Divine Tang Era

Chapter 125 Blood Beads from Wounds

"The Xue family's archery master, it's been a long time."

In the main hall of a three-courtyard house in Jingning City, a man spoke with deep emotion.

"Lord Xue's archery skills are still as sharp as ever, but it's a pity that most of the Xue family members in the capital city are just good-for-nothings. Very few can truly inherit the essence of Duke Pingyang's archery skills. If this continues, the Xue family will probably decline." Another man shook his head and sighed.

"Aren't those two Xue family lads on the city wall alright?"

"How much can a illegitimate son of a collateral branch achieve? That outsider, on the other hand, has indeed shown some talent at such a young age, having mastered the Five Elements Arrow. It's just a pity he's not a member of the Xue family, so he'll never be able to witness the unparalleled power of the Xue family's archery."

"That's not necessarily true."

The man who had spoken earlier gazed into the distance, his eyes deep and thoughtful.

On the Mingfeng Tower, Li Zhu witnessed Xue An's amazing arrow shot and couldn't help but whisper, "This little thing is so lucky to have found such a good teacher."

"Xu Dan does indeed have some good fortune," Zhu Yuxian nodded in agreement.

"With you and me, sisters, here, even if he didn't have it before, we'll make sure he does now," Li Zhu said domineeringly.

"It's a pity I can't stay long, otherwise, it would be quite pleasant to listen to the little guy tell stories in my spare time."

"Why don't we just take him back?"

"He might not come with us."

"This little guy has a lot of tricks up his sleeve, how could he not want to?" Li Zhu snorted.

While everyone was still reeling from the divine power displayed by Xue An's arrow, the horde of demonic beasts below the city showed no sign of retreating. The remaining beasts were utterly enraged, their ferocity flaring as they charged towards the city walls with even greater frenzy.

They opened their blood-red mouths wide, revealing sharp fangs, and let out a deafening roar, determined to tear everything in their path to shreds.

The fierce birds in the sky launched another attack. They folded their wings, pointed their sharp beaks downwards, and charged towards the people on the city wall like arrows released from a bow.

Xu Dan quickly came to his senses.

There was no time for distraction. He quickly drew his bow again and shot at the ferocious bird in the sky. With each draw, he could clearly feel the surging blood and qi within his body flowing like a mighty river; with each draw, he could feel his skill in using the bow and arrow becoming more and more proficient, gradually developing a wonderful feeling as if man and arrow were one.

Perhaps, he is not yet able to shoot an earth-shattering arrow like Master Xue.

But I believe that he will be able to do it in the near future.

Xue Diao and Xue Bao'er were also busy, constantly drawing their bows and shooting arrows.

Their archery skills, honed from childhood, were ingrained in their very being; even without looking, they could instinctively and accurately hit their targets. While they lacked Xu Dan's extraordinary talent, their archery fundamentals were exceptionally solid. Their status as illegitimate children meant they could not inherit the family business; therefore, they had to create their own future with their own hands.

This is also the consensus among all the illegitimate sons within the Divine Tang territory.

Waves of arrows rained down, like a densely woven net, enveloping the ferocious birds and beasts. Birds fell from the sky, and beasts lay on the ground, mercilessly trampled into mincemeat by the hooves of their own kind.

However, there were still too many monsters.

Despite the relentless barrage of arrows, some monsters still managed to reach the base of the city walls. They began to ram the walls frantically, the immense impact causing the walls to tremble.

The runes on the wall shimmered, and a gentle yet powerful force rippled outwards, repelling the monsters that approached the city wall.

The monsters did not give up; they continued to assault the city walls, determined to break through the formidable defenses. The ferocious birds that flew over Jingning no longer simply swooped down to attack, but instead circled in the air, searching for weaknesses in the defenses.

Xiu Ran, Xu Dan felt a slight chill on the back of his head.

He instinctively turned his head and saw a huge rock eagle flapping its broad wings, swiftly attacking him. The eagle's talons under its belly were as sharp as steel hooks, and its eyes revealed a crazed, bloodthirsty killing intent.

Xu Dan's heart tightened suddenly, and he quickly ducked and turned to the side to avoid it.

The eagle's talons grazed his shoulder, drawing a spray of blood.

"Damn it! How dare a beast hurt me? This is outrageous!"

Enraged, Xu Dan swiftly drew a long arrow from his quiver and aimed it at the rock eagle. With a thought, he channeled a wisp of fire from his heart, channeling it along his arm and into the arrow. Instantly, a ball of flame erupted from the arrow, burning fiercely.

Hmph, let you, you beast, taste what it's like to be burned alive!

In an instant, the arrow flew from the bowstring, swift as a meteor, engulfed in flames, and plunged into the body of the soaring rock eagle. The flames on the arrow quickly ignited the rock eagle, and in moments, the ferocious eagle was reduced to ashes, scattering between heaven and earth.

"Are you alright?" Xue Diao asked with concern.

"It's nothing." Xu Dan looked at the wound; it wasn't deep, just a shallow bloodstain.

"Eat a Purple Gold Pill," Xue An said from the side.

"Isn't this too wasteful?" Xu Dan felt it was a bit pretentious to take medicine for such a minor injury.

"Healing medicine is meant to be used, so why talk about wasting it? Don't worry, I have more here."

Hearing Master Xue say this, Xu Dan had no choice but to take out the Healing Purple Gold Pill and swallow it. And indeed, the pill's effects were truly miraculous; as soon as he swallowed it, the wound felt cool and healed in the blink of an eye.

This elixir is amazing!

When I get back, I must ask Sister Lizhu for some, just in case.

"Be careful, all of you. These monsters seem to be even more ferocious than before," Xue An warned solemnly.

Xu Dan also realized this, and upon hearing Xue An's words, he immediately became even more cautious.

Beyond the damp, misty distance, a towering snow-capped mountain rises, its hollow interior containing a massive jade altar. Around the altar are clay sculptures of ferocious beasts such as bears, snow leopards, mastiffs, and giant ground otters, as well as birds of prey like vultures, rock eagles, and mountain eagles.

A shaman dressed in ancient attire, holding a sword in one hand and a drum in the other, beats and leaps, chanting ancient incantations.

Above the dome of the mountain, there is a round hole that leads straight to the sky.

A beam of cold moonlight shone down from the sky through the round hole, landing on a pool of blood beside the altar. The moonlight, refracted by the blood pool, shone on a stalactite hanging upside down in mid-air, its center polished into a smooth, round moon shape.

Wisps of blood-like energy, carried by the moonlight, shone onto the round, moon-shaped stone wall of the stalactites.

The blood essence landed on it and immediately transformed into tiny, pure blood beads. More and more blood beads gathered and dripped down the crescent-shaped stone wall from the stalactite tips.

The shaman priest, who was hammering, jumping, and chanting ancient incantations, seemed to sense something. With a swing of his ancient longsword, he divided the blood essence, which was a mixture of blood and moonlight, into several parts and injected them into the clay sculptures of ferocious birds and beasts on the altar.

The ferocious birds and beasts outside Jingning City all raised their heads and let out a deafening roar.

He lowered his head again, his eyes were bloodshot, and his expression became even more ferocious and violent than before.