Chapter 0352: The Body-Refining Scarecrow
What is archery?
Archery is the art of killing.
To shoot an arrow is to take a life. Its ultimate goal is to kill with a single strike, to take down the enemy in one blow. To kill with every arrow, it must be fast, ruthless, and accurate, and above all, imbued with a power that can tear through anything. Power is the foundation, archery is the expression.
Each arrow must be launched with a heart filled with ruthless determination.
The most basic form of archery is straightforward and direct—like shooting a leaf off a tree from a hundred paces. At the highest level, when one has fully mastered the art, it becomes possible to fire two or even three arrows simultaneously and still hit the target, reaching an almost supernatural realm.
At this moment, a bone war arrow, released from the Meteor Bow, traveled tens of thousands of meters in what felt like an instant, appearing directly before its target.
"Brazen grain thief! You dare lay hands on our food? I will not allow it!"
In the path of that blazing light, a golden scarecrow reacted with astonishing speed. The bamboo staff in its hands appeared in front of the bone war arrow at inhuman speed, and it struck out—simple, direct.
Boom!!
A burst of bronze light erupted from the staff. The air itself quaked with a terrifying sonic boom, and the surrounding space seemed to ripple from the force—a fearsome sight.
The power contained within that war arrow was not merely ten thousand catties.
The Meteor Bow, a Yellow Grade Tier-1 artifact, required at least ten thousand catties of strength to draw. But that was only for a partial draw—to fully draw it required forty to fifty thousand catties. And that was just Tier-1. At Tier-2, the strength requirement would rise even further. As for the arrow just released—
—it contained a force of no less than seventy to eighty thousand catties, possibly more.
Combined with true qi and its piercing force, the power of that single arrow had reached its peak. Even a body-refining expert at the Black Cauldron Realm could be pierced clean through.
No one should have been able to withstand that arrow.
Yet, under the golden scarecrow's strike, the bone war arrow shattered into powder before it even reached its target. The devastating flame power imbued in the arrow was forcefully dispersed—obliterated before it could even manifest.
Not a single shred of its power was unleashed—it was utterly crushed.
"Such immense strength—enough to crush a bone war arrow into dust. This force is clearly over a hundred thousand catties. Could this scarecrow be similar to a body-refining cultivator, someone who cultivates their physical body and pure strength?"
This wasn't a divine ability or a spell, but pure brute force. Moreover, the scarecrow wielded its strength with effortless precision—light and gentle on the surface, but exploding with power upon impact. This was more terrifying than brute force alone.
Yi Tianxing's pupils contracted slightly, his expression turning grim.
This scarecrow was clearly a strange form of life. Its entire body was made of straw. Whether it had internal organs or a divine sea was unknown. But its strength clearly followed the path of body refinement. Body cultivators could also attain overwhelming power—not inferior to qi cultivators, and sometimes even surpassing them.
If all the scarecrows were body cultivators, then their strength would be immeasurable.
These were not ordinary scarecrows.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that mere scarecrows could rival body-refining cultivators. It sounded like sheer fantasy.
"Grain thief!!"
The golden scarecrow looked at Yi Tianxing standing atop the Golden Roc, its golden eyes glaring as it roared.
"Grain thief!!"
"Get out!!"
"Grain thief!"
"Get out!!"
One scarecrow after another brandished bamboo staffs and shouted, as if to drive him away, radiating fierce energy and madness—a willingness to die to protect the rice fields.
"Then let's try again!!"
A flash of sharp light passed through Yi Tianxing's eyes. Without hesitation, he drew the Meteor Bow once more. Another bone war arrow appeared on the bowstring. With a crisp sound, the arrow burst forth like a meteor.
This time, however, it was not aimed at the golden scarecrow.
Instead, it targeted a regular scarecrow, far from the golden one. Even if the golden scarecrow wanted to stop it, it wouldn't make it in time.
Whoosh!!
The arrow moved too fast to react—already before its target. It struck the scarecrow's chest without hesitation. A divine light burst forth, as if the straw transformed into tough vinewood armor trying to block the shot.
But such defenses were futile.
The arrow pierced through, ripping open a vicious hole in the scarecrow's chest. Then, the explosive flame power within erupted, igniting the body and spreading fire over it in an instant.
Splash!!
Another scarecrow rushed over with a bucket of water and doused the flames rapidly. The burning scarecrow's body was strangely resilient—even with fire engulfing it, it didn't burn away instantly. The water quickly suppressed the flames, and thick smoke rose from the scorched body.
"Fire overcomes wood. These scarecrows, made of straw and wood, should be naturally weak to fire. Yet the flame power from my Flame Arrows couldn't incinerate them. It even looks like they can resist flame to some degree. They must be tempering their bodies—refining them to the point where they can resist elemental weakness."
Yi Tianxing looked at the scorched scarecrow, most of its body burned into charcoal. Its chest had a massive hole, and parts of the wooden skeleton were exposed. It was in terrible shape, barely recognizable.
And yet—it still lived. He could still sense its tenacious life force.
"They have no heart or vital points. Even like this, they don't die. Where exactly is their weak spot?" Yi Tianxing muttered. He had struck where a heart would normally be, yet it hadn't died. Clearly, that wasn't its fatal point.
Still, the scarecrow collapsed, unable to fight further.
"These spirit grains in the valley—I must have them. As long as the scarecrows can't fly, I can shoot them down one by one."
With that thought, he drew the Meteor Bow again and loaded another bone war arrow.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
One war arrow after another flew out, each one tearing through the air like a blazing meteor.
For those with strong bodies, archery was naturally a powerful advantage. Yi Tianxing's strength allowed him to fire repeatedly without fatigue—his qi and blood naturally replenished any energy used.
Every arrow embodied the essence of speed, ruthlessness, and precision.
"Grain thief is here! He's trying to steal our food!"
"Strike down the grain thief!"
More scarecrows roared in anger. Some picked up bows and shot arrows into the sky. Though fast, their arrows posed no threat. The Golden Roc flapped its wings, swatting them away easily.
Their strength was insufficient—they couldn't even scratch the Roc.
In contrast, Yi Tianxing's arrows struck true every time, piercing scarecrows one by one.
Some were shot through the chest, others the throat. Some had their heads blown apart.
Each arrow carried flame power—once hit, the scarecrows were ignited, engulfed in fire.
But they weren't stationary targets. Some moved with eerily unpredictable steps, almost as if they possessed divine arts. Their steps were erratic, seemingly random, yet they could narrowly avoid his arrows.
Witnessing this sparked something within Yi Tianxing—a sudden insight into the path of archery.
Seeing the scarecrows evade his arrows triggered something deep in his mind. All his past experience with archery surged forth, manifesting as flashes of inspiration—insights forming in his heart.
Thoughts clashed in his mind.
"Archery is about killing in one shot. If the arrow cannot even hit the enemy, how can it possibly defeat them? No matter how fast, if it can be dodged, it's useless."
"Some people wield flying knives. Even without using them, just brandishing them creates fear. That's deterrence. The deadliest weapon is the one not yet used. The same applies to arrows—the most powerful arrow is the one that hasn't been released."
"To master archery, to reach perfection, the most critical thing is to make the enemy incapable of dodging. Locking onto their aura is a basic method, but true power lies in anticipation—predicting the enemy's reactions before they act. That is the path to never missing a shot—arrows that never fail."
To predict an opponent's moves before they make them—this wasn't just about eyesight. It required innate talent and strong deductive power.
Like a game of chess—each move leads to ten more. Or a hundred. Without the ability to calculate outcomes, it was impossible.
"To predict the enemy's actions, I must observe every subtle motion, their intent, the way their body shifts before they move. In a split second, I must understand it all and simulate it in my mind."
Yi Tianxing fell into silent contemplation.