The rock stood up, and the Yaksha, although sturdy, was much shorter than the rock. Looking at him, he couldn't help but take a step back. The rock said: "Brother, we're just passing by here. May I ask, where have all the people in your village gone? Have they all gone to graze?"

  The Naiman tribesman had recovered from his surprise, and with a smile on his face, said: "What are you herding today? Don't you know that today is the Batulu Festival of our Naiman tribe? The festivities are about to begin, and everyone has gone to celebrate. Of course, there won't be anyone here. We've gathered together with several neighboring tribes over there. I came back to fetch something; otherwise, you wouldn't have seen a single person. The celebration is about to start, outsiders, do you want to come take a look? It's going to be very lively."

  Several people gathered around, Ah Diao asked: "Brother, what does 'Batu Luu' mean?"

  "That person said: 'You don't even know this, do you? Batulu in our ancient Yaqi language means brave warrior. So, this festival is also called the Brave Warrior Festival. Each tribe will select its own brave warriors to participate in today's celebration. Are you going or not? I have to hurry over there now. The Batulu Festival happens once a year and is one of the most important festivals for our Yaqi people.'"

  Xuan Yue Que jumped onto the path: "Want to go, want to go, we also want to take a look. You just bring us along then."

  The Naiya people saw the lovely face of Xuan Yue and their eyes lit up, praising: "Little girl, you're really beautiful! My name is Tubari, welcome to our festival."

  Yan Shi and Yan Li exchanged a glance, they had also heard that the Batu Festival of the Aqi tribe was very interesting, it was the largest celebration of the Aqi tribe. This time, since they happened to arrive, it wouldn't hurt to take a look, besides, they also wanted to buy horses from the Aqi people. "Excuse me, brother, would you mind showing us the way? We outsiders attending your festival won't be a bother, will we?"

  Tubari burst out laughing and said, "How could that be? The Ya Qin tribe loves making friends the most. Since you've come here, you're our friends." At this time, a low and mournful horn sound suddenly came from afar, his face moved, saying: "We have to hurry over there quickly. The celebration is about to begin." After finishing speaking, he beckoned the four people to follow him, quickly running towards the east.

  Several people exchanged a glance and hurried to follow. The most excited one was Xuanyue, who was always full of curiosity about new and strange things.

  Four people followed Tubari through the herd of cattle and sheep, and suddenly saw an extraordinary scene. The place where the oasis was located was relatively high, so they hadn't noticed this side earlier. As soon as they passed through the herd, they saw a vast expanse of Yaqi people scattered all over the mountains and fields. These people were divided into three large groups, with very simple attire, and many young Yaqi people were bare-chested, shouting continuously. Most people were riding high-headed horses, with excited smiles on their faces. In the center of the Yaqi people was a large empty space, surrounded by bonfires, each burning whole cows or sheep, and the aroma of meat wafted over, making Ah-Dai and others salivate greatly.

  "Come on, let's go. It's about to start. I belong to the Northern Tribe, which is located in the north, and the other two are the Southern Tribe and the Eastern Tribe. Although our three tribes are not very powerful among the Ya Qi people, we have a close relationship with each other and occupy this oasis, so life is still quite good." As he spoke, he led the crowd to the northern side of the Ya Qi people. The Ya Qi people did not show much surprise at their appearance, but instead smiled warmly and welcomed them.

  The sound of the horn echoed, and tens of thousands of Ya people suddenly fell silent. From the three tribes of Ya in the north, east, and south, dozens of fast horses rushed out, galloping towards the center at lightning speed. When the three teams were about to collide, the riders on horseback simultaneously made a gesture to rein in their horses, and dozens of fast horses almost simultaneously stood up on their hind legs, stopping amidst neighing. The exquisite horsemanship was breathtaking. Ah-Dai thought to himself, no wonder people say that the light cavalry of the Ya tribe is extremely formidable.

  He grasped the reins tightly in his palm, with an eager-to-try look on his face. In the Pu tribe, he was quite famous for his horsemanship. As soon as he saw these skilled horsemen from the Yaqi tribe, he felt an itch that couldn't be scratched.

  Three teams of cavalry gathered in the center of the open space, and the surrounding Ya people shouted together, creating an exceptionally lively atmosphere. The leaders of the three teams were all robust men in their forties, holding high the sabers in their hands, and shouting loudly along with their knights.

  After a while, the shouting stopped. The leader on the north side shouted loudly: "Brothers and sisters, today is our Batulu Festival, which is held once a year in our Yaqi tribe, and it's also the birthday of our brave warriors. Another year of hard work has passed, and our Yaqi tribe has produced many new brave warriors..."

  Tubari explained to the four of them: "This is our tribe's chief, and among these three tribes, ours is the strongest. The Batulu Festival is divided into two parts. The first part is a competition in various forms, and finally, the bravest warrior from each tribe will be selected. The second part is a thorough carnival. Only today, we Yajin people don't have to work or herd, everyone can revel freely. The main competitions are three items: horse riding, wrestling, and archery. Are you interested in participating?"

  Yan Shi Yi Cheng said: "Can we also participate?"

  Tubari laughed and said, "Of course. Our Ya Ke tribe respects those with skills the most. Moreover, there are rewards for each competition. The reward for the horse riding competition is two fine horses. The reward for the wrestling competition is the best - the winner can choose an unmarried girl over 18 years old from any of the three tribes to take home as his wife. So the competition is also the fiercest, and many young people want to show off at this time, not only to win fame but also to win the heart of their beloved. The reward for the archery competition seems to be money, I heard it's 50 gold coins."

  As soon as the reward of a fine horse was announced, everyone's eyes lit up. Yan Li couldn't wait and said: "I want to participate in the riding competition, brother, hurry up and take me to sign up."

  Tubari burst out laughing and said: "Brother, I didn't see your horse!"

  Yan Li said with a hint of embarrassment: "I didn't bring my horse, what a pity. Sigh..." He lowered his head, looking regretful.

  Tubari smiled brightly and said, "No problem, how about this? I'll lend you my horse. If you win the competition, it will also bring glory to me."

  Yan Li heard this and was overjoyed, saying: "Good, then thank you, big brother."

  Tubari pulled Yueli to sign up for the horse racing competition. Yueli shook his head and said, "This kid! As soon as he hears about a horse race, he becomes arrogant." In the times of Pu Yueli, almost every time there was a horse race, Yueli would inevitably participate.

  Xuan Yue chuckled and said: "If Yan Li Ge wins, we won't have to spend money to get a horse to ride, isn't that great?"

  At this time, the leaders of the three tribes in the field were holding some kind of ceremony, Ah Dai and others couldn't understand it either. Ah Dai's attention was basically focused on those fragrant roasted meats, eating was always one of the most important things for him. Although Rocky had been in a good mood for the past few days, he still spoke very little, after his wife's death, he seemed much more stable, and at this time, he was focusing his gaze on the three chieftains in the center of the field. The most excited among them was Xuan Yue, she kept looking around, feeling the atmosphere of the Ya Ke tribe's festival, and couldn't help but feel extremely happy.

  After a while, Tubari returned, "The riding skills of the Rock Brothers are really good! At first glance, he is a person who understands horses and has chosen the best horse in my house. I hope he can win this competition."

  "Ah-Dai asked: "Tubari big brother, how does the horse racing competition proceed?"

  Tubari said: "Actually, it's very simple. From here, head east for ten miles and there will be a red flag. Whoever gets it first and brings it back wins. The rules are simple, but the actual competition is very difficult. Even if you can get the red flag smoothly, you may not be able to escape the pursuit of other competitors. So, the person who gets the red flag first may not necessarily be the winner. I participated in one five years ago and didn't even see the shadow of the red flag, haha."

  Tuba's humility greatly increased the good impression of the three people. Ah Dai, who had seen Yan Li's riding skills before, said confidently: "Brother Yan Li will definitely be able to do it, he is the best rider I have ever seen."

  Tubari laughed and said, "I hope so. The horse racing competition has not started yet, I'll take you to have some fun too, there's an archery competition and a wrestling match over there, let's go take a look."

  Indeed, several empty spaces had been cleared in the open field, with the largest one having ten arrow targets, all at a distance of over 500 meters. The rest of the places were occupied by dozens of wrestling arenas. The archery competition of the Ya Qie tribe was about accuracy, while the wrestling competition was more complicated. Anyone could participate as long as they could knock down three people in a row, and then advance to the next round until the final winner was determined. Under Tubari's leadership, the three of them entered the open field. Due to the large number of spectators, Ah Dai feared that Xuan Yue might get lost, so he pulled her small hand into his arm and protected her under his armpit.

  The wrestling match on this side indeed had the most people, with three layers inside and three layers outside, making it difficult to squeeze in. The body odor of the Yaksha tribe, which smelled like cattle and sheep, made it hard for the three of them to adapt. Yan Shi said to Tuba Li, "Let's go to the archery competition instead, there are really too many people here."

  Tubari smiled awkwardly and said, "Yes! Who doesn't want to become a brave warrior and win the heart of a beauty? These young people are all like that." As he spoke, the crowd squeezed out of the way and came to the nearby archery competition venue. There were far fewer people here, and the target five hundred meters away was just a black dot. It wasn't easy to aim, and even drawing the bow and shooting an arrow was extremely difficult. A bow that could reach a straight-line distance of five hundred meters was hard to draw even for someone with high internal energy. Therefore, most participants in the competition chose to use bows with relatively less force required, using parabolic trajectories to hit their targets. Although there were fewer people participating here, each one was an archery expert, and arrow after arrow flew towards the distant target like a swarm of locusts.

  Tubari explained: "It seems that there are less than fifty people participating in the archery competition this year. In the first round, each person shoots ten arrows, and the top ten most accurate shooters will advance to the second round to compete for the final victory. The game has just started, do you want to go and play?" As he spoke, his gaze fell on Rocky. Rocky's physique was tall and powerful, and Tubari also wanted to see what skills these outsiders had. However, unexpectedly, Rocky shook his head, seemingly uninterested in the competition.

  Instead, Xuan Yue's interest was piqued, and she kept shaking Ah Dai's hand, saying: "Why don't you go try it out? The reward is 50 gold coins."

  Ah-Dai scratched his head, stammering: "B-but, Moon-Moon, I won't be able to shoot arrows! It's impossible for me to get any rewards." Indeed, he had never even touched a bow, let alone shot an arrow.

  Xuan Yue said, "Who isn't born knowing everything? You won't know if you're not good at it unless you try. Go ahead and give it a shot. Just think of it as playing around. If others couldn't draw their bows either, I'd want to try too."

  Tubari laughed and said: "That's right, little brother. You go try it out. Shooting an arrow is actually very simple. As long as you aim at the target, don't let your hand shake, and shoot the arrow over, that's all."

  Ah-Dai originally didn't want to participate, but he suddenly remembered the pitiful look on Xuan Yue's face when she couldn't afford it before. He gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, I'll do it. Tubari big brother, please take me to sign up." His decision instantly got Xuan Yue excited, clapping her hands and cheering, "Ah-Dai is the best! You can definitely do it!"

  Yan Shi smiled slightly and patted Ah Duan's shoulder, saying: "Brother, later you choose the heaviest bow, the heavier the bow, the greater the pull, the more stable the arrow will be, and the straighter it will fly."

  A'Dai responded with a sound, and hastily followed Tubari away. The registration for the archery competition was very simple, just register a name, get a number, and that's it. The Ya Ke people did not make things difficult for A'Dai because he was an outsider, but instead were very encouraging of his participation. There had been forty-seven contestants before him, so A'Dai became the forty-eighth. The preliminary round had already gone through four rounds, and A'Dai finished registering just in time to catch the last round.

  Tubari pulled Ah-Dai to select bows and arrows. In order to prevent cheating, participants in the archery competition were not allowed to bring their own bows and arrows. This was mainly to prevent someone from buying a magic bow at a high price to enhance accuracy.

  Looking at the dozens of hard bows, Ah-Dai was stunned and didn't know which one to choose. Tubari wasn't a contestant, couldn't come over to help him, had already retreated back to Xuan Yue and Yan Shi's side, watching from a distance and shouting encouragement at him.

  Ah-Dai casually picked up a bow, and in his hand, the bow seemed to have no weight. He remembered that the rock had just told him to choose the heaviest bow, and suddenly he had an idea. He picked up each bow and weighed it, and found that the farther back he went, the heavier the bow was. At this time, the judge was already somewhat impatient, shouting: "Number 48, hurry up! The competition is about to begin."

  A'Dai hastily agreed and ran to the last row, casually picking up a dark hard bow and running towards his target. As soon as he held the bow in his hand, A'Dai felt very satisfied. Although the bow was not very big, it was even smaller than other hard bows, but its weight seemed heavier than his sword that day. The bow body and bowstring were all dark, with no special features visible on the surface.

  The judge looked at Ah-Dai in surprise as he ran to the target, and said bluntly: "Young man, you're not going to use this Xuan Tie bow, are you? It weighs 200 jin, and it's not easy to draw it."

  "Ah-Dai looked at the hard bow in his hand and said, 'I'll try it out, maybe it'll work.' He had no confidence in his archery skills and could only follow the advice of the rock."

  The judge nodded and said, "Well, I'd like to open my eyes too. I've never seen anyone who can draw this bow." Even the strongest warriors of the Ya Qiong tribe could only pull the bow into an arc, and the weight of the bow itself was quite frightening. Without at least 500 jin of strength in one's hands, it was impossible to hold it up straight, let alone draw it open.

  "The competition has begun, please shoot out the ten arrows in your hand within twenty minutes."

  Although Ah-Dai was clumsy, he had seen Yuè Jiě shoot arrows and knew how to nock the arrow on the bowstring. He pulled out a long arrow from his quiver, placed it on the bowstring, stood with one leg in front of the other, and slowly raised the Xuan-Tiē Bow in his hands. The cheering voices of Xuán Yuè continued to come, Ah-Dai felt as if all the blood in his body was boiling. The weight of two hundred kilograms was nothing to him; he easily lifted the Xuan-Tiē Bow to shoulder level with no trembling in his arms. His right hand's index finger, middle finger, and ring finger were placed on the bowstring, slowly drawing back. Only after drawing the bowstring did he understand why the judge had told him earlier that this bow was hard to draw. The elasticity and hardness of the bowstring were extremely strong; without using his inner energy, with his strength alone, he could only draw it into a half-moon shape. Yet even so, the judge and other competitors around him stared at him in shock, having forgotten they were in the middle of a competition.

  Even without using his True Energy, Ah-Dai's arms had the strength of a thousand catties. When he failed to draw the bowstring this time, he was taken aback for a moment, and a competitive spirit arose in his heart. With a loud shout, "Open!" His True Energy suddenly burst forth, and with the flash of white light, the Xuan-Tie Bow was slowly drawn open by him. Ah-Dai found that the more he drew the bowstring back, the more strength it required. The True Energy within him had been fully mobilized, and all his muscles were surging with powerful force. However, when the Xuan-Tie Bow was drawn to about three-quarters of its full length, Ah-Dai's True Energy could no longer expand the bowstring further. His left foot suddenly stomped onto the ground, his body slightly leaning forward, and his entire potential burst forth in an instant. A hot air rose from his Dantian, and under the intense white light, the Xuan-Tie Bow was finally drawn to its full length, forming a perfect circle.

  "Good——" The applause came from all directions, and all the surrounding Ya people cheered. They were excitedly watching this young man from another tribe, who was not very strong, yet had managed to draw their sacred bow. How could they not be surprised? Ah-Dai's hands were already slightly trembling, after all, he had used up all his strength. His right hand relaxed, and the arrow flew out like a shooting star, leaving behind only a faint shadow in the air. Everyone's gaze involuntarily turned to Ah-Dai's target. But what they didn't know was that this was Ah-Dai's first time shooting an arrow, and although it had been successfully shot out and maintained a straight trajectory, it would miss the target by quite a bit.

  "Boom!" A loud noise, everyone stared in shock as the seventh target was blown to smithereens. After shooting this arrow, Ah-Dai almost exhausted his strength, feeling like his power had been drained away, squatting on the ground, panting constantly, overexerting himself so that he couldn't recover for a while. It's absolutely impossible to shoot out a second arrow now. Although the bow is good, the arrow is too ordinary, otherwise it wouldn't have failed to penetrate the arrow wall and blow it up.

  Xuan Yue excitedly ran over, and at this time no one had the heart to stop her again. She grabbed Ah Dai's hand and said: "Ah Dai, you're so great! You said you couldn't shoot arrows, but look, even the target was blown away." Yan Shi also followed over, he took the Xuan Tie Bow from Ah Dai's hand, stretched out his hand and lightly pulled it, involuntarily trembling with emotion, and praised: "What a strong bow!"

  "Number 48 contestant, zero rings with your first arrow. Do you want to continue?" the judge said somewhat awkwardly.

  "Gengetsu exclaimed in surprise: "What? You're not mistaken, are you? Even if the target was blown to nothingness, it's impossible for there to be zero casualties.""

  The judge smiled wryly and said, "If he had blown up his own target, I would have given him a perfect score of 10 rings. Unfortunately, what he hit was someone else's No. 7 target."

  Xuan Yue only then noticed Ah Dai was in the eighth position, and suddenly he was speechless. At this time, Ah Dai had basically recovered under the effect of his true energy, stood up and said: "Sorry, Yueyue, the draw weight of this bow is too big, I'm afraid I won't be able to open the second bow." Because he didn't use all his strength when he first came up, his right arm was now a bit injured. And even if he had plenty of physical strength, it would be impossible for him to pull this hard bow twice in a row.

  Xuan Yue looked at Ah Dai, who was hanging his head as if he had made a mistake, and couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. He pulled Ah Dai's hand and said, "It's okay, it doesn't matter if we don't win the competition."

  Ah-Dai looked at Xuan Yue's concerned gaze and resolutely rushed to the referee, saying: "I concede."

  His words suddenly made the onlookers' eyes widen in shock, and the scene erupted into a huge commotion. The judge said: "Little brother, why don't you try again with a lighter bow?"

  "Never mind, my archery skills are really too poor, I'm afraid I'll hit someone else again," Ah-Dai said with a wry smile. After that, he pulled Xuan Yue's small hand and ran out of the arena.

  He ran to a deserted open space, Ah Dai finally stopped and sat down on the ground with a thud, saying: "That bow is really hard, the Ya Kun tribe is really powerful!"

  "Alright brother, I have to admire your strength! That bow isn't something just anyone can draw back. Earlier, I tried it out and wanted to fully draw the bow back, but it would take at least 3,000 jin of force. That's something even I couldn't do. It seems like your skills have improved again. If I'm not mistaken, that bow is usually never used by anyone."

  Tubari also ran over, with an excited face, he gave Ah-Dai a thumbs up and said: "Little brother, you're really something! The Xuan-Tie Bow is a treasure of our Ya-Qi tribe, I didn't think you could actually draw it."

  Ah-Dai's face turned red, "But my archery skills are too poor, I'm really sorry."

  Tubari burst out laughing and said, "Never mind, the key is to participate. The horse racing competition is about to start, you guys take a look." Indeed, on one side of the open space, hundreds of fine horses stood in a row, looking like they were ready to pounce at any moment. With a clear whistle sound, the riders from the Yaqi tribe almost simultaneously urged their horses forward and rushed out. The figure of Yan Li clearly appeared in everyone's line of sight, he was riding a dark red horse.

  Yan Li's face was filled with excitement as he urged his horse to gallop faster, dashing rapidly towards the east. By the time the horses disappeared from everyone's line of sight, Yan Li had already charged into the top ten.

  Tubari praised and said: "The Rock Brothers are really good, the little red horse in my family is not the best in the tribe, it's already very difficult for him to rush to the front."

  A'Dai's spirit recovered a bit and said: "Brother Yan Li will definitely be the first to return."

  Due to the start of the equestrian competition, a lot of spectators from the wrestling match suddenly ran over to watch, and the empty space had fewer people. Xuan Yue pulled A Dai's arm and said: "A Dai, Brother Rock, let's go take a look at the wrestling."

  The Smash Bros. tournament has also entered its final stages, with only four warriors remaining in the arena, and the winner of this match will be able to participate in the final showdown.

  Four big men in the venue were all bare-chested, except for one who was slightly shorter, the rest had tall figures that were not inferior to the rocks. Techniques such as pulling, pushing, shoving, hooking and stirring were brought to an extreme, and for a time they were stuck in a stalemate.

  With a loud thud, one contestant was thrown out by his opponent and fell to the ground, unable to get up. They had gone through many matches to participate in the semifinals, and their physical strength had been almost exhausted. Once they were heavily thrown down, it was difficult for them to get up again. On the other side, almost at the same time, the slightly shorter contestant also won. He used a leg-holding throw to throw his opponent to the ground and then pressed him down to win the match. The referee announced that both of them would enter the final round, take a rest for a while, and start the last competition after the equestrian events were over.

  "Aguti, refuel, you must win!" A clear shout came from beside Ah-Dai and others. Everyone looked intently and found it was a Yake tribe girl. The girl was about 18 or 19 years old, with dark skin but bright big eyes, which made her a beauty in the Yake tribe. Her eyes kept shining with happy smiles, staring at the first winner tightly, obviously he was her lover.

  Tubari's eyes gleamed with intoxication as he said, "Lan Ying is the number one beauty in our tribe and also the daughter of our tribal chief. She has been growing up with Agu Ti since childhood. Agu Ti has been practicing wrestling for years just to win this match today so that he can proudly take Lan Ying home as his wife. Agu Ti is an orphan from a poor family, if not through this method, it would be impossible for him to marry Lan Ying. This year Lan Ying is eighteen years old, whoever wins the final wrestling match will probably make her their wife. So, this is also Agu Ti's last chance."

  Yan Shi looked at the lively Lan Ying and said somewhat foolishly: "I hope they can be together till the end."

  "Look, it's Rocky Big Brother who has returned." Xuan Yue's exclamation drew everyone's attention. Indeed, amidst the thunderous sound of horseshoes, Rocky led the way on horseback, amazingly without holding the reins, completely relying on his legs to control the fine steed under him. One hand held a red flag, while the other waved a battle axe, continuously shouting loudly, even the horses closest to him were about ten meters away.

  A'Dai and the others all stood up, loudly shouting the name of Yan Li, the few swift horses chasing behind him several times rushed to his side, wanting to snatch the big flag in his hand, but as soon as he swung the battle axe in his hand, they were immediately scared away, no one dared to get close to him.

  Tubari shouted with joy: "I'll go get the Rock brothers!" After finishing, he rushed towards the direction of the finish line. At this time, Rocky had already left all his opponents behind and successfully crossed the finish line, winning the championship in the riding competition. He was excited, constantly waving the large flag in his hand, surrounded by many Ayc people, shouting non-stop. It seemed that for a while, he couldn't calm down.

  The rock shook its head and sighed: "This kid is still so fond of showing off."

  With a silly smile, he said: "Brother Yan Li got the championship this time, so we have two horses to ride. We just need to buy two more and that's enough."

  Xuan Yue Dao said: "Who says we need to buy two horses? One horse is enough, others won't ride horses either. Later on, you'll have to take me with you."

  "Ah, but I'm also not very good at riding horses!"

  Xuan Yue Dao said: "I don't care, as long as you bring me along when the time comes. Can't you ride a bit slower?"

  At this time, the final of the wrestling match had already begun. The girl named Lan Ying squeezed to the front and kept cheering for her beloved Aguti. Aguti was similar in build to Ah Dumb, but slightly more robust, with dark skin and bulging veins on his face, which was constantly dripping with sweat, clearly exhausted from the previous matches. His opponent was a short but sturdy man, who looked more energetic than Aguti despite being equally tired. As soon as the referee announced the start of the match, both men let out a loud roar and charged at each other. Their four arms entwined, using all their strength to try and throw each other out. The match had entered a stalemate, with neither side able to gain the upper hand. Lan Ying anxiously watched Aguti, shouting encouragement nonstop.