A Woman's Spear

While letting his imagination run wild, Tian Hao finished his breakfast and carried the basket toward the training ground at the village's edge.

Unlike the other villagers, he was completely free from work. He did not even need to cook, allowing him to devote all his time to training. After breakfast, he could head straight to the training ground.

"Have some breakfast. It's still warm!"

Handing the basket to Ah Yin, who was taking a break, Tian Hao gestured for her to eat.

With two more people around, Old Li Tou had prepared enough breakfast for three today.

Although Tang Hao, being bigger, would definitely eat more, Ah Yin ate less as a woman, so there was just enough for the two of them.

"Eat later. Finish the fight we stopped yesterday first."

Tang Hao did not take the large bun Ah Yin offered him. He grabbed Tian Hao and eagerly prepared to climb onto the Stone Ball and fight.

Today, he would wash away yesterday's humiliation.

"You should eat first. Otherwise, you won't have much of an appetite afterward."

Tian Hao kindly reminded him. It was not that he wanted to discourage Tang Hao, but this was his home ground. Under these rules, Tang Hao had no chance of defeating him anytime soon.

"I've already completely mastered how to use that thing. You're definitely losing today."

With bloodshot eyes, Tang Hao was full of confidence. His all-night extra training had been effective, and he had completely mastered the tricks of those Stone Balls. He would absolutely beat this brat senseless.

"Since you insist, then let's fight. But today, we'll make it fair."

Tian Hao did not refuse again. He turned and went into a wooden shed at the edge of the training ground, taking out an oil barrel and a brush before handing them to Tang Hao.

"Polish the Stone Ball smooth, then brush this barrel of oil onto it."

"Oil?"

Tang Hao took the oil barrel with a blank look, instinctively glancing at the Stone Ball Tian Hao had used yesterday. Had it been coated with oil?

Ah Yin walked over and touched it. It really was slick and greasy, with the feel of oil.

This dealt another blow to her, but it also made her even more interested. Yesterday, she had seen how smooth and shiny the Stone Ball was and assumed Tian Hao had simply used it so often that his shoes had worn it smooth. Now, it seemed that was not all.

He had even coated it with grease.

With an extra layer of grease, it would naturally be much harder to keep one's footing on it. The difficulty had skyrocketed.

After a moment of silence, Tang Hao walked over to the basket, picked up a large bun, and began chewing on it while staring fixedly at Tian Hao's gleaming, oil-slick Stone Ball.

Anyone could tell that an oiled Stone Ball would be far harder to stand on and control than before. Whether he could even keep his footing on it was unknown.

He estimated that he would be suppressed by that brat again today. It was infuriating.

Tian Hao smiled and did not pay much attention to it. He used Soul Power to lift a clump of grease from the barrel and applied another layer to his own Stone Ball, making it even slicker.

After finishing breakfast and calming down, Tang Hao stepped forward to get to work.

He used Soul Power to grind and polish the Stone Ball, then coated it with oil. Finally, he wobbled onto the Stone Ball and glared viciously at the youth opposite him.

How had that brat's brain grown? How had he come up with such a damnable training method?

And yet, there was no way to refute it. After all, Tian Hao's Stone Ball had been oiled, and he had even applied another layer for the sake of fairness. What could Tang Hao say?

"If your feet leave the Stone Ball, you lose. If you plan to shamelessly break the rules and jump over to hit me, Uncle, Ah Yin and I won't look down on you. Really."

Standing atop the Stone Ball with his spear in hand, Tian Hao mocked Tang Hao's wobbling, comical appearance.

"Absolutely not!"

Tang Hao ground out the four words through clenched teeth. What else could he say?

"Come at me, Uncle!"

Tian Hao called out and rolled the slick Stone Ball beneath his feet forward. Once he closed in, the spear in his hand thrust out in rapid succession, still using the incomparably vicious Lower Body Spear Art.

And thanks to his refinement of the spear art yesterday, his offense had become even sharper, faster, and more varied.

Because the Stone Ball had been coated in oil, Tang Hao was once again reduced to the state he had been in yesterday, dealing with the attacks in a miserable fashion.

"I'm joining too!"

After getting used to it for a while on the other side, Ah Yin rolled over on her own Stone Ball. The Blue Silver Overlord Spear in her hand swept out, bringing both of them within range of her attacks.

"Stop!"

After fighting for only a short while, Tian Hao suddenly rolled his Stone Ball backward and called a halt. He withdrew from his cheat... no, withdrew from his state of enlightenment and carefully examined Ah Yin.

"What is it?"

Seeing Tian Hao stare at her like that, Ah Yin looked herself over but found nothing wrong.

"Sister Ah Yin, you need to understand that you're a woman. That kind of spear isn't for women."

Looking at the Blue Silver Overlord Spear condensed in Ah Yin's hand, Tian Hao felt that it was unsuitable for her.

Just as its name suggested, the Blue Silver Overlord Spear had a rigid shaft with almost no flexibility.

Such a stiff spear was better suited to someone strong, like Tang Hao.

Ah Yin had a slender build. She was not suited to using such a spear, nor could she bring out its full power. At most, she could use it for throwing.

"Are you looking down on women?"

Her beautiful eyes widened as Ah Yin felt she had been discriminated against.

What was wrong with women?

Why couldn't women use this kind of spear?

Ignoring the older woman's fierce yet adorable glare, Tian Hao continued explaining, "I don't mean to look down on you. It's an objective fact.

One fundamental principle of battle is to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses, and men and women have enormous differences in physical build.

This kind of rigid spear favors explosive strength. Unless you train your body until it is as bulky as Uncle's, you won't be able to bring out the power of this kind of spear.

If you really have that idea, I can tailor a training regimen for you. With enough nutritional supplements, you should be able to build muscles that would make Uncle feel inferior in less than a year..."

Tian Hao felt that the older woman's chest was far too magnificent.

It even blocked part of her field of vision, creating a blind spot. If an enemy had a special Soul Skill that attacked from underground, it could be fatal.

Tang Hao was dumbfounded by those words. Then he looked at Ah Yin on the other side, who was gritting her teeth with a twisted expression. Though he had always been known for his bravery, he could not help shrinking his neck, chickening out and trying his best to lessen his presence.

"Then what kind of spear do you think I should use?"

Ah Yin forced out the words through clenched teeth. She truly wanted to stab him with a spear.

But she had to admit that he made sense. Although she had developed the Soul Skill Blue Silver Overlord Spear, she mainly used it to project the Blue Silver Domain and trap enemies. Holding it for close combat was only supplementary.

It also made up for the weakness of a control-type Soul Master lacking close-combat ability, so she would not lose her fighting power after being approached.

But the way that brat spoke was simply too irritating. What did he mean by pectoral muscles, burdens, cutting them off, and helping her train until she had Tang Hao's kind of body...

Listen to that. Was that even something a person should say?

"Wait here."

Tian Hao still paid no attention to Ah Yin's attitude. He leaped off the Stone Ball and ran toward his courtyard.

"I'd like to see what nonsense you come up with."

Her heavy breathing made the grandeur before her chest rise even more dramatically. Ah Yin had truly been angered this time.

If that brat could not satisfy her in a moment, she would definitely hang him up and beat him, letting him know that women were not easy to bully.

Tang Hao continued silently trying to lessen his presence while working hard to adapt to the oiled Stone Ball, lest he be suppressed again later.

That would be utterly humiliating.

Meanwhile, Tian Hao returned to his courtyard and quickly dug out a long spear, one with a wooden shaft.

The shaft trembled slightly just from being held, showing its flexibility.

"Let's try it."

Weighing the wooden spear in his hand, which was much lighter than a Steel Spear, Tian Hao decisively entered his state of enlightenment and began wielding the flexible wooden spear.

As a modern Four-No youth, he naturally knew that long spears came in two types: rigid and flexible. Steel Spears were suited for head-on clashes and were often used on battlefields, while flexible spears were nimble, varied, and unpredictable, emphasizing changes in footwork. They were more suitable for women.

(Tang Hao: I feel like I'm being targeted, but I can't find any proof. Brothers, help me prove it by casting some recommendation votes.)