I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 25 tempering
Red Python Spear.

Wu Ming knew that this was a spear made of the finest red python wood, far superior to the ox sinew spear in his hand. If bought outside, it would cost at least forty taels of silver. Even within the Seven Martial Alliance, if purchased from the 'Weapon Refining Hall,' one of the seven inner halls, it would cost a full thirty taels. Its value was considerable.

As for the monthly salary of ten taels of silver...

There are many kinds of jobs for Blood Clotting Warriors. Jobs like escorting goods require going out of the city and to distant places. Because of the danger, the rewards are quite high, and they are often paid by the "trip".

Services such as patrolling mountains, rivers, and guarding manors, which are located outside the city, are also quite expensive.

Judging from Chen Gui's asking price, it shouldn't be a job outside the city, but more likely a job staying inside the city. And a job staying inside the city can pay ten taels of silver a month, which is indeed not low. For a casual martial artist, six or seven taels is usually not considered small, and for a master martial artist, it is usually thirteen or fourteen taels a month.

"I was just saying, you can think about it slowly."

Chen Gui patted Wu Ming on the shoulder, grinned, and stepped back. Then he looked at the other young martial artists not far away and shouted, "Hey, who else wants to practice? Come and spar with Brother Wu."

The young martial artists were astonished that Wu Ming could withstand Chen Gui's dozens of moves. When they heard Chen Gui's shout, they all became interested. The main reason was that long spears were difficult to master these days, so there were few people who practiced them. To hone their combat skills, they had to fight against all sorts of people. It was rare to meet someone like Wu Ming who practiced spears, so they all wanted to try fighting against him.

After all, it was clear before that Wu Ming was able to hold out for so long mainly because he relied on the advantage of the long spear.

"Brother Wu, could you please offer some guidance?"

Someone stepped forward and invited Wu Ming to join them.

Wu Ming naturally wouldn't refuse. He was still recalling the details of his previous battle with Chen Gui. Now that he had reached this point, he really needed the tempering of actual combat. So he took a few steps forward, returned to the open space, and accepted the invitation with his spear held high.

"I practice single-edged sword techniques and have barely mastered them. Brother Wu, please make the first move."

He Jin stood with his knife in hand and bowed to Wu Ming. Because of Chen Gui's extensive social connections, he and Wu Ming were acquainted, but their relationship was far more distant. They only knew each other's names. Although he came from a wealthy family in the city, he was not as well-off as Chen Gui. He had also practiced martial arts since childhood and had reached the level of mastery. However, he had lost more often than not when he fought Chen Gui.

Upon hearing He Jin's words, Wu Ming naturally wouldn't hold back, since the other party's skill level was higher than his. He immediately flicked his spear and thrust it forward, aiming straight for the center of He Jin's chest.

Having gained experience from his previous encounter with Chen Gui, Wu Ming had a basic understanding of the practical application of spear techniques. The saying goes, "An inch longer, an inch stronger," and maintaining distance is key. At the same time, by holding the butt of the spear and shaking it slightly after exerting force, the spearhead would swing, thus creating many flexible moves, which are the sixteen main moves of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique.

Swish.

Faced with Wu Ming's thrust, He Jin immediately turned to the side and simultaneously slashed down with his single blade, deflecting the spear.

Unlike before, Wu Ming had already planned the follow-up when he thrust out his spear. After the spear was dodged to the side, he gripped the butt of the spear tightly with his right hand, exerted force, and in an instant, the spearhead shifted and swept diagonally towards He Jin.

It was precisely the "Returning Breeze Swaying Willow" move from the sixteen forms of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique!
Although the moves were crude and far from skillful, the power contained within them was real, fierce and unparalleled. When the spear swept back, it produced a buzzing sound. If this spear hit, even someone wearing leather armor would be injured by the shock.

He Jin sensed something was wrong and immediately dodged to make way for Wu Ming's spear.

Without hesitation, Wu Ming pressed his advantage, continuing forward with his spear. After a brief respite, he followed up with a "Pear Blossom Strike," his spear thrusting upwards at the throat like a pear blossom.

He Jin originally relied on his mastery of the Dao to let Wu Ming make the first move, but he did not expect that Wu Ming was much more skilled when fighting him than when he fought Chen Gui. He immediately took advantage of the spear to launch a series of attacks, which forced He Jin to retreat repeatedly.

"Good idea."

Chen Gui stood aside, marveling at the sight.

Most people would be intimidated when facing an opponent whose skill level is superior to their own, and would not dare to make any moves for fear of being caught out. But Wu Ming did the opposite, relying on the power of his spear to launch a series of attacks.

Although his techniques were clearly clumsy and there were flaws in the transitions, the problem was that the spear was ultimately "long," and the saying "an inch longer, an inch stronger" was perfectly demonstrated here. Even though there were flaws in the transitions, the distance hadn't been closed, and He Jin couldn't seize these flaws for a while, so he had to retreat and parry repeatedly. "Brother Wu, you've chosen a good spear technique. Although spear techniques are difficult to master, I see that you use them so skillfully. You're probably a natural talent for spear fighting. Once you've mastered your spear technique, you'll likely be a match for few martial artists of the same level."

Someone next to him said.

It's not surprising that a free-style martial artist might gain a slight advantage when facing a master martial artist with a long weapon against a short weapon. After all, even a free-style martial artist knows at least a few moves, though they may not be as refined or fluid as a master. When they launch an attack, their moves are truly powerful, but they often start to fall apart after a few moves.

But Wu Mingchu's ability to develop such awareness through actual combat training only shows that some people are born to learn martial arts.

Swish!Swish!Swish!
He Jin was caught off guard by Wu Ming's aggressive attacks and was in a bit of a mess. However, he was a skilled martial artist after all. After several awkward moves, he finally regained his footing and exchanged blows with Wu Ming. After dozens of moves, he finally found an opening and charged in with his knife.

"Brother Wu, you are too kind."

After winning the game, He Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he had already faced Chen Gui, it wasn't shameful for him to fail to defeat Wu Ming in dozens of moves. However, if he made a careless move and Wu Ming counterattacked and won, he would lose face big time. As long as he could win now, he could at least save face.

Of course, this was also because he let Wu Ming attack first. Otherwise, if he hadn't given an inch from the start and had directly engaged in a fierce battle, he might not have ended up in such a sorry state, where Wu Ming had gained the upper hand and suppressed him one after another.

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother He."

Wu Ming, on the other hand, was quite composed and bowed to He Jin.

If a free-fighting style is used against a mastery style, and the two can fight for dozens of moves, even with the advantage of their weapons, it is already quite amazing. In reality, if he did not have a subtle level of perception, he would not be able to last ten moves with a skill difference of one major realm.

"Brother Chen, Brother He, if you two act like this, I'm a little hesitant to go up."

Someone nearby laughed upon seeing this.

Not everyone among them had reached the level of mastery. Apart from Chen Gui and He Jin, the others had not reached the level of mastery. Seeing how difficult it was for Chen Gui and He Jin to defeat Wu Ming with their mastery level skills, they were not confident in dealing with Wu Ming, who was just starting out in actual combat.

But sparring is ultimately a form of training, and soon someone took the initiative to step forward and challenge Wu Ming to a match.

"Brother Wu, my swordsmanship is not yet fully mastered, so I dare not let you have it. Let's begin."

Li Cui stepped forward with his sword and bowed to Wu Ming.

Wu Ming returned the greeting with a fist salute, and the two maintained a distance of one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) before suddenly engaging in combat.

Having gained experience from the previous two encounters, Wu Ming was more skilled this time. He immediately relied on the advantage of his spear to thrust, parry, and slash at Li Cui. Taking advantage of the distance of the spear, he forced Li Cui to retreat and dodge after a few short exchanges.

Once he gained the upper hand, Wu Ming naturally couldn't let Li Cui get close anymore. He continued to attack with his spear. Although Li Cui used his skillful sword techniques several times to try to break Wu Ming's spear technique and then quickly get close, He Jin was able to get close earlier because of his mastery of the knife technique. Li Cui's sword technique was obviously inferior and not as smooth and skillful, so he put much less pressure on Wu Ming.

With keen perception, Wu Ming firmly controlled the spear in his hand, repeatedly breaking Li Cui's sword moves.

in this way,

After exchanging over a hundred blows, Li Cui suddenly sheathed his sword and leaped back, panting, "I'm not fighting anymore! Damn it, this spear is too long and too difficult to break; I can't even get close."

Li Cui could sense that Wu Ming's marksmanship was becoming more and more proficient, and his several attempts to counterattack had been ineffective. If he continued fighting, he might lose. Although they were both at the same level of freehand fighting, losing was not shameful, but Wu Ming was still a beginner in actual combat, and he did not want to be the first person to lose to Wu Ming.

(End of this chapter)