Upon hearing this, Cheng Ying couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the girl. The range and accuracy of a sniper bow, when mastered, could indeed reach terrifying levels.
But you're comparing a bow to a sniper rifle? That's practically asking for a beating.
"We'll compete with this. No one is allowed to use soul skills. If you don't have bows, you can borrow mine!" said Chao Tianxiang proudly.
"No need, no need we've got our own shooting gear. Meng Shu, come here! Handle this yourself. If you win, the girl's yours!"
Hearing this, Meng Shu swallowed nervously. Chao Tianxiang might not be some extraordinary figure, but to have cultivated to this level, she was undoubtedly good-looking. Especially when she looked like she was about to cry earlier—it made his heart melt. She was like a character straight out of their teacher's painting.
But Meng Shu also knew himself well—he had never trained in archery. "She's clearly practiced for years, teacher. If you send me up there, I'm definitely going to lose!"
"Don't worry about that. Just look at your two senior brothers, how calm they are. It's just a soul ring. So what if we lose one? Tell me, what's more important to you—a soul ring, or a girl?" Cheng Ying whispered beside his ear.
"But if I lose, I'll lose both the ring and the girl!" Meng Shu looked utterly hopeless.
On the other side, Chao Changkong finally let out a breath of relief. When his daughter first said she'd use herself as the wager, he was shocked and had even prepared to grab her and flee. But when he saw she pulled out a bow, he relaxed.
Soul masters rarely used weapons, but his daughter loved archery and had trained herself to a fairly high level. Even against someone with higher cultivation, if it came down to pure archery, he didn't believe anyone here could beat her especially not that unserious-looking boy.
Meanwhile, Cheng Ying pulled out a massive sniper rifle nearly two meters long from his storage space. It was taller than Meng Shu when stood upright. The cold, black-painted metal body reflected light with a chilling gleam. The inside of the barrel revealed spiral rifling that made your scalp tingle. The scope had a futuristic design, its lenses crafted by the best glassmaker in Heaven Dou City, complete with distance markers that gave off an aura of mystery and expertise. It was bolt-action and entirely mechanical, smooth and gapless in function—an absolute work of art.
This sniper rifle, named Phantom by Cheng Ying, was crafted piece by piece by him using vises and a hydraulic lathe. It couldn't rival modern sniper rifles in precision or design, but with a longer barrel and larger body, he had reduced its flaws to an acceptable level.
Within a thousand meters, even someone with no sniping experience could reliably hit a human-shaped target.
Cheng Ying gave Meng Shu a quick explanation on how to use the scope, estimate distance, and choose the correct aiming point. The theory was simple: three points aligned. The only tricky part was accounting for gravity at longer ranges.
Meng Shu took the rifle with uncertainty, making Tang Chen a bit jealous. Their teacher cherished this thing and usually didn't let them touch it. That thrill of taking out an enemy from a thousand meters away was every guy's dream. Only Meng Shu didn't realize how powerful this thing was.
"What's that?" Chao Tianxiang asked in confusion.
"That's my bow. It just looks a bit different from your recurve bow," Cheng Ying replied casually. This weapon was more of a novelty—impossible to mass-produce, so its usefulness was limited.
Though puzzled, Chao Tianxiang was still confident in her archery skills. She pointed to a blood-red tree over 300 meters away, distinctly different from the others. "I can hit that tree over there. If you can prove you're more accurate or can shoot farther, then you win."
With that, Chao Tianxiang drew her bow and nocked an arrow using the classic three-finger draw technique. Her hands didn't tremble in the slightest. She held her breath, steadying her chest to avoid disrupting her aim.
Three hundred meters was a challenge for even a soul master's vision. The best way to hit the target was a flat shot, which required immense arm strength.
With such a powerful bow, she couldn't hold it for long. After one breath, she loosed the arrow. It shot out like thunder, zipping through the air and striking the red tree with a solid thunk, the fletching still vibrating.
"Your turn!" she said proudly, chin raised. Among soul masters below the Soul Saint level, few could strike targets at this range—even with soul skills.
Cheng Ying nodded with admiration. Achieving sniper-like results with just a bow and arrow showed extraordinary effort. She was a promising talent with a determined character.
Under Cheng Ying's signal, Meng Shu raised the rifle—but without much confidence. That target was so far, it looked like a mere speck. How could he possibly hit it?
But as he knelt to shoot and brought his eye to the scope, he trembled in shock—the distant target now appeared right in front of him!
Seeing this miraculous view, Meng Shu's confidence soared. He thought, Teacher really can do anything! Following Cheng Ying's instructions, he estimated the range, chose the right mark, and aimed.
Since he didn't need to pull a bowstring, even though the sniper rifle weighed over twenty pounds, he had plenty of time to aim. He aligned the crosshairs with the shaft of Chao Tianxiang's arrow and pulled the trigger.
Boom!
The thunderous blast startled him. A flash erupted from the muzzle, and before anyone could trace the bullet's path, a transparent hole appeared in the tree—and the arrow that had been embedded in it shattered completely.
There was no doubt—Meng Shu had hit the target. And more accurately than Chao Tianxiang. Hitting the shaft of an arrow was far harder than hitting a tree. And Meng Shu wasn't done.
He targeted other red trees even farther away, one after another. Each shot was dead-on, bullets leaving clean holes at the center of every trunk. The farthest one was over 800 meters away.
Originally, Chao Tianxiang had wanted to keep competing, but seeing all that, she lost her will to fight. The gap was simply too big. She had no chance. Eight hundred meters well beyond the theoretical max range of her recurve bow, especially for a direct shot. She couldn't win.
"Do you think I'm cheating? That using a strange weapon like this is unfair?" Cheng Ying walked up to Chao Tianxiang and placed a hand on her shoulder. She tried to dodge but bit her lip and stood firm.
"A bet is a bet. You know what you wagered, don't you?"
Chao Tianxiang had regretted her wager the moment she said it, but it was too late now. She stiffened and said, "Yes. I wagered myself…"
Cheng Ying nodded, then gave a mischievous smile as he looked up at Chao Changkong. "A promise is a promise. I'll be taking your daughter with me now."
"Senior, you…" Chao Changkong looked like he wanted to say more but stopped.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/XenTronix