If he was lucky, he would be able to shoot two birds with one arrow, but to kill a fly from a hundred steps away was impossible for him. The fly was too small. Normal people could not even see the fly from a hundred steps away.
The archery contest ended there. The winner was decided.
"The winner of this archery contest is Zhao Feng." Zhao Yufei quickly recovered from the shock and gave Zhao Feng a complex look.
This was her first time seriously sizing up Zhao Feng. The youth she saw was confident and had an appeal that surpassed many people of the same age.
"I can leave now, no?" Zhao Feng walked towards the outside.
The crowd automatically opened a path for him. Zhao Feng's archery skills subdued them; even Zhao Yui could say nothing.
After he walked out of the archery field, Zhao Feng let out a long breath. Today's archery session benefitted him a lot.
As soon as Zhao Feng walked out of the archery field, cruel laughter sounded in front of him.
"Hahaha…Zhao Feng, I finally found you!" As soon as the words finished, three youths blocked Zhao Feng's way.
The youth at the front had thick eyebrows and had a confident face. It was Zhao Kun!
"Little bastard, last time I lost to you. This time I am going to make you lose and beg for forgiveness." Zhao Kun licked his lips, and his eyes had a certain amount of deadliness in them.
This time he was going to beat Zhao Feng fair and square, and also humiliate him. Only because he lost to Zhao Feng in one move last time and felt humiliated...
Zhao Feng found that the two helpers Zhao Kun brought were both at the second rank of and were there to stop him from escaping.
"Sister Yufei, that Zhao Feng seems to have some trouble," one of the girls at Zhao Yufei's side said.
At this time, most of the people from the archery field saw the scene that was occurring.
Zhao Yui had a gloating expression on his face.
However, in front of these matters, Zhao Feng felt no fear and swiftly said, "Make your move."
Chapter 09 – Peak of the Second Rank
"Make your move."
Zhao Kun felt like he had heard wrong, was this the same Zhao Feng as before?
Yi!
The moment his vision landed on Zhao Feng, his expressed changed. "No wonder you're so confident. It looks like you've broken through to the second rank of the Martial Path. However, if that's all you've got, then you'd better start begging for forgiveness now."
Zhao Kun felt a little surprised by Zhao Feng being second rank, but it didn't affect his plans. That was because Zhao Feng had reached the second rank very recently, and Zhao Kun himself had reached the peak of the second rank almost a year ago.
He also had high ranked martial art skills!
"Please stop chattering, my time is limited," Zhao Feng coldly said.
"Kid! Don't be arrogant!"
Zhao Kun suddenly turned his four limbs and body into a familiar and still weird stance, and like a poisonous snake lunged towards Zhao Feng.
In a flash, Zhao Kun used his Thirteen Changes of the Poisonous Snake. In terms of speed and power, he far exceeded Zhao Feng.
"Zhao Kun has probably already trained the Thirteen Changes of the Poisonous Snake to a low level." On the archery field, Zhao Yufei had a moved and slightly shocked face. Being one of the sect geniuses, she obviously had major support from the sect and so naturally had access to high-rank martial art skills.
The higher the rank of skill was, the harder it was to train in it. Once a high-rank skill had been trained to the low level, it would have more power than a middle-ranked skill trained to a high level.
What speed! The damage is at least fifty percent higher than before! Zhao Feng was also surprised by Zhao Kun, but his left eye's reaction speed could still see the route of Zhao Kun's move.
Angry Dragon was flipping the River! Zhao Feng stomped both feet downwards. Under the Air Pushing Breathing Technique, he put power into both of his arms.
Zhao Kun suddenly realized that his opponent's power was rapidly increasing. He became more shocked as Zhao Feng put even more power into Angry Dragon flipping the River.
The third stance of Angry Dragon Fists – Angry Dragon flipping the Rivers!
At that moment, Zhao Feng was like a dragon as his fists punched downwards.
Peh!
The first punch made Zhao Kun's body shudder and almost caused him to spit out blood.
His Thirteen Changes of the Poisonous Snake was about cunningness and flexibility. Its forte wasn't in fighting straight on. Zhao Feng's fists felt like they knew where he was going to move and always hit his weak spots.
Peh peh peh ——
Using Air Pushing Breathing Technique, Zhao Feng had already trained Angry Dragon flipping the River" to high level.
"Ahhhhh…!" Zhao Kun was hit by the outstanding power and landed on the ground, kneeling. His arms felt numb, and blood was leaking from his mouth.
"You've lost." Zhao Feng left without another glance at Zhao Kun or his two helpers.
As they'd fought, Zhao Feng had used his left eye and clearly recognized Zhao Kun's obvious attacking routes. He had also seen some errors in Zhao Kun's high-rank martial art, which meant that it was yet to be perfected.
Zhao Feng felt that Angry Dragon Fists and Air Pushing Breathing Technique complemented one another to an unimaginable degree. He could probably beat some third rank people.
"How is this possible…my skill is a high ranked one!" Zhao Kun crawled on the ground and screamed.
The whole fight only lasted for two breaths.
One move! Zhao Kun lost!
The disciples in the archery field looked on in shock.
Although they had the same rank, to win in one move was too exaggerated, especially when the loser had used a high-rank skill.
As she followed Zhao Feng away with her eyes, Zhao Yufei murmured, "I know Angry Dragon Fists, it's a powerful move within the sect and could be comparable to high ranked skills, but it is very hard to learn. I think he also trains in another skill and used it with Angry Dragon Fists, which allowed the power to almost double."
"Sister Yufei, how did Zhao Kun lose when his cultivation and skill were both higher?" a girl next to her asked.
"Moves are dead, but people are alive. Zhao Kun's use of the Thirteen Changes of the Poisonous Snake was extremely bad, and he has only learned the first three moves, which is far off from his older brother Zhao Gan. Also, his battle awareness is nowhere near that of Zhao Fengs." Zhao Yufei then paused for a bit before she said, "Also, Zhao Feng has learned two skills that are very close to being highly ranked ones, and trained them to a very high level. Under the usage of those two skills, his strength exceeded that of Zhao Kun."
After the girl listened to Zhao Yu Fei's analysis, she exclaimed, "Zhao Feng is so strong!"
"Haha…apparently Zhao Kun's brother Zhao Gan is ranked fifth amongst the outer disciples. We just do not know if he will help his brother take revenge."
"So much trouble!"
Zhao Feng shook his head and left the martial arts field. It wasn't long before he arrived at an open forest in the sect.
He came here to train in the most mysterious footwork skill – Lightly Floating Ferry.
Lightly Floating Ferry was, without a doubt, the skill with the highest rank amongst those he had. The problem was that it was partially ruined and was very hard to learn.
"When Angry Dragon Fists and Air Pushing Breathing Technique are used together the damage is awesome. I just do not know how good Lightly Floating Ferry will be." Zhao Feng was full of expectations.
Immediately, he started to meditate on Lightly Floating Ferry. When he concentrated, the faint green glow inside his left eye's pitch-black dimension spun faster and faster.
Zhao Feng felt that Lightly Floating Ferry's moves were burned into his mind, which made it easier for him to understand them. It was not
as simple to learn as Angry Dragon Fists or Air Pushing Breathing Technique.
"Lightly Floating Ferry is harder to learn than a peak middle ranked skill by at least two or three times…" he concluded after he compared the skills.
Although it was hard, it did not stump him. Zhao Feng only needed three days to understand the first quarter of the Light Floating Ferry at a beginner's standard.
He only used six days to achieve the beginner level.
Normal skills had four ranks that depended on how well trained one was in it. These were: Beginner, Low, High, and Peak level.
Beginner level equaled thirty percent of the maximum power of the skill.
Low level equaled fifty percent.
High level equaled seventy percent.
Peak level equaled ninety percent or higher.
Zhao Feng had easily trained Angry Dragon Fists to High level.
Lightly Floating Ferry had been trained to beginner level in the same amount of time, but it was only the first quarter of the skill.
Sou!
Zhao Feng's body flashed, his body as light as a bird as he floated five meters up in the air.
Teng! Teng!
His feet pushed off the branches and felt fabulous as he flew.
At that moment, Zhao Feng was like a bird happily flying through the forest.
I have only trained Lightly Floating Ferry to the beginner level, but the speed of it far surpasses most middle ranked skills that have been trained to a high level.
It could be seen that Lightly Floating Ferry far exceeded most high ranked martial art skills!
When there was extra time, Zhao Feng did not forget to decipher the rest of the book slowly. Now he had translated half of the total book. The only problem was that it took a lot of mental energy to do so.
After Lightly Floating Ferry reached a beginner level, Zhao Feng started to train in Angry Dragon Fists and Air Pushing Breathing Technique again. This was because Lightly Floating Ferry only helped with his footwork and didn't increase his cultivation much, even though it was a high-rank martial art skill.
After training in a high-rank skill such as Lightly Floating Ferry and then going back to training Angry Dragon Fists and Air Pushing Breathing Technique, Zhao Feng felt that his movements had become easier and smoother.
After two days...
Air Pushing Breathing Technique had broken through to its third level, and Angry Dragon Fists had reached the peak level.
At this time, Zhao Feng closed his eyes and felt the power that coursed through his body. His strength was greater than when he first reached the second rank by more than half. Inside his left eye's dimension, the radius of the faint green glow had extended from 67cm to 98cm.
"It looks like my cultivation has reached the peak of the second rank. I just need one more step to break through into the third rank." Zhao Feng took a deep breath and controlled his excitement.
It had only been half a month since he reached the second rank. This cultivation speed was just too surprising!
The thing that made him most astonished was the Air Pushing Breathing Technique as it reached the third level. Once Air Pushing Breathing Technique reached the peak of the third level, there was a chance to understand Martial Path Inner Strength, chi, and that was the key point for becoming a true Martial Artist.
Zhao Feng never expected that he would reach the third level of Air Pushing Breathing Technique this fast. This made his strength far surpass the others who were also in the second rank. He could now be compared to a third rank!
By only using half a month, Zhao Feng's strength had doubled. All of this was due to the mysterious eye.
Zhao Feng believed that his once normal destiny was changing…
That night, Zhao Feng started to set his life goals.
His first goal was to perform well at the family sparring contest one and a half months in the future. At that time, he would fairly and squarely beat Zhao Yijian and spar with the true geniuses of Sun Feather City.
"The change in my left eye grants me a high level of understanding, and the only thing stopping me from becoming a genius in the sect is…cultivation resources," Zhao Feng analyzed.
Since he merged with his left eye, his mental energy and analysis speed had increased. He also became calmer and steadier.
The only problem was, how to gain cultivation resources? Zhao Feng's cultivation speed was fast, but it was still hard to break past the peak of the second rank. However, if he had enough resources, this barrier could be easily broken through.
"Got it!" Zhao Feng's eyes twinkled, and soon he had an idea. His lips curled into a confident smile.
Chapter 10 - Sky Cloud Forest
Night, inside a fancy building at the Zhao Sect...
“Elder brother! You’ve got to help me! Zhao Feng is just a lowly branch disciple, and he made me lose face!” Zhao Kun bit his teeth and said with murderous intent. He had lost twice in a row to a branch disciple; he did not have the face to leave his house.
“Trash!”
Inside the room sat a slim, leopard-like, short-haired youth. This was Zhao Kun’s older brother, Zhao Gan.
“Elder brother, I am begging you. You have got to help me.”
Zhao Kun was full of fear and hatred.
He was afraid of his brother. Ever since he was born, Zhao Gan had bullied him. He felt useless as Zhao Gan was always better than him at everything.
Zhao Gan had now reached the peak of the third rank of the Martial Path and had already trained the Thirteen Changes of the Poisonous Snake to the sixth change, which allowed for him to rank in the top 5 of the outer sect disciples.
Even five Zhao Kuns weren’t his brother’s opponent.
The morning of the next day...
Zhao Feng got out of bed early and started to practice Angry Dragon Fists and Air Pushing Breathing Technique. These two martial art skills were the ones that Zhao Feng mainly trained in.
“I still have some way until I reach the third rank of the Martial Path.”
Zhao Feng practiced for half an hour and acted on yesterday's plans, walking towards the money room of the sect.
According to the rules, Zhao Feng could get ten pieces of silver per month.
I haven’t taken this month’s money yet. Zhao Feng soon arrived at the money room.
“Zhao Feng, second rank of the Martial Path, branch disciple, monthly money of twenty silver,” the accountant said expressionlessly.
Twenty pieces of silver? Zhao Feng took the money and gave his thanks. After reaching the second rank, his monthly allowance had doubled.
Although a monthly allowance of twenty silver could let a whole family eat and sleep without worrying, it was nothing for martial artists. Some expensive cultivation resources that could increase one’s cultivation speed and help break through realms easily exceeded thousands of pieces of silver. Any of the resource-rich disciples ate casually and exceeded thirty years of normal disciples’ allowances.
“Twenty pieces of silver…”
Zhao Feng took a deep breath and holding his silver, left the Zhao sects territory and headed towards the market of Sun Feather City.
He used to give the money he got to his parents to help them out. This time, however, he did not do that. Instead, he took the silver and left.
Soon after, Zhao Feng stepped into Sun Feather’s City’s largest market.
A weapon’s shop in the city...
“Shopkeeper, how much is this Heavy Metal Bow?” Zhao Feng finally decided after taking a long time.
“This Heavy Metal Bow is extremely powerful. It can shoot up to one hundred and fifty meters. Twenty pieces of silver, no bargaining,” the shopkeeper said as he smiled. He had seen the Zhao sect symbol on Zhao Feng’s clothes.
In Sun Feather City the Zhao sect, Qiu sect, and the Xin sect were the three largest families and had total dominance within the city.
“Twenty pieces of
silver?”
Zhao Feng raised his eyebrow and deeply said, “Can it be a little cheaper?”
The shopkeeper smiled faintly. “Fine, I will give you the lowest price, eighteen pieces of silver.”
“Fifteen! I am low on money, but when I get more, I will double the money and give it to you,” Zhao Feng said honestly.
“Fifteen pieces? That’s probably a bit low; there is almost no profit…” The shopkeeper seemed to have a little difficulty, but upon seeing the honesty in Zhao Feng’s eyes, he bit his lip. “Fine, hopefully, you keep your promise because this shop is also under the Zhao sect’s territory.”
“Thank you,” Zhao Feng said gratefully. He never realized that this shop was under the Zhao sect.
Quickly, Zhao Feng bought the bow at a price of fifteen silver and also bought some arrows and food with the remainder of his cash. He had no money left.
“Hopefully I won’t fail…” Zhao Feng murmured to himself, and soon after left Sun Feather City.
Teng!
As soon as he left Sun Feather City, Zhao Feng used Lightly Floating Ferry to move. His speed was even faster than most normal horses.
Two hours later, Zhao Feng arrived at his destination, the Sky Cloud Forest.
The Sky Cloud Forest was the County of Clouds’ biggest forest. Its area extended into over ten other countries.
Being the largest forest of the surrounding countries, the Sky Cloud Forest had many dangerous wild beasts, and near the center of it there were high-level deadly beasts.
Deadly beasts were far stronger than wild beasts. They had been affected by spiritual energy and had therefore slowly changed into powerful beings. A few strong, deadly beasts could easily destroy a village. Only true Martial Artists could fight them.
Zhao Feng came to the forest, obviously not to try finding deadly beasts as he still wanted to live. His goal was simple, hunting to earn money!
Some strong wild beasts inside the Sky Cloud Forest had expensive furs and other materials. A fully-grown bear could sell for two to three hundred silver.
King of Gods - (A Chinese Novel Translation): Book 1 Page 6
