Dai Mubai asked in confusion, "You mean those were crossbow bolts just now? But where did your bolts end up?"
Tang San smiled faintly and pointed toward another large tree behind them. "Over there." As he spoke, he walked over to that tree. The second tree was a full ten meters behind the first, and when everyone arrived in front of it, they finally saw the tracks left by the bolts fired from the Zhuge Divine Crossbow.
Sixteen bolts, arranged in two neat rows, had sunk completely into the trunk.
Zhao Wuji looked at the first tree, then at the one before him. "Little San, did your bolts pierce through that first tree and then embed themselves in this one?"
Tang San nodded. "The Zhuge Divine Crossbow is extremely powerful. It's designed specifically to break through Soul Power defenses. Unless your defensive capabilities are truly exceptional, it will kill you in an instant."
Hearing Tang San's explanation, everyone couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath. That level of penetrating power — apart from Zhao Wuji, everyone present knew they wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Dai Mubai murmured to himself, "That thing is way too overpowered. Even if I used the White Tiger Diamond Transformation, I'd probably still suffer serious injuries."
Tang San raised his hand and struck the tree trunk, using his Mysterious Heaven Skill combined with the Dragon-Claw Force to gradually vibrate the bolts out of the wood, one by one.
The bolts for the Zhuge Divine Crossbow were not easy to make. The ones that had been shot into the Human-Faced Demon Spider's body were clearly beyond recovery, but he couldn't bear to part with these.
While tapping against the trunk, Tang San said to Dai Mubai, "You could say the Zhuge Divine Crossbow is an ordinary soldier's worst nightmare. But its greatest feature isn't its raw power — it's the concealment and suddenness unique to Hidden Weapons. Once the mechanism is loaded, firing it doesn't require a single drop of Soul Power. Even an ordinary person can use it with ease. Based on my calculations, a Soul Master below rank forty struck head-on would have very slim chances of survival. It's especially effective against non-defensive type Soul Masters."
"Tang San, did you develop all of this yourself?" Ning Rongrong asked.
Tang San paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile. "You could say that." He certainly couldn't tell everyone that these were techniques he had brought over from another world.
Ning Rongrong ventured carefully, "Tang San, would you be willing to sell one of these to me? Name any price you want. You know I'm a support-type Soul Master — I have almost no ability to protect myself. When everyone's fighting for their lives, all I can do is provide a bit of auxiliary Soul Skill support and watch. If I had something like this, I'd at least have some offensive capability."
Tang San smiled easily. "Sell? I'll just give you one when we get back. But the materials needed to make it are expensive. You'll have to cover the material costs yourself."
By now, Tang San had finished tapping all the bolts out of the tree, and everyone finally got a clear look at the Zhuge Divine Crossbow bolts.
Each bolt was eight inches long, with no fletching. The rear four inches were cylindrical, while the front four inches tapered to a conical point. The foremost three inches bore a full twelve narrow blood grooves, and the tip was razor-sharp, gleaming with a faint cold light. Despite having punched clean through two tree trunks, there was not the slightest sign of wear.
Tang San flicked the side of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow to open the bolt chamber, then pressed all sixteen bolts back into the magazine one by one.
Oscar had already sidled over, wearing an ingratiating grin. "Little San, we're good brothers, right?"
Tang San looked at him with a knowing smile. How could he not understand what Oscar was after? "Of course we are. Don't worry — I'll give each of you a set of Zhuge Divine Crossbows. Same deal as Rongrong: you cover the material costs, and I'll handle the crafting. But making these is a complicated process — I can only produce one per month. Just be patient. And don't use them unless it's absolutely necessary. The bolts aren't easy to forge either, and once they're fired, they're nearly impossible to recover. I'm only one person — there's no way I can keep up with demand for everyone. Besides, the Zhuge Divine Crossbow itself is incredibly brutal. Its killing power is enormous, and it can very easily deal lethal damage."
"Little San, that won't do," Zhao Wuji suddenly spoke up.
Tang San looked at him, surprised. "Why not, Teacher Zhao?"
A cunning smile crept across Zhao Wuji's face as he glanced at the other students. "These kids aren't exactly short on money. Your Zhuge Divine Crossbow was hard to make — you shouldn't let them off so cheap. Some of them don't care about money anyway, so just pick a price and sell it to them."
Dai Mubai nodded. "I agree with Teacher Zhao. Little San, if you were to sell the Zhuge Divine Crossbow, how much would one cost?"
Tang San smiled and shook his head. "We're all on the same side here. Let's not talk about money."
Dai Mubai said, "Being on the same side doesn't mean we should let you take a loss. A small box like this that can fire crossbow bolts with that kind of devastating power — the craftsmanship involved must be incredibly intricate. We can't let you put in all that effort for nothing. And in the future, when we use these things, we'll need more bolts. Are you just supposed to make them for free every time? Don't be so polite with us. How about this — the first Zhuge Divine Crossbow counts as your gift to us. We'll only cover the material costs. But from now on, whenever we need more, you sell them to us properly. How does that sound?"