Chapter 50: Martial World Guest
Su Yan passed through the crowd in the marketplace, his expression calm, lost in thought.
‘So many martial artists, they must all be chasing Pang Tianfeng, just like hyenas.’
Martial world travelers vary in strength, but each has a skill, and they wouldn’t normally gather in a marketplace like this when traveling the martial world.
At least, not so many people.
Su Yan went to the Hundred Herbs Hall shop. Although Song Qi was not there, Hundred Herbs Hall had already made arrangements with Song Qi.
They sent over a steward in his forties, broad and fat, with a fair face and fine mustache, a kindly man.
The new steward was not familiar with Su Yan, but Bai Shan and the other shop assistants were still there, and they proactively explained Su Yan’s connection.
The new steward naturally welcomed him warmly and quickly bought the mountain goods.
Bamboo Jade Tooth plus other medicinal herbs came to a round number, thirty taels of silver.
This amount was not as much as that tiger from before, but it was still a considerable sum of money.
Tian Feng Weapon Shop perhaps because there were more martial world travelers, when Su Yan arrived, there were already several people there picking out weapons.
Su Yan entered the door, and the heat from the forging furnace was already faintly coming at him.
“Isn’t this Yan Ge’er from Yun Qian Village? Long time no see, do you need some handy weapon?”
A free shop assistant came up, showing a smiling face.
If it were someone else, the weapon shop assistant might not remember.
But someone with Su Yan’s superb archery skills who could even kill a tiger was naturally more relevant to their weapon shop.
Thus, the shop assistant recognized him.
“A longbow with strong draw strength.”
Su Yan got straight to the point, and the shop assistant’s eyes lit up: “Can’t use the hardwood bow you bought before? How about switching to one with a hundred jin draw strength this time?”
A hundred jin draw strength would require top-quality oil mountain wood, coated with four layers of animal sinew, wrapped with splints, achieving two hundred jin draw strength. If used properly, its lethality would be four or five times stronger than a hardwood bow.
“Two hundred jin?”
With his Skin Refining Great Accomplishment strength, he already exceeded a thousand jin, but combat exertion differed slightly from archery technique, so it wasn’t necessarily better to go purely beyond the limit of strength.
Seeing Su Yan hesitate, the shop assistant said: “If that’s not to your liking, then how about the fine steel wolf-pattern bow? Though not a second-order sharp weapon, it’s still top-grade and requires four or five hundred jin to fully draw.”
“Bring it for me to see.”
The shop assistant showed a delighted expression and immediately brought over a fine steel longbow in dark metal color with wolf patterns; the two ends of the bow body resembled fierce wolves swallowing the moon, and it had good quality.
Su Yan took it and exerted force, his arms tensing, pulling the longbow open into a full moon shape, power fully charged.
It was indeed much stronger than the hardwood bow.
‘If I had this bow in hand, even the Bronze Fox Ape would be severely injured by a single arrow.’
Su Yan slowly released the strength in his hands, letting it return to its original shape, then asked: “How much for this fine steel longbow?”
“Twenty-seven taels of silver.”
You get what you pay for; this fine steel longbow had undergone countless forgings by the craftsmen. Though not a sharp weapon, the materials and labor were the major costs.
Su Yan frowned slightly but didn’t hesitate much, taking out the silver and handing it to the shop assistant.
With the Desolate Mountain Hunt imminent, handy weapons needed to be prepared, especially now with unrest in the forest and who knows how many incidents might occur—better to prepare early.
The shop assistant was quick too, gave the change, handed the longbow to Su Yan, and the transaction was complete.
Su Yan walked out the door, while the shop assistant muttered to himself: “Pulling a four or five hundred jin longbow so easily, how can the difference be so great?”
“Snort”
Suddenly, a man in black clothes nearby let out a scornful laugh.
The shop assistant looked over, and the man had a sallow face with lips as thin as a knife.
“Customer, do you need anything?”
“Nothing else”
The man’s gaze swept over the shop assistant: “Just over a hundred jin draw strength, merely Skin Refining at best. By the way, is he a local hunter?”
The shop assistant hesitated a bit; he couldn’t tell what this man wanted.
But after only a moment’s hesitation, he answered: “No, but Yan Ge’er has skills too; he’s great at mountain hunting and often finds treasure plants.”
“A’long, don’t stir up trouble.”
Huang Jinlong wanted to probe more, but a man in gray hemp clothes with a beast hide belt nearby stopped him and gave him a look.
The two left one after the other, and Huang Jinlong said: “Big Brother, I didn’t do anything, I just think that kid is a fat sheep.”
In a secluded spot, the sallow-faced man spread his hands in explanation.
The short-bearded dark-faced Big Brother Liao Shan across from him just glanced at his brother.
Didn’t he know what kind of character his own brother had?
“Fat sheep?”
Liao Shan just said: “Pang Tianfeng is the important matter. First watch Xu Guan’s movements, then find a way to track down Pang Tianfeng. He must have a cultivation manual on him; otherwise, he wouldn’t have progressed so fast.”
Martial world wanderers all seek that chance to advance, but sadly most lack either silver or cultivation manuals, and their skills are stuck there.
Pang Tianfeng fled all the way yet still entered the Spirit Nurturing Realm, so he clearly has treasure on him.
“Got it.”
——
Su Yan naturally didn’t know that just buying a fine steel longbow had already drawn extra attention to him.
Back in Yun Qian Village, he took out the arrows and longbow, found an unoccupied spot outside the village, and practiced for a long time.
He familiarized himself with the characteristics of this fine steel longbow one by one before stopping.
With the longbow in hand, Su Yan entered the mountain forest straight toward the inner mountain, like a tiger with added wings.
He was extremely fierce, directly following the tracks left by large animals.
In the fierce forest, there were already plenty of tiger, boar, leopard, bear, and now with the Desolate Mountain Hunt preparing, more people coming and going in the forest had startled even more wild beasts.
In his extensive search, Su Yan first found several aged snake grasses and one old mountain ginseng.
Later, near this water pool, he discovered a huge footprint.
“Hoof tips like hooks, palm round like an ox—looks like a feral beast.”
Su Yan examined the footprint’s shape, his eyes brightening with some delight.
After so many days, with the consumption of Yin Water Centipede and Velvet Fire Scorpion Insect, the Bronze Fox Ape’s flesh and blood was almost depleted.
Now with a feral beast appearing, it might be worth a look.
‘Follow it.’
Su Yan immediately ordered the Yin Water Centipede to follow, holding the fine steel longbow and trailing closely behind.
This feral beast must have fled from deeper in the mountains and now regarded this area as its territory.
It moved leisurely without hiding, leaving a trail of broken shrubs in its wake.
“Hmph hmph”
After tracking like this for about ten minutes, Su Yan heard a dull, thunderous grunt from over a hundred meters away.
He moved lightly and hid behind a tree, peering intently.
What a huge tusked wild boar, size of a water buffalo, with massive hooves hooked like knives, and a pitch-black single horn on its head like a dagger.
‘Tusked Horned Pig.’
Su Yan recognized this feral beast. In Xu Zhongdao’s residence, besides medical books, he had looked up records on feral beasts.
The Tusked Horned Pig was among them: its black horn medicinal, strengthens muscle and bone, refines skin membrane; gallbladder poisonous, inedible.
Strength usually early to mid First Order, not exceeding Muscle and Bone Realm.
Su Yan nocked an arrow on his bow; the Tusked Horned Pig was still gorging itself, tearing into the gray rabbit at its feet.
With one bite, there was a crunch, the sound of the gray rabbit’s bones breaking.
“Whoosh”
Su Yan drew his bow like a full moon, and in an instant, the arrow shot like a meteor, thudding into the Tusked Horned Pig’s head.
