Pillar of Yita

The forest was enveloped in a thin mist akin to ice dust, the temperature so low that frost could form on one's eyebrows, the woods submerged in a deep blue hue. Yet colder still were the hearts of the people, eerily silent for a moment.

"Ade, you're thinking too much," someone said.

Before his words had finished, a feather arrow flew from the woods and pierced his throat.

The arrow's feathers were snow-white and still fluttering. Everyone scattered explosively, simultaneously dropping to the ground. Fang Hong wiped the blood off his face, and a moment later, an arrow flew past, barely missing his hair.

"Don't move." Kroid lay hidden among the bushes, his gray-blue eyes fixed on Fang Hong. "In what direction?" he turned and asked.

Sicape didn't speak, her pointed ears listening attentively to the surrounding noises. After a moment, a very unpleasant expression surfaced on her face. "I can't find that guy."

Everyone was silent as the grave.

In this New World, there was no concept of profession; a ranger was but a title given after delving into the third layer of the natural, cognition, and shooting skill systems, the last rank of lower-tier titles. Sicape was always ranked second among the elites of the Morning Dawn Star, and if even she couldn't locate the opponent, it implied that their adversary was no ordinary foe.

At that moment, a long cry echoed from the north of the woods, piercingly clear.

Everyone's expressions turned extremely grim.

Sicape cursed under her breath, "What night owl could there be in the forest at this time?" The hidden sniper was clearly mocking them, blatantly unafraid of revealing his location.

"To the north, at least five hundred feet away," Sicape uneasily informed the others.

"That far?" Everyone gasped. "Can we make it?"

Sicape shook her head slightly.

This distance was at least half again as far as her own range; no wonder the adversary felt so secure.

The gap was too great, even for the elite troops of the Silver Forest Spear. The opponent's boldness made Sicape think of a possibility—Silver Shadow, an elite brigade of the Silver Forest Spear.

Kroid also realized this, and asked in a grave voice, "Who is it?"

After a moment's thought, Sicape replied, "Qin Zhi, Silver Shadow has only one physical ranged warrior."

Fang Hong listened blankly to this ID he had never heard of before, knowing only of Silver Shine from the Silver Forest Crown, reputedly the weakest link of the top ten guilds, and also, the All-Seer KUN.

High up in an ancient tree to the north, Qin Zhi casually whistled, relaxedly gauging the result of his shot before marking a notch with his hunting knife on the bark. He made no attempt to conceal his position, although dense branches and leaves surrounded him, his greatest reliance being the distance—a battlefield of nearly one hundred and fifty meters was enough for him to kill anyone.

He wore a dark green cloak, concealed under which was his beloved bow, 'Falcon,' five feet long with limbs made of Rota's White Bone Wood, smooth and wax-like gray-white. Attached to one end of the bow was a gear assembly harboring a gemstone, a vast green peridot, enabling the pulling of the steel wire bowstring. A metal box inserted in the center held the Tongue of the Crimson Dragon—a rare Red Crystal forming the main body of the bow, a level IV Falcon component, increasing the range by fifty percent.

Just the bow alone was valuable enough to buy the entire Adventure Group of the Morning Dawn Star; it was priced at one hundred and fifty million Lycels on the market, and virtually priceless.

Not to mention the inherent range advantage of the Night Hawk title.

He put down the hunting knife and picked up the Crystal Pendant. The crystal brightened in his palm, emitting strands of light that interwove to form a Light Page. The dim glow reflected deep in his pupils, and Qin Zhi leisurely input with One Finger Zen, "I see them."

An ID popped up on the window.

KUN: "Have you convinced them yet?"

KUN: "Why aren't you talking?"

Qin Zhi: "Hold on, I type slowly."

KUN: "..."

Qin Zhi: "I took down one."

KUN: "..."

KUN: "Forget it, just hold them off, you handle it."

Qin Zhi: "I understand."

Qin Zhi raised his head, a wry smile on his face. "They think hiding will make them undetectable, how amusing." He looked towards the distance, the forest pitch black, and slowly raised his bow.

In the darkness, a sharp tearing noise slashed through the air, like the fierce cry of an eagle.

Fang Hong instinctively turned his head, just in time to see a rotting log not far away explosively split open, launching a hidden warrior directly into the air. A flurry of wood chips and dust rained down, striking his head and face.

"Piercing Shooting?" Fang Hong was filled with astonishment. He had often seen such spectacular skills in high-end Chosen battle videos—Blind Shot, prediction, sniping an enemy behind obstacles. Since arrows deform when piercing dense material, precise hitting of a target beyond required not only the shooter's skill and experience but also very good equipment.

This was Fang Hong's first real-world experience in the New World of a technique he had only seen in videos. But what increased his anxiety was that the person executing this skill was now on the opposite side.

In fact, Fang Hong was a beat slower in reacting compared to the others. Realizing there was a Professional Summoner among their opponents might not be one of the familiar names he recalled, but at least it was a member of a second or even top-tier brigade. He was unclear about the extent Professional Summoners of the First World could reach; to them, Piercing Shooting was merely a basic skill.

And another basic skill was, Dual Control Clockwork Fairy.

He looked at the warrior who had been shot, slumped against the arched roots of the ancient tree, an arrow protruding directly from its feather-fletched tail on his chest. The tail feathers were snow-white, with fine down, and Fang Hong recognized them as the expensive Pegasus Feather, imbued with Wind System Magic Power for enhanced accuracy.