Chapter 4: Spear Techniques, Scores

The spear tip tore through the air, emitting a sharp whistle.

"Wow, so fast!"

"Li Yuan's spear." Most students held their breath, all feeling that Li Yuan's large spear was too fast, crossing several meters in the blink of an eye.

It's important to note that Li Yuan and Teacher Xu Bo were less than ten meters apart, and Li Yuan's large spear was nearly three meters long. With Li Yuan's explosive speed... the spear tip was aimed directly at Teacher Xu Bo's chest.

"Central Level Spear?" Zhou Qi clenched his long spear, recognizing Li Yuan's move.

Spear techniques are varied, but the basic spear forms are essentially blocking, grabbing, thrusting, stabbing, slashing, collapsing, pointing, entwining, and twisting. All spear techniques are derived from these basic moves.

The Central Level Spear is perhaps the most ordinary form of spear technique, yet it is also the most important.

The so-called Central Level means a straight thrust, taking the shortest line between two points, with an attack as swift as an arrow.

It's all about accuracy, speed, and power.

"Even though it's the same move, Brother Yuan's spear could probably stab me to death directly." Zhou Qi marveled inwardly.

In the arena.

"Direct thrust? Using the advantage of the weapon and strength?" Xu Bo saw through Li Yuan's intention.

As the saying goes, "A saber is like a fierce tiger, a sword is like a dragon, a staff sweeps a wide area, and a spear pierces a line."

A staff is shorter than a large spear.

In such a direct confrontation, the large spear would inevitably reach first, and Li Yuan's speed and strength far exceeded Xu Bo's 5.0-level explosive power.

"Boom!"

Facing Li Yuan's attack, Xu Bo no longer dodged as he had before, but instead took the initiative to attack. He took a step forward, and his long staff drew a smooth arc in the air, striking the spear tip with lightning speed, using the force to redirect the spear head, causing it to veer off course.

Avoiding Li Yuan's fierce attack.

"Whoosh!" Li Yuan seemed to have anticipated this. As the spear body rebounded, he used the force to his advantage, twisting his body with his waist as the core, and the spear body rotated 180 degrees, chopping down on Xu Bo like an axe blade.

This time, the two were even closer, and the explosive speed was even faster.

"Ha ha!" Teacher Xu Bo suddenly laughed, as if he had foreseen it, and retreated backward, avoiding Li Yuan's fierce chop.

"Can he avoid this too?" Li Yuan was slightly startled. The teacher's reaction speed was too fast.

Before he could think more.

"Whoosh!" A blurry staff shadow took advantage of the gap when the large spear swept past, striking hard.

"Retreat!" Li Yuan immediately changed his footwork and retreated, while trying to block the staff with his spear.

"Bang!" The weapons collided.

Li Yuan did not feel the impact of the staff, as if his spear had been stuck to the staff.

It was very uncomfortable.

Whoosh!

Xu Bo suddenly stepped forward, closing the distance with Li Yuan again, and his staff changed, stabbing fast and fiercely.

"Whoosh!" Li Yuan was forced to retreat to avoid the attack. A long spear needs space to generate sufficient power.

What shocked Li Yuan was that despite his correct footwork, he couldn't retreat. Teacher Xu Bo's staff always struck at the right moment, forcing him to block with his spear, preventing it from fully exerting its power.

The staff was sometimes fierce, sometimes gentle, unpredictable.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The weapons clashed over a dozen times in a flash, and Li Yuan had already retreated to the edge of the silver ground.

"Boom!" Another staff shadow swept by, and Li Yuan felt a slight pain in his chest, causing him to involuntarily retreat.

He took several steps back before stopping.

With full armor, the explosive power of Teacher Xu Bo was not strong, and a single training staff strike couldn't cause much harm to Li Yuan.

"I lost." Li Yuan raised his large spear and said helplessly, "Teacher Xu, with my speed and strength advantages, I couldn't even block you for twenty moves."

This only showed that the gap in cold weapon skills between the two was significant.

The surroundings were silent.

All the students stared in shock at Li Yuan and Teacher Xu Bo.

The confrontation was short but extremely intense, like a real battle, far beyond the level of the skills test they had just undergone.

"You have already blocked me for over ten moves." Teacher Xu Bo, hearing this, rarely showed a smile on his cold face: "Your spear technique has improved greatly since the end-of-term exam last semester. I had to use my full strength to win you."

Full strength?

Li Yuan sighed inwardly. This was just Teacher Xu's full strength at a 5-level physical condition.

If both sides had the same explosive power and speed, he probably couldn't block three moves.

This was the difference in skill levels.

"At the end-of-term exam last semester, my spear technique and footwork were both at 99% of the second level, and I only broke through after the exam." Li Yuan thought: "From this, I can infer that Teacher Xu's skill level is at least at the fourth level."

Without other references, Li Yuan wasn't quite clear about the specific differences between the first, second, and third levels in the skill panel.

But he could roughly judge that among his classmates, only a few like Wan Xiao had reached the second level in cold weapon skills.

At the same time, Li Yuan was clear about one thing.

If his spear technique and footwork improved, it would definitely be reflected in the skill panel data.

Drip!

On the screen at the back of the classroom, Li Yuan's martial arts skill score appeared—365 points.

"So high?"

"Over 360 points." Zhou Qi's eyes lit up.

"This is the difficulty of the college entrance exam. It's only the beginning of the third year, and Li Yuan's martial arts skill score has increased so much from last semester?"

"Such a high score in a single subject would probably be among the best in the city."

"By the time of the college entrance exam, Li Yuan might even compete for the top score in the city in martial arts skills."

"Li Yuan will definitely get into a martial arts university."

"If my spear technique were as good as Li Yuan's..."

"Whoever pees yellow, come and wake him up."

These students were both shocked and envious, whispering among themselves.

If Li Yuan had only 320 or 330 points, these students might have been jealous of him, as the gap wasn't so extreme.

But with such a large gap, most people would only admire him.

Most people have a sense of self-awareness. Why be jealous of someone who is clearly on a different level?

Moreover, martial arts skills are different from physical attributes.

If one has excellent family conditions, with dedicated nutritionists and therapists, and a specialized training plan, and if one awakens martial arts spirituality... it is possible to improve physical attributes to level 7 or even higher during the third year of high school.

But improving martial arts skills cannot be achieved by money alone.

...

With Li Yuan's assessment complete, it was already 5:30 PM.

"Alright."

"From today's test, most of you have been working hard since entering the third year." Teacher Xu Bo's voice returned to its cold tone: "But some of you have regressed."

"You are now third-year students. The college entrance exam, while not determining your entire life, is at least a significant opportunity... I will come to supervise your martial arts training the day after tomorrow. Class dismissed." Teacher Xu Bo turned and left.

Then another voice floated over: "Li Yuan, Wan Xiao, come to my office."

The students, who had already practiced to the point of sore feet and drenched in sweat, immediately dispersed.

Many boys were gulping down water and calling out to each other to rush to the cafeteria to secure seats.

Some girls were discussing going to the restroom first.

"Brother Yuan, I'll go to the cafeteria with Yan Zhou and the others to help you secure a seat! I'll also get you a nutritious meal." Zhou Qi called out.

"Old Zhou, get two meals for Brother Yuan." A muscular boy named Yan Zhou laughed and called out to Li Yuan: "Brother Yuan, leave the meal to us, go to the office quickly."

"Thanks, I'll transfer you the money later." Li Yuan smiled.

"No, the last few times you helped me bring breakfast, I didn't pay you. Consider today's dinner as repayment." Yan Zhou laughed.

Li Yuan smiled.

In the class, besides Zhou Qi, he had a few other close friends.

"Li Yuan, let's go." The muscular Wan Xiao called out to Li Yuan: "What does Teacher Xu want with us?"

"Finding you, he probably wants to transfer you to the elite class." Li Yuan smiled.

As for why he was called, Li Yuan had some guesses, but he couldn't confirm them yet.

(End of Chapter)