"Bang bang bang!"
The battle in the central arena captured everyone's attention.
Li Zhenyue, who possessed a God Rank Ancient Spirit, had garnered sufficient interest among the new students, and today he was facing Instructor Yang Cang, who had suppressed his strength to the same level. Everyone was concerned about the outcome of the fight.
However, what surprised everyone was that the powerful Li Zhenyue was completely dominated under the hands of the strength-suppressed Instructor Yang Cang.
Shadows of spear thrusts overwhelmed Li Zhenyue's defense.
Every time Li Zhenyue attacked with his sword, it was deftly deflected by the tip of his opponent's spear, rendering all his force null and void.
When Yang Cang wielded his spear, it was like a mighty dragon swirling, bringing a fierce momentum that bore down on him, and the spear techniques were complicated and profound, with no place to hide or avoid them.
Each time, Li Zhenyue could only forcibly hold his sword across to block, causing his arms to numb and a feeling of oppression in his chest. Had his opponent not held back, he probably would have suffered internal injuries by now.
All the new students below the stage were stunned.
"What an impressive spear technique."
"Isn't that a bit too fierce? Li Zhenyue has a God Rank Ancient Heroic Spirit, yet he's being suppressed like this?"
"Suppressed? Are you sure this is suppression? This is downright domination."
"I feel if Elder Yang weren't being merciful, Li Zhenyue would be pierced by the spear in minutes, leaving him full of holes."
The new students were no fools; they could obviously tell that aside from Yang Cang's experienced technique, the secret techniques of spearplay were also key to his victory.
Desire blazed in their eyes; they couldn't wait to kneel and beg to become Yang Cang's disciples.
But Yang Cang was strict about taking in disciples. It was too easy to be met with cold rejection, and many students shook their heads with a sigh, lamenting their lack of such fortune.
"Clang!"
With a flash of cold light in his eyes, Yang Cang stepped forward, his waist and arm coordinated, and with a flick of his wrist, his long spear whistled out straight for Li Zhenyue's throat.
Li Zhenyue's heart skipped a beat. Although he knew the instructor would not harm the students, he couldn't help but feel a surge of instinctual fear. He kept retreating and dodging, while raising his hand with a split callus to grip his longsword across in defense, generating a sound of metal clashing with metal.
"You've lost."
Yang Cang stopped his assault, swept the spear tip, and sent the longsword flying, crashing onto the arena floor.
Li Zhenyue shook his head, refusing to accept defeat:
"Elder Yang, I wonder if you might demonstrate the final move of your spear technique, so that the younger generation might witness the pinnacle of Yang Family Spear Technique."
"Hahaha." Yang Cang laughed heartily, "You little guy, always thinking, are you trying to steal our Yang Family Spear Technique?"
"Even if I show it to you, you definitely won't be able to learn it."
"The moves of the Yang Family Spear Technique are just the outer shell; the bones are the muscle's technique of exerting force, and the spirit is the unique route of spiritual power circulation of the Yang family. You can watch the outer shell all you want, but you won't be able to learn it."
"But if someone accidentally learns it, Instructor Yang Cang wouldn't mind, right?" Li Zhenyue's eyes twinkled, seemingly with implication.
Yang Cang shook his head.
"Wishful thinking, it's impossible."
Li Zhenyue said no more but gave a respectful bow. He then invoked the Spirit Possession of the Ancient Spirit from Pagoda-carrying King Li, summoning the golden Exquisite Pagoda into the palm of his hand.
"Please, Elder Yang, demonstrate the strongest strike of the Yang Family Spear Technique."
"Very well."
"It seems you young lad don't believe in the impossible." Yang Cang then looked at all the eager and curious new students beneath the arena, "You all probably want to see it too, right? Very well, I will demonstrate it today. How much you can comprehend will depend on your own destiny."
"You go first."
Yang Cang grasped the spear shaft, the spear tip slanting towards the ground, his gaze filled with absolute confidence.
"I beg your pardon."
Li Zhenyue courteously uttered a word as he simultaneously hurled the Exquisite Pagoda from his hand, which instantly enlarged and unfurled like a banner in the wind.
Hurtling down to suppress Instructor Yang Cang, whose hair and beard were both white as snow.
Yang Cang picked up his long spear and turned to sprint away at an extreme speed, leaving countless afterimages in the arena.
The Exquisite Pagoda radiated divine light, relentlessly pursuing its target.
Just as Yang Cang reached the edge of the stage, with nowhere left to go, he rotated with force on his feet, sparks seeming to fly from the friction between his soles and the stage.
Every muscle tautened, his strength concentrated in one spot, and his long spear moved as fast as lightning, revolving around Yang Cang and lashing out like thunder with explosive power. At that instant, the tip of the spear seemed to enlarge a hundredfold, weighing thousands of pounds.
"Boom!"
Striking unerringly, not a fraction of a second off, the spear hit the bottom of the incoming Exquisite Pagoda,
Instantly, ripples emanated from where the spear tip met the pagoda. As the pagoda was blasted backwards, it quickly cracked and disintegrated, finally exploding with a bang into a shower of golden specks that fell toward the ground, leaving Li Zhenyue stunned.
A cold point was already at his throat, and Yang Cang had closed in for the kill.
"I've lost."
Blood trickled from Li Zhenyue's mouth, his heart still racing with shock.
Was this the Yang Family's ultimate secret technique, the Return Horse Spear? It was truly unimaginable that someone of the same realm could wield the power of a Mortal Heroic Spirit to instantly rupture his Exquisite Pagoda, rendering him utterly defenseless — it revealed that the elder's skill had reached an inconceivable level.
The profoundness of the spear technique had become so complex it was to the extreme.
He couldn't help but wonder if Luo Yu below the stage could learn it, considering he himself couldn't even see the speed of the opponent's move in that instant.
Yang Cang retracted his spear and then shook his head, saying:
"Young man, don't be overly ambitious. The Way of the Spear requires years of continuous hard work and daily rigorous practice to understand. To reach my level overnight is simply impossible."
"An awakened Heroic Spirit can only represent talent, determining where your limits lie. To reach that limit, you must rely on solitary and laborious effort."
"Point taken." Li Zhenyue's gaze was first muddled then gradually became clear, and he bowed respectfully toward Yang Cang.
Suddenly, he felt his previous thoughts had been naive. Xia Luo might be impressive, but he was still human; how could he possibly learn the secret techniques just by watching the instructors demonstrate once?
To think, the three instructors excelled in the saber, spear, and mace. Ordinary people couldn't fully understand even one in their lifetime, yet he absurdly thought Xia Luo could grasp all three at once with just a glance. Li Zhenyue slapped his forehead, wondering how he could have been so foolish.
After descending from the stage, he walked over to Luo Yu's side.
Luo Yu spoke, "Thank you."
He could obviously see through Li Zhenyue's thoughts, a kind gesture that still had to be acknowledged.
Li Zhenyue waved his hand, "What's to thank, it was nothing much. The chance to spar with an instructor is a great benefit to my own improvement."
"I wonder how much Student Xia has learned after watching the instructors?" He couldn't contain his curiosity and asked.
Luo Yu replied with a smile, "It must be said that being an instructor at Sichuan Province Martial University truly has its merits. The variability in moves is immense, and to fully grasp and learn them instantly—it's almost impossible..."
"Don't worry if you haven't learned much, you are already very strong." Li Zhenyue consoled him, actually relieved to hear Luo Yu's response. After all, if his opponent truly were such a monstrous talent, he'd really not want to go on; the gap between people couldn't be that vast.
"Um..."
What Luo Yu actually wanted to say was that it might seem impossible for an ordinary genius, but for him, it was an exception. However, his response was interrupted by Li Zhenyue.
Just then, a hubbub arose from the outskirts of the martial arts field.
"Make way."
They saw two rows of strong senior students in student council uniforms squeezing away the new students, completely disregarding the presence of the instructors, and forcibly clearing a path. They stood on both sides, welcoming the arrival of the person behind them.
"Tap tap tap—"
Walking down the center of the two rows, a young man with an aura of ruthless chill approached, none other than Luo Yu's well-acquainted acquaintance, the Vice President of the Student Council, Xue Can...