Soaring Dragon Spear

Chapter 32: Soaring Dragon Spear

The four Qiankun Bags belonged to Huang Nian's four guards. Although they were all Qiankun Bags, these four were clearly of a much higher grade than the one in Chu Xiaotian's hand.

Chu Xiaotian's bag was essentially just a travel pouch, unable to hold much. These four, however, each contained a space one meter in length, width, and height—nearly ten times the capacity of his own.

While he didn't know the exact value of such bags, it certainly wouldn't be low. After all, even the trashiest Qiankun Bag like the one he owned cost at least ten low-grade Origin Stones. He figured the four he now possessed were worth at least one hundred low-grade Origin Stones each. Setting everything else aside, these four bags alone were a significant haul, making him feel that killing Huang Nian and his men had been a truly correct decision.

Beyond the bags, there was something that excited Chu Xiaotian even more: the white bracelet. It was crystal clear, flawless, and seamless, as if carved from pure white jade. However, when Chu Xiaotian probed it with his spirit, he discovered it also contained a space—one that was ten meters in length, width, and height, far larger than the Qiankun Bags.

I've struck it rich! I've really struck it rich this time! I never expected to get a Qiankun Bracelet! Chu Xiaotian was so excited his whole body trembled. He stroked the Qiankun Bags, then picked up the white jade bracelet, turning it over and over in his hands, unable to put it down. His face was practically blooming with joy. A Qiankun Bracelet was a much higher-tier item than a Qiankun Bag, with a capacity several or even dozens of times larger. Naturally, its value was at least ten times higher as well.

With four Qiankun Bags and one Qiankun Bracelet, Chu Xiaotian figured they were worth at least a thousand low-grade Origin Stones. And that was just the value of the containers themselves; he hadn't even looked at what was inside yet.

Taking a deep breath to steady his excitement, Chu Xiaotian dumped the contents of all five spatial items onto the ground. The first things to catch his eye were a pile of clothes. After shaking them out and finding nothing hidden inside, he tossed them aside, planning to dispose of them later. He then began to sort through the remaining clutter. There were one thousand white stones that looked just like Origin Stones. Of course, these clearly weren't; holding them, he could sense the vast spiritual energy contained within. These were low-grade Origin Stones.

"One thousand low-grade Origin Stones. I'll take those," Chu Xiaotian muttered, stowing the stones into one of his newly acquired Qiankun Bags. There were also a dozen small porcelain bottles containing various medicinal pills. Chu Xiaotian didn't know what these pills were for, so he set them aside to have Xia Xue identify them later. Once he had sorted through everything, there wasn't much left on the ground.

There were five three-foot-long swords, one spear a full zhang in length, two jade slips, a yellowed ancient book, and over a dozen flowers and herbs he had never seen before. The plants were likely spiritual herbs, so he didn't touch them, tossing them with the porcelain bottles for Xia Xue to identify. He picked up one of the two jade slips and probed it with his spirit.

"Qi-Transforming Slash, Mortal-grade high-tier battle art." The words surfaced in his mind, followed by the specific cultivation method. This was the battle art that allowed cultivators in the Pi-Hai Realm to unleash Sword Qi. Chu Xiaotian read on with great interest, but after a while, his enthusiasm waned. It claimed that by sacrificing half the spiritual energy in one's body, one could unleash a strike of Sword Qi that no one of the same realm could block. To Chu Xiaotian, this was pure nonsense. He was only in the Purple Corpse realm, which at most was equivalent to a Tongmai Realm cultivator, yet that guard's slash hadn't been able to hurt him. Furthermore, losing half his spiritual essence in one go was a death wish if he were ever outnumbered.

"What a trashy battle art, just bragging. What's the point?" Muttering to himself, Chu Xiaotian didn't even finish reading it. He tossed the art into a Qiankun Bag, having no intention of practicing it. In truth, he was wronging the Qi-Transforming Slash; it wasn't as trashy as he imagined. The reason the guard hadn't hurt him was partly due to the high defense of the purple fur generated by his Heavenly Corpse Art, and partly because the guard had wasted a massive amount of spiritual essence purging poison earlier, which had severely weakened the slash. Otherwise, even if Chu Xiaotian could have blocked it, he likely would have been bedridden for ten or twenty days.

He picked up the second jade slip and probed it with his spirit.

"Spring Breeze Art, Mortal-grade high-tier cultivation method..." Seeing this, Chu Xiaotian tossed the slip aside without a second thought. Anything of Mortal-grade wasn't good—that was the conclusion he had reached after seeing the Qi-Transforming Slash. Besides, given his current situation, he couldn't practice any cultivation method other than the Heavenly Corpse Art. This Mortal-grade high-tier Spring Breeze Art became trash in his eyes, and he stowed it away casually.

Reaching for the only remaining item besides the weapons—the yellowed ancient book—Chu Xiaotian prayed silently that it would be something useful, preferably a powerful battle art. Although he looked down on the guard's Qi-Transforming Slash, he was currently desperate for a powerful battle art; such things could make one's combat prowess soar.

The ancient book wasn't really a book, just two or three pages of paper. It felt light in his hand, which disappointed him slightly. How good could something only two or three pages long be? But since he had it, he might as well take a look.

He flipped open the yellowed cover. Printed there were three bold, majestic, and aggressive ancient characters: Soaring Dragon Spear. Despite the simplicity of the three words, Chu Xiaotian felt as if a giant dragon were roaring toward him, trying to swallow him whole, nearly causing him to lose his composure.

"What an overbearing Soaring Dragon Spear! Good stuff, really good stuff! It seems my luck is truly extraordinary." Although he had only seen the title and didn't know the rank of the art, the sheer aura of those three words told Chu Xiaotian that this was infinitely better than the Qi-Transforming Slash.

Unable to wait, he flipped to the next page, which was filled with dense, tiny script.

"Control the spear with Qi, control Qi with the spirit, merge the spirit with the spear, merge the spirit with heaven and earth. Move forward without retreat, the spear strikes like a dragon, nothing can withstand it, not even Gods and Devils." After reading the first line on the second page, Chu Xiaotian's heart shook violently, and his anticipation for the Soaring Dragon Spear grew even greater. Without dwelling on the meaning, he continued reading. After finishing all the text on the first page in one breath, he let out a long sigh, his eyes gleaming.

This page explained the general cultivation method and overview of the Soaring Dragon Spear, serving as an introduction. The art had four realms: Controlling the Spear with Qi, Controlling the Spear with Spirit, Unity of Spirit and Spear, and Unity of Man and Heaven. It was a spear art with immense offensive power that relied heavily on momentum. To execute it, one needed an indomitable spirit to unleash its full potential. It was a case of seizing the initiative; before the attack even landed, the terrifying momentum would suppress the opponent, setting the stage for the strike.

Without hesitation, Chu Xiaotian flipped to the third page. It contained a diagram showing the flow of energy for the first move: Electric Dragon Spear. By circulating his internal spiritual essence according to the marked acupoints and using that to drive the spear, one could unleash an unstoppable strike, killing the enemy in an instant. The Electric Dragon Spear was a technique that relied on speed; it was called "Electric" because once unleashed, it was as swift as lightning, leaving the opponent no time to dodge before they were struck down to the underworld.

If the first move had such power, one could only imagine how terrifying the subsequent moves would be. However, this manual was clearly a fragment; the records ended abruptly here. Chu Xiaotian flipped to the back and saw no more pages, only signs of paper being torn—and the damage was extremely old, not recent. Looking at these marks, he could imagine the scene of people fighting over this book in a distant age, leading to its destruction. Chu Xiaotian felt the urge to beat his chest in frustration. If there was ever a definition of "wasting a heavenly treasure," this was it.

Such a magnificent spear art, torn to pieces like this. If he ever met the people who had torn it, Chu Xiaotian would definitely point at their noses and curse them out. However, after a while, he slowly calmed down. It was normal for such a peerless art to be fought over. He could only regret that he hadn't been born in that era to seize the complete manual for himself.

Moreover, although he only had three pages, the records were enough for him to practice the first move, which provided some consolation. If there had been even one less page, Chu Xiaotian might have gone berserk on the spot.

Chu Xiaotian currently lacked a battle art, relying entirely on speed and instinct in combat. The Electric Dragon Spear suited him perfectly and filled his void. After repeatedly studying the three pages and memorizing the energy flow paths, he decided to start practicing to see if he could master the first move.

The Soaring Dragon Spear manual had been retrieved from Huang Nian's Qiankun Bracelet, along with the long sword and the spear.

This showed that when Huang Nian had originally obtained the manual, he had intended to practice it. As for how he got it or whether he had succeeded, Chu Xiaotian had no way of knowing. After all, he had been killed by Chu Xiaotian's schemes, dying in such a pathetic, cowardly way that he hadn't had time to do anything.

However, looking at the long sword in the bracelet, Chu Xiaotian figured he hadn't succeeded. Otherwise, with such a peerless spear art in hand, why would he bother with a long sword?