The next day, just as the sky began to lighten, Lord Wang awakened the four practitioners, including Chen Xuanze and Wang Qingxuan, who were in the midst of their exercises. While Chen Xuanze and Wang Qingxuan were dedicated to their practice, Chen Qianqian was peacefully sleeping. Being a demon, her sleep didn't hinder her ability to activate her demon concealment. The awakening method was quite unique. Lord Wang activated the Autumn Water Sword, instantly freezing the four from their meditation to complete wakefulness.

Among these four individuals, the monk and the Taoist were considered outstanding talents of the younger generation at the sixth-tier level. Chen Xuanze was at the eighth tier, and the snake demon Chen Qianqian was at the seventh tier, having attained a realm unaffected by the seasons. However, the chilling aura of the Autumn Water Sword was so dominant that their resistance was in vain. There was no grogginess or confusion; instead, it had a remarkably refreshing effect.

As they stepped out of the cabin, Chen Xuanze muttered, "Rise and shine with the crowing rooster!"

This slightly complaining muttering caught Lord Wang's attention, and he wore an unpleasant expression as he asked Chen Xuanze, "Who are you calling a rooster?"

Chen Xuanze could only grin awkwardly, finding it difficult to explain.

Fortunately, Lord Wang didn't press the issue further. Upon closer thought, he found the phrase somewhat poetic. This tall and slender fellow always had a way with words. The last time he said something like, 'If one seeks personal life and death, how can it be avoided because of demons,' had a certain charm. It was far better than the lyrics he composed himself. When he recited it to Grand Commander Gao, who wasn't highly educated, Gao was genuinely shocked and praised the eloquence of the words. If it weren't for Lord Wang's staunch protection, Gao would have wanted to carve these two sentences onto the back of a large green stone. It would serve as a reminder for the Keeper of Demons when they went out and encourage them to read this line upon their return, just before revisiting the previous sentence.

After careful consideration, Lord Wang took Wang Qingxuan and Chen Qianqian to the stern, while Elder Lü led Chen Xuanze and Sanzang to the bow.

Arriving at the bow, Elder Lü didn't expound on any profound principles or teach any advanced spear techniques. Instead, he simply handed two bone pieces, each about a person's height, to the two of them.

The curvature of the bones was small, making it hard to discern the creature they came from at a glance. When held in their hands, the bones felt icy and surprisingly heavy, beyond what the eye could judge.

A faint fishy smell wafted through the air, and Chen Xuanze speculated that these were likely fish bones obtained by Elder Lü from some aquatic creature early in the morning. Ordinary fish in the heavenly waters would find it difficult to grow such long bones unless they turned into demons.

Elder Lü instructed the two to stand at the bow, holding the bones facing the direction of the ship's movement. They were not allowed to activate any techniques and had to endure for at least the time it took for a teapot to brew before switching hands.

The two were somewhat skeptical, as the bones were indeed heavy. Chen Xuanze, at the eighth tier of martial cultivation, believed he could endure for at least fifteen minutes. Sanzang, at the sixth-tier level of Buddhist cultivation, had experienced many physical trials during his time as a monk and felt confident he could endure for an hour or more.

The two held the bones aloft, standing at the bow, facing the faintly glowing east while the damp river breeze blew. In no time, their clothes were covered in dew formed by condensed moisture. Elder Lü paid no attention to them, neither correcting their posture nor providing any advice. Instead, he fetched a chopping board from the cabin, sitting behind the two standing figures. Using the dagger he had used yesterday for skinning and extracting demon cores, he began slicing the snowy-white fish meat piece by piece.

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It was slicing, not chopping. As the two who were still holding the bones observed Elder Lü's technique, the dagger glinted, and through some unknown means, the fish slices flew neatly onto the plate beside the chopping board, arranged in a tidy manner.

At this early hour, with the light not yet sufficient, the translucent fish slices could still be seen rising continually.

The meat slices were as thin as cicada wings. Unconsciously, the two became fascinated.

Elder Lü, after finishing with the fish meat on the chopping board, produced a crab the size of the board from somewhere. The dagger swiftly moved across the crab. Chen Xuanze, despite considering himself to have good eyesight, couldn't discern any changes in the crab. So, he activated his Heavenly Eye, only then seeing fine cracks at the joints and connecting points of the crab.

The cracks were straight and almost imperceptible. He speculated that not only was Elder Lü's spear technique outstanding, but his knife skills were also top-notch.

After cutting the crab, Elder Lü didn't stop there. From the ice-cold bucket at his side, he took out half of an eel left over from the previous night.

The eel's blood had already been drained.

Once again, the dagger swung, but this time, it was different from the straightforward slicing of the fish and crab. The dagger moved even faster this time, with various arcs Chen Xuanze couldn't comprehend. If he hadn't activated his Heavenly Eye, he wouldn't have been able to see where the dagger landed at all.

After a moment, Elder Lü grasped a section of fish bone protruding from the eel and lifted it onto a large empty plate nearby. With a shake of his hand, the eel slices fell neatly onto the plate, leaving him with a clean fish bone and undamaged eel skin in his hand.

This sight made Chen Xuanze extremely envious, and he wished he could put down the fish bone in his hand and beg Elder Lü to teach him knife skills. It wasn't about the mysteriousness of the technique, but learning this skill could easily fetch him three to five taels of silver per month as a vegetable cutter in the best restaurants in the capital! And that's just in the capital; if he returned to the prosperous land of Jiangnan, with this skill alone, he could easily earn at least five taels a month!

Fortunately, the way Lord Wang woke them up kept his mind very clear. Otherwise, he might have acted foolishly. Otherwise, this seemingly kind Elder Lü might have poked seven or eight holes in him with the fish bone in his hand and asked whether he was practicing spear or knife.

Having forcibly dispelled the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Chen Xuanze felt a soreness in his right arm. The right hand holding the bone began to tremble. After estimating the time, he realized a teapot's time had already passed.

Withdrawing his gaze from admiring Elder Lü's technique, he was about to turn his head to see how Sanzang was faring when he felt a pain in his neck. He had kept his head turned for too long, and his muscles had stiffened.

Hastily, he circulated the Star-Chasing Nine Transformations to alleviate the pain, feeling somewhat relieved.

Slowly turning his neck, he looked at Sanzang beside him. Sanzang seemed to be in a much better condition than him, with a smile on his face. However, the bone in his hand had also begun to shake, although the amplitude was much smaller than Chen Xuanze's.

For some reason, the two of them became competitive and neither wanted to be the first to switch hands.

And so, another teapot's time passed, with the two standing there gritting their teeth and glaring at each other.

After a half-teapot's time had elapsed, the bone in Chen Xuanze's hand had started to droop involuntarily. He struggled to lift it again. Seeing that this had no effect, Elder Lü intervened and knocked away the bone that had been going up and down.

"I told you to practice standing, not to get worked up. When practicing spear, what matters is a calm and clear mind. By holding the spear close to your chest, you can unleash it like a dragon!"

Seeing Chen Xuanze being scolded, Sanzang, who had changed hands and continued to stand still, closed his mouth but smiled happily. At this moment, he didn't need to suppress his laughter but couldn't open his mouth.

"Didn't he ever mention it to you? Hasn't the Monastery of Slaughter been fearless and aggressive for so many years? Haven't you understood the concept of acting within one's limits?"

The victory of Sanzang over Chen Xuanze made him feel like he had lost the entire world. He stopped laughing.

Elder Lü was right. If not for being excessively fearless and aggressive, wanting to take shortcuts, a thousand five hundred years ago, the Monastery of Slaughter wouldn't have rushed to the Black Mountain and White Water after losing its fortune. If Black Mountain and White Water were destroyed and lost their vitality, how could he have attacked the Monastery of Slaughter?