Three months later, at a destroyed Green Skin outpost in Blood and Flesh Mill - Zone 03.
Qin Feng’s figure darted like a phantom through a field of ruins made up of vehicle wreckage.
Ahead of him, a Level 2 Armored Green Skin over three meters tall brandished a massive Chainsaw Sword, forcing two human Martial Artists into a steady retreat.
The two Martial Artists’ attacks struck the Green Skin’s heavy armor, sending up a shower of sparks but failing to inflict any real damage.
"The flank! The joint on its flank is the weak point!"
One of the Martial Artists roared.
Just then, Qin Feng made his move.
He didn’t choose to attack from the flank. Instead, with unstoppable momentum, he launched a brazen, head-on charge against the Level 2 Green Skin!
His Body Technique was the Fierce Bird Body Technique!
It was utterly aggressive and offensive!
"Waaagh!"
The Level 2 Green Skin had clearly spotted him. It roared, abandoning its two opponents and instead bringing its massive Chainsaw Sword down on Qin Feng!
Facing this blow, powerful enough to split mountains and shatter stone, Qin Feng neither dodged nor evaded!
His gaze was as sharp as an eagle’s!
Just as the Chainsaw Sword was about to strike, his body suddenly dropped low. The Long Spear in his hand shot upward from an impossible angle, tearing through the air like the talons of a raptor!
This thrust possessed neither the swiftness of Flowing Light Chasing Shadow nor the imposing weight of Thousand Soldiers’ Evasion.
Instead, the core killing blow of the Fierce Bird Fist Technique—the Fierce Owl Technique—and its Fist Intent to pierce and tear through all things, was perfectly integrated into the tip of his spear!
Using the spear as a fist!
"KRREEEECH—!"
The gut-wrenching sound of metal being pierced and torn rang out.
The Alloy Long Spear in Qin Feng’s hand had, with brute force and no resistance, punched straight through the thickest Alloy Armor on the Level 2 Green Skin’s chest and out its back!
The massive body of the Level 2 Green Skin froze solid.
It looked down in disbelief at the massive hole in its chest. Then, its life force rapidly faded, and it crashed to the ground.
A one-hit kill!
Qin Feng slowly withdrew his Long Spear. Gazing at the corpse, which was now emitting black smoke, he was filled with emotion.
When he first set foot on this battlefield, a strike with all his might could only leave a faint white mark on the armor of a Level 2 Green Skin.
Now, however, he could pierce one through with a single, effortless blow.
...
Six months later, in a swamp covered by a Green Skin fungal carpet.
"WAAAGH!"
Three Level 3 Armored Green Skins, each nearly five meters tall and resembling a mobile fortress, had formed a triangle to surround a lone, tiny figure.
Their roars made the entire swamp tremble.
Three colossal weapons—cobbled together from railway tracks, ship anchors, and engines—smashed toward the surrounded Qin Feng from three different directions at once, carrying an air of absolute destruction!
They sealed off all his escape routes!
Faced with this inescapable, lethal trap, Qin Feng’s expression showed not the slightest trace of panic.
His eyes were as calm as an abyss.
At the very instant the three colossal weapons were about to converge, he began to alternate between two completely different Body Techniques—the Dragon Body Technique and the Fierce Bird Body Technique—in a near-perfect rhythm.
One moment, his figure moved like a wandering dragon in water, smooth and flawless as he slipped through the gap between two of the weapons by a hair’s breadth. The next, he was like a raptor in the sky, suddenly accelerating to make a perilous escape just before the third weapon crashed down.
He was like an artist dancing on the edge of a knife, weaving and dodging under the three behemoths’ frenzied assault with graceful ease.
The Long Spear in his hand no longer sought a one-hit kill. Instead, its movements became elusive and traceless.
Every thrust landed with pinpoint accuracy on the three Green Skins’ weak points: their armored joints, visual sensors, and energy conduits.
While none of these attacks were fatal, each one effectively hindered his opponents’ movements and disrupted their offensive rhythm.
He was maneuvering.
All by himself, he was fighting three Level 3 Armored Green Skins—the very kind that could have once killed him in a single blow—and he wasn’t losing ground!
The battle raged for nearly half an hour, yet the three Green Skins still couldn’t lay a finger on Qin Feng. Instead, his harassment drove them into a stamping rage, and they could only let out roars of impotent fury.
Finally, after draining a significant amount of their stamina, Qin Feng seized an opportunity. With a feint of his spear, his body transformed into a streak of light, and he retreated from the battle completely unscathed, disappearing into the dense forest beyond.
Deep within the forest, Qin Feng leaned against a massive fungal plant, steadying his slightly ragged breath, his heart once again swelling with emotion.
Just over six months ago, when he first arrived on this battlefield, a single encounter with a Level 3 Armored Green Skin had left him severely wounded and utterly powerless to retaliate.
But now, his life force index had increased and his combat techniques had advanced by leaps and bounds. He could now confidently hold his own against three of them.
Although killing them was still incredibly difficult.
But this immense progress was tangible!
...
As his strength grew, Qin Feng hit a new bottleneck.
His Thousand Army Spear and Fierce Bird Fist Technique had both reached the Perfection Realm, and his proficiency was now increasing at an incredibly slow rate.
Conventional battles could no longer provide him with new insights.
He knew that only a paper-thin barrier separated him from the legendary Realm of Control.
And to break through that barrier, he needed a deeper level of understanding.
So, whenever he returned to the Space Fortress to rest and recuperate from battle, he spent most of his time seeking instruction from his mentors.
"Teacher Lin, when I use the Fierce Bird Fist Technique in actual combat, my power output feels stiff. I can’t move with true freedom. What am I doing wrong?"
Qin Feng asked Lin Yue for guidance in Martial Arts Room C-709.
Lin Yue didn’t waste words. She simply said, "Attack me."
She then suppressed her own power to match Qin Feng’s level and began a sparring match with him using only fist techniques.
Her fists followed no set techniques, yet with every punch she threw, Qin Feng felt as if she could see through all of his subsequent moves with perfect clarity.
By the end of the session, Qin Feng was battered and bruised, but he also had an epiphany, and his understanding of fist techniques had deepened another level.
As for his spear arts, he connected remotely via the Subspace Network with Master Gu Yue, who was far away at Qiming First High School.
In a private room within the Imperial Arena, Master Gu Yue would demonstrate the essence of spear arts for him again and again, incisively pointing out the subtle mistakes in his combat that even Qin Feng himself hadn’t noticed.
"Your spear is fast, ruthless, and steady enough."
"But for a true master of the spear, a single thrust is not just about power and technique; it is a union of one’s own essence, energy, and spirit."
"..."
Under the unreserved tutelage of these two top-tier masters, Qin Feng’s understanding of the Martial Dao progressed by leaps and bounds.
Meanwhile, Lin Yue gradually grew numb to Qin Feng’s terrifying rate of resource consumption and his monstrous speed of improvement.
She had lost count of how many times she had watched Qin Feng, without batting an eye, gulp down priceless, high-grade Spiritual Energy Potions as if they were water.
She could only lament in her heart, again and again, ’A monster. He’s truly a monster.’
...
「Nine months later.」
During a fierce battle against a particularly powerful Level 3 Green Skin known as a "War Lord," Qin Feng was once again forced into a desperate corner.
The enemy’s giant axe was like a small mountain, and its every chop made him feel the very blood in his veins boil from the impact.
During one last-ditch evasion, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him!
The piercing and tearing of the Fierce Owl Technique!
The swiftness and forward rush of the Fierce Bird Body Technique!
The fluid grace and force redirection of the Dragon Body Technique!
The ultimate speed and precision of Flowing Light Chasing Shadow!
At that moment, these four techniques—the killing blows and Body Techniques he had mastered most thoroughly—seemed to transform into four threads of different colors inside his mind, which began to tentatively intertwine and merge!
’This is it!’
An unprecedented light burst forth from Qin Feng’s eyes!
At that instant, the Long Spear in his hand shot forward, following a completely new and unprecedented trajectory!
This single thrust possessed the swiftness of flowing light and the ferocity of a fierce bird. Midway through its path, the spear’s shaft even carried a trace of the fluid, deflecting power of a wandering dragon!
"THUNK—!"
A muffled thud!
This brand-new killing technique had actually managed to just barely pierce the thickest Alloy Armor on the War Lord’s chest!
But it had only pierced the surface.
The tip of the Long Spear was stuck fast within the heavy armor, unable to advance another inch.
"Waaagh!"
The War Lord roared in pain, its massive axe sweeping toward him with vengeful fury!
’Damn it!’
Qin Feng’s expression changed. He made a split-second decision, instantly releasing the Long Spear, turning, and fleeing without a backward glance. The sequence of actions was fluid, without a hint of hesitation.
It was an embarrassing retreat, but that moment of insight had shown him the way to break through that final barrier!
...
"Your idea is a good one. Fusing the essence of different combat styles to forge your own path is the hallmark of someone on their way to the Realm of Control."
In the private room, Master Gu Yue gave his approval after hearing Qin Feng’s description.
"However, the reason you failed is also quite simple. Your foundation is still insufficient."
"All weapons are merely extensions of the fists and palms. Your understanding of spear arts is already deep enough, but your understanding of the way of the fist has not reached that level. That is why your fusion felt so awkward and lacked staying power."
His words were a sudden awakening for Qin Feng.
After returning, Qin Feng went to seek guidance from Lin Yue once more.
This time, he made a decision that no one could have anticipated.
He abandoned his Long Spear.
In his subsequent battles, he no longer used any weapons. Instead, bare-fisted, he specifically sought out the toughest Level 2 Armored Green Skins to engage in the most primitive, bloody, hand-to-hand combat!
He would use his own fists to feel the solidity of their armor.
He would use his own body to endure the heavy blows of the Green Skins.
Qin Feng placed himself in the most dangerous of situations. It was precisely under this extreme pressure that his understanding of the Fierce Bird Fist Technique deepened at an unimaginable rate.
...