Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Chang Xia Practices Archery

Chen Rong pondered for a moment.

After a while, he relented and nodded, agreeing to Chang Xia’s suggestion.

As long as there was no good news from the Sheyue tribe, their own tribe wouldn’t relax their watch over Mount Wei. Chang Xia’s choice to hunt on the grasslands upstream of Xiaohechuan was actually a good one.

Chang Xia had completed her basic training; the next step was the trial.

The trial meant joining the hunting party. As beastfolk, hunting and foraging were essential skills. Living in the forest, if you couldn’t hunt or gather, how could you survive?

“Tomorrow, when you go to the grasslands upstream of Xiaohechuan for your trial, what weapon will you use?” Chen Rong asked. Seeing Chang Xia absentmindedly carving a stone in her hand, he picked up a stone nearby and started carving as well.

With his strength, Chen Rong’s stone tools always turned out a bit more refined than Chang Xia’s.

This often left Chang Xia quietly annoyed.

“Weapons… how about a bow and arrow?” Chang Xia mused aloud.

Beastfolk were known for their strength and preferred fighting hand-to-hand.

Still, they used bows, spears, swords, and other weapons as support.

But spears and axes were the mainstay.

Bows and arrows were more the specialty of the birdfolk.

In the Twilight Forest, iron and copper were scarce. Most weapons were made from ironwood or beast bones—materials that were tough and durable.

Ironwood, thousands of years old, was even sharper and stronger than metal.

And beast bone—especially from fierce beasts—was just as good as iron or copper.

Chang Xia had a beast bone knife, honed to a razor edge. It could slice hair, but she rarely used it.

She wasn’t as strong as the other tribe members, so spears and axes weren’t a good fit.

A bow and arrow, on the other hand, suited her well.

“Alright.” Chen Rong nodded. “Have you practiced archery before?”

“I have. My aim’s not bad,” Chang Xia replied.

With her bloodline ability, using a bow and arrow had surprising effects.

In her previous life, Chang Xia’s power was wood-based, focused on healing. In this life, her bloodline ability was also wood-based, but more about controlling plants, with a slightly different emphasis. It could still nurture her body, but now it had some offensive power too. When Chang Xia used a bow, she could “lock on” to targets with her arrows, almost like a radar.

When she discovered this aspect of her bloodline, she thought the title “God of Archery” sounded awesome—like it was made for her.

But she’d also experienced the embarrassment of not being able to draw the bow at all.

She was extremely grateful she’d never said that out loud.

Otherwise, it would have been a black mark on her history.

A few days ago—

As she got used to basic training, she quietly tried out the beast tendon bow the former chief Gen had made for her. She found she could finally draw it—what a relief!

That day, she hid in the woods to practice for a while.

With her bloodline ability to “cheat,” her aim was pretty good.

Going into the forest to hunt—if she didn’t have some skills, she wouldn’t dare. She wasn’t strong, nor particularly fast. Otherwise, she’d just be delivering herself as food for the beasts.

“You’re sure—?” Chen Rong asked in surprise.

He didn’t recall ever seeing Chang Xia practice archery. Where had she learned?

Before coming of age, it was even less likely. He’d heard from Nan Feng and the others that Chang Xia had almost been dragged into the river by a fish while fishing in the Bai River…

Chang Xia had kept this a secret, and the tribe helped her cover it up.

It was too embarrassing. The tribe worried that if she found out they knew, she’d die of shame.

So, everyone pretended not to know about this bit of black history.

“Hmph!” Chang Xia put down her carving tool, acting proud. “The chief gave me a beast tendon bow before I came of age. I used to practice all the time! Besides, I’ve been training with Elder Yami lately, and practicing archery in the little woods nearby.”

Hearing this, Chen Rong quickly surrendered.

He admitted he shouldn’t have doubted Chang Xia.

“Want me to set up a target by the wall so you can practice archery at home anytime?” Chen Rong offered.

Chang Xia thought for a moment, then smiled. “Sure! Go make a target.”

She gathered up the tools on the table, planning to fetch her beast tendon bow from the cellar.

Making a target wasn’t hard. As soon as Chang Xia mentioned it, Chen Rong got up to find materials.

Afternoon.

The scorching sun blazed overhead.

Changxia stood in the courtyard, holding a sinew bow, practicing her archery shot by shot. Chen Rong stood nearby, occasionally offering a tip or two.

Changxia had told Chen Rong about her bloodline ability. After hearing it, Chen Rong was left with mixed feelings. As expected, those favored by the Beast God are truly extraordinary—this is basically cheating! Who else’s arrows can automatically lock onto their prey?

Previously, Changxia had used her bloodline ability to heal her own injuries.

At the time, Chen Rong couldn’t help but marvel.

Changxia’s bloodline ability might seem unimpressive at first glance, but if a totem warrior from one of the powerful beast tribes awakened such an ability, they’d be an absolute powerhouse.

And now—

Changxia told Chen Rong that her bloodline ability also included a special tracking feature.

Chen Rong almost wanted to complain out loud.

But then he thought about it. This ability was probably tied to the arrows themselves. Changxia’s arrows were made from ironwood, and her bloodline ability was plant-related, so manipulating the arrows wasn’t too far-fetched.

If she used other types of arrows, the ability would probably be weaker.

“Changxia, take a break,” Chen Rong called softly.

Changxia put down her sinew bow and looked toward the tribe. “Chen Rong, it seems pretty lively over there. Do you think the beastfolk from the Lion and Bear tribes have arrived?”

“…If you want to know, let’s go take a look,” Chen Rong replied.

“Okay, I’ll put away my bow and wash my face first,” Changxia answered. She was in a great mood—tomorrow, she’d get to go hunting on the grasslands upstream of the river.

She’d practiced archery for another hour that afternoon, so it was a good time to go have some fun in the tribe.

Even if the Lion and Bear tribes hadn’t arrived, she could still play with Shanque and the other kids. So, after putting away her bow, Changxia walked over to the shelf where she kept sweets, grabbed some wild grass root candy and maple sugar, packed them into a clay jar, then wrapped them in leaves in the kitchen and put them in her beast pouch to take to the tribe.

When Changxia and Chen Rong entered the tribe—

The tribal square was bustling with excitement, and Changxia’s guess was spot on.

The Lion and Bear tribes really had arrived, but this time, the leaders weren’t Anbian and Xifeng, but rather the younger generation of beastfolk from both tribes.

Among them were familiar faces: Milu, Jie, and Lili.

As they approached, the group greeted each other warmly.

This time, the Lion and Bear tribes had brought the first batch of chili peppers and seaweed candy—tens of thousands of pounds of chili peppers and thousands of pounds of seaweed candy. Of course, they wouldn’t deliver it all to the Heluo tribe at once; it would come in batches.

This also helped strengthen the ties between the three tribes.

“Changxia, I brought you some chili paste,” Milu said happily. She had Jie set aside two vine baskets and placed them next to Changxia.

The contents of these two baskets were special gifts Milu had prepared just for Changxia.

Changxia happily accepted Milu’s gifts and said, “Our tribe recently succeeded in making dried powder. When you go back, I’ll send you two baskets of it.”

“Really? Changxia, you’re the best!” Milu was overjoyed.

The two chatted for a while, then Milu leaned in with a mischievous grin. “Changxia, guess what? This time, the Earth Tribe sent Daya to lead the group. By the way, where’s Yadong?”