The Great King Yellow Wind narrowed his eyes. He removed the bow from his back, nocked his last White Bone Arrow, and aimed at the Red Viper.
Nearby, a pile of freshly carved wooden arrows lay at his feet.
The Grey Falcon glanced over, surprised. "Since when did this rat learn to use a bow?"
But it didn't take the rat seriously.
The Red Viper, however, was alarmed. It had experienced the deadly power of arrows before and went berserk, attacking the Grey Falcon wildly in an attempt to escape.
The Grey Falcon refused to let it go, blocking its every move. Their fierce battle ravaged the forest, reducing the land to dust and rubble.
On the Ridge
The Great King Yellow Wind steadied his breath, bowstring drawn tight.
In front of him, the Red Viper and Grey Falcon were locked in combat.
The Red Viper's desperate counterattack began to overwhelm the Grey Falcon.
The falcon cried out, "Rat! What are you waiting for? Kill it already!"
"Alright!"
The Great King Yellow Wind focused entirely, activating his Critical Strike ability.
Weak points shimmered into view: one on the Red Viper, another on the Grey Falcon.
But he waited.
Waited for the right moment.
Suddenly, he saw it.
That fleeting instant.
He released the string.
Whoosh!
The White Bone Arrow shot forward with a roar like a tiger and a crack like thunder, glowing with a sinister light as it streaked through the air like a meteor.
The Red Viper and the Grey Falcon had momentarily overlapped during their struggle, their weak points aligning perfectly.
The Red Viper, alert as it was, couldn't evade. Trapped in the melee, it faced an impossible choice: an arrow or a spear.
Besides, the arrow was too fast.
By the time the sound reached them, the arrow had already struck.
Thud! Thud!
Two dull impacts.
The White Bone Arrow pierced through the Red Viper's scaled armor, skewering its body, and struck the unsuspecting Grey Falcon on the other side.
The attack was too clever.
The Red Viper's body had concealed the arrow's trajectory, and the Grey Falcon neither saw it coming nor anticipated its devastating power.
It tore through both targets effortlessly.
Moreover, the Great King Yellow Wind's focus on the Red Viper had concealed his intent toward the Grey Falcon, lulling it into complacency during their prolonged battle.
One Arrow, Two Kills!
The arrow embedded itself in the Grey Falcon, then exploded, shattering into bone shards that ripped open a bloody cavity in its chest.
The Red Viper and the Grey Falcon collapsed, gravely wounded and glaring at the Great King Yellow Wind with fury.
The Grey Falcon cursed bitterly, "Damnable rat!"
Ignoring the insult, the Great King Yellow Wind grabbed a crude wooden arrow and infused it with demonic energy, transforming it into a weapon as sturdy as steel.
Whoosh!
The wooden arrow flew toward the Grey Falcon, who mustered the strength to parry with its spear. The impact left the falcon trembling, shaken by the sheer force.
"How does this rat have such power?!"
The Grey Falcon was rattled. It had fought the Great King Yellow Wind's parents before and couldn't recall them ever displaying such strength.
"Together!" it yelled, dragging its injured body toward the Great King Yellow Wind with the Red Viper.
The Great King Yellow Wind kept his distance, retreating while firing arrow after arrow.
His movements grew faster, and an epiphany dawned upon him—a newfound mastery of archery.
[Trait Unlocked: Hundred-Yard Precision (Blue)!]
The Great King Yellow Wind froze in surprise.
"A new trait? And it's blue?"
[Hundred-Yard Precision (Blue): Within a hundred yards, your archery is flawless. Beyond that, accuracy decreases by 10% for every additional hundred yards.]
He gasped. "So powerful!"
This meant his effective range extended up to a thousand yards!
And this was only a blue trait. If upgraded to red or purple, it would be even more formidable.
With the trait enhancing his skill, his shots became unnervingly precise.
Almost effortlessly, he shot wherever his thoughts directed.
Thud!
The aging Grey Falcon took several hits. Exhausted and bleeding, it reverted to its true falcon form and tried to flee.
The Great King Yellow Wind nocked another arrow, aimed for the bleeding wound at the base of the falcon's wing, and let it fly.
With a pitiful cry, the Grey Falcon tumbled from the sky.
The Red Viper shrank its body, hoping to reduce its target size. It exhaled a cloud of demonic fog, but drained of energy, it couldn't get far before collapsing.
The Great King Yellow Wind caught up and shot its eye with another arrow. Then, he drew his blade and engaged it in close combat, exchanging dozens of blows before decapitating it.
Without a soul-protecting artifact like a Moonstone, the Red Viper's demonic spirit was dragged unwillingly into the underworld.
[You have slain the demon Red Viper and plundered its trait: Devour (Blue). Do you wish to fuse?]
[Devour (Blue): By consuming external substances, you can strengthen your bloodline, accelerate cultivation, or heal wounds.]
The Great King Yellow Wind nodded.
"No wonder its bloodline was so pure. It must have devoured countless other demons."
"Fuse!"
Pain like thunder erupted in his stomach, spreading through his entire body. He clenched his jaw.
It felt as if a dragon was rampaging inside him, pounding his organs.
The agony passed quickly, leaving him feeling invigorated.
A fierce hunger gripped him.
The Great King Yellow Wind glanced at the Red Viper's corpse but decided to save it for later.
He rushed to where the Grey Falcon had fallen.
The falcon lay dying, blood pooling around it.
From a hundred yards away, the Great King Yellow Wind readied his bow.
The Grey Falcon sighed, dropping its spear. "You're as cautious as your parents."
The Great King Yellow Wind smirked. "If you hadn't lured the Buddhists to my parents, they wouldn't have disappeared."
The Grey Falcon sighed again. "Fate is cruel. I'm dying, so I'll tell you a secret from back then."
Still wary, the Great King Yellow Wind kept his distance.
The Grey Falcon continued, "My lord is the Golden-Winged Roc of Mount Ling. I was stationed here under its orders."
The Great King Yellow Wind's eyes narrowed.
"So, you're a lackey of Mount Ling—a lapdog for the bald monks."
The falcon's gaze dimmed.
"You don't understand. We had no choice. This was the only way to preserve a fragment of our kind."
"If we hadn't submitted, the heavens would have eradicated us. Do you think any demons would have survived?"
The Great King Yellow Wind sneered.
"Call it what you want. Submission is still submission. A lackey is a lackey."
The Grey Falcon ignored him.
"Listen carefully. A great calamity is coming. A monk from the Eastern Lands will journey westward to retrieve the scriptures.
"By enduring this tribulation, our kind may seize a chance to rise again. If you can accumulate merit during the calamity, you might achieve immortality or even ascend to divinity."
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]