Dual Cultivation God Returns - Chapter 1039 -

The two heirs took up shooting positions some distance away from each other, and began competing, their arrows targeting Demonic Beasts in the canyon below.

They did not just haphazardly shoot any Demonic Beasts in sight, instead it was Steward Lee who picked the targets, preferably two of the same species with the same or very close cultivation levels, and he also specified what part or later on organ should be hit..

Steward Lee started with easy prey first, both a relatively short distance away, large sized and relatively slow, low in cultivation and without much natural armor, designating the entire large head for the target area, a soft target to warm up.

A novice Archery Cultivator could make those shots, and the two young men were expected to make perfect hits in terms of shooting technique, accuracy, lethality, and how long it took them to take the shot. Of course, there were also points for added skill or smart use of their techniques, as well as not damaging the valuable ingredients.

And as Steward Lee gradually increased the level of difficulty, the two would have to keep up, until one of them could not.

This made the competition a rather lengthy one since he had to find suitable targets.

They sent out two teams to pick up the spoils, which would leave the arrows untouched while collecting since it affected the competition as well.

The first 4 shots for the easiest targets – even if they progressed up in difficulty – were completely even, but as Steward Lee was finally satisfied with the warm up and started raising the difficulty in bigger steps for the next 3 shots, a difference began to appear. They both still did perfectly, but the older brother had to start to make more effort while Jian Yu was still relatively relaxed.

The next 3 shots were even more revealing, as on the 2nd of those last 3, even Jian Yu had to put in some effort while Jian Hao began visibly putting almost everything he had into making it. For the next,10th shot overall, Jian Hao finally took a slight moment of delay to release the arrow, and on the next, 11th shot, he released at the same time but his accuracy was a bit off.

At this time, though, the difficulty suddenly made a major leap, and both were shooting at low-level 1st-tier Profound-Grade Demonic Beasts with relatively smaller profiles to the previous prey, although still significantly bigger than a human, and internal organs specified as target areas by Steward Lee.

Both still managed to kill their prey, but Jian Hao managed to do it in one shot, while Jian Yu used two sent one after another in quick succession, which made them hit almost a moment apart.

“Hahaha! I won!”, Jian Hao turned to Steward Lee and his younger brother with a triumphant expression, lowering the bow and trying to hide all traces of using everything he was capable of just now to kill that prey, as if it wasn’t that big of a deal for him.

But contrary to his expectation, Jian Yu did not look distressed. No, he was smiling, “You seem to be confused, Brother. The competition is still going on”

“W-what are you talking about?”, Jian Hao furrowed his eyebrows, “I took it down in one shot, you shot twice!”

“Consequtively, so it counts as one attack. Young Master Yu used that tactic to greatly conserve Spiritual Qi and reduce mental fatigue, in other words to conserve strength. It might affect the score when the prey is brought back, but is not conclusive evidence of a win, not to mention it could be counted as use of shooting technique and tactics”, the middle-aged man who stood not far from Jian Yu chuckled.

“Wha-… bu-…”, Jian Hao’s expression sank as he realised it might not be over. He thought this would be the decisive shot, so he went all in, not only on technique and Spiritual Qi expense, but with his concentration and mindset of needing to shoot down just this one. Because he wasn’t at all confident in getting a more difficult target. His gaze shot toward the two men in similar clothes that stood on his side.

One of them was already objecting even without needing his Young Master to give him a signal, “Hah! What a farce! Young Master Yu wasn’t confident in killing the Demonic Beast, so he made a split-second decision to send a second arrow! And you call that tactics?”

The other one chimed in as well, “The prey is collected only to confirm whether the competition was valid, that score is just in case there is no clear winner! The real competition is for whoever can keep up with the task! And Young Master Hao clearly was superior in this one!”

“You said it yourself, the competition is for whoever can keep up with the task”, the one on the side of the illegitimate heir narrowed his eyes, “The task is to kill the prey, both of them managed to do it”

“You!”

“Enough”, Steward Lee, spoke with a sigh, “Both targets were shot down, so it counts as both passing this round, we can proceed to the next one without problem. I just selected the next targets”

Jian Hao’s face showed extreme anxiousness and anger at that answer, turning to look at his younger brother’s smug and confident smile with narrowed eyes, and then hurriedly readying his bow as he saw the latter do so.

This was the moment of truth, as this time both shot out two arrows, but while Jian Yu did so in the same way as the last one, in one attack, Jian Hao’s Demonic Beast was only wounded the first time since he slightly missed the mark, so he had to shoot another one.

Despite an argument breaking out, now with Jian Yu’s side claiming victory, Steward Lee only picked the next targets, expressing a need for a clear winner.

This time, Jian Hao missed completely, the target Demonic Beast was too fast.

He cursed out, turning to the side of his brother, and froze on the spot as his eyes widened. The other members of the Crimson Arrow Manor were also looking in that direction.

Jian Yu stood with a drawn bow, the arrow still nocked onto it and unreleased. His eyes were unfocused, unseeing as a strange serene atmosphere descended around him. A sudden distant sound of thunder resounded in the skies as they flashed with an image of clouds that were not there and lightning that streaked among those clouds, and then another one, during which a small glowing dot appeared in the air 3 meters above Jian Yu.

Just looking at it filled every cultivator with a sense of serenity and profound wisdom.

“T-the S-seed of the Dao is descending…”, Jian Hao muttered with utter disbelief, and then his shocked eyes started filling with jealousy, hatred and rage, as well as intense greed “T-this can’t be… w-why him? This filthy little shit is unworthy…”

This greed appeared not only in his eyes, but in the eyes of many, including the two men in luxurious robes standing behind him, and even some of the Crimson Arrow Manor soldiers.