Douluo: Legacy of the Rusted Spear

When Ignaz and the other two approached, the child heard them coming. He turned around and quickly stood up. Upon seeing the village chief and Dali, he immediately took off running.

"This kid, what's with him—"

Just as Ignaz was wondering why this talent-challenged child seemed so shy, Dali spoke up from beside him.

"Aman is shy and has low self-esteem, especially around me and the old village chief. He's afraid we'll lecture him again about how splitting mountains and building houses is the right path, while he wants to become a Spirit Master like Boss Chen used to be."

"I see!"

Ignaz felt some admiration for this Aman. After observing for a day or two, he'd noticed that the villagers never added spirit rings to their martial souls. Instead, they relied on so-called self-created spirit techniques to handle their daily work and life.

Though someone taught the children their first three moves, it still required natural talent. Obviously, Aman's talent wasn't great, but he wanted to find an alternative path to become stronger.

With this thought, Ignaz suddenly had a new idea. If he could create his own unique self-made spirit technique in this Western Stone Kingdom, where everyone had self-created techniques, he'd definitely have at least one or two more skills than ordinary Spirit Masters in the future.

Self-created spirit techniques weren't restricted by spirit ring age limits. They could grow stronger as he grew, and if mastered thoroughly, they might eventually rival 100,000-year spirit ring abilities someday.

Even if practicing self-created techniques delayed his spirit power cultivation for half a year, it wouldn't matter. In this village full of people with self-creation experience, he refused to believe he couldn't create even one technique. Even if his talent was poor, so what? He could just ask more questions and keep practicing.

With his current path of absorbing spirit rings three levels above his grade, plus blood-sucking cultivation, he'd already reached the cultivation speed of innate level eight-and-a-half to nine. Even if he accomplished nothing after half a year, his spirit power wouldn't fall too far behind Tang San's.

"For the sake of cultivating self-created spirit techniques, I'll risk it all."

Ignaz muttered to himself.

Dali and the other man didn't notice Ignaz's mental shift. They pointed at the stone tablet and explained: "Boss Ignaz, this contains Boss Chen's understanding of swordsmanship and his insights into self-created sword techniques that he once wanted to teach us."

"Got it!"

Ignaz focused intently, carefully studying the tablet's contents, while the two village leaders quietly walked away upon seeing his absorbed state.

"A sword has two edges, sharp at the blade—this is the way of killing..."

After Ignaz read through everything, especially Chen Jianjun's insights about sword techniques, he was deeply moved. In his previous understanding, swords were both for protection and killing—protection focused on defense, while killing swords emphasized attack, using offense as defense.

"Truly worthy of being a Seven Kill Sword inheritor from an unbroken lineage. He developed the Seven Kill Sword to such extremes, deeply understanding the essential nature of the Seven Kill Sword martial soul!"

While marveling, Ignaz summoned his Blood Thunder War Spear and carefully observed the spear tip. The double-edged tip was similar to a sword but lacked a sword's length and broad cutting surface.

The basic spear techniques he'd practiced before emphasized grand, sweeping movements with the momentum of sweeping away thousands of troops. So his self-created technique should also start from two points: stabbing attacks and grand, sweeping movements.

After pondering for a moment, Ignaz immediately found some adults quarrying stone. He stood nearby watching each one, and whenever he didn't understand something, he'd step forward to ask. Though they used swords, he could gain experience from them to reduce the process of creating techniques from scratch.

...

Two months later, in the Blue Silver Forest

A fair-skinned, cold ten-year-old girl with beautiful blue hair was walking slowly through the Blue Silver Forest, led by six or seven Spirit Kings and three Spirit Ancestors.

"Father, Uncle, Little Aunt, is that phoenix-type spirit beast really in this forest?"

Regarding the Blue Silver Forest, Shui Bing'er had made a point to learn about it recently. Most areas were covered with Blue Silver Grass, and the grass here was more lush than in other spirit beast forests—some even a hundred or thousand-year-old Blue Silver Grass. Other spirit beasts were at most ten thousand years old.

But would that phoenix-type spirit beast really be willing to stay in a place like this?

Li Xianyue said excitedly to Shui Bing'er: "Bing'er, after eight or nine months of searching, we finally traced that phoenix-type spirit beast. It's right here in the Blue Silver Forest!"

It had been almost two years since parting with Ignaz.

During this time, she and Dean Shui had personally led teams to search the Star Dou Great Forest and Blue Silver Forest, respectively. Finally, they found that a blue phoenix-type spirit beast and a small blue bird very similar to it were in the Blue Silver Forest's core area.

According to Li Xianyue's speculation, those two blue birds were very likely the phoenix-type spirit beast's offspring.

To avoid alerting them, she quickly retreated. Under Dean Shui's arrangements, except for the clan leader and three Spirit Emperors from the clan, plus six or seven Spirit Kings who didn't come, almost all mid-to-high-level fighters were here, including a low-level fire-attribute Spirit Emperor—Elder Li.

"Young Clan Leader, we've spotted that ten-thousand-year phoenix-type spirit beast and its cub ahead. Let's be careful not to alert them. If they sense us early and fly away, we'll be in trouble."

Hearing this, Dean Shui nodded in agreement and immediately led everyone carefully toward the core area ahead.

Before long, everyone gathered at the core area's perimeter. Pushing aside several dense weeds blocking their way, they saw a bird about seven meters tall with light blue plumage dotted with golden feathers about seven or eight hundred meters ahead.

A blue bird about one meter long was sleeping against its thick legs.

"Bing'er, according to historical spirit beast records, that blue bird about one meter long has at most seven to eight hundred years of cultivation, within your second spirit ring's absorption limit."

Dean Shui was afraid of scaring away these two rare birds, especially that ten-thousand-year spirit beast. So he pointed at the magnificent blue bird and continued softly:

"Bing'er, get ready. We'll distract the ten-thousand-year spirit beast in a moment. After we capture the blue bird, if necessary, you must deliver the killing blow immediately. We absolutely cannot leave any survivors."

"Alright!"

Shui Bing'er showed no hesitation or reluctance. Instead, she remembered something Ignaz had told her before: "Every man for himself, or heaven will strike you down. Whether spirit beasts or humans, survival of the fittest is the most fundamental law of survival."

Just as Dean Shui and the others prepared to act, the Blue Silver Grass in the forest seemed to sense a pure killing intent. They collectively leaned toward the core area.

The phoenix-type spirit beast drinking water immediately sensed danger from the messages released by several Blue Silver Grass plants. It quickly raised its noble phoenix head.