Su Muyu looked at the long spear and asked, "May I ask who this brother is..."
"Lu Yuzhai, the chief disciple under Song Yanhui, the City Lord of Peerless City." The young man swung his spear with an imposing demeanor.
Su Muyu was taken aback and asked, "Isn’t City Lord Song a grandmaster of the Sword Way? Why is his chief disciple using a spear instead?"
Lu Yuzhai frowned, and the expressions of his followers darkened instantly. He angrily retorted, "Are you questioning me?"
Su Muyu shook his head. "Just curious, hence the question. I’ve long admired the Sword Way of Peerless City. Many years ago, Peerless City was the foremost sect in the martial world, hailed as the pinnacle of all martial arts. Later, a Swordless City emerged in the martial world, attempting to usurp the title of 'sword' from Peerless City, but it vanished from the scene within a few years."
Lu Yuzhai sneered, "A mere Swordless City—that so-called 'Sword God' of a city lord was nothing but a clown."
"Oh?" Su Muyu rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. "But you still haven’t answered me. Why don’t you practice the sword?"
"Didn’t Snow Moon City produce some so-called 'one and only Spear Immortal'? Well, I’ll train with the spear, and in another ten or eight years, I’ll make sure he’s no longer the only one!" Lu Yuzhai declared arrogantly.
The disciples of Peerless City behind him all clapped and cheered, "Senior Brother has spirit!"
"Enough of your sidetracking. I came here to teach you a lesson!" Lu Yuzhai suddenly snapped back to the matter at hand.
Su Muyu sighed softly. "I’m much older than you. By seniority, you could call me uncle. Along the way from World Pavilion to here, I’ve been deeply disappointed with Peerless City—so much so that I now feel like leaving."
"It seems you won’t recognize your place until I teach you a lesson!" Lu Yuzhai swung his spear and brought it crashing down toward Su Muyu.
Su Muyu sidestepped, his fingers lightly brushing the hilt of his sword before he shook his head and said, "I don’t think you’re worthy of this sword."
Lu Yuzhai was startled when his spear strike missed—he hadn’t expected this seemingly frail man to be so swift. Hearing Su Muyu’s words only fueled his anger further. Changing his stance, he unleashed three consecutive spear thrusts, each aimed at Su Muyu’s vital points.
"Sky Piercer Spear!" someone in the crowd exclaimed in alarm. "Senior Brother, don’t!"
The Sky Piercer Spear was no obscure technique in the martial world. This spear art was notorious for its ferocity and ruthlessness, said to consist of thirty-six moves, each a lethal strike that left no room for the opponent. Precisely because of this, it was rarely used in ordinary sparring or discussions of martial principles, as a single misstep could easily result in death. To them, Su Muyu was merely an outsider who had come to Peerless City for business, at most engaging in some verbal conflict. If things escalated to a fatality, they would have a hard time explaining it.
But it was already too late. Su Muyu dodged the first two strikes, but the third spear thrust seemed destined to pierce his chest.
Lu Yuzhai, realizing his mistake, felt a pang of regret and tried to pull back, but it was no use. At that moment, Su Muyu suddenly acted—he extended two fingers and directly clamped onto the tip of Lu Yuzhai’s spear.
A sharp metallic clang reverberated, forcing everyone present to cover their ears.Lu Yuzhai took a deep breath, his back already drenched in cold sweat. He froze for a moment before snapping back to reality—the man before him had actually caught the tip of his spear with just two fingers?
"I've seen the Spear Immortal before, seen his spear. This spear of yours..." Su Muyu flicked his fingers, sending a violent tremor through the entire spear. Lu Yuzhai's hands strained, his palms splitting open from the force, and the spear was wrenched from his grip. Su Muyu caught it, twirled it, and swung it in a flourish. "Isn't even fit to polish his shoes!"
Under normal circumstances, Lu Yuzhai would have been furious at such words. But now, faced with the other's overwhelming strength, all he felt was terror.
Su Muyu, who rarely showed much emotion toward others' words, had spoken with rare mockery and disdain. Perhaps Lu Yuzhai's earlier remarks about Swordless City had angered him, or perhaps he was deliberately provoking Lu Yuzhai now. He dodged Lu Yuzhai's spear thrust, glanced up at the sky, and suddenly closed his eyes.
Then he began to dance with the spear.
Dust swirled, stones flew.
Birds scattered in alarm.
Su Muyu's mind replayed the past—when the Demon Sect marched east, Sikong Changfeng had charged into battle with his spear, his movements so fierce they could startle all living things and shake heaven and earth. The spear sliced through the air, its howl like a dragon's roar—the legendary, peerless spear technique known as Dragon's Awakening .
Now, that very Dragon's Awakening was reenacted in Su Muyu's hands. He executed it up to the twelfth stance, forcing Lu Yuzhai to retreat repeatedly. The others rushed to help, only to be sent flying. Just as the thirteenth stance was about to claim Lu Yuzhai's life, Su Muyu finally stopped.
The spear tip rested against Lu Yuzhai's forehead. As Song Yanhuai's top disciple, he still had some courage left—though terrified, he managed to stand his ground, swallowing hard.
"That's all I remember," Su Muyu murmured. Dragon's Awakening had thirty-three stances in total; mastering them all would make one a spearman with no equal in the world. Su Muyu had only glimpsed it from afar on the battlefield, yet he had memorized thirteen stances—proof of his extraordinary talent.
"This... this is the Spear Immortal's Dragon's Awakening ," Lu Yuzhai said, recognizing it despite his fear.
"I'm not skilled with spears. These thirteen stances are but a hollow imitation, lacking their true essence." Su Muyu shook his head. "Had the Spear Immortal struck, you'd have died with the first move."
"Who are you?" Lu Yuzhai finally realized—someone who knew the Spear Immortal and could perform Dragon's Awakening was no ordinary martial artist.
"No noble disciple. Just someone fortunate enough to stand with the Spear Immortal against the Demon Sect back then." Su Muyu withdrew the spear and drove it forcefully into the ground. "May I leave now?"
Hearing that the man had fought against the Demon Sect's eastern campaign, Lu Yuzhai dared not obstruct him further. He clasped his fists. "My apologies for the disrespect, sir. Please, go ahead."
"If I had lost today, what would have happened?" Su Muyu mounted his horse and cracked the whip. "All I know is that if I were in Snow Moon City right now, I'd be gazing at the snow-capped Cangshan while drinking Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon . The world's unparalleled should have the bearing of the unparalleled."
As Su Muyu rode away, Lu Yuzhai stood in silence for a long time before reaching to pull the spear from the ground.
But the moment it left the earth, the spear shattered into seven or eight pieces, clattering to the ground.After all, it was just an ordinary spear, far too inadequate to withstand the Thirteen Forms of the Startling Dragon Transformation.
"This person..." Lu Yuzhai exhaled softly, "is terrifying."
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