Xuantian 1: Ancient Xuandongtian

Chapter 257 The Heavenly Bow Stands Alone
Another half month passed peacefully.

One day, the old man Song Zhong, looking worried, approached Mu Hanchan and said with his hands clasped, "I have something to report to Lord Kuling Envoy, please make a decision."

"what's up?"

Mu Hanchan finished her practice, opened her eyes, and asked.

"The mine spans a thousand miles, but recently, strange monsters have been causing trouble, resulting in the deaths of many miners who commute to and from get off work every month. This has affected the mining speed. What should we do?"

Do you have animal repellent powder?

"Yes, but the monsters have become smarter. They only attack in sections of the road where there is no beast-repelling powder, and the mine road stretches for three hundred miles, making it difficult to cover the entire route."

How many demonic beasts are there?

"Approximately... about a hundred can be detected, mostly of Tier 2, with a few of Tier 3..."

After speaking, Song Zhongwei glanced at Mu Hanchan almost imperceptibly.

The other party remained unfazed and asked, "What's the highest level three? Early stage? Late stage? Or perfect stage?"

"Mid-stage peak of the third tier, and several early and mid-stage, totaling about eleven or twelve."

Mu Hanchan slowly stood up and said, "In that case, it seems you are unable to handle this."

"Yes, that's why I've come to consult Lord Soul Reaper..."

"Alright, I've been cultivating for a long time and need to stretch my legs. One person will stay at the mine, and the rest of you will come with me. Take as many storage magic artifacts as you can."

After saying that, Mu Hanchan put on the green vine wood suit, picked up the bow wrapped in black cloth and five arrow boxes, and went out the door.

The elderly Song Zhong accompanied them, along with Xu Bo, Sheng Sheng, Shan Bing, and Jin Gui.

Only Liu Hu remained to guard the mine.

"Are we almost there?"

Mu Hanchan asked.

"Almost there, almost there. The first monster's lair is just ten miles ahead. It's a mid-stage second-tier spider, and there are also a few late-stage first-tier spiders."

Song Zhong replied, wiping his sweat with his sleeve.

Since the group was on their way to hunt monsters, they did not use any flying artifacts and instead traveled on foot.

The air fluctuations generated by the flying artifact are enough for a first-tier demon beast to detect them ten miles in advance, thanks to the beast's keen senses.

The second order goes without saying.

"In this way, I only have 150 arrows, so I will only use them to deal with second-tier and higher monsters. You guys can handle the first-tier monsters, how about that?"

"what?"

The group paused for a moment, then replied, "Of course, that's no problem."

Having set out the plan, they headed straight for the first monster's lair.

"Lord Kuling, as you instructed, we have already checked the array flags around the nest to ensure that the commotion from the hunt will not alert other monsters nearby."

Song Zhong reported, his words were very respectful, but he still glanced at Mu Hanchan with a puzzled look.

Although he feared the sect behind this newcomer, the Soul Reaper, he was unsure of his strength given how young he appeared.

Among cultivators, what truly earns respect is one's own strength.

Power can usually only force others to comply, but it's hard to truly win their hearts and minds.

"Individual soldier".

Mu Hanchan cried out.

"This junior is here!"

Individual rapid response route.

"Go and lure the monster out."

Danbing hesitated slightly upon hearing this, then entered the spider cave alone.

Just as the lone soldier entered the spider cave, two or three people came up from the mine.

"Has the newly arrived clansman gone out?"

“Yes, otherwise I wouldn’t have sent you here by carrier pigeon,” Liu Hu said.

"Brother Liu, how many grade three spirit stones can you give me this time?"

The man wearing a wolf-head fur hat asked with some anticipation.

Liu Hu, however, said calmly, even with a hint of indifference, "I'm afraid I won't be able to secretly provide spirit stones to your Sky Wolf Gang anymore."

"what?"

The other party was somewhat surprised and a little angry, saying, "I'll exchange your third-grade spirit stones for sixth-grade spirit stones, and I'll split the difference with you using first-grade spirit stones. What? You're still not satisfied? Do you want 3/7? Or 1/9?"

"No, no, no, Brother Qin, you've misunderstood."

Liu Hu quickly explained, "We really can't change them. The new clan official is called the Soul-Slaying Envoy. The first thing he did upon arrival was to check the accounts. Fortunately, our accounts were well-prepared, and he didn't find any problems."

"Isn't it good that nothing was found? Even if something was found, so what? You can just offer him some spirit stones, right?"
Every clan leader who comes here is impoverished and destitute.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have come here.

For disciples of such sects, what's the difference between taking up a post here and being demoted?

Liu Hu said, "This newcomer doesn't look destitute; he arrived in a private flying beast."

"A private flying beast? How is that possible?"

Within a radius of ten thousand miles, there has never been a single flying beast that could be tamed into a flying mount.

"That's what the cultivator surnamed Qin said."

"That shows your limited knowledge. In our harsh and cold land, of course no one can do it, but in a prosperous sect millions of miles away, flying beasts are lined up and waiting for disciples to travel."

However, those flying beasts belong to public transportation facilities.

It is very rare for an individual to own a flying beast.

"Especially... his age and cultivation level," Liu Hu said hesitantly.

"What is his age, and what is his cultivation level?"

"Mid-stage Spirit Realm...approximately twenty-two or twenty-three years old..."

Liu Hu thought for a moment and then made a judgment.

"How is that possible? I'm forty years old this year, and I'm only at the early stage of the Spirit Realm. And that's after using countless spirit stones and consuming countless spiritual plants..."

Just as the cultivator surnamed Qin was speaking, a buzzing sound rang out.

A sound suddenly came from the spider cave.

Then they saw the soldier running out in a panic, and he quickly said, "Senior, the spider is out."

Immediately afterwards, a large, brownish-black spider, nearly ten feet tall and with limbs about twenty-two feet long, quickly crawled out of the hole. It opened its mouth and spat out two white threads, one towards the soldier and the other towards Song Zhong and his companions.

But for some reason, Mu Hanchan, who was in the very center, was not attacked first.

Song Zhong's expression was solemn as he said, "This beast is stronger than we thought. It's already at the peak of the mid-stage of the second tier, and it'll be close to the late stage soon."

Then he gave the following instructions:

"Defense! Prepare for battle!"

The group quickly dodged, but the lone soldier couldn't dodge in time and got his calf stuck in the spider silk.

The spider's eyes darted around, and it then chose to attack the trapped soldier first.

"Senior, save me!"

Song Zhong glanced at it, but felt powerless to do anything about it.

A single soldier at the peak of the Qi Condensation stage is no match for a spider at the mid-stage of the second tier or even close to the late stage.
It's commendable that they dared to obey orders and lure the monsters out.

Mu Hanchan remained silent, quickly removing the black cloth from the bow with her left hand, while simultaneously reaching into the quiver behind her with her right hand, drawing an arrow, pulling the bowstring, aiming, and shooting!
In an instant, in one smooth motion.

A pale blue arrow hurtled toward the spider at breakneck speed.

Wind-Breaking Arrow!
The arrow exploded in the latter half, and a light blue arc rushed forward instantly, severing three legs on one side of the spider in a flash.

"squeak!"

The spider instantly lost its balance and hissed.

Seeing this, Mu Hanchan quickly drew a golden talisman arrow from the quiver, the arrowhead still bearing a hint of red.

Aim at the spider's head and shoot!

"Golden Arrow!"

The golden arrow arrived in an instant, hitting the spider's head precisely and causing a small-scale explosion.

A mixture of white and dark brown liquid splattered all over the soldier's face and upper body.

"what!"

The soldier panicked immediately.

"Don't be afraid! It's not poisonous."

Mu Hanchan said calmly.

"Yes, thank you, senior."

The lone soldier quickly escaped and expressed his gratitude.

Only then did the others have time to examine the three-foot-long, brownish-yellow bow in Mu Hanchan's hand.

Song Zhong asked somewhat uncertainly, "Lord Kuling Envoy, forgive my poor eyesight, but may I ask if this bow of yours is a high-grade magic weapon, or a very high-grade magic weapon?"

"It's pretty much the same."

Mu Hanchan gave a vague answer.

"I am an old man, and although my cultivation is not high, I have seen a lot. Among all the high-grade magic artifacts I have ever seen in my life, I have never seen one with such power. As expected of the Lord of the Withered Spirit Sect, the quality of your magic artifacts is completely different."

Mu Hanchan smiled slightly, not continuing to respond to the topic, and said, "Let's go to the next monster's nest. Oh, and collect those spider limbs, they'll be useful."

The group quickly complied.

The second monster cave.

"This entrance is a bit narrow, I can't get in," Dan Bing said, thinking that Mu Hanchan wanted him to lure the monster again.

Mu Hanchan observed the surroundings and said:

“We don’t need to go in this time. There’s a nest of rat-beasts inside. Judging from the diameter of the cave entrance, they shouldn’t be at the second level yet, but there are quite a few of them. Let’s set up an array to lure them out.”

It was also said: "A meat bait was placed in the center of the formation, and the formation flags were divided into two rings, the first ring being ten feet long and the second ring being thirty feet long. The formation flags were covered with grass and covered with green wood talismans to conceal the aura of the magical artifacts."

"We'll all get up in the trees and stand in a triangular formation. I'll snipe them from a distance. Those that escape to the second ring, you guys handle. Rats reproduce quickly, so we need to eradicate them completely, at least for hundreds of miles around, so they won't harm our miners anymore."

After hearing Mu Hanchan's quick, precise, and clear instructions, Song Zhong's eyes lit up, and he said, "Alright, everyone, hurry up and climb the tree!"

So, they all climbed the tree to wait.

The meat bait, activated by the magic array, emitted an enticing aroma.

After half an incense stick's time, a scout rat finally appeared.

Excluding the tail, it is about four feet long.

Two feet tall.

Mu Hanchan did not make a move immediately, but continued to wait. Seeing this, the others also remained still.

After a while, a few more came out one after another.

Mu Hanchan hadn't made a move yet when the ninth rat appeared, and it was plump and long, surpassing the previous ones.

Grip the bow tightly with your left hand, quickly reach into the quiver behind you with your right, draw an arrow, nock it, aim, and fire!

"Exploding Flame Arrow!"

The fiery red talisman arrow had only flown halfway when the fattest, peak-level first-tier rat beast noticed it and tried to escape, only to find itself trapped in the formation.

"Oh!"

A muffled thud exploded within the formation, and fiery red flames engulfed the nine greedy first-tier demon rats.

They struggled inside for nearly twenty breaths, their fur quickly burning away, their skin tearing open, their flesh and blood being consumed by the flames, leaving only withered skeletons in the end.

"What kind of talisman arrow is this?" Song Zhong asked, wiping his sweat.

"This is a second-tier fire-attribute talisman arrow, costing 35 spirit stones per arrow. Its maximum explosive range is ten zhang, capable of melting gold within three zhang and tungsten within five chi."

For social organisms below the second rank, this would be an extinction-level blow.

Mu Hanchan explained.

Sheng Sheng suddenly said, "Then wouldn't such a talisman arrow be able to wipe out a small gang with just one shot?"

"Gang? What gang?" Mu Hanchan frowned and asked.