Chapter Sixty-Four: The Three Realms of Archery

The Sun-Shooting Heavenly Art had been corrected by Yi Tian, an event of immense significance for the Yi clan. Yet, the tribe’s upper echelons dared not make this news public.

Recently, Yi Tian had been busier than ever. One after another, the old chief, the great elders, the major elders, and the chief leaders all required his personal guidance to understand the revised points of the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Art. Later, even the five members of the Reincarnation Squad—Yi Feng, Yi Shan, Yi Li, and the others—were summoned to the underground chamber.

This select group of the tribe’s elite numbered fewer than a hundred; only they were qualified to practice this heavenly class technique. After all, not just anyone could cultivate the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Art. It demanded not only extraordinary talent and aptitude, but also absolute loyalty to the tribe. At a minimum, one had to be a high-level warrior to begin learning it.

Yi Tian spent over a month before finally enabling these hundred or so individuals to grasp the true transmission of the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Art, correcting those subtle errors. Yi Feng, Yi Shan, and the others all began their cultivation in earnest.

Only then did they discover how powerfully this art refined the physical body. Their strength increased day by day; their muscles, bones, skin, and blood grew ever denser. For Yi Tian, the bodily refinement wrought by the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Art was even more pronounced. He practiced two heavenly arts simultaneously; the twenty-seven thousand acupoints in his body were all tempered, awakening his inner potential. Together with the all-encompassing tempering of the Great Sun Heavenly Art, each day his body would expel layers of grayish impurities and bad blood.

One day, Yi Tian climbed a small hill outside the tribe. From his storage pouch, he took out the supreme spiritual bow, Dragon Roar, and nocked a Piercing Arrow. In the next instant, as he activated the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Art, twenty-seven thousand acupoints released streams of true essence, channeling into the Dragon Roar Bow and the arrow. In that moment, he felt completely fused with the bow and arrow.

A faint radiance enveloped both the Dragon Roar Bow and the Piercing Arrow.

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, the Piercing Arrow shot forth like a god-slaying beam, tearing through three thousand feet of space in an instant and blasting apart a massive boulder atop a distant peak.

“Incredible!” Yi Tian could not help but be moved.

This was his first time unleashing the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Art, and the power displayed was truly terrifying—over ten times greater than his arrow using the Twelvefold Wave secret technique. To think that even at three thousand feet, his arrow could manifest such destructive force, and the speed was nearly the same as at point-blank range. In other words, even ninth-tier warriors several miles away could hardly escape his arrow. His archery had become utterly terrifying.

And this was merely the most basic application of the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Art. If he advanced to the Human Rank, where true qi became liquid and transformed into true essence, then he could manifest the Heavenly Bow with his true essence—this would be the true sun-shooting technique, a top-tier heavenly class combat skill.

Recently, from the unsealed ancient tribal records, Yi Tian had also learned about the realms of the Archery Dao.

The archery realms handed down from the ancestral god Yi were divided into three stages: Unity of Bow and Body, Harmony with Heaven and Earth, and Transcendence of the One.

Of these three stages, Yi Tian had not yet reached even the first: Unity of Bow and Body. In this realm, one’s body becomes the bow itself, true essence becomes the arrow, and with a flick of the finger, thousands or even tens of thousands of arrows could be released simultaneously.

Even among Human and Earth-tier powerhouses, few had ever attained this first realm.

The second realm, Harmony with Heaven and Earth, signified one had become a fearsome master of archery, able to slay gods and demons. At this level, one could touch the essence of archery, borrow the boundless power of heaven and earth, shoot down stars with a single arrow, or annihilate gods and demons. The ancestral god Yi of their clan had pushed this realm to its pinnacle, causing even spirits and gods to flee in terror.

As for the final stage, Transcendence of the One, this was a realm theorized by the ancestral god Yi. Upon attaining it, one’s arrows could ignore the barriers of time and space; even if the target fled to the ends of the earth or another world entirely, the arrow could transcend all distance and strike them down. At this legendary level, one could truly roam the ancient earth unchallenged.

When Yi Tian and the others read about these realms of archery, and the glorious deeds of their ancestors, they were all stirred with passion.

At the same time, from the ancient records, they gradually pieced together the true state of the world. In this world, humanity was at an absolute disadvantage. Gods and demons ruled the land, waging endless wars, while myriad races had fought for hundreds of millions of years in savage contests.

Since the ancient age, when the gods and demons, allied with the great clans, crushed humanity’s glory, the human race had become a weak and inferior people, enslaved by gods, demons, and other races—many of whom even fed upon humans.

This knowledge of their grim reality ignited a burning fury in Yi Tian and his companions.

Few ancient records of the Yi clan remained; most had been lost or destroyed in countless calamities. What Yi Tian and the others knew was only a fragment, but it was enough to glimpse the truth.

Now, the world in which humanity survived was a secret realm discovered by humans; the remnants of the defeated human race had retreated into this space to survive and multiply. The Yi clan had withdrawn here at great cost.

Yet over millions of years, without celestial guardians, the Yi clan had declined, forced to migrate repeatedly. From the ancient texts, Yi Tian learned of the world’s perilous state, which filled him with urgency and broadened his vision.

His first goal now was to break through to the Human Rank!

The Yi tribe was undergoing tremendous change; the upper echelons all devoted themselves to cultivation.

With a vast supply of essence stones, Yi Tian’s cultivation advanced rapidly. In just two months, he reached the peak of the eighth tier, poised to enter the ninth at any moment.

His research into the Wild Ox Mountain-Cleaving Art and other techniques did not cease. Especially after learning of the peril outside and humanity’s precarious situation, he was determined to elevate all these arts to heavenly level, allowing the Reincarnation Squad to cultivate dual heavenly arts and become a force capable of battling on all fronts.

That day, Yi Tian spent the entire time shooting arrows, each one tearing through the air, wreaking havoc across a range of several thousand feet, destroying ancient trees and massive stones. With every shot, he felt his mastery of the Sun-Shooting Heavenly Art increase, each acupoint shining with power.

In these months, the reputation of the Yi tribe spread for thousands of miles around Black Dragon City. All the major forces abandoned thoughts of attacking the Yi clan. After all, no one wished to risk a war for some unknown treasure—especially when it was known that the Yi tribe commanded over three hundred high-level warriors.

Thus, trade between the Yi tribe and Black Dragon City resumed. With thousands of clansfolk, their need for salt and other necessities was great. After months without trade, shortages of vital goods had already begun.

For safety, each trade caravan sent to the city was now escorted by ten high-level tribal warriors—over three hundred in total. Unless several ninth-tier warriors joined forces, few could hope to challenge such might.

Presently, the Yi tribe was at the peak of its power, faintly the greatest force in the lands around Black Dragon City. No one dared provoke them.

Yet, at this very moment, one of the Yi tribe’s caravans was ambushed, with hundreds killed or wounded; only forty or fifty escaped. If not for their mastery of the Feather-Flying Technique, which allowed them to run even faster than the Blackscale steeds, all would have perished.

This news fell upon the tribe like a thunderbolt, igniting a storm of rage.

The attackers were none other than the Dark Skull Band; nearly all of their elites—over four thousand strong—had joined the assault. Even the Blood God and Ghost God of the Four Gods had participated; otherwise, the casualties would not have been so severe.

“The Dark Skull Band has no reason to exist any longer,” the clan chief, Yi Du, declared in the ancestral hall, a glint of cold resolve in his eyes.

“I second that,” the great elder, for once, gave his opinion.

All the other elders were united in their anger, especially now that they possessed the strength to act.