Chapter 57: The Birth Of An Explosive Arrow“What? Increase an arrow"s might by ten times!” Jiang Chengwei"s eyes glowed as he exclaimed, “Squad Leader Yan, you"re not lying?”
“Yes.” Yan Haobo nodded. He felt chills down his spine again when he recalled the damage caused by the explosive dagger. “It"s at least… Ten times or above.”
Although a huge increase in might would cause the equipment to be destroyed, an explosive piece of equipment was unquestionably more attractive to archers that faced powerful enemies.
Yu Hailiang and Jiang Chengwei looked at each other, and the surprised look on their faces was unimaginable.
Yan Haobo laughed. “Captain Yu, can you tell us now what half-spirit beast you encountered?”
“Okay, we met a brown bear this time. We"re not sure what opportunity it chanced upon in the forest, but it"s gained Mother Earth"s power.”
“Defensive power?” Yan Haobo was stunned.
He finally understood why Yu Hailiang and the others reacted the way they did earlier.
There were two kinds of Mother Earth"s power, one was an astounding defensive power, whereas the other one was a mighty power. Of course, one would have to witness the powers before evaluating the extent of those abilities.
“Yes. The Brown Earth Bear"s defensive power is extremely shocking. We went all-out when we hunted it previously, but there were only roughly four men who could really hurt it,” Yu Hailiang said seriously and shook his head with a mournful look, “We lost three of our brothers, and one of them was even a squad leader. Other than that, another squad leader is heavily injured, but I asked some men to send him away since it"s inconvenient to treat him here.”
Jiang Chengwei sighed. “Three squads from our side joined hands, yet we were defeated. Out of all the squad leaders, one died, one"s injured, and we even lost a few brothers.”
Ou Yangming looked at him strangely.
Jiang Chengwei quickly explained, “Master Ou, I didn"t escape before the fight, but I was in charge of long-range backup during the fight against the Brown Earth Bear, so I wasn"t directly involved.”
Ou Yangming was surprised. “Squad Leader Jiang, you"re an archer?”
“Yes.” Jiang Chengwei smiled bitterly. “If I had joined the encirclement, I probably wouldn"t be alive.”
Yan Haobo nodded and frowned. “Captain Yu, you returned without accomplishing anything, and even lost some men. Even if my squad joins, we might not succeed.”
He had been rather excited before coming here, but had now become anxious after knowing the details of the situation.
If one of the squad leaders had been killed, and another was injured, how could he contribute by getting involved? Perhaps their overall strength might even be lower than before.
“Squad Leader Yan, don"t worry. We wouldn"t have decided on this if we haven"t found a way,” Yu Hailiang said, then nodded at someone beside him, who quickly turned around to retrieve a small earthen jar.
“After the encirclement failed, we wanted to return to seek help from the general.” Yu Hailiang took the earthen jar then opened it, revealing a layer of a black, sludge-like item. “But we came across some Bewitching Gra.s.s on our way back, so we collected and crushed it.”
“Bewitching Gra.s.s!” Yan Haobo"s eyes glowed. “That"s a great item. If it"s used appropriately, we"ll stand a chance!”
Ou Yangming craned his neck to look into the earthen jar.
He had heard of the Bewitching Gra.s.s. It was a rare herb that if crushed and smudged on arrows could produce mighty poisonous arrows.
Needless to say, the poisonous arrows could not kill someone, but if they cut someone"s body, the poison would flow into one"s blood to reach one"s brain, causing one to fall unconscious.
Nevertheless, if there was too much poison, the victim might not wake up anymore.
Jiang Chengwei smiled bitterly. “If you didn"t join us, it"ll be a fifty-fifty chance for us, but if Master Ou can really increase the arrows" might by ten times, our success rate will increase.”
Yan Haobo was stunned. “Is that Brown Earth Bear"s defensive power that great?”
“Yes. Although the brown bear didn"t completely transform into a spirit beast, its defensive power makes it invulnerable,” Jiang Chengwei replied seriously and sighed, “Other than Captain Yu"s sword that managed to hurt it, the others can only contain it. Ah, our archers were the most useless, we couldn"t even damage the outermost layer of its skin.”
Yu Hailiang quickly comforted him, “Squad Leader Jiang, you shouldn"t blame yourself. If it didn"t fear your G.o.dly arrows, we wouldn"t have made it back.”
During that battle, Yu Hailiang and the others miscalculated the Brown Earth Bear"s strength, so on top of the failed attacks, they lost some men. Nonetheless, when the brown bear was going to chase after them, Jiang Chengwei led the archer team to shoot its eyes and the vital points below its groins. They complemented Yu Hailiang"s confrontation very well, which allowed them to carry on the fight while retreating, and they finally managed to escape.
Even after witnessing the Brown Earth Bear"s strength, Yu Hailiang and the others kept thinking about it, which meant that they were quite confident about defeating it this time.
Once the men discussed for a brief moment, they looked at Ou Yangming at the same time.
Normal arrows could definitely not hurt the Brown Earth Bear, but if the arrows" might was increased by ten times, the effects would be completely different. Additionally, if the arrows were smudged with the Bewitching Gra.s.s, the brown bear would be in serious trouble.
Ou Yangming grinned. “Give me an arrow.”
He was given an arrow right after he asked for one. When Ou Yangming and Yan Haobo noticed Jiang Chengwei, who was smiling at Ou Yangming earnestly, they did not know whether to laugh or to cry.
If Jiang Chengwei knew that it would come to this, he would not have acted the way he did before.
After receiving the arrow, Ou Yangming released his Military Fire without shying away from the others.
Regardless of how his Military Fire changed, even Old Craftsman would not figure out anything, let alone the soldiers who were present. Hence, he was not afraid of showing it to them.
As Ou Yangming"s Military Fire burned, a hint of mental power was also released slowly.
When he first formed and used his mental power, he was unusually exhausted, but after grasping the power, he was able to use it easily.
Ou Yangming controlled his mental power to transfer it into the arrow through his Military Fire.
Next, the Military Fire that merged with his mental fire disappeared as they had been incorporated into the arrow.
If Old Craftsman and the other experienced Military Fire Blacksmiths witnessed this process, they would surely find it odd. This was because the Military Fire disappeared so strangely that it seemed to have entered the piece of equipment instead of being withdrawn by Ou Yangming.
Despite that, the ones who were watching at the moment could not tell the difference.
Ou Yangming handed the arrow back. “Try it, but make sure that everyone stays three steps clear of the arrow.”
Jiang Chengwei"s face changed a little. “Thank you for the reminder, Master Ou.”
Subsequently, he gave an order to the soldiers to clear a huge area. Since it was a warning given by the refinement master, everybody obeyed it.
Jiang Chengwei then placed the arrow on his bow. Instead of aiming properly, he simply pulled and released the arrow. However, Ou Yangming"s eyes glowed upon seeing the movement.
The seemingly simple move somehow had a lingering charm to it.
Similar to the skills used by the fop, who had appeared out of nowhere during the night battle, it was a feeling that resembled nature itself.
Ou Yangming exclaimed to himself. It made sense that Jiang Chengwei, who was an archer, was given the squad leader role because his arrow technique was astonishing.
Yu Hailiang did not lie at all as only an arrow technique like this could frighten the half-spirit beast.
The arrow shot a rock in a flash.
“Pow…”
It exploded right away, and turned into countless chips that shot out. Of course, around seventy percent of the chips shot in the forward direction.
A deafening sound pierced the air, and everyone was appalled when the sound was finally gone.
The stone was covered in densely packed tiny holes. Based on its hardness, it was impossible for flying iron shards to damage it, but the explosive arrow"s might was far beyond everyone"s imagination.
In fact, even Yan Haobo, who had seen this before, could not help but feel a chill down his spine.
Upon seeing the exceptional arrow, Yan Haobo figured that he would not resist it if he faced it. Moreover, a strange thought crossed his mind at that moment. If arrows like that could be ma.s.s-produced, what was the point of practicing martial arts? If they were shot by the arrow, they would be killed right away if they could not avoid it.
Fortunately, only one person could smith a divine weapon like that.
Yu Hailiang and Jiang Chengwei walked closer to the rock to look at it, and were clearly taken aback. Yu Hailiang sighed after a long time. “Master Ou, if we succeed this time, you"ll be credited the most.”
Jiang Chengwei hesitated for a while, but soon nodded in agreement.
They would not have believed the arrow"s might if they had not seen it, but after witnessing it, they quickly understood how weighty it was.
“Master Ou, please reform the arrows, and incorporate them with the Bewitching Gra.s.s. We"ll definitely kill the Brown Earth Bear this time,” Yu Hailiang mentioned seriously.
Ou Yangming pondered for a while before answering, “Captain Yu, based on my current power, I can only refine five arrows. Will that be enough?”
Jiang Chengwei laughed. “Three arrows will be enough.”
Following that, everyone looked at each other with pa.s.sion and excitement.