The First Layer of the Mystic Ice Spear Technique

Zong Ling dropped down from above and looked over the mountain forest, which seemed to have been ravaged by a monster. His heart was filled with worry.

"Xue Ying, you have to be all right. You have to be all right!" Following the trail of destruction, Zong Ling hurried after him, his anxious heart twisting painfully. "Damn it! Damn it! Why haven't I become a Meteor Knight yet? If I'd broken through, I could have helped Xue Ying today. I wouldn't have let him face such a desperate situation alone."

His closest friend, Dongbo Lie, had been captured along with Moyang Yu. Before they were taken, Dongbo Lie had entrusted Zong Ling with the care of their two children.

Zong Ling had watched Xue Ying grow from a bawling infant into the young man he was now. His affection for Xue Ying ran deep.

Looking at the wrecked forest around him, Zong Ling grew more and more frantic.

"Please, don't let anything happen to him."

"Please, let him be all right."

Zong Ling raced forward, bounding through the forest.

Whoosh.

He leaped, his tail striking the trunk of a nearby tree. The blow sent him dozens of meters forward, and while he was still in midair, he spotted a young man dressed in black standing in the distance.

The moment Zong Ling saw him, the tension in his heart eased, and he let out a long breath.

"Xue Ying." Zong Ling rushed over.

"Uncle Zong." Dongbo Xueying was removing the Shadow Leopard's corpse from the spear shaft.

"You killed the Shadow Leopard?" Zong Ling stared at the corpse, hardly daring to believe it. This was a terrifying predator renowned for its speed and agility.

Dongbo Xueying smiled. "I was lucky. Really lucky. I was this close... to being the one who died."

It had been his closest brush with death yet.

He'd fought magical beasts before. Their claws and fangs had grazed his body, letting him feel death's breath—but he'd only faced them in groups. In a one-on-one fight, he'd always held an overwhelming advantage. This time, though there had been only one Shadow Leopard, it had outmatched him in every way.

With a flick of his left hand, Dongbo Xueying produced a Spear Quiver. It held twelve short spears. He had kept it in his Storage Pendant.

"Get in." He set down the quiver, picked up the Shadow Leopard's corpse, and curled it up a little.

Whoosh.

The corpse vanished without a trace. It nearly filled the Storage Pendant's interior, leaving only a few gaps in the corners.

"Uncle Zong, we should get going. The smell of blood might attract magical beasts." Dongbo Xueying slung the quiver over his back and took hold of the Flying Snow Divine Spear.

"There's no need to worry too much. The Shadow Leopard's scent is all around us. Ordinary magical beasts won't dare come close. But after a fight like that, you do need a good rest." Zong Ling smiled, looking relieved.

They set off for camp.

Dongbo Xueying was in high spirits. He'd just survived the most dangerous fight of his life, but a Shadow Leopard was worth more than a hundred thousand gold coins! Its satin-smooth pelt could conceal its wearer and was a precious crafting material. Of course, most Shadow Leopard pelts ended up in the hands of wealthy nobles. They adored them. A coat made from Shadow Leopard fur was both beautiful and prestigious, the envy of countless people.

As for Xue Ying, who cared? As long as it was worth money!

At their camp in the Destruction Mountain Range.

By the time Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling returned after nearly two hours of travel, night had fallen. Zong Ling ate a little dinner and went to rest, but Dongbo Xueying stayed up.

The fire crackled.

The campfire burned steadily, driving away the cold.

Dongbo Xueying sat cross-legged beside it, the Flying Snow Spear laid across his knees. He closed his eyes and sat quietly, the firelight illuminating his face.

Stillness...

The night was quiet...

Dongbo Xueying carefully felt his body: every muscle and bone, the expansion and contraction of his heart, the blood coursing through his veins like a powerful river...

During that life-or-death battle, he had already reached a state in which his strength flowed as one. Now, he was carefully studying that feeling, consolidating and familiarizing himself with it.

"Up."

Dongbo Xueying suddenly rose and began practicing his spear technique with the Flying Snow Spear.

Man and spear as one, he seemed to transform into a flood dragon.

Spear shadows flashed as snowflakes drifted through the air.

"What a spear. What a spear."

Dongbo Xueying stopped and looked at the Flying Snow Spear in his hands, his face bright with delight.

The human eye retained an image for a brief moment. If a spear technique was fast enough, the eye would see several spears attacking at once!

Of course, how long the eye retained an image differed from person to person.

Ordinary knights, Earth-Rank Knights, and Heaven-Rank Knights had fairly ordinary visual persistence.

At Star-Rank, it became extremely brief.

For transcendent beings...it was briefer still.

When Dongbo Xueying had first come to the Destruction Mountain Range, his spear technique had reached the Five-Spear Realm. A Star-Rank expert's eyes would see five spears. Even when his Primordial Bloodline's power surged, he could only just barely approach the Seven-Spear Realm.

But now!

With his strength flowing as one, he had perfect control over every bit of power in his body. Even without unleashing his strength, he could easily reach the Seven-Spear Realm.

And the Flying Snow Divine Spear was a divine weapon. Only in the hands of a Spear Technique Master could it truly reveal its wonders! The inside of its shaft was like the network of pathways in a human body. When the spear clashed with an enemy weapon or was suddenly pulled back, it produced an opposing force. In an ordinary spear, such forces would naturally dissipate.

But the Flying Snow Divine Spear transmitted them perfectly, keeping them from fading for a short time.

Most spear experts paid no attention to the recoil from the shaft. Some even found it a nuisance!

But a Spear Technique Master could make perfect use of that force, channeling it into an even faster attack.

"With my strength flowing as one, I've reached the Seven-Spear Realm!"

"The Flying Snow Divine Spear makes perfect use of every force, increasing its power. Its sheer speed can reach the Eight-Spear Realm."

"And if I unleash my Strength Bloodline, I'll reach the Ten-Spear Realm."

Dongbo Xueying was thrilled.

The Shadow Leopard hadn't died in vain!

His final desperate strike had reached the terrifying Ten-Spear Realm. That speed could completely overwhelm a Silver Moon Knight. A weaker Silver Moon Knight might not withstand more than a few strikes before being killed by one.

"But this isn't my limit. I can make my spear even faster." Dongbo Xueying began practicing the transcendent spear technique Mystic Ice Spear Technique that his father had left him.

It was the signature art of a powerful transcendent knight.

Only a Spear Technique Master could learn its first layer.

Whoosh.

He circulated his Battle Qi to help his body exert its strength. The spear rotated like a giant serpent, its twisting arc growing even more pronounced as he thrust.

When he pulled it back, he had to reverse the rotation.

One thrust, one withdrawal.

The powerful rotations and counter-rotations concealed a twisting force within the shaft. The force was so strong that ordinary spear experts would feel their palms go numb and the shaft fly from their grasp!

But the Mystic Ice Spear Technique was designed to harness that very force.

"Not right."

"I'm applying the force incorrectly."

"The rotation isn't pure enough."

Dongbo Xueying practiced the spear technique again and again.

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

That night, the repeated howling sounds from the camp made the sentries' scalps tingle. They watched their young lord practice beside the fire, growing ever more awed.

"Our lord really is extraordinary."

"We've come all this way to the Destruction Mountain Range, and he's still practicing his spear late into the night. No wonder he's so strong."

"He was obsessed with training even when he was eight. I could never put up with that kind of hardship."

The soldiers whispered among themselves.

Dongbo Xueying practiced the many techniques of the first layer of the Mystic Ice Spear Technique again and again. Though Gu Yuanhan, the senior Mystic Ice Knight, had described them in great detail, they were still difficult to learn. Fortunately, Dongbo Xueying was a Spear Technique Master with exceptionally fine control over his strength, so he had a chance of mastering them.

The night passed quickly, and a faint glow appeared in the sky.

"Rip—"

The spear shot out.

Like a giant serpent suddenly lunging forward in a twisting glide, it made only a brief sound in the air—not the usual whoosh, but a short "rip." As Dongbo Xueying drew it back, the shaft twisted in a visibly curved arc before he thrust it out again at once.

Delight appeared on his face. A faint crimson aura suddenly emerged around him as he unleashed all his strength and practiced the terrifying spear technique to his heart's content.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Snowflakes drifted around the shaft, while spearpoints left a trail of spear flowers hanging in the air like snowflakes.

A full twelve spear-shaped snowflakes hung in the air before fading away.

He had reached the terrifying Twelve-Spear Realm!

The first layer of the Mystic Ice Spear Technique, Drifting Snow, clearly gave the spear a tremendous boost in speed. Gu Yuanhan, the Mystic Ice Knight, had been renowned for his swift spear technique! The second and third layers were faster still, but also more difficult.

"The Twelve-Spear Realm." Dongbo Xueying smiled. "I've finally mastered Drifting Snow, the first layer of the Mystic Ice Spear Technique."

After becoming a Spear Technique Master and learning the basics of the Mystic Ice Spear Technique, Dongbo Xueying's strength had increased astonishingly.