Chapter 899: Chapter 37 Batron Section_3
Xuan Yue’s interest was piqued, and she kept shaking Ah Dai’s hand, saying, "You should try it, the reward is fifty Gold Coins."
Ah Dai scratched his head and hesitated, "But, but Yue Yue, I don’t know how to shoot a bow at all! There’s no way I can win any reward." Indeed, he had never even touched a bow, let alone shoot an arrow.
Xuan Yue was persistent, "Nobody is born knowing everything, how will you know if you don’t try? Just give it a try, treat it like a game. If I could pull a bow, I would want to try as well."
Tubari laughed, "That’s right, young brother, give it a shot. Actually, archery is very simple, you just need to aim at the target, don’t let your hand shake, and shoot the arrow."
Ah Dai initially didn’t want to participate, but the memory of Xuan Yue being distressed earlier due to lack of money flashed through his mind; he clenched his teeth and said, "Alright, I’ll participate. Brother Tubari, please take me to register."
He made a decision that immediately excited Xuan Yue, who clapped her hands and cheered, "Ah Dai is the best, you can definitely do it."
Yan Shi smiled faintly and patted Ah Dai’s shoulder, "Brother, when it’s your turn, pick the heaviest bow. The heavier the bow, the greater the draw weight, and the more stable and straighter the arrow will fly."
Ah Dai acknowledged and hurriedly followed Tubari. Registering for the archery competition was very simple; one only needed to record a name and receive a number. The Yalan tribespeople didn’t make it difficult for Ah Dai because he was a foreigner, instead, they encouraged him to participate. The previous competitors totaled forty-seven, so Ah Dai was the forty-eighth. The preliminary round had already gone through four cycles, and right after Ah Dai registered, the last one was about to begin.
Tubari took Ah Dai to select a bow and arrow. To prevent cheating, competitors were not allowed to bring their own bows and arrows. This was mainly to prevent someone from enhancing their accuracy by using an expensive magic bow.
Looking at the dozens of longbows, Ah Dai was at a loss, not knowing which one to choose. Tubari, not being a competitor, couldn’t come over to help him and had already retreated to where Xuan Yue and Yan Shi stood, watching him from a distance, shouting words of encouragement.
Ah Dai casually picked up a bow, which seemed weightless in his hands. He remembered Yan Shi’s advice about choosing the heaviest bow, so he decided to pick up each bow and weigh it, finding that they got progressively heavier the further back he went. The judge was getting impatient at this point and called out, "Number forty-eight, hurry up. The competition is about to start."
Ah Dai quickly responded and ran to the last row, randomly picked up a dark hard bow, and dashed towards his target. The moment he took the bow, Ah Dai felt satisfied with it. Although the bow wasn’t very large and was somewhat smaller compared to others, its weight seemed to be even heavier than his Tian Gang Sword. The bow’s body and string were both dark, and there didn’t seem to be anything special about it at a glance.
The judge, astonished, watched as Ah Dai ran to his position and said, "Young man, you’re not planning to use this Xuan iron bow, are you? It weighs two hundred pounds; it’s not easy to draw."
Ah Dai looked at the hard bow in his hands and replied, "I, I’ll give it a try, maybe it’ll work." He had no confidence in his archery skills and could only follow Yan Shi’s advice.
The judge nodded and said, "Alright then, I also want to see something new; I’ve never seen anyone able to draw this bow." Even the strongest warriors of the Yalan tribe could only bend the bow into an arc; the sheer weight of the bow was daunting, and without a strength of over five hundred pounds in one’s hands, it was impossible to hold it up, let alone pull it.
"The competition begins, everyone please shoot your ten arrows within twenty minutes."
Although Ah Dai was slow, he had watched Yue Ji practice archery, so he knew how to nock and string an arrow. Pulling an arrow from his quiver, he notched it onto the bowstring, stood solidly with one leg in front of the other, and slowly raised the Xuan iron bow in his hand. Xuan Yue’s cheering continued to reach him, making Ah Dai feel as if his blood was boiling. Two hundred pounds was no big deal for him, he easily lifted the bow to shoulder level, his arm steady without a tremble. His right index, middle, and ring fingers rested on the bowstring, which he gradually pulled back. It was only once he drew the bowstring that he understood why the judge had warned him about the bow’s difficulty. The bowstring’s toughness and hardness were very strong, and without using True Qi, even with his strength, he was only able to pull it into a half-circle. Despite this, the judge and the other contestants were amazed looking at him, having forgotten they were in a competition.
Even when not using True Qi, Ah Dai’s arms were stronger than a thousand pounds, but the fact that he couldn’t draw the bowstring left him stunned, and a competitive spirit rose within him. He shouted loudly, "Open!", and his True Qi burst forth suddenly, a white light gleaming as he slowly drew the Xuan iron bow open. Ah Dai found that the more he pulled, the harder it got, his body’s True Qi fully activated, his muscles surging with immense strength. However, when the bow was about three-quarters drawn, his True Qi couldn’t expand the bowstring any further. His left foot stomped on the ground as he leaned forward slightly, spontaneously unleashing his entire potential. A wave of heat rose from his Dantian, and under the intense white light, he forcefully drew the Xuan iron bow into a full moon.
