The Trial Participant's breastbone was shattered by a headless arrow, the agony twisting his features into a knot.
Yet he didn't give up; grinding his teeth, he pulled a short blade from his waist for a last-ditch fight.
But at that instant a fierce gust of wind howled straight at his skull.
Thud!!
A black halberd skimmed his scalp and plunged deep into the earth beside him.
Zhao Mu stepped in, stomped on the youth's chest to pin him, and leveled the heavenly halberd so its edge rested against the boy's throat.
Every drop of blood in the Trial Participant's body ran cold.
For the first time in his life, the shadow of death felt this sharp, this close.
Zhao Mu rattled off, "Hand over your number tag and forfeit. Then you walk away."
With the blade at his neck, the boy could utter no refusal.
Zhao Mu couldn't take the tag and release him, nor did he intend to kill—so this was the cleanest solution.
"I-in my waistband…"
The Trial Participant was too terrified to move, dreading any move that might enrage Zhao Mu.
One slight press of that fifty-jin heavenly halberd could crush his windpipe.
"Smart choice."
Zhao Mu flicked the boy's robe aside with the halberd and found the number tag tucked inside his underwear.
Er… Zhao Mu's face scrunched in disgust; the boy flushed, equally embarrassed.
Still, it was a tough spot to search.
Zhao Mu ordered, "Hurry up—strip and concede!"
The youth gaped at him, eyes brimming with indignation.
"Y-you can't do this…"
"Less whining!"
With a twist Zhao Mu pressed the halberd edge to his throat.
Pfft!
In the monitor room, Instructor Xie Yingxue had been sipping coffee; she sprayed it across the screen.
"This brat…"
Moments earlier they'd been watching, impressed by how fast Zhao Mu had subdued an opponent.
No one expected the scene to swerve so wildly.
"It's still an exam—what does he think he's doing!"
Shen Moran's face was equally dark.
"How is he so strong? And I remember he's straight!"
"A-hem, no worries," Xu Zhixiong coughed. "They know the cameras are rolling; even if they had… ideas, they wouldn't pick this moment."
Sure enough, on-screen the boy peeled off his outer robe and was reaching for his trousers.
Zhao Mu barked, "Stop! Put your pants back on!"
The youth stared, teary-eyed. "Huh? That's allowed?"
Zhao Mu couldn't fathom the odd reaction; he looked at the boy as if he were a pervert.
"Even if you relieved yourself right here, I wouldn't go easy—say the word and forfeit!"
While speaking, he swiftly knotted the boy's robe into a makeshift bundle around his own waist and tucked the number tag inside.
Only then did everyone grasp his intent.
The boy's face paled; survival first. He threw up a hand and yelled, "I concede!!"
The instant the words left his mouth, a piercing shriek split the air.
A Giant Eagle circling overhead folded its wings and dived, too swift for the eye to track.
A whirlwind shoved Zhao Mu back several steps, enveloped the boy, and lifted him out of the trial ground.
"This guy…"
Zhao Mu narrowed his eyes; the boy had shouted deliberately, advertising the fight to anyone nearby.
Sure enough, the next heartbeat brought a sharp gust from his rear flank.
A razor-edged arrow whistled past, missing Zhao Mu by less than two metres.
Though Zhao Mu's fight had ended quickly, the density of Trial Participants on Xiuyun Mountain was high.
Any skirmish drew hidden hunters like sharks to blood.
Yet Zhao Mu remained perfectly calm.
Because he knew—someone would come.
So as he retreated he'd already ducked behind a thick tree trunk.
The sniper's arrow had no chance of hitting him.
"Rear right, one hundred metres, behind the third tree. Mediocre Archery."
Zhao Mu delivered his verdict aloud.
Even the school's top archers might falter in real jungle combat.
Except one kind—Zhao Mu, who'd spent years hunting fierce beasts in the wilds.
One hundred metres away, behind that tree, the archer crouched, second arrow already nocked and ready.
He clicked his tongue in regret. "Missed? I've trained on moving targets, but with all these obstacles and uneven ground, accuracy's shot."
He dared not show himself while the enemy also carried a bow, yet a stalemate helped no one.
As he hesitated, a sudden "thunk!" sounded behind him.
The archer's eyes lit up—his opponent had loosed a shot!
Even the finest bowman needs a heartbeat to reload; this haste must be from fear of drawing a crowd.
Arrow already set, he spun, dropped to one knee behind the underbrush, and prepared to release.
But the instant he peeked out, he saw Zhao Mu bow drawn to the full moon, aiming straight at him.
"How—"
What had struck his tree wasn't an arrow at all—just a pebble.
Infused with Qi, a stone could carry a hundred metres: lethal force lacking, accuracy shaky, but noise—plenty.
The archer loosed in panic, a hair too late; at a hundred metres Zhao Mu's bow—the armoury's stiffest—sent a shaft like lightning, smashing into the boy's left hand.
Thud!
Even without a head, an arrow driven at such speed scarcely needs a point.
Before the boy could release his own shot, a finger flew skyward in a spray of blood, his left hand mangled.
Twang!
His bow clattered to the ground, the arrow spinning harmlessly skyward.
Zhao Mu channelled Qi to limbs; as he sprinted he re-nocked, and a second shaft punched square into the boy's chest.
Thud!
In a blink the archer felt as if a massive chisel had bored through his sternum, pain exploding outward.
Zhao Mu slung the short bow, the heavenly halberd dragging behind him to rake a cascade of dead leaves.
A sharp "zing!" rang out as a silver wire snapped beneath the blade.
Around the fallen opponent, thin steel wires lay hidden beneath the leaf litter.
A careless charge would have sent Zhao Mu sprawling—fatal in a life-or-death trial.
Yet Zhao Mu merely scoffed; Bu Yanhuan's Fieldcraft lessons had covered traps far trickier than this.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)