Under the gazebo, Wang Chong and Ouyang Chong were seated across one another, drinking.
“You say that this Apothecary Zhang… passed the Pill Debate examination?”
Even until now, Wang Chong found it hard to believe.
Pill Debate is virtually a special privilege for master teachers, something that is meant for only the very best. Yet, a young man who wasn’t even twenty managed to pass this examination. Even though he was hearing it firsthand from a reliable source, he nevertheless dares not to believe it to be possible.
“Indeed, Apothecary Zhang’s knowledge on herbs and pills is superior even to that of mine. He is bound to reach great heights!” Ouyang Cheng couldn’t help but be impressed whenever he recalled Zhang Xuan’s deeds.
“Even though he is incredible in pills and herbs, his understanding of the spear is too shallow. Spearmanship isn’t a game, one can’t learn just by looking. If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have had to immerse myself in it for my whole life thus far.”
Wang Chong’s face shone with pride and overwhelming confidence reflected in his eyes.
“Indeed, the spear is the most complicated among all weapons. How could it be easy to achieve mastery?”
Of the numerous weapons, the spear was the hardest weapon to master. Countless cultivators had taken on the challenge only to end up locked out of the gates of success.
Sighing, Ouyang Cheng suddenly remembered something and glanced at Wang Chong, “There aren’t any exclusive spear art secret manuals in your study, are there?”
He brought Zhang Xuan here. If his old friend were to accidentally reveal some family heirloom secret manuals to him, he truly would have to feel apologetic.
“Of course not. The spear arts that I created, as well as my family’s secret manuals, are all kept in my mind. They are only passed down by word, other people are unable to learn it even if they wanted to!”
Wang Chong chuckled, “Those that are in the study are all regarding the basics and fundamentals of spearmanship. It is useful for those who have just come into contact with the spear. It’s not a big deal to allow Apothecary Zhang to browse through them. Besides, letting him read through them is a good idea, he should realize how difficult spearmanship is and drop his immature thoughts!”
To be thinking about teaching spearmanship when you know nothing at all, what a joke!
If spearmanship were that easy, he wouldn’t have possessed the fame that he has now, such that even Emperor Shen Zhui complimented him personally.
The Spear Master wasn’t a title that came out of nowhere.
For this matter, he had absolute confidence and pride!
“Indeed…” Ouyang Cheng nodded his head.
There isn’t a single weapon or battle technique that can be mastered easily. They require continuous training to refine every single move to the very perfection. If it could be grasped that easily, experts would be worth nothing at all.
“Apothecary Zhang is still young and it is natural for him to be ambitious. After he’s done browsing through those books, I will reveal a spear art to him so that he would realize the difficulty and give up on those ludicrous thoughts!”
Even though Wang Chong was unsatisfied with Zhang Xuan’s actions, he dared not to underestimate him, especially after knowing his talent in pill forging.
“Alright, I guess he should probably give up after that and focus on pill forging. I am still looking forward to our first 2-star apothecary in our Apothecary Guild…”
Ouyang Cheng chuckled. Just as he was about to continue speaking, he saw Wang Chong’s body stiffen abruptly before trembling uncontrollably.
Dang lang!
He was oblivious to the fact that the wine cup he held in his hand had dropped to the floor and shattered into pieces.
“Wang Chong…”
Looking at the spear master, whose strength was top-notch in the entire Tianxuan City, acting so strangely all of the sudden, Ouyang Cheng was horrified.
He had never heard that his old friend was sick!
Why did he start convulsing all of the sudden?
“It’s Spear Intent, Spear Intent!”
Just when he was considering what pill he should pop into his friend’s mouth to save him, the latter suddenly recovered. His eyes glowed as though a priceless treasure was right before him.
“Spear Intent? What is that?”
Seeing that he was fine, Ouyang Cheng heaved a sigh of relief and looked at him curiously.
What could it be, for it to be able to make his friend, who was as steady as a mountain, behave in such a manner?
“Those who reach a certain level of mastery in the sword can form the Sword Intent. Similarly, those who are able to exude Spear Intent are the true spear masters. These few years, the reason why I had confined myself to the residence was so that I can temper my mind to enter such a state. However, it is a pity that I had been unable to achieve a breakthrough… When did such an expert appear in the residence? Or did someone manage to achieve a breakthrough before I did? Let’s go over to take a look!”
He stood up abruptly and proceeded toward the origin of the Spear Intent.
After developing Spear Intent, whatever one did with the spear would be a spear art.
He had always strived for this goal, but he had managed to find the way. He never imagined that someone who could form Spear Intent would suddenly appear in his residence. Who could it be?
The two of them rushed toward the source of Spear Intent. On the way, they happened to see Zhang Xuan strolling leisurely out of the study.
“Where is he?” Before Zhang Xuan could say anything, Wang Chong asked hurriedly.
“He? Who do you mean?” Zhang Xuan had no idea what the other party was talking about.
He had been immersed in reading and practicing the Heaven’s Path Spear Art, so he hadn’t paid much attention to the situation outside. What happened? Did an enemy invade?
“I felt an astonishing wave of Spear Intent here, why is there no one?”
Seeing that Zhang Xuan was clueless, Wang Chong looked around hastily. However, the surrounding was completely empty and there weren’t any other people in sight.
“Could it be that you’ve been thinking of it so much that you began to imagine things?” Ouyang Cheng asked.
His old friend had been dreaming about Spear Intent day and night. Could it be that his longing had finally turned into delusions?
Otherwise, why was he unable to sense anything himself?
“At my level, I am just a step away from forming Spear Intent. Just a moment ago, I had clearly felt a Spear Intent surging into the skies. I am positive of that!”
Wang Chong was very confident.
He had been exploring the secrets of the spear everyday fanatically, and it would be truly embarrassing if he had mistaken Spear Intent as something else.
“Wait, wait. What is that Spear Intent you both are talking about?”
Looking at the heated discussion between the two, Zhang Xuan could not hold back his curiosity.
All the books that he had read were on the bare fundamentals. Spear Intent is an extremely advanced topic and it wasn’t recorded in any of the books. As such, Zhang Xuan was ignorant.
“Spear Intent is a special state of mind which a practitioner can reach only if his understanding of the spear reaches the extreme…”
Wang Chong tried explaining before shaking his head, “You have never learned spearmanship. You won’t understand it even if I explain it to you…”
Even though the other party did not go into details, Zhang Xuan got a brief grasp on the situation. “So, the reason why you are looking around here is because someone had released Spear Intent here just a moment ago?”
“I’m not very sure as well. I felt it vaguely just now and it should be in the vicinity…” Wang Chong nodded his head.
The appearance of the Spear Intent was only for the briefest moment, as though a flash of lightning. Even Wang Chong could only sense it vaguely, and as such, he was unable to ascertain the exact location. Otherwise, he would have rushed forward directly rather than to stay distressed over here.
“Right, you were here just now. You should be clear about where the person is!”
Suddenly recalling something, Wang Chong turned around to look at him with glowing eyes.
He was a distance away, so he was unable to sense the exact location. However, Apothecary Zhang had been here all along. With his help, he would surely be able to find the master!
At the very least, after they confirm the location, they would know whether the person is a member of the clan or an outsider.
As a clan specializing in spear, all members of the clan immersed themselves in the way of the spear. Even the guards were skilled in spearmanship. Even though Wang Chong could summon all of the guards here to question them one by one, if the person in question simply kept mum or was unaware of it himself, it would be much simpler to pinpoint the exact location.
“But… I don’t know what Spear Intent is?” Zhang Xuan hesitated.
“That’s simple. Even though I have yet to fully comprehend Spear Intent, I am able to imitate with it a 70% to 80% likeness. It should feel something like this!”
Wang Chong exerted and a sharp piercing aura gushed straight toward Zhang Xuan. It felt as though it was capable of piercing through anything.
“So this is Spear Intent?” A bizarre expression appeared on Zhang Xuan’s face.
“Indeed, it should feel something like this. Do you know where it came from?” Dispelling the aura, sweat droplets streamed down Wang Chong’s forehead. Still gasping for air, he inquired.
Even though he only imitated the aura for a brief moment, it took a toll on his body and weakened him.
“This…” Zhang Xuan felt slightly embarrassed. “Is the Spear Intent you spoke of… this?”
The next instant, Zhang Xuan’s entire body seemed to have turned into a spear and exuded a frighteningly piercing aura, as though he would pierce through the heavens at any moment.
Contrasting the two, Wang Chong’s Spear Intent was like a blade of grass before a towering ancient tree.
Incomparable.
