In his previous life, Zhang Xuan had once seen a picture of a small person holding a forty-meter-long saber taunting his opponent, saying that he would first allow him to get a 39 meters head start.
At this moment, this was exactly the kind of feeling Zhang Xuan got.
With more than a dozen feather dusters connected together, his weapon seemed just like a flagpole. In comparison, his enemy’s spear felt no different from a short twig.
With such a long weapon in hand, he felt as if he had nothing to fear.
“Let’s begin then!” With a roar, Ying Qin stepped off with his right foot and charged straight at Zhang Xuan, aiming to close the distance as soon as possible.
Considering the length of Zhang Xuan’s weapon, as long as he could get within a ten-meter radius of him, he should be safe from the other party’s offense.
The other party had previously used a feather duster to lash him. With this opportunity, he would return the favor to him!
“Do you really think it’ll be that easy for you to close in on me?”
How could Zhang Xuan possibly not understand Ying Qin’s intentions? With a slight smile, he executed the Heaven’s Path Movement Art and drew an additional ten-meter distance away from Ying Qin in an instant before stabbing his feather duster spear toward Ying Qin.
Hu!
A ten-meter long feather duster spear couldn’t possibly be as agile as a spear or as swift as a sword. Yet, for some reason, it still managed to block Ying Qin’s advancement.
Or to be exact, the spear was precisely positioned such that there was no way for Ying Qin to avoid it if he were to continue charging forward with his current momentum.
Damn it! Ying Qin’s complexion turned awful upon realizing that his advancement had been impeded.
He immediately twisted his body to dodge the other party’s attack before rushing to another location to charge forward once more. However, just as he was about to do so, the feather duster spear appeared right before him once again.
The speed this time around was far swifter than previously. Moreover, it was directed at one of his mingmen, leaving him no choice but to avoid it as well.
“Humph!”
He immediately leaped backward to dodge the attack before rushing at another direction.
With a burst of his zhenqi as an Ethereal Treading realm pinnacle expert, his speed was as swift as a soaring dragon.
But… despite his speed, Zhang Xuan’s feather duster spear seemed to be even faster than him. Every time he attempted to approach the other party, a spear would abruptly emerge to block his path. It was as if Zhang Xuan knew where he would attack from.
As such, despite the bulky and burdensome weapon the opponent was wielding, Ying Qin felt as if he was facing an impregnable fortress. No matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn’t breach the other party’s defenses.
“This…”
Ruohuan gongzi and the others swallowed a mouthful of saliva as they widened their eyes in shock.
They had thought that it would be hard for Zhang shi to deal with Ying Qin when the latter released the suppression on his cultivation. After all, two realms was indeed a huge gap to overcome. But who would have thought that with just a feather duster spear, Zhang shi would be able to ward off the other party perfectly, leaving him prowling helplessly at a ten-meter distance away?
While this couldn’t be consisted a victory, considering that Zhang shi was facing an opponent with a far higher cultivation than him, it was indubitably an impressive feat.
It was at that moment that someone amidst the crowd suddenly shouted, “Do you all feel that there’s something weird about this battle? I can’t really put my finger on it, but… it doesn’t feel like a duel at all!”
“Indeed!” Luo Xuan frowned as he felt that there was something amiss with the situation as well. After a moment of contemplation, he muttered, “It is like… toying like a monkey?”
“Now that you say it, it does seem like that…” Ruohuan gongzi nodded in agreement.
Words of agreement rippled through the crowd as well.
At this moment, it seemed as if the awe-inspiring Ying Qin from a moment ago was being played by Zhang shi like a monkey. Zhang shi would stand, unmoving, on the spot and flick his feather duster spear slightly, and Ying Qin would suddenly leap backward and rush off in another direction before attempting to charge toward Zhang Xuan again.
But before he could charge in, the bamboo spear would arrive before him, and he would leap backward once more…
Such a cycle had been ongoing since the start of the battle.
Honestly, it truly resembled those street performers played with their monkeys.
To play a Grade-4 student like a monkey…
Zhang shi sure was incredible!
Luo Xuan, Ruohuan gongzi, and the others had once viewed Zhang shi as a target for comparison, but upon seeing this sight, they could only swallow a mouthful of saliva and watch silently.
Even if they were to cultivate for another ten years, it was doubtful they would be able to wield the strength he had at this very moment!
…
“Damn it!”
As the crowd below realized that, Ying Qin had also noticed this detail as well. Furious, he gritted his teeth so tightly that they were on the verge of chipping off.
He had thought that with the opponent wielding such a long weapon, as long as he could get into close quarters, he would be able to subdue him easily. Who could have known that the other party would be so skilled with a spear? Every single move that the other party made casually came at trajectory that was difficult for him to defend, and they were all aimed at his mingmen as well.
In other words… there was no way for him to get close at all!
At this moment, the short reach of his spear became his weakness instead. The other party’s spear was more than ten meters long whereas his was only two meters. With his spear being unable to reach the other party, how could the duel go on?
Shouldn’t the one with the shorter weapon be at an advantage?
Why does it feel as if I am the one being disadvantaged instead?
If this goes on, not only will I lose, I will even become a laughingstock! Ying Qin thought with a livid expression as he heard the comments from the crowd below.
If word were to spread that he had been toyed with like a monkey by a freshman, there would be no way he could keep his head up before his peers and his juniors.
That spear of his is crafted by connecting feather dusters together, so its quality is subpar. If I directly clash with it, even if I’m injured in the encounter, I should be able to snap it! Ying Qin pondered as he flitted across the battlefield.
There was no way he could achieve victory under the current circumstances. The urgent matter at hand was to find a way to close in on his opponent, and the only way to do so was to snap the feather duster spear…
Considering that those feather dusters were only made of ordinary materials, with his strength as an Ethereal Treading realm expert, it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to reduce them to dust with his zhenqi.
Alright, I’ll do just that then! Gritting his teeth, Ying Qin pumped his zhenqi furiously, and with his arms covering his chest, he charged forward furiously, paying no heed to the movement of the feather duster spear at all.
Kacha! Kacha!
As he had predicted, the feather duster spear was unable to withstand his might at all.
Due to the long length of the feather duster and the low quality of the materials used to craft it, it was impossible for Zhang Xuan to pump zhenqi into it efficiently to reinforce its resilience. Thus, upon contact with Ying Qin’s rampaging zhenqi, it was swiftly reduced to dust.
“This is bad…”
“That’s cheating!”
Anxiety swept through the crowd as they watched the sight.
Zhang shi had already given him a huge advantage by wielding a feather duster spear, and yet he shamelessly destroyed it. That was cheating!
“Let’s see how you stop me now that I am already right before you!” With a roar, Ying Qin raised his spear and pierced right at Zhang Xuan.
At his current proximity from the other party, his spear wielded the absolute advantage in the collision. With this blow, he would win the duel!
“Do you think that you can win with just this?” Seeing the other party’s excited look, Zhang Xuan shook his head. He abruptly released his grip, and the feather duster spear fell to the ground.
He let go of his weapon? Ying Qin was taken aback by the abrupt turn of events.
A weapon was a cultivator’s most prized possession. It was an unspoken rule to never release one’s weapon in battle—what would a spear master be without his spear? How could Zhang Xuan simply throw his weapon aside like that?
At that moment, the young man before Ying Qin chuckled lightly as he spoke. “A weapon is just an extension of one’s limbs. A spear art doesn’t require a spear to be executed!”
The next moment, Zhang Xuan leaped into the sky and his aura abruptly changed.
Boundless Spear Intent gathered around him, and in that instant, it felt as if he was the personification of the spear itself. He was the spear, and the spear was him; there was no distinction between the two.
“T-this… This is the realm of Spear-Man Union?” Ying Qin’s body stiffened as his eyes narrowed in astonishment.
Legend had it that if one were to reach a certain level in the comprehension of Spear Heart, they would be able to become the spear themself.
Even without a spear in hand, they could wield their body like a spear through the manifestation of their Spear Intent and challenge anyone who stood in their way!
But even Senior Xue Zhenyang had yet to reach such a realm. How did the man before him achieve such heights?
However, in the midst of a duel, he didn’t have the luxury of entertaining any miscellaneous thoughts. Zhang Xuan’s manifestation of a spear was already right before him. The other party’s fingertip had manifested into the edge of the spear, and with a sharp glint, it clashed with the tip of his spear.
Hong long!
An immense force crushed down on Ying Qin as he felt an overpowering Spear Intent rushing through his body, shattering his defense in an instant.
Pu!
Fresh blood spurted frenziedly from his mouth as his figure was sent flying into the air, retreating at a rapid pace.
Padah!
After flying several dozen meters, he crashed heavily onto the ground. A moment later, the tip of his spear was plunged into the ground some distance away from him.
Pu!
Yet another mouthful of crimson blood spewed from his mouth.
“I’ve lost…”
Looking at the nonchalant Zhang Xuan on the dueling platform, he clenched his fists tightly in agitation.
He had never thought that even when he had exerted the full extent of his strength, he would still be defeated by a single finger from the other party.
Such strength was already comparable to Senior Xue Zhenyang, the leader of the True Helios Faction.
Just as Ying Qin was wallowing in the sorrow of his defeat, Zhang Xuan’s calm voice was suddenly heard.
“Do you know the reason for your loss?”
Ying Qin struggled his feet and said, “I know that I have lost. I will back out of the True Helios Faction to become Xuanxuan Faction’s gatekeeper. You need not mock me any further about this matter…”
A person who lived with the spear had a backbone just like the spear.
Since they had agreed on it beforehand, he would keep his end of bet and become the gatekeeper of Xuanxuan Faction. However, he wouldn’t allow himself to be humiliated any further.
“Mock?” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
“I am only telling you to set your priorities straight. What you should be pursuing is the Way of the Spear, not the spear in your hand!”
“What do you mean?” Ying Qin was slightly taken aback by Zhang Xuan’s words.
“Spearmanship is both an artform and a capability. It shouldn’t just be what you do with a spear but what you feel with your heart as well.”
With his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan turned to Ying Qin with a profound gaze in his eyes and said, “Just like when you were struck by my feather duster in close quarters, if only you had let go of the spear in your hand, what you could have gained would have been a brand-new world. But… it’s a pity that you weren’t able to do so.
“That’s the reason you lost.”
“I…” Ying Qin was stunned.
Indeed. When the other party was holding onto his spear and lashing him with a feather duster, he could have let go of his spear. Even if he was barehanded, he would still be able to fight. Even if he couldn’t win, he would still be able to flee. At the very least, he wouldn’t have been struck so horrendously as he had been back then.
“Afterwards, when I fought you with the feather duster spear, it was indeed a wise move on your part to close the distance between us. However, you neglected the fact that spearmanship doesn’t simply lie in the spear. In a true spear art, the man is in the spear, and the spear is in the man as well! That’s the reason you were caught off guard when I let go of my spear and attacked you directly,” Zhang Xuan continued.
“I…” Ying Qin’s body froze in shock.
The other party was right.
Training with the spear, he had already viewed the spear as a part of him. This was the reason he couldn’t bring himself to let it go earlier in the battle.
Instinctively, he thought that he would be unable to fight once he released his spear.
“If you aren’t able to let go, how can you comprehend the quintessence of the spear and grasp profound spear arts?” Zhang Xuan said with a smile.
“Let go? Quintessence?” Ying Qin muttered these words in a daze.
Ever since he had started learning the spear, he had thought of his weapon as a part of him, just like his limbs and eyes.
How could a human simply let go of their limbs and eyes so easily?
But in the previous battle, Zhang Xuan had given him an impactful lesson. Sometimes, one had to let go.
Letting go could open up a whole world before one, bringing one release and freedom. Perhaps, one might even notice something one had never noticed before.
Seeing that Ying Qin was starting to understand what he was saying, Zhang Xuan continued, “Spear in the heart, and heart in the spear—that’s what spearmanship truly is. The thing you hold in your hand is nothing more than a tool!”
“The heart in the spear is the true spear?” Ying Qin ruminated over those words with his eyes closed. A moment later, exhaling a mouthful of turbid gas, he opened his eyes once more, and the confusion in his eyes had given way to clarity.
Putong!
Kneeling on the floor, Ying Qin lowered his head in respect.
“Thank you for your guidance! I beseech Zhang shi to take me as your student and impart your spearmanship to me!”
14/20 If we get first this week, there will be three additional chapters next week!
