Standing in the 20-meter shooting range, Caleb Li and Fu Gang drew their bows while the crowd gathered behind them.
To them, this unknown young man had already lost. They only wanted to watch the fun and see how Caleb Li would react when he was defeated and begged Fu Gang for his arrogance.
Behind the two was a kid not older than Fu Gang, taking the position as a referee. He looked at the two and shouted, "Start."
Bang!
Fu Gang was the first person to release his shot, and it hit bullseye. He looked at Caleb Li with an arrogant smug, nocked an arrow, and shot again.
Everyone expected both of them to fire at the same time, but Caleb Li only stood there, watching how Fu Gang was releasing his shot.
After a minute, Fu Gang was done. Out of his ten shots, six hit bullseye, while the other four were very close to bullseye.
"Do you think you can beat me now?" Fu Gang taunted, with his chest puffed out, pride radiating from his body.
All the crowd behind them cheered for him, with various girls throwing flattering comments at him. With all this, his ego shot through the roof.
"Don't waste my time and get the heck out of the training, and I don't want to see your face again."
As for Caleb Li, he didn't utter a word but that he couldn't respond to childish taunts. But he was just too lazy to care about that. Therefore, he decided to shut his stinking mouth with his arrow.
Bang!
He released his first shot, and it was Bullseye.
Instantly, everyone held their breath and looked at him with wide eyes. Fu Gang had his next words stuck in his throat.
Before he could recover from his initial shock, he watched as Caleb Li shot five arrows in rapid succession.
To his despair, everything hit bullseye.
Five shots, five bullseye.
Gasps.
No one dared to breathe, as they were too stunned to believe what they were seeing right now. If Caleb Li was an expert, they wouldn't be too stunned.
Contrary to that, he was a newbie just yesterday, and his first shot could barely reach half of the 20-meter range.
But now, he was shooting as if he had decades of experience and was an expert.
Fu Gang was too stupefied to even utter a word. Various conflicting emotions were flashing through his face, and the most notable one was fear. He had bet 20 silver coins, and that was a lot of money for someone like him.
A hundred copper coins were equivalent to 1 silver coin. Most work in the village was paid in copper coins, only the powerful clan paid their workers silver coins.
As the son of the Fu clan master, his daily expense was 1 silver coin; where in the hell would he find 20 silver coins? He only agreed to such an unreasonable bet because he was confident in his winning.
But now, he was not sure.
Bang!
Caleb Li released another arrow, and it was another bullseye. This time, he turned and looked at Fu Gang with a smile that wasn't a smile.
"Have my money ready. I don't want to hear any excuses from a loser." He taunted and released another arrow.
Bang!
Bullseye.
"Seven…Straight…Bullseye," a girl said in amazement from the crowd.
Fu Gang was on the brink of despair. He wanted to run and escape from the bet, but the pride and name of his clan made it impossible for him. His legs trembled, sweats gathered on his face like steam rice balls.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Caleb Li's next three shots were all bullseye, sending Fu Gang into the depths of the abyss. What could he say against ten straight bullseye? Against such a genius, he was a clown dancing on his palm.
"Where is my money? I need to train; I've wasted enough time on this useless betting." He turned and walked toward him.
Fu Gang was covered in sweats; he opened his mouth to speak, but words failed to come out. Feeling all the gaze on him, he knew he couldn't chicken out.
He gritted his teeth and brought out a pouch from an inner pocket and threw it at him. "You just wait, I'm going to challenge you in the 50-meter target range. Just wait."
With that, he stumbled out of the training as if he was escaping for his dear life. Watching his escaping back, all the crowd sucked in a cold breath and dispersed in twos and threes.
Today, the village would learn of a boy that defeated the young master of the Fu clan. As for Caleb Li, he didn't care as he went back to his training.
By nightfall, his archery had improved, and he could hit five bullseyes out of ten shots.
Coming back to his small room, he found out that the old man had put another food on the ground. He ate the food and freshened up before going to meet the old man.
He had money now; he should take care of some things.
"I heard about your little bet?" The old man said with a light smile on his face.
"Thank you; I was just lucky," he responded calmly.
'Lucky with ten straight bullseyes!' The old man rolled his eyes in his socket and asked.
"Have you come to pay your debts?"
"Yes," he nodded. "And I need that pill; how much will it cost?"
After completing his transaction with the old man, he went back to his room. He sat on the ground and looked at the three pills inside a small transparent bottle.
Each pill cost him 5 silver coins, and he bought three and used 2 silver coins to pay his debts. Now, he was left with 3 silver coins. Previously, he was rich, but now, he was back to being poor and this left a bitter taste in his mouth.
He shook his head from the unnecessary thought and took out a pill. He swallowed it and began to run his cultivation technique.
'With these three pills, I wonder how much my lifespan will increase.'
******
[AN: Please vote for this book with your power stones. Thanks]