As Long as Your Resolve Doesn't Falter

"My lord, you still..."

"I said two days. Can't you understand human speech?!"

Feeling the anger in the other man's tone, Chen Sanshi did not dare continue. He obediently cupped his hands and withdrew from the tent.

Wait two days?

More likely, it would be two days after two days.

By the time the ten-day assessment period ended, the daylilies would have gone cold.

"Other people can pay to be taught, but when I pay, no one will teach me?"

Even a fool could see that he was being deliberately targeted.

Since joining the Military Camp, Chen Sanshi had not offended anyone. Who was so determined to make trouble for him?

There were two possibilities.

First, Qin Xiong's younger brother!

He was wearing a military uniform, so Qin Feng did not dare touch him. Yet Qin Feng also feared that he might achieve something in martial arts, so he targeted him this way.

But Qin Xiong's younger brother did not even seem capable of becoming a true disciple. He should not have had enough influence to build connections with the Hundred Household Commanders.

Which left the second possibility: Commander Luo.

Commander Luo's nephew currently ranked second in the speed of practicing stance work.

He was worried Chen Sanshi would steal Song Yan's future.

That made sense.

Chen Sanshi felt immense pressure.

Trying to climb upward really meant one hurdle after another!

"How'd it go? Who taught you? I heard Commander Liu teaches most patiently and gives the best value."

Zhu Tong came over to ask. When he learned the outcome, he flew into a rage. "What the hell is this? They took your money and still won't teach you?! I'll go argue with him!"

"Old Zhu, you can't go."

Xu Wencai advised, "Brother Chen has probably offended someone!"

"This..."

Zhu Tong scratched his head. "Then what do we do? Out of all these people, Stone learns martial arts the fastest. That selection eligibility ought to be his!

"Otherwise, I'll teach you in secret? Nobody should find out."

"Old Zhu, there's really no need."

Chen Sanshi did not want to drag anyone else into this.

Even if the others had breathing techniques, he was still currently the fastest at practicing stance work.

There might not be no hope at all.

With that in mind, he took a Plum Blossom Spear from the weapon rack beside the Training Ground and began to practice.

"Spear technique?"

Zhu Tong was stunned. "Stone, you've already started practicing spear technique?!"

It was not just him. Everyone on the Training Ground turned to look.

"It's fine!"

Zhu Tong called loudly, "Stone is this impressive, and nobody's blind. If even one military officer sees it and reports it upward, some lord will definitely cherish talent."

Xu Wencai looked at him as if he were a small child and shook his head slightly.

Clearly, that was not how things worked.

The lords were absent, though there were quite a few Squad Leaders around. But nobody intended to meddle in someone else's business.

Including Xu Bin, who happened to be passing by.

The moment he arrived at the Military Camp today, he heard the armory clerk talking about how his fellow villager was some kind of Master Archer and would most likely become a Warrior Recruit. So he had come over to take a look.

Then he saw Chen Sanshi being targeted, unable to learn the breathing technique even after spending silver.

"This kid offended someone the moment he got here."

Xu Bin glanced toward the direction where Lord Thousand Households usually worked. He took a step that way, then quickly withdrew it. In the end, he sighed and went home.

"Your second uncle! It has to be your second uncle!"

Zhu Tong grabbed Song Yan by the collar. "Your second uncle is the one making things difficult for Stone."

"I... I don't know!"

Song Yan's face flushed red. "I didn't ask my second uncle to do this!"

"Hmph!"

Zhu Tong cursed, "In my opinion, there's no need for an assessment at all. They might as well give you the selection eligibility directly."

"I'll go find my second uncle."

Song Yan broke free and ran straight out of the Military Camp.

Inside a tent, he found his uncle and voiced his doubts.

"What?"

Commander Luo, seated before his desk reading a military manual, raised his head. "Isn't this a good thing?"

Looking into his nephew's clear eyes, he set down the military manual and continued:

"I did have such plans, but let alone the fact that I haven't been promoted to Deputy Thousand Households, even if I had, the other Hundred Household Commanders—especially Fatty Wang—would not all be willing to listen to me.

"Actually, yesterday Lord Thousand Households sent us to cooperate with the martial arts academy in searching the whole city for barbarian assassins. After it was over, the Young Master of the Academy from Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy invited us for drinks. During the banquet, he happened to mention that kid's name.

"Heaven knows how he offended people from the academy.

"We've all benefited from Tianyuan Martial Arts Academy for many years, so naturally we had to show them some respect."

"This..."

Song Yan lowered his head. "Isn't this too unfair to him?"

"Fair my—"

Luo Dongquan was helpless before his naïve nephew. He put down the military manual he had nearly hurled at him. "Yan'er, why do you care about others? Focus on cultivating and securing the vanguard selection eligibility. Entering the Governor's Mansion in the future is what you should be worrying about!

Do you understand? Without a master's lineage or a family background, you will never in your life wear a crimson robe embroidered with cranes! Entering Governor Sun's service is your only hope! Go out. Don't come bother me again."

Meanwhile, two or three Hundred Household Commanders had gathered inside Commander Wang's tent.

"Heh, Fatty Wang, you're ruthless enough."

Commander Xiong teased, "It's one thing not to teach the kid, but why did you take his silver too?"

"Hahahaha, I'll treat the brothers to drinks later."

Wang Zhi was exceedingly pleased with himself.

"But..."

Commander Liu said gravely, "I remember that Chen Sanshi. He seems to be the fastest among this batch at practicing stance work. What a pity to lose such a good seedling."

"When has the army ever lacked good seedlings? Back then, I learned stance work in a day and a night too."

Wang Zhi said disdainfully, "What the army lacks are genuine geniuses. Half a day for stance work, three days for spear technique—that's someone worth cultivating."

"That's true. In this damned place, every extra mouthful of resources given to someone else is one less mouthful for yourself."

Commander Liu stroked his chin. "But if this kid doesn't make it, the selection eligibility will probably fall to Commander Luo's nephew. If he truly gets selected into the elite forces of the Eight Great Camps, he might even be able to bring Commander Luo over someday. Then they'll really soar into the heavens!"

"Come to think of it, Fatty Wang, if you could train a genius, you might return to the Eight Great Camps. You're not willing to stay in this rotten place for the rest of your life either, are you?"

"I'd like to, but where the hell am I supposed to find a genius?"

Wang Zhi toyed with the silver ingot in his hand, bringing the topic to an end.

Training Ground.

Chen Sanshi began drilling his spear technique.

With his extraordinary memory, his mind seemed to contain a slideshow that could repeatedly play the scenes of Commander Wang demonstrating the spear technique earlier.

Stance work already consumed an enormous amount of strength.

Adding spear technique on top of it, Chen Sanshi immediately felt as if a water pump had sucked all the strength from his body dry. Fortunately, he had been mentally prepared and persevered.

Every time the Plum Blossom Spear swung, his heart pounded faster and his lungs felt stifled, as if he had run to his limit. He could even taste blood in his throat.

The breathing technique was most likely meant as an aid, capable of easing the pain and speeding up cultivation.

If it was only an aid, then that meant he could still learn the complete spear technique without a breathing technique.

He would merely have to endure more pain than others.

As for speed, as long as he himself practiced fast enough, slowing down relatively a little was no great matter.

As long as his resolve did not falter, there would always be more solutions than difficulties!

Chen Sanshi gritted his teeth until they creaked and continued swinging the iron spear in his hand.