Warrior Recruit, Infantryman

"This basic cultivation technique, take it back and study it carefully. It's best if you can memorize it beforehand, it will help with the assessment."

After Xu Bin finished emphasizing, he reached for the saber at his waist, ready to leave.

Old Xu chuckled, "Binzi, why don't you teach Little Stone a couple of moves beforehand? It'll be easier for him to cope then."

Xu Bin frowned slightly, glanced at Chen Sanshi, and said coldly, "I'm busy with other things."

"You brat, we're all neighbors, what's wrong with helping out a little?"

Old Xu pointed at his son, ready to scold him.

"Uncle Xu, Brother Bin must have military duties, so there's no need to trouble him."

Chen Sanshi knew the score.

He had no prior relationship with Xu Bin. It was already good of him to offer a few pointers, how could he dare ask for more?

"Hmph!"

On the donkey cart ride back to Poyang County, Old Xu said grumpily, "Little Stone, don't mind my foolish son. He thinks he's someone important just because he's a Squad Leader, walking around with his nose in the air all day!

"If he doesn't tell you, I'll tell you!

"The first three realms of martial arts cultivation are Blood Tempering, Bone Tempering, and Organ Tempering.

"Minor Accomplishment in Blood Tempering allows one to become a Squad Leader, and Major Accomplishment allows one to become a General Flag. Bone Tempering allows one to become a Hundred Household Commander, and Organ Tempering allows one to become a Thousand Households.

"Of course, these are just the approximate realms corresponding to each official position. The actual situation might be more complex."

On the swaying donkey cart, Chen Sanshi asked earnestly, "What did Brother Bin mean by Warrior Recruit and Infantryman earlier?"

Old Xu patiently explained.

"Whether it's a sect or a martial arts school, there are qualification requirements for disciples. The military is no exception.

"Generally speaking, there will be an assessment after enlisting.

"If you pass the assessment, you can become a 'Warrior Recruit.' Otherwise, you can only become an 'Infantryman.'

"Warrior Recruits can further cultivate martial arts, receive resource allocations, and retain the qualification to be promoted to an officer.

"Infantrymen, due to limited talent, cannot cultivate martial arts. They undergo unified training for formation and collective combat, and do not have the qualification to be promoted to an officer.

"Archers and cavalry are considered types of Infantrymen, but their treatment is slightly better."

"Hey, my Bone Structure was too poor, I was just an Infantryman!"

Chen Sanshi nodded thoughtfully, understanding what he meant.

The status of a Warrior Recruit was equivalent to a university graduate from a military academy in his previous life, with the potential for advancement, while a rank-and-file soldier would remain just that.

"I've told you everything I know."

Old Xu looked a bit embarrassed. "As for the cultivation technique, I never understood it well back then, so I won't mislead you. You should study it carefully when you get back."

Outside Poyang County Town, the two parted ways.

Chen Sanshi pondered to himself.

I must become a Warrior Recruit, otherwise, wouldn't enlisting be a waste?

I wonder what my martial arts talent is like!

Upon returning home, dinner was already prepared.

With the family's improved circumstances, meals were basically always white rice, salted duck eggs, and often meat dishes.

Gu Xinlan no longer went out to do piecework, but dedicated herself to being a full-time housewife at home.

At the dinner table, she mentioned Qin Xiong with surprise, "Shi Ge'er, do you know that fellow named Qin has gone missing?

"His brother has been asking about his whereabouts everywhere recently, he's almost driven mad.

"Zhao San, who had a grudge against him before, had an arm chopped off in the street. I heard blood was splattered everywhere, it was terrifying."

Zhao San was also a notorious local bully, but his activities didn't extend to their area.

"Fortunately, everyone in the village knows we've made peace with that Qin fellow, otherwise they would have definitely come knocking."

Chopping off someone's arm in the street?

Martial arts school disciples were truly arrogant.

Fortunately, Chen Sanshi now had military men status. Even if Qin Xiong's brother suspected him, he wouldn't dare commit murder in the street, at most he'd scheme behind his back.

However, he also needed to hurry up and improve his own strength.

After dinner, Chen Sanshi eagerly went to the open space behind the house and, under the moonlight, began to flip through the Basic Soldier Spear Technique.

Although it was called a spear technique, its content was a form of posture training, with no content related to weapons at all.

Each page of the book was illustrated with lifelike images representing a posture training movement, with a few lines of small text below detailing the precautions and cultivation insights.

His Eidetic Memory finally came in handy. In just over ten minutes, he had firmly memorized all thirty-six posture training movements and began to practice.

Chen Sanshi followed the drawings in the booklet: toes naturally pointed forward, chest sunken, back arched, shoulders dropped, elbows lowered, a feeling of lightness at the crown of the head, imagining something was being pressed down from above and couldn't be dropped, maintaining standard form.

The movements looked simple, but when he actually started practicing, he realized it was nothing like it appeared on the surface.

Following the movements in the image, Chen Sanshi felt his body change after just a few breaths.

From the soles of his feet, to his calves, then his torso and arms, his entire body began to feel hot, as if the posture training was some kind of starter, opening up a certain mechanism within the human body.

In this state, Chen Sanshi's stamina and energy rapidly depleted. In just half an hour, he was drenched in sweat.

It's worth noting that after mastering archery, his physical fitness had greatly improved. Among those who hadn't trained in martial arts, he was definitely among the top tier. Yet, even so, he started to feel fatigued after practicing the fifth posture.

He gritted his teeth and persevered until he had learned exactly ten postures, at which point he could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the ground, his face pale.

"Fortunately, my physique improved after mastering archery, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have lasted until the tenth posture!"

"I just wonder if my speed is considered fast or slow compared to others?"

After finishing his practice, Chen Sanshi's first sensation was hunger, the kind that made his vision blur.

"Shi Ge'er, I made some food, do you want some?"

A gentle female voice reached his ears.

Only then did Chen Sanshi notice that Gu Xinlan hadn't rested and had been waiting for him, and had even made a late-night snack.

Without a word, he rushed into the house and wolfed down five white steamed buns and a bowl of rice mixed with lard, yet he still felt somewhat unsatisfied.

Practicing martial arts truly consumed a lot of energy!

After eating, Chen Sanshi watched Lan Jie'er clear away the dishes, and he didn't even have the energy for anything else. He was truly exhausted!

He felt like he needed to eat meat.

Even though his family's conditions had improved, they weren't accustomed to eating meat at every meal.

It seemed he needed to be more generous with himself; he couldn't just focus on saving money after earning it.

Exhausted, Chen Sanshi lay on the bed. Lan Jie'er massaged him to relax his body, and he soon fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, before they had even woken up, they heard Qin Feng arrive early in the village again, looking for his brother. His attitude was clearly worse than before, showing obvious signs of impatience.

Chen Sanshi ignored him and went to report to the military camp after breakfast.

"Where is my elder brother?!"

Qin Feng gathered all the ruffians and scoundrels who used to be under his brother's command and questioned them one by one.

"Second Brother, we really don't know!"

A scrawny, shifty-eyed ruffian said, "The last time we saw Big Brother was seven nights ago. After dinner, he said he was going to the county town for some fun and didn't take us with him. We haven't seen him since..."

Another ruffian said cautiously, "Second Brother, the County Magistrate was assassinated that night. Do you think it might have been the barbarians..."

"Impossible!"

Qin Feng said with absolute certainty, "Those barbarians wouldn't randomly kill ordinary citizens on this trip!"

He seemed to realize he had said the wrong thing and paused before changing his tune, "What I mean is, if he killed randomly, it would only expose more of his tracks!"

"Second Brother."

The ruffians said with helpless expressions, "Zhao San has also been looking. Besides him, we really can't think of anyone else who would dare to harm Big Brother."

Qin Xiong had made many enemies.

But they were mostly vulnerable people like widows and orphans, or widowers and unmarried daughters. They wouldn't have the guts to cause trouble.

"I do know one person!"

A thin ruffian said, "That scholar from the Chen family had a conflict with Big Brother before."

"The Chen family?"

"Yes, it's that kid from Yanbian Village who's the best at hunting!"