The Sacred Ruins

Over the pile of the lifeless flesh left by the scaled beast stood the dragon slayer in triumph. There were many ruptures and splits on the skin of the beast that formed the mouths of many of the springs of dragon blood. Blood came spewing while the ruptures continued to stretch and grow in length. The liveliness of the scene all formed a perfect juxtaposition to the lifelessness of the beast itself.

Zhou Quan trembled in fear. He came closer to the remnant of this formidable beast. He ran his hands over the bloody body, finding it was all too surreal to believe. This was a prehistorical dinosaur, a tyrannosaur from the Jurassic Period. It was still to his disbelief to witness such a beast tumbling to its demise.

"If we were to transport this piece of remnant of a dinosaur to the world outside, it would certainly cause quite a sensation!" Zhou Quan said.

"Dragon’s tendon!" Yellow Ox wrote. In the eyes of the calf, acquiring the tendon to fix the "Thunderous" was of utmost importance at the present.

The smell of blood and gore assailed the nostrils of the three. It was now distributing further into the greater depth of the forest. Although hours had passed since the gore started, no beasts were yet to be seen barging into the area. To them, the territory was still as inauspicious as it was when the tyrannosaur claimed it as its ruler. The fierce beast still inspired fear in the beasts that were lurking nearby.

Chu Feng stood there, lost in thought. The scene of the fight was still replaying in his mind. Chu Feng was so rapt in contemplation that his breathing tempo started to unconsciously shift to that of the special breathing rhythm.

A plume of white mist suffused the air that lingered in between his nostrils and his mouth. Rays from the sun had penetrated the thickness of the miasma, trickling down to the world below. The gleaming luminescence of the sun then cast a golden layer of fine gauze around his body.

Chu Feng felt the warmth that was running in his vein. The painful injury inflicted by the swinging tail of the beast began to fade away.

"The breathing rhythm works miracles!" Chu Feng was astonished. The special breathing rhythm was never thought to have a miraculous healing effect. The breathing rhythm felt more like a hidden treasure. The deeper one could afford to dig, the more surprises were there left to discover.

Soon later, the golden layer of gauze had vanished into Chu Feng’s body. All those injuries inflicted during the fight were miraculously healed. Chu Feng no longer felt off-color.

In the distance, not far from where he stood, Zhou Quan and Yellow Ox were trying every method to skin the slain dragon.

"The scales are way to firm! Even bullets can’t penetrate this thing!" Zhou Quan complained. It seemed almost impossible to skin the beast.

Yellow Ox, on the other hand, always came up with methods that were bizarre but worked miracles in the end. The calf was crude and violent. It stomped and trampled on the beast’s dead body, widening that network of ruptures even further. Clearly, the calf wanted no further than to rupture the skin of the beast with brute force, then look for the needed compartments from the interior solely.

"Let me do it."

Chu Feng hopped off from the top of the beast’s hill-like remains. He pulled out his trusty dagger, then smoothly lacerated the scales of the beast. Now, since the interior was exposed, Chu Feng could start looking for the dragon’s tendon.

Half an hour later, a tendon quite sizeable in length was stripped off from the beast’s flesh.

"Is this a dragon’s tendon? It’s so thick though!" Zhou Quan felt a bit dizzy by the sight. The so-called dragon’s tendon was a transparent object whose thinnest section still had the same width as an adult’s arm.

"Extract its essence," Yellow Ox wrote. The calf seemed rather experienced. It stroked and felt its way on this ten-meter tendon. The calf seemed to be fumbling for something specific, while the other two stood beside, looking dumbfounded. The situation was just as the adage went: "A layman just watches, but a professional understands."

At last, it located a specific section.

Chu Feng looked closely at the tendon. Vaguely, he could see a silver string concealed in the thickest part of the entire tendon.

He tried to use his black dagger to pry out the fine string. As expected, the tendon was both firm and tenacious. Prying out the string proved to be of profound difficulty. It took him as much as two hours before the string could finally show itself to the world outside.

The string was a piece of succinctness of the dragon’s tendon. The string was almost two meters in length. It was both thin and flexible, which made it all the more appropriate to be used as a bowstring, since the "Thunderous" was almost a meter and a half in length.

"The length of it came just right!"

This was a fine silver string. It was tenacious as well. Chu Feng tied the string to the beast’s teeth and tried to haul this giant with only the fine string being the hauling rope. Despite the tremendous weight of the beast, the string held its integrity and did not fracture.

"What a treasure this is!" Although Zhou Quan still couldn’t make out the use of this piece of string, he could see that at least it could be made into a precious artefact one day.

Chu Feng now finally understood why the godly bow needed the tendon of a formidable beast as its bowstring. It had its reasons.

"Let head back and consult with Grandpa Zhao for some advices on the processing of this string," Chu Feng said.

Yellow Ox shook its head. The calf seemed quite experienced with the making of the bow and string, so it wrote, "It’s a natural bowstring. No need for processing."

Chu Feng, however, refused to heed what the calf said. He insisted on bringing the tendon back to the village before hooking it up to the bow itself.

"Take this. Let’s have a taste of the dragon meat when we get back." Chu Feng chop off a chunk of meat off the beast’s belly. The chunk only weighed a tad over a hundred jin, so Zhou Quan was assigned with the task to carry it.

"You’re right! Let’s feast on this beast’s meat tonight!" Zhou Qian swallowed hard and nodded in agreement. Millions of years after the extinction of dinosaurs, being able to taste the meat of these long extinct creatures was something utterly inconceivable.

Chu Feng chop off a chunk for himself as well. It weighed almost two hundred jin, and he was prepared to gorge on it tonight.

"The dragon’s teeth!" Yellow Ox wrote.

The calf informed Chu Feng that a dragon’s teeth could make the best arrows for the bow. It would be a reckless waste of god’s best gifts if they were to just give up on such a treasure like this.

Pulling out the teeth out of the beast’s bleeding gums was an arduous task for Chu Feng, but they were still loosened up in the end. Chu Feng then tied up the teeth with a twining ivy before loading it to his shoulder.

They returned via the same route as on which they came. The homeward journey was an easy cruise. There were no beasts or birds of prey launching brute assaults on them on the way back.

Zhou Quan was dropped off at the entrance to his town. Chu Feng and Yellow Ox stood at the entrance and watched Zhou Quan entering the town. Then, the two sped off to Qingyang Village.

Chu Feng brought the bow along with tens of jin of the beast’s meat to Grandpa Zhao’s weaponry workshop.

Grandpa Zhao’s eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets when he saw the silver tendon. It seemed like sheer fantasy to him.

"Where did you get the dragon’s tendon, Chu Feng? And how?" Grandpa Zhao felt parched, but he could feel a sudden surge of energy inside him. It felt as if he had been suddenly rejuvenated.

How he had wished he could see the restoration of the bow’s invincible might in his remaining years. Finally, his wish was about to be realized.

Chu Feng, on the other hand, was in quite a bit of dilemma. How should he explain it to Grandpa Zhao?

"A mutant sent it to me as a gift." It was a lie that he had to tell. Although it was not truthful, Chu Feng still asked Grandpa Zhao to keep it as a secret.

Grandpa Zhao nodded. Even though he could sense that there was something fishy about it, Grandpa Zhao saw no need for making any detailed inquiries about the facts any further. He looked closely at the tendon, and after careful examination, he ascertained that the tendon could be used as the bowstring straight away.

In the end, under Grandpa Zhao’s instructions, Chu Feng wound the tendon around the bow’s hook then tied it firmly to the great bow.

Ong!

It only took Chu Feng a light pluck of the string for the bow to suddenly scream with a terrifying sound. A roar of a beast followed by a piercing screech of a bird echoed out. This succession of sounds then culminated in an ear-splitting rumble of a thunder. It sounded like a fearsome thunderbolt striking down outside in the yard.

The windows around the house shattered as a consequence of the thunderous blast.

These were the results of a mere pluck of the string. If Chu Feng had allowed the bowstring to stretch out to the maximum extent that its elasticity allowed, the effect would have proven to be more terrifying than just the shattering of the windows.

"What a godly bow!" Grandpa Zhao was moved to tears.

"Grandpa Zhao, I will return it back to you after I finish using it. I think the bow matters more to you than to me," Chu Feng said. Now, since he had proven that the bow was indeed a rare treasure, Chu Feng did not want to profit at other people’s expense.

"No, no, no... you’ve got to keep it, young man... just... bring it back for me to have a look occasionally..." Grandpa Zhao said and he wiped away his tears.

Chu Feng nodded. This was a request with which Chu Feng would certainly agree. In fact, Chu Feng was more than willing to store the bow at Grandpa Zhao’s place on a long-term basis had the situation not decreed that he must use the bow to ensure the safety of himself.

Before he left Grandpa’s workshop, Chu Feng brought a bundle of iron arrows with him.

By the time he got back, Yellow Ox had already been weary of waiting.

"Here is not the testing ground for our bow. Let’s head into the mountains," Chu Feng said. There would be serious ramifications if the bow were to be pulled at its full draw in an area where residents crowded.

The bare hills and mountains, on the other hand, were desolate and uninhabited.

Chu Feng drew the bow at full draw, then an iron arrow was installed. Only a brief instant had passed before the place was suddenly kicked up with a terrific racket. Beasty roars trembled the earth and quivered the heaven. Shadows of phoenix soared up into the heaven.

Then, a sudden clap of thunder erupted in the air. Vaguely, Chu Feng could see an electric light burst out along with the shooting arrow, transmitting at a great speed into the distance.

Yellow Ox was oblivious to all the commotions that were stirred up around it. The calf drew none of its attention to the powerful drive that the arrow had delivered. Instead, the calf seemed to have been attentively listening to something that ran inconspicuous in the air. Its expression turned serious and solemn.

Boom!

In the distance, the woods were enveloped in smoke and dust.

Chu Feng was flabbergasted. It was not the power that a sheer arrow cast with iron could deliver. To him, it seemed more like an artillery shell fired to crush and pulverize the boulders and stones that had the misfortune to fall victim to this formidable bow.

"Another one!"

Yellow Ox quickly wrote on the ground. It seemed very anxious and very nervous as well. The calf pressed Chu Feng to keep shooting arrows.

Chu Feng nodded. This was the perfect opportunity for him to practice his archery. This would prove to be a skill that would be greatly handy tomorrow.

Chu Feng bent the bow for the second time. The thunderous rumble became even fiercer. The roar and the screech became more blaring and deafening. This ear-splitting symphony of sounds alone could pulverize boulders and crush the vegetation in the proximity. This sound was not just a mere vibration in the air, but it was a form of unspeakable energy distributing to its surrounding.

Phew!

The second arrow was discharged. Another electric arc formed along the trajectory of the arrow. A sizeable explosion at the rocky precipice in the distance immediately followed. Crushed stone blocks rained down along the precipitous cliff, forming a scene that was horrifying to say the least.

Again, Yellow Ox still seemed careless about the destruction that the arrow had caused and delivered. Instead, the calf stuck its ear onto the bow’s body. It seemed not to mind the ear-shattering rumbles, only attentively listening to something conspicuous to no-one but itself.

Chu Feng had completely understood the intention of the calf now. The calf had had a scheme of its own from the very start. No wonder it was even more attentive and mindful than he was. All the urgent pressings now suddenly made sense.

"Keep going!"

Yellow Ox pressed him to continue. Its ears were still closely attached to the body of the bow. The calf was in a standstill, looking as if it were trying to make sense of something with its heart.

Chu Feng was rather cooperative today. He asked no questions and said no words. One arrow after another was shot in continuous succession. All of a sudden, the place was filled with flashing lightning and electric arcs.

In the area that surrounded the shooting range, all vegetation had lost their vigor of life. The once luxuriant foliage had now gone to rack and ruin, peppering the earth with burnt black leaves.

An arrow after another, thousands of electric arcs marched over the air then landed on the opposite hilltop unhindered. In the end, almost half of the hill had lopped off. The once verdant height was now just another barren hillside.

At last, Chu Feng exhausted all the one hundred arrows he had brought with him. His skills in archery had been greatly enhanced. The road to his mastery of archery was greatly aided by his powerful sense and superhuman eyesight. His superhuman perceptions allowed him to shoot with great skill, with each arrow landing precisely on its target.

However, Yellow Ox seemed rather discouraged. It held the great bow in arms, tossing and turning the bow from one side to another. It looked quite disappointed.

"What are you looking for?" Chu Feng asked.

"The best breathing rhythm," Yellow Ox candidly wrote. The calf drew lines and curves on the ground with its front hooves while its eyes were fixated on the great bow, looking all down and weary.

What? Chu Feng was taken aback.

He knew that his achievements thus far were majorly attributed to the special breathing rhythm. The breathing exercises contributed to his empowerment more than the Demon Ox Boxing Style.

He also knew that the breathing exercise was quite a mysterious one too. It worked miracles. Yellow Ox had once even pointed one of its hooves to the sky while the other to the earth to signify and praise the greatness of this set of breathing rhythms. One might well imagine that the breathing rhythm must have been something out of the ordinary.

But, who would have expected that there was an even better set of breathing rhythms?

"Is it more powerful than ours?" Chu Feng asked.

"Equally powerful!" Yellow Ox wrote.

"If they are both equally powerful, isn’t one enough for us?" Chu Feng asked. He was, however, quite delighted to learn that the breathing rhythm of which he was in mastery was amongst the best.

"If we can acquire the ‘thunderous’ breathing rhythm, our body constitution could improve at an even greater speed. Our progress would be faster."

According to Yellow Ox, each of the two different breathing rhythms had its advantage over the other, which meant that each set of breathing rhythms had its own unique qualities.

Most importantly, the breathing rhythm that they were currently exercising could only be practiced in the morning and at night for a limited period each day. Prolonging the duration of each practice was to little avail.

However, the "thunderous" breathing rhythm was an utterly different animal. Mastering the "thunderous" would drastically improve the period during which their practice could be effective.

"What is the unique quality that the ‘thunderous’ have?" Chu Feng asked.

"It’s a way of might!" Yellow Ox wrote.

The so-called "way of might" referred to the effect it took in the body of a man during the exercise. By enabling the sensations in the man’s body to all ring at once, the man could theoretically receive a more thorough reshuffle of his body constitution. This would allow all aspects of the man’s body to be raised at a significantly faster rate.

Of course, it had its downside as well. This "way of might" might prove to be too overpowering for the human body to endure. It could inflict severe injuries on a man’s physical body. In rare cases, when the sensations in the body all began to ring simultaneously, the force it generated might quake a man to death.

According to Yellow Ox, however, if the man was in mastery of another breathing rhythm which could allow the man to acquire a stronger constitution before practicing the "thunderous", the negative effect could be dilated.

Chu Feng could finally understand why Yellow Ox had valued the "Thunderous" so much!

Chu Feng then joined Yellow Ox to study and examine the bow together.

According to Yellow Ox, the so-called godly bow had only become as godly as it was after it had been extensively used by a master of the "thunderous" breathing rhythm. After years of company by the side of the master, the bow started developing its own pulsation synchronic to the breathing rhythm of the master. In the end, the pulsation enabled the bow to possess the extraordinary power that was seen today.

Thus, it could be seen how mighty the "thunderous" breathing rhythm was. Implements could resonate the breathing rhythm of their master, and when the resonation settled to become a pulsation on the implements themselves, it turned the implements into gods and spirits!

"So, the bow was not born as a treasure?" Chu Feng was astounded.

Yellow Ox glared at Chu Feng.

Chu Feng then tried to learn modestly from the calf. He asked if the special breathing rhythm was a technique for promoting one’s internal force and spiritual well-being.

Chu Feng’s modesty was greeted with Yellow Ox’s despise. The calf showed a contemptuous look. Clearly, Chu Feng’s question had proven to be below the calf’s standard.

Chu Feng walked away, looking embarrassed. He now knew that he had been over-thinking the matter. The so-called breathing exercise had nothing to do with the rest of them at all!