Chapter 51: The Martial God

Chapter 51: God of War
Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Martial Arts Arena.

Combat—this was the method proposed by Dust Douluo.

"The best form of instruction is actual combat."

Whether it is the sword or the spear, all martial arts ultimately share the same origin. Sparring, fighting, and challenging are the fastest ways to make progress; blindly training in isolation gets you nowhere.

No matter how much you practice, how much advice you seek, or how much you study, nothing is as intuitive as a real fight. Just like no matter how much I beg for votes or what I say, it's not as effective as writing a few more chapters to please you all. Once you are pleased, won't votes and tips come pouring in like a flood?

In fact, not just anyone is worthy of Dust Douluo taking action personally. During the previous probing, Dust Douluo had already developed a strong interest in this Holy Son of the Spirit Hall. To put it bluntly, this child possessed the greatest talent in the current soul master world, without a single exception!

Zhong Yan took a forward step into a standard lunge, his long spear thrusting straight out smoothly. With a flick of his wrist, the spear tip carried a gleam of cold light, tracing a graceful golden trajectory before pulling the spear back.

Immediately afterward, his soul power surged out of his body instantly, radiating a terrifying and turbulent soul power fluctuation. A fierce and piercing momentum soared into the sky, resembling a divine spear manifesting in the world, its sharp aura pressing directly upon Dust Douluo.

The momentum suddenly burst forth by Zhong Yan startled Dust Douluo slightly. Setting aside the surging soul power wrapping his entire body, just this fierce spear momentum alone undoubtedly marked him as a master of the spear. Although they had tested each other before, witnessing it now still carried a sense of shock.

This Holy Son of the Spirit Hall—truly formidable!

"Go all out," Dust Douluo said calmly, hands clasped behind his back.

Though spoken with nonchalance, a fierce sword momentum radiated from his body. Like a divine sword unsheathing, that peerless sword intent pressed down upon Zhong Yan, making it hard for him to bear and causing his body to tremble involuntarily.

The hand with which Zhong Yan gripped the Vortex Vanquisher was also shaking slightly. This was not out of fear, but sheer excitement!

"Let us bloom together, delivering a strike that will astonish the entire world!"

The third soul ring on Zhong Yan's body lit up with a brilliant glow. Soul Skill: *Lapus Dei, Drive the Longing for Heaven!*

A powerful boost in strength, a fierce spear momentum, and the earth itself vibrating in rhythm alongside it.

Two rock spears grew out from the ground. The moment Zhong Yan swept his hand forward, the two long spears shot rapidly ahead with the momentum to pierce through everything.

Then, stamping his foot on the ground, his body burst forth instantly, charging toward Dust Douluo while wielding the Vortex Vanquisher in a single hand.

The brilliant golden spear tip carried a strong, razor-sharp gale as it thrust forward fearlessly.

Earth-shaking!

...

[So fast!]

The two rock spears thrust forward. Dust Douluo extended a hand, and a silvery-white long sword appeared in his grasp. The sword was named: Seven Kills.

With a wave of his hand, he struck! Two invisible sword qi slashes erupted outward. This was not some soul skill; it was the manifestation of sword mastery cultivated to a certain realm. Relying purely on technique alone, he could unleash sword qi attacks.

Sword qi—among all sword-users across the entire Douluo Continent, very few could reach this realm. This is because sword qi is not catalyzed with the help of soul power, but rather serves as a reflection of one's mastery over the path of the sword. In the present era, soul masters wielding swords basically relied on soul power and soul skills for offense; those capable of calming their minds to comprehend and penetrate the path of the sword were exceedingly rare, and naturally, those capable of employing sword qi were equally scarce.

If that was the case for sword soul masters, the situation for the even scarcer spear soul masters went without saying.

With a piercing gaze fixed straight ahead, the sword qi collided with Zhong Yan's two rock spears. In an instant, the rock spears—which had rarely met their match in the past—were easily severed as if made of paper. Carrying a peerlessly sharp momentum, the two sword qi continued slicing toward the charging Zhong Yan.

Although Dust Douluo did not use soul power and attacked Zhong Yan relying purely on his sword techniques, the gap between them remained incomparably vast even so.

Zhong Yan's golden dragon-like pupils narrowed sharply. The Vortex Vanquisher in his hand swept forward swiftly, executing two cleaves to meet the oncoming sword qi.

As the spear blade collided with the sword qi, a thunder-like roar echoed through space. The shattered sword qi transformed into countless fierce and razor-sharp gales that raged in all directions, turning the entire arena into a mess resembling a bombardment site.

Meanwhile, Ning Fengzhi, standing nearby, remained completely unharmed under the protection of Bone Douluo, who had already stepped out.

The blade in Dust Douluo's right hand slashed out, blocking Zhong Yan as he rushed out from the billowing dust and smoke.

"Clang!" A crisp ringing of metal on metal echoed, and friction sparked a shower of stars.

The Seven Kills Sword clashed against the Vortex Vanquisher. Knowing he could not afford to lock in a contest of pure strength here against Dust Douluo, Zhong Yan flipped his wrist and shifted his stance.

The long spear danced in his hands—thrusting, stabbing, parrying, crashing, slashing, smashing, vibrating, twining... fluid as flowing water, without the slightest obstruction.

Dust Douluo also continuously shifted his techniques, blocking Zhong Yan's attacks one by one.

[The realm of form—this child passes. Then, the next step is...]

The thought flashed and vanished from his mind. The momentum of the Seven Kills Sword in Dust Douluo's hand vibrated, and a intense killing intent surged forth instantly. This bloodthirsty murderous aura left Zhong Yan's consciousness momentarily dazed.

Momentum is the external manifestation of intent; whatever kind of sword intent one possesses dictates the sword momentum that follows. True to its name, the Seven Kills sword intent contained a deep killing intent within it. Despair, bloodthirst, ruthlessness... [Nobody really knows what the Seven Kills truly is; the original work didn't specify, and other interpretations vary too wildly.]

Seizing this opening, Dust Douluo twisted the blade and slashed swiftly toward Zhong Yan's chest.

In the blink of an eye, Zhong Yan shook off the killing intent, only to see the razor-sharp blade already descending upon him. Too late to block! The Jade Shield activated instinctively.

"Clang!" The blade struck the shield with a dull thud, and Zhong Yan retreated rapidly.

Dust Douluo was no longer holding back; he was practically flooding the field. Relying purely on sword techniques, he had forced out Zhong Yan's Jade Shield.

The look Dust Douluo cast at Zhong Yan held not only gratification but also a hint of excitement. He hadn't experienced the feeling of engaging in combat with someone using pure weapon techniques in a very long time.

Taken by surprise and thoroughly intrigued, Dust Douluo did not wait for Zhong Yan's next move. Abandoning his previous defensive posture, he stamped his foot and took the initiative to attack Zhong Yan.

The Seven Kills Sword in his hand flashed with a soul-capturing sword light. Within just a few blinks of an eye, the crisp ringing of weapon clashes sounded in succession. In a flash, the two had already exchanged over a dozen moves.

Zhong Yan's spear techniques were fast, and his reactions were swift, but Dust Douluo's sword mastery was far more exquisite. Blessed by sword intent, every single one of Zhong Yan's moves was heavily suppressed.

"Bang!" With a violent explosion, Zhong Yan was sent flying dozens of meters back, tumbling continuously across the ground.

Clambering back up, he panted heavily. This time, he had not used the Jade Shield; his combat garments were now tattered to shreds, and four or five sword marks marred his body, fresh red blood slowly oozing from the wounds while his blackish-brown hair was utterly disheveled.

If one were to lean in close and inspect the blood, they would notice that what should have been purely crimson carried a faint hint of gold.

At this moment, Zhong Yan's hands were trembling involuntarily. This was the result of the powerful shockwaves vibrating through his arms from blocking Dust Douluo's slashes.

Dust Douluo held his sword in one hand while placing the other behind his back, his expression calm and unruffled. His attire lacked a single crease, as though he had never been through a battle at all.

"Sword momentum imbued with sword intent is actually this powerful. It seems my spear mastery is still far from home—and here I foolishly thought I could touch the divine realm by coming here."

Watching Dust Douluo walk toward him slowly, Zhong Yan suddenly felt as though his vision blurred. Dust Douluo's figure seemed to transform into the silhouette of the person who had once imparted the "Rock Rain" spear technique within his mind.

Every move and posture was crisp and decisive, the transitions fluid as water, the spear in his hand seeming as though it possessed a life of its own.

Watching him continuously demonstrate the Rock Rain spear technique, Zhong Yan seemed to vaguely understand something, yet always failed to grasp it fully.

The spearplay grew increasingly urgent, each movement growing sharper and fiercer, yet infused with an inexplicable charm amid that ferocity.

What was that! Zhong Yan knew that was the key. But what on earth was it?!

He watched the spear set over and over again. Suddenly, just as this demonstration ended, that figure withdrew the spear and stood still.

The perspective pulled closer toward the figure's face, and this time, he finally saw it.

He saw a pair of—
Piercing, brilliant, yet all-encompassing—
Dragon pupils!

***
*(PS: Asking for votes! Asking for investment!)*
*(I published this directly after finishing typing, so there might be quite a few typos without much proofreading. But I have to sleep now, I can't hold on any longer. Didn't our school have a power outage yesterday? My whole dorm ran to an internet cafe to pull an all-nighter. I only slept four or five hours this morning before dragging myself up for classes, sigh.)*
*(End of Chapter)*