The old man continued to drink his bubble tea, his expression quite solemn.
"Kid, I didn't expect your talent to be so extraordinary. You learned the Nine Yang Divine Skill in two hours. I wonder how many hours this move will take you."
The old man pointed at Ren Yuanhao's brow, his entire being still and motionless like an ancient monk in meditation.
At this moment, Ren Yuanhao seemed to have entered a pitch-black space, until a familiar voice came from behind him.
"Kid, don't worry. You've just entered a dream."
Ren Yuanhao turned around, and the surroundings suddenly brightened. Under his feet was shallow grass with dew, and above his head were towering ancient trees. The sky was like a curtain, without stars, moon, or clouds. Da Feng Novel Network.
"Senior, what do you mean by this?"
Ren Yuanhao remembered that he entered this place after drinking Huoshao Dao, and the old man's actions were very strange.
"One hour here is equivalent to ten minutes in the outside world. I want to see how long it takes you, this monster, to learn this move."
As soon as the old man finished speaking, a secret manual without a single word fell into Ren Yuanhao's hand.
— Holy crap? A blank scroll?
"Can't you see a single word?"
Ren Yuanhao nodded. The old man then said, "Try injecting your true qi into the book."
Ren Yuanhao heard this and directly injected his earth attribute qi into the book, but there were still no characters on the cover page.
"This~"
The old man smiled and said, "Don't rush. What you injected is earth attribute true qi, the last of the five elements. The text will naturally appear at the end of the book."
"Such a tsundere book?"
Ren Yuanhao muttered, flipped to the last page, and indeed, characters appeared in the book!
"Thick Earth Nine Questions? What kind of skill is this?"
The old man stroked his beard and smiled, "This is not a skill, but a sword technique. However, it is best to practice this move with a heavy sword. It is a sword technique that combines offense and defense. It seems it's not very suitable for you. Try injecting other attribute true qi."
Ren Yuanhao then injected fire attribute true qi. The Thick Earth Nine Questions disappeared instantly, and in its place appeared text with leaping flames.
"Spear of Extreme Flame? This sounds good!"
The old man nodded slightly, "This spear technique is extremely strong and fierce. Once you attack, there is no turning back. It's a fight to the death. The practitioner needs a heart of unwavering forward momentum to exert the spear technique to its fullest. However, do you have a long spear? And it can't be too bad."
Ren Yuanhao waved his hand casually, and in the dream, an ancient, lustrous black long spear appeared. The spear handle was wrapped with a dragon, and the spearhead was cold and sharp. The entire dream trembled.
"This spear should be barely usable, right?"
The old man's eyes changed slightly, "This, this is the Thorn Spear? It is said to be the king of long spears, a weapon forged by the ancient Heluo! You kid, you actually have such a divine object! With this spear, after cultivating the Spear of Extreme Flame, your strength will definitely increase!"
Ren Yuanhao took over twenty minutes to read the entire spear technique, meditated for twenty minutes, and when he picked up the spear, he already had five or six parts of the posture before the extreme flame!
"In forty minutes, you've already grasped the essence of the spear technique. Kid, if I had your talent in my youth, why would I need to hide in this obscure alley?"
Ren Yuanhao didn't care about the old man's praise. After all, he didn't know about talent or not. He only knew that every move in this Spear of Extreme Flame was an offense, just like the Dugu Nine Swords!
This kind of spear technique was what he wanted most. With a good spear technique, he could fully unleash the power of the Thorn Spear.
The long spear moved with great power, piercing, sweeping, rising, and falling. Every time a move was initiated, the dream trembled.
"This brat hasn't even used true qi yet, only practicing the posture of the spear technique, and he already has such powerful momentum. It seems I have to work hard to stabilize the dream, lest it be broken by this kid."
The old man's metal attribute true qi surged out, sweat pouring from his forehead. Only then was the surrounding dream space barely stabilized.
About three hours later, Ren Yuanhao had completely learned the moves of the Spear of Extreme Flame. As for the old man, his clothes were already soaked, and his face was pale.
"Senior?"
The old man waved his hand and said, "It's been a long time since I've circulated qi for so long, I'm a bit tired. But you kid are indeed extraordinary. In three to four hours, you can cultivate the Spear of Extreme Flame to this level!"
Ren Yuanhao cupped his hands humbly and said, "You flatter me, senior. If it weren't for you providing me with this secluded place, it would be a fool's dream for me to learn such complex and domineering spear techniques."
"Tsk tsk tsk, kid, there must be quite a few women who like you, right?"
The old man's words instantly confused Ren Yuanhao.
"Senior, you're changing the subject a bit too quickly. I~"
"Hahahaha, with your handsome appearance and eloquent tongue, how could you not be liked by women."
Ren Yuanhao chuckled along, thinking that the senior hadn't seen him in his down-and-out state. Back then, any woman would shy away from him. At that time, he even found women in their forties and fifties to be exceptionally charming.
Thinking of this, Ren Yuanhao missed the system lady, whom he couldn't connect with, even more.
"Alright, you've learned the Spear of Extreme Flame. We're about to get to something more complex below."
Ren Yuanhao was greatly alarmed at this, "There are even more powerful moves?"
"Of course, why wouldn't there be? Tell me, what is the king of weapons?"
"Of course it's the sword."
"Then, among sword techniques, who can be considered first?"
Ren Yuanhao replied almost without thinking, "Of course it's the Dugu Nine Swords!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ren Yuanhao saw the old man sneakily pull out a crumpled secret manual from his embrace!
"The Dugu family has passed down to this day, and it's no longer what it used to be. The family is now filled with mediocre people. This secret manual is a rare copy I've treasured. There's only one in the world, no other copies. Now that I find you quite agreeable, I'll reluctantly give it to you."
Ren Yuanhao tremblingly took the tattered ancient book from the old man's hand, and then heard the old man say, "Actually, the Sword Saint Dugu has already cultivated to the 'Realm of No Sword', achieving unity of heaven and man. The ultimate realm of this secret manual is also the 'Realm of No Sword'. However, with the development and changes in technology and environment, this set of skills that the elder Dugu practiced is no longer very applicable."
"In their era, ability users were as rare as phoenix feathers, while cultivators were spread all over the world. Everyone valued martial arts and believed that as long as they cultivated diligently, they could one day shatter the void and step beyond the three realms. In later generations, there were more and more ability users, and true qi was no longer the primary focus of cultivation. Especially for some elemental ability users, they could easily reach the level where the Sword Saint Dugu could 'turn plants into sharp weapons'."
The old man sighed with some emotion and regret, "Coupled with the decline of spiritual energy and the gradual weakening of cultivators, and the rise of ability users, these so-called secret manuals are actually not as precious as you imagine. However, for those high-level ability users and cultivators, cultivation techniques and secret manuals are definitely the most effective means to improve their strength. The higher you are on the food chain, the more you feel this."