Deep Practice

For most people, their only chance to encounter martial arts came during high school, when they learned from their teachers. Those were the martial arts that could forge a martial artist—not the miscellaneous online routines meant merely to strengthen the body and improve fitness.

A martial artist had to cultivate a qualified physique through Body-Forging Martial Arts, then undergo a special Transformation and Awakening before they could be forged. Every province and region had its own mainstream body-forging methods.

In the Northwest, demonic beasts pressed against the city walls. There was little emphasis on fists and kicks, and all focus lay on killing techniques. What high school students practiced was the Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique.

The First Eight Moves were for all ordinary students. Mastering them allowed one to take the battlefield and fight demonic beasts that were not particularly strong. Even if the demonic beasts broke through the city again and reached their doorstep one day, they would not be left waiting helplessly for death.

At the same time, this was also an opportunity for lower-class students like Jiang Qiu to continue advancing in martial arts. If they could seize the chance to learn the Last Twelve Moves, they would be truly fortunate!

"The First Eight Moves of this Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique center on gathering the strength of your muscles. Every move draws heavily upon the power you have accumulated within your bodies over the years, engaging your muscles, tendons, bones, and organs to condense Ming Jin. Even if you discarded the spear and used your fists, you could add several hundred jin of force out of thin air. Therefore, imagine the spear as your fist, make it one with your body, and never neglect one thing for another until you become awkward instead."

Wu Shan spoke with great animation, casually spinning the wooden spear from side to side as demonstration. Yet his torso stood immovable as a mountain; every flourish of the spear lay in the turning of his wrist, his weapon's momentum seeming born of nature.

"The test is in three days. It's only eight moves. I'll teach the techniques, and you'll practice them. As for the medicinal resources needed for spear training, you can apply for them after you Receive Spearhead. That has nothing to do with most of you right now. Class monitor, call some people to the Equipment Room to collect Sharp Spear Shafts!"

He lowered the spear tip. At his command, Wang Guanjia barked his acknowledgment and led the way, a thin young man decisively following in his footsteps. More than a dozen students gradually gathered behind him, including one girl.

Without a word, they all crowded out. When they returned, Wang Guanjia carried a Wooden Sharp Spear in one hand, while the students behind him each bore three or four wooden spears over their shoulders.

"Mm. Now that you all have wooden spears, practice with me," Wu Shan said, his right eye sweeping disdainfully over the five rows of spear-wielding students. Turning sideways, he sank into a horse stance, his right hand gripping the end of the Wooden Shaft and his left hand loosely holding its middle. "Stance Training is the foundation. Once you have trained it well, force rises from the ground, twists through the waist, shoulders, and elbows, then bursts forth within the scant inches of your fists. Otherwise, it is all Flower Pose!"

Huo—chi!

The spear shaft shot forward from Wu Shan's loosely held left hand. His shoulders rose and fell like terrifying waves contained within the smallest measure, his waist naturally twisting with the motion. The spear tip tore through the air with a sharp hiss, yet his legs had already rooted themselves in place, unmoving by the slightest fraction.

Suo! Huo—chi!

Without the slightest pause, the spear edge that had thrust forth was drawn back with the twist of his waist, then pierced the air again. It withdrew and returned, again and again; the spearhead trembled ever more fiercely, Killing Momentum Like Lotus. Its howling made the air itself shudder in fear, yet it remained controlled within the palm of his left hand, which appeared to exert no strength at all!

The students gripped their wooden spears tightly, imitating Wu Shan's movements as they lowered their centers of gravity and attempted Block, Grab, Thrust Spear. Yet ugly mistakes appeared one after another, as though shrimp soldiers were dancing with toothpicks—no sound of wind, no sign of momentum.

"Block, Grab, Thrust Spear—the crucial point is that power comes from the waist. Like that, with only the little strength in your arms, you couldn't even spear an ant to death. Your legs are the foundation too. What are you trembling for? If you can't do it, get out!"

Wu Shan explained and instructed them in the essentials of the Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique. His temper was foul, as though his stitched-up left eye might split open again at any moment and a black, gooey eyeball would suddenly pop out.

But as a serving martial artist, he truly had substance. Jiang Qiu listened attentively to his lesson, his eyes tracking the spear tip and long shaft as he learned the fundamentals of Block, Grab, Thrust Spear.

It felt vastly different from figuring things out by himself through Instructional Videos. Now, his muscles quivered, his upper body twisting like a towel being wrung dry. As sweat was squeezed from his pores, the spear tip tore through the air, while it seemed as though thousand-jin weights pinned down his legs, keeping him from being pulled crooked by the Spear Momentum.

The youths maintained a single monotonous movement, yet their physical exertion was ten times that of their usual horse stance and Stance Training. The muscles of their upper bodies twisted while the tendons and bones of their lower bodies strained. Before long, some youths' legs and bodies began trembling uncontrollably.

Thud.

"I—I can't do it anymore, I can't..."

In less than half an hour, a relatively frail young man collapsed to the ground and landed on his backside.

Wu Shan's single eye locked onto him like an azure eagle catching a rat. He shouted coldly, "Leave the spear and get out! Don't stay here and offend my eyes!"

He had long known that no useful talent could emerge from an ordinary class. Teaching the Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique was merely a requirement of the broader situation. Could ordinary students like these really pick up wooden spears and stab demonic beasts to death?

In three days, his task would be complete, and he would no longer need to care about the students of Class Eight.

Come to think of it, only Outstanding Students were reasonably easy to teach. Some of them were even somewhat interesting.

"This Block, Grab, Thrust Spear really consumes stamina when practiced according to its key points."

Sweat cascaded down Jiang Qiu's neck. His thin school uniform was already soaked and plastered against his muscles, while deep folds and ravines outlined the contours of his body.

He had started basic martial training in elementary school and had never slackened for even a moment. His foundation was solid. Moreover, he had practiced the Ancient Martial Arts Spear Technique sixteen times last night and had even inherited an exceptional Body-Tempering Effect, greatly enhancing his physical fitness.

Now, as he repeatedly tempered this spear technique, his body became like a bonfire: the wood was limited, but the wind fanned the flames, burning all impurities within him clean. The wooden spear in his hand increasingly moved as naturally as an extension of his arm.

Hoo—haa—hoo—haa—

Huo—chi, huo—chi.

His breathing and spear thrusts, though different in rhythm, synchronized as one within the rise and fall of his chest.

Deep Practice once

17/100

Jiang Qiu's eyes lit up. So practicing a single move of the spear technique alone could also advance the progress. As long as he grasped the key points, it counted as Deep Practice!

Realizing this, he focused even more intently on Block, Grab, Thrust Spear. The wooden spear drew and thrust between his loosely held left hand, gradually stirring up the force of wind.

"Ring-ring-ring—"

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, the colors of the setting sun poured through the glass window frames onto the scattered, disheveled youths. Jiang Qiu withdrew his spear and stood, casually wiping the sweat from his forehead.

With a glance, he saw that only around thirty classmates remained. Of those still able to stand straight, there were five boys and two girls. Only the class monitor, Wang Guanjia, stood tall; the rest leaned on their wooden spears, twisting the corners of their clothes, sweat pouring down as if water had been splashed over them.

"Today, I'll first teach you the essentials of the First Four Moves. Put down your wooden spears. Tomorrow morning, I'll teach you the essentials of the Last Four Moves."

Without even turning his head, Wu Shan left. The wooden spear he casually flung spun twice through the air before landing on the wooden rack with a clack, trembling before falling still.

"It's finally over."

The youths were exhausted beyond measure. They slowly walked to the wooden rack and laid their spears across it, then left the Training Hall panting, their soaked school uniforms hanging from them. There was less shouting and cursing than usual; most of them looked weary, yet exhilarated.

"My father has dealt with Teacher Wu before, and he even prepared Medicinal Bath Resources for me. I've got the quota to Receive Spearhead in the bag!"

A thin young man was full of drive. Though he was merely an ordinary student in Class Eight, he had always been close with the class monitor. He also lived in the Commoner District of the Outer City, and his family had more money than over half the students.

To help him rise above others, his father had spared no expense. Even if he could not get into Northwest Martial Arts University in the end, Receiving Spearhead would still be an undisputed honor. Privately, his father had borrowed hundreds of thousands and asked someone to give Teacher Wu expensive bone-setting medicine.

This was what they meant by poor scholars and rich martial artists: with sufficient resources, efficiency doubled with half the effort!

His father had also said that Teacher Wu was settled. It was only a mere quota to Receive Spearhead—so long as he endured the test, he could get it.