CHAPTER 154: CHAPTER 154 CAN STILL BE CONNECTED

Don’t underestimate this 100-meter range. The attack range for elemental Star Martial Warriors is only between 20 to 30 meters, and anything over 50 meters can count as a long-range attack. Hitting a target at 100 meters is already a rare feat of high long-range prowess.

Wang Lan excitedly set up the training field as a 100-meter shooting range. The initial power of a Star Martial Skill determined its growth potential. At least, this standard of judgment was effective for Wang Lan.

Wang Lan arrived at the 100-meter mark, but he frowned.

At this distance, even the circular targets were blurry, let alone the bullseye, much less hitting it. It feels... I might as well have an automatic rifle in my hands.

He extended one hand, raising his index finger and thumb, with the index finger aimed at the distant target and the thumb forming a right angle with it.

This was the starting posture for Crescent Arrow, and Wang Lan didn’t quite understand why this specific posture was necessary. Did I *have* to raise my thumb? Could I not fire ten arrows at once with all ten fingers?

The Crescent Arrow Star Martial Skill was activated. Instantly, the specially compressed Star Power coursed through his body’s meridians at high speed. His meridians were like entangled tree roots. As soon as the Star Power flowed through a unique meridian, it accelerated instantly.

Suddenly, Wang Lan’s arm lit up. Amidst the Star Energy Fluctuation, a pair of dull golden wings emerged at his wrist, and a cluster of Star Power began surging back and forth between them.

In that moment, Wang Lan finally understood. Why it could only be launched from the index finger—maybe the creator of this Star Martial Skill had thought about firing with all ten fingers, but in the end, only the index finger remained.

And why raise the thumb? Only when the thumb was raised would the wings at the wrist unfold. What seemed like superfluous movements were actually essential and could not be skipped; they were crucial.

But really, taking four to five seconds just for the initial steps—is that okay? In four to five seconds, others could finish me off several times over. During that time, couldn’t just about anyone kill me?

Wang Lan looked at the target before him.

WHOOSH—

A silver-white arrow shot out from Wang Lan’s fingertip at breakneck speed, fiercely hurling towards the other side.

Then it zipped past the target, a beautiful near miss, and instantly dispersed like fireworks.

Wang Lan’s face darkened a bit.

This is the A-rank Star Martial Skill I spent eight million on, with an effective range of a hundred meters, right? Did I measure the distance wrong? Am I supposed to practice archery to use this Star Martial Skill?

That doesn’t seem right either. After learning the Star Cloud Sword Dance, a Basic Sword Skill automatically appeared among my Basic Skills. Having mastered Crescent Arrow, shouldn’t I get some basic archery skill?

Instantly, Wang Lan realized the problem.

The key lay in the skill level of Silver 1. Crescent Arrow was an A-rank Star Martial Skill, with the learning difficulty starting at Silver. Being at Silver 1 meant he had barely learned it. And barely learning it meant that just being able to release it was considered passing, right?

That so-called accuracy, activation speed, as well as the power and range of Crescent Arrow, all needed to be improved later on.

Wang Lan decided not to push the limits and fired an arrow at the PS armor beside him.

BOOM—

A burst of flame erupted, yet the PS armor showed no damage at all. However, the PS armor had a system to record energy quantities, so a number soon popped up on its display—1.

One, representing one point of firepower, roughly equivalent to the power of a single bullet.

The initial power was decent. Being comparable to a bullet, it was certainly much stronger than a regular arrow.

He spent three hundred skill points to push the skill to Silver 4.

Instantly, Wang Lan felt a clearer sense of Crescent Arrow. If the Star Martial Skill had previously given Wang Lan the feeling of toddling, now he felt as though he could run and jump with it.

He raised his hand, and Star Power surged instantly. At his wrist, the pair of golden wings snapped open in a flash. WHOOSH! An arrow was fired in less than a second.

BOOM—

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

The screen displayed an energy equivalent of 3.

This was three times stronger than before, rivaling the power of armor-piercing rounds.

But on the Basic Skills page, there was still no hint of a basic archery skill appearing. Perhaps the arrows fired by Star Martial Skills were fundamentally different from those shot with a regular bow and string. Hence, there was no commonality to learn from.

Wang Lan added points again, directly spending one thousand points to elevate Crescent Arrow to Silver 9.

In an instant, Wang Lan felt a subtle change in the Star Martial Skill. Its operational pathways seemed to have grown more complex.

If the operational pathways of a Star Martial Skill were likened to mechanical parts, then upon reaching Silver 9, both their complexity and precision had increased significantly.

Wang Lan raised his hand again, and Star Power surged in an instant. At the same time, a mass of Star Power suddenly rushed up his arm, shooting straight to his forehead.

If there had been a mirror in front of Wang Lan, he would have seen his right eye covered in a layer of golden light, its pupil seemingly transformed into a slowly rotating gear.

Time seemed to slow down. The previously indistinct bullseye was now magnified and brought closer through the adjustment of his eyes. The previously blurry bullseye now appeared crystal clear.

Damn, is this a scope’s design? A combination of scope and dynamic vision?

FWOOSH—

A silver-white arrow shot out from Wang Lan’s fingertip, breaking the sound barrier and instantly striking the distant bullseye.

BOOM—

With a loud bang, the target burst apart. The scattered fragments were blown away by the shockwave of the explosion, turning into numerous shrapnel littered around. The power of this arrow was comparable to a small hand grenade.

Wang Lan watched the scene in shock. The power of the Silver 9 Crescent Arrow was surprisingly good. And the Star Power consumption wasn’t much more than when it was at Silver 1.

What thrilled Wang Lan more was that this Star Martial Skill actually carried a derivative skill of the Pupil Skill category. With this, Wang Lan not only had long-range attack capabilities but also reconnaissance abilities. Although it might not be as powerful as Xu Xiangwen’s Heavenly Eye, there was at least potential for development.

Just because it’s not strong now doesn’t mean it won’t be strong later. Just pump in the skill points, right? What if a Gold-grade Crescent Arrow could grant abilities like X-ray vision or infrared night vision?

Wang Lan took several deep breaths to calm his excited heart and immersed his mind in the system.

Crescent Arrow, Silver LV9 (0/100). A long-range shooting Star Martial Skill. Star Power forms a Star Power arrow to kill the target, with an effective range of 150 meters.

An extra fifty meters of range, huh?

In fact, long-range capabilities might not be very useful in actual combat. After all, although Crescent Arrow was powerful, its shooting speed wasn’t faster than firearms. If one were really attacking an enemy from 150 meters away, the chances of hitting them were slim.

Star Martial Skills depended on the context and timing in which they were used. No matter the Star Martial Skill, it only worked effectively when used at the right time. Firearms were still powerful, but in the hands of ordinary people, they couldn’t reach their full potential.

And Star Martial Warriors had Star Martial Skills. In the Different Dimensional Space, firearms couldn’t be used, so gradually, Star Martial Warriors stopped using guns. People like Wang Lan, special agents of the Tianjian Bureau, actually did have gun permits. With an application, they could even get heavy snipers. However, holding a gun not only affected combat but also didn’t guarantee hitting the enemy.

Just then, the system suddenly emitted a buzzing sound.

After that, two Star Martial Skills suddenly lit up on the page. "Discovered combinable Star Martial Skills. Do you want to spend one thousand skill points to combine?"

This prompt made Wang Lan pause, but he quickly understood what the system meant.

Combining Star Martial Skills had another term in this world: Compound Star Martial Skill!

Only when one had a very deep comprehension of two different Star Martial Skills and a certain mastery of controlling Star Power could they attempt to use a Compound Star Martial Skill. Of course, the power of a Compound Star Martial Skill was absolutely a super-enhanced version.

But generally speaking, one shouldn’t even think about a Compound Star Martial Skill while still in the Star Cloud Stage. Only those who had reached the Galaxy Stage in their Cultivation Level and had perfected their Star Martial Skills to a masterful degree could attempt it.

The most classic example of a Compound Star Martial Skill was the Earth Vein Thunder Web used by Wang Qianfeng. The combination of Thunder and Earth Attribute Star Martial Skills could create an attack filled with Thunder Power, paralyzing the enemy with thunder while the earth aspect suffocated them—a fatal move.

And another terrifying feature of performing a Compound Star Martial Skill was losing the attribute counter effect.

For example, Wang Qianfeng’s Earth Vein Thunder Web. Normally, the Thunder Attribute could counter the Earth Attribute. But the activation of Earth Vein Thunder Web itself carried the Thunder Attribute, so an enemy’s Thunder Attribute attacks would no longer be able to counter this move. The weakness of the Thunder Attribute being countered by wind also disappeared, as the Earth Attribute could block wind attacks.

With Compound Star Martial Skills in action, one could only meet force with force.

But... why is it the Flame Sword?

Wang Lan looked puzzled. Aren’t Compound Star Martial Skills usually based on nature-changing Star Martial Skills? Two different attribute Star Martial Skills are used simultaneously in combination. The Crescent Arrow is a shape-changing type, while Flame Sword is a nature-changing type. What kind of combination is this?

Usually, the correct approach to this kind of problem was, why ask so many questions? Just combine them and see what happens!

Skill points aren’t the issue; the problem is... there are no skill points left!

Dammit, combining Star Martial Skills costs a thousand points, but I only have eight hundred left.

Damn!

All his Star Martial Skill points were pumped up to 99/100 progression. Plus, after using the Phoenix Form twice before and saving one thousand five hundred skill points into the Phoenix Form, Wang Lan had extravagantly reduced his four or five thousand skill points down to just one thousand eight hundred.

Now, after upgrading one A-rank Star Martial Skill to max level, he was left with eight hundred. He was short two hundred skill points...

Two hundred skill points... undertake two hundred challenges? But whom to challenge? School hasn’t even started yet. To farm points from the likes of Xie Sisi and the others... they’re all my own people; I can’t bring myself to do it.

He flipped through his phone and saw Xu Shiyun’s number.

"Hello, Xu?"

"Wang Lan, I’m in Hainan. What’s up?"

"You went to Hainan? Then never mind..."

"What are you hemming and hawing about? Just spit it out!" Lying on the beach in Hainan and wearing sunglasses, the corner of his eye kept sneaking glances at the joyfully running swimsuit-clad girls on the beach.

Life doesn’t get more pleasant than this.

In this moment, if one were to play a song, ’I’m in the warm southern sun, where it’s summer all year round; you’re in the northern ice and snow, frozen into a dog,’ it would be quite fitting for the scene.

"No worries, I was just thinking of finding someone to spar with to train my actual combat abilities."

"Yo? That dedicated, huh? Not forgetting to improve yourself even during the New Year? Promising! There are plenty of guys in the bureau. The two sisters from the Zhang Family are quite good, and Lige is also decent. They probably wouldn’t refuse to help you train."

"That’s the thing... Xu, I feel like I can’t beat them," Wang Lan said anxiously.

"Huh? Isn’t it normal for you not to beat them? Wait a second... What do you mean by that? You think you can’t beat them, so you come to me? Since when did you get so cocky? You..."

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

Xu Shiyun looked at his phone, so furious he was grinding his teeth.

You little rascal, just wait till I get back...