My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 498: Chapter 172: Single Blade Breaks the Bow! Copying the Talent [Master of Archery]

The ”bearded middle-aged man” did not hastily shoot his arrows like the young men standing to his left and right.

He held his breath, his sharp eyes fixed on Aoto’s approaching figure. His stance... was like an eagle soaring in the sky, always ready to swoop down and capture its prey.

Scritch—The ”bearded middle-aged man” widened his stance, then swiftly and steadily raised his yumi bow, setting the arrow, pulling the string tight, and aiming along its trajectory... gathering formidable momentum in his waist and arms.

Just as Aoto was around 10 meters from the alley entrance, at that split second... the ”bearded middle-aged man” suddenly opened his half-closed eyes wide!

In an instant, the tension in his arms released, and the sound of the arrow slicing through the air followed!

The archery of this ”bearded middle-aged man” was indeed far superior to the two young men on either side of him.

The arrow launched by the ”bearded middle-aged man” tore through the blood-scented air within the alley and above it, with a power, speed, and precision far exceeding any shot by the two young men before, flying straight toward Aoto’s head!

The cold gleam of the arrowhead rapidly enlarged in Aoto’s vision, and as it did, Aoto’s pupils shrank at the same speed.

Just when Aoto’s pupils shrunk to pinhole size—

Whoosh—!

Aoto jerked his head to the left, with the arrow skimming past and grazing his right cheek with a ”whoosh,” leaving a shallow scratch on his face.

Perhaps because he didn’t expect Aoto to dodge his carefully aimed and fully powered arrow... the ”bearded middle-aged man” was momentarily filled with astonishment and hurriedly grabbed a new arrow from the quiver at his back.

However... it was too late.

At this moment, the distance between Aoto and the others... was only 3 meters!

Aoto took a deep breath, then leaped up, springing from the rooftop like a great bird!

Now it was Aoto diving down, closing in on his prey like a hawk!

As he leaped, Aoto switched to a two-handed grip on his sword and raised Ghost-Slaying high.

With the momentum of his jump, Aoto swung Ghost-Slaying down with both hands, slashing at the young man standing to the right of the ”bearded middle-aged man.”

The young man, in a panic, instinctively raised his yumi bow to block Aoto’s slash.

But of course—how could the wood of a bow withstand the slash of a steel sword.

With a loud ”crack,” the bow and string both shattered completely.

As Aoto sliced through the young man’s yumi bow, his feet firmly planted on the ground.

The moment his foot made contact with the solid ground, Aoto swiftly kicked at the stomach of the young man whose bow he had just broken.

It felt solid.

The young man was kicked away by Aoto, curling up like a prawn and falling to the ground, groaning constantly, unable to rise.

The ”bearded middle-aged man” gritted his teeth, stepped back, steadied his bow, and aimed the arrowhead at Aoto at close range.

He planned to shoot Aoto at close range... although the ”bearded middle-aged man’s” idea was good, Aoto obviously wouldn’t let him succeed.

Just as the ”bearded middle-aged man” was about to release the string in that fleeting moment—a flash of the blade!

The silver blade of Ghost-Slaying traced an arc of silver light.

Where this silver line passed, all would break!

The ”bearded middle-aged man” didn’t even have time to shoot his arrow before his bow was cut in half.

Next, Aoto slightly leaned his right shoulder forward and rammed his shoulder into the chest of the ”bearded middle-aged man.”

The ”bearded middle-aged man” who was knocked to the ground coughed forcefully several times, trying hard to get back up, but after several attempts, he ultimately failed.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully copied talent: ”Master of Archery”]

[Talent Introduction: Archery skill enhancement is 10 times the average level of ordinary people]

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Asking for monthly votes! Asking for recommendation votes!

I’m also very pleased with the quality of this Chapter, so it would be unfair not to give me some monthly votes (crying like a leaping leopard emoji)

Speaking of which, a reader seriously told me that the plot of ”challenging 18 samurai” in the last Chapter was too unreasonable, saying that facing 10 opponents would already be like a Sword Saint or something... Dude, can’t you stop self-righteously explaining how the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms are unreasonable in a martial arts novel...? (collapse emoji)