Chapter 464: Weapon

"That's right," the End-Role nodded slightly. "Second Senior Sister said you once sang [Soul-Soothing Ballad] in Aurora City. Do you have any memory of it?"

Chen Ling shook his head immediately. At that time, he was in a "loss of control" state after his promotion and had no memory of it at all.

"[Soul-Soothing Ballad] is a secret technique that fuses intent, spirit, and voice, combined with the extremely unique rhythm and tone of this ballad to achieve the effect of soothing the soul... In terms of difficulty, it is several times harder than the 'Thought' technique [True Words]. The learning conditions are also extremely strict. If you don't have supreme talent, it’s impossible to learn."

"In this world today, only the four of us seniors can master [Soul-Soothing Ballad]."

"Four?"

As soon as Chen Ling asked, he knew why it was four... After all, Fifth Brother, the Jester, couldn't even speak, so how could he be expected to learn [Soul-Soothing Ballad]?

"Of course, since we know how, Master definitely knows how too, it's just that I've never heard him sing it... So, strictly speaking, there should be five people. If you can learn it, little junior brother, then there will be six."

Chen Ling nodded slightly and, following the rhythm and melody recorded on the paper, began to practice with the Mo role:

"I see the sky weeping,"

"I hear your voice;"

"I smell longing blooming among the thorns,"

"I walk from the direction of the sunset..."

……

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Clang——!!

A crisp, resonant sound rang out on the sparring stage. Two figures, one red and one white, separated at high speed, the force of their clash making their robes snap in the wind.

Chen Ling gripped a long sword, his pupils glowing with a faint blue light, reflecting Ning Ruyu's movements. The next moment, the figure in white darted out with astonishing speed!

Chen Ling narrowed his eyes, his sword whistling as it cleaved through the air, slashing to the right. With a sound of clashing metal, Ning Ruyu’s spear deflected his blade, sending blinding sparks flying into the air!

In that instant, Ning Ruyu stepped forward like a thunderbolt, his spear dancing like a serpent, striking Chen Ling’s wrist.

Clang——

With another light sound, Chen Ling’s sword flew from his hand, spinning several times in the air before embedding itself into the ground at the edge of the stage.

At the same time, a spear tip shimmering with a cold glint stopped right before Chen Ling’s brow. A gust of wind brushed past, causing his hair to sway gently.

The two remained frozen on the stage for several seconds before Ning Ruyu smiled slightly and retracted his spear.

"Little junior brother, it seems the long sword doesn't suit you either..."

Chen Ling glanced at the various weapons scattered around the edge of the stage and let out a long sigh.

This week, he had fought Ning Ruyu every day and tried all sorts of weapons. While hand-to-hand combat was fine, as soon as he picked up a weapon, his movements became sluggish. He couldn't last more than a few moves before Ning Ruyu’s spear knocked the weapon away.

Previously, when Chen Ling sparred with Ning Ruyu, they didn't use weapons. But once Ning Ruyu picked up his spear, his combat power surged several times over; that spear was like an extension of his body, unbelievably agile... Conversely, Chen Ling’s combat power not only failed to increase but actually dropped significantly.

"Perhaps I'm just not suited for weapons..."

"That's not necessarily true," Ning Ruyu said. "I've observed carefully these past few days. Your combat style is extremely flexible. Whether it's your reaction speed that instantly perceives an enemy's moves, your elusive tricks, or your terrifying close-quarters combat skills, all of them provide a high bonus to melee fighting.

This dictates that you are better suited for close-quarters combat. Using long weapons actually weakens your advantages, causing your combat power to plummet—sometimes even making you less effective than fighting empty-handed.

I think weapons like daggers or short swords would suit you better."

Ning Ruyu was a senior, after all, and his insight was incredibly sharp. After this pointer, Chen Ling realized the issue... During a few previous fights, he had used a dagger, and the results seemed quite good.

"Then I'll try again with a different weapon."

"It's getting late today, let's continue tomorrow," Ning Ruyu said, glancing at the darkening sky.

Chen Ling nodded slightly. It was dinner time; if he kept practicing with his senior brother, the others would probably be waiting for him.

As Ning Ruyu raised his hand to retract the surrounding scene into a disc, Chen Ling asked curiously:

"Senior brother, I've basically mastered the other three basic secret techniques... Why haven't you taught me the 'Strike' secret technique yet?"

Ning Ruyu laughed, "Little junior brother, can't wait?"

"Not really, just curious."

"The 'Strike' secret technique is different from the others; there are risks involved in learning it," Ning Ruyu patted Chen Ling on the shoulder. "I'll teach you once you're fully prepared."

"Risks?"

Chen Ling was stunned. Up until now, whether it was the [Requiem Ballad], [True Words], or [Cloud Step], they could all be mastered with talent and practice—you either learned them or you didn't... As for risks, he had never heard of any.

This made Chen Ling even more curious: what exactly was the origin of this "Strike" secret technique?

Chen Ling and Ning Ruyu walked side-by-side toward the third senior brother's house. Just then, Chen Ling seemed to remember something:

"Senior brother, do you know about the Imperial God Path?"

"The Imperial God Path?"

Hearing these three words, Ning Ruyu raised an eyebrow slightly. "That fallen God Path? Why ask about that all of a sudden?"

"I encountered someone from the Imperial God Path in an Era Archive, and he's hunting me down," Chen Ling sighed. "I want to know if there's any way to deal with him..."

It had been over a month since he last entered an Era Archive, and as of four or five days ago, Chen Ling had felt that he could enter one again.

But the problem was, before he left the archive last time, that Imperial God Path guy was hunting him down frantically. If he hadn't exited the archive in time, he would likely be a corpse by now... Once he reconnected to the archive, he would have to face that pursuit again.

Although Chen Ling could choose not to enter and instead raise his rank before fighting him, he didn't want to waste so much time in the archive for nothing. Moreover, he had already accumulated enough audience anticipation to earn a chance at resurrection, so he felt it wasn't impossible to escape.

After hearing Chen Ling’s rough summary of the situation, Ning Ruyu rubbed his chin with one hand, lost in thought.

"A way to deal with the Imperial God Path..."

Ning Ruyu seemed to think of something and suddenly turned to ask, "You said you met him in an Era Archive?"

"That's right."

"If that's the case, it's not entirely impossible..."