Chapter 14

Although Yang Junshan was only twelve years old, his strength had greatly increased due to his successful practice of the Wild Ox Fist. The mulberry wood bow, which could draw a stone, now felt soft in his hands. Moreover, the two quivers of iron-feathered arrows he carried were much heavier than ordinary bamboo-feathered arrows. Without a strong bow, it would be difficult to achieve a range of even thirty steps.

"Father, can I borrow your carved large bow for a moment?"

Yang Tiangang had just finished packing a pipe of tobacco and, upon hearing this, did not seem surprised at all. He chuckled and said, "Can you pull it?"

Seeing his father's calm and composed demeanor, Yang Junshan instantly understood. Yang Tiangang must have already thought that the iron-feathered arrows required a three-stone strong bow. Otherwise, with his cultivation at the Martial Realm, he could easily pull a six or seven-stone strong bow, and there would be no need to hang a three-stone bow on the back of the riding beast.

However, Yang Junshan did not know that there was another reason. During the morning practice of the fist technique the day before, Yang Tiangang had guessed the progress of his fist technique from the crisp sound of the bones in his body when he delivered the final punch. He deduced that Yang Junshan's strength must have already been sufficient to pull a three-stone bow.

Yang Junshan's face showed a look of eagerness as he said, "I want to try!"

As Yang Junshan asked his father for the carved large bow, it immediately caught the attention of several boys of the same age nearby. However, these boys clearly did not believe that Yang Junshan could pull the carved large bow. They wore expressions of disdain and mockery, and some even secretly hoped that Yang Junshan would injure himself while trying to pull the bow, thus eliminating a competitor.

However, amidst the unhidden schadenfreude of many of his peers, Yang Junshan had already taken down the carved large bow from the back of the riding beast. Seeing this, Su Baozhang hurriedly stepped forward and whispered, "Brother Junshan, at this time, it's better to conserve your energy and not waste it on useless things, so that others don't figure out your true strength!"

Su Baozhang was indeed a good person, just like in his previous life. However, Yang Junshan had his own considerations and turned to him, whispering, "Brother Baozhang, don't worry, I have confidence!"

Su Baozhang was taken aback for a moment, then realized that Yang Junshan's action had not been stopped by Yang Tiangang, indicating that it had a deeper meaning. He nodded and stepped aside to watch him pull the bow.

Yang Junshan sank his waist and focused his energy, holding the bow with one hand and the string with the other. With a "hey," he pulled the three-stone bow to seven-tenths of its full draw.

What a tremendous strength!

The surrounding boys who were watching Yang Junshan pull the bow all drew in a sharp breath, the same thought arising in their minds. Even Su Baozhang, who had practiced for three more years than Yang Junshan, found Yang Junshan's strength somewhat unbelievable.

This was not the end. Yang Junshan exhaled slowly, and the carved large bow gradually relaxed. Then he took a deep breath and, with a strong effort, pulled the bow to seven-tenths of its full draw again.

He pulled the bow three times in succession, each time to seven-tenths of its full draw. Despite his recent increase in strength, Yang Junshan was already sweating and panting. Among the three boys from the same village, Su Baozhang's face showed surprise and admiration, but more importantly, respect. Hao Zhuang's face, however, did not look good, and his gaze towards Yang Junshan was tinged with fear. Xu Jing's expression first showed surprise, but then she coldly snorted and turned her face away, looking haughty and dismissive.

Yang Junshan took in everyone's reactions and smiled, rubbing his fingers that had been hurt by the bowstring. He then turned to Yang Tiangang and said, "Father, how was it?"

Yang Tiangang said, "Not bad," and threw an object to Yang Junshan.

Yang Junshan caught the object, and his eyes lit up. It was a jade ring that shimmered with a spiritual light. This jade ring was entirely carved from spiritual jade, and the amount of jade used to carve it was equivalent to three jade coins. Moreover, the jade ring had a few simple rune patterns carved on it, which Yang Junshan recognized as forming a simple energy storage array. This array could save him some strength when he drew the bow, so he wouldn't be completely drained after just three draws.

Yang Junshan recognized this jade ring as one of the few heirlooms left by his grandfather, which his father often wore.

Even Xu Jing, upon seeing the large piece of spiritual jade in Yang Junshan's hand, showed a greedy and envious look, but quickly turned her face away, deliberately not looking at Yang Junshan.

In fact, Yang Junshan was also surprised. In his previous life, when he arrived at Baique Mountain, Yang Tiangang had also brought the carved large bow, but Yang Junshan did not have the strength to pull a three-stone bow at that time, so he never thought about the significance of Yang Tiangang bringing the bow.

However, Yang Junshan did not expect his father to give him such a quasi-magic item. Although the jade ring was not a true magic item, the few simple rune patterns could not only assist in enhancing his strength but also help to replenish his meager spiritual energy.

Yang Junshan was now fully prepared and only awaited the opening of the Baique Mountain hunting ground by the Heaven-Shaking Sect cultivators.

However, at this moment, a commotion came from a mountain pass not far from where Yang Junshan and the others were resting. When they looked up, they saw a group of people escorting two men riding on two docile ox beasts approaching the square in front of the entrance to the Baique Mountain hunting ground.

"It's the father and son, Zhang Chenghong and Zhang Yueming, from the Wasteland Town!" said Meng Shan, the village chief of Tumeng Village, a neighboring village to Tushan Village, who was also a Martial Realm expert like Yang Tiangang.

"Although Zhang Chenghong is not much, he has a good son. He is of second-class talent, with four spirit acupoints detected in his body. It is said that he has already attracted the attention of the Heaven-Shaking Sect. Once he successfully summons a spirit, he will be taken in as an inner disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect," another Martial Realm cultivator sighed.

Upon hearing that Zhang Yueming would become an inner disciple of the Heaven-Shaking Sect, everyone let out a gasp of surprise. Almost all the boys showed envious looks, including the haughty girl Xu Jing. Compared to this, Yang Junshan's earlier show of strength was insignificant.

"Strange!" Yang Tiangang said, his face showing confusion. "What are they doing here? With the child's second-class talent, why would they worry about not having a spirit item?"

Meng Shan laughed, "Old Yang, even though your family is considered a prominent clan, your information in Mengyu County is not as up-to-date as you think!"

Yang Tiangang was not offended and asked curiously, "Oh, Brother Meng, do you know the reason? Please enlighten me!"

Meng Shan said, "It is said that Zhang Yueming has already been taught a treasure technique by a high-ranking cultivator of the Heaven-Shaking Sect. The spirit item hunt at Baique Mountain is just a formality. In fact, the Heaven-Shaking Sect has already prepared everything for the child, including what the spirit item is, where it is, and what to do. It's just a matter of going through the motions."

Yang Tiangang nodded in understanding, "I see. But if it's just a formality, why bring nearly two hundred boys into the mountain today? Isn't the Heaven-Shaking Sect afraid that someone else might snatch the child's opportunity? Even if the Heaven-Shaking Sect has made all the preparations, they wouldn't let the child compete with two hundred others, right?"

Yang Tiangang's words not only expressed his own doubts but also reflected the thoughts of some of the surrounding boys. However, this did not include Yang Junshan. To try to snatch the spirit item prepared by the Heaven-Shaking Sect for Zhang Yueming would be suicidal, and even if you were willing to risk your life, you wouldn't be able to succeed.

Sure enough, another village chief looked around at the boys with a warning tone and said coldly, "Without complete preparation, how could the Heaven-Shaking Sect do this? If you try to take what belongs to Zhang Yueming, you will be courting death. Don't forget, we can't enter the hunting ground, which is guarded by Martial Realm cultivators of the Heaven-Shaking Sect!"

Meng Shan was also somewhat surprised, "Brother Yang, don't you know the inside story? Is the situation in Mengyu County different from Chenyu County?"

Yang Tiangang said, "If a boy like this is discovered in Mengyu County, they would also go through the motions, but the child would be directly arranged to enter the first round of cultivators entering the hunting ground. My confusion lies in why they didn't do this from the beginning and instead arranged it for the third round."

Meng Shan sighed, "Brother Yang, you don't know. Chenyu County is not like the other five counties of Yu Prefecture. It has a small population, and children of superior talent have not appeared for many years, let alone one who has attracted the attention of the Heaven-Shaking Sect. This has always made our county look inferior to the other five counties of Yu Prefecture."

Meng Shan paused and continued, "This time, the child has even attracted the attention of the county magistrate. Therefore, Zhang Yueming's formality must go smoothly without any mishaps, and it must be done beautifully and impressively. If they followed the method in Mengyu County, although it would be a form of care for the child, if the results were poor due to competition from others, such as obtaining only a medium-grade spirit item, what would happen? Remember, the first batch of cultivators entering the hunting ground are all exceptionally talented, and their status is far higher than Zhang Yueming. They could easily suppress a country bumpkin like him, and no one would care or dare to care."

Meng Shan's explanation made Yang Tiangang realize the situation. Some of the boys listening were indignant, but when they thought about their own talents, they became disheartened. Then they heard Yang Tiangang exclaim, "According to what you say, Brother Meng, Zhang Yueming will at least obtain a high-grade spirit item?"

High-grade spirit item!

Everyone let out another gasp of surprise. The scarcity of spirit items is the first threshold limiting the number of cultivators. It is said that even the Heaven-Shaking Sect cannot provide high-grade spirit items to all its disciples. The noble families in the counties can only try to gather as many medium-grade spirit items as possible. As for people like them, mountain villagers and wandering cultivators, they would be content with a low-grade spirit item for cultivation.