Chapter 2279: Archery
There were only 5,000 Ampliofruits and Altofruits in the entire universe.
They took root and sprouted in 500 years, and took another 500 years to blossom and mature.
After one consumes the fruit at the Celestial-Hunting Festival, one can replant the seed. Only after 1,000 years could another 5,000 of the fruits grow out.
Whoosh
In the upper reaches of Destiny’s Creek, the banquet food was placed among the sacred flowers and floated down along the current.
The first dish was Ampliofruit.
The Ampliofruit looked like a ball-shaped jade bead. It was sparkling and dripping, and the fragrance of the fruit was overflowing. It glittered in the sacred flower, and the precepts of heaven and earth naturally revolved around it, forming a vortex that could not be seen by the naked eye.
“I can finally taste the legendary Ampliofruit. I hope that I can use it to cultivate the star-slaying saber technique to great success.”
“Will my vitality add 3,000 years more after I eat it? Then I will have more time than other cultivators to break into the Divine Realm in the future.”
“Adding 100 million precepts in an instant will improve my cultivation greatly.”
…
All the Supreme Saints looked over. Their eyes were burning like fire, and their hearts were filled with anticipation.
The ten seats of honor at the most upper reaches of the river quickly picked out the ten highest quality Ampliofruits.
Then, the Ampliofruits flowed along with the current and entered the 10 main creeks, then the fruit came to Zhang Ruochen.
“Keep.”
With a wave of his hand, Zhang Ruochen used his Saint Qi to take the two saint flowers containing the Ampliofruit and flew to the jade table.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the pale-faced Xue Tu and said, “Junior Brother, I’ll keep this Ampliofruit for you first. I’ll return it to you after the duel. Any objection?”
Of course, Xue Tu had objections.
Zhang Ruochen agreeing to duel with Lord Sinluo was no different from giving away the Ampliofruit for free.
‘Arrogant, imperious, and blindly confident. Zhang Ruochen, you’re courting death. Why did you bring me along? Who did I offend? I just want to eat an Ampliofruit at the Celestial-Hunting Festival. My 3,000 years of vitality… sigh… ‘
Xue Tu thought of Zhang Ruochen’s peerless cultivation, and his remaining will to resist also disappeared. He could only swallow his anger.
Xue Tu could only regard that he had fed the Ampliofruit to dogs.
Some of the Supreme Saints next to Xue Tu looked at him sympathetically, while others mocked him mercilessly. They all thought that Xue Tu had met with an unexpected disaster. He had been tricked too miserably by Zhang Ruochen this time.
Lord Sinluo was a top-tier superior of the Deathkin. He had great influence. After promising benefits to the two Deathkin Supreme Saints, he had successfully collected three Ampliofruits.
In the eyes of all cultivators, Lord Sinluo was bound to win. Naturally, the two Supreme Saints of the Deathkin also thought so.
That was why they were willing to do Lord Sinluo a favor.
The battle between Lord Sinluo and Zhang Ruochen attracted the attention of all cultivators. Many of them were talking about it, while some were sneering, thinking that Zhang Ruochen would suffer a double loss.
“Zhang Ruochen doesn’t understand the rules of the Celestial-Hunting Festival, does he? How dare he agree to the duel with Lord Sinluo? Does he think that the duel is a competition of combat power?”
“Lord Sinluo is the third strongest among the Deathkin. Even if it’s a competition of combat power, Zhang Ruochen is still far from it.”
“Zhang Ruochen’s talent may be at the top level, but he’s too confident. Only the courage of a boorish man can make a big difference. In comparison, Yan Wushen is brave and resourceful. The gap between the two was tremendous.”
…
Gu Chenzi, Supreme Saint Yi Xuan, Supreme Saint Xueqi, Lord Xia Yu, and even Luo Sha all secretly transmitted their voices to Zhang Ruochen. They told him the rules of the duel and advised him not to agree. However, Zhang Ruochen ignored them and showed a determined attitude.
Lady Wind was even more confused. After all, she had already told Zhang Ruochen the rules of the duel.
No matter how impulsive Zhang Ruochen was, he shouldn’t have done it knowing that he would lose, right?
Lord Sinluo smiled brightly and said, “I admire your courage, Supreme Saint Ruochen! However, you have to understand that the way of the duel is decided by the challenger.”
Lord Sinluo paused deliberately. He thought that Zhang Ruochen would be shocked and even go back on his words. If that was the case, he would naturally have other means to make Zhang Ruochen lose face, and he would have to continue to compete with him.
Unfortunately, Zhang Ruochen’s expression remained unchanged. He just quietly waited for Lord Sinluo to continue.
This made Lord Sinluo tense up. He felt that it was very unusual. Thinking that he would never lose and he calmed himself down again.
“For this duel, let’s compete in Archery.”
Lord Sinluo took out a stringless divine tree bow and it’s shaped like a dragon bone. It was about 27 meters long and emitted cold air. Clearly, it wasn’t an ordinary bow.
Gu Chenzi and Supreme Saint Yi Xuan seemed to have guessed that Lord Sinluo wanted to compete in Archery. They looked at each other and sighed. They knew that Zhang Ruochen would definitely lose.
Lord Sinluo specialized in Archery and he combined a Grade Four Archery Saintwill—Pinpoint Piercing Saintwill.
In the entire Infernal Court, Lord Sinluo could be said to be the top-notch Archery Supreme Saint below the Thousand-Koan Realm.
There were only a handful of Supreme Saints in the Thousand-Koan Realm who could compete with Lord Sinluo in archery.
On the other hand, Zhang Ruochen’s specialization had nothing to do with archery.
Besides that, there had to be a peerless bow to compete in Archery.
Lord Sinluo’s Frostwood Bow was made from the center of the trunk of a divine tree. It was the best material in the world. Moreover, it was a precious Three Element Regal Artifact. When its power was fully unleashed, it could shoot down the stars in the sky from thousands of miles away.
Did Zhang Ruochen have such a bow?
Lord Sinluo thought that victory was within his grasp, he smiled and said, “If Supreme Saint Ruochen doesn’t have a bow, I can lend you one. However, I only have one bow of the Regal Artifact-class. I can only lend you a bow of the Thousand-Inscription Sacred Artifact-class.”
“No need. I have one.”
Countless cultivators were shocked as Zhang Ruochen summoned the Azuresky Bow and the Whitesun Arrow.
Zhang Ruochen was holding the bow in one hand and the arrow in the other, then his temperament changed greatly. He was full of vigor and a strong sense of confidence.
Zhang Ruochen had been cultivating in seclusion for decades. He had read a lot of books with his Spirits, including the detailed information of every cultivator at the Celestial-Hunting Festival.
Only by knowing yourself and your enemy, you will never be defeated.
Zhang Ruochen even knew the rules of the duel. He had pretended not to know it just to numb Lord Sinluo. Therefore, Zhang Ruochen had expected Lord Sinluo to propose an Archery competition.
If a Supreme Saint who had cultivated Archery to the extreme could not compete with Archery, what could he compete with?
“It seems that Zhang Ruochen is not completely unprepared. The bow and arrows he took out are not ordinary Artifacts. Most of them have reached the class of a Regal Artifact.”
“With a bow and arrows, can he compete with the Lord Sinluo? Archery is not that simple.”
“Archery not only involves shooting an arrow, but also tests a cultivator’s strength, eyesight, judgment, arrow intent, and so on. These skills require long hours of cultivation with the Precepts of Archery and the Archery Saintwill to reach the most perfect level. If Zhang Ruochen has not been immersed in Archery for more than 100 years, competing with Lord Sinluo in Archery is just asking for trouble.”
Lord Sinluo didn’t think that Zhang Ruochen had a chance to win either. He walked toward Supreme Saint Yanhong with more confidence than Zhang Ruochen and said, “To be fair and just, please set a target for us, Supreme Saint Yanhong.”
Supreme Saint Yanhong belonged to the Bone Clan, which was a different clan from Lord Sinluo and Zhang Ruochen.
At the same time, Lord Sinluo supported Pan Ruo, while Zhang Ruochen supported Lady Wind, who was on the opposite side of Supreme Saint Yanhong.
It seemed fair for her to set the target, but it was actually unfair to Zhang Ruochen.
After all, Supreme Saint Yanhong had publicly said that she wanted to kill Zhang Ruochen.
Just as Supreme Saint Yanhong was about to agree, Yan Wushen stood up and laughed. He said, “Since Supreme Saint Yanhong is in such a difficult position, why don’t I set a more difficult target for the two of you?”
Supreme Saint Yanhong was actually very willing to help Lord Sinluo. However, Yan Wushen had already taken the initiative to suggest it. If she refused, it would undoubtedly embarrass Yan Wushen.
There was no need to offend Yan Wushen for the sake of Lord Sinluo.
Hence, Supreme Saint Yanhong said, “Since Lord Yan is so interested, Lord Sinluo, why don’t you ask him for help?”
Of course, Lord Sinluo could not refuse. He could only smile and nod at Yan Wushen.
Everyone in the Celestial and Infernal Court knew about the fight between Yan Wushen and Zhang Ruochen, so there was no need to worry that he would side with Zhang Ruochen.
Yan Wushen took out a translucent crystal talisman. It was about an inch long and very delicate, he said, “Both of you are Supreme Saints. A normal Archery contest would not be difficult for you. The more difficult the task, the better. The talisman in my hand is the lowest grade Interstellar Communication Talisman. The furthest distance can be traveled at an infinitely close speed to the speed of light for a day, which is about tens of billions of miles.
“Next, I will activate it and shoot it out.”
“Whoever can shoot it with an arrow will be the winner.”
Of course, Lord Sinluo hoped that the difficulty would be higher. However, Yan Wushen’s task could not be called difficult. No Supreme Saint could do it.
“Lord Yan, once the Communication Talisman passes the acceleration stage, its speed will be completely unleashed. No arrows can catch up to it. Furthermore, no Supreme Saint can shoot an arrow tens of billions of miles away,” said Lord Sinluo.
Yan Wushen said unhappily, “If an ordinary Supreme Saint can do it, why would I use it to test you?”
Lord Sinluo did not continue to say anything. After all, he was the one who suggested the duel and he was the one who elected Yan Wushen as the taskmaster. At that moment, if he continued to argue, it would only show that he was not decisive enough and did not have the courage.
Moreover, it was not that he did not have the opportunity.
As long as Lord Sinluo seized the moment when the Communication Talisman was accelerating, there was still a chance to shoot it through.
Yan Wushen said, “Forget it. Seeing that you are so reluctant, I will reduce the difficulty for you. I will shoot this Interstellar Communication Talisman towards a desolate asteroid in the sky above the Divine Domain of Destiny.”
“If you can not shoot the Communication Talisman, whoever shoots through that asteroid first will win.”
“Remember, shoot through, not hit.”
“Besides, I won’t tell you which asteroid it is. You have to judge it by your own ability.”
Yan Wushen activated the Communication Talisman without any warning and shot it out.
The talisman turned into a light beam and flew to the sky.
Before most cultivators could react, Lord Sinluo and Zhang Ruochen drew their bows almost at the same time and pointed their arrows at the sky.
It could be seen that the two of them were extremely quick to react.
The Communication Talisman was too small and too fast.
Moreover, it became faster after every moment.
Lord Sinluo was indeed the top-notch Archery Supreme Saint in the Infernal Court. Almost at the moment when Yan Wushen shot out the Communication Talisman, a Divine Tree Arrow flew out at its tail.
It was as if Lord Sinluo didn’t aim at all. He shot the arrow based on feeling.
After that, a smile appeared on Lord Sinluo’s face. The victory was within his grasp.
“I’m far inferior to Lord Sinluo in Archery.”
Zhang Ruochen had never aimed at the Communication Talisman. He couldn’t do that.
Zhang Ruochen was aiming at the Divine Tree Arrow shot by Lord Sinluo.
The moment Lord Sinluo let go of the arrow, Zhang Ruochen activated The Spatial Domain and felt the space fluctuation of the Divine Tree Arrow as it flew rapidly. He then shot the Whitesun Arrow..