Chapter Sixty-Two: The Inheritance of the Solar Archery Technique

In the blink of an eye, five of the eight great clans chose to withdraw from the assault on the Yi Tribe. This left the patriarchs and elders of the Liu, Chen, and Wu families with unsightly expressions. Without the support of the other five clans, their combined strength would be greatly diminished; to take down the hundreds of high-level martial artists of the Yi Tribe would likely cost them more than half their forces. Such losses were absolutely unbearable.

Each of the Liu, Chen, and Wu families had already lost a peak ninth-rank powerhouse. Though enraged and alarmed, they could not bring themselves to declare war on the Yi Tribe, especially since Yi Tian’s strength was formidable. Their own ninth-rank elders would likely suffer heavy casualties, shaking the very foundations of their families.

Thus, these three great clans compromised under Yi Tian’s intimidation. If Yi Tian fought with all his might, several more peak and late ninth-rank experts would likely fall; none of their families could withstand such devastation. Should their strength be so reduced, they would become prey for other ambitious forces, ready to replace them at any moment.

In the end, the eight great families retreated in a most anticlimactic fashion, withdrawing from the Yi Tribe’s territory and returning to Black Dragon City.

The thousands of Yi clanspeople who had been hiding in the underground passageway received the news and immediately returned to the surface. Upon seeing that most of their homes had been destroyed, each member of the tribe set about rebuilding, and the entire settlement soon bustled with activity.

In the ancestral temple, the chieftain, the grand elder, the other six elders, and several high-ranking leaders gathered to discuss Yi Tian. This youth of the tribe, in but a few short years, had attained the strength to rival peak ninth-rank experts—far beyond their expectations. His potential was so extraordinary that even the tribe’s highest authorities were left astounded.

This time, Yi Tian had unleashed a secret technique, slaying three peak ninth-rank experts in one fell swoop. It could be said that he had already become the undisputed foremost master of the Yi Tribe.

“Yi Tian’s potential is truly remarkable. I propose he be allowed to receive the inheritance of the Sun-shooting Heavenly Art!” the grand elder suddenly declared in the ancestral hall.

“But the inheritance of the Sun-shooting Heavenly Art is incomplete. We don’t even know if Yi Tian can successfully inherit it,” the Third Elder voiced his concern.

For generations, the Divine Arrow Technique revered by the tribe was little more than a foundational secret archery skill, an introduction at best. The true inheritance of the Yi Tribe was not found here, but hidden deep underground, hundreds of feet below.

Alas, as the tribe’s numbers waned, not a single clansman had truly received the Yi legacy in centuries—not even a single human-tier expert had emerged.

“But doesn’t Yi Tian possess the talent to deduce techniques? Perhaps he can restore the complete Sun-shooting Heavenly Art!” the Sixth Elder’s face showed a glimmer of hope.

The Seventh Elder sighed, “It is exceedingly difficult. Our tribe’s Sun-shooting Heavenly Art ranks among the top ten of the thirty-six Heavenly Arts in the world. Only those with heaven-defying talent can master it. For most, even entry is nigh impossible. For Yi Tian to deduce the complete art is as hard as reaching the heavens.”

The Second Elder shook his head helplessly. “If not for the cataclysm more than two millennia ago, when almost all our inheritance was lost, we would not have to treat a mere human-tier technique as a treasure.”

At this, the chieftain, Yi Du, spoke up. “Yi Tian is a once-in-several-centuries genius for our tribe. Whether or not he can obtain the true inheritance, he deserves to know of its existence. Let him try. If he were not so young, I would already propose him as the Eighth Elder of our tribe.”

With that, the highest authorities decided to entrust Yi Tian with the tribe’s greatest secret.

The next day, Yi Tian was summoned to the ancestral temple.

When he learned the tribe’s deepest secret from the chieftain and elders, he was astounded. He had never imagined that the glorious past so often boasted of by the elders was entirely true.

The chieftain, grand elder, second elder, and third elder joined forces to open a hidden passage beneath the temple’s divine statue.

Then, under the grand elder’s guidance, Yi Tian entered the underground passage.

The passage was spacious enough for more than a dozen people to walk side by side. Torches lit the darkness, and a faint breeze brought fresh air.

They walked for over half an hour before finally reaching the underground chamber.

Yi Tian was thoroughly shocked by what he saw.

It was a space spanning several miles, with a ceiling a hundred feet high. More than twenty tunnels branched out to other areas. At the center stood a divine statue of Yi, even more majestic and imposing than before, exuding a terrifying aura.

The grand elder approached the ancestral statue and bowed reverently. Yi Tian stepped forward and saluted as tradition demanded.

“Our tribe’s inheritance rests within this statue,” the grand elder explained. “By channeling true qi into it, the statue reveals the paths of the technique. However, something is wrong with the Sun-shooting Heavenly Art. No matter how we practice, it cannot be mastered; many of our ancestors went mad pursuing it. Eventually, no one dared to attempt it any longer.”

His gaze was complicated as he looked at the statue. The hope of the Yi Tribe’s resurgence was pinned on this inheritance—yet it had also destroyed generations of their brightest, leaving the tribe in decline.

“Oh?” Yi Tian’s interest was piqued.

He pressed his palm to the statue, infusing it with blazing yang true qi.

In that instant, beams of light burst forth from the divine statue, filling the chamber. The lights coalesced into countless stars, orbiting and shifting in mysterious patterns. These stars flickered, forming an ancient and natural bow, emanating an aura as vast as the heavens. A single beam of light flowed among them, threading through star after star, weaving together the complex and wondrous bow.

“So this is the method of the Sun-shooting Heavenly Art?” Yi Tian gazed in fascination at the inherited technique. He felt as if he stood beneath a sky of infinite stars, the cosmic bow of heaven and earth visible at a glance.

Compared to his painstakingly deduced Great Sun Heavenly Art, this Sun-shooting Heavenly Art was at least ten times more intricate and profound. Though both were heavenly-tier divine arts, the gulf between them was vast.

Yi Tian committed every nuance, every circuit of the Sun-shooting Heavenly Art to memory. Yet the art involved more than twenty-seven thousand acupoints within the body—even for him, it was almost impossible to memorize it all precisely in such a short time.

Because of the art’s complexity and subtlety, it taxed the mind and spirit to the utmost. A single miscalculation during practice could be disastrous; only those of unwavering will and exceptional intellect could hope to attempt it. Ordinary geniuses could not even begin.

“You have a month to stay here,” the grand elder said solemnly. “If you sense anything amiss during practice, stop immediately. Do not force it, or you will risk losing your mind.”

“I understand,” Yi Tian replied.

With his promise, the grand elder departed, leaving Yi Tian alone in the vast underground chamber. He had already prepared ample food in his storage pouch.

Yi Tian felt a strange affinity with the Sun-shooting Heavenly Art.

Sun-shooting Heavenly Art, Great Sun Heavenly Art—these two heavenly arts seemed born as natural adversaries, yet both now resided within him.