Boom—
The arrow’s force spent itself, and the mother peacock’s body slid rapidly down the cliff face and hit the ground with a heavy crash.
The impact shook the valley. Everyone coming back to themselves found the same expression on every face: shock.
That strike had been incomparably faster than Yan Xingkong’s arrow, and the difference in force was not a matter of degrees. It was the kind of power that justified the Solar-Splitting Bow’s name.
What surprised Xiao Qiangwei most was what had been hiding in that slight frame — something even more frightening than she’d modeled.
He’d achieved the same seventy-percent draw as General You on raw physical force alone.
Without any other technique, just holding the bow — there was no practical difference between him and General You Longtao doing it in person.
“…”
The sister’s death had clearly done something to the old demon’s thinking.
The moment Shen Yi pulled the string again, it beat its wings in frantic retreat. Every thought of weathering another hit was gone. The azure feather between its wings blazed, and a dozen-zhang wave of invisible force — slow in appearance, instant in reality — swept toward the peak where the young man stood.
Crack!!
The tall cliff split vertically. At the same moment, Shen Yi released his fingers again.
The piercing sound erupted through the valley. Blinding white light drove straight at the fleeing demon above — and hit the tail section heavily. The long, gorgeous tail feathers scattered in every direction. Half the lower body went with them.
The old demon flung blood in sheets, and even through the pain didn’t dare make a sound, working just to keep itself airborne and level.
It hurled two more invisible waves. But in its panicked state, beyond cutting the already-ruined peak into smaller pieces, the attacks accomplished nothing.
Wait. Wait until the other one’s strength runs out.
The Solar-Splitting Bow carried unimaginable force, but drawing it consumed a physical toll that wasn’t normal to bear. Once the newcomer was exhausted, this fight was far from over.
The enormous peacock swept across the valley like a storm, blood raining from the body and staining the sky red.
Shen Yi watched it.
He considered briefly. He wasn’t entirely confident about this.
He’d never used a bow in his life. For stationary targets, the combination of sharp eyesight and precise control of his body’s force let him manage accuracy well enough. But a Condensate Perfection demon fleeing at full speed was genuinely difficult to track.
After a moment’s thought, he shifted the bow’s charged white arrow to point at the young man with the wings for arms.
Locked by limitless killing pressure, Kong Jing went completely still.
“…What kind of thing is this—” he thought, in genuine internal distress. Who kills demons by starting with the wives and children.
Father could dodge — and could probably survive a hit. He himself had no such ability.
“You have no shame!” The demon above had sensed something wrong. An enraged howl. It looked down at Kong Jing, eyes landing on the azure and crimson feathers on both his arms — and ultimately couldn’t leave them behind.
The massive body dropped, scooped Kong Jing into its wings, and was launching upward again when Shen Yi’s already-prepared arrow fired.
The hard-feathered wings that had taken the Twin-Harmony sword intents and held — the white light passed through them without difficulty. The muscle beneath came apart like soft cloth.
The old demon’s speed dropped sharply. Before it could adjust — the second arrow came before the first had finished, and sent it flying a hundred zhang.
It had prepared itself to take one hit. A Condensate Perfection body could manage one arrow. But back-to-back, no pause between them?
Then the third. The fourth.
Shen Yi had apparently never handled a toy quite like this before. He kept drawing, no sign of fatigue, each arrow coming faster than the last.
He finally lowered his hand only when the light on the Solar-Splitting Bow seemed to dim very slightly.
He set it down with mild reluctance.
At the valley’s edge: wings destroyed, the body of the great peacock covered in horrifying wounds from every angle — like something already picked to the bone, the neck still extended, still looking at the black-robed figure.
The light in those eyes drained away until nothing remained.
Inside the shattered wings — a figure trembling, curled tight. The moment it raised its head to look around, two sword-intent shapes — less sharp than before, but still present — quietly enclosed its movement.
Elder Chunyang and Elder Qingjing walked over. No chance to resist. They didn’t make a killing move immediately.
Demon-hunters had their habit of collecting heart blood qi personally.
Standing here now, both old priests finally understood why Commander Shen had been given full authority over this matter. Watching those continuous arrows, both of them had been standing with their mouths open. General You wasn’t taking this lightly at all.
He’d taken it so seriously that only the absence of being there himself separated this from his personal involvement.
In all of Tingyang Prefecture, Commander Shen’s strength would rank in the top three.
Xiao Qiangwei walked closer. Looking at the two old men’s expressions, something in her felt quietly pleased. Then she glanced sideways at the figure on the collapsed peak, and tucked the feeling away with some unease.
Shen Yi placed the bow into the silver bell.
He turned and moved into the pile of rubble, turned over a few rocks, and pulled out a barely-conscious figure.
He crouched slightly and flipped Yan Xingkong over.
Without giving him a chance to speak — both palms came down in quick succession, harder than before.
In the time it took to blink: both legs broken, every major channel along the body sealed, and finally a palm locked on the qi sea.
“Still able to run?”
“…”
Yan Xingkong read the young man’s expression. It was completely earnest. He wasn’t being sarcastic. He was actually asking.
Something bitter and tired crossed the wrecked face. He shook his head. With treatment like this, even an immortal wouldn’t escape — let alone someone who was just a thief.
Shen Yi extended his hand. His voice was level.
“The goods.”
Yan Xingkong blinked — then understood why the young man had left him one working arm. He labored to reach his waist, took out an ordinary-looking cloth pouch, and from it produced a palm-sized gold tablet.
Engraved on it was the Baiyu Monastery’s greatest treasure — the Twin-Harmony True Intent.
Shen Yi glanced at it without visible change of expression and put it away.
“You know what happens to you?”
He had no particular feelings about Yan Xingkong. Being led in circles for ten days had been mildly annoying, but this trip had produced extraordinary results, and the man had come out to warn him earlier — at minimum, he hadn’t actively intended his death.
The problem was that other people’s lives were still lives.
Two Baiyu Monastery Daoist priests. A silver-bell demon-hunter. All of them nearly killed outside Qingzhou’s borders. That required an accounting in kind.
“I know.” Yan Xingkong seemed to have made his peace with it already. He turned his head toward the two demon corpses in the distance, and something like deep satisfaction moved through his eyes. Even knowing Shen Yi was formidable — he genuinely hadn’t expected a Condensate Perfection demon to fall this easily.
He steadied himself, and then looked at the young man with something that was close to guilt.
“If you hadn’t come—”
“That’s not what I meant.” Shen Yi extended his hand again. “When someone uses me to get things done, I expect to be paid. You don’t have a future anymore anyway. Might as well be generous about it.”
Yan Xingkong blinked. He understood quickly. He turned the cloth pouch over and a thin martial technique volume fell out.
“I don’t keep overnight wealth. This is the only thing I’ve always carried on me. I hope it’s not too little.”
Shen Yi took it and put it in the bell, then picked the man up and walked toward the valley floor.
(End of Chapter)