Chapter 50: The Path of the Spear
The Path of the Spear
“Let’s practice then!”
Victor waved his spear and said.
Before charging towards Lane.
His feet moved with purpose.
His eyes were focused.
“Mm!” Lane nodded.
She held her wooden sword.
And parried against the metal spear.
Her movements were fluid.
Graceful.
Effortless.
The wooden sword in her hand seemed to become stronger than metal.
It collided against his metal spear.
And made a clanging sound.
As she easily repelled his attack.
Victor was forced to move a step back.
Then moved forward again.
Only to be repelled by Lane’s sword once more.
The process repeated again and again.
Each time.
Victor learned something new.
Each time.
His movements became smoother.
His thrusts became sharper.
His footwork became steadier.
But this repetition brought benefits to Victor.
He was becoming used to his new strength.
His body was adapting.
His muscles were memorizing.
His mind was learning.
Victor didn’t pause.
He attacked again and again.
His movements were clumsy at the start.
But soon they started to improve.
Ten minutes later.
A swiftness appeared in his spear art.
The spear danced in his hands.
Like an extension of his body.
Victor recalled the basic spear art in his mind.
While moving the spear.
Every thrust was precise.
Every strike was calculated.
Even though all his moves were blocked by Lane’s wooden sword easily.
He didn’t show any sign of depression.
His determination was unshaken.
His spirit was unbroken.
Lane’s cultivation was two full realms higher than his.
Even if she stood still and let him attack.
He wouldn’t be able to injure her.
After reaching the Spiritual Gathering Realm.
A cultivator could use spiritual mana to attack and defend.
By manipulating it.
The Body Tempering Realm didn’t have this qualification.
Victor understood this.
But he didn’t let it discourage him.
He used it as motivation.
Both of them started speeding up.
Victor couldn’t help but marvel at his new strength.
It was adrenaline racing through his entire body.
His body was filled with power.
He had never felt like this before.
His muscles burned with exertion.
His heart pounded with excitement.
His blood sang with joy.
This time.
He finally understood the euphoria of having strong strength.
That’s why all the cultivators of this world worked so hard.
To improve their cultivation.
To feel this power.
This freedom.
This rush.
Three hours passed.
Victor was beaten by Lane repeatedly.
His robe was soaked with sweat.
His breathing was ragged.
But his eyes were bright.
His spirit was unbroken.
He was depressed by the defeat.
But his mind was occupied by the thrill.
The thrill of having supernatural powers.
The thrill of growing stronger.
The thrill of the fight.
—
Three days passed.
Victor spent those three days in cultivation.
He barely allowed himself any distractions.
Every day, his spiritual mana became stronger.
Every day, his understanding of cultivation deepened a little further.
There was no sudden breakthrough.
No earth-shaking change.
Just steady progress.
For Victor, that was enough.
Strength was not something that could always be gained overnight. Sometimes, it came quietly. A little more control. A little more understanding. A little more power than the day before.
On the third day, while Victor was meditating, a familiar notification suddenly appeared in his mind.
[Congratulations to the host for completing the weekly sign-in.]
[Reward: Special Item — Aura Concealment Art]
Victor slowly opened his eyes.
A hint of surprise crossed his face.
“A weekly reward?”
He hadn’t expected that.
The daily sign-in rewards had already been useful. But apparently, the system had something better waiting for him once a week.
Victor couldn’t help but feel a little curious.
If the weekly reward was already this useful, what else could the system give him in the future?
His attention returned to the reward.
The Aura Concealment Art was not an offensive technique.
It didn’t increase his strength.
It didn’t make his attacks stronger.
Instead, it allowed him to conceal the spiritual mana within his body and hide his cultivation.
Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly.
That was actually much more useful than it sounded.
With the technique, he could deliberately suppress his aura and appear weaker than he really was.
In certain situations, he could even make himself seem like an ordinary person.
It could also be used as a disguising tool.
If he wanted to travel somewhere without drawing attention, hiding his cultivation would make things much easier.
Victor studied the information carefully.
There was, however, one limitation.
The technique wasn’t absolute.
If someone possessed a cultivation realm far higher than his own, they could still see through the concealment.
Victor wasn’t disappointed.
Instead, he nodded to himself.
Nothing in the world was perfect.
If a technique could completely hide someone’s cultivation from anyone regardless of their strength, it would be far too ridiculous.
Even with its limitation, Aura Concealment Art was extremely valuable.
Victor could already think of several situations where it might save his life.
He could hide his true strength.
He could avoid unnecessary attention.
He could approach enemies without revealing what he was capable of.
And if someone underestimated him because of his concealed cultivation…
Victor’s lips curved slightly.
That mistake would belong to them.
He closed his eyes again and continued examining the technique.
There was another reason he liked it.
Strength attracted attention.
Sometimes that was useful.
Sometimes it was nothing but trouble.
Victor had no intention of walking around constantly displaying his true cultivation just to prove how strong he was.
Keeping a few cards hidden was always better.
Especially when he didn’t know what kind of enemies he might encounter in the future.
After familiarizing himself with the Aura Concealment Art, Victor stored the technique in his mind.
He would practice it properly later.
For now, he continued cultivating.
The next few days passed quietly.
Victor received three more sign-in rewards from the system.
None of them were as surprising as the weekly reward, but they were still useful.
One of them immediately caught his attention.
[Spirit Restoration Elixir]
[Description: A pill suitable for cultivators of the Spiritual Adept Realm. It can temporarily restore a portion of one’s spiritual mana and is particularly useful during battle.]
Victor looked at the information for a moment.
His expression became thoughtful.