Ji Xinghuo’s first thought was not what she said, but rather, he found himself thinking, "Your voice is really nice!"
Then, he beca alert.
"May I ask who you are?"
"Mr. Ji, no need to be suspicious."
Her eyes blinked, and even though her face was obscured by the scarf, he could tell she was smiling infectiously, "My team is recruiting an archer, but we haven’t found a suitable candidate. I’ve seen you a few tis at the recruitnt center, so I beca interested."
Ji Xinghuo felt pleased inside, but managed to maintain his composure, "Your team?"
He always had the feeling that this woman was not simple. The prettier the woman, the more deceitful she could be, although he could not yet be sure if she was genuinely beautiful.
"Yes, I’m the captain of a hunting team, and our strength is quite formidable," she said, obviously being modest.
Ji Xinghuo now felt more skeptical, "You should know that I’m only a primary level ranger. If your team is really strong, why would you be interested in ?"
"Rank doesn’t matter that much. My requirents are different from other teams."
The woman stood up and walked past him.
Ji Xinghuo caught a scent that refreshed his heart, a blend of peach blossom, gardenia, white orchid, and various other plants. It was fresh and refined, incredibly subtle, almost imperceptible, but once slled, it was unlikely ever to be forgotten.
He was still in a daze when she had already reached the entrance of the restaurant, turning back to ask, "Mr. Ji, do you lack confidence in yourself?"
"I’m ready."
Ji Xinghuo set down his half-finished dinner, wiped his mouth, and stood up to follow her.
The two left the restaurant and walked along the street.
Ji Xinghuo walked beside her, then rembered to ask, "I’ve yet to ask how I should address you."
"My na is Ren Mian," she answered, turning her head, then explained as if afraid Ji Xinghuo didn’t know which characters, "Ren as in willful, Mian as in cotton."
"The surna ’Ren’ should be pronounced rén, right?" Ji Xinghuo asked, sowhat confused.
"In my case, it’s Ren as in willful," Ren Mian emphasized stubbornly, "If you successfully join my team, you can call Sister Ren."
A willful sister?
Ji Xinghuo silently ridiculed in his mind, but replied, "Okay, Sister Ren."
After that, the two didn’t speak.
They walked a few hundred ters without stopping, and Ji Xinghuo couldn’t help but ask, "Sister Ren, where are we going?"
"You claid your abilities are above those of an interdiate ranger, and that you’re strong in archery, but I’ve never seen it, so I’m taking you to test it," Ren Mian said indifferently. "Although my requirents are different from other teams, as a ranger, you still have to pass the basic skill test."
Ji Xinghuo nodded, "Thank you, Sister Ren, for giving this opportunity."
"Don’t get too happy just yet. Archery is only the first hurdle; the harder challenges co later. Thank after you join my team."
As Ren Mian spoke, she pointed ahead, "Here we are."
They arrived at an archery hall on the street. Once inside, Ren Mian had the front desk arrange for a private indoor shooting range where no one else was allowed to watch.
When the staff left, Ren Mian pointed to the farthest target.
"You have 10 seconds to prepare."
"Between the 10th and the 20th second, complete ten shots, each arrow must hit the bullseye." After speaking, she lifted her wrist to pull up her sleeve, revealing a chanical watch, beginning the tir.
Without a mont’s hesitation, Ji Xinghuo took his compound hunting bow off his back where it had been all along and positioned his quiver low, slung at his right side.
During this process, he also observed the target.
The specified target was a standard 80-centiter diater but was 150 ters away. This was far beyond the range that a primary level ranger could grasp, and interdiate rangers would struggle as well.
Although it was a stationary target, to require ten consecutive bullseyes within ten seconds was sothing that most advanced rangers could not achieve.
Other primary level rangers might not even be able to see the bullseye on the target.
However, Ji Xinghuo didn’t complain.
Ren Mian kept ti, and at the tenth second, she raised her right index finger as a signal.
Thwack!
Ji Xinghuo shot the first arrow almost at the sa mont; the arrow turned into a black line and whizzed away in a blink. He did not check the result; his Thousand Spirit Skillful Hand worked to the extre, setting the second arrow he had in his palm onto the bow, drawing, and shooting again.
Thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack!
Six consecutive arrows were released, their trajectories forming a raised parabola. Each shot was precise, continuously targeting the heart of the bullseye.
This took only about five seconds.
Ji Xinghuo’s pre-grasped five arrows were all used up. His gaze locked onto the target; his stance was unchanged, but his right hand reached into the quiver at his waist, deftly grabbing four more arrows.
The seventh arrow was notched.
Right before it was shot, Ren Mian at his side suddenly snapped her fingers. With a snap, the light from the surrounding crystal lamps was drawn to her fingertips, and the light in the shooting range dimd instantly, becoming nearly pitch-black.
Ji Xinghuo still released the arrow, then turned to look at Ren Mian, smiling,
"Sister Ren, launching a sneak attack isn’t nice."
He spoke and, as if unaffected by the change in lighting, shot another arrow into the darkness.
Thwack thwack thwack!
He completed the remaining three shots.
Light returned to the shooting range, and Ren Mian looked towards the target 150 ters away. Ten arrows densely packed were embedded on it, all hitting the bullseye.
"Eight seconds."
Ren Mian glanced at the chanical watch, her eyes betraying an undeniable sense of amazent as she praised, "Faster than I expected. With this kind of archery skill, Olympia’s teams will be fighting over you."
Not to ntion, this shot was made while she was interfering.
Ji Xinghuo exhaled deeply, as though to vent the frustration of the past two days, and said with self-deprecation, "They’ll only find fault in ."
"Hehe..." Ren Mian chuckled lightly, "Looks like I’ve found a bargain."
"Does that an I’ve passed?" Ji Xinghuo asked.
"You’ve passed the archery skill test," Ren Mian said, gently shaking her head, causing the light veil on the brim of her hat to flutter like waves. She spoke aningfully, "The next challenge is what I value more. But hitting the bullseye in the dark should be easy for you."
"Please present the next test, Sister Ren," Ji Xinghuo said with a calm expression.
"This test is about perception," Ren Mian looked toward the target full of arrows. "Go and retrieve your arrows. In three minutes head out again, and don’t lose track of ."
She turned and walked away after speaking, leaving Ji Xinghuo alone.
Ji Xinghuo was montarily stunned.
But he quickly ran over, pulled the arrows out, put them back into his quiver, and looked at the ti on the chanical watch without any sign of hurry.
The magnetic field induction had already locked onto Ren Mian.
She left the archery hall and started to quicken her pace suddenly, speeding up and turning into a small alley over two hundred ters away, and then stood still.
It was a visual blind spot—difficult for the average person to notice.
But in the magnetic field induction, it shone like a lighthouse in the night.
As soon as the three minutes were up, Ji Xinghuo walked out of the archery hall and pretended to look around at the entrance before moving toward Ren Mian’s location.
When they were half the distance apart, Ren Mian imdiately moved.
She kept going deeper into the alley where she was hiding, flipping over walls and weaving through building gaps and rooftops, often changing direction.
Instead of chasing her down the alley, Ji Xinghuo slightly quickened his pace from a distance, keeping her within his magnetic field induction range.
Ren Mian’s perception was extrely strong, clearly possessing ans to grasp Ji Xinghuo’s location as well.
So she picked up speed once more.
Often, she would jump onto rooftops to take shortcuts, intending to shake off Ji Xinghuo’s tracking. Ji Xinghuo was forced to also increase his speed.
But Ren Mian was evidently faster, and the distance between them gradually grew.
A few minutes later, she moved beyond the range of the magnetic field induction.
Ji Xinghuo lost sight of Ren Mian, but he wasn’t panicked at all. He turned his head towards the unseen corner of a wall, the ring of light in his right pupil flashed, and he fully activated the Wanxiang Star Pupil.
In an instant, countless illusory lines and lights flowed before his eyes, evolving into various futures.
Myriad Phenona!
Ever since he had spontaneously activated the Wanxiang Star Pupil to predict the future in a mont of crisis, Ji Xinghuo had practiced several tis and finally mastered this ability, which he called "Myriad Phenona."
Activating Myriad Phenona consud star power and could last up to three seconds at most.
However, he didn’t need that long at the mont.
Ji Xinghuo activated it for just the blink of an eye, less than half a second, gaining the direction he needed, and then imdiately shut down Myriad Phenona.
He ran swiftly in one direction, and after a dozen seconds, Ren Mian reappeared within his magnetic field induction.
Ren Mian was standing at the corner of a street, seemingly unaware she had been caught up to.
When the distance between them narrowed to just a hundred ters, Ren Mian finally realized it.
She quickly moved away again.
Monts later.
Ji Xinghuo lost track of her for the second ti, not due to a failing of the magnetic field induction, but because he simply couldn’t match her speed; as a Primary Level Ranger, it was too much of a stretch.
So he activated Myriad Phenona for half a second again and caught up to Ren Mian.
This happened three tis over.
The two of them, one chasing and the other being chased, had passed through half of East Xia District after more than an hour.
Ji Xinghuo had never been to this place before. This district had even fewer people, tighter patrols, and the Mutants passing by were even stronger; clearly, it was a higher-tier area of Olympia City.
Suddenly, Ren Mian’s movent pattern changed.
She no longer beca alert and darted in the most advantageous direction upon his approach. Instead, her movents beca more random.
Ji Xinghuo thought about it and understood.
Ren Mian had lost the ability to sense his location. He sniffed his own body and smiled, "So that’s how it is."
Ji Xinghuo boldly closed the distance with Ren Mian, only to find she had stopped moving.
When he approached, he discovered it was a bar.
Ren Mian stood at the entrance of the bar. When she saw Ji Xinghuo walking casually from a distance, surprise, resignation, and curiosity flashed through her beautiful eyes, yet she didn’t ask anything.
"Sister Ren."
Ji Xinghuo called out as he approached.
Ren Mian nodded slightly and reached out her pale, delicate hand, saying earnestly, "Welco to my team."
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