Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 1034 Rediscovering the Way of the Gun
"Not bad." Yang Zhengshan flicked a flower and nodded in satisfaction.

This Thunderfire Spear was tailor-made for him. It not only allows him to better control the Divine Thunder of the Wood and the True Fire of the Sun, but also enhances the combat power of his Devouring Spirit Body.

The reason Yang Jizhen designed the Thunderfire Spear to be twelve zhang long was because Yang Zhengshan's size would increase dozens of times when he used the Devouring Spirit Dharma Body.

Previously, the Devouring Spirit Body was not very useful to Yang Zhengshan, because size did not increase combat power during battle; on the contrary, being too large would affect agility.

The primary use of the Devouring Spirit Body was to replenish Yang Zhengshan's mana. When his mana was depleted, Yang Zhengshan could use the Devouring Spirit Body to forcibly devour the spiritual energy of the Spirit Source Land to replenish his mana.

Now that Yang Zhengshan has the Thunderfire Spear, he can use it in conjunction with the Spirit Devouring Avatar to suppress opponents in close combat.

"Thank you for your hard work!" Yang Zhengshan put away the Thunderfire Spear with satisfaction and patted Yang Jizhen on the shoulder.

"It wasn't hard work, haha. With this experience, I can try to forge my own magical artifacts next!" Yang Jizhen said excitedly.

The Thunderfire Spear was modified from the trident. Although it was not much different from refining a new magical weapon, it was still a modification and not something that Yang Jizhen had refined from scratch according to his own ideas.

With the experience of modifying the Thunderfire Spear, Yang Jizhen gained more confidence in refining magical weapons.

"Haha, good! You can take any ore you need from my treasure vault!" Yang Zhengshan said happily.

"Really?" Yang Jizhen was both surprised and delighted.

"Of course!" Yang Zhengshan affirmed.

"Hehe, then I won't be polite!" Yang Jizhen rubbed his hands together, feeling an irresistible urge to get started.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "Go!"

Compared to those established Golden Core forces, his treasure vault seemed rather meager, but compared to those Foundation Establishment forces, Yang Zhengshan was now considered a tycoon.

In particular, in recent years, Zhenyang Immortal City has allocated him a lot of minerals, most of which are third-order spiritual materials that can be used to refine spiritual weapons.

The only downside is that most of the Tier 3 spirit creatures produced by the Sun Giant Mountain are fire-attribute spirit creatures, with very few spirit creatures of other attributes.

Yang Zhengshan himself doesn't know how to refine artifacts, and there are no other outstanding artifact refiners in the Spirit Source Land. Rather than letting these spiritual items gather dust in the treasure vault, it's better to let Yang Jizhen practice first.

After acquiring the Thunderfire Spear, Yang Zhengshan picked up his spear skills again, which he had previously abandoned.

In the northern part of the Spirit Source Land, Yang Zhengshan found a mountain forest to use as a training ground.

As Yang Zhengshan stood atop Broken Cloud Cliff, his Thunderfire Spear planted firmly on the ground, the black iron shaft of the spear already stirred up the thunderclouds of the heavens. He made a hand seal with his fingertips, and the copper bell at the end of the spear suddenly rang out, the sound carrying for thirty miles, causing the sea of ​​clouds below the cliff to surge like boiling water.

As he unleashed the "Thunder and Fire Burn the Heavens" technique, his toes touched the ground, and his entire body soared into the air along with the spear shaft. Azure lightning erupted from the spear tip, transforming into a ten-zhang-long thunder dragon that coiled around the spear, while golden flames surged from the blood groove, condensing into the phantom of a three-legged golden crow.

As the spear tip traced an arc, the Thunder Dragon and the Golden Crow clashed, blasting out a sky full of azure-gold sparks. Each spark that landed created a scorched crater half a zhang deep.

"Azure Thunder Locks the Mountain"

His arms spread out like the wings of a roc, the spear shaft taut and straight. Azure lightning climbed up the spear shaft towards the sky, weaving a giant net in the clouds, while golden flames spread along the cliff face, burning the hundred-foot-high rocks crimson. As the spear tip trembled, dozens of azure lightning bolts cleaved down from the net, striking precisely at the edge of the flame wave, blasting rocks into the air with golden fire.

"Purple Mansion Meteor"

He channeled the power of the Golden Elixir into the spear, causing the azure lightning at the spearhead to shrink into a tiny core, while the golden flames surged into a twenty-foot-long pillar of fire. With a thrust, the lightning core pierced the air, detonating the pillar of fire along its path and transforming into a cyan-gold fire dragon that stretched across the heavens and earth. The thousand-foot-tall peak opposite the cliff was swept by the fire dragon and severed in two, with the broken sections still crackling with lightning and fire.

In the next instant, his body suddenly grew more than ten feet tall, and the Thunderfire Spear in his hand also grew to more than ten feet long. The shaft was as thick as an old pine tree, and golden flames surged from the blood groove. It was no longer the previous flame, but turned into a wave of flames that stretched for more than ten feet. When the tip of the spear swayed, even the air was burned and distorted.

He swung his spear horizontally, the ten-foot-long shaft carrying azure lightning and golden flames, actually shattering half of the mountain beside Broken Cloud Cliff. Amidst the flying debris, azure lightning condensed into a thunder prison in mid-air, while golden flames fell to the ground and transformed into a river of fire. Where the two forces collided, a vortex of azure-gold thunder and fire was created, shredding all the spiritual energy within a radius of a hundred feet.

A colossal figure thrust its spear straight into the sky. The azure lightning at the spear tip suddenly collapsed, condensing into a lightning spear over ten feet long; the golden flames at the spear's tail surged in reverse, coalescing into a three-legged golden crow at the end of the shaft. With a single thrust, the lightning spear pierced through the clouds, and the golden crow, carrying fire in its mouth, pursued relentlessly, creating a pillar of azure-gold light that pierced through the heavens and earth, causing the spiritual veins a hundred miles away to tremble.

As he landed, his giant foot shattered half of the cliff face, but he was completely unaware, only staring at the lightning and fire flickering from the tip of his spear and chuckling lightly.

"Hahaha, this move is called Thunderfire Piercing the Void!"

He could sense that if he had put in a little more effort, his Thunder Spear Golden Crow would have shattered the void and opened a rift in the void.

Such powerful attack strength was almost unbelievable to him.

Of course, this is actually normal. Don't forget that Yang Zhengshan just used the Divine Thunder of Wood and the True Fire of the Sun. These two special energies are mixed together, and the power they unleash far exceeds the power of one plus one equals two.

However, the Thunderfire Gun was not without its flaws. To be precise, it wasn't the Thunderfire Gun's flaws, but rather Yang Zhengshan's own.

The Yi Wood Divine Thunder is alright, because Yang Zhengshan has cultivated the Qinghua Thunder Technique, and he can freely drive the Qinghua Thunder Pearl to release the Yi Wood Divine Thunder.

However, the True Fire of the Sun is not suitable for him. His True Fire of the Sun comes from the Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace. He does not possess the True Fire of the Sun himself and can only release it by relying on the fire of the Golden Crow Eight Trigrams Furnace.

This also means that he needs the cooperation of the Golden Crow when using the True Fire of the Sun.

In terms of energy circulation, this adds an extra step, requiring him to work in perfect harmony with the Golden Crow.

Of course, there are advantages as well. With the Thunderfire Spear, Yang Zhengshan will no longer need the Golden Crow to charge around recklessly when using the True Fire of the Sun in battle.

The Golden Crow doesn't know any magic, nor can it learn those conventional spells. Its only way of fighting is to borrow Yang Zhengshan's magic power to unleash the True Fire of the Sun and then charge directly at the enemy, without any skills or moves whatsoever.

Now that Yang Zhengshan has the Thunderfire Spear, he has more control over the True Sun Fire, allowing him to fight using the True Sun Fire in his own style.

Simply put, the Thunderfire Spear is Yang Zhengshan's tool for controlling the true fire of the sun. Yang Zhengshan can use the Thunderfire Spear to perform various fire-attribute spells and moves.

With the addition of the Yi Wood Divine Thunder, Yang Zhengshan's combat power increased significantly.

"It's not just the Divine Thunder of the Wood and the True Fire of the Sun, but also my Sole Spear Intent!"

Yang Zhengshan stroked the spear, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

The spear has always been his favorite.

Back in the day, he charged into battle amidst thousands of troops with just a long spear.

However, after he turned to cultivating immortality, spear techniques and spear intent became useless, and he could no longer find the thrill of close combat. Now, picking up the spear again has revitalized his once-dormant heart.

"Heaven and earth are but me, and the Dao is but me!"

The words came out of Yang Zhengshan's mouth in a low voice. In an instant, his spear thrust forward. There was no burst of lightning or fire, only a spear light carrying a sharp sound of tearing through the air, piercing through the gloomy sky.

Feeling the thrill of the moment, Yang Zhengshan kept waving his spear in mid-air.

This time, he used only simple spear techniques, without many fancy moves, nor as terrifying and violent as before. Only an invisible artistic conception lingered around him.

Is the Way of the Spear insignificant compared to the many supernatural powers and techniques?

Obviously not.

Isn't the way of the spear also a kind of supernatural power?
If swordsmanship and sword intent can quickly earn one the title of sword immortal, why can't spearmanship and spear intent create the title of spear immortal?
Why has the art of swordsmanship and sword intent become so popular?
Why is the art and intent of the spear limited to martial artists?
This is a complex issue, but it is not incomprehensible.

There are many reasons, but the main reasons are nothing more than three points. First, immortal cultivators pay more attention to magic and supernatural powers, and mainly use magic treasures and spiritual weapons in battle, rarely using close combat methods. Therefore, close combat weapons such as knives, spears, swords, and halberds were not the mainstream magic treasures and spiritual weapons at that time.

The reason why swords became the mainstream magical artifacts was mainly due to the popularity of sword control techniques, that is, flying swords, which have essentially broken away from the form of melee weapons.

The second reason is that there is relatively little inheritance. Everyone is cultivating magic and supernatural powers and fighting in the old way. Therefore, their research focuses on magic and supernatural powers and magical artifacts. Few people are willing to put their energy into researching something new.

This isn't being conservative; it's just a habit.

There's a saying that goes, "There were originally no roads in this world, but as more people walk on them, roads are formed."

There are many paths to immortality, each one paved by countless predecessors with their time and effort.

When later generations embark on the path to immortality, the first thing they choose is the path left by their ancestors. They will follow these paths, and they may have some new ideas along the way, but they will not turn back and start over. Instead, they will forge a new path halfway through.

Although they made innovations, their foundation was still the path left by their predecessors.

Take the cultivation realms of immortals as an example: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core.

Is this the only way to divide the cultivation realms of immortal cultivators?
Obviously not.

Martial artists are a clear example; the path of cultivation is not limited to Qi Refining and Foundation Building.

However, countless people have walked this path, leaving behind countless traditions, thus making the Qi Refining and Foundation Building method the mainstream of cultivation.

Similarly, magical spells, supernatural powers, and magical artifacts have become the mainstream combat methods for immortal cultivators, while techniques like spear fighting and sword fighting have become neglected.

In addition to the third reason, the difference in strength between immortal cultivators and martial artists makes many immortal cultivators feel that many things martial artists use are relatively low-level. Weapons such as swords, spears, and halberds are things that only martial artists use, and immortal cultivators have no need to study these things.

It is precisely because of these reasons that the way of the spear and the intent of the spear cannot be recognized by immortal cultivators.

Yang Zhengshan loved the essence of the spear and had a deep affection for the way of the spear, so he was willing to pick up the spear again and start practicing the way of the spear.

Now that he is a Golden Core cultivator and has a different understanding of the Dao, he has many different insights when he unleashes the Sole Self Spear Intent.

Gradually, his gun became less flamboyant and domineering, instead becoming calm and gentle, as if it had transformed from a ferocious beast into a docile kitten.

But if you really think it's a harmless little cutie, you're sorely mistaken.

A gun is a weapon for killing; no matter how docile it may be, it cannot conceal its deadly nature.

He lowered his waist and twisted his steps, and a half-foot-long green light suddenly shot up from the tip of his spear. The shaft of the spear moved like a serpent, the green light wrapping around the spear tip, drawing streaks of cold light, and faintly revealing an aura of the ethereal.

The seemingly calm marksmanship easily shattered the spatial barrier of the Celestial Palace.

Perhaps the spatial barriers of the Celestial Palace are not as strong as the world barriers of the main world, but they are not something that can be easily broken.

Yang Zhengshan's eyes flashed with a sharp light, but his face remained expressionless.

But the next moment, he actually took out a nine-patterned Bodhi seed and put it in his mouth.

This was the last nine-patterned Bodhi seed in his possession, yet he used it without hesitation to comprehend the essence of spear techniques.

It wasn't because he was too fond of the intent of the spear, but because he could sense that the intent of the spear also contained a powerful Dao intent, and he was only one step away from entering the Dao intent of the spear.

Once he crosses this threshold, he will be able to grasp a new Dao.

With the power of decay and prosperity, and the ability to transform one's body into nothingness, Yang Zhengshan has already grasped the basics of two types of divine abilities, and now he is about to acquire the third type.

In fact, for Golden Core cultivators, the essence of supernatural powers lies in quality, not quantity.

It is better to reach a higher level in one particular supernatural power than to comprehend multiple supernatural powers.

While various supernatural powers and techniques may bring powerful combat strength, they cannot improve one's cultivation level.

Yang Zhengshan stood holding his spear, his ten-zhang-tall body like a steel mountain. The black iron spear shaft, having gathered ninety percent of his magical power, gleamed with a cold, hard black light. The spear tip, though sharp and still, had already solidified the surrounding air into a tangible form.

He lowered his left arm to his abdomen to stabilize the gun, while his right hand gripped the butt of the gun like an iron band. The joints moved together, producing a metallic clang. The cold glint at the tip of the gun shone smaller and smaller until it shrank to the size of a needle tip.

"break!"

Before the low shout had even finished, the spear tip had already been thrust forward. There was no dazzling light, only an extremely fast spear shadow that tore through space, creating a sharp air burst as it did so. The spatial barrier in front of them seemed to be crushed by an invisible force, first showing fine white marks, then shattering layer by layer, revealing the gray void behind them.

The instant the spear pierced the crack, the wind within a hundred feet was sucked away, leaving only the vacuum trail created by the spear's momentum.

Ripples spread through the void, swallowing up the surrounding light, sound, and even spiritual energy. When the force of the spear subsided, the cracks in the spatial barrier receded like a tide, leaving only a bottomless hole. Spiral-shaped energies lingered at the edge of the hole, and anything touched would be shredded into pieces. A faint wailing could be heard from the depths of the void.

As soon as the spear was unleashed, Yang Zhengshan's more than ten-foot-tall body suddenly shrank by half. After taking a deep breath, the scattered energy around him was smoothed out again. Although the cold light at the tip of the spear was weak, it had gained a more solid and sharp edge.

(End of this chapter)