Scattered Hand

A moment later.

He had cleanly finished a huge bowl of rice and two taels of cooked meat.

After saying a word to Chen Gui, who sat opposite him, Wu Ming rose, picked up his ox-tendon spear, and left.

This young martial artist who had entered the Seven Martial Alliance Outer Hall alongside him truly came from a wealthy household. His family dealt in medicinal herbs, and the scale of their business seemed considerable. At the very least, he spent lavishly. While Wu Ming ate two taels of cooked meat, Chen Gui casually ordered half a jin of pricier lean meat. His manner of speech and conduct were entirely different from those of the common folk at the bottom.

Families of such wealth often had weapons and equipment, martial arts manuals, and Martial Masters to spar with all readily available at home. Wu Ming did not know why Chen Gui had come all the way to join an outer hall of the Seven Martial Alliance, but he did not deliberately pry. During their idle conversation, he merely probed around the edges and learned a little from Chen Gui about matters inside and outside the city.

After eating,

Wu Ming returned to the martial academy alone.

He still went to a corner, lifted his ox-tendon spear, gathered his breath, and began practicing the circulation of force.

He wanted to reach the standard of scattered hand as soon as possible.

For a Blood Forging martial artist, only upon reaching scattered hand did one possess the foundation for actual combat. Otherwise, no matter how great one's strength, one could only bully ordinary people. One might not even be able to handle fierce beasts like bears and tigers, much less contend against Demons.

Huff, huff, huff.

As the long spear quivered, it burst forth with wave after wave of humming. Yet within the martial academy, the sounds of all kinds of training were incomparably clamorous, like the dense clanging of forged tools and hammered iron. The sound of Wu Ming quivering his spear vanished into the din, utterly inconspicuous.

He did not know how long he practiced. Only when his arms felt exhausted and weak did Wu Ming take a deep breath and stop. He could feel that he was becoming increasingly proficient in the basic skill of quivering the spear, and that the flaws in every aspect had essentially been smoothed away.

"In terms of circulating force and exerting strength, there are basically no problems now. What comes next is water grinding stonework. I must practice this move until it becomes smooth and wholly familiar, until I no longer need a fixed stance and can unleash this Quivering Spear Force at any time. Only then will I have grasped its essence."

Wu Ming's thoughts were exceedingly clear.

The Falling Leaf Spear Technique gave no detailed description of the "essence" of the spear-quivering stance. It merely said that it was a kind of feeling, something words could not paint, which had to be comprehended personally. One had to practice until it became smooth and wholly familiar, until one naturally grasped it.

Based on his training over the past two days, Wu Ming understood that this so-called essence meant turning the movements of circulating and exerting force into pure "muscle memory." Previously, he had been able to circulate and exert force flawlessly by relying on his minute-level perception and control over every detail of his body. What he needed to do next was gradually reduce that perception and control.

He had to make his body so that it no longer required deliberate control, so that the instant a thought stirred, it could perfectly circulate its strength.

With a clear direction, the subsequent cultivation process became simple.

Over the following days,

Wu Ming traveled back and forth between Wu Village and Jingye City. Every day, he rose early in the morning and returned at dusk, spending the entire day in the Seven Martial Alliance Outer Hall's martial academy, diligently practicing spear quivering and force circulation in an unnoticed corner.

This continued until the ninth day. Wu Ming stood there with both hands gripping the long spear, his posture Four Levels and Eight Stabilities. As he circulated his strength, he did not deliberately control his body's rhythm, nor did he watch the spear tip. Instead, he cast his gaze into the distance, past the men training throughout the courtyard. He saw some people entering the yard and others leaving it.

The new came while the old went; that was the norm in the outer hall martial academy. Most young martial artists who entered the Seven Martial Alliance Outer Hall would purchase a martial plaque, temper themselves here for two or three months, and leave after attaining scattered hand to begin taking jobs and working.

"Foolish and dull-witted!"

"When you stand your ground like a blade-bearing horseman, the key is not the blade in your hand, but your body! It must be like riding a galloping steed. Your legs must be taut, your waist and hips relaxed. Within a single slash, you must bring all the strength of your body to bear, rather than merely swinging with your arms!"

Not far away came the scolding and instruction of a Martial Master from the academy.

All kinds of sounds mixed together into an incomparably noisy clamor. Yet beneath Wu Ming's minute-level perception, he could distinguish the sounds he wished to hear: the cries of instruction, the sounds of swinging blades, and the sounds of quivering spears, all clear and distinct.

At some unknown point,

Wu Ming's attention had completely shifted to the clamorous world outside.

Clearly, not a single thought controlled his body, yet his body still maintained the posture and movement of quivering the spear. The sinews and muscles throughout his body surged like flood dragons and pythons, while the long spear in his hands shook out a humming cry, like the roar of dragons and tigers.

It seemed as though a long time had passed, yet it also seemed to be only an instant. Wu Ming's consciousness suddenly returned to his body.

"It's done!"

Wu Ming sensed that although he had not deliberately controlled his body, it still transmitted strength in a flawless posture, from his legs to his waist and hips, all the way into his arms, before erupting through the long spear.

With a thought, he instantly stopped quivering the spear. The shaft trembled for a moment, then swiftly became still.

Then,

Wu Ming shifted his thoughts, and the long spear in his hands suddenly thrust forward in several consecutive stabs.

He had never practiced any specific spear techniques. These few thrusts were not any sort of move either, merely random forward stabs. Yet despite having no form to speak of, every thrust erupted with a distinct hum as strength coursed through and penetrated the long spear!

"This is scattered hand."

Wu Ming's heart was clear as a mirror. He swept the spear horizontally, then chopped downward from above. Each move was exceedingly crude and utterly without grace, yet every sweep and chop contained a fierce force within the spear shaft.

If an ordinary person stood before him, even wearing thick leather armor that could block the blunt, roughly made spearhead, the tremendous force unleashed by a single sweep would still be enough to send a person weighing over a hundred jin flying outright.

This was what scattered hand meant.

Though one had yet to grasp sufficiently exquisite moves, and the force one unleashed was difficult to direct with precise strikes, the strength within every move was real and solid. Even a Second Blood Forging expert, with tough skin and membranes and clad in heavy armor, could not emerge unscathed after taking a blow head-on. He would inevitably be injured.

"The difference between scattered hand and penetration lies in the refinement and nimbleness of their moves. The gap in the power of their force is not too great. That gap is obvious when facing martial artists, but when facing demonic creatures, the difference is very small."

Wu Ming recalled the descriptions in the Falling Leaf Spear Technique.

Compared with scattered hand, penetration had mastered a complete and exquisite set of techniques, making a considerable difference when fighting others. After all, when scattered hand faced penetration, given comparable physiques, someone with penetration-level skill could easily find flaws in scattered hand's crude moves. Within a few exchanges, he could exploit those flaws, tear open the defense, and finish his opponent.

But when dealing with demonic creatures, whether one's moves were refined or not often made little difference. What mattered more was actual lethality.

However,

If one could cross beyond the stage of penetration and reach the third realm, "unity," then that would be an entirely different domain.