Cultivation

After finishing 1500 thrusts, Xue Ying was soaked with his sweat. He had lost the feeling in his right arm, and it was too numb to move. He relied solely on his willpower to complete the 1500 thrusts.

"Water." Xue Ying asked with a hoarse voice.

"Master, here." The servant, who was watching from the side, was startled by the rough training of her young master and quickly brought him water.

Xue Ying picked up the large cup with his left hand and finished the whole cup in one gulp.

Soon after that, he continued practicing the "Three Stage Flame Technique"!

While cultivating Dou Qi, the muscles and bones of the body would begin to itch. This time, the most obviously affected areas were his right arm and hand. It was clear that the Heavens and Earth mysterious power from that day was drilling into his right arm and hand continuously. The more exhausted the body was…. the more effective the Dou Qi cultivation was! Naturally, the body mustn't be exhausted to the point of collapsing. At the rate Dong Bo Xue Ying was practicing, an average person would likely have destroyed themselves after ten days. However, he was able to take an expensive medicinal bath everyday! After a year of these baths, most noble families would have gone bankrupt!

After Xue Ying practiced this routine three times, his ability to absorb the power of the Heavens and the Earth had already greatly diminished. As a result, he decided to stop. His left arm seemed to be fully restored, but his right hand was still a tad sore.

"Start to lead the spear with the left hand."

"Come at me." As Xue Ying stared at the alchemic dummy in front of him with shining eyes, he held his spear with his left hand and used his right hand as support. Then he violently thrusted the spear!

...

"Tong San, have you seen Xue Ying?"

"No, I haven't."

Zong Ling and Tong San were both confused and surprised. It was almost lunch time, yet Xue Ying was nowhere to be found. And since Baron and Baroness Dong Bo have just been captured, they were even more worried about Xue Ying.

"Where is the Lord?" Zong Ling and Tong San asked one of the chambermaids.

The maid replied quickly, "Our Lord has been at the martial practice grounds since this morning."

"He is still at the martial practice grounds? It's almost noon," Tong San asked in slight astonishment. "Xue Ying usually practices for two to four hours at most in the morning, but it has already been six hours since morning!"

Zong Ling hurried toward the martial practice grounds without another word.

As they got closer to the training area, they heard the constant clashing sound of powerful collisions. Zong Ling and Tong San glanced at each other before opening the door to the training area.

"This..." Both of them were stunned by the young man in front of them.

The youth, whose whole body was flushed red, was holding the spear tightly, thrusting and slashing continuously at the alchemic dummy.

He exerted power from his waist and angrily slashed out with the spear!

One, two, three times... In the same manner, the spear continuously streaked across the vast sky with growing strength. In the instant he struck the alchemic dummy, his speed and ferocity reached its peak.

The youth’s skin had turned red, steaming because of his body’s extreme heat.

"His blood and his Dou Qi have surged to this level already?" Zong Ling mumbled.

"Xue Ying, are you crazy? Stop practicing and take a break!" Tong San said anxiously. He had never seen Xue Ying like this. He was worried that Xue Ying had overextended himself by surpassing his limit.

"Wait a moment! I am not finished," Xue Ying said.

"Don't worry, Xue Ying takes medicinal baths every day. He will be fine. I think he just needs to let it all out." Zong Ling was concerned about Xue Ying, not because of over exertion, but because Xue Ying might dwell on his misery. After all, his body will heal and repair itself once he took his daily medicinal bath. He knew Xue Ying since he was a little baby, and he doesn't wish for Xue Ying’s character to become eccentric.

Xue Ying turned his face towards his uncles and smiled, "Uncle Zong, Uncle Ting, don't worry about me. I will be fine." He wasn't doing this just to vent. It was because after he read the secret book of marksmanship of Transcendent Knights, he created a training plan. He started this training plan after reading the Dark Ice Spear.

A secret book cannot turn you into a Transcendent. In order to become a Transcendent, you must be dedicated and do a lot of hard work.

Once again, the time to drink a small cup of tea had past. Xue Ying practiced the"Three Stage Flame Technique"twice before ending his morning training!

...

After lunch, Xue Ying played with his little brother for a while before heading out for his afternoon training.

"Ha!"

He exerted strength in both of his hands, thrusting his spear forward. He had thrust using the strength of his whole body through his arms, increasing the ferocity of the thrust!

His spear constantly, and with exceptional precision, landed lethal strikes on the alchemic dummy's face, neck and chest.

That was the fourth part of his spear training -- Double handed stabbing!

...

After 2000 double handed stabs, it was time to practice his Dou Qi.

"Fire the arrows!" Xue Ying ordered.

"Yes, my lord." Ten meters away, ten servants stood, hesitantly holding their bows and arrows despite the arrows being tipless. In the past, Dong Bo Xue Ying had always had his father as a training partner, but now he was immediately jumping to arrows... If he were unable to block and was struck by the arrows, it would still be extremely painful even without the tips. It might even puncture the skin and draw blood.

The servants were really worried.

"Quick, do as I ordered you earlier!" Xue Ying ordered again. The servants had to obey.

Shoosh!

They started with one arrow as Xue Ying used his spear to block it.

Again

Even though there were ten meters of distance and the servants were untrained, the arrows were still quite fast. Xue Ying had mastered the art of blocking really well, slashing, blocking, and dodging the arrows

Now the stakes had been raised. With two arrows coming at him at a time, Xue Ying seemed to have some difficulty. He got shot by three to four arrows out of ten. His body was covered in bruises and cuts, but small injuries like that wouldn’t stop him.

...

The "Soul Spear Technique" was the origin of 10,000 spear techniques and can be called the foundation of all spear techniques in the Xia Dynasty. If one just practiced the movements, his only success would be superficial. One must practice it with resolve repetitively to realize that even the most ordinary of movements possess astonishing power!

There were six phases to Xue Ying's spear training: Stabs with left hand, stabs with right hand, double handed stabs, blocking, and freestyle attacks. Between these sessions, he used his Dou Qi to relieve the soreness in his body. Otherwise he would not stand a chance at enduring such an intense training plan….

He trained for twelve hours a day!

Immediately after training, he went to take a medicinal bath. His body was on the verge of collapse, but he found relief as his body sunk into the bath. It gave him a fighting chance at getting stronger! His body, especially his arms and palms, were changing. They were more muscular, and the bones were harder after breaking and repairing itself continuously.

When night fell, Xue Ying ate and played with his little brother. After reading some books, he went to sleep.

...

He looked very tired, but in fact, he was just i as exhausted as a commoner who had worked all day. Once he made a habit of this, it would feel normal to him. Dong Bo Xue Ying could feel that his spear technique had improved as well, in addition to his body becoming even more powerful. As a result, his exhaustion was overshadowed by his euphoria at improving.

He even smiled when he was practicing spear techniques. Sometimes, he would stop and think, but it was clear that he was immersed in the wonders of spear techniques and not daydreaming... Because of his complete devotion to the spear, he had progressed at an astonishing speed.

...

Winter two years later.

The snow fell heavily.

A handsome and strong young man could be seen practicing with a long black spear while his servant held a shield. The shield was covered with a thick layer of animal skin and cotton. It seemed a little bit ridiculous, but without the extra protection from the animal skins and cottons, none of the servants could withstand the force of his blows.

The servant kept on dodging left and right, but Xue Ying suddenly thrusted his spear. The spear rotated and flew like a dragon, creating a hissing sound. In a flash, the spear had already stabbed the shield, causing the servant to tremble under its strength. This spear was decent , but if it was a slash, it would have been even more powerful!

"My Lord, I can't dodge it no matter how..." That brawny servant trailed off bitterly .

"If you can dodge it once, you’ll get a silver coin. So you guys, train well, " Xue Ying said. The servants at the side were filled with envy, one silver coin was a month of their salary. And not long before, some servant would occasionally successfully dodge the attacks. Xue Ying had given away hundreds of silver coins in total, but now, it was really difficult to win even one silver coin.

"I haven't made any progress over the past few days. I think I have reached a bottleneck," Xue Ying said to himself. "According to the Transcendent Knight of Dark Ice Spear's book, I should start practicing on 'withholding' my power?"

One needed to be able to release and withhold one's power.

Suddenly--

"My Lord, My Lord, bad news, bad news." A maid screamed as she rushed into the martial grounds.

Xue Ying knew something bad must have happened. He asked, "What's wrong?"

"It’s Lord Zong Ling. He is heavily injured." The maid said, "There’s blood everywhere."

"Uncle Zong!"

Xue Ying was greatly alarmed. Zong Ling had been taking care of the territory for the last two years so he could practice his spear without any disturbances. "Where is my Uncle Zong right now?"

"Mr. Zong is at his home. Mr. Tong is there too." The maid said quickly.

Xue Ying put down his long spear and darted out to Zong Ling's place.