Falling Leaf Spear Technique

The beginning of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique did not discuss any mystical moves, but the most fundamental practice of the spear. The entire section on spear practice spanned several pages, going into such detail that it nearly explained how every muscle should exert force.

So-called spear practice trained both spear technique and physique. While tempering the body and condensing Blood Qi, one also trained the force and explosive power behind the long spear, so that a single thrust would be swift as a gale and strike a falling leaf.

Among them,

there were two core points. The first was "Four Levels and Eight Stabilities," and the second was "Double Dragons Overturning the Sea."

Wu Ming continued reading and saw that the first page of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique described Four Levels and Eight Stabilities in detail. Four Levels meant a level crown, level shoulders, level feet, and level spear; Eight Stabilities meant stable shoulders, stable hips, stable arms, and stable legs.

For a person to exert force and give spear techniques great power, that force needed to run through the entire body. The prerequisite for doing so was to first train the body into Four Levels and Eight Stabilities, allowing all the muscles, tendons, and bones to move in lockstep, so the force exerted would not scatter.

Then came Double Dragons Overturning the Sea. The spear was one dragon, shaking up and down, overturning rivers and seas—this was the first dragon. The second dragon was the human body itself. As the human body exerted force with the spine as its foundation, the spine was that great dragon, running through the entire body.

Man was like a dragon, and the spear was like a dragon. When force was exerted, every tendon, bone, and muscle in the body was mobilized, like a flood dragon churning through the sea. That strength then drove the long spear in one's hand, making it resemble another great dragon. When the spear thrust forth, it was naturally swift as the wind, fierce as thunder!

"Four Levels and Eight Stabilities, Double Dragons Overturning the Sea."

Wu Ming looked at the foundational training methods described in the Falling Leaf Spear Technique, a faint gleam appearing in his eyes as he nodded slightly. Such meticulously broken-down descriptions of training had refreshed his understanding of martial arts manuals. He had thought that saber, spear, and sword manuals described all manner of moves, but in truth, they devoted the greater part of their pages to fundamentals.

He flipped through several more pages in succession. The manual, made from some kind of leather, contained clear and vivid diagrams of the human body. These diagrams displayed many different stances for exerting force, and beside them were extensive annotations explaining how every muscle should apply force, where to contract, where to relax, and where to lift.

Just like that,

Wu Ming immersed himself in it, flipping through who knew how many pages before finally reaching the specific moves of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique. The foundational section alone occupied nearly half the entire manual.

After coming back to himself, Wu Ming briefly flipped through several more pages and discovered that the latter half, concerning the specific moves of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique, was not as detailed as the foundational section. Aside from move diagrams, each page contained only a few strokes pointing out the core of that move. Clearly, after undergoing the training of the foundational section, one needed to ponder the actual moves deeply.

After pondering briefly,

Wu Ming picked up another spear manual. After giving it a quick look, he saw that the content in its first half was basically no different from the Falling Leaf Spear Technique. He then casually took a boxing manual and looked through it, finding the same content within.

"Though changes may be myriad, they never stray from their origin. No matter what kind of skill it is, the most fundamental point is exerting force. At the beginning, they are all the same."

Wu Ming revealed an enlightened expression.

The Martial Arts Essentials recorded that martial arts skill, like the Blood Forging realm, had extremely clear divisions of high and low. From weak to strong, there were five major realms in total.

They were Scattered Hand, Penetration, Unity, Transformation, and Pinnacle Intent.

Among them, Scattered Hand meant one had grasped techniques for exerting force and knew how to strike, dodge, and parry, but basically relied on wild swings and chaotic blows. Their moves and skills had yet to form a system, or their moves had not been practiced to sufficient proficiency. Often, after using just a couple of moves, they would be dragged into a state of chaotic fighting.

Clearly,

for these martial arts manuals of saber, sword, spear, fist, and kick techniques, no matter which one it was, as long as one mastered the foundational section in the first half and grasped methods of exerting and channeling force, one had basically reached the level of "Scattered Hand."

Wu Ming returned to the booklet of the "Falling Leaf Spear Technique," flipped back to the beginning, and read through it from the first section onward, committing every detail firmly to memory. Once he had more or less remembered the whole thing, his hands began to itch, and he could no longer hold himself back from wanting to try it personally.

"Hoo."

Wu Ming immediately returned the Falling Leaf Spear Technique booklet to its original place, then turned and left the room. After rounding a corner, he entered another room beside it. Just as he had expected, all kinds of weapons and equipment were piled here, while several outer hall servants busied themselves wiping and arranging the stacked weapons one by one.

Wu Ming gave them a cursory glance. These weapons and implements were basically all unsharpened, and their materials looked quite ordinary. The piled sabers and swords felt only barely a grade better than the kitchen knives used in his home.

"This sort of thing costs five taels of silver apiece."

He casually picked up a saber and examined its appearance. Thinking of the black-jacketed elder's words, Wu Ming could not help shaking his head.

However, as far as he knew, weapons truly forged from fine iron generally started at thirty taels of silver, their prices exceedingly high. Though the rough blanks piled here were of poorer quality, five taels of silver was not an outrageous price. It could only be said that weapons themselves were rather expensive things.

After making a round of the room, Wu Ming selected a long spear from the inner side.

The spear shaft was made of ox-sinew wood and possessed considerable resilience. Its spearhead was iron and had not been sharpened, but even an unsharpened spearhead already had a certain degree of lethality.

Since he was only using it to practice spearwork rather than buying a weapon, Wu Ming did not choose too carefully. Seeing that this spear was relatively new, perhaps from a newly forged batch, he settled on it.

"Wu Ming, one ox-sinew spear, to be returned before the hour of Xu."

The servant responsible for organizing the weapons recorded Wu Ming's name and the weapon he had taken in a ledger. Such borrowed items all had to be returned before the hour of Xu, after which the entry would be crossed off the register.

If it went past the hour of Xu, the Armory Hall would close. Returning it the next day would require paying a small additional sum as a rental fee, or he could directly buy it for five taels of silver.

Carrying the ox-sinew spear,

Wu Ming strode out and headed toward the place where the Outer Hall martial artists trained on their own.

As he left the courtyard, the old steward surnamed Hong was still reclining in his lounge chair in his black jacket. Only, at some point, a white porcelain teapot had appeared on the stone table beside him, along with a plate holding dried fruits such as red dates and almonds.

Seeing that he seemed to be sound asleep, Wu Ming merely clasped his fists in salute from afar, then quietly departed with his spear.

Yet just as Wu Ming softened his footsteps and turned to leave, Hong Jiu, the old steward reclining leisurely in the lounge chair, suddenly cracked open his closed eyes and glanced at Wu Ming's back. He also caught sight of the ox-sinew spear in Wu Ming's hand.

"Chose spearwork?"

Hong Jiu clicked his tongue softly, smacked his lips, and lazily reached for the teapot on the stone table. He raised it to his mouth and gulped down a mouthful of tea from the spout, then casually tossed the teapot back onto the table.

Spearwork was very difficult to practice.

Those who had not been chosen for the Inner Hall generally had mediocre aptitude. Whatever they practiced would be much the same, and they would find it hard to achieve anything great in the future. But judging from Wu Ming's clothes, he was most likely from a poor family. Becoming a Blood Forging martial artist already counted as turning his life around. What more could he hope for?

Leisurely grabbing a handful of almonds and tossing them into his mouth to chew, Hong Jiu closed his eyes and thought no more of it.