Forcing the Second Soul Skill

The next day, Lu Yuan went to the East Training Area as usual.

Yan Tuo was already waiting for him.

The other seven people were still doing weighted warm-ups, but a half-man-high black wood target stood alone in front of him.

"I heard your martial soul changed?"

"Mm."

Lu Yuan raised his right hand.

The piercing spear appeared in his palm.

The moment the dark gold patterns on the pitch-black spear body surfaced, the gazes of the few people nearby swept over.

Hu Liena stopped moving first.

"Is this still the dark iron spear?"

"It's called the piercing spear now."

Zhou Qi couldn't help taking two steps forward.

"You went out for a trip, how did your spear even change its look?"

Yan Tuo raised a hand and drove them back.

"Practice your own."

When the few people started warming up again, he looked at Lu Yuan.

"Normal straight thrust."

Lu Yuan stood before the black wood target.

Without activating his soul skill, soul power was also poured in only slightly.

He thrust out with one spear.

Thud!

The spear tip directly sank two inches into the black wood.

Yan Tuo walked over and touched the remaining hole with his finger.

"Again."

The second target was brought up.

The front was covered with an extra layer of thin iron.

Lu Yuan gripped the spear again.

As soon as soul power entered the spear shaft, two dark gold edge lines lit up slightly.

Clang!

The iron plate dented inward.

The spear tip pierced through accordingly, and even the hard wood behind it was stabbed with a clear hole.

Zhou Qi couldn't help himself.

"So sharp?"

Yan Tuo ignored him.

"Piercing Edge."

Lu Yuan stepped back several steps.

The yellow spirit ring beneath his feet lit up.

His entire person suddenly charged forward.

This was the first time he truly tested the power of Piercing Edge after the piercing spear evolved.

The moment soul power poured into the spear body, the difference came out.

Before, when activating Piercing Edge, soul power entered the dark iron spear from the arm and then concentrated at the spear tip, always with an extremely brief period of stagnation.

After practicing for a long time, that tiny pause was already hard to detect.

Now, however, it was completely gone.

The spear followed the person's movement.

Soul power reached the spear tip almost simultaneously with his thought.

Bang!

The entire black wood target shook violently.

The spear tip pierced through the iron plate and wooden board, protruding directly from the back.

Yan Tuo walked over and glanced at it.

"Retract the spear."

Lu Yuan pulled out the piercing spear.

"How is it?"

"Stronger than before."

"How much stronger?"

"The wood won't tell you."

Yan Tuo turned around.

"Wei Cheng."

Wei Cheng, who had been leaning against a wooden pillar watching the fun, instantly collapsed in expression.

"Me again?"

"You're rank twenty-two."

Yan Tuo said.

"Just right."

Wei Cheng glanced at the hole on the black wood target.

"He can pierce even iron plates with a single spear now, and you're having me use my body to test?"

"Who told you to stand there and take it?"

Yan Tuo raised his chin toward the center of the training area.

"Actual combat."

"This time you can release your martial soul, and you can also use soul skills."

Lu Yuan's hand gripping the spear tightened slightly.

He had fought against rank-two-and-above great spirit masters before.

That time was the token-snatching assessment, and the target was only to get the waist token from the opponent's hand rather than directly overpower a great spirit master.

He had also practiced with Wei Cheng once.

However, back then they were inside the wooden circle, Wei Cheng couldn't use soul skills normally, and all he had to do was force the person out of the circle.

Today could be considered a true test of what degree the piercing spear could achieve when facing a second-ring spirit master.

Yan Tuo looked at Lu Yuan.

"The goal isn't to win."

"Let me see how far this spear can push a rank-twenty-two great spirit master."

Wei Cheng had already walked into the center.

"Let's make it clear first, if I really can't block it, I'm dodging."

"Rest assured."

Lu Yuan held the piercing spear horizontally.

"If you really can't block it and dodge, I'll retract the spear."

Wei Cheng's mouth twitched.

The next moment, his martial soul released.

His body grew rapidly taller, his arms noticeably thickened, and the surface of his skin was covered with a layer of grayish-brown coarse hair.

Two yellow spirit rings rose from beneath his feet.

Rock-Backed Ape.

"Come."

Wei Cheng crooked a finger at him.

Lu Yuan didn't use Piercing Edge immediately.

Kicked off the ground and closed in first.

The spear tip went straight for the chest.

Wei Cheng raised his arms to block.

Yet just before the spear edge actually drew close, his movement suddenly changed.

His arm slanted sideways.

The spear tip grazed past his cuff.

Rip!

The fabric split open directly into a tear.

Wei Cheng looked down.

His skin wasn't broken.

Yet that sense of sharpness had already made him furrow his brows.

"It really is different."

Lu Yuan didn't give him time to speak.

The tail of the spear turned, sweeping horizontally in succession.

Wei Cheng retreated half a step, his right hand grasping toward the spear shaft.

During previous training sessions, he liked doing this the most.

Rank twenty-two versus one ring, the difference in strength was right there.

As long as he grabbed the spear shaft, it would be very difficult for Lu Yuan to break free.

Yet this time, his hand had only reached halfway when the piercing spear had already slid along the side of his palm.

The dark gold edge line was left with less than half an inch from his knuckles.

Wei Cheng had no choice but to withdraw his hand.

The spear tip followed up immediately, pressing straight for his chin.

Wei Cheng tilted his head back to avoid it.

Yan Tuo outside the training area shifted his gaze slightly.

After the martial soul became sharp, what changed wasn't just the lethality.

Before, Wei Cheng dared to grab the spear and also dared to directly seal the spear's path with his arm.

Now he couldn't.

The previously most direct suppression method now carried risks.

The two exchanged moves continuously for over a dozen strikes.

Lu Yuan was still in a disadvantageous position.

His strength was insufficient.

His speed was also insufficient.

Once Wei Cheng truly closed in, he had to widen the distance again.

Yet Wei Cheng was fighting just as uncomfortably.

The piercing spear was too sharp.

Several times, attacks that he originally could have taken head-on were temporarily evaded by him.

"That's about it."

Wei Cheng suddenly pressed forward.

The first spirit ring at his feet lit up.

Grayish-brown radiance rapidly covered both arms.

"Rock Arm!"

His originally thick arms instantly seemed to drape over a layer of rock.

This time, he didn't dodge again.

Clang!

The piercing spear stabbed squarely into his forearm.

Lu Yuan's wrist instantly went numb.

The spear tip was completely blocked for the first time.

Wei Cheng seized the opportunity to press down on the spear shaft with one palm.

"Got it."

His other hand had already slapped toward Lu Yuan's shoulder.

Lu Yuan didn't contend with him in strength.

The yellow spirit ring beneath his feet flared abruptly.

Piercing Edge!

The suppressed piercing spear lunged forward fiercely.

Wei Cheng's palm noticeably slipped.

The spear body broke free from beneath his hand with sheer force.

The spear tip grazed upward along the rock arm.

Screeech—

A harsh frictional sound rang out.

A thin scratch was actually carved onto the grayish-brown soul power surface by the dark gold spear edge.

Wei Cheng's expression changed slightly.

The momentum of Piercing Edge had not yet ended.

Lu Yuan had already closed in along with the spear shaft.

The spear tip passed over the forearm and headed straight for the shoulder.

The distance was too close.

Stepping back any further was already too late.

The second spirit ring at Wei Cheng's feet suddenly lit up.

Rock Armor!

Gray soul power rapidly covered his upper body.

Bang!

Piercing Spear struck the front of the shoulder head-on.

Wei Cheng was pushed back three steps by the force of Piercing Edge.

His shoe soles dragged two shallow marks across the ground.

The spear tip ultimately failed to pierce the Rock Armor.

Lu Yuan was also stopped by the recoil, a numbing sensation rippling through the web of his right hand.

The side of the training ground fell silent for a fraction of a second.

Zhou Qi stared at the second spirit ring that had not yet completely dissipated at Wei Cheng's feet.

"He's only six, and you even used Rock Armor?"

Wei Cheng's expression immediately became a bit hard to maintain.

"Then you go take his spear."

Zhou Qi glanced at the Piercing Spear in Lu Yuan's hand.

...Consider me as having said nothing.

Hu Liena did not laugh.

She kept watching the Piercing Spear in Lu Yuan's hand.

If Wei Cheng had not used his second spirit skill just now, that spear would have already forced its way to his shoulder.

Yan Tuo finally spoke.

"Stop."

Lu Yuan withdrew his spear.

Wei Cheng also dismissed his martial soul.

Yan Tuo walked up in front of him.

"Could your first spirit skill block Piercing Edge?"

"Just relying on Rock Arm?"

Wei Cheng glanced at the red mark on his arm.

"Forget it."

"If we do it again, I'll still have to use Rock Armor. Ordinary attacks can be blocked."

He paused.

"If another Piercing Edge comes, I'll still have to use Rock Armor."

Yan Tuo nodded and turned to Lu Yuan again.

"In the past, opponents could take your spear head-on."

"Now, Great Spirit Masters just barely past level 20 can no longer casually take it."

"What Piercing Spear has truly changed is this."

Lu Yuan lowered his head to look at the spear tip. The spear edge was still smooth, and the two Dark Gold Edge Lines did not show the slightest bit of damage.

A single evolution had completely transformed the originally ordinary Dark Iron Spear.

Yan Tuo continued:

"Starting from today, cut the previous set of training in half."

Lu Yuan looked up.

"Switch to what?"

"Actual combat."

Yan Tuo answered very decisively.

"The spear has changed, so the fighting style must also be practiced anew."

"Continuing to waste time with that old routine is meaningless."

Zhou Qi listened with an expression full of envy.

"Then who's going to accompany him in practice?"

Wei Cheng immediately took a step back.

"Don't look at me."

Yan Tuo, however, did not look at him at all.

Footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the training ground.

Qian Renxue walked in.

The bandage on her left arm had already been mostly unwrapped, with only a thin layer of cloth remaining around her wrist.

When Yan Tuo saw her, it was as if he had known all along that she would come.

"You've come just in time."

Lu Yuan looked toward Qian Renxue.

She also saw the Piercing Spear in his hand.

"Finished testing?"

"Just finished."

"How is it?"

Wei Cheng added a sentence from the side.

"Very good."

"So good that I even used my second spirit skill."

Qian Renxue's eyes brightened slightly.

Only then did Yan Tuo speak.

"Wei Cheng won't need to accompany you in practice from now on."

Lu Yuan asked:

"Switch to who?"

Yan Tuo raised his chin toward Qian Renxue.

"Starting tomorrow."

"Your sparring partner—"

"Switches to the Young Lord."