Affinity Talent

"All right, that's all I'll explain to you today."

"Go practice it yourselves. Feel it out with your hearts, and it shouldn't be hard to get started."

About half an hour later, Zhang Xianzhong saw that Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu had basically run out of questions and had gained an initial understanding of the introductory cultivation knowledge for this advanced spear technique. He rose to his feet and spoke.

He then walked over to Ai Nengqi to continue guiding him in the introductory cultivation of saber techniques.

Zhang Xianzhong himself specialized in saber techniques, so teaching Ai Nengqi was naturally far easier than teaching Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu.

Li Dingguo picked up the Low-Grade Spirit Weapon spear lying on the ground beside him, strode to a slightly secluded patch of open ground nearby, and began his first practice session.

Like cultivating the Tiger Roar Fist, this advanced spear technique—the Thunderbolt Spear Technique—also had its own unique stance training and corresponding footwork.

The difference from fist techniques was that the stance training for fist techniques chiefly used the horse stance, while spear techniques mainly relied on the bow stance.

Unlike the dazzling variety of fist technique cultivation methods, the core of spear techniques was simple: steadiness, precision, and ruthlessness!

On the battlefield, the finest spear technique was killing with a single thrust—the spear moved, and a man died!

Where the eyes went, the heart followed; where the heart went, the hands followed; where the hands went, the spear followed; where the spear went, the enemy died.

In the famous novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms from Li Dingguo's previous life, there were descriptions of generals whose spear techniques had reached divine mastery: they slew enemies with flashes of lightning, "raising a hand to thrust an enemy from his horse." That was the essence of spear techniques.

As Li Dingguo practiced the new stance, he first had to hold the butt of the spear steadily level. This was the most basic foundation of spear techniques: leveling the spear.

Only by first becoming familiar with the spear in his hands and establishing a sense of harmony with it could he wield it freely without being harmed in turn by the sharp weapon.

There were also two ways to practice leveling the spear: holding it one-handed, or gripping it with both hands.

Fortunately, Li Dingguo was extraordinarily gifted, possessed Innate Divine Strength, and had exceptional endurance. Together with Mental Energy far surpassing that of ordinary people, he gradually found his rhythm after adapting for only a short while.

When one put one's heart into something, time often passed quickly.

"Time's up!"

"Ai Nengqi, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, Zhang Huier, stop practicing your weapons and come learn horsemanship!"

Without realizing it, the remaining half hour of spear practice for the day had come to an end.

At Zhang Xianzhong's shout from afar, Li Dingguo withdrew his spear and stood upright, feeling that he had gained much from this practice of the spear's fundamentals.

He had vaguely grasped several key points for using spear techniques.

Spear techniques were not only for attack; they also included defense.

They could be used in single combat or against groups.

After this initial round of practice, Li Dingguo finally had some understanding of spear techniques.

If he faced the version of himself from an hour ago, then with a spear in hand, he should be able to achieve an utterly lopsided result—a one-hit kill.

Having finished the day's spear practice, he soon jogged over to Zhang Xianzhong alongside Ai Nengqi, Liu Wenxiu, and Zhang Huier.

Zhang Xianzhong first gave the four of them an approving glance. Clearly, he was rather satisfied with the progress each of them had made in practicing their primary combat weapons.

He then turned and waved to several Veteran Camp soldiers waiting nearby. "You lot, bring the warhorses over!"

The four soldiers promptly acknowledged the order and led over Spirit Beast Warhorses already fitted with saddles.

Every warhorse Zhang Xianzhong currently possessed was a low-grade Flood Dragon Scale Horse.

There was no helping it. Within the present Great Ming Dynasty, most Spirit Beast Flood Dragon Scale Horses one could find were low-grade ones, while mid-grade Flood Dragon Scale Horses made up only a small portion.

As for high-grade and Top-Grade Flood Dragon Scale Horses, ordinary people rarely saw them under normal circumstances.

When it came to Spirit Beast Warhorses, the Tartars Beyond the Pass held an enormous advantage.

The Flood Dragon Scale Horses they used as warhorses were, at worst, mid-grade.

Low-grade Flood Dragon Scale Horses could not meet the requirements the Tartars Beyond the Pass had for elite cavalry and could only be used to pull large carts for the Logistics Camp.

Indeed, every one of their cavalry units possessed many high-grade Flood Dragon Scale Horses, while even Top-Grade Flood Dragon Scale Horses were far from uncommon!

As for the even more formidable Dragon Scale Horses, both their grade and numbers surpassed those of the Great Ming Dynasty by an entire level.

Of course, even a low-grade Dragon Scale Horse was somewhat stronger than a Top-Grade Flood Dragon Scale Horse.

This was because the Tartars Beyond the Pass did not lack vast natural Spirit Grass Pastures.

Meanwhile, the present Great Ming Dynasty had practically lost all of its natural Spirit Grass Pastures Beyond the Pass. The court, from top to bottom, focused only on fighting for power and profit and paid no attention whatsoever to this matter, resulting in the present vast disparity.

Even low-grade Flood Dragon Scale Horses numbered only a dozen or so in Zhang Xianzhong's hands. For him to assign four of them to Li Dingguo, Ai Nengqi, Liu Wenxiu, and Zhang Huier could no longer simply be described as valuing them highly.

Even the four soldiers who had just led over these Spirit Beast Warhorses looked at Li Dingguo and the others with eyes filled with envy, mixed with a trace of jealousy.

But in this newly established Rebel Army, Zhang Xianzhong was the sole leader, and he was looking for someone to kill to establish his authority!

Who would dare disobey military orders and defy the Eight Great Kings?

Unless they were tired of living.

Through what he had seen and heard, Li Dingguo had already learned that no Spirit Beast Warhorse needed horseshoes.

Their four hooves were far harder than horseshoes and could even grow back and repair themselves after being damaged.

Horseshoes were fitted only to ordinary horses.

For instance, the Rebel Army's Logistics Camp currently had quite a few large carts, all pulled by ordinary horses.

"Ai Nengqi, go choose one first!"

Zhang Xianzhong waved to Ai Nengqi as he spoke.

He was assigning the order in which these four monstrous geniuses could choose Spirit Beast Warhorses according to their current performances.

In everyone's eyes, Zhang Xianzhong included, although Ai Nengqi and Li Dingguo had nearly equal cultivation aptitude, Ai Nengqi was still a little stronger.

Only Li Dingguo knew that thanks to his advantage in Mental Energy, his comprehension had greatly increased. His overall qualities were no worse than Ai Nengqi's and were even slightly better.

When a tree rose above the forest, the wind was bound to topple it.

He was merely hiding his abilities on purpose.

Naturally, Li Dingguo had his reasons for doing so.

Ever since learning that this wondrous great world possessed the mysterious and unfathomable existence known as fortune, he had decided to act this way.

To put it bluntly, he did not want to acknowledge anyone as his adoptive father.

There was no helping it. Once he acknowledged an adoptive father, the fortunes of father and son would become linked. In the future, Zhang Xianzhong would take away most of his fortune, undoubtedly causing him immense trouble. There was a very real chance he would never escape such a bond for the rest of his life!

By then, it would be too late for regrets.

It was necessary to hide his abilities subtly before Zhang Xianzhong now, lest he shine too brightly and Zhang Xianzhong impatiently take him in as an adopted son. The consequences would be unthinkable!

His Cheat System relied upon that mysterious and unfathomable fortune. He would avoid, as much as possible, anything that might damage his own fortune.

It was true that Zhang Xianzhong had shown him kindness, but there were many ways to repay kindness. Acknowledging him as an adoptive father was not the only road he could take. He would find a way to repay him in the future.

"Oh, oh..."

Ai Nengqi had long been itching with anticipation. His little face flushed with excitement as he stepped forward and inspected the four Spirit Beast Warhorses from left to right. Only after quite a while did he choose a crimson Spirit Beast Warhorse.

After a soldier beside him helped lead the warhorse away, Ai Nengqi danced with joy, clearly delighted beyond measure!

"Li Dingguo, your turn!"

Amused by the sight, Zhang Xianzhong turned and called to Li Dingguo.

"Oh, I'm coming."

Li Dingguo strode forward and went straight to the Big Black Horse that had caught his eye at first glance. Somewhat curiously, he reached out, wanting to stroke its large head.

Neigh! Neigh!

This Big Black Horse was not afraid of strangers at all. Instead, it lifted its head and neighed a few times, yet did not resist Li Dingguo approaching it.

"Hm?"

Zhang Xianzhong said curiously from the side, "Li Dingguo, it seems you and this Big Black Horse are fated to be together!"

"Since it is rather close to you, your future horsemanship training will yield twice the result with half the effort. You'll find it easy to get started."

"Li Dingguo, try leading it and see whether it will walk with you!"

This was also the first time Zhang Xianzhong had witnessed such a situation in his military career, and he could not help finding it rather novel.

"Oh."

Li Dingguo's heart leaped with joy. He then boldly stepped forward and reached out to pat the Big Black Horse's head.

An even more miraculous scene unfolded. Not only did this exceptionally handsome Big Black Horse not shy away, it even rubbed its great head against Li Dingguo's palm, showing affection.

"Hahaha..."

Zhang Xianzhong burst into laughter at the sight. "Who would have thought that you, Li Dingguo, would possess the talent of affinity with Spirit Beasts!"

"This is no simple talent. It is extremely useful on the battlefield."

He explained, "It means that once you kill an enemy riding a Spirit Beast Warhorse on the battlefield, you can seize that horse on the spot and immediately ride it, without needing to subdue it through force!"

"This gives you no small advantage in cavalry clashes. Even if your mount is unfortunately killed in battle, you can swiftly seize an enemy's warhorse and use it for yourself, greatly increasing your chances of survival!"

After speaking, even he looked at Li Dingguo with some envy.

He had never expected this monstrous genius to possess such affinity with Spirit Beasts.

This was an exceedingly rare and highly unusual talent, something that could not be clearly explained through words alone.