After chopping down the Dragon Claw Tree, Chu Lingguang’s Mental Realm had strengthened significantly. Even in the face of danger, he could remain calm and wouldn’t easily panic.

On top of that, he had taken the Bone Marrow Cleansing Liquid and undergone a Washing Marrow process, attaining a Pure True Body. His physical body had evolved without him realizing it, and he could hear numerous faint, almost nonexistent responses.

Right now, his body was like a vast, hidden treasure trove, waiting for him to unearth and claim its riches.

Faced with the threat of the Scorpion Python and Bamo, Chu Lingguang was perfectly calm. He carefully sensed the changes in his body and the feedback from his longbow and the arrow shafts.

This sense of perfect attunement made it so that the moment he drew the bowstring, it was as if he could see his own blood vessels suddenly tense and then expand. Streams of qi covered the longbow and the arrow shafts.

A unique memory, branded into his very flesh, had become muscle memory.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

Chu Lingguang fired four arrows in rapid succession. A brilliant light flashed in his eyes, as if phantom arrows were shooting from his pupils to merge with the ones he had loosed.

All four arrows flew unerringly toward the vital point on Bamo’s back.

Bamo sensed the imminent danger.

Although he had managed to tank three of Chu Lingguang’s arrows with his Qi Phase Scale Armor, his powerful flesh and bones, and his Qi Sea Great Success cultivation, the feeling of the arrowheads piercing his Qi Phase Scale Armor and sinking into his flesh was far from pleasant. He simply couldn’t afford to ignore Chu Lingguang’s surprise shots.

He appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly, he was constantly on guard against Chu Lingguang.

Unfortunately, the Scorpion Python’s assault was so ferocious that he couldn’t spare much attention for Chu Lingguang. To make matters worse, Chu Lingguang always chose the most critical moments to fire.

Compared to the Scorpion Python’s Poisonous Hook, the damage from Chu Lingguang’s arrows was clearly lesser.

Bamo dodged when he could and tanked the hits when he couldn’t. He pushed his fifth-layer Dharma Aspect to its limit, causing his Qi Phase Scale Armor to solidify. His muscles tensed in an instant, and the surface of his skin became as hard as rock.

SCREECH!

Gripping his saber with both hands, he slashed at the Scorpion Python’s Poisonous Hook as it swept toward his throat from an awkward angle.

The Scorpion Python was growing flustered and enraged. Bamo was at the peak of Qi Sea Great Success and had awakened the power of the Divine Image. Every one of his slashes was devastating, and his fluid Saber Technique formed an impenetrable defense before him.

Its Poisonous Hook had been striking for ages without breaking through Bamo’s defenses. If the stalemate continued, it would have no choice but to retreat in frustration. ’It can’t just let its Poisonous Hook get destroyed, can it?’

THWACK!

But just then,

A tremor shot through Bamo’s body.

The first two of Chu Lingguang’s arrows had shattered his Qi Phase Scale Armor. The third had pierced the surface of his skin, the arrowhead sinking deep into his flesh.

Normally, that would have been the end of it. He would have used his Qi Sea Power to expel the arrowhead and quickly changed position to prevent Chu Lingguang from hitting the same wound again.

The Three-Star Linked Pearls Archery wasn’t enough to easily strike the same wound twice, and he certainly wouldn’t be careless enough to expose the injury to Chu Lingguang’s line of sight.

This time, however, Bamo clearly felt another arrow follow the third, tearing through his flesh and lodging itself in his very bone.

He let out a muffled grunt of pain.

An opening appeared in his defensive Saber Technique.

The Scorpion Python’s eyes were sharp and its movements swift. Its Poisonous Hook easily pierced Bamo’s Qi Phase Scale Armor and the defense of his flesh, leaving a crimson gash on his throat.

The Scorpion Python’s Poisonous Hook was laced with a deadly venom.

Even for a powerhouse like Bamo, at the peak of Qi Sea Great Success, the venom would prove fatal if not neutralized quickly.

At the critical moment, he changed his Saber Technique.

He unleashed a crimson slash of saber light, forcing the Scorpion Python back.

He touched the wound on his neck and turned to glare at Chu Lingguang, his expression utterly savage.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Chu Lingguang once again fired four arrows in succession. This time, however, he wasn’t aiming for Bamo, but for several of Bamo’s men who had emerged from the woods to try and surround him.

THWACK!

...

Against Bamo, Chu Lingguang’s Archery required him to bide his time and wait for the perfect opportunity to land a single, decisive shot. Against Bamo’s men, however, it was one arrow, one kill. Every shaft found its mark in a throat, felling them on the spot.

HFF!

Bamo’s expression was thunderous.

’Chu Lingguang’s Archery has reached Great Success, the Four-Star Linked Pearls. I have to concentrate completely just to block that fourth arrow when facing him head-on.’

’Now I also have to deal with the Scorpion Python, and I’m already poisoned. If this drags on, I’ll be lucky to get out of this alive.’

So, he turned and fled.

But neither the Scorpion Python nor Chu Lingguang was about to let such a prime opportunity slip away.

CRACK!

The Scorpion Python lunged forward first. Its tail lashed out like a long whip, a flurry of afterimages cutting off Bamo’s escape.

Chu Lingguang leaped onto Little Red’s back and drew his bowstring once more.

He waited patiently for the opportune moment.

Bamo’s will to fight had already collapsed. Combined with the poison, his mental state was compromised. As he fought the Scorpion Python, he was focused solely on evasion, desperately trying to retreat into the dense woods where Chu Lingguang’s Archery couldn’t lock onto him.

With this desperate thought driving him, he quickly lost his composure under the Scorpion Python’s assault. The previous momentum he had when fighting the beast on even terms was completely gone.

The Mental Realm is the most crucial discipline of all.

It not only affects breakthroughs in cultivation but also one’s performance in battle, potentially even endangering one’s life. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Chu Lingguang’s Mental Realm, however, was at Great Success. He could maintain his Guarding the Heart, cast off fear, and press forward bravely at critical moments. By waiting with meticulous patience, he finally found the perfect opening.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

Four arrows streaked through the air in a continuous line.

THWACK!

The final arrow pierced Bamo’s thigh, causing him to stagger and nearly collapse.