area51novel Page 15
Page 15
The moment Yue Fei took flight, a wave of heat swept over him, melting all the snow in the courtyard and causing the sand and gravel to swirl and float in the air.
He was incredibly fast. Just as Liu Hong was about to get close, he saw Yue Fei himself, like a firework soaring into the sky, like a hummingbird spreading its wings, trailing a long tail of flame, piercing the heavens in a bizarre posture that defied the laws of physics!
Looking into the distance, it seemed as if a golden moon was rising in the night sky.
With its wings spread wide, golden molten fire danced in the sky, like stars scattering everywhere.
Under the moonlight, Yue Fei gracefully turned his body like a dancer, folded his wings, and swooped down like a hunting eagle, like a falling arrow!
In that instant, he vanished from Liu Hong's sight, leaving only a shrill scream in his ear and a blurry golden light in his eyes—the residual light spots imprinted on his pupils after the speed exceeded the limit of dynamic vision.
At this moment, he was like a blazing golden meteor, shrieking as he tore through the sky, the tip of his staff, wreathed in rolling heat, slamming into Liu Hong's chest!
Shocked, Liu Hong hardened his resolve. Although he had never learned martial arts, he knew from books how to deal with such a charge—whether it was an eagle or a tiger, when a creature charged at this speed, turning around was practically impossible. All he had to do was protect the front of him!
Liu Hong suddenly raised his wooden stick, and three brilliant galaxies composed of 108 dim stars wrapped around the stick once again. The crescent-shaped Heavenly Gang Slash shot into the sky, as if he were wearing a galaxy cloak and facing the gilded meteor!
The stick was held upright, pointing straight up at the shimmering golden light—come on down if you dare! Forces are reciprocal; if you charge down, I'll take your blow, and your own body will slam into the tip of the stick that's maintaining the Heavenly Strike.
It's hard to say who will win or lose at that time!
Zhou Tong's expression changed. Although Yue Fei's speed was so fast that ordinary people couldn't even catch it with the naked eye, it couldn't escape his dynamic vision.
Yue Fei had only been training for a year, and he hadn't yet learned how to turn and pull back during a rapid dive. Faced with Liu Hong's desperate fighting style, Yue Fei remained calm and could only continue his desperate dive and charge!
"boom!!!"
With a flash of cold light, Zhou Tong's tall and imposing elderly body suddenly rushed in front of Liu Hong. His arms, forged from steel, gleamed with a cold metallic luster under the starlight and golden fire.
With his left hand, he firmly grasped the wooden staff wrapped with celestial stars, forcefully shattering the triple galaxy. His other iron hand was even more terrifying; it actually grabbed Yue Fei's staff, forcefully extinguishing the rapidly diving staff that was flashing with golden flames, and thus seized both of their weapons in his hand.
He then spun around in place, dissipating the force of the two sticks while using the combined strength of the two men to fling Yue Fei and Liu Hong away, preventing them from being seriously injured.
"Wu Song, are you sure this man is your sworn brother and not your biological brother? His fierce and reckless manner is exactly like yours."
Zhou Tong flicked his hands, and a smear of blackened wood from the high-speed friction of a wooden stick against steel appeared in his palms, with wisps of smoke rising from his hands.
"Brother! Are you okay?!"
Wu Song panicked and rushed to Liu Hong. He was relieved to find that Liu Hong was unharmed and had only fallen. Then, he stormed up to Zhou Tong, looking very dissatisfied, and vigorously punched his master's arm, which had just been used to exert force.
"Master! My younger brother has never learned martial arts. It's too much to let Senior Brother Yue deal with him. Let's call this a draw, Master. Please accept him as your disciple!"
At this moment, Yue Fei also got up. He had just fallen and was not seriously injured. Having experienced a life-or-death situation, his young face remained expressionless. Following the etiquette taught by his master, he performed standard greetings to Liu Hong after their duel.
"I said I'd stop from the beginning. Oh dear, these are my old bones, so please be gentle with your taps."
Zhou Dong waved his hand.
"I need to see how your brother fights so I can tailor a teaching plan for him. Otherwise, how am I supposed to teach him? You're a family of ruthless, reckless guys."
"Thank you, Master!"
Liu Hong bowed and thanked him with joy, while Wu Song was even more delighted and bowed and thanked his master.
Zhou Tong nodded, accepting the disciple as his own, and then looked at the usually calm and composed Yue Fei.
“You should learn from your junior brother in the future. Your marksmanship is good, but you don’t have much practical experience. Your junior brother may not know martial arts, but he is first-rate in the danger and ruthlessness of life-and-death battles.”
Chapter Twenty-Six: February's Hardship Leads to the True Instruction of Spear and Staff Technique
Having thoroughly educated Yue Fei, Zhou Tong turned to look at Liu Hong with admiration.
"Well, I take back what I said earlier. If you only practice martial arts, you'll be a second-rate character at best. But if you add chivalry and spiritual energy, it's a different story."
Zhou Tong frowned, seemingly lost in thought.
"Although it's a bit late for you to start learning martial arts now, you're still like a blank sheet of paper that can be painted on at will. So, tell me first, what weapon do you want to use?"
"Long weapons such as spears and clubs, or short weapons such as hammers and maces that can penetrate armor."
Liu Hong answered quickly: "The spear is the king of weapons; the longer it is, the stronger it is."
The Song Dynasty represented the pinnacle of ancient armor development. The infantry armor and the Iron Pagoda armor were incredibly thick. Training other types of armor might not be able to penetrate it, so I might as well not train at all.
"Oh? I taught Lu Junyi of Daming Prefecture a few years ago how to combine a twelve-foot steel spear with a staff, creating a new model of spear and staff integration."
A 3.8-meter-long steel spear, when attacking from a distance, is like a dragon emerging from the sea; when someone gets close, it becomes an impenetrable wall when defending with a staff. Offense and defense are seamless, effective with both long and short weapons, making her invincible throughout Hebei! And her staff techniques aren't just for defense; their explosive power sometimes surpasses even her spear skills! "I'm old, but she's still young, and her martial arts have even surpassed mine."
Zhou Tong stroked his beard proudly, taking great pride in his disciple Lu Junyi.
"Since you want to learn spear and staff techniques, I'll teach you those techniques too. They are the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear and the Flying Dragon Staff Technique. Master the basics of both, and then switch between them seamlessly to achieve mastery."
"But let me make this clear in advance: you started practicing martial arts too late, and you probably will never reach the level of a first-class martial artist in your lifetime. However, you can make up for this disadvantage with your unpredictable spiritual energy and the domineering and unparalleled Heavenly Gang Slash, and be on par with them."
"But I can't teach you these two things. I'm neither a psychic nor a chivalrous person. You'll have to figure it out yourself."
"Thank you for your guidance, Master!"
Liu Hong immediately knelt down to express his gratitude and performed the formal ceremony of becoming Zhou Tong's disciple. Zhou Tong officially recognized this unnamed disciple.
"However, Master, I have a question. I've heard of your great reputation before, that you're a level 12 professional. But, logically speaking, isn't the level cap 20 before advancing to legendary?"
Liu Hong asked, puzzled.
"Hey kid, the books you're reading are ancient books from the Han Dynasty, the Wei and Jin Dynasties, or even earlier. Times have changed."
Zhou Tong said with emotion.
"During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, there were no class restrictions in the human world. Mortals could cultivate to the level of 30, 60, or even 100 gods."
"But by the Han Dynasty, almost everyone was locked below level 20. Only a few strong individuals were able to break through the level 20 barrier and become legends."
"Now, people are locked below level twelve, and even those who break through to level thirteen are rare. I am already considered the ceiling of the Song Dynasty's combat power, and I don't know what has happened in the human world. This is an era without legends. Perhaps a thousand years from now, people will only be able to cultivate to level two or three at most, and even superhumans will no longer exist."
"I see, thank you for clearing up my doubts, Master."
Liu Hong suddenly realized what was happening, bowed, took his leave, and went back to his room to rest.
The next day, Liu Hong began his grueling training. Zhou Tong only taught him the most basic parrying, seizing, and thrusting techniques with the spear. He practiced these three movements hundreds of times a day to develop muscle memory. On the first day, Liu Hong was so exhausted that he was drenched in sweat and fell asleep as soon as he got back to his room, much to Pan Jinlian's displeasure. She could only fall asleep embracing her husband's tall frame and touching his increasingly strong muscles.
On the third day, Liu Hong continued to practice his basic skills frantically, making up for his shortcomings with hard work and sweat. Apart from eating and sleeping, he practiced all day long, even compressing his sleep time to three hours a day. Yue Fei was greatly surprised: "Practicing for nine hours a day? I'm exhausted, and he's still practicing. What a jerk!"
A normal person's muscles would definitely be ruined if they trained like this, but Liu Hong wasn't afraid. Pan Jinlian's healing foxfire was enough to repair damaged muscles. And his own chivalrous star healing could do the same. With such supernatural magical healing methods, Liu Hong could train himself to the point of exhaustion. In addition, his extraordinary intelligence of 22 brought him super learning ability, making his daily training effect two or three times that of an ordinary person.
Liu Honggang transmigrated here with no money, no power, and was forced to flee his home by the government. The only thing he could rely on was his strength, so he worked hard. He wasn't afraid of hardship. He figured he could just go through his senior year of high school again. During the toughest part of his senior year, he could only sleep three or four hours a day. He spent the rest of his time doing practice problems and studying. What's wrong with going through it all again just to survive?
Liu Hong trained relentlessly for three days. His muscles were being torn apart, and he felt excruciating pain as if his flesh was being dissolved. Then, the power of the stars smoothed them out. Through repeated destruction and rebirth, his muscles became stronger and stronger, even gradually surpassing the limits of ordinary people!
However, his stomach was still following the ironclad laws of life, protesting with thunderous force—the physical exertion from martial arts training was simply too great.
The smoke from the chimneys of Qilin Village always carried the bitter taste of wheat bran. The millet rice served to guests at the Wang family's mansion was mixed with wild vegetables such as fern roots, and sometimes a layer of lard was poured on it. Sometimes, there were even two pieces of meat the size of a finger. This was already a great treat—the food of ordinary servants in the Wang mansion was not as good as their own.
But Liu Hong, watching Wang Gui, who had just finished practicing with his spear and staff, was now drenched in sweat and devouring a whole deer leg, his mouth greasy with oil, understood what true luxury meant. In this small courtyard, everyone appeared to be perfectly equal, fellow disciples learning martial arts from the same school, but the food they consumed created a clear hierarchy within them.
This is a feudal dynasty with low productivity, where most people can only eat until they are six or seven tenths full. It's not a modern world where food is so plentiful that people can waste it at will. This Master Wang is just a landlord in a village. His wealth is nothing compared to that of Master Zhang, who is at the county level. It's already quite generous of him to be willing to support an idle man like me who only knows how to practice martial arts and does nothing productive.
However, the food he provided was only enough to sustain the body's basic needs, and was far from sufficient for the enormous energy expenditure required for martial arts training.
In an era of low productivity, the saying "the poor study literature, the rich study martial arts" was not just a saying. The poor didn't even have the chance to change their fate by practicing martial arts, because the huge physical exertion of martial arts training was something ordinary people simply couldn't recover from. If they forced themselves to continue practicing, they would only starve to death.
As for Zhou Tong's disciples?
Wang Gui was the only son of Master Wang, Zhang Xian was the son of Master Zhang, and Tang Huai's father was also Master Tang of Qilin Village. All three masters were wealthy landlords in the village, which allowed their sons to eat and train as they pleased.
Even Yue Fei's mother was a good friend of the Wang family, and the Wang family treated Yue Fei like half a son, giving him the same treatment as Wang Gui.
So, how did Wu Song solve this problem?
Liu Hong asked in confusion, and Wu Song, without saying a word, took the chicken leg out of the bowl and stuffed it into Liu Hong's mouth, then pointed to the jungle outside Qilin Village.
“There are plenty of wild animals in that forest. Sometimes I hunt some game to replenish my energy. If Master Wang has any matters that he can't handle personally, I can help him deal with them and get some benefits in return. Or I can simply go to Daming Prefecture and ask Zhu Gui to take on some underworld jobs to make money. Here, eat this chicken leg first, and I'll catch a deer for you to improve your meals!”
"It's alright, don't trouble yourself, sister. Practicing martial arts is more important. I robbed a lot of money from Master Zhang's house, so I can just go to the county to buy some meat. What else would you like to eat, sister?"
Liu Hong gratefully tore a piece of meat off the chicken leg.
"Oh? My brother is so generous? Those sisters brought jars of wine. Master Wang isn't rich either; he doesn't have enough grain to brew wine. I've been craving it for a long time."
Wu Song licked his lips greedily, his eyes gleaming as he looked at his younger brother.
"no problem."
Liu Hong asked the servants of the Prince's Mansion to use his savings to buy wine, meat, and soybeans in the nearby Neihuang County to supplement his energy and maintain the enormous energy expenditure caused by his high-intensity physical training.
After buying the meat, Liu Hong, being very considerate, shared some with his teacher, senior sister, senior brother, and even Master Wang as a way of repaying them. He also took over Wu Song's meals, treating everyone as family and sharing so that she could focus on practicing martial arts without having to go up the mountain to fight and slow down her training.
This action caused Wu Song, the Wang family, and Zhou Tong and his apprentice to have increasingly high regard for him.
After a month, Liu Hong found that he had eaten more than 50 catties of meat, an extremely exaggerated appetite. Wu Song, who was 2.4 meters tall, had an even larger appetite, eating 100 catties of meat. Pan Jinlian and Wu Dalang also lived a comfortable life in Qilin Village for a while. They did not eat much, and together they ate only 30 catties of meat. In addition, they gave meat to their fellow disciples and the people in the Wangfu, totaling more than 200 catties. At 100 coins per catty, they spent 20,000 coins, or 20 taels of silver, not even counting Wu Song's wine expenses.
It's true that the poor are good at literature and the rich are good at martial arts. Poor people don't even have the opportunity to learn martial arts; they'd either be trained to death or starve to death.
This month of hard training has also allowed Liu Hong to develop muscle memory and learn the three basics of marksmanship: blocking, grabbing, thrusting, and striking. He can already do it quite well. Seeing Zhou Tong's surprised face, he thought, "This person learns too fast. Without any prior training, he has already mastered the basics in just one month."
What he didn't know was that Liu Hong had a "bucket waist" attribute, and while his strength, physique, and charm were not bad, his intelligence, enhanced by Master Zhang's intelligence turban, had already surpassed that of ordinary people at 22, making him extremely fast at learning anything.
Zhou Tong was quite satisfied with his new disciple and taught him the four basic techniques of staff fighting: chopping, sweeping, thrusting, and stabbing. While Liu Hong continued to practice these basics, he also increased the amount of training he did, reviewing the basic techniques of spear fighting: blocking, seizing, and stabbing.
Liu Hong also became determined. Since he couldn't train to death, he would train to death! His natural talent and hard work made him progress rapidly. In just two months, he learned all the basics of spear and staff techniques. He could even switch between using a spear as a staff and a staff as a spear with ease. He also learned staff and spear flourishes.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Liu Sanlang Learns the Phoenix Spear and Dragon Staff
"That's incredibly fast. You've already laid a solid foundation in just two months. I admit I was wrong. Perhaps you could become a first-rate martial artist just by relying on martial arts. Now, I'm going to teach you the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear and the Flying Dragon Staff Technique."
Zhou Tong was greatly surprised by the speed of his disciple's progress, and as agreed, he taught him some real skills.
"The Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear has many names. People in the west also call this spear technique the 'White Crow Flow.' The spear is the king of all weapons and a weapon of slaughter on the battlefield. Therefore, this spear technique is more suitable for large-scale battles on the battlefield than for one-on-one combat or fighting."
"The Flying Dragon Staff Technique is adapted from the [Stone Dragon Style]. I don't know who invented it. In its earliest form, this staff technique required both feet to be on the ground to use. Although powerful, it also had many limitations. Therefore, I improved upon the [Stone Dragon Style] and created the more versatile Flying Dragon Staff Technique, eliminating the original drawbacks and restrictions."
Zhou Tong proudly explained his improved stick technique.
"When the enemy is at a distance, you should use the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear to launch a fierce offensive. Once the enemy is engaged in close combat, use the spear as a short stick and use the Flying Dragon Staff Technique to launch a defensive counterattack."
After speaking, Zhou Tong demonstrated his martial arts skills to Liu Hong. He strode forward, ran, charged, his gray hair dancing wildly in the air currents, his steel knuckles producing a metallic sound, and with a clenched grip on his wooden staff, he pierced into an earthen wall like a whirlwind, lightning, and a meteor! The staff, as if alive, arched its back, and Zhou Tong's aged spine and the wooden body of the staff simultaneously emitted a clear, phoenix-like cry!
[Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix] (Beginner): Disrupt the enemy formation and terrify their troops with a powerful charge. All nearby teammates can join you in the charge, and charge damage is increased by 3. (3 character levels)
After demonstrating the charge, Zhou Tong gripped the end of the staff with his steel hands and suddenly shook it. The staff tip suddenly unleashed a hundred layers of cold light and a thousand staff shadows within a small area. The wildly spinning staff tip hummed as it swirled up the snow in the courtyard, shattered the flying ice flowers, and the arc of light swirling around the staff tip transformed into layers of silvery-white vortexes, like a phoenix of ice spreading its feathers in a storm cloud vortex.
The next second, the dazzling display of a thousand spear flowers suddenly collapsed into a single cold star, which thrust forward and pierced a second hole in the earthen wall. After the spear flowers disrupted the enemy's vision, the sudden thrust was exactly the move Yue Fei used to hit me!
【Phoenix Falls from the Clouds】(Beginner): Unleashes a dazzling display of spear movement, catching enemies off guard. All nearby teammates gain +3 attack accuracy when attacking this target. (3 character levels)
"These two moves are the core foundation of the entire gun technique. They will become even more powerful when mastered to an advanced level."
Liu Hong was overjoyed. Although the boost from these two moves wasn't very strong, it was because his level was low and the moves were only beginner-level. As long as he leveled up, the power of these two moves would increase steadily.
Then, Zhou Tong demonstrated a fighting technique that used a long spear in a short time. Holding a four-meter-long wooden stick, he first gripped the end of the stick and used the tip to perform a few spear moves. Then, he pulled his hands back and grabbed the middle of the stick, causing the stick to shorten from four meters to two meters. He then wrapped the stick around his waist and swept it left and right, creating a whistling sound. He executed a set of stick moves that seemed to be wide open and powerful, but in reality, they were an iron wall of encirclement and a tight seal.
【Dragon Tail Whip】(Beginner): When using this move, your defense increases by 3 (3 Strength adjustment), and each hit has a chance to knock back or knock down the opponent.
After demonstrating a set of techniques using long weapons with short reach, Zhou Tong then performed a set of techniques using short weapons with long reach. His gaze sharpened as he twisted his ankles, waist, and arms, unleashing explosive power from every muscle in his body! As he thrust the long staff forward, his hands slid from the middle of the staff to its tip, extending the two-meter staff to a four-meter attack range, instantly striking the earthen wall. This time, he directly rammed the wall down with a single blow! The power was terrifying.
【Dragon Emerging from the Sea】(Beginner): Suddenly thrust the stick forward. If it hits, it will definitely knock back the opponent and has a chance to knock down or launch the target away.
"These four moves are the basic moves of the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear and the Flying Dragon Staff Technique. When the enemy is far away, use the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear to launch an attack. Once the enemy rushes in, use a long weapon with a short weapon. First, use the Flying Dragon Tail Whip to defend. Then, when you find an opportunity, use the Flood Dragon Emerging from the Sea to force the enemy back. Then, switch back to the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Spear to launch a fierce attack."
Master these four techniques first, then I'll teach you the others—remember not to be so rigid; integrate the spear and staff, use the staff to execute spear techniques, or the spear to execute staff techniques, it's all fine.”
Zhou Tong threw the stick in his hand to Liu Hong, instructing Liu Hong to begin the second phase of training two months later.
This time, it took Liu Hong a full two months to master the four moves. At this moment, Liu Hong also obtained the fourth character level: a battle blade like Yue Fei and Wu Song! This time, not only were his basic attack and life resistance enhanced, but his strength also increased by 2 from 16 to 18 through long-term training. At this moment, he could wield Zhang Zhao's thirty-pound iron rod with great force, and there was no situation where he could not wield it for a while.
[Liu Hong] (Dragon)
Level 4 (Level 1 Mind Mage + Level 2 Wanderer + Level 1 Blade Master)
Life 36, Psionic 5+5
Strength 18, Agility 10, Constitution 16
Intelligence 22, Perception 10, Charisma 16
Attack Accuracy: 7 (2 Heroic Deeds + 1 Battle Blade + 4 Strength)
Physical Defense: 10 (+10 base)
Magic Resistance: 22 (+12 base +4 character level +6 double charm adjustment)
Everyone will acquire a specialty after a long period of training, and Liu Hong, after six months of training, has acquired three specializations in a row, a simple and unpretentious three-piece melee set.
[Powerful Attack]: Launch an attack with unstoppable and terrifying momentum. For every hit, increase physical damage by 2. (The reduction in attack value cannot exceed the character's level.)