How Do We Play If This Boss Isn't Nerfed?-Chapter 54 - 53: A Thousand Staffs of Toil Not in Vain, True Spear Intent Finally Gained
Lin Ye was stunned!
This astonishing strike was the ultimate demonstration of his exquisite spear technique!
After the successful thrust, Chen Meng flicked his wrist, and the spear’s shaft trembled violently!
With a crisp crack, countless spiderweb-like fissures instantly spread across the alloy dummy’s hard chest plate, radiating from the small hole that had been pierced through it!
Then, Chen Meng pulled the spear back and retreated, his momentum shifting as he transitioned from a thrust to a sweep.
The long spear carved a perfect crescent arc in his hands, letting out a sharp whistle as it tore through the air and viciously struck the dummy’s waist!
THUD!!!
Amid the dull thud of impact, the alloy dummy, weighing several hundred kilograms, was actually sent flying off the ground by the sweep, hurtling several meters backward!
Lin Ye felt his scalp tingle.
He could tell that Chen Meng was currently suppressing his Qi and Blood output and cultivation level to be roughly on par with his own.
But the moment he executed those two moves,
he instantly felt that an insurmountable chasm separated him from his teacher!
His Staff Skill also had sweeps.
But there was no way he could unleash the same terrifying power as Chen Meng.
After the specially made dummy fell, it instantly sprang back up. Chen Meng waited for it to stabilize.
The long spear in his hand became a sky full of afterimages, a continuous, unending blur.
He demonstrated every single move of the spear technique for Lin Ye.
Each movement was concise to the extreme, yet utterly ruthless!
Lin Ye stared intently at his teacher’s every move, not daring to blink.
He committed every detail to memory.
Gradually, Lin Ye felt himself fall into a trance.
It was as if he saw a ray of heavenly light tearing through dark clouds.
A bolt of lightning that could cleave through a thousand-man army!
Cloud-Piercing Army!
’What a vivid name for a spear technique, and so domineering!’
As the final movement froze, Chen Meng had already retracted his spear and stood still. The tip of the spear was poised perfectly before the dummy’s battered and caved-in throat, not off by a hair’s breadth.
And the incredibly sturdy alloy dummy was now completely deformed, its body covered in terrifying holes and dents.
All this destruction had been caused by a wooden spear!
Lin Ye let out a long breath.
’He’s too strong!’
Chen Meng casually tossed the wooden spear, and it landed precisely back on the weapon rack in the corner.
Then, he picked up a very ordinary alloy staff from the side and tossed it to Lin Ye. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
Lin Ye caught it instinctively, his face a mask of confusion.
A cold smile tugged at the corner of Chen Meng’s mouth.
"What? You didn’t actually think you could use a spear just by watching me a couple of times, did you?"
"Your foundation in Staff Skill is very good. You’ve already developed muscle memory."
"If I let you use a spear now, you’d just subconsciously use staff moves. The form might be similar, but the spirit would be completely different."
"You will use a staff for now. My requirement is that while maintaining the essence of your original Staff Skill, you must also express the intent of the spear technique I just taught you."
"Only when you’re holding a staff, but what I see is a spear, will you have truly begun to learn."
"At that point, you can start practicing with a real spear."
After speaking, Chen Meng paid him no further mind and turned to walk out of the training room.
He knew that this kind of fundamental shift in concept was the most painful and arduous process.
He had seen too many students switch weapons on a whim, only to end up as a mess of contradictions.
This was a hurdle Lin Ye could only overcome himself, through his own insight and grinding effort.
In the empty training room, only Lin Ye and the battered alloy dummy remained.
He gripped the alloy staff, closed his eyes, and replayed every detail of Chen Meng’s demonstration in his mind over and over.
After a long while, he opened his eyes.
He moved another dummy over from the side and began to practice.
He mimicked Chen Meng’s movements—stepping forward, twisting his waist, extending his shoulder, and thrusting the staff forward with all his might!
However, when the tip of the staff hit the dummy, it only produced a dull thud, leaving behind a faint white mark.
The force was completely dispersed.
He then tried to combine his familiar heavy staff style with the spear’s thrust.
The result was even more awkward.
The entire movement was stiff and sluggish. It was neither a staff technique nor a spear technique, just a ridiculous, clumsy mess.
Lin Ye was not discouraged.
If one attempt failed, he would try ten times.
If ten attempts failed, he would try a hundred!
...
「Night fell.」
A long time had passed since school let out, and the bustling campus had fallen silent.
During that time, aside from calling his mother to tell her he was training at school, Lin Ye was completely immersed in practice and contemplation.
Inside the training room, the dull sounds of impact and heavy panting echoed tirelessly.
Time passed, one second at a time.
Two hours.
Three hours.
When Chen Meng returned, the scene he saw through the training room’s glass window made his eyes flicker.
The floor of the training room was soaked in a large patch, with Lin Ye at its center!
It was all sweat!
And Lin Ye was still tirelessly repeating a single motion—the thrust.
It was the most fundamental, and also the most central, movement in any spear technique.
Chen Meng didn’t make a sound, just stood in the shadows outside the door, observing quietly.
He saw that Lin Ye’s every thrust was still somewhat clumsy.
But...
at some point, the sound of the staff’s tip cutting through the air had changed!
It was no longer a dull whoosh.
Instead, it was a sharp sound, one with a cutting edge to it!
He saw that with every thrust, the shaft of the staff in Lin Ye’s hand was drawn taut and straight, all of its power precisely focused on the single point of its tip!
Although its power was still far from his own, the "intent"—that spear intent of focusing all power into a single point, pressing forward relentlessly to break through anything—was already beginning to take shape!
Undisguised admiration bloomed in Chen Meng’s eyes!
’This kid...’
’All his previous staff practice wasn’t for nothing!’
In the path of martial arts, constant dripping wears away a stone.
The effort you’ve put in and the sweat you’ve shed will eventually reward you in ways you never expected.
He had originally thought Lin Ye would need at least three or four days to shift his mindset from a staff to a spear.
Then, he could enter the "form-similar" stage of the spear technique.
But in just three or four short hours, he had already taken the first step into that stage.
Chen Meng knew that the only thing Lin Ye lacked to reach the Intention Realm was probably just a catalyst!
Chen Meng pushed the door open and entered.
"Stop!"
Chen Meng’s voice was like a clap of thunder, echoing through the empty training room.
Lin Ye’s movements came to an abrupt halt. He slowly turned around, his chest heaving violently, sweat dripping from his chin onto the floor.
"Teacher."
"I taught you for over three hours, and this is all you have to show for it?"
Chen Meng strode forward, kicked aside the scattered alloy parts on the floor, and began to berate him without holding back:
"I taught you a spear technique for killing people, not a fire poker for poking through window paper!"
"If I went outside right now and grabbed a pig to teach, it would have probably figured it out by now! How are you still stuck here, motionless as a wooden stump!"
He unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse.
Every word was merciless.
But after he finished scolding, he snatched the alloy staff, which had grown hot in Lin Ye’s grip, and demonstrated himself.
"Watch closely! Your problem is here!"
Chen Meng’s wrist dropped, and the tip of the staff instantly tapped a dent on the dummy’s chest.
"The force from your waist and hips is disconnected from the force extended by your arm! It’s off by a fraction of a second! That tiny fraction of a second is causing eighty percent of your power to dissipate halfway!"
"And this move! After you thrust, you need a snapping force! This is meant to be a probing move. If it doesn’t hit, you change tactics immediately, not just stand there like an idiot having used up all your strength!"
