Zong Ling landed. When he saw the chaos the forest had become, his heart filled with fear.
"Xue Ying is definitely fine. You’re definitely okay!" Zong Ling’s anxious heart tightened as he followed the traces of destruction. "Damn it, damn it! Why is it that I haven’t become a Meteor Knight even until now? I could have helped Xue Ying if I had broken through earlier. He would not have been alone in that hopeless situation."
Dong Bo Lie and Mo Yang Yu, his life and death friends, had ordered him to take care of their kids before they were taken away.
Zong Ling’s fondness of Xue Ying had grown as he watched him grow from a crying baby into a young man. It was as if he were his own blood.
Zong Ling’s worries increased overtime as he continued travelling through the decimated forest.
"Absolutely nothing must happen to him!"
"Nothing can happen to him!"
Zong Ling rushed forward with great speed, jumping from branch to branch.
Hu!
Zong Ling was agile, his tail pulling him forward like a slingshot to leap dozens of meters from tree to tree. In midair, he spotted a youngster clothed in black standing in the distance.
Zong Ling released a deep sigh of relief the moment he realized who the black-clothed youngster was.
"Xue Ying!" Zong Ling hurried over to him.
"Uncle Zong!" Xue Ying pulled his spear out from the corpse of the Shadow Leopard.
"You killed the Shadow Leopard?" Zong Ling couldn’t believe his own eyes when he saw the corpse. This was supposed to be a terrifying predator, famed for its high speed and agility.
Xue Ying smiled. "Luck. It really was luck. Any less… and I would have been the one to die."
This was the first time he had faced death.
Although he had faced magical beasts before, the sharp claws and teeth of those beasts had allowed him to polish his body as well as experience a taste of death. That was in group combat however, something he had the absolute advantage in! This one Shadow Leopard, on the other hand, was able to completely suppress him in all regards!
Shua, shua, shua. Xue Ying stretched out his left hand. A spear sack appeared within his palm. Inside were at least 12 short silver spears. This spear sack was originally stored within his storage pendant.
"Enter." He put down the spear sack and picked up the body of the Shadow Leopard, bending it a little to push it in.
Whoosh.
The Shadow Leopard vanished without a trace. There was only a little room to the side of the sack left.
"Uncle Zong, let's leave quickly. The smell of the blood will attract other beasts." Xue Ying carried the spear sack on his back and took out the Flying Snow God Spear.
"No need to worry too much; normal beasts would not dare to come near us due to the Shadow Leopard’s scent. After that large fight, it would be better if you rest well first." Zong Ling also gave a relaxed smile.
During the return trip.
Xue Ying was in a good mood. Even though he had experienced a life-threatening fight, a Shadow Leopard was worth 100,000 gold coins! A Shadow Leopard’s satin-like pelt was able to imbue items with cloaking effects so it was considered a precious refining material. Naturally, the Shadow Leopard’s pelt would fall into the hands of the rich nobility. This was an item that was much beloved by them. The Shadow Leopard’s pelt was both beautiful as well as honorable when worn. How many people would gaze upon it with admiration and envy?
For Xue Ying, it didn’t matter. What counted was that it had brought them money.
...
Within the camp inside the Mountain Range of Desolation.
Four hours had already passed. The sky turned pitch black as Xue Ying and Zong Ling hurried back to their camp. After eating dinner, Zong Ling rested, but Xue Ying didn’t.
Shua, shua~~~
The bonfire in the camp was always lit in order to keep the cold at bay.
Xue Ying was sitting down cross-legged near the bonfire, the Flying Snow Spear laid across his legs. Hs eyes were closed as he sat there whilst the fire illuminated his face.
Silence…
The night was very silent…
Xue Ying was carefully inspecting his body, feeling every muscle and bone, the expansion and contraction of his inner organs, while his blood surged like a river…
He had already reached the realm of Power Perfectly as One. With his current attentive understanding, he would consolidate it to further familiarise himself with it.
"Rise."
Xue Ying stood up suddenly. Holding his Flying Snow God Spear, he started to practice his spear techniques.
Being one with the spear was like being a flood dragon.
The shadow of the spear flashed while the snow danced wildly.
"Fine spear, fine technique."
Xue Ying stopped and looked at the Flying Snow Spear in his hand with a pleased expression.
If a spear was fast enough, the human eye would see multiple spears attacking simultaneously; this phenomenon was called the persistence of vision.
Of course, different people had different degrees of persistency.
Ordinary knights, Earth Knights and Heaven Knights all had a similar degree of vision persistency.
Those in the Star tier would have a shorter duration of vision persistency.
A Transcendent being, however… their vision persistency would be exceedingly short!
This time during their exploration of the Mountain Range of Desolation, the speed of Xue Ying’s spear technique had reached the Five Spear Realm! When faced with a Star tier opponent, they would be able to see as many as five spears at once. If he also released the power of his primordial bloodline… he would just barely reach the Seven Spear Realm!
And now!
At the realm of Power Perfectly as One, he had perfect control over every single thread of power within his body. Even if he didn’t release his power, he could effortlessly attain the Seven Spear Realm!
As for the Flying Snow Spear, a spirit weapon, only in the hands of a Great Spear Master could its true magical abilities be displayed! The inside of the Flying Snow Spear’s shaft was like the arteries and veins of a human body. When the spear collided with an enemy’s weapon, it would abruptly give rise to an opposing power! This power would generally dissipate within the spear.
The Flying Snow God Spear, though, could perfectly transmit this power, not allowing any of it to scatter.
A common spear expert wouldn’t care about the vibrations of the spear. They might even think of it as a hindrance!
For Great Spear Masters, however, they were able to perfectly take advantage of this power. They were even able to use this strength to execute even faster attacks.
"Power Perfectly as One. I’ve attained the Seven Spear Realm!"
"The Flying Snow God Spear is able to perfectly utilize all of its power and hence improve the spear’s might. I can reach the Eight Spear Realm with speed alone!"
"When I burst out the power of my primordial bloodline, then I can attain the Ten Spear Realm!"
Xue Ying felt excited.
The Shadow Leopard’s death wasn’t in vain!
During that last desperate strike by Xue Ying, his spear’s speed had reached the formidable level of the Ten Spear Realm. This speed was able to omnipotently suppress even Silver Moon Knights. Those who were weaker than Silver Moon Knights might not even be able to block many blows and die from a single strike!
"This still isn’t my limit. My spear can still go faster." Xue Ying began to cultivate the Transcendent’s spear technique his father had left behind for him, the Mysterious Ice Spear Technique.
A powerful Transcendent Knight’s secrets.
He would only be able to learn the first level of this technique after becoming a Great Spear Master.
Hu.
Dou Qi revolved within his body, maximizing his strength. The spear whirled as if it was a large python, spinning in an astonishing arc.
While withdrawing his spear, he would reverse the direction of the rotation.
He struck out and retracted it.
This powerful rotation was reversed… concealing the rotational strength of the shaft of the spear. Even spear experts would feel their palms grow numb in the face of such formidable power. Xue Ying had unleashed this power!
This was the strength that the Mysterious Ice Spear Technique needed to take advantage of!
"That’s not right."
"The force exerted is wrong."
"The torque isn’t pure enough."
Xue Ying practiced again and again with his spear.
Hu la——
Hu la——
In the midst of night at the camp, one burst after another of what seemed to be a screaming voice was heard. This made the scalps of all of the soldiers standing guard grow numb. As they watched their young master practice his spear techniques beside the bonfire, they couldn’t help but revere him even more.
"The Young Master truly is the young master. Amazing."
"Even after coming to the Mountain Range of Desolation, he continues to train like crazy during the night. It’s no wonder he’s so powerful!"
"The young master was already training like a mad devil when he was eight-years-old. I couldn’t possibly endure such suffering."
Those soldiers continued to quietly gossip amongst themselves.
...
Xue Ying continued to practice the first level of the Mysterious Ice Spear Technique’s many techniques. Even though the mysterious ice knight, Senior Gu Yuan Han, had written highly detailed descriptions of the techniques, it was still difficult to learn it. Luckily for Xue Ying, as a Great Spear Master, he had an extremely fine control over the spear so there was still some hope for him to learn it.
The night quickly passed and dawn came.
Si——
The spear struck out.
It was like a huge python rotating its body in a flash. A very short sound resonated. It was not the normal whirring sound but a very short si’. The arc of the spear as it rotated could be seen with the naked eye as it retracted, only to quickly strike out again.
Xue Ying showed an elated expression. There was a subtle blood-red aura that suddenly surrounded around his body. He had completely used up all of his power and the terrifying spear technique was delivered to his heart’s content.
Xiu xiu xiu xiu xiu xiu xiu…...
Snowflakes drifted around the spear. When the spear struck, it seemed as if it was stationary in the midst of the snowflakes.
After the twelfth strike, the stationary spear among the snowflakes disappeared.
This was proof of reaching the terrifying Twelve Spears Realm.
The first level of the Mysterious Ice Spear Technique, Floating Snow, clearly had a large amplification effect on one’s speed. The Mysterious Ice Knight Gu Yuan Han’s spearmanship was originally famous for its speed, and the second and third levels were even faster! But they were also much harder to master.
"Twelve Spears Realm." Xue Ying smiled. ‘"I have finally succeeded in training the first stage of Mysterious Ice Spear Technique, Floating Snow."
After becoming a Great Spear Master and learning the Mysterious Ice Spear Technique, Xue Ying’s power had increased by leaps and bounds.