Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

This can be done, and the risks are not great!

Sun Dexiu drank the tea in his hand in one gulp.

However, I'm afraid I'll have to change my original plan.

Now that Gao Mingqian has staked everything on Lu Chen, he will absolutely not let Lu Chen come into danger.

If he followed the original plan and arranged for Lu Chen to encounter the "notorious bandit," it would be very easy for Gao Mingqian's men to see through his scheme.

If things go wrong, all the hard work that was actually done by chance in Wadian Town will be wasted.

We need to carefully consider how to "meet Lu Chen again in the martial world"!

. . .

a few days later.

The customs office, the training ground.

Fifty paces away, a military officer in brocade uniform walked up to the target, looked at it, and waved a small flag a few times.

"Got it! Hit the bullseye again!"

Shen Zhui glanced at the flag signals, then turned to Lu Chen and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"He fired ten arrows at a target fifty paces away, and not only did all of them hit the target, but two of them also hit the bullseye."

"Your Excellency's talent in archery is something we are utterly ashamed of!"

"You need not be modest."

Lu Chen put down the Kaiyuan Bow and turned to look at his subordinates beside him.

"That day, in the archery competition, Tang Zhe, who won the championship at a distance of fifty paces, hit the bullseye three out of five times."

Even you, Shen Zhui, managed two out of five arrows to hit the bullseye, which is much better than my mere two out of ten.

"We all started learning archery as children, and we've been practicing it for at least ten years."

Upon hearing Lu Chen mention him, Tang Zhe, another junior officer standing nearby, quickly stepped forward.

"My duty is to draw this Kaiyuan bow to its fullest extent and hit the bullseye twice out of ten arrows at a distance of fifty paces. That was something I did after I was fifteen or sixteen years old."

But you, Commander, have only been practicing archery for a few days?

On the day of the competition, you also tried shooting with the short bow and the Kaiyuan bow. Your movements were obviously still very unfamiliar, and your accuracy was nowhere near that.

It has only been less than ten days, and you have already reached the level that I could only achieve after years of practice. I'm afraid it won't be long before your archery skills surpass mine.

Such archery talent is something we have never heard of before.

"The Kaiyuan Bow is still too heavy. After firing ten arrows in a row, my arm is starting to feel weak."

Lu Chen walked to the sunshade that had been set up not far away, picked up a piece of chilled watermelon from the icebox on the table, and took a bite.

"You all take the boys to practice first, Qin Fang stays behind."

Lu Chen intentionally had his subordinates practice archery.

What he needed to hide was his telekinetic power; his archery and dart throwing were merely tools to conceal this true trump card. Naturally, he needed to find a plausible reason to let his subordinates know.

Moreover, the back garden of Lu Chen's residence could only accommodate a small shooting range of thirty paces. If one wanted to practice the Kaiyuan War Bow with a fifty-pace target, one would have to go to the training ground of the Hundred Households Office.

At a distance of thirty paces, a shortbow can only kill unarmored targets, but it is ineffective against armored enemies. It cannot even penetrate leather armor, let alone iron armor.

The Kaiyuan Bow is completely different. Lu Chen has personally tested it. When fired from a full bow, it can pierce through two layers of iron armor at a distance of thirty paces, and even at a distance of fifty paces, it can still break through one layer of iron armor.

Lu Chen felt that if he ever needed to lead his men into battle, he would still need to master the Kaiyuan Heavy Bow.

With a pulling force exceeding 100 jin, this is a powerful bow truly used in battle. Lu Chen cannot fully draw it using only his mental power; he can only reduce the pulling force by about half.

It's roughly equivalent to using a short bow without the aid of telekinesis.

Maintaining a fully drawn bow requires 50 to 60 pounds of arm strength; it's impossible to release an arrow without any arm tremor.

However, it is still possible to fine-tune the aiming angle using telekinesis.

With the physical sensations he had developed over the past few days using telekinesis to control the short bow at his own small shooting range, Lu Chen found that he was making rapid progress when he began to truly practice the Kaiyuan Battle Bow.

In just a few days, he was able to hit the bullseye half the time when shooting at a target 30 paces away, and he could hit the bullseye 20% of the time when shooting at a target 50 paces away.

Moreover, even at a distance of fifty paces, it can hit the target every time.

In actual combat, even slightly off-target arrows can still be lethal; it's just that the point of impact is slightly off.

While this result is still quite different from that of a shortbow that can be completely controlled by telekinesis and hit a target almost every time at a distance of thirty paces, it is already ready for practical use.

Although his archery talent seemed exceptionally strong, it was still within the limits of ordinary humans.

In addition, given the gradual progress made over the past few days, it's not difficult for his subordinates to accept him.

"Qin Fang, it's so hot, have a slice of chilled watermelon."

After the other subordinates left, Lu Chen pointed to the ice jar on the table.

"During the last swordsmanship competition, I noticed you were the only one using dual swords, and your swordsmanship style was completely different from everyone else's. I wonder where you learned it from?"

"Thank you for your generous gift, Commander Xie."

Qin Fang did not immediately go to get the watermelon.

"This dual-sword technique of mine was passed down from my late father."

To be honest, my father was not originally a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In his early years, he had joined a gang of outlaws and did some things that violated the law.

Later, my father met the young Lord Gao. Under Lord Gao's influence, my father resolutely abandoned the darkness and turned to the light, and followed Lord Gao from then on. Over the years, he has made some small contributions.

Lord Gao also betrothed his cousin to my late father, who is also my mother.

After Gao Daren was promoted to commander of a thousand, my father also rose through the ranks to become a captain.

As expected, Qin Fang's background was indeed different from the others.

During the last martial arts competition, even though Lu Chen was completely ignorant about martial arts, he could tell at a glance that Qin Fang's martial arts style was completely different from the others.

Neither the double-sword technique nor the fist and foot skills seem to be common in the military.

Moreover, he was clearly more skilled; Qin Fang won the swordsmanship competition and also came in third in the fist and foot combat competition.

Although he spoke in a high-sounding manner, Lu Chen easily uncovered the truth of the matter.

His deceased father was a notorious bandit who frequented gangs in his early years.

Later, for some reason, possibly even after being captured by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he surrendered to the young Gao Mingqian and, with his martial arts skills, became Gao Mingqian's confidant.

In an effort to win him over, Gao Mingqian even arranged for his cousin to marry him.

In that case, this person should know a lot about gangs and would probably tell his son some of it.

These are conditions that ordinary sons of Imperial Guards do not possess.

Currently, the only clue about internal energy is the Chang Le Society, but unfortunately it is too far away and dangerous for Lu Chen to contact right now.

If one had to find someone among their subordinates who might know something about internal energy, Qin Fang would be the only one suitable.

"So you've been practicing your family's traditional swordsmanship."

Lu Chen nodded.

Did your father ever tell you anything about internal energy before he passed away?