Master-Level Spear Technique?
Luke's first thought when he received the system message was: What kind of spear technique?
The kind that uses a long polearm, or American-style quick draw (a cultural reference to the quick-draw martial art, Iaijutsu, often featured in action movies)?
If he had a choice, Luke would definitely prefer the American quick draw, since, you know, times change.
But the next second, the system poured decades of hard-won spear-fighting knowledge into his mind.
In the memory, he was tirelessly practicing with a white waxwood long spear.
The memory was dense with classical references on weapon construction:
"The spearhead should be sharp and light, with a flat ridge about an inch wide that tapers to a point at both ends, no longer than two inches, and weighing no more than an ounce. The shaft should be soft at the tip, rigid in the middle, and thick at the base." — Vol. 10, Military II
"For a long spear, the head must be light and sharp, weighing no more than four ounces. The shaft should be slightly light, rigid in the middle, and thick at the root." — * (New Treatise on Military Efficiency)*
The best technique is useless without a good spear.
Clearly, the white waxwood long spear in Luke's memory was exactly that—a good spear. Its tip was sharp, and its shaft was tough and springy.
The spear, known as the King of a Hundred Weapons, has a saying that goes: "A month for the staff, a year for the saber, and a lifetime for the spear."
The spear is an easy weapon to pick up. Someone who has practiced the long spear for just a few days can easily defeat an opponent who has trained for a long time with a saber or a sword.
This is the principle of "an inch longer is an inch stronger" in action.
The Mastery of the Spear
Because of its easy entry, many people wonder why the saying claims "a lifetime for the spear." The reason is that while the basic moves are simple, true mastery is incredibly difficult, and the technical ceiling is virtually nonexistent.
After decades of dedicated practice in the memories, Luke's foundational techniques—stabbing, flicking, parrying, blocking, catching, uplifting, pressing, chopping, and collapsing—were second nature, every movement seemingly carved into his bones.
At the slightest thought, the long spear in his hand responded instantly, hitting whatever he aimed at without a moment's hesitation.
Luke began to wield the spear faster and faster, the cold gleam of the tip flashing menacingly. It truly was a case of "a point of cold light arrives first, then the spear emerges like a dragon."
Higher-level techniques—sweeping and chopping, hooking and tangling, pressing and lifting, and sweeping strikes—all flowed from his hand.
He continuously adjusted his footwork as he practiced.
Suddenly, he raised the long spear high above his head.
"Whoosh!"
An extremely vicious "Turn-Around Spear" flashed out like lightning, and only then did his body complete its turn.
If he had been fighting an enemy in a real battle at that moment, they would have been stunned to realize the spear tip had already pierced them through the heart before he had even fully rotated his body.
It was a spear technique that was truly unpredictable and masterful. (A respectful nod here to the late Master Yu Chenghui's famous turn-around spear, which was truly amazing.)
After a final thrust, Luke slowly collected the move, stood still holding the spear, and quietly absorbed and internalized the valuable memories and insights.
The Path Beyond Mastery
A little while later, he opened his eyes, having fully integrated the knowledge. He said with emotion, "The Master-Level Spear Technique is a huge help to me."
Almost all weapon arts, when practiced to the extreme, have the ultimate goal of defeating the spear. This shows that the spear is often treated as the ultimate opponent, the final boss of weapons.
But if you want to defeat the spear, you simply can't do it without understanding its techniques.
Practicing the key techniques of the King of a Hundred Weapons is also extremely beneficial for improving other weapon skills.
Therefore, once Luke mastered the spear, he not only gained an incredibly powerful new weapon skill, but his Master-Level Swordsmanship, which had been stuck, also seemed to sense a way forward. The bottleneck that had locked him down started to loosen.
This immediately reminded Luke of the previous merging and mutual promotion among his other skills.
Perhaps if he mastered a few more weapon skills, they would automatically integrate to create a brand-new skill that would break the Master-Level ceiling.
Luke knew the Master Level was definitely not the end for the skills given by the system.
There had to be an even higher tier above Master Level, a realm he could only vaguely sense but had never had the chance to reach.
Luckily, the road was now under his feet. As long as he kept moving forward, he would eventually get there.
A thought suddenly popped into Luke's head: Now that I've mastered the spear, I guess I'm a spearmen, too.
I wonder if the saying about spearmen having "E-rank luck" is true?
Luke wasn't worried at all. He felt confident: "Spearmen worldwide have about eight measures of destiny, but I'll claim one whole bushel, and the rest of them can be two measures in debt." (A confident, exaggerated way of saying he has all the luck.)
New Opportunities Await
Meng Tao just called. While Luke was filming A Lover's Concerto (The Contact), the pre-production for Hero was basically finished.
His next step is to head back to China to film this ambitious project directed by Zhang Yimou.
He remembered a scene in the movie where the character Nameless fights the Zhao assassin Sky.
Donnie Yen's character, Sky, is an expert with a long spear.
He and Jet Li's character, Nameless, have a battle that takes place in their minds.
In that fight, Sky wields a long spear against Nameless in an exciting exchange.
Unfortunately, in Luke's opinion, this first major fight of the film was still lacking a little something.
Most of the other fight scenes in the movie are highly stylized and focus on a beautiful, artistic wuxia aesthetic.
Although this particular scene, enhanced by the rain and the sound of the qin instrument, was already quite good, it could have been even better.
Now that Luke has the Master-Level Spear Technique, he's confident he can consult and guide the choreography for that fight to make it even more spectacular.
He was surprised that his newly acquired Master-Level Spear Technique was already going to be useful!
Luke opened his stats panel, which he hadn't checked in a while:
Name:
Luke
Age:
19
Strength:
17
Agility:
20
Constitution:
15
Unassigned Points:
0
Skills:
Master-Level Swordsmanship, Master-Level Parkour, Master-Level Throwing Knives, Master-Level Hand-to-Hand Combat, Master-Level Dialogue Delivery, Advanced Acting Techniques, Advanced Acting Insight, Master-Level Spear Technique
Before he knew it, he had accumulated so many skills.
The two Advanced-Level skills sandwiched among a bunch of Master-Level skills looked a little out of place.
[Advanced Acting Techniques] will automatically upgrade to Master-Level Acting Techniques when the host's Strength increases to 20 points.
His current Strength is 17, so he needs 3 more points, which is 6 points of unassigned attributes to get it to 20. (Based on typical system logic where 2 unassigned points equal 1 stat point).
[Advanced Acting Insight] will automatically upgrade to Master-Level Acting Insight when the host's Constitution increases to 20 points.
His current Constitution is 15, which needs 5 more points, or 10 points of unassigned attributes.
That's a total of 16 points needed—more than he thought. It looks like he'll need to complete a few more action scenes to earn those points.
Once these two Advanced skills are upgraded to Master Level, Luke will also trigger a skill fusion and upgrade.
When the host's Acting Techniques and Acting Insight reach Master Level, they will fuse with Master-Level Dialogue Delivery to create a brand-new skill.
Will this fusion result in his first skill to break through the Master Level? He's definitely excited to find out.
In a few hours, he'll be boarding a flight from New York to Yanjing (Beijing).
The crew for Hero has already gone to Inner Mongolia to start filming. There is a magnificent golden Populus euphratica forest in Ejina Banner.
The dramatic scenes involving the love triangle of Broken Sword, Flying Snow, and Moon will mostly be filmed there.
Director Zhang Yimou has been urging him to get there quickly, as that bed scene will be shot there.