Since the commanding general himself led by example, what excuse did common soldiers like them have to slack off? Furthermore, the last hundred got no food while the first hundred got chicken drumsticks—these rewards and punishments were too damn direct.
"Run! For the chicken drumsticks!" Someone shouted at the top of their lungs.
"I can't be in the bottom hundred! This old man doesn't want to starve!"
The crowd stirred. No one complained anymore as they each gritted their teeth, lifted their heavy strides, and followed along.
Sun He watched Wei Zhe's distant retreating back with a gaze that was immensely complex. He had initially thought Wei Zhe would stand on the high platform like other commanders and just flap his lips, never expecting him to govern the troops using such a clumsy yet most effective method.
He gritted his teeth as well and let out a furious roar, "What the hell are you all staring at for! Run! Whoever dares fall behind, this old man will whip him myself!"
Finished speaking, he took off running as well.
This ten-li cross-country run was practically a hellish torture to these veterans who had grown used to a life of ease. Many ran halfway out of breath, feeling as though their lungs were about to explode. Yet whenever they wanted to give up, raising their heads always revealed that figure carrying a hundred-jin weight with a steady pace, running at the absolute front of the formation.
Even the Chieftain was like this, so what face did they have to whine?
Ultimately, when everyone dragged legs that felt like they were filled with lead back to the camp, almost all of them collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily like a dead dog.
However, this was merely a beginning.
Without rest, Wei Zhe immediately commenced the second training session.
"Everyone, listen to my command and strike this pose!"
Before the crowd, Wei Zhe assumed an extremely bizarre posture. The horse stance was not quite a horse stance, and the lunge was not quite a lunge; his body was twisted at an awkward angle while both hands lifted upward as if supporting an invisible towering mountain.
"What the hell is this bullshit?" A soldier could not help muttering quietly.
"Stop running your mouth and do it!" Hu Lei prowled back and forth through the formation like a ferocious leopard, holding a leather whip in his hand. "Whoever's form isn't standard gets a lash right away!"
The soldiers did not dare slack off, so they could only grimace and imitate Wei Zhe's movements.
At first, they did not feel much, but after a mere few dozens of breaths, everyone felt something was wrong. They felt the muscles all over their bodies being stretched and squeezed in a strange fashion, the aching sensation surging like the tide as beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down from their foreheads.
"Now, breathe to my rhythm!"
Wei Zhe began to guide them in a specific style of breathing. One inhale, one pause; one exhale, one release. The rhythm was slow and deep.
Initially, everyone was flustered and clumsy, but gradually, once they mastered this breathing method, a wondrous thing occurred. They felt a faint stream of warm current flowing through every bone and joint along with their breath, and that unbearable aching sensation was unexpectedly alleviated quite a bit, replaced by an itchy, tingling sensation originating from deep within the muscles.
"This... this is..." Sun He followed along, feeling it most clearly. He possessed some foundational inner energy to begin with, and he could sense that this bizarre posture and breathing method seemed to refine his body in a way he could not understand, leaving even his inner energy, which had stagnated for many years, with a trace of loosening momentum!
Towering waves surged in his heart!
Could this be... some profound body refinement technique?
He abruptly raised his head to look at Wei Zhe, his eyes filled with shock. He actually openly imparted a technique that could be called a manual to all the soldiers just like that? What on earth was he trying to do? Who the hell was he anyway?
Just as Sun He was in shock, a soldier nearby could no longer hold out, causing his body to sway and secretly slacken his posture.
"Crack!"
A crisp whip-crack echoed as Hu Lei's whip landed precisely on his backside.
"The Chieftain's orders! Whoever dares slack off, go report to the side for twenty military beatings!" Hu Lei's voice was cold and merciless.
The soldier jolted with fright, hurriedly resuming his pose and never daring to move again.
An hour later, when Wei Zhe called a halt, almost everyone was completely exhausted and directly collapsed onto the ground. They felt as though every bone in their bodies had been taken apart and reassembled, lacking even the strength to lift a single finger.
"Chieftain... what... what kind of training method is this anyway? It's even more exhausting than fighting for our lives against the Xiongnu..." A soldier asked feebly.
Wei Zhe walked over to him and smiled. "It's right that you're exhausted. Without exhaustion, how do you grow strength?"
Pointing at a piece of hard timber used for drills beside them that was as thick as an adult's thigh, he said to that soldier, "You, come over here. Use your full strength and punch it."
The soldier stood up with a bitter face. "Chieftain, how do I have any strength left right now..."
"I told you to hit it, so hit it!"
Not daring to disobey, the soldier could only grit his teeth, muster all his might, and slam a fist into the timber.
"Bang!"
The timber merely shook slightly, leaving a shallow fist mark on its surface.
"Now," Wei Zhe said, "use the breathing method I just taught you, adjust for three breaths, and strike another punch."
Doubtful yet willing to try, the soldier complied. He closed his eyes and took three deep breaths according to that peculiar rhythm. When he opened his eyes again, he was astonished to discover that a fresh burst of strength had surprisingly welled up inside his sore and weak body.
He let out an explosive shout and unleashed another punch!
"Boom!!!"
A dull thud, far heavier than the previous one!
"Crack!"
That sturdy timber actually split apart right down the middle with a distinct fissure!
"I... holy shit!"
The soldier stared at his own fist, then looked at the split timber, completely dumbfounded.
The surrounding soldiers were all struck dumb as well. Crawling up from the ground one by one, they surrounded that timber with faces written full of disbelief.
Was... was this real? After training for just a little while, his strength had increased by this much?
"What I'm teaching you isn't some flashy, showy nonsense, but real skills that can actually save your puny lives on the battlefield and let you slaughter a few more enemies!" In that moment, Wei Zhe's voice was imbued with infinite magic.
"The harder you train, the stronger your bodies become, and the greater your chances of survival once you reach the battlefield! Do you want to be like me and send a Xiongnu flying with a single punch?"
"Yes!" This time, the reply shook the heavens, and the light of wolves erupted in everyone's eyes.
"Then train your lives off for this old man!"
The first day of devil training ended amidst the wails and exhilaration of all the soldiers.
That evening, as Sun He lay in his tent with an exhausted body while trusted soldiers applied the blood-circulation-promoting and bruise-dispelling ointment issued by Wei Zhe, several of his confidants gathered close.
"Boss... this kid is simply too ruthless. This isn't training troops, this is purely torturing people to death! Are we... really going to just follow him like this?" A confidant asked with a bitter expression.
Sun He did not answer immediately. He looked at his hands, which trembled slightly from the drills, and felt that long-lost sense of strengthening slowly breeding deep within his body, before he slowly, yet exceptionally firmly, spat out two words.
"We're going to do it."
He paused, then added another sentence, his gaze flickering with a radiance that even he himself found unfamiliar.
"Not only are we going to do it, we're going to do it better than anyone else! I have a damn premonition that by following this kid, we... might really rise above the masses!"
Before you continue