Suddenly, there was this odd expression on his face. It was collected, but not calm; his eyes bubbled with endless vitality and light, like a man that had awoken from a lifelong illusion!
'Man and spear as one! One point of extremity carves an everlasting path to the heavens!' The words came to him instinctively, just like it was natural for fish to swim.
This time, there was no air blast, no screeching sound of wind being torn apart. Nevertheless, the effect was undeniable…
With a resounding crash, Mu Qiang was thrown backward like a broken kite, crashing against the wooden walls.
After recovering from the impact, the man gazed at his disciple with his eyes flashing. What he saw in front of his eyes wasn't a boy not even eighteen years old; but, instead, a fierce dragon baring his fangs, preparing to lunge forward and devour everything on his path.
Nodding, he admitted that the boy was truly gifted. "Good. The true training starts now!" Declaring so, Mu Qiang grabbed his spear tightly, the aura around him changing.
Just like Yueshi seemed to turn into a fierce dragon, his mentor now changed before his eyes!
From an ordinary-looking middle-aged guy to an overbearing and unmovable mountain. He felt as if his master would not be shaken no matter what happened, and could easily support the heavens and earth!
With a sonic boom echoing inside the small space, Yueshi was sent flying before he could even think. The shock-waves that spread through the air traveled across the whole room, making the wooden walls creak and start to crack.
Fortunately, those training weapons were specially made and would do little to no damage - only the pain was still there.
Yueshi felt his legs shaking and had the feeling his organs had been displaced. Grasping for air, he made a retching motion, falling in his knees just as he climbed up. If this had happened before he started cultivating, he guessed he would not have able to withstand it without passing out.
"With my spear, I aim to become a heavy mountain that pierces the heavens." Mu Qiang spoke, seeing him lying on the floor. "In the pursuit of the perfection of my spear, I aim for power and stability."
His teachings were a bit confusing, ethereal even, but, Yueshi felt he could roughly comprehend something, though most of it still seemed hazy to him.
'I must pursue the image I have of my spear…' That part he could understand. 'But how is it that it has such a great effect on one's combat techniques?'
Mu Qiang wanted his spear to be like a mountain – and so it became like it was today - yet, why was that so?
Shaking his head, he gave up on such thoughts. His opinion was that this was not something one had to actively pursue and try to comprehend. Instead, it was by feeling it and following one's heart that one would reach an understanding.
That was why, from the start, Mu Qiang had told him to feel the spear - not try to follow it with his eyes instead.
"Let's continue." Yueshi knew that his current mentor was not ordinary, even if his cultivation realm was low. So, he wanted to make the best use of this time. He only had a few days, after all. That being so, without wasting any more time, he grabbed his spear after collecting his breath and got up.
Despite Yueshi's efforts, the following days of training were more or less like this, too.
That day when Yueshi trod his first step as a spearman, he walked back home after being beaten black and blue by his mentor.
It did not come as a surprise that Xuehua was deeply worried seeing him hurt, cupping his cheeks and staring at his wounds with deep sorrow.
It took a few jokes and light-hearted comments to calm her down and explain everything.
When Xuehua was preparing the food, Yueshi finally told her what had been on his mind for days.
"Big Sister, I was thinking and… I believe we should try to join the Star Sea Sect." When he said those words Xuehua froze in place, her back turned toward him.
Yueshi never imagined how hard it would be, but in the end, he still managed to convince Xuehua to join the examination and also enter the dojo for training.
Although his words and arguments were fundamental for her to make this choice, Yueshi could see in her eyes that she, too, wanted to become stronger and change their lives for the better.
With a lot of things to do and training to catch on, the days passed fast for the two of them and, now, merely two days separated them from the examination.
Yueshi was beaten almost every day to the point it felt like torture; yet, unwilling to give up, he continued to climb back to his feet and kept on fighting. Because of that, his combat experience and techniques had improved a lot.
One had to admit that, in this area, he was a true genius. What others would take weeks, months, or even years to learn about fighting, he only took a few days. It was to the point that the veteran disciples of the dojo could no more compare with him in terms of martial arts alone.
However, their frail peace and quietness did not last long.
When Yueshi and Xuehua arrived at the dojo, they were surprised to see that there was no one training.
Instead, there were two groups of people standing apart. One of the groups was composed of the dojo's disciples they had met during the past few days, and the other was composed of a bunch of strangers.
Curious about what was happening, Yueshi moved toward the ones he had interacted with before and Xuehua accompanied him.
Other than Yuan Yue, there were another two students with whom he had interacted on a deeper level.
Seeing him approach, the three of them sent him a welcoming smile. The two males disciples, however, did not seem really happy.
After standing next to them, he finally asked about what was going on.
"The clowns of the Dragon Spear Dojo and Myriad Swords Dojo came to play." For a moment Yueshi did not understand what the teenager words meant, only comprehending it a moment later.
It was not unusual for the big dojos to fight against each other; on the contrary, it was a common event.
The problem was that most of the time they did not act with good intent, especially those from the other two famous dojos in the city.
Glaring at them, Yueshi observed those that could possibly become his opponents. After spending a few days fighting against his mentor, he now had a fairly good grasp of how to gauge someone's strength.
'Looks like just three of them can go against me', obviously, that was not considering his cultivation realm.
Xuehua, by his side, also looked toward the other group; however, she seemed much less interested in fighting than Yuan Yue and Yueshi.
She was calm and had a peaceful aura around her that did not fit a martial arts dojo and, because of that, she had been the center of attention when she came here a few days ago.
As Yueshi waited with the others, a group of people descended from the second floor. Four of them he knew – the head instructor, Yuanqi, his mentor, Mu Qiang, a black-haired woman holding a whip, and a middle-aged tall guy.
They were, in that exact same order, the top four martial masters of the dojo.
The other side had eight people, but Yueshi knew none of them.
After walking for a bit they stood between the two crowds of disciples. Apparently, Yuanqi had been chosen to explain things to them as he was the one to open his mouth first.
"Today, we will be having a martial arts sparring session with the disciples of the Myriad Swords Dojo and the Dragon Spear Dojo." His voice was even and calm, completely different from his usual boisterous tone.
"However, since you are all on the verge of an important examination, I hope you will not use a heavy hand when fighting against a fellow citizen of Flying Snow City."
Yueshi unconsciously nodded at his words. Many people were going to participate in the examination of the Star Sea Sect and with it just two days away, hurting oneself could mean losing the chance to join.
That was even more important when one went over the sect's rules - someone who failed the entrance examination could only try again four years later.
The thing was that waiting for years would decrease one's value in the sect's eyes, for they would also be four years older by them.
After Yuanqi said a few more words of encouragement the two groups of instructors parted ways, each walking toward their own dojo's disciples.
"Later you must take care." Yuan Yue spoke toward Yueshi. "Those guys did not come with kind intentions." Her words were soft, but, tingled on his ears.
Yueshi thought for a moment. "You too. After all, it would be a pity if Sister Yue did not join the sect." He then glanced at his own sister, worried that she may end getting involved in this 'sparing' session.
Yueshi, Yuan Yue, and a few others were fairly certain they could join the Star Sea Sect.
Yueshi was at the third stage and his combat techniques had progressed a lot; Yuan Yue was at the second stage and, as the chief instructor's disciple, her fighting experience and abilities were at the very top of the dojo.
As for those few others, while they were merely at the first stage, all of them had trained for years in this place and had their own set of skills and talents.
If any of them got too hurt to participate in the outer disciple examination, it would truly be a pity.
On a side note, Xuehua was also included amongst those people that would probably pass.
A few days back Yueshi found out that his sister had reaped as much as him from their clash. Therefore, she was also at the third layer of the Body Refinement Realm.
The thing was, she was not too keen on fighting, so it was hard to say how much she had developed in that area during the past few days.
Yuanqi and the others gazed at their students with a bit of worry; if they had the choice, they would deny the challenge. However, things were not so simple, and as a dojo affiliated with the ruling Ling Family, they were obligated to accept.
"Those that are willing to fight for our Flying Snow Dojo's honor, step forward." His tone of voice was low, but deep like the sea, while his expression was serious, unlike his usual self.
The pitter-patter of people stepping forward echoed like a beautiful melody; it was not a loud sound, but it seemed to reverberate inside the great hall of the dojo.
Yuanqi grinned with unconcealed pride at the sight of all disciples stepping forth, none shying away from the challenge.
It did not matter if they were ordinary disciples receiving light training, or ambitious disciples that were going through intensive training, or the truly talented disciples that had the greatest chances in the exam…
They all stepped forward to defend the dojo's honor, and Yuanqi, as well as the other masters, were thankful for that.
Even their newest disciples, Yueshi and Xuehua, seemed determined to fight. Although it has to be noted that, the latter's involvement almost made her brother have a stroke right then and there.
"Good, good, you are all the proud disciples of the Flying Snow Dojo!" Finally, Yuanqi boisterously laughed, returning to be like he always was. "Let's teach those pricks that they should not mess with us!"