Chapter 463: Weapons

“That’s right.” Mojo nodded slightly. “Second Sister said you once sang a Requiem in Aurora City. Do you remember that?”

Chen Ling immediately shook his head. At that time, he was in an ‘out-of-control’ state after his promotion and had no memory of it whatsoever.

“The Requiem is a secret art that combines intention, spirit, and sound. When coupled with the song’s extremely unique rhythm and melody, it achieves the effect of soothing souls. In terms of difficulty, it’s several times harder than the ‘Recitation’ skill’s True Words. The learning conditions are also extremely strict; without extraordinary talent, it’s impossible to master. Currently, in this world, only us four brothers can master the Requiem.”

“Four?”

As soon as Chen Ling asked, he understood why it was four. After all, the Fifth Junior Brother, the Clown, couldn't even speak; how could he be expected to learn the Requiem?

“Of course, since we know it, Master must know it too, though I’ve never heard him sing it aloud. So, strictly speaking, there should be five, and if you, Little Junior Brother, can learn it, that would make six.”

Chen Ling nodded slightly. Following the rhythm and intonation recorded on the paper, he began to practice with Mojo:

“I see the sky weeping,”“I hear your voice;”“I smell longing blooming among thorns,”“I come from the direction of the sunset…”

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Clang—!!

A crisp clang echoed on the arena stage. Two figures, one red and one white, separated rapidly. The forceful gusts from their exchange made their robes flap loudly.

Chen Ling held a long sword. His pupils, glowing with a faint blue light, reflected Ning Ruyu’s movements opposite him. The next moment, the figure in white streaked forward with astonishing speed!

Chen Ling’s eyes narrowed. The long sword in his hand whistled as it cut through the air, slashing to the right. With a clang of metal, Ning Ruyu’s long spear parried his sword, creating dazzling sparks in mid-air!

In that instant, Ning Ruyu stepped forward like a clap of thunder. The long spear in his hand danced like a swimming serpent, tapping Chen Ling’s wrist.

Clang—

With another soft clang, Chen Ling’s long sword flew from his grasp. It spun several times in the air before sticking hilt-first into the ground at the edge of the arena.

At the same time, a gleaming spear tip, shimmering with cold light, stopped just before Chen Ling’s brow. A wisp of wind brushed past, making his hair tips sway gently.

The two remained frozen on the stage for a few seconds. Ning Ruyu smiled slightly and withdrew his long spear.

“Little Junior Brother, it seems the long sword isn’t suitable for you either…”

Chen Ling glanced at the edge of the arena. Seeing the various weapons stuck haphazardly in the ground, he let out a long sigh.

This week, he had fought with Ning Ruyu every day and tried all sorts of weapons. However, he fared better fighting bare-handed. Once he picked up a weapon, his movements became somewhat sluggish, and within a few exchanges, Ning Ruyu’s long spear would knock it away.

Previously, Chen Ling and Ning Ruyu’s sparring sessions were without weapons. But after Ning Ruyu took up his long spear, his combat power surged several times over. The spear was like an extension of his body, incredibly agile. In contrast, Chen Ling’s combat power not only didn't increase but was significantly reduced.

“Perhaps I’m just not suited for using weapons…”

“Not necessarily,” Ning Ruyu said. “I’ve observed you closely these past few days, Little Junior Brother. Your fighting style is very agile. Whether it’s your reaction time, which allows you to instantly perceive enemy movements, your elusive tricks, or your terrifying close-quarters combat skills, all provide a significant bonus to close-range fighting. This dictates that you are better suited for close-quarters combat. Therefore, using long weapons would diminish your advantages and rapidly decrease your combat power, even making it worse than fighting bare-handed in close quarters. I think weapons like daggers and short swords would be more suitable for you.”

Ning Ruyu was indeed a senior, with incredibly sharp insight. With his guidance, Chen Ling also realized this problem. He had used daggers in a few previous battles, and the effect seemed quite good.

“Then I’ll try another weapon.”

“It’s getting late today; let’s continue tomorrow,” Ning Ruyu said, glancing at the darkening sky.

Seeing this, Chen Ling nodded slightly. It was already dinnertime, and if he continued training with First Senior Brother, the other brothers would probably have to wait for him.

As Ning Ruyu raised his hand to store the surrounding scenery into a disc, Chen Ling asked, puzzled:

“First Senior Brother, I’ve basically mastered the other three fundamental secret arts. Why haven’t you taught me the ‘Strike’ secret art yet?”

Ning Ruyu chuckled, “Little Junior Brother, are you impatient?”

“Not really, just curious.”

“The ‘Strike’ secret art is different from the others; there’s a risk in learning it.” Ning Ruyu patted Chen Ling’s shoulder. “I’ll teach you when you’re fully prepared.”

“A risk?”

Chen Ling was startled. Up until now, whether it was the Requiem, True Words, or Cloud Steps, all could be mastered with talent and practice—you either learned them or you didn't. As for risks, he hadn’t heard of any. This also made Chen Ling curious: what exactly was this ‘Strike’ secret art?

Chen Ling and Ning Ruyu walked side by side towards Third Senior Brother’s house. Just then, Chen Ling seemed to remember something:

“First Senior Brother, do you know about the Imperial God Dao?”

“The Imperial God Dao?” Hearing those three words, Ning Ruyu raised an eyebrow slightly. “That’s the fallen divine path, isn’t it? Why are you suddenly asking about it?”

“I encountered an Imperial God Dao practitioner in the Era Archive, and he’s hunting me,” Chen Ling sighed. “I want to know if there’s any way to deal with him…”

More than a month had passed since he last entered the Era Archive. He had felt he could enter it again four or five days ago.

But the problem was that before he exited the archive last time, that Imperial God Dao practitioner was frantically hunting him. If he hadn't left the Era Archive in time, he would probably be a corpse by now. Once he reconnected to the archive, he would continue to face the Imperial God Dao’s pursuit.

Although Chen Ling could choose not to enter and raise his rank before fighting him, he didn’t want to waste so much time that could be spent acting within the archive for nothing. Furthermore, he had already accumulated enough audience expectation points to have one chance to revive from death. He felt that escape wasn’t impossible for him.

After Chen Ling roughly explained the situation, Ning Ruyu rubbed his chin with one hand, deep in thought.

“A way to deal with the Imperial God Dao…”

Ning Ruyu seemed to recall something and suddenly turned to ask him, “Did you just say you met him in the Era Archive?”

“That’s right.”

“If that’s the case, then it’s not entirely without a solution…”