0116 Shooting the Halberd at the Gate, Piercing a Willow Leaf from a Hundred Paces?

As the notification popped up on his interface, Chen Jue flipped out of his handstand.

Prolonged handstands caused blood to pool in the head, often leading to congestion and a slight throbbing in the temples.

"Finally, I'm starting to get the feel of a planche!" Chen Jue took a deep breath, easing the dizziness brought on by the inversion.

Ever since he encountered the "Five Great Skills of Street Workout," Chen Jue had set them as his short-term goals. By steadily improving his upper body and core strength, combined with recent leg conditioning and Wu Fang’s professional guidance, he had finally managed to replicate the entire set of street workout moves.

Compared to the masters of street workout abroad, all Chen Jue lacked now was experience. As long as he stayed consistent with his daily training, it was only a matter of time before these five moves became as fluid and natural as his hidden weapon techniques.

"It’s all thanks to your guidance. If I had relied on myself, I don't know when I would have found that balance point," Chen Jue said, thanking Wu Fang.

Having a professional physical education teacher like Wu Fang assisting him made his training feel significantly more effective.

"Brother Jue, you’re already very impressive. Moves like the planche are top-tier in terms of difficulty. Back in college, I only remember the guys on the gymnastics team being able to master them," Wu Fang said with a smile.

"So, did you date anyone when you were in college?" Chen Jue asked, following the topic out of curiosity.

To his surprise, Wu Fang wasn't stumped by the blunt question. Instead, she picked up her red-tasseled spear and flicked it, creating a crisp snap. "My standards for a partner are very high!"

"None of the guys at university could beat me in a fight, so I’ve stayed single ever since!"

With that, Wu Fang began a vigorous spear routine on the lawn. Her movements—pointing, thrusting, stabbing, parrying, and sweeping—truly stirred Chen Jue’s heart. She was both dashing and formidable, her aggressive power blended with a unique, heroic grace.

Chen Jue watched silently from the sidelines, grinning. Discovering that Wu Fang had never been in a relationship made him want to cheer out loud. A treasure of a girl like her was truly impossible to find.

On second thought, however, he realized her criteria for finding a partner were indeed unique, leaning heavily toward a preference for strength. After all, as a Wuying-level martial artist herself, it wasn't easy to find someone who could best her in martial arts. He suspected that the reason she took an interest in him was precisely because of that master-level hidden weapon technique he had displayed—the kind that could establish a school of its own. Otherwise, with his previous "dullard" image, he would have struggled to pass her rigorous standards.

...

After watching Wu Fang’s spear routine for a while, Chen Jue waited for his stamina to recover before picking up his Qilin bow and starting his horse-stance archery practice.

Perhaps because a girl was watching, his desire to perform was heightened. Plus, with the massive surge in his attributes over the past few days, Chen Jue found that drawing the 110-pound heavy bow was no longer as grueling as it had been.

Watching the proficiency of his [Archery] skill tick up by one point after another, Chen Jue became more and more energized. It’s true what they say: working in a pair makes the labor feel lighter.

After half an hour of strength-focused archery, a new notification popped up on his interface:

——————

[Ding~]

[Proficiency reached 100%. Skill level increased.]

[Archery Lv2 -> Lv3]

[Your understanding of archery, this primitive hunting sport, has deepened. Your posture when drawing the bow is now more standardized, your target acquisition speed has increased, and your shooting accuracy has seen a minor improvement.]

——————

[Ding~]

[Completed a high-intensity comprehensive training session. Your upper body muscle groups have been fully exercised; the muscle endurance and explosive power in these areas have effectively increased.]

[You have mastered a special breathing technique to coordinate with drawing the bow. This technique forms a subtle synergy with your [Horse Stance] skill and your [Ming Jin] power-generation technique.]

[Your cardiopulmonary function has improved, your metabolic function has been further enhanced, and your stamina has increased slightly.]

[Strength attribute +0.02]

[Constitution attribute +0.01]

——————

"Refreshing!"

"A critical hit again!"

As a warm current surged through his entire body, Chen Jue felt a cool, soothing sensation wash over his sweat-drenched upper body. The lactic acid that had built up from pulling the heavy bow was significantly eased by this heat. At the same time, a wave of unfamiliar muscle memory washed over him, giving him a newfound, intuitive mastery over the sport of [Archery].

Seeing that Wu Fang had stopped her spear practice and was doing restorative exercises like leg stretches, Chen Jue asked her for the red-tasseled spear and stood it upright against the trunk of a ginkgo tree.

"Teacher Wu, could you please come over here?" Chen Jue said, stepping back with his bow to find a suitable position.

Wu Fang stopped her movements, her face slightly flushed, and she muttered in a tone of playful complaint, "Brother Jue, why do you call me 'Teacher'? I’m not your student, and you’re not a parent."

Skeptical, she followed Chen Jue to the other side of the lake, now over a hundred meters away from the ginkgo tree.

"Well, I can't exactly call you 'Little Fang' or 'Fangfang,' can I?" Chen Jue grinned at her, then took a practice arrow from his quiver and nocked it onto the Qilin bow.

Seeing Chen Jue aiming at her spear in the distance, Wu Fang was slightly startled, finally realizing his intent: "You’re going to shoot at my spear? Can you even hit that from so far away?"

Chen Jue didn't respond, keeping his focus absolute. Relying on his daily training-enhanced vision of over 5.4, he locked onto the tip of the spear. He dropped into a horse stance, took a deep breath, and slowly drew the bowstring. Using the precision and "arrow sense" provided by [Archery] Lv3, he suddenly released the string, sending the black, blunt-tipped practice arrow in a shallow arc.

Driven by the 110-pound pull, the black arrow traced a blurry parabolic path over the lake, then landed with a solid thud against the trunk of the ginkgo tree. Because it was a practice arrow, it didn't pierce the bark; instead, it knocked a few strands of red tassel from the spear’s wrap before falling onto the grass.

When the two returned to the ginkgo tree and picked up the arrow, Wu Fang was so astonished she was speechless.

"Brother Jue, that shot was amazing! It felt like watching Lu Bu shoot the halberd at the gate in the *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*!" Wu Fang gathered the fallen red tassels in her hand, her eyes filled with admiration.

"It’s not quite the same as shooting a halberd at the gate. The 150 paces mentioned for Lu Bu are from the fictional novel."

"In ancient times, one pace was about 1.5 meters. 150 paces would be roughly 225 meters."

"This shot across the lake is barely a hundred meters. It doesn't even compare to Huang Zhong’s 'piercing a willow leaf at a hundred paces,' let alone hitting the side-branch of a halberd," Chen Jue said, waving his hand modestly.

Based on his expectations, [Archery] Lv3 was already at its limit for hitting a target a hundred meters away. To replicate the legendary feats of Huang Zhong or Lu Bu, he would need to raise his [Archery] skill to the same master level as his [Hidden Weapon Throwing].