Three-Section Great Spear

The carriage slowly pulled to a stop in front of Spirit Serpent Martial Hall.

There were fewer disciples in the hall than before, but it was still bustling and lively.

When Qi Yu arrived, some young men were still clutching their silver and preparing to register.

A sharp-eyed martial artist spotted Qi Yu and excitedly shouted inside, "Eldest Brother Qi is here! Eldest Brother Qi is here!"

Before the shout had even faded, someone was already warmly ushering him inside.

Ever since Chu Xiao had lost to Han Yan, minor clashes between the disciples of Spirit Serpent Martial Hall and Black Bear Martial Hall had continued without end.

And ever since the Provincial Examination ended, the people in this courtyard had held their heads high and vented their pent-up frustration over Qi Yu coming first in the Provincial Examination. Outside, they could finally face the disciples of Black Bear Martial Hall and loudly retort with words like, "Black Bear Martial Hall? Hah, aren't you still beneath our Eldest Brother Qi?"

At this moment...

Qi Yu entered the martial hall amid cheers and admiring gazes from every direction.

Deep inside the martial hall...

When Song Xue heard the news, she hurried out. Dressed in white that surpassed snow, she saw the young man strolling toward her. Though her heart fluttered like a startled deer, her body moved to greet him of its own accord. She lowered her head to avoid his gaze and said in a soft, vexed voice, "Why aren't you properly practicing martial arts? Why did you run off?"

If he had never seen Xiang Nanfeng, Qi Yu might have thought Miss Song was perhaps a beautiful girl with a heroic bearing, brimming with vitality and possessing a pair of long legs—pretty, certainly, but nowhere near the standard of a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.

But after Xiang Nanfeng had disgusted him so thoroughly, he felt that Miss Song truly possessed beauty capable of enchanting the whole nation.

Even more moving was the unique charm she carried...

Before she had fallen for him, she had been bold and forthright, speaking without restraint;

After falling for him, she instead became evasive and hesitant, seeming to have something to say but holding it back. She clearly liked him terribly, yet insisted on pretending to be annoyed with him.

Qi Yu smiled. "I came especially to ask about spear techniques."

Song Xue's head buzzed. After hearing him say only that one sentence, she immediately replied, "Then... come with me."

With that, she turned and led the way.

As they passed through the courtyard, a heavy medicinal smell rushed toward them.

"Miss Song, Young Master Qi..."

Chu Fang hurriedly rose from beside the medicine stove and saluted, her expression flustered.

Song Xue gently reassured her, "Sister Fang, there's no need to stand on ceremony. Just take good care of the medicine."

Chu Fang twisted her hands, hesitating for a moment as though weighing something. Suddenly, she rushed forward, her knees going weak as she tried to kneel before Qi Yu.

Qi Yu hurriedly caught her and, following Song Xue's form of address, asked, "Sister Fang, what are you doing?"

Chu Fang sobbed so hard she could barely speak. Her body kept sinking as she tried to kneel, repeatedly blaming herself. "Young Master Qi, I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."

Qi Yu looked at Song Xue in confusion.

He knew only that Chu Xiao had secretly schemed against him once, but he had no idea how Chu Xiao's sister had offended him as well.

Song Xue stepped forward to support her too and said gently, "Sister Fang, Young Master Qi isn't narrow-minded. Hurry and go watch the medicine."

After much coaxing, she finally persuaded Chu Fang to return to the medicine stove.

Then, once they had walked a little farther away, she explained to Qi Yu, "Sister Fang once believed some slanderous rumors. She was always worried that I'd be deceived by a wastrel and even advised me to distance myself from you.

"It was right before the Provincial Examination, when you were staying at the martial hall. Wang Mingyong secretly tripped you up, trying to sow discord between us. But that's all in the past now...

"Wang Mingyong thought he could become Chu Xiao's brother-in-law in the future, so he let his imagination run wild and tried to... Ah, in any case, it's over.

"After Chu Xiao was crippled, Wang Mingyong flew into a rage. He felt that all his efforts had come to nothing, and he hadn't even touched Chu Fang. So... after getting drunk last night, he actually tried to violate Sister Fang in front of Chu Xiao. Sister Fang cried out for help, then tearfully exposed all those filthy deeds. Wang Mingyong was also expelled from the martial hall."

Qi Yu asked curiously, "How did that Wang fellow try to drive us apart?"

Song Xue said, "Don't ask."

Qi Yu said, "Come on..."

Song Xue lowered her head, her cheeks flushing crimson.

How could she possibly tell the man she loved about such a despicable scheme as "having physical contact with another man to cause a misunderstanding, thereby making her distance herself from Qi Yu"?

Seeing her expression, Qi Yu stopped pressing her and merely asked with a smile, "Then, Miss Song, are you still willing to be deceived by this wastrel?"

"You're no wastrel."

"What if I had only barely made it through the second round of the Provincial Examination?"

"Then you still wouldn't be one."

"What if I hadn't even passed the second round?"

Song Xue took a deep breath, lightly biting her pearly teeth before saying swiftly, "Whether you pass or not, anyway... anyway, I only like you. Is that enough now?"

After saying that, her face was flushed to the tips of her ears, and she hurried forward.

"Sis... is... is that Qi Yu?"

Inside the room...

On the bed lay a man who was nearly completely paralyzed. With great difficulty, he managed to groan out a sentence.

Chu Fang let out a soft sigh and bent down to tuck the blanket around him. "Young Master Qi took the Provincial Examination this time and vented all his anger for you, getting your revenge.

"Hall Master Song is an even better man. Even though we've become like this, he still hired a physician and continues to look after us.

"A-Xiao, if you keep dwelling on this dead end, even your sister won't want to bother with you anymore."

Chu Xiao turned his face away and said self-mockingly, "The victor becomes king and the defeated become bandits. What's there to say? Besides, I've become like this. What can I do now..."

Chu Fang said, "I don't know what you can do, but we could never repay the kindness we owe Young Master Qi or the benevolence we owe Hall Master Song, not even if we worked like oxen and horses for the rest of our lives!"

"I..."

"I..."

Chu Xiao felt stifled to the extreme as waves of jealous thoughts swept through his heart.

Suddenly, an unnamed fire surged upward, followed immediately by a piercing pain in his chest.

He began coughing violently. A sickly sweetness came rushing up from his abdomen in surging waves, shooting straight toward his throat~~~

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of blood sprayed out.

His vision went black, and he collapsed backward, losing consciousness.

Smack!

The door to the Skill Transmission Chamber was suddenly pushed open.

Song Xue called out cheerfully, "Dad, look who's here."

Song Qinghong sat behind the desk, squinting at a letter. His eyes were solemn yet excited, with a deep look of contemplation in them. He did not react to his daughter's call at once.

Only when Song Xue hurried across the threshold did he roll up the letter, move it toward the candle beside him, and set it alight. He shook it once, allowing the flames to devour the pale-yellow paper until it turned to ash.

Song Qinghong looked up and saw the young man who had come with his daughter. He smiled. "It's Yu'er."

Song Xue said impatiently, "Dad, what about the spear you forged before? Hurry and take it out."

Song Qinghong teased with a laugh, "A daughter grown up is no longer kept at home. Her elbow points right out of the family."

Song Xue's pretty face reddened. "What do you mean, points out of the family? Young Master Qi is the undisputed Eldest Brother of our Spirit Serpent Martial Hall. Even A-Qi has personally admitted that Young Master Qi's strength is above his."

Song Qinghong rarely failed to get angry, but this time he instead nodded in agreement. Then he lightly patted a wooden case and smiled. "Come, try how it feels in your hand."

Qi Yu opened the lid.

Inside lay a "three-section linked long spear."

The spear shaft had been forged from some exceptionally resilient strange metal, gleaming with a faint bone-white luster, as though the bones of a demon beast had been smelted into it. Hidden within the hollow shaft was a mechanism connected by fine chains, each section roughly three and a half feet long.

He gripped the spear's handle and gave his wrist a slight flick~

Smack! Smack!

The three sections unfolded with a series of sounds, transforming into a twelve-foot red-tasseled spear.

The instant he grasped the spear, Qi Yu discovered that the figures beside him had suddenly changed, from "38.8~63.5" to "48.8~73.5."

Good heavens!

With a spear in hand, despite not having learned any spear techniques, his combat power had already risen so dramatically.

"What a fine spear!"

Qi Yu praised it sincerely.

Song Qinghong rubbed his forehead and pretended to be exhausted. "Ah, I've got a bit of a headache today. Let Xue'er teach you spear techniques."

Song Xue whined, "Dad~~"

Song Qinghong laughed heartily, then turned to Qi Yu. "Nephew, you truly are extraordinary. The moment you came along, this girl's temperament changed completely. I've hardly ever seen her act spoiled before. Hahaha!"

Qi Yu smiled knowingly.

Miss Song had always been such a cool and aloof person, yet after falling into the snare of love, she seemed to have become someone else entirely.

After laughing, Song Qinghong turned serious. "Nephew, rest assured. Barehanded, Xue'er might only be on par with A-Qi, but with a spear in hand... she is the undisputed Eldest Sister of Spirit Serpent Martial Hall. Having her teach you will be no worse than receiving my personal instruction."

Before long, the two of them had returned to the secluded courtyard where Song Xue lived.

Song Xue took a matching three-section linked red-tasseled great spear from inside the room.

The instant her delicate hand touched the cold spear shaft, the aura around her changed completely.

Fierce yet nimble, she radiated a sense of danger from head to toe.

The change in the combat power above her head was the most obvious. It abruptly rose from its original "29~57" to "59~87."

Qi Yu stared at the "87" above Miss Song's head...

That was already considerably stronger than Ding Yi, a seventh-grade martial artist.

Was he sick in the head to have chosen Xiang Nanfeng, whose combat power was "71," as his partner?

Perhaps Xiang Nanfeng could surpass Song Xue after obtaining a good partner, but before that... Song Xue was far too much stronger than her.

The martial path had never been weak.