Xu Heng Receives the Spear

Plop.

The Piercing Spear cleanly pulled out from the flesh, and tiny beads of blood rolled down the cold spear blade, hitting the yellowed, withered leaves and blooming into spots of crimson.

The prey at his feet was no longer the Iron-Backed Jackal of the past, but a Crimson-Tailed Wolf with a cultivation of over a hundred years. The wolf's corpse was still twitching faintly, and a pale spirit ring slowly rose. Lu Yuan did not rush to retract the spear; after siding to confirm that the prey had completely breathed its last, he flicked his wrist slightly to shake off the remaining blood on the spear tip.

"Seventeen breaths."

More than ten feet away, Shao Ping lowered his gaze and jotted down notes in his record book, his handwriting crisp.

Lu Yuan raised his eyes to look at him. "Faster than last time?"

"Three breaths faster." Shao Ping looked up, his critique precise. "If the first strike had been half an inch heavier in force, you could have shaved off even more time."

Lu Yuan recalled the trajectory of his strike just then, nodding calmly without refuting.

Ever since he rescued Shao Ping in the North Hunting Forest and altered the node of his fatal injury, the frequency of Lu Yuan's training entries into the forest grew increasingly dense. At first, Shao Ping and two accompanying spirit masters always guarded within ten feet, and whenever Lu Yuan rashly pursued the enemy too deep, they would immediately speak up to stop him. As time passed, everyone's warning distance slowly retreated to twenty feet. By now, as long as the cultivation of the encountered spirit beast did not exceed the preset upper limit, Shao Ping almost completely remained silent and watched throughout, no longer interfering.

When first entering the hunting forest, Lu Yuan often deliberately collided head-on to test the spirit beasts' strength and his own limits. After countless rounds of practical combat refinement, his fighting style had long since undergone a steady transformation. Just then, when the Crimson-Tailed Wolf lunged forward fiercely, he did not rush to light up his spirit ring the entire time, first using footwork to step back and evade the sharp edge, and taking advantage of the wolf beast's turn to gather momentum to press his spear and lock down its positioning. Through several rounds of pulling and tugging, he forced the opponent to reveal the vulnerability on the side of its neck on its own.

The decisive moment arrived instantly.

The yellow spirit ring suddenly lit up.

Piercing Edge instantly fired, a single spear thrust sealing the throat.

Shao Ping walked over, kicked away the wolf corpse's claws and teeth, and spoke faintly, "Continue?"

"Continue."

The two men stepped up and ventured deep into the forest once more. The autumn wind swept through the mountain forest, the tree leaves gradually withering and turning yellow. Layers of fallen leaves paved the forest floor, feeling soft and silent when stepped upon. As the seasons alternated, the trees waxed and waned several times, and the combat record book in Shao Ping's hand was replaced one after another, yet the Piercing Spear in Lu Yuan's hand grew steadier and more precise day by day.

His growth was visible to the naked eye. Nowadays, during whole days of training, his first spirit ring rarely lit up, and most of the time he could dismantle offensive maneuvers and slay spirit beasts relying merely on the flick, press, thrust, and block of his spear technique. In the past, he blindly worshiped the extreme speed of Piercing Edge, only seeking to strike the enemy when least expected. After being refined by practical combat for a long time, he finally understood thoroughly that spirit skills were never better used the earlier they were, and gathering momentum to strike right at the extreme point of vulnerability was the hardest killing move to crack.

Winter passed and spring came, and the vegetation in the forest regained a vibrant green. Lu Yuan could already calmly slay spirit beasts with two hundred years of cultivation without needing reminders from others; even when facing high-tier spirit beasts of around three hundred years, he could independently maneuver and decide the outcome of the battle. Shao Ping still accompanied him, but he had completely been reduced to a bystander, only taking action to provide a safety net when desperate and dangerous situations were about to arrive.

On this day, the two stopped in front of a patch of rocky beach.

A Gray-Armored Beast was burying its head in the dirt, foraging for food. The layers of gray hard armor all over its body were thick and sturdy, and its sturdy, burly physique possessed a coercion far surpassing the hundred-year spirit beasts Lu Yuan used to slay.

"Close to three hundred years of cultivation." Shao Ping stepped aside to clear the path. "Handle it yourself?"

Lu Yuan strode forward with his spear, his tone resolute. "Otherwise, what did I come here to practice for?"

Shao Ping silently retreated to a distance to observe the battle.

The Gray-Armored Beast on the rocky beach sensed the presence of a living person, raised its head abruptly, and snorted two streams of white Qi from its nostrils. Lowering its head and bowing its body, it charged straight ahead, braving its thick armor plates.

Lu Yuan was unhurried, merely side-stepping half a step and lightly tapping the spear tip against the beast's armor.

Clang!

The harsh sound of metal clashing rang out, and his wrist trembled violently. The spear tip failed to pierce the armored defense, only scraping out a tiny white mark.

The Gray-Armored Beast was provoked, spinning around and charging fiercely once more. Drawing a lesson, Lu Yuan no longer met the heavy armor head-on, keeping his eyes locked on the gap where the beast lost its balance while turning, and stabbed his spear toward the joint of its foreleg.

A crisp sound transmitted faintly, and the Gray-Armored Beast felt pain and its body tilted sideways, exposing its vulnerability completely.

The timing had arrived.

The yellow spirit ring suddenly lit up, and Piercing Edge fired instantly!

Clang!

Yet what blocked the front was no longer the Gray-Armored Beast's thick shell, but a forearm covered in dark brown, coarse hair.

The spear tip shook violently.

Xu Heng was pushed half a step back by the impact of the spear, his shoe soles scraping a shallow mark on the sandy ground.

Violent tremors spread out. Xu Heng was pushed back repeatedly by the majestic impact of the spear, his shoe soles dragging a clear, shallow mark across the gravel ground.

The rocky beach of the North Hunting Forest faded away, and everyone had already returned to the Northern Combat Arena.

The wooden racks and old stools by the field remained as they were. Shao Ping stood quietly holding his record book, as steady as he was in the past.

Xu Heng lowered his gaze to look at his own forearm. The protective hard armor driven by his Long-armed Ape martial art grew increasingly thick, yet at this moment it was pressed with a shallow white mark by the spear blade of a first-ring spirit skill. He raised his eyes to look at the youth standing opposite him holding the spear.

"What level are you now?"

Lu Yuan retracted his spear by half a step, the spear tip lifting slightly, his posture steady. "Nineteen."

Xu Heng was slightly startled. "Nineteen? You were clearly only..."

Before his voice trailed off, Lu Yuan had already thrust his spear and advanced again. Xu Heng immediately stopped talking, side-stepped to avoid the spear edge, and his right palm accurately pressed down on the middle section of the spear shaft, which was precisely the habitual move he used to suppress Lu Yuan in the past.

"Fight first."

Lu Yuan was too familiar with this set of combat methods. When he first entered the combat arena, Xu Heng relied on this move to lock down his spear momentum and engage in close-quarters suppression, not giving him the slightest room to maneuver and counterattack.

However, times were different now. The moment Xu Heng's palm touched the spear shaft, Lu Yuan suddenly took an active step forward to deliver it. While lowering the front end of the spear shaft, the tail of the spear naturally cocked upward, aiming straight for the empty flank under Xu Heng's ribs.

Xu Heng raised his elbow to block and discharge the force. Lu Yuan took advantage of the momentum to spin and turn his body, and the spear edge returned to its position once more, steadily locking down the centerline for a standoff.

A trace of surprise flashed across the depths of Xu Heng's eyes. "You've learned to counter?"

"After being suppressed for so long, I had to grow a bit." Lu Yuan's tone was flat.

"Then I'll try again."

The first spirit ring all over Xu Heng's body lit up sharply, the muscles on his arms instantly bulging and swelling. His shoulders and back sank heavily, and his feet kicked fiercely against the ground, forcibly breaking through the spear momentum in close quarters. His palm techniques were swift; the first palm deflected the spear edge, and the second palm pinned down the spear shaft dead-on, pressing forward step by step by virtue of his absolute advantage in level and physical body.

Lu Yuan was forced to retreat two steps in a row, the web between his thumb and index finger going numb, and his spear momentum was in precarious condition. If it were in the past, this battle would have already ended in defeat. But at this moment, he did not rush to struggle and break free, instead suddenly relaxing his strength.

The Piercing Spear dissolved into a stream of light and scattered, the spear momentum instantly emptying out.

Xu Heng showed no panic at the moment his strike missed empty space; instead, he accelerated accordingly, chasing closely in tight pursuit. "Still want to use force-discharge to trick a move?"

Lu Yuan had never counted on ending the battle with a single move. Taking advantage of the close-quarters gap, the Piercing Spear materialized in his palms once more. The distance was too close to execute a complete spear thrust, so he simply lowered his shoulders and steadied his body, holding the spear shaft horizontally to take Xu Heng's palm strike head-on, and using the opponent's impact force to spin half a turn.

The chilling spear edge rose abruptly right against Xu Heng's waist.

At the exact same time, Xu Heng's palm also stopped steadily in front of Lu Yuan's left shoulder.

The figures of the two froze, victory and defeat hanging by a single thread.

"Stop."

Shao Ping stepped into the arena, breaking the stalemate.

Xu Heng withdrew his palm, lowering his gaze to look at the spear tip pressed against his ribs. "How is this counted?"

"If this palm of yours landed, his left shoulder would definitely be crippled." Shao Ping judged impartially, then looked at Lu Yuan. "If you didn't retract this spear, his waist would definitely be pierced through."

Xu Heng fell silent for two breaths, then spoke frankly, "A draw?"

"A draw."

The arena was silent for a moment. Xu Heng dispersed his martial art, his arms returning to their normal state, and his gaze fell upon Lu Yuan's yellow spirit ring, which had yet to dissipate, his thoughts complicated.

When the two first crossed paths, he was level twenty-one, and Lu Yuan was only level eleven. That match ended with his palm stopping in front of Lu Yuan's chest, maintaining the boundaries due between a senior and a junior. Now he had reached level twenty-two, yet Lu Yuan, relying merely on a single spirit ring and level nineteen cultivation, was already able to press his spear tip right to his vital points.

"Level nineteen." Xu Heng clicked his tongue lightly, filled with deep emotion. "Once you get your second spirit ring, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch your spear in the future."

Lu Yuan retracted his spear and let it hang, his tone resolute. "Being able to catch it today doesn't mean I won't next time."

Hearing this, Xu Heng did not refute, turning his head to look at Shao Ping. "When can he reach level twenty?"

Shao Ping ignored his banter, unfolded a brand-new record book, and looked at Lu Yuan. "How long have you been stuck at level nineteen?"

"For a while now."

"How does your cultivation feel lately?"

Lu Yuan thought about it for a moment, answering with precision. "Spirit power is full, nearing a breakthrough."

Shao Ping immediately made the decision. "Training in the North Hunting Forest is suspended for a few days. Calm your mind, nurture your momentum, and stabilize your state."

Lu Yuan was slightly startled.

"When you break through to level twenty, come with me to the Elder Hall." Shao Ping closed the record book, his tone solemn. "The Grand Pontiff has been waiting for you."

Lu Yuan lowered his gaze to look at the Piercing Spear in his palm, the dark golden patterns on the spear body faintly revolving with a subtle light under the sunlight.

Indeed, the second spirit ring.

It was time to claim it.