Chapter 61: Is He Really That Desperate?

On the open martial arts training ground, Lu Yu held a long spear, and a sense of inexplicable heroism welled up within him; this feeling was completely different from when he drew his bow to shoot arrows.

Wang Liang looked at Lu Yu's posture while holding the spear, his brows slightly furrowed. However, since Lu Yu had never been exposed to spear techniques, it was reasonable that he did not understand the correct grip.

"Spear technique, it seems easy to pick up, but in reality, it is extremely difficult to master,"

Wang Liang said with a steady expression, his hands behind his back, "I say it is easy to pick up because even a novice, when holding this nearly three-meter-long spear facing an enemy, will feel a bit more confident and can instinctively thrust the spear out.

But mastering it is very difficult, and the reason lies in the length of the spear body, especially for a great spear, which is at least twice the height of a person, or even reaching four or five meters. Do you know what this means?"

Lu Yu subconsciously shook his head.

"The principle of leverage." Wang Liang spat out the four words, "If you treat your left hand as the fulcrum, your right hand and the spearhead are the two ends of the lever. The spearhead end belongs to a force-multiplying lever; the longer the spear body, the more obvious the leverage effect.

In this situation, even if your strength is greater than your opponent's, if your spear technique is inferior, you will be suppressed by someone with less strength than you.

If you don't believe me, I will spar with you using the strength of an ordinary person.

Of course, if the two sides differ by two minor Realms or one major Realm, that is a different matter," he added.

"I believe you." Lu Yu responded with a serious face. He wasn't stupid; he hadn't even unlocked 【Basic Spear Technique】 yet, and he was already thinking about sparring with someone—and likely a master of the spear at that—this would be asking for trouble.

Just as he was thinking this, Lu Yu suddenly shuddered! Wait! He seemed to have thought of a way to quickly improve his spear technique proficiency.

That's right, it was sparring with Wang Liang! Wang Liang didn't know Archery, and Archery wasn't very convenient for sparring anyway; even if they could spar, Wang Liang would have the advantage.

But spear technique was different; by removing the spearhead, a sparring match between the two was entirely feasible.

Wang Liang naturally didn't know what Lu Yu was thinking. Seeing Lu Yu's humble attitude, he nodded slightly and continued, "Learning spear technique requires not only physical fitness but also comprehension.

I know you have high martial arts talent. There is a saying: 'A month for the staff, a year for the saber, a lifetime for the spear.' Some people can defeat someone who has practiced for a year after practicing staff techniques for only a month, and someone who has practiced saber techniques for a year can surpass someone who has practiced for ten years. Besides the difference in physical fitness, comprehension plays a huge role.

But this rule does not apply to spear techniques."

He stared intently at Lu Yu, this remark clearly meant to warn him, "No matter how high your talent is, it is impossible to master Advanced spear techniques in a short time. As long as the method is correct, someone who has practiced longer than you is simply better than you."

Lu Yu nodded obediently. Perhaps that was true, but he had his own confidence... as long as he kept practicing, his proficiency would skyrocket; mastering Advanced spear techniques was not a difficult task for him.

"One last point," Wang Liang emphasized his tone, "This is something you must pay special attention to from now on; Li Yang and the others still often make this mistake.

In your current grip, are you thinking about using the spear to hack up and down, or to swing it horizontally in a straight line? These movements aren't unusable, but they must never be used often."

"Ah?" Lu Yu was a bit surprised. He remembered that in the basic spear moves Wang Liang mentioned earlier, there were indeed actions like hacking and smashing.

"Because the spear is long and heavy, once it deviates from the centerline, it is difficult to rely solely on brute force to quickly correct it. The key to spear technique is to guard the centerline. It is fine when dealing with a Fierce Beast, but if the opponent is a human, a person's width is only about twenty centimeters.

In other words, as long as the spearhead deviates from the centerline by ten centimeters, it cannot cause damage to the enemy, while at this moment, your hand might have only deviated by one or two centimeters."

Lu Yu gasped; this was what they meant by 'a miss is as good as a mile.'

"Therefore, the trajectory of the spear tip on the coronal plane should be arc-shaped, which is what we call the 'Spear Circle.' This point, like keeping the spear root against your waist, is not very intuitive and requires a lot of practice to remember. Do you understand?"

"Mm-hmm." Lu Yu nodded quickly.

"Just saying it isn't enough; you must keep it in your heart." Wang Liang hummed softly, "Now, let's officially begin learning."

First was the most basic preparatory posture. Lu Yu spread his feet to shoulder-width, stood naturally upright, gazed firmly ahead, and held the long spear steadily.

"That's passable." Wang Liang nodded, walked in front of Lu Yu, and with a spear in his own hand, began to demonstrate the basic movements.

Forward Thrust, Block, Deflect Spear, Slash, Pierce, Lift Strike, and finally, Retract Spear.

Li Yang and the others not far away felt a bit bitter inside.

When Wang Liang demonstrated for them, he didn't show so many movements at all; he just simply thrust forward.

After Wang Liang completed the final Retract Spear movement, a small line of text finally appeared on Lu Yu's Skill bar.

【Basic Spear Technique: lv0 (0.1%)】

Lu Yu let out a long breath. Wielding this 20-catty long spear was indeed strenuous; after just one set of movements, he had broken into a light sweat, but he was still far from his limit.

Additionally, the weight of the spear body should also have an impact; the proficiency increased by 0.1% after one set of movements. If he had switched to that 10-catty spear from before, the proficiency growth might have only been half.

"It seems I need to practice 1,000 times to level up." Lu Yu thought to himself, filled with motivation.

"Continue." At this moment, Wang Liang's voice came again.

Over and over, set after set... Wang Liang put away his spear, turned to look at Lu Yu, and said, "Just practice like this, practice thousands upon thousands of times, form muscle memory, and then you will have reached Entry."

"Then, what about the Baji Great Spear Art?" Lu Yu asked in a low voice.

"You're still far from it." Wang Liang glanced at him and looked into the distance, "You practice here first, I'm going to check over there."

"Alright, Wang Shu." Lu Yu withdrew his gaze and took a deep breath. It seemed the prerequisites for 【Baji Great Spear Art】 were not low.

Even so, he had no intention of using Experience Value to upgrade 【Basic Spear Technique】.

Isn't it just hundreds or thousands of repetitions? Even if it takes thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of times, he had the confidence to persist.

Prepare, Forward Thrust, Block... Lift Strike, Retract Spear.

Lu Yu was fully focused on every movement, striving for precision and accuracy, not daring to be the slightest bit careless, because if the movement wasn't standard, the proficiency wouldn't increase. Completing one set of movements took about half a minute.

Ten minutes passed, and Lu Yu began to feel a bit strained.

Half an hour passed, and sweat had already soaked his clothes.

One hour passed, and he looked as if he had just been fished out of water, soaked through.

Li Yang and the others had long been dumbfounded. When they practiced the spear, although they would also continue for an hour, the movements weren't this complex, and the spears they used were only six or seven catties.

Lu Guohao, Zhao Shan, and the others, who had also finished their stance training and started practicing the spear, were also stunned with their mouths agape.

Sun Gang wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at Lu Yu who was still repeating the practice, then looked at Wang Liang, and subconsciously asked, "Is Xiao Yu always this desperate? He's been practicing for over an hour now, right?"

Wang Liang took a look and said slowly, "That's right, he has always been like this."

Instantly, everyone fell silent. The soreness in their bodies seemed to disappear at this moment.

Two hours passed, and Lu Yu was panting, his arms feeling as heavy as if they were filled with lead. Because his movements began to deform, there were several times he failed to increase his proficiency.

But the good news was that as he became more familiar with the movements, the proficiency gained each time increased from the initial 0.1% to 0.15%, and now to 0.2%.

He looked at the Skill bar: 【Basic Spear Technique: lv0 (35.6%)】

"Still more than half to go." Lu Yu sighed inwardly. According to the current growth of 0.2% per practice, he still needed to practice 322 more times, which would take about another three hours.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind. No, he seemed to have hit a dead end; there was clearly a faster way.