The Meaning of "Breaking"? Yang Jian's Epiphany!

His tone was casual, as though he were merely stating something perfectly natural.

Yet it was precisely that casualness that stirred an indescribable emotion within Zhu Zhuqing.

She stared intently into Yang Jian's eyes, as if she wanted to find something within those clear pupils.

And she truly did find it: a light that made her heart race.

After a moment, she seemed to have made up her mind.

Taking a deep breath, she rose onto her tiptoes. Before Yang Jian could react, a soft, warm touch landed on his cheek.

That touch was as light as a feather and as fleeting as a blink, yet it carried a young girl's unique shyness and courage, as well as an indescribable tenderness.

"I will."

Zhu Zhuqing's voice sounded beside his ear, gentle yet resolute.

Then she turned and left. She moved so fast that she became a blurry black shadow, soon shrinking into a tiny dot almost invisible to the naked eye.

The morning breeze brushed past him, and only a faint fragrance that had yet to fully disperse lingered in Yang Jian's nose.

Yang Jian remained where he was, reaching up to touch the cheek she had kissed. A trace of warmth still remained there.

He looked in the direction Zhu Zhuqing had vanished and stood there for a long time.

Meanwhile, on the path leading to Suotuo City, Zhu Zhuqing ran without looking back. The tips of her ears burned crimson, and her heart pounded so fiercely that it seemed ready to leap from her chest.

She did not dare look back or stop, because she knew that if she turned around, if she looked at Yang Jian even once more, she would never be willing to leave again.

Only after she had run far, far away—so far that no trace of what lay behind her could be seen—did she finally stop. Leaning against the back of a large tree, she panted heavily.

She raised a hand to cover her burning cheeks as the earlier scenes replayed through her mind again and again.

That figure standing as straight as a spear beneath the moonlight, that boy carefully lifting her in the tent, that smile as he handed her roasted rabbit by the campfire, and those words—

"Follow your heart. Do as you wish. Live for yourself."

The corners of Zhu Zhuqing's lips slowly curved upward.

The next time they met, she would definitely let Yang Jian see a truly radiant smile, one that came from the depths of her heart.

After parting with Zhu Zhuqing, Yang Jian spent nearly another three days before once again setting foot within the Star Dou Great Forest.

Yang Jian did not have much of an idea about his fourth Soul Ring, but he was not in a hurry. After all, his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear Martial Soul would choose a suitable Soul Ring for itself.

Without his own grandfather, a Soul Douluo, accompanying him this time, Yang Jian kept a relatively low profile.

That night, after simply eating some dry rations, Yang Jian climbed another large tree. Beneath the stars filling the sky, he lay on his back atop an outstretched branch.

He appeared to be emptying his mind, but in truth, he was reflecting on what his grandfather had once told him.

The reason the Yang Clan had earned the Breaking Clan's name across the continent was not only because their Martial Souls were powerful, but also because of the word "breaking."

This word "breaking" was not simply taken from the first character of the Soul-Breaker Spear. Rather, it was the Yang Clan's understanding and insight into their Soul-Breaker Spear Martial Soul.

Yet every member of the Yang Clan who possessed the Soul-Breaker Spear had a different understanding and insight into it.

Borrowing and imitation could only obtain the form, never the essence. Comprehending the word "breaking" was a process that required time to build and verify.

"The word 'breaking'... breaking... could it be... meaning?"

A flash of light suddenly crossed Yang Jian's mind. Amid the haze, he felt as though he had grasped something.

With that thought, Yang Jian simply flipped upright. His palm lightly patted the branch, and he drifted down, landing steadily upon the ground carpeted in dead leaves.

Dark golden light flickered in his palm as the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear appeared in his hand.

Pure moonlight fell upon a towering tree so large that three men would need to link arms to encircle it. A cool breeze passed through, rustling the branches and leaves. The shattered moonlight rippled like waves across a lake, swaying and whispering.

Yang Jian sat on the ground, laying the dark golden Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear across his knees. Bright moonlight fell upon its shaft, as though coating it in a layer of cold white frost.

The late autumn night was inevitably chilly. Yang Jian exhaled a breath of stale air, and the misty warmth drifted back onto his tightly furrowed face. Yet he seemed not to notice. In eyes like starlight reflected upon a mirror-like lake, the dark golden shaft of the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear was reflected.

"A spear is the king of all weapons. Long, sharp, and keen, it is nimble to wield. Its spearhead can pierce or slash, changing in countless ways, while its shaft can block or sweep, allowing attack and defense at will!"

Yang Jian lightly struck the butt of the spear with his palm. The Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear resting across his knees tilted upward at the blade and downward at the tail, like a soaring dragon emerging from an abyss, before he seized it in one hand.

He thrust forward. A withered yellow leaf drifting on the wind was completely pierced by the frost-cold spearhead. With a twist of his wrist, the leaf exploded, and amid the scattered fragments, the spear had already returned to Yang Jian's knees.

"As the saying goes, the spear is the king of all weapons; when all weapons meet the spear, they are defeated! The descending spear stance breaks the staff. The left and right flower-plucking stance breaks shields and tridents. The opposing strike breaks swords, forks, shovels, twin blades, and short blades. The hooking and pouncing method breaks whips and maces. The feinting thrust breaks broadswords and halberds! Men fail to see the true spear and thus become confused by other weapons. Once one attains the true spear, all other weapons appear no more than children's play!"

Yang Jian rose to his feet. The Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear in his hand alternated between descending strikes, flower-plucking movements, opposing blows, hooks, and thrusts. His forms stirred fierce gusts of wind. Amid the shrieking air, the dim night was torn apart, and only the frigid spear blade illuminated the darkness within thirty feet around him.

Suddenly, Yang Jian drew back his spear and stood still, lifting his gaze toward the night sky. The Milky Way glittered, and the crescent moon hung like a hook. The entire sky was gathered in Yang Jian's eyes. Then, a silver line streaked across the horizon as a meteor trailing a fiery tail abruptly entered his vision.

Watching that silver meteor pierce through the river of stars, sweep past the hooked moon, and charge forward with unstoppable force, Yang Jian's star-filled eyes suddenly lit up.

After his voice fell, Yang Jian abruptly closed his eyes. Within a void of Annihilation-like darkness, a point of starlight suddenly ignited.

In the span of a breath, the starlight stretched out and trailed a fiery tail, transforming into a silver needle that cut across the void of Annihilation.

Then, the silver needle transformed into a silver spear. Carrying unrivaled power and an unstoppable momentum, it dragged a long tail of molten gold and tempered flame, leaving an eternally brilliant wound across the pitch-black night before his eyes as it raced toward destruction in a blazing posture!

Yang Jian's upright body began to tremble slightly, as though something inside his mind were struggling to break free.

"Pop~" Like a tender sprout piercing its seed coat and breaking through the earth, like a bubble bursting with a bang, a brilliant light abruptly flared within Yang Jian's mind. A numbing sensation like an electric current swept through his entire body in an instant.

His eyes suddenly opened. It was as though lightning had exploded within them, as though he had gathered the Milky Way and bright moon entirely into his gaze. The next moment, he... moved.