Edited by RED

After failing in his two attempts at benefitting from the sidelines and suffering the ambush of the Tian Yin Squad, Zhang Che was made deeply aware of his greatest weakness under his current circ.u.mstances of not having a powerful subdued beast and him still being a Tier Three beastmaster: long range offensive methods!

Although the Sonic Wave skill of the Mutated Puffersword was considered a long range area attack, it was limited by its cooldown and waiting for twenty minutes once it was used. Also, the same old problem still existed. The Mutated Puffersword's level was too low, at only two-star. Its skill did not pose much of a threat against mid-tier beasts.

Thus, on his way back, Zhang Che had thought on more than one occasion whether he should buy himself a bow.

Of course, it wasn't such an easy matter to become a pa.s.sable archer. Without months and years of practice, it would be a waste even if Zhang Che had the best bows in hand.

However, this was still a very useful offensive method, in the end. If not the near-future, he had to plan for the distant future, too.

Now that the research of making weapons using materials from exotic beasts was becoming more well-developed by the day, it might even be possible to produce bows that rivalled large caliber sniper rifles in power.

If Zhang Che could train himself to be proficient in archery and equip himself with a strong bow, he too could possess an extremely high fighting strength, be it against exotic beasts or other beastmasters. It would add on to his overall combat potential.

Take today's ambush by the Tian Yin Squad, for example. If Zhang Che was well-versed in archery and had a bow with longer effective range than them, he could totally make use of Hanxue's advantage in speed to kite them and snipe them down, one by one.

Of course, it would be unlikely for him to find a good bow in Qian Wei City. The reason why Zhang Che wanted to go take a look at the equipment stores was that he planned to buy an ordinary bow to practice archery first, in case he wouldn't be able to make good use of the better ones he might come across in the future.

Reality was as he thought, too. After looking around in a few large-scale equipment shops, Zhang Che realized that the bows for sale were all very ordinary. According to the sales a.s.sistants, none of them had the kind of strong bows that the Tian Yin Squad's leader was using.

In the end, it was a shop a.s.sistant from one of the stores who told Zhang Che a piece of information in secret about neo-material bow and arrows. "Sir, if you're looking for a good bow to hunt exotic beasts, I suggest you to look around in Ci Zhou City. I heard that the Shooting Sun Research Inst.i.tute over there has made immense progress on neo-material bows and arrows. Perhaps you might find something you desire there."

-It looks like I should really find some time and make a trip over to Ci Zhou City. Shooting Sun Research Inst.i.tute… what an imposing name. It sounds like they specialize in researching bows and arrows. Presumably the bows and arrows used by the Tian Yin Squad originated from there.- Zhang Che made up his mind. Once his archery skills attained minor accomplishments, he would make a trip to Ci Zhou City. No matter how much he had to pay, he had to get himself a top-grade bow.

"Oh, right, I'm new to archery and I want to buy a bow to practice. Do you have any good recommendations?"

Since this shop a.s.sistant was willing to let him in on some insider information, Zhang Che didn't mind patronizing her business.

-What? An archery newbie? Then why did you freaking ask me for the best bows? Are you specially here to tease me?-, the shop a.s.sistant criticized silently. She maintained a professional smile on her face, however, and introduced a few bows suitable for newbies to learn with.

As Zhang Che listened to her introductions silently, his gaze suddenly fell on a strange longbow with two wheels and a few wires. "Hm? What's this bow? It looks really strange."

"Oh, these types of bows are known as compound bows. They help with conserving the user's energy and allow them to focus on aiming." Seeing Zhang Che was really a newbie at archery, the shop a.s.sistant didn't explain in detail and simply mentioned the unique characteristics of the compound bows. After which, she suggested, "But, I don't recommend you train with compound bows. Although they have the pros of conserving energy and stability, their cons are equally prominent."

Zhang Che listened intently, nodding for her to continue.

The shop a.s.sistant probably hadn't encounter a newbie in archery for a very long time. She was happy to further educate Zhang Che, explaining to him in detail, "Although compound bows can display greater power due to their strength-conserving nature compared to conventional bows, they have too many exquisite parts and aren't very suitable for the complicated environments of the beast world.

"Of course, the most important point is that a string release is needed to draw the arrow, leading to a very low firing speed. Even an experienced archer would need four or five seconds to fire an arrow."

After explaining all of this in one go, the shop a.s.sistant looked at Zhang Che with a smile, implying that she had explained everything clearly. What he chose depended on himself.

As expected, Zhang Che immediately gave up on the compound bow after hearing about its slow firing rate.

His intention to train in archery was mainly for the sake of not being put in a pa.s.sive position in the future when he ran into other beastmasters who used bow and arrows, having a way to retaliate.

If he needed a few seconds to fire a shot, what the h.e.l.l could he do in that situation?

It'd be better to just run in for close combat!

Finally, at the shop a.s.sistant's recommendation, Zhang Che bought a recurve bow that required fifteen kilograms of strength to fully draw, along with two quivers of arrows for a total of a hundred and twenty units, spending slightly over ten thousand dollars.

As for why he chose such a light bow, what the shop a.s.sistant made a lot of sense: even if he could fully draw a much heavier bow, could he hit his target accurately when his hands were shaking, unable to keep them steady?

Thus, he definitely mustn't set his sights too high from the start. He had to train up his archery skills first!

Carrying his newly-bought recurve bow on his back, Zhang Che entered an archery practice arena excitedly and rented a training room very generously. Then, he started his practice according to the tutorial he had read up on his way here.

Actually, it was best to have a professional teaching you if you wanted to get good at archery. It was very difficult to do so by yourself. Not only did it waste time, it was also easy to commit mistakes.

Zhang Che was in no hurry, however. He was only here to get the feel of shooting arrows. Naturally he'd find a coach to properly teach him archery in the future.

His first shot flew out in an obvious curve, fully missing the target.

-The target is only fifty freaking meters away!

-But I'm new at this. Take it slow; no hurry!-

Zhang Che shot arrow after arrow calmly, finally getting the feel of it. By the end, he could barely get half of his shots on the target.

Just as Zhang Che was fully focused on aiming his next shot, the Gluttony Monkey's green ball of light in his spiritual sea suddenly moved and materialized himself, looking at the bow in Zhang Che's hands excitedly, his spirited eyes filled with curiosity.

"What, do you want to play with this?"

Zhang Che slowly let off the bowstring, looking at the Gluttony Monkey, startled. He thought inwardly, -Are you a freaking Gluttony Monkey or a Playful Monkey?-

"Zhizhizhizhi!" The Gluttony Monkey nodded his head profusely, looking at the bow and arrow in Zhang Che's hands, feeling so eager that he started scratching his head. If it wasn't for the fact that Zhang Che was his master, perhaps this frisky monkey would even s.n.a.t.c.h it away from him.

"Here, hold this. I want to see if a little frisky monkey like you can really shoot arrows!"

Zhang Che pa.s.sed his bow and arrow to the Gluttony Monkey as a bold idea suddenly entered his mind.