His previous self had expended all of his effort and attention into raising his cultivation realm, allowing him to reach the Zhenqi realm at an exceptionally young age. As such, he had never come into contact with spearmanship.
Naturally, the current him who was a true-blue earthling had never come into contact with it either.
"Have never learned before?" Wang Chong was taken aback.
If he had never learned spearmanship, what views could they exchange?
A strange expression also appeared on Ouyang Cheng's face.
Hearing that Zhang Xuan wanted to learn spearmanship, he thought that he possessed at least a certain level of foundation in the art. That was also the reason why he termed it exchanging views instead of learning from him. In that way, Zhang Xuan would be able to retain some dignity, just... To think that he had never learned spearmanship!
Awkward!
If only he knew that he hadn't learned spearmanship previously, he would have just directed him to any random spearmanship teacher. There wouldn’t be a need to trouble his old friend.
"The situation is like this. I have a student who wants to study spearmanship, so I would like to learn a few moves now and teach him..." Seeing that everyone's gaze was on him, Zhang Xuan could only reveal his motive.
"Learn a few moves now? Teach someone else?" Wang Chong staggered backward and nearly fainted from astonishment.
Are you joking?
As the saying goes, a month with the stave, a year with the saber, and a lifetime with the spear!
Countless people had embarked on spearmanship from young, only to be unable to become a true initiate for their entire life. You haven't even learned the slightest thing, yet you intend to teach your student...
Aren't you being too gutsy? Or do you think that spearmanship is easy?
In an instant, Wang Chong's face darkened. The favorable impression he had of Zhang Xuan fell apart.
He had been training in the way of the spear for his entire life and already regarded the spear as an essential part of his life. He hated it when others belittled his art. Yet, this fellow hadn't even learned a single about it but intended to go about muddling his students... That was truly an insult to the way of the spear!
If not for his respect for the other party's identity as a 1-star apothecary and for his old friend Ouyang's dignity, he would have thrown him out.
Suppressing his displeasure, he stated, "Spearmanship is hard to practice and learn. It is an impossible task to achieve anything significant in a short period of time. If you were to teach others without fully grasping the art, it is likely that you misguide them!"
His voice was steeled.
"Er..." Noticing the displeasure on the other party's face, Zhang Xuan knew that it was probably impossible for him to learn spearmanship directly from the other party. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "How about this, does Brother Wang have any books regarding spearmanship here? If so, can you allow me to browse through them?"
"Browse through books?" Wang Chong frowned.
Spearmanship is a type of battle technique and every single movement requires the guidance and correction of an expert, as well as the refinement over a lengthy period of time. If one could learn that easily by reading books, one wouldn't have to train that hard.
However, even though he was skeptical of Zhang Xuan's purpose, upon witnessing him give up on his previous intentions, he heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Sure, I have a lot of such books here. It is also good for you to learn about how profound spearmanship is so that you won't be so reckless. I'll bring you over!"
As a spear master, nearly every single book on spearmanship that was in the kingdom was in his possession. As long as his family's secret spear technique wasn't leaked, it wasn't really a big deal for him to allow outsiders to browse through those fundamental books.
"Thank you!"
Zhang Xuan hurriedly nodded his head.
Spear arts, just like all other battle techniques, needed long hours of refinement in order for the form and the essence of the skill to shine through. However, Zhang Xuan was different. As long as he had sufficient books, he was able to create a powerful and concise spear art that was easy to learn.
"This is my study. I have almost all spear related books in Tianxuan Kingdom in here, as well as some exclusive collections!"
As the trio reached the study, Wang Chong gestured majestically with a proud expression.
He had paid quite a hefty sum to gather all of these books. These books had also helped to augment his spearmanship, bringing it to greater heights.
Looking inward, Zhang Xuan saw seven to eight entire bookshelves filled with all kinds of books elaborating on every single aspect of spearmanship.
"Ouyang, it has been long since you last came. Let's go grab a drink!"
Knowing that Zhang Xuan would take some time to read through some books, Wang Chong did not intend to wait here for him. Instead, he beckoned Ouyang Cheng toward another room.
"Alright!" Ouyang Cheng said and the two of them walked out.
"I should begin!"
Watching them leave, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief, walked up to a bookshelf and started flipping through the books.
Hualalala!
The sound of books flipping started to echo in the room and all sort of books on spearmanship formed in his mind.
Some of these books were on the very fundamentals, some of them detailed common moves and some of them were just basic introductions... All in all, there were truly all kinds of books on spearmanship that one could possibly imagine in here.
As expected of a spear master, his collection was truly abundant.
Flipping through the books continuously, he soon imprinted into his mind all the eight bookshelves of books in the study, which added up to a total of a few thousand books, within an hour.
Standing quietly on the spot, Zhang Xuan started to digest the newly compiled books in his mind.
"The correct training method..."
His mind jolted and all of the books on spearmanship melded together to form a single book before him.
He started flipping through it.
"Weapons are an extension of the arm. Only by training it to become a part of your arm can one be considered to be a true initiate. Spearmanship is the same as well..."
The spear art created by the Library of Heaven's Path through compiling so many books was incredibly profound and gave one the feeling of enlightenment. While looking through it, Zhang Xuan used his finger in place of a spear to practice its moves.
Huhuhu!
From time to time, with the augmentation of zhenqi, his finger would pierce through the air menacingly. It was as though his body had become the spear itself, and at any moment now, he would pierce through the heavens.
The spear was termed as the king of weapons. To become a true expert, one had to have the disposition of one capable of piercing through the heavens.
Without numerous storms and the accumulation of experiences over time, it was impossible to forge such a disposition!
If someone were to notice the current Zhang Xuan, they would definitely yell in exclamation.
That was because the current Zhang Xuan already possessed the disposition. Even though it couldn't be determined whether his spearmanship had reached a high level of mastery, just the aura he was exuding was sufficient to crush the confidence of countless cultivators, destroying their will to fight.
Fully immersed in the book, Zhang Xuan was completely oblivious to these changes. Instead, he continued emulating the movements with his hands.
Tzzzzz!
Burst after burst of zhenqi shot out along the trajectory of his fingers and impacted the floor, creating countless holes on it.
It was fortunate that he had kept his strength in check. Otherwise, Wang Chong's study would probably be wrecked just like Master Lu Chen's.
After an unknown period of time, Zhang Xuan finally stopped and exhaled turbid air.
"I'm already done cultivating it?"
His eyes lit up.
In just a moment's time, he had already practiced the entire sequence of the spear art compiled in the library once.
"I'll call it Heaven's Path Spear Art!"
Weng!
The book jolted and a name appeared on it... Heaven's Path Spear Art!
"It's a pity that there are too few books and too many mistakes in them. I only managed to create a single move!"
Zhang Xuan lamented.
The books were all on the basics of spearmanship. The Library of Heaven's Path compiled all of the correct theories and created a spear art from it.
"I wonder to what extent will this move augment my strength, and how much strength I would be able to execute through it!"
Even though it was just a single move, he knew that it was impossible for it to be anything simple, especially after experiencing the Heaven's Path Divine Art and the Heaven's Path Golden Body.
His fighting prowess would definitely be boosted significantly if he were to execute it.
"I'll impart this to Zheng Yang when I return!"
The reason why he was here specially to learn spear art was so that he could impart it to Zheng Yang. Even though it was just a single move, at the very least, the journey he made here wasn't in vain.
It could be imagined that if Zheng Yang were to fully grasp the skill, his spearmanship would definitely improve by leaps and bounds. By then, defeating that Mo Xiao wouldn't pose any problem.
All that came from the Heaven's Path had to be exceptional. There was no doubt about this.
"Time to go!"
After reading all the books and obtaining what he wanted, Zhang Xuan did not dawdle in the study excessively and walked out with big strides.