Zhang Ruochen rode his antelope, carrying the iron-string bow, galloping swiftly into Wangshan.
Wangshan was the royal hunting ground, with towering mountains, waterfalls, cliffs, deep valleys, and dense forests. The beasts here were mostly first-tier savages, with only a few second-tier ones.
The forty-three young warriors entered Wangshan, disappearing into the forest, like sand scattered into the sea. Soon, everyone vanished from sight within the woods.
"Whoosh!"
A white shadow flashed through waist-high thorny grass, crossing sixty meters of open ground in an instant before darting into the distant forest.
The speed of this white shadow was astonishingly fast. An untrained eye would not be able to see it clearly.
However, Zhang Ruochen could see it perfectly—it was a beast resembling a rabbit.
A Ghostshadow Hare, a first-tier savage beast, extremely fast with sharp teeth and claws, but very weak in defense.
Its strength was comparable to that of a warrior at the early stage of the Yellow Extremity Realm, and its speed matched that of a warrior at the Small Extremity of the Yellow Extremity Realm.
"It's just a Ghostshadow Hare, not worth wasting a Thunder Arrow on," Zhang Ruochen said, pulling his iron-string bow into a half-moon shape, then shaking his head and lowering the bow without firing.
The higher the tier of the savage beast one killed, the better the score.
Among first-tier savage beasts, the Ghostshadow Hare was considered low-tier. Wasting a Thunder Arrow on such a beast would be unworthy.
"Swish!"
From another direction came the sound of an arrow cutting through the air.
A Thunder Arrow flashed like lightning, piercing directly into the hare's head.
"Pop!"
The hare's skull was punctured, and the lightning crystal embedded in the arrowhead exploded, transforming into a fist-sized ball of electricity. The electric sphere fractured, releasing streams of electricity.
The Ghostshadow Hare instantly died, collapsing under a tree.
The Sixth Prince rode up on his antelope without dismounting. Bending at the waist, he leaned down, grabbed the Thunder Arrow from the hare's head, and lifted the creature.
"Ninth Brother, this is your first time in Wangshan, right? What's the matter? Don't even dare to kill a savage beast? A man should have some guts," the Sixth Prince sneered as he held the hare.
To him, Zhang Ruochen might indeed be a martial genius, but since it was his first hunt, it was only natural that he'd be timid.
Fighting in matches was entirely different from killing.
The purpose of the Wangshan hunt wasn't just to test martial prowess, but also courage.
If one didn't even dare to kill a beast, then no matter how high their cultivation, what use were they?
The Sixth Prince, at eighteen, was at the peak of the Small Extremity Realm.
Zhang Ruochen replied, "I just didn't want to waste a Thunder Arrow."
The Sixth Prince narrowed his eyes and scoffed, "If you think that way, you're very wrong. There are limited savage beasts in Wangshan, and not everyone will have the chance to kill five beasts with five arrows."
With that, the Sixth Prince spurred his horse and vanished into the forest.
"Wangshan's territory isn't vast, and the number of beasts is limited. I must pick up the pace."
Zhang Ruochen urged his antelope in another direction.
In half an hour, Zhang Ruochen encountered three Ghostshadow Hares, but he didn't fire a single Thunder Arrow, continuing his search for other savage beasts.
"Moo!"
A deafening cow's bellow echoed from Zhang Ruochen's left.
Excited, Zhang Ruochen immediately rushed toward the sound and soon saw three massive savage bulls near a stream.
The Savage Bull was a low-tier first-tier savage beast, with strength comparable to a late-stage warrior in the Yellow Extremity Realm, and its defense comparable to a warrior at the Small Extremity.
The phrase "One Bull's Strength" referred to the power of a single savage bull.
However, someone had arrived at the stream before Zhang Ruochen. She was standing opposite the three bulls.
Ninth Princess Zhang Yuxi, dressed in her royal sparrow robe, sat on her antelope, her long black hair cascading down her back. She flashed a charming smile and glanced at Zhang Ruochen, saying, "Ninth Brother, you're a bit late. These three bulls are mine."
"Moo!"
The three savage bulls, their eyes bloodshot, stomped the ground with their iron hooves, sparks flying as they collided with the rocks.
"Boom!"
The three savage bulls charged simultaneously at the Ninth Princess.
She quickly pulled out three Thunder Arrows, notched them onto her bowstring, and drew her iron-string bow into a full moon.
"Swish!"
The three Thunder Arrows shot out simultaneously, striking the bulls in their foreheads, sinking seven inches deep into their hides.
Lightning burst from the arrowheads, and the three savage bulls immediately fell, dead, into the stream, causing a splash of water.
The Ninth Princess slung her bow across her back, smiled at Zhang Ruochen with gleaming eyes, and said, "Brother, my 'Three Points Return to Origin Archery' is a human-tier martial art, and I've mastered it completely. What do you think?"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed as he focused on the water behind the Ninth Princess. He shouted, "Watch out!"
Sensing danger, the Ninth Princess turned to see a gigantic savage beast, twice the size of a savage bull, leaping out of the water.
The beast's hide glistened like metal, and two sharp horns protruded from its head as it charged toward her.
With a loud crash, the Ninth Princess's antelope let out a wail of agony, its bones shattered as the horns pierced a bowl-sized hole in its body. The antelope collapsed to the ground.
The sudden attack caught the Ninth Princess off guard, and she fell to the ground alongside her antelope.
Frightened, the Ninth Princess rolled and tried to stand.
Suddenly, a massive shadow loomed over her. The giant beast raised its iron hoof, ready to stomp her.
If the beast landed its blow, her body would be crushed beyond recognition.
"Thump!"
A Thunder Arrow whizzed in from a distance, striking the beast's neck and causing it to stagger slightly off course.
Its iron hoof narrowly missed the Ninth Princess, slamming into the ground beside her, leaving two deep craters.
"A middle-tier first-tier savage beast! An Ironhide Savage Bull! Its defense is too strong—my Thunder Arrow couldn't pierce its hide!"
The beast's incredible defense, combined with Zhang Ruochen being too far away, had lessened the Thunder Arrow's impact.
Zhang Ruochen stood up on his antelope, kicked off with both legs, and soared toward the stream.
The Ironhide Savage Bull's strength was equivalent to a middle-stage Yellow Extremity Realm warrior, and its defense rivaled that of a peak-stage Yellow Extremity warrior. Among middle-tier first-tier savage beasts, it was one of the most formidable.
"Moo!"
The Ironhide Savage Bull, enraged by Zhang Ruochen's arrow, raised its hoof again, aiming at the Ninth Princess.
"Swish!"
Leaping four meters into the air, Zhang Ruochen drew another Thunder Arrow, nocked it, and released it.
"Pop!"
The Thunder Arrow shot straight into the Ironhide Savage Bull's mouth. The lightning crystal exploded in its throat, shredding the beast's insides with an electric surge.
The bull staggered backward, blood gushing from its mouth, clearly in immense pain.
"Boom!"
At last, the Ironhide Savage Bull collapsed with a heavy thud.
The Ninth Princess exhaled deeply, her legs trembling as she stood up. The situation had been terrifying—if not for Zhang Ruochen's timely intervention, she might have been trampled to death.
Zhang Ruochen approached and asked, "Are you alright?"
The Ninth Princess shook her head gently, saying, "If you hadn't arrived in time, things could have gone very badly. Brother, your archery is amazing! The Ironhide Savage Bull is a middle-tier first-tier savage beast, with defense comparable to a peak-stage Yellow Extremity Realm warrior, and yet you killed it with just two arrows!"
Zhang Ruochen glanced at the bull's corpse and said, "Every beast, like every human, has its weak points. If you strike the weak point, you can kill it, even if it's stronger than you."
Humanity's greatest advantage lay in its intelligence, its ability to use weapons and analyze a beast's weaknesses.
That's how human warriors could kill beasts more powerful than themselves.
If not for the bull's surprise attack, the Ninth Princess could have likely killed it herself, given her strength. She wouldn't have ended up so disheveled.
The Ninth Princess slung her bow over her shoulder and secured the remaining two Thunder Arrows in her quiver. "Each of our arrows has a unique mark. The guards will collect the prey later, so we don't need to carry the carcasses ourselves. Let's go!"
She walked toward Zhang Ruochen's antelope.
Zhang Ruochen frowned. "What are you doing?"
With a slight smirk, the Ninth Princess replied, "My antelope is injured, so I'll have to ride yours now. You wouldn't make your sister walk, would you?"
Wearing her form-fitting royal sparrow robe, the Ninth Princess's curvy figure was accentuated. Her delicate waist and fair skin exuded a faint fragrance.
She pressed her hand lightly on the antelope's back, gracefully leaping into the saddle.
"Come on, Ninth Brother! If we don't hurry, the others will have hunted all the beasts!" she called, blinking playfully and extending a hand to invite him up.
In the end, Zhang Ruochen walked over, took her soft hand for support, and leaped onto the antelope behind her.
Together, they rode deeper into Wangshan.
"With our combined strength, we should be able to hunt down a middle-tier first-tier beast," the Ninth Princess said expectantly. Even killing just one middle-tier first-tier beast would guarantee them a high score in the hunting round.
In Wangshan hunting, the scoring system was as follows: one high-tier first-tier beast equaled five middle-tier first-tier beasts, and one middle-tier first-tier beast equaled five low-tier first-tier beasts.
Zhang Ruochen had only killed one Ironhide Savage Bull so far, but that was already equivalent to killing five low-tier first-tier beasts.
It wasn't easy to kill a middle-tier first-tier beast. It required at least middle-stage Yellow Extremity Realm cultivation to have a chance.
Moreover, middle-tier first-tier beasts had incredible speed and defenses, making them very difficult to hunt.
Although Zhang Ruochen was only at the peak of the Small Extremity Realm, his strength surpassed many middle-stage warriors, which was why he had managed to kill the Ironhide Savage Bull.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes gleamed sharply. "If only we could hunt a high-tier first-tier beast."
"Impossible! Every high-tier first-tier beast is as strong as a peak Yellow Extremity Realm warrior. If we encountered one, it would be a disaster. We'd be lucky just to escape!"
The Ninth Princess continued, "In the past ten years of year-end exams, only the Seventh Prince has ever killed a high-tier first-tier beast. This year, no one has the strength to pull off such a feat."