li Nianzhen.

Thus, Instructor Li Nianzhen personally stretched and relaxed the muscles of that girl, leaving Lanling alone to do his own preparatory exercises.

After completing the preparatory exercises, the students began to practice shooting.

Lanling was surprised to find that at 90 meters, these people could easily achieve a hit rate of over 70-80%. The only difference was that some could shoot ten arrows in one breath, while others could only shoot three to five.

After doing enough exercises, Lanling placed an arrow on the bow and began to pull the 60-pound bow again.

He took a deep breath, used all his strength to pull the bow, and then began to aim at the fixed target 50 meters away.

The 60-pound bow was already his limit. It was extremely difficult to maintain the pull, and his arms quickly reached their limit, trembling and unable to support.

At this moment, the demon star inside him released a burst of energy, alleviating the pain in Lanling's arms.

Lanling completed his aim and released the bowstring.

"Whoosh..." the arrow was shot.

Immediately, everyone burst into laughter. His arrow not only missed the target but deviated by three meters. It barely reached 50 meters before starting to fall, clearly due to insufficient force.

It was strange; he had clearly aimed well, yet the arrow missed the target so badly.

Lanling refused to believe it and tried again, pulling the bow, aiming, and shooting!

"Whoosh..."

Laughter erupted again. This time, Lanling improved, missing the target by only a meter.

Next, Lanling shot the third arrow, which missed the target by five meters, worse than the first.

Just as Lanling was about to shoot the fourth arrow, he found that his arms had no strength left, unable to even pull the bow.

This was just a 60-pound bow! The exam bow was 180 pounds.

To pass the final exam, Lanling first needed to increase his strength, at least to the point where he could pull a 180-pound bow.

Second, he needed to enhance his mental power to complete the aim. For targets over 100 meters, it was impossible to aim with the eyes; it required mental power.

"Alright, Soren, you don't need to practice. Go back and rest," Li Nianzhen said. "You won't pass the final exam, so give up."

Lanling took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and asked with his mind, "Demon Star, can I increase my arm strength to 200 pounds and my mental power to lock onto a target 100 meters away in over a hundred days?"

The Demon Star replied, "Yes, but it's very tight. For others, even with high dragon bloodline talents, it would take at least two to three years."

Lanling continued, "Can I improve my archery to the level of a first-level warrior archer in over a hundred days?"

The Demon Star replied, "Yes, as long as you hunt enough prey and consume enough energy. For others, it would take years, but for you, just over a hundred days is enough."

"I understand," Lanling said.

Next, he needed to go into practical training as soon as possible to enhance his strength and mental power.

As for Duke Zhitin, he should have hope but not rely on him as a lifeline.

The best way was still to pass the final exam and smoothly inherit the title.