I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1180 The Arrow of Divine Power
At Su Yao's command, his personal guards immediately presented him with a huge, ancient-looking war bow.

This was his weapon of choice in his early battles, but he no longer used it easily after acquiring the power of thunder.

Now, fighting alongside Lü Bu once again, Su Yao was overcome with nostalgia. He picked up his old companion and stood by the river, gazing at the opposite bank.

"Fengxian, do you still recognize this bow?" Su Yao asked with a smile.

A hint of reminiscence flashed in Lü Bu's eyes.

Back when he still called His Majesty "Little Su," this guy was all about a knife and a bow, slaughtering people until heads rolled and blood flowed like rivers; no one could withstand his power.

Today, although the bow still retains some of its former appearance, it has clearly been enhanced by craftsmen, and both its size and the material of its bow body are far superior to what they used to be.

The dark bow body was faintly adorned with dark gold patterns, which must have been the result of the painstaking efforts of countless skilled craftsmen.

"How could this humble general not recognize you!"

Lu Bu smiled wryly: "Your Majesty once used this divine bow to take the head of a general from the midst of ten thousand troops as easily as taking something out of a bag! Are you going to display your divine might again today?"

"Yes."

Su Yao laughed and pointed to the commander's flag on the high tower in the army formation of a hundred chariots on the opposite bank: "If I were to shoot down that commander's flag with an arrow, would the other side dare to fight?"

Lu Bu was taken aback when he heard this. He looked in the direction Su Yao was pointing and saw the huge banner that symbolized the authority of the commander of the Baicheng Dynasty fluttering in the wind on a tall wooden tower on the south bank of the river, a full eight hundred paces away from the north bank!

"If His Majesty could shoot it down, it would naturally be a display of divine might that surpasses all others, an achievement that would overwhelm all others."

"You think I can't do it?" Su Yao laughed.

Lu Bu fell silent.

He couldn't be like those petty scoundrels, blindly flattering and fawning. As a top-tier general who had traversed the world, Lü Bu knew the limits of the bow and crossbow better than anyone. The reason why hitting a willow leaf from a hundred paces was the pride of a warrior was precisely because the maximum range of the bow and crossbow was fixed; beyond one hundred and fifty paces, the arrow would become erratic and powerless. Even the most advanced ballista in the army had a range of only about three hundred paces.

Although he knew Su Yao was incredibly strong, it wasn't something that could be achieved with brute force alone; the weapon's inherent capabilities limited its effectiveness.

With this reinforced bow, you expect to accurately sever the flag rope swaying in the wind from 800 paces away? That's simply a fantasy!

"This humble general has no doubt about Your Majesty's power; your divine strength far surpasses that of mortals."

After a moment of silence, Lü Bu finally chose to speak frankly: "But the art of bows and crossbows is ultimately limited by the instrument itself. Although this bow has been strengthened by skilled craftsmen, with its body inlaid with fine iron tendons, its draw weight is probably thirty stones. But even with a thirty-stone bow, its effective range is at most four hundred paces. Beyond eight hundred paces, the arrows have already lost their accuracy and power. Even if they manage to reach the other side, they will be at the end of their power, and may not even be able to penetrate thin cloth, let alone accurately sever the flag rope."

He paused, then added, "If Your Majesty truly wishes to achieve this, the Ministry of Works will have to rush to build an enlarged ballista overnight—it will require three oxen to pull the string, be equipped with specially made iron-feathered arrows, and have copper-coated shafts. Perhaps then the range could be pushed to a mere six hundred paces. But eight hundred paces… even a ballista probably can't achieve that; only a large cannon will suffice!"

Upon hearing Lü Bu's words, Zhang He, Qu Yi, and the others beside him nodded in agreement. They were all seasoned veterans, intimately familiar with the properties of weapons, and Lü Bu's words reflected their own thoughts. To sever a flag rope at eight hundred paces—this was beyond the realm of mere archery; it was an absurd, illogical tale.

"To shoot down a flag rope from 800 paces away requires divine power."

No sooner had Zhang He finished speaking than Su Yao said, "Then let's show them our divine power."

Su Yao chuckled softly, not drawing an arrow, but instead drawing his bow in mid-air. Suddenly, the dark gold patterns on the ancient, massive bow in his hand lit up, like a sleeping dragon awakening, absorbing all the faint light of dawn. The bow hummed, no longer possessing the heavy weight of ordinary iron, but instead seemed to have flowing light moving between the wood grain, even causing the surrounding air to tremble.

Even more astonishingly, as Su Yao slowly pulled his arm back, a light arrow composed entirely of blazing white lightning materialized out of thin air on the bowstring!
"This, this is magic?!" Everyone was shocked.

As soon as the light arrow took shape, it exuded a terrifying pressure. Electric snakes coiled around the arrow, crackling and popping. The blinding light made it almost impossible for the generals present to open their eyes.

They had long heard rumors that His Majesty had used the power of thunder during the western expedition, but most believed it was just a misrepresentation of the power of palm thunder or cannon fire.

Now, seeing Su Yao perform this miracle of Thunder Arrow in public, the generals realized that the rumors were true, and were far less shocking than seeing it with their own eyes!

"Long live my emperor!"

"Long live the Emperor!!!"

Amidst gasps of alarm, the light grew ever brighter, and a scorching atmosphere filled the air, even causing the surging Ganges River to seem to pause. The hundred-chariot army on the opposite bank naturally noticed the anomaly, and countless eyes turned towards it. Even their commander, Swaraj, stepped out of his tent, hurriedly climbed the tower, and squinted at the north bank.

"Thunder Arrow, Break!"

call out--!
The moment the arrow left the bowstring, the world paled in comparison! There was no resounding bowstring, only a thunderbolt tearing through the sky! The arrow transformed into a golden lightning bolt that pierced the heavens and earth, distorting and burning the air in its path, creating scorching waves of heat, covering the distance of eight hundred paces in an instant!

Swaraj's pupils constricted as he watched the destructive golden light rush towards him, unable to react in time.

Boom——! ! !
The arrow of light did not strike the flag rope, but rather hit the top of the tower with pinpoint accuracy! In a deafening roar, the entire wooden tower, along with the commander's flag, sentries, and the commander Swaraj who had just reached the top, were all reduced to dust in the blinding lightning!

The shockwave swept through the nearby Baicheng military camp, blowing tents away like falling leaves, causing war elephants to bellow in terror, and soldiers to be thrown to the ground by the blast wave.

As the lightning faded, all that remained of the former commander's flag was a charred crater and billowing smoke.

Tens of thousands of soldiers stood frozen in shock, the terrifying sight of their commander vanishing into thin air utterly shattering their spirits.

"Devil! It's the devil!"

"Run away!"

Cries and screams filled the air as the south bank defenses crumbled.

The Han army on the north bank remained deathly silent for a moment, then erupted into a thunderous cheer. Lü Bu knelt abruptly, his voice trembling:

"This humble general...only today does he truly understand the might of Heaven! Your Majesty's archery skills are divine!"

Su Yao sheathed his bow and stood calmly, gazing at the chaos on the opposite bank: "Now, do you still think eight hundred paces is the limit?"

Then, Su Yao calmly gave the order: "The entire army cross the river and end them!"

As the war drums sounded, the Han army's small boats immediately began crossing the Ganges. This battle, which would determine the fate of the Indian subcontinent, was decided before any close combat even began.

(End of this chapter)