I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 26 Hong Jiu
After playing three consecutive matches, Wu Ming was also feeling a bit tired.

He temporarily stepped aside to rest while recalling the previous battles and summarizing the experience gained in actual combat. He gradually gained some understanding of marksmanship and was no longer in the primitive state of only knowing how to exert force.

Seeing Wu Ming resting to the side, the crowd didn't remain idle. Soon, more people came forward to spar and hone their skills. Most of the people in this courtyard had reached the level of freehand fighting and were honing their techniques through actual combat in order to reach the realm of mastery.

After resting for a while and watching a few more sparring matches, Wu Ming picked up his gun and went back into the arena.

this time,

He fought against someone who had only practiced his skills for two months and had just begun to enter the realm of freehand fighting. His strength was far inferior to Chen Gui and others, and he was also much weaker than Li Cui.

After a brief exchange, and more than ten moves later, Wu Ming struck his opponent in the left chest with a single shot, causing him to stagger back several steps. This was Wu Ming's first victory after trying out real combat.

Next, Wu Ming mingled among the crowd and practiced for half a day at a time, becoming more and more proficient in actual combat.

While everyone was honing their skills...

An elderly man in a black mandarin jacket walked leisurely through the front yard with his hands behind his back. His gaze casually swept over the many martial artists practicing their strength in the yard. Some people noticed the old man's appearance and quickly bowed respectfully.

"Old Hong."

As the manager of the martial arts academy, Hong Jiu was old and his blood and physique were no longer at their peak when he was young, but he was, after all, a master who had condensed blood three times, so his prestige was naturally not low.

Hong Jiu watched as several martial arts masters from the inner courtyard approached, then lazily waved his hand and said, "I just came to take a look around. You don't need to follow me. Go about your business."

After all,

He strolled around the courtyard, seemingly leisurely and nonchalant, but his constantly glancing eyes were taking in all the movements of the people practicing in the courtyard.

As the manager of the martial arts academy, he rarely personally instructed others in martial arts. However, if someone offered him thirty or fifty taels of silver, he would be willing to give them some pointers. Therefore, he would still come to the martial arts academy for a stroll every now and then.

After taking a tour of the South Campus, I entered the North Campus, where I honed my practical skills.

After a casual glance, Hong Jiu's gaze suddenly shifted, looking towards a direction to the west. His eyes fell on a person sparring and fighting in the arena, who was holding a long spear. It was Wu Ming.

"Ok?"

As a master of three-times blood clotting, even though he was old, his memory was still far superior to that of ordinary people. Hong Jiu vaguely remembered that Wu Ming should have entered the inner courtyard with his martial arts token not long ago, and finally chose to practice spear techniques. It must have been no more than ten days.

In just ten days, he not only mastered the power of spear techniques and reached the level of freehand fighting, but also became so proficient in actual combat.
Hong Jiu was somewhat surprised.

After a moment's thought, he beckoned to a servant standing beside him and asked, "What's the name of that kid with the gun? What's his background?"

"Reporting to Elder Hong, his name is Wu Ming. He is of average or below-average talent and entered the outer hall on the fourth day of the month."

The servant immediately responded respectfully.

The martial arts instructors at the martial arts academy might not all recognize Wu Ming, since new martial artists enter and leave the academy almost every day. However, the servants knew everyone clearly, as they were responsible for handling various trivial matters for the martial artists, such as carrying water, moving sandbags, wooden stakes, and other equipment.

"Hmm, below average, not bad."

After hearing the servant's words, Hong Jiu looked thoughtful.

After observing for a short while, he put his hands behind his back, turned around leisurely, and strolled away, while instructing the servant beside him, "A quarter of an hour later, please ask him to come to the backyard to see me."

"Yes."

The servant responded respectfully, and after watching Hong Jiu leave, a hint of envy appeared in his eyes as he looked at Wu Ming. As the manager of the Martial Academy and the most senior three-time Blood Condensation expert, Hong Jiu rarely summoned martial artists from the outer hall. The fact that he summoned Wu Ming alone like this was probably because he felt that Wu Ming's talent and aptitude were decent. Although he was not qualified to enter the inner hall, he was still worth a little guidance from him.

……

"Does Elder Hong want to see me?"

Wu Ming, carrying his ox-tendon spear, looked at the servant who had come to summon him with a hint of surprise.

Having been at the Martial Academy for nearly ten days, he had only met the old steward Hong Jiu a few times and had never spoken to him. He had no idea why the old steward suddenly wanted to see him.

"Old Hong has summoned you, so hurry over."

Chen Gui stood aside, nodded slightly to Wu Ming, and whispered, "This old Mr. Hong is no ordinary person. In his youth, he was a great figure who had achieved the Blood Condensation Realm three times, and his skill level had even reached the Unity Realm!"

"Old Master Hong has summoned you this time, perhaps because he has heard of your talent in the arts and intends to give you some pointers. This is a good thing. In this courtyard, ordinary people would have to offer at least several dozen taels of silver to be personally instructed by Old Master Hong."

After hearing Chen Gui's words, Wu Ming understood. He immediately took off his leather armor, picked up his ox-tendon spear, and followed the servant who had come to summon him. They left the front yard and soon arrived at the back yard where various martial arts manuals were kept.

in the courtyard.

Hong Jiu stood there with his hands behind his back, dressed in a black cloth jacket.

Wu Ming walked in carrying a gun, and when he was about ten feet away, he respectfully saluted Hong Jiu.

"Junior Wu Ming greets Elder Hong."

Hong Jiu had his back to Wu Ming. After hearing Wu Ming's words, he turned around leisurely, looked Wu Ming up and down, and suddenly said, "The seven spear techniques collected in the outer hall are: Chasing Wind, Falling Leaves, Bagua, Liuhe, Breaking Formation, Double Snake, and Antelope Horn... Among them, Double Snake and Chasing Wind are two-handed short spears, while the other five are two-handed long spears."

"The Falling Leaf Spear Technique you practice emphasizes precise strikes. When the wind blows down leaves, you raise your spear and thrust it, aiming to hit all the leaves in an instant and gather them at the tip of the spear. With this kind of precision, you can naturally strike vital points with every move when facing an enemy."

After all,

Hong Jiu raised his chin at Wu Mingwei and said, "You come and attack me."

"This……"

Wu Ming hesitated slightly.

Hong Jiu said leisurely, "No need to worry, just go all out. Even though I'm empty-handed, you can't hurt me."

"Yes, then I will be very rude."

Seeing Hong Jiu say this, Wu Ming respectfully responded, saluted with his gun, then gripped the gun with both hands and thrust it forward. As the gun trembled, three points of cold light appeared, attacking Hong Jiu's throat and eyes respectively.

It is the first move of the sixteen moves of the Falling Leaf Spear Technique.

Faced with Wu Ming's attack, Hong Jiu still kept his hands behind his back, only slightly swaying his feet and gracefully taking a step to the side. The movement seemed slow, but it was actually extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, he skillfully avoided Wu Ming's spear thrust.

Although the missed attack was expected, it still gave Wu Ming a slight shock. If he didn't have a level of perception that reached the microscopic level, he probably wouldn't have been able to see Hong Jiu's movements clearly, and even if he could see them, his body movements wouldn't have been able to keep up at all.

The difference between the two is vast, even just in terms of speed.

(End of this chapter)