Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique

Jiang Qiu did not believe in fate. He only believed in himself.

In his previous life, he had been a wretched bottom-rung worker. While delivering food, he had run a red light because he was about to miss the deadline, only to die miserably at an intersection.

Now he had come to this world, born in the northwest. At least he had lived safely for fifteen years before becoming an orphan whose parents had both died. Though he had neither power, influence, nor money, he could still rely on government compensation to attend high school, inherit the house allocated in Eighth Shanty Town, and struggle to make a life for himself.

He was not some protagonist chosen by destiny. He only wanted to seize every chance to change his fate, just as he had finally waited, on this day after eighteen years, for the tiny Modifier that could improve his martial arts.

"Hmm, it should level up as long as I practice martial arts. I just haven't practiced enough times yet."

After studying it for a while, Jiang Qiu roughly understood what it did.

As long as he kept practicing the Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique, even without anyone to guide him and even if his movements were clumsy, so long as he completed an entire sequence from start to finish, it counted as one practice session. Once he accumulated enough sessions, he could directly raise the realm of his Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique.

Realizing this, Jiang Qiu replayed the Instructional Video, lowered into a horse stance, held the water pipe horizontally before him, and assumed the opening stance.

Without further hesitation, he continued practicing the spear forms from the video. Though he still felt unable to put forth enough strength, as if his hands and feet were tied up, his thrusts became more confident and his crooked movements more decisive.

Practiced once

Practiced once

Practiced once

.

After wielding the water pipe through more than a dozen consecutive spear sets, Jiang Qiu's moves were no longer halting. With every draw and thrust, he was fierce as a dragon. He could now, more or less, perform a complete set of the Eight-Style Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique.

Unknowingly, warmth gradually arose in his flesh and organs. Sweat once again filled the tips of his pores, and a steaming sour stench gathered beneath his armpits and between his legs. At the slightest twitch of his nose, the whole room smelled like a vinegar brewery.

"What a nuisance."

Jiang Qiu ripped off his soaking T-shirt and casually tossed it into the corner. As his pectorals rose and the knotted muscles of his arms tightened, a whooshing sound tore through the air from the end of the water pipe.

In one night, he practiced sixteen full times. By the end, he could demonstrate an entire spear set with decent form even without watching the video, and the lines of muscle along his arms seemed to have grown more deeply etched.

After finishing his workout and taking a shower, he collapsed like a puddle of mud, his limbs feeling detached from his body and acid surging through his joints. The moment he fell onto the bed, he was asleep.

The night passed quickly. Jiang Qiu rose before dawn and, as usual, washed up before having lard fried rice for breakfast.

Since he intended to take the college entrance examination route, he no longer needed teachers for the ordinary subjects. After arriving at school, he headed straight for Class Eight's Training Hall.

The students arrived one after another as well. Soon, a two-meter-tall middle-aged man appeared in the hall.

"Class Eight, assemble!"

His deep, coarse voice was like a tiger shaking the mountain forest, instantly blasting Jiang Qiu's thoughts apart. He lined up with the other students, their burning gazes gathering on the man.

The man's back was straight and tall, and his build was like a bear's. His left eye, however, had already been stitched shut, scar tissue growing over it. This only made his solitary right eye seem even more bulging and vicious. He held a wooden-shaft spear taller than his head, his domineering presence pressing down on the air.

He was Wu Shan, a martial artist employed by No.8 Middle School, Class Eight's homeroom teacher, and the man fully responsible for the class's martial arts instruction.

In two and a half years of high school, Jiang Qiu had almost never seen him teach any real martial arts. He had merely demanded that everyone temper their bodies, and even seeing him at all had been a rare occurrence.

Still, he was a martial artist who had fought on the battlefield and killed demonic beasts. He had even earned merit by casually crushing a criminal who had pretended to be a beggar and caused trouble in the streets. Everyone had grievances in their hearts, but none dared voice them.

"You should all have understood the message I sent yesterday. The college entrance examination is three months away. Whether you qualify to register depends on whether you can Receive Spearhead."

Wu Shan's right eye rolled around like a ghost's as it swept over the room. He barked, "And whether you qualify to Receive Spearhead depends on your ability.

"You all know the school rules. Students without connections or resources who still long to take the college entrance examination will be given one chance: the qualification to Receive Spearhead.

"Today, I will officially teach you the Eight-Style Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique. You will have three days, and then there will be a Proficiency Test.

"Among all ordinary classes other than Class One, only the top three students with outstanding performance can Receive Spearhead and enjoy the resource provisions of Outstanding Students."

At these words, Jiang Qiu clenched his fists, his eyes shining brightly.

Back in his first year, his body had not been as strong as those from the Commoner District, so he had failed to compete for the status of Outstanding Student. At last, another chance to Receive Spearhead had come!

If he could Receive Spearhead and become an Outstanding Student, he would be able to eat meat for free in the cafeteria every meal from then on, with meat, vegetables, and even seaweed soup.

Students with exceptionally good performance could even enjoy the official cultivation resources provided by the school. Those were treasures that bottom-rung students could struggle for a lifetime without ever catching a whiff of, and they greatly determined whether one could survive the college entrance examination and enter Northwest Martial Arts University because of it.

Jiang Qiu secretly made up his mind. He had to seize this opportunity, pass the Proficiency Test, and Receive Spearhead of his own!

He was not a Class One student, born with the best connections and background in the school and made an Outstanding Student the moment he enrolled. In this class with its backward martial arts education, he had to work even harder!

Wu Shan could see everyone's soaring ambition as well. He shouted, "Quit your whining! Now we'll inspect the results of your night of spear practice. Class monitor Wang Guanjia, you're first!"

The moment his words fell, a tall, powerfully built youth strode out from the line. He raised his head, his brows flying upward, his chest thrust forward with lofty ambition.

With a smack, he caught the wooden spear Wu Shan flung at him, then suddenly grabbed it with his other hand. As he lowered into a horse stance, the spearhead pressed down and trembled straight like a fish springing upright from the water. Yet between his two hands, the shaft remained as still as a crossbeam, leaving the students staring in envy.

His lower body was rooted like a pine, his spear shaft like a dragon. As he shifted his grip and moved, he split mountains and smashed rivers, his gusting force turning into waves and driving the front-row students back five steps!

Jiang Qiu raised an eyebrow slightly and silently observed from the back row.

Wang Guanjia's father had once been a student at No.8 Middle School who had Received Spearhead. Since Wang Guanjia could wield a spear with such smooth ferocity, he had surely learned the First Eight Moves of the Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique at home long ago. It would not have been strange even if he accidentally performed the Last Twelve Moves along the way.

Wu Shan nodded at Wang Guanjia's outstanding performance and signaled for the next student to take the spear and enter the floor.

Before the student had performed even two moves, Wu Shan folded his arms and snorted coldly, shouting without any courtesy, "What the hell are you practicing?

"Stop. There's no need to keep wasting time. Rather than stubbornly registering for the college entrance examination and dying outside the city, you might as well get back to the classroom and review now. Learn your arithmetic properly, so you won't miscount your wages when you're hauling bricks in the future.

"Next!"

The words stabbed straight into the student's heart, like a steel blade cutting off his future. His face turned deathly pale. The wooden spear in his hand had already been snatched away by the next student. He lowered his head blankly and walked out of the Training Hall, tears slipping down without stop.

Jiang Qiu saw it all. He understood that this world had never been fair. Talent, background, and birth all differed. He had nothing, so he could only seize opportunities and fight with determination!

More than thirty students practiced their spear techniques one after another. Aside from one girl, Wu Shan did not nod at anyone else. Instead, his reprimands came one after another.

Soon, Jiang Qiu stepped onto the floor. He took the wooden spear from the previous student's hand and drew a deep breath.

At Wu Shan's nod, he lowered into a horse stance, twisted his waist, held the wooden spear across his abdomen, focused his gaze, and thrust forward. His hem fluttered in the wind.

Every one of his moves was standard. His thrusts through empty air were like sharks cutting through the sea, and his sweeping strikes like great whales flicking their tails. His movements were broad and open, without the slightest restraint. In terms of fluency, he ranked second only to class monitor Wang Guanjia, drawing the attention of quite a few students.

When Jiang Qiu withdrew his spear and left the floor, Wu Shan nodded expressionlessly as well, silently signaling the next student to take the spear and demonstrate.

An hour passed. After every student had demonstrated once, more than half of the original hundred-plus students had been cut, leaving fifty-two.

Wu Shan paid no attention to the increasingly empty surroundings. Taking back the long spear at last, he said coldly, "The Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique is a required spear art for becoming a martial artist. The First Eight Moves contain the principles of many weapons. If you grasp the essentials, not only can you temper your body—what difficulty is there in taking the field to kill demonic beasts during the college entrance examination?"

As he spoke, Wu Shan tapped the ground with the tip of his spear. His single eye turned from side to side, his gaze like a carving knife passing over the students' heads. After a moment of silence, he dismissed whatever thought he had and turned toward an iron stake.

The iron stake was three times thicker than his waist. It stood firm and unshakable, like the trunk of a great tree with roots gripping the earth. Its surface bore subtle uneven marks, reflecting a cold, heavy gleam.

Wu Shan raised his spear to his waist with his right hand. The blade-carved wooden spearhead pointed straight at the iron stake, separated by only five inches.

"Watch carefully. This is the Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique."

The instant his words fell, a sound of tearing air erupted. Before anyone could catch the spear's shadow, a dull thunk crushed down on the heartbeats of all fifty-two students.

Wu Shan's one-handed stance barely changed. He only twisted his waist half a step and sent the wooden spear forward, yet even that tough iron stake was jolted into a humming tremble.

When he pulled back the wooden spear, its tip slightly blunted, the students in the front row stared closely and were dumbstruck. The spear had penetrated three inches into the iron, leaving behind a pit an inch deep!

They did not dare imagine how agonizing it would be if such a thrust landed on a human body.

"Now that you have learned the form of the spear technique, for the next three days, I will personally teach you the essentials of the Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique!"

Wu Shan shouted, instantly stirring the students' long-simmering blood. They all clenched their fists tightly and looked at him with shining eyes.

At that moment, Jiang Qiu noticed several middle-aged men in black Zhongshan suits standing at the rear of the hall at some unknown time. They lingered briefly before silently leaving through the back door.

It seemed he needed to cherish this hard-won chance even more and master the Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique!