Heavy Machine Gun

Ten minutes later, Jiang Ding's arms began to tremble, aching terribly. The sounds of firearms hitting the ground echoed in his ears, only to be picked up again under the instructor's sharp shouts.

The hundred-plus kilograms he had initially disregarded now felt as heavy as a mountain.

Jiang Ding ignored the physical pain, focusing his mind on the dynamic visualization in his head. Muscles turned like gears, and physics formulas flashed and disappeared.

Gradually, he entered a state of clarity.

The soreness in his body vanished. He thought of nothing but the orderly rotation of the mechanical giant in his mind.

"Time's up!"

Amidst the sporadic clatter of heavy machine guns hitting the ground, Jiang Ding opened his eyes, his body trembling.

The intense muscle soreness surged like a tide, nearly drowning him. It took a while for him to recover before he slowly, haltingly, put down the heavy machine gun.

"Damn, Jiang Ding's good. He didn't drop it for twenty minutes."

"His Vajra Seal didn't even deform. He seems stronger than some students in the Inner Qi Realm..."

Jiang Ding received many astonished glances.

"Not bad!"

Zhang Dingjun praised him generously. "Your Vajra Seal should have seen some breakthrough. Remember this feeling; it will help you enter the Inner Qi Realm."

"Yes, Instructor!"

Jiang Ding shouted back, feeling a surge of joy.

He knew this was related to the broken sword tip, which had greatly enhanced his comprehension. The flashes of inspiration he'd missed before were now captured.

"Now, Hidden Sword Style!"

After his classmates had relaxed for a bit, Zhang Dingjun roared again.

Jiang Ding stood firm, performing the action of sheathing a long sword, his eyes slowly closing.

The Hidden Sword Style, one of the Nine Great Sword Styles!

It could relax muscles, accumulate strength, and conceal one's presence, far more effective than any massage for loosening the body.

The other students also performed various movements. Some held their spears loosely, others slammed their fists onto the ground, all variations of the Hidden Sword Style.

The difference lay in how quickly some entered the state, their muscles relaxing and resting, while others merely closed their eyes and went through the motions, fidgeting occasionally and wasting energy.

Zhang Dingjun glanced at Li Junhao and a few others, frowning inwardly but saying nothing.

He knew that if these students could get into First High School, their academic scores must be high if their martial arts were lacking. Still, he wasn't pleased.

"Cease!"

At his command, Jiang Ding opened his eyes. The pain in his sore arms and knee joints was greatly relieved, and he was temporarily fine.

"Next is live-fire shooting. I've set up targets at four thousand five hundred meters, and each person has two hundred rounds of ammunition," Zhang Dingjun paused, then added sternly, "Under no circumstances are you to point your weapon at a classmate!"

"No matter the reason, no matter how justified your grievance."

"One warning, two demerits, three and you'll be expelled directly!"

"Understood?"

"Yes! Instructor!" Jiang Ding and the others replied loudly.

"Free activity."

Zhang Dingjun waved his hand and, with a flash, used the Wind Riding Technique to fly towards the Qi Refining students.

Jiang Ding picked up the heavy machine gun from the ground and walked towards the shooting range, casually opening the Swallow-1 drone case at his waist.

A palm-sized swallow lay at the bottom of the case, its eyes gleaming like jewels.

It connected to his panoramic helmet via Bluetooth.

"Activate."

Jiang Ding clicked the activation button in his helmet's field of view.

The Swallow-1's eyes twitched. It quickly completed its self-check and flapped its wings, taking to the sky. Simultaneously, images appeared in his panoramic helmet.

Compared to the drone he'd bought online, this one had higher precision and better image quality. It could even clearly show ants crawling on the ground. Furthermore, it could find and mark even stationary hidden targets.

Soon, targets appeared at four thousand five hundred meters – human-sized, some standing, some prone, some hidden behind large trees.

"I'm really envious of you guys."

Li Junhao dragged the heavy machine gun behind him weakly. Standing with the gun was difficult for him. His practice of the Hidden Sword Style wasn't sufficient, and he couldn't rest. This kind of class was torture for him.

"I'll say it again: maintain a regular schedule and persist with your training," Jiang Ding glanced at him. "Skin Refining and Muscle Refining are the beginnings of the martial path. How difficult can it be to break through? Persistence will surely yield results."

"Besides, your academic scores are so high; that greatly helps in practicing martial arts."

Li Junhao hesitated.

Jiang Ding arrived at the shooting point, lay down, and set up the heavy machine gun. He loaded the ammunition belt and aimed at target number one through the scope with his left eye.

He held his breath, circulating the Vajra Seal throughout his body to stabilize himself, and used the Thousand Threads Pull to adjust the firearm.

He had only cultivated the Thousand Threads Pull to the 'Ten Pulls' level of proficiency, allowing him to divide one unit of force into ten.

Bang!

Amidst fire and the smell of smoke, the bullet left the barrel, flying towards the target at over 2000 meters per second. Two and a half seconds later, it reached its destination.

Missed.

"Wind speed..."

Jiang Ding muttered to himself.

At this moment, he truly envied cultivators who had specialized spells to control firearms. Their Spiritual Sense and Magic Power granted them powerful precision, allowing them to easily achieve a perfect score of forty points with light weapons.

Cultivators strove towards tank operation and control, inherently standing at the pinnacle of martial artists.

Bang!

The second shot, the third shot...

Finally, on the sixth shot, he hit the target, blasting its head into a pile of fragments.

He paused, then aimed at a target that was constantly moving erratically at the speed of a Qi Refining third-layer cultivator using the Wind Riding Technique. He continuously pulled the trigger, the roar of gunfire unending, shell casings flying.

This was even harder. It took over fifty rounds of ammunition to shatter it.

"This..."

Jiang Ding frowned.

Real Qi Refining third-layer cultivators were far more cunning than the target. They possessed Spiritual Sense, with a coverage range of about thirty meters, and foresight spells. Even bullets from a heavy machine gun flying at several times the speed of sound could be seen, allowing them to predict and evade in advance.

"Unbeatable..."

With a sigh, Jiang Ding continued practicing. His classmates around him were also firing their weapons, kicking up a cloud of dust.

He didn't dare waste so much ammunition again. After one shot, he would stop, ponder slowly, carefully experience the massive recoil of the heavy machine gun, and neutralize it with the Vajra Seal. He observed the wind speed, humidity, and other conditions, then used Thousand Threads Pull to adjust the heavy machine gun bit by bit.

Practicing these two martial skills was this repetitive and tedious.

After more than two hours.

Around eleven in the morning, during the fourth class, Zhang Dingjun returned from the Qi Refining realm classmates, carrying a steel battle axe more than two meters tall.

He called his classmates over, forming a circle.

"Cold weapons, like swords, spears, sabers, axes, and staffs, have limited use on the battlefield, only being useful in very rare special circumstances," Zhang Dingjun said, picking up the long axe with one hand. "However, enemies from the Immortal Sect use them, and they are mainstream. Things like Magic Artifact Flying Swords, Magic Artifact Shields, and Magic Artifact Water Beads are equally terrifying in power."

"Therefore, the Immortal Sect has set up elective courses for cold weapons. You don't have to use them, but you must understand them. The college entrance examination has a total score of forty points."

"Preparation Stance."

Zhang Dingjun made a motion to diagonally place the long axe. "The Fledgling Eagle Takes Flight Art is a cultivation method that integrates striking and practicing. Many martial skills of the Immortal Sect are derived and specialized from it, like my Long-armed Ape Axe."

Buzz!

The battle axe slashed diagonally, the air exploding and forming a gale that spread outwards, making the clothes of the surrounding classmates flutter. Then, it chopped horizontally, forcefully cutting down the gale that had reformed, leaving stillness in all directions.

"Next, choose sparring partners freely. A hit to the torso wins," Zhang Dingjun said, lifting a camouflage cloth to reveal a pile of cold weapons inside.

Jiang Ding stepped forward and unhesitatingly chose a steel sword about a meter long.

With the sword hilt in his hand, he felt an inexplicable sense of security.

The classmates also chose their own cold weapons, all sorts of them. Li Junhao, in particular, had a pair of meteor hammers as his main cold weapons.

After everyone had chosen their weapons, they didn't start sparring immediately. Eyes turned towards Jiang Ding.

"Jiang Ding!" Sun Xiao, the captain of the first squad, holding a two-meter steel spear, revealed a slight smile. "Want to spar?"

He was at the Minor Accomplishment stage of the Inner Qi Realm, considered among the highest-ranked martial artists in the class who had reached the Inner Qi Realm.

The surrounding classmates were not surprised that an Inner Qi Realm martial artist would challenge someone in the Bone Refining Realm, and they gathered around.

"Sun Xiao is challenging again? How many times has he lost already?"

"Everyone else is the same. The Inner Qi Realm martial artists are training for nothing; they can't beat those in the Bone Refining Realm."

"Nonsense, why don't you go up then? You don't even have Inner Qi..."

Compared to endless studying and the repetitive shooting of machine guns, this kind of real combat was more likely to ignite the youthful passion.

With the long sword in hand, Jiang Ding's heart calmed. He nodded.

"Okay."

Whoosh!

With the steel spear in hand, it seemed to transform into a sinuously moving long snake. At extreme speed, it lunged three times consecutively, forming three points of starlight that shot towards Jiang Ding's body.

Li Junhao held his breath. From his perspective, the silver light flashed by in an instant, with no time to react.

Clang!

Clang!

Jiang Ding drew his sword. A rule-based arc flashed, precisely blocking the side of the spearhead. His footwork slid like flowing water, deflecting most of the force before he struck again with his sword, tapping the side of the spearhead.

His footwork shifted again, dodging the third thrust, and he rapidly advanced to the inside of the steel spear.

Exhibiting Sword Style!

Step Sword Style!

"Damn! This again. Sun Xiao's speed and strength are far superior to his, so how can he dodge it?" Some classmates who also used swords widened their eyes and said indignantly.

Sun Xiao's face sank. He quickly retreated, and suddenly his whole body bristled. White light flashed, his speed more than doubled, and he lunged at Jiang Ding in an instant.

Returning Horse Spear!

"Sun Xiao has mastered a new martial skill? No wonder he dared to challenge." Li Junhao exclaimed.

"It's not worth it. It's better to practice the Fledgling Eagle Takes Flight Art more to enter the next realm..." someone shook their head.

Jiang Ding showed a hint of surprise. He turned sideways, his long sword and the spear tip rubbed violently against each other, sparks flying. The Returning Horse Spear immediately missed.

The sword light flowed like water, moving rapidly along the spear shaft, quickly approaching his fingers, the blade chillingly sharp.

Sun Xiao's expression changed. He had to let go, letting the spear fall to the ground. Before he could do anything, a wisp of sword light flashed, directly reaching his throat, stopping at his bulletproof camouflage uniform.

"I lost," Sun Xiao said, taking a deep breath.

A silver light flashed, and Jiang Ding sheathed his sword, looking around.

"Lost again, damn it! Freak!" The surrounding classmates cursed, but they didn't dare to step forward, knowing they would be instantly defeated if they did.

"I'll go!"

Having been suppressed by a Bone Refining Realm Martial Artist, the third squad captain, Li Hu, felt disgraced and grabbed his great axe, swinging it down.

Clang!

Clang clang!

After five moves, the long sword stopped at his throat.

"I'll go!"

Another Inner Qi Realm classmate stepped forward. After a series of clangs, he was defeated.

One by one, most of the classmates went up. Some took six or seven moves, others only one or two. The battles ended in a very short time.

"I'm not playing anymore!"

"You monster!"

In the end, no one wanted to fight Jiang Ding anymore. He was the only one left, practicing his sword in an empty space.

Zhang Dingjun moved around, fighting and occasionally giving pointers, correcting his classmates' techniques for applying force and executing moves.