Falling Leaf Spear Technique

The beginning of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique didn't describe any mysterious stances, but rather the most basic aspect: 'spear training.' The entire section on spear training spanned several pages, detailing almost precisely how each muscle should exert force.

Spear training honed not only the spear technique but also the physique. While strengthening the body and refining blood energy, it also trained the force and power generation of the spear, ensuring that each thrust was as swift as a gale, capable of piercing a falling leaf.

Among these, 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. The first page of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique detailed that Four Levels and Eight Stabilities referred to a level posture, shoulder posture, foot posture, and spear posture, while the Eight Stabilities meant stable shoulders, stable hips, stable arms, and stable legs.

For a person to exert force and maximize the power of their spear technique, their strength needed to flow through the entire body. The prerequisite for this full-body connection was to first train the body to achieve Four Levels and Eight Stabilities, allowing the muscles and bones throughout the body to move in unison. This way, the force exerted would not be dispersed.

Following this was Double Dragons Overturning the Sea. Here, the spear was the dragon, shaking up and down, churning the seas – this was the first dragon. The second dragon was the human body itself. The human body exerted force with the spine as its foundation, thus the spine was the great dragon, connecting the entire body.

Man as a dragon, spear as a dragon. During exertion, all the muscles and bones of the body were mobilized, like a flood dragon churning the sea. This power was then used to drive the spear in hand, making the spear also resemble a great dragon. A thrust was thus as swift as the wind, as fast as lightning!

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

Wu Ming looked at the basic training methods described in the Falling Leaf Spear Technique, a faint light appearing in his eyes. He nodded slightly. Such detailed and segmented training descriptions refreshed his understanding of martial arts manuals. He had thought that texts on sword and spear techniques would primarily describe various stances, but in reality, a significant portion emphasized the fundamentals.

He flipped through several more pages. The manual, made of some kind of leather, was adorned with clear and vivid anatomical diagrams. These diagrams depicted various postures of force exertion, clear and lifelike. Alongside them were numerous annotations, specifying how each muscle should exert force, where to contract, where to release, and where to lift.

Thus, Wu Ming became engrossed, flipping through countless pages until he finally reached the specific stances of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique. The entire foundational section occupied nearly half of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique manual.

Coming back to his senses, Wu Ming briefly flipped through a few more pages. He discovered that the latter half, detailing the specific moves of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique, was not as detailed as the foundational section. Each page, besides the diagrams of the stances, contained only a few brief lines highlighting the core points of the move. Clearly, after mastering the foundational section, one needed to delve deeper into contemplation for the actual techniques.

After a moment of thought.

Wu Ming picked up another spear technique manual. After a brief perusal, he saw that its initial content was largely similar to the Falling Leaf Spear Technique. He then casually picked up a boxing manual and found the content to be the same.

"All variations stem from the same root. Regardless of the skill, the most fundamental point is force exertion, and the beginning is always unified."

Wu Ming revealed a look of enlightenment.

The Essentials of Martial Arts recorded that, like the Blood Condensation realm, martial arts skills also had clear divisions of proficiency, with five major realms from weakest to strongest.

These were Scattered Hand, Proficient, Oneness, Transformation Realm, and Pinnacle Intent.

Among these, Scattered Hand meant mastering the technique of force exertion. One could fight, dodge, and parry, but it was primarily characterized by wild swings and random strikes. The stances and techniques had not yet formed a system, or the cultivation of stances was not proficient enough, often leading to a state of chaotic fighting after only a few moves.

Evidently, any of these martial arts manuals for swords, spears, or unarmed combat, as long as one mastered the foundational section of their initial half, grasping the means of force exertion and circulation, would essentially reach the 'Scattered Hand' level.

Wu Ming returned to the 'Falling Leaf Spear Technique' booklet, going back to the beginning and reading through every detail, memorizing each one. Once he had a good grasp of the overall content, he began to feel a tingling in his hands, unable to resist the urge to try it out himself.

"Hoo."

Wu Ming immediately placed the Falling Leaf Spear Technique booklet back in its place, then turned and left the room. He took a turn into another room beside it. As he had expected, this room was filled with various weapons and equipment, and several Outer Hall servants were busy wiping and organizing the stacked weapons.

Wu Ming glanced over them. These weapons and equipment were mostly unsharpened and appeared to be of very ordinary material. The swords and sabers stacked there felt only slightly better in quality than the kitchen knives he used at home.

"Even this stuff costs five taels of silver per piece."

Picking up a saber casually and looking at its shape, Wu Ming couldn't help but shake his head, recalling the words of the old man in the black mandarin jacket.

However, as far as he knew, weapons truly forged from good quality refined iron usually started at thirty taels of silver, with prices being quite high. Although the rough blanks piled here were of inferior quality, five taels of silver wasn't an exorbitant price. It could only be said that weapons themselves were generally expensive.

After looking around, Wu Ming selected a spear from the inner part of the room.

The spear shaft was made of ox-tendon wood, possessing great toughness. The spearhead was iron and unsharpened, but a spear, even with an unsharpened head, already possessed a certain lethality.

Since he was only using it for training and not buying a weapon, Wu Ming didn't pick and choose too carefully. He just saw that this one looked relatively new, perhaps from a newly forged batch, and decided on it.

"Wu Ming, one ox-tendon spear, return before the hour of Xu."

The servant responsible for organizing the weapons recorded Wu Ming's name and the weapon he took on a ledger. Such borrowings needed to be returned before the hour of Xu. After returning, it would be crossed off the list.

If it was past the hour of Xu, the Armory Hall would be closed. Returning it the next day would incur a small additional fee as a rental charge, or one could simply purchase it for five taels of silver.

Carrying the ox-tendon spear, Wu Ming walked out, heading towards the area where the Outer Hall martial artists trained on their own.

As he left the courtyard, the old steward named Hong, still wearing his black mandarin jacket, was leaning back in his lounge chair. On the stone table beside him, a white porcelain teapot had appeared at some point, with a plate next to it holding dried fruits like red dates and almonds.

Seeing that he seemed to be asleep, Wu Ming simply stood at a distance, cupped his fist in a salute, and then quietly left with the spear.

Just as Wu Ming lowered his steps and turned to leave, the old steward Hong Jiu, who was leaning back in his lounge chair with a leisurely expression, suddenly narrowed his closed eyes and cast a glance at Wu Ming's retreating back, also noticing the ox-tendon spear in Wu Ming's hand.

"Chose spear techniques?"

Hong Jiu let out a light "tsk," clicked his tongue, and lazily reached for the teapot on the stone table, taking a gulp of tea directly from the spout before casually tossing the teapot back onto the table.

Spear techniques are very difficult to practice.

Those not selected for the Inner Hall generally have mediocre aptitude. It doesn't matter what they practice; they will have little great achievement in the future. However, judging by Wu Ming's attire, he likely comes from a poor family. Becoming a Blood Condensation martial artist is already a step up; what more can he ask for?

Casually grabbing a handful of almonds and chewing them, Hong Jiu closed his eyes, thinking no further.