The moment Shi Meng announced the appointment, the entire New Recruit Camp erupted.
"Squad leader! He became a squad leader on his very first day in camp!"
"Gosh! He beat the chief instructor!"
"Too strong! Wei Zhe is too strong!"
The looks the recruits directed at Wei Zhe had completely transformed from their initial astonishment into fanatical worship. In this military camp where strength was supreme, Wei Zhe had won himself supreme prestige in the most direct and shocking manner.
The veteran soldiers also traded looks of mutual dismay; the contempt and mockery on their faces had long since vanished, replaced by gravity and awe. The way they looked at Wei Zhe was no longer as though they were watching a recruit, but rather a comrade equal to them or even stronger.
Supported by two veteran soldiers, Shi Meng stood up. He walked over to Wei Zhe. Though his expression was ugly, his gaze was exceptionally open.
"Kid, you're not bad," he said in a deep voice. "The rule of the Northern Frontier is that whoever's fist is harder is the boss. Tonight, you won. You truly deserve to be squad leader."
"Thank you, instructor." Wei Zhe gave a neither humble nor arrogant bow. He knew that this battle of his had not only beaten the recruits into submission, but also this iron-blooded instructor.
"Your ten soldiers are the men in your tent," Shi Meng said, pointing at Wei Zhe's tent. "Starting tomorrow, drill them properly for me! If you turn out a bunch of useless bears, I'll hold you accountable!"
"Yes, instructor!" Wei Zhe responded in a ringing voice.
"Did you bastards all stare enough? Get back and go to sleep!" Shi Meng roared at the surrounding crowd, venting the frustration in his heart.
The crowd dispersed in an uproar, but before leaving, everyone couldn't help casting one more glance at the straight-backed youth standing in the middle of the drill ground.
Inside Wei Zhe's tent, the atmosphere was entirely different.
When Wei Zhe walked in, the nine youths including Hu Lei all stood up in unison, looking at him with nervous unease.
"Squad leader!" Hu Lei was the first to speak. His dark face flushed bright red, and he gave Wei Zhe a deep bow. "I, Hu Lei, was blind to Mount Tai and committed many offenses earlier. Please punish me, squad leader! From now on, I, Hu Lei, will listen to you alone!"
He was a straightforward person, and he submitted to whoever was stronger than him. Wei Zhe's performance tonight had already made him submit completely and wholeheartedly.
"That's right! Squad leader, we'll all listen to you!"
"Wherever the squad leader tells us to go, we'll never go the other way!"
The other youths also expressed their stances one after another, their eyes full of awe and trust.
Wei Zhe looked at them and nodded faintly. "We're brothers from the same tent, so the past is in the past. From now on, as long as you follow my orders, I guarantee no one will dare bully us again."
"Yes, squad leader!" the nine of them answered in unison, their voices loud and clear.
On this night, there was no more snoring in Wei Zhe's tent. The nine youths lay on their pallets, tossing and turning, too excited to sleep. As for Wei Zhe, he closed his eyes and sank his mind into the system.
"System, view rewards."
"Received 100 Tempering Points. Does the host wish to use them?"
"Use them!"
Wei Zhe did not hesitate. He opened his personal panel.
Character: Wei Zhe Realm: Mortal (Unranked) Strength: 20 Agility: 12 Constitution: 15 Available Tempering Points: 100
"How should I distribute them?"
Strength was temporarily sufficient. Through the battle with Shi Meng just now, he had gained a deeper understanding of the importance of agility and constitution. Agility determined his reaction speed and dodging ability, while constitution related to his stamina and ability to take blows, both of which were key to saving his life on the battlefield.
"Add 30 points to agility, 70 points to constitution."
As his thought was issued, a warm current once more coursed through his entire body. He could feel his body becoming lighter, his breathing growing longer and more sustained, and his five senses seemed to have sharpened considerably as well.
Opening the panel again, the data had taken on a completely new look.
Character: Wei Zhe Realm: Mortal (Unranked) Strength: 20 Agility: 15 Constitution: 22 Available Tempering Points: 0
"Very good." Wei Zhe nodded in satisfaction. After his constitution had vastly improved, he felt his entire body filled with inexhaustible energy.
The next day, before dawn had broken.
The shrill assembly whistle sounded punctually.
When all the recruits ran out onto the drill ground with sleep-heavy eyes, they discovered that Wei Zhe and the nine soldiers under his command had already lined up looking full of vigor. Their formation was neat and uniform, forming a stark contrast with the other crooked squads.
Standing on the high platform, Shi Meng saw this scene, a trace of approval flashing in his eyes.
"Today, we begin formal training! First item: weighted cross-country! Each person carries a thirty-jin sandbag and runs ten laps around the camp! Last place gets no breakfast!"
The moment the order was given, the veteran soldiers immediately distributed the heavy sandbags one by one.
The recruits wailed bitterly; the weight of thirty jin pressed down on their bodies, and before they even ran, their calves felt weak.
"First squad, listen to my command!" Wei Zhe shouted in a low voice to his team members. "Adjust your breathing, three steps inhaling, three steps exhaling! Don't look at others, keep up my rhythm!"
He taught the team members some of the shallow breathing techniques from the Thousand Refinement Force in the simplest way.
"Yes!"
With an order from Shi Meng, several hundred recruits rushed out like headless flies.
Only Wei Zhe's first squad maintained a neat formation, following closely behind Wei Zhe at a steady pace, their breathing rhythms astonishingly consistent.
At first, they were still in a middle position. But after three laps, those squads that had sprinted wildly at the start already began to have people lagging behind and running out of breath.
Meanwhile, the speed of Wei Zhe's squad remained steady. Although everyone's face was sweating, it was far from as disheveled as the others.
Carrying a sandbag, Hu Lei followed closely behind Wei Zhe, his heart filled with shock. He found that by following the breathing method taught by Wei Zhe, his originally heavy body unexpectedly became much lighter, and after running for so long, he was only panting slightly.
Five laps... seven laps...
More and more recruits fell behind, and some even collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
Yet Wei Zhe's first squad was like a sharp blade, beginning to continuously surpass the squads in front of them.
When they completed the tenth lap and neatly crossed the finish line, most squads hadn't even run their ninth lap yet.
Standing at the finish line, Shi Meng looked at Wei Zhe and the ten soldiers under his command. Though they were exhausted, their mental outlook was completely different, and the shock on his face could no longer be concealed.
He had originally thought Wei Zhe only possessed formidable personal martial prowess.
He never expected that the boy would also be skilled at leading troops!
This was only the first day, yet he was actually able to lead a mob of a rabble and bring out the embryonic form of elite troops!
What on earth... was this kid's background?
"First squad, all personnel! Rest in place! You lot have earned the right to eat breakfast!" Shi Meng shouted toward Wei Zhe's squad, his voice carrying an appreciation he hadn't even noticed himself.
"Yes!"
Wei Zhe's team members roared in unison, their voices filled with pride.
They straightened their backs, basking in the envious and jealous gazes cast by the surrounding recruits. At this moment, their conviction in Wei Zhe reached its peak.
As for Wei Zhe, he cast his gaze toward the other side of the drill ground.
There, several veteran squad leaders were leading their squads, watching them with a scrutinizing and malicious gaze.
Wei Zhe knew that by defeating Shi Meng last night and making such a prominent display in training today, he had already become a thorn in the eyes of all the veteran soldiers.
The challenge had only just begun.
Before you continue