The Gap!

Speaking of city numbers, one had to mention the renowned region of the Eurasian Continent, City 003, corresponding to the former economic center of the Hanxia Nation—Devil's Capital.

It bordered the sea, with countless marine monsters roaming the River Channel. It also possessed some of the most densely packed buildings in all of Asia, and the number of monsters entrenched within had reached an astonishing level.

But one had to understand that the Hanxia Nation had two famous rivers of comparable scale.

One of them flowed into the sea at City 003, creating that Dangerous Area;

The other river—the Tai River—flowed into the sea at City 009. The danger within its river channel was absolutely no less than the former's, and Bohai Bay was also a famous Demon's Lair.

It was only because the latter lacked sufficient building density, leaving comparatively fewer monsters entrenched in its urban area, that its city number came later.

The grandfather and grandson were flying toward City 009.

Along the way, Jiang Zhe exhausted his Psychic Power. While resting within the Taiyi Mountain Range, a small incident occurred.

The old man took a liking to a waterfall and felt it was an excellent place to practice spear techniques. After considering the advantages offered by the surrounding environment, he decided to stay for a while and help Jiang Zhe raise his spear skills another level.

Of course, Jiang Zhe's goal of fighting a Lord-Tier monster could also be accomplished here.

Though the old man's attitude toward that goal remained conflicted.

In a cave several dozen meters from the waterfall, Jiang Zhe held a Tablet Computer and flipped through the Unique Copy of Spear Technique Notes treasured by his family.

Many of the notes came from the Turbulent Era one or two centuries before the Great Nirvana. Due to the rise of Firearms, Traditional Martial Arts had gradually faded from the stage of history. That period could be considered the final essence of ancient martial arts.

The Martial Arts Masters of that era were inferior even to modern Intermediate Students in terms of Physical Quality, but on the Path of Technique, they had absolutely reached a complete and ascending level.

Jiang Zhe found the source of the training plan his grandfather had made for him, memorized the tricks mentioned within, and also saw the advanced training that followed.

"Bean Piercing"—"Incense Tip Piercing"—"Mirror Piercing"!

The incense sticks used in the second stage were not the refined kind with Bamboo Skewers inserted inside, but extremely cheap ones.

Perhaps just after lighting one, it would snap if he moved it with even slightly too much force.

After several hundred attempts, Jiang Zhe had been tortured to the point of near nervous exhaustion.

Every half hour or so, he had to go meditate beside the pool, listening to the roar of the waterfall crashing down and letting the cold mist strike his face until his state of mind returned to the stillness of an ancient well.

Then he would return beneath the Mountain Shade and continue training.

Jiang Zhe showed no impatience whatsoever. After all, whenever he thought of how perverse the third stage was, everything before him seemed like nothing.

"Mirror Piercing"—it meant using a spear to stab flies that landed on a mirror, killing the flies without breaking the mirror.

Jiang Zhe could only cry out inwardly, Good heavens!

Was this spear training? Was it really not one of the Ten Great Tortures designed to torment him?

While Jiang Zhe trained, the old man contacted home and told his eldest son, Jiang Chengbai, to bring over a hundred bundles of incense sticks. Clearly, he was certain that his youngest grandson would be stuck here for quite some time.

Making a War God handle transportation—only the Jiang Family could afford such extravagance.

Oh, right. He would also be coming over as a Sparring Partner, responsible for feeding moves to his nephew.

Even if Jiang Zhe completed all three stages, he would only have pushed Stabbing Spear to its limit, barely reaching the level of spear specialization.

But that single move alone could not bring him to complete mastery of spear techniques.

Using the process of comprehending the Source Laws as an analogy, this merely meant being acknowledged by the laws. He was still unimaginably far from fully understanding them.

Without actual combat, one could not train a spear technique master!

Actual combat like killing monsters? Sure!

But it was inefficient, and there was little to comprehend from it. It was absolutely inferior to sparring with a spear technique master.

The old man had still underestimated Jiang Zhe's talent.

By evening, after nearly eight full hours of hard training, Jiang Zhe finally achieved "Extinguishing the Incense Tip Without Breaking the Stick"!

"Unbelievable!" The old man looked as though he were staring at a monster, the excitement in his eyes nearly overflowing.

This was his grandson!

He was destined to become a legend of the Jiang Family!

No, with this kind of talent, it was no exaggeration to say that he would certainly become a legend of Earth!

"I seem to be genuinely talented at Body Cultivation," Jiang Zhe said after some thought.

The old man froze. Thinking it over, he realized that was indeed true.

Jiang Zhe was innately skilled in Control of Strength!

Seizing the moment, Jiang Zhe once again requested, "Grandpa, I want to challenge a Lord-Tier monster."

"Sigh, wait here." The old man sighed, flew out of the valley, and vanished into the night.

Jiang Zhe could tell that his grandfather truly did not want him to fight Lord-Tier monsters too early, fearing for his safety.

Some accidents at the War God level might occur too quickly even for him to prevent.

"I have an Original Core. I won't die that easily. My head, heart... none of those are important."

"Besides, Greater Beast Marshals are mine to slaughter. Even a hundred of them would be useless—they simply can't provide any training value."

It was like when Luo Feng climbed the Trial Tower in the Training Camp and fought over a hundred Beast Marshals. Relying on his high Times Force Amplification, he only needed enough time to kill them all.

At this stage, high Times Force Amplification really did let one do whatever one wanted, didn't it?

"Apprentice Level Four fighting Apprentice Level Seven shouldn't be difficult, right?" Jiang Zhe muttered.

About ten minutes later, cold wind poured into the valley floor as the old man descended from the sky, carrying an enormous block of ice in one hand.

By moonlight, Jiang Zhe could see a humanoid monster over ten meters tall frozen within the ice.

A Junior Lord, a Golden-Fur Ape!

This was a species that could rank among the top five among ape-like mutant monsters.

The grandfather and grandson had chosen to remain here not only because they liked the waterfall, but also because they could be neighbors with a Golden-Fur Ape colony. Their leader bore the title of Primate King, and Lord-Tier monsters were not scarce under his command.

The old man's voice came from above. "Get ready. You chose this yourself."

Jiang Zhe nodded, grabbed his spear, and stood ready.

The massive block of ice, over ten meters tall, fell from the sky. But before it could hit the ground and shatter, the monster inside broke free of the ice.

Roar!

The Golden-Fur Ape roared irritably.

It swung its remaining right arm and pounded its chest. There was still a hole running straight through its left chest.

It stared warily at the "king" above its head.

Lord-Tier monsters were already quite intelligent. It also noticed the insect standing ready across from it. How could it not understand what that meant?

I may die, but you will pay a price too!

With a shrill roar, the Golden-Fur Ape instantly charged before Jiang Zhe. It bent forward, bringing down its sole right arm like a pillar.

Jiang Zhe thrust out his spear and pushed his Times Force Amplification to the limit, intending to block that right arm head-on.

This was the most basic combination of "block" and "thrust."

As long as he knocked aside that right arm, the spearhead would stab directly toward the Golden-Fur Ape's throat!

10x force!

A terrifying force of more than eighty tons surged forth!

Yet Jiang Zhe had still overestimated himself.

His strength had indeed reached a level sufficient to contend with a Junior Lord, but his Physical Quality was still far too lacking to support a confrontation of such intensity.

The spear did knock aside the Golden-Fur Ape's pillar-like arm.

But at the same time, an enormous Reverberation Force traveled along the shaft and into Jiang Zhe's thumb and forefinger and both arms.

His thumb and forefinger split open, and his arms went numb!

It felt as if his fascia had been violently peeled apart and his bones had come loose, ready to hang limply at his sides.

He could not even control the spear, whose elasticity had suddenly increased, and it flew from his hand.

The moment his weapon left his hand, Jiang Zhe had already lost completely.

But it was not over. His life-and-death crisis was rapidly approaching. The Golden-Fur Ape's charge was unstoppable, more terrifying than a train engine speeding at full tilt.

It was no exaggeration to say that if he was struck, he would absolutely be reduced to a pile of mangled flesh.

With his extraordinary Nerve Reaction, Jiang Zhe could see the Golden-Fur Ape grinning cruelly. At the same time, that state allowed him to make the most correct response.

"Ah! Die!"

At the critical moment, the Psychic Power dormant within Jiang Zhe's Original Core erupted in full.

He first controlled the spear that had been knocked away, making it spiral toward the Golden-Fur Ape's eye.

The Golden-Fur Ape instinctively shut its eyes, bringing its lone arm up before its face as its washbasin-sized hand grabbed at the spear.

Then Jiang Zhe used his Psychic Power to push his Combat Suit. Lowering his body, he curled up and crashed into the gap beneath the Golden-Fur Ape's body, avoiding the fatal charge and shifting positions to appear behind it.

Six throwing knives flew from the leather case at Jiang Zhe's waist, turning into silver streaks as they shot into the wound on the Golden-Fur Ape's back. They shredded all the organs in its chest and abdomen, then rushed through its throat into its head and mangled its Brain Tissue.

The agonized roar that echoed through the night sky came to an abrupt halt.

The powerful body, over ten meters tall, crashed to the ground.

Countless points of light surged toward him like a tide.

It was an even greater harvest than slaughtering an entire Beast Marshal colony, yet Jiang Zhe felt no joy at all.

Once the highly focused, Adrenaline Rush state passed, Jiang Zhe's body went weak. Fear still lingered in his heart, and the clothes on his back were already soaked through with cold sweat.

He began reflecting inwardly on the battle.

"My Fighting Style was wrong. I overestimated my Physical Quality. I shouldn't have collided with it head-on."

"Then should I have circled around first, searched for an opportunity, and attacked when the chance arose?"

Jiang Zhe shook his head.

That was not right either. It would not work.

Only a Full Burst could possibly injure the Golden-Fur Ape, but at that moment, the Golden-Fur Ape would inevitably seize an opening.

After going in circles, he would still end up facing the same situation as before.

"At its core, the problem lies with me. My Physical Quality is far too weak!"

"If I could withstand the Reverberation Force..."

There were no ifs.

Jiang Zhe sighed. He truly craved the Defense Amplification Barabata had mentioned.

"10x force? If it were 10x force by Cosmic Standard, then at Junior Battle General level, I could absolutely engage in Close Combat with a Junior War God!"

It was the same principle as wearing an Alloy Combat Suit.

If one wore an S-Class Combat Suit, a Lord-Tier monster theoretically could not Break Defense. But if your Physical Quality was inadequate, even if it could not break through the suit, it could still kill you through sheer impact.

"You're not too foolish. You found the correct answer I left for you." The old man descended from the sky and asked, "Now do you understand the gap between yourself and a Lord-Tier monster?"

The "correct answer" referred to the hole running straight through the Golden-Fur Ape's left chest. Throwing knives could enter directly from there without encountering the slightest obstruction.

"I understand. I'm just a glass cannon." Jiang Zhe recognized his Positioning. "Grandpa, from now on, I'll focus on practicing my spear."

Closing his eyes, Jiang Zhe visualized the star at his right shoulder, now nearly sixty percent bright, and suppressed the restlessness in his heart.

He craved that twofold Life Gene Level too much, and had become somewhat reckless.

He should stop thinking about training himself through this.

Greater Beast Marshals were easier to bully. He estimated that slaughtering another thousand or so Beast Marshal-level monsters should be enough. There was no need to risk his life hunting Lord-Tier monsters.

Just as Barabata had taught Luo Feng, there truly was a Small Watershed before the transition from the third rank to the fourth, and from the sixth to the seventh.

Earth's incomplete secret techniques did not support outrageously excessive Cross-Tier Combat.

With Earth's 10x force, a Junior Battle General truly should not be able to defeat a Junior Lord-Tier monster. His Physical Quality was far too lacking.

He could use the battle between Wang Tong and the Ironclad Dragon as a reference—the Greater War God and the Greater Lord...