Have You Killed Anyone?

Chen Mo's form lay like a stubborn boulder, unmoved by wind, unshaken by rain.

As the saying goes, practice martial arts by first practicing stance—the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist was no different, with a set of stance work to match.

Or rather, this martial art was purely about standing stances; the actual offensive fist techniques numbered only a few.

Military martial arts did not emphasize bare-handed combat.

Because on a real battlefield, no one would go empty-handed; everyone carried weapons.

The Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist was merely a technique for condensing blood and qi, increasing a martial artist's physical strength.

Chen Mo had been cultivating this technique for only half a month, yet his strength had increased by over a hundred jin.

Of course, this was mainly because he had just started practicing; the initial progress was bound to be significant, and as time went on, the rate of improvement would gradually slow.

The further he went, the harder even a small gain would become.

After entering the Guard Camp, Chen Mo had privately tested his strength carefully. At full explosive power, he could lift a six-hundred-jin Stone Wheel.

That wasn't his limit, but he couldn't lift a seven-hundred-jin one.

Thus, his strength was somewhere between six and seven hundred jin, not far from his original estimate.

After some additional training in the camp, he could manage to lift the seven-hundred-jin Stone Wheel.

But Chen Mo understood this wasn't a sudden increase in his strength.

Rather, through practice, he had learned to better exert his existing strength when lifting the Stone Wheel, which allowed him to do so.

Cultivating the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, however, truly enhanced his strength, and the effect was so swift it was addictive.

Of course, this technique had its drawbacks: cultivation constantly consumed blood and qi, slowing down the Mortal Transformation Pearl's accumulation of it.

But since starting this fist technique, Chen Mo's biggest realization was that he could eat far more than before.

Originally, at most, he could finish one large bowl of vegetables and ten steamed buns per meal.

Now, he ate fifteen steamed buns plus a heaping bowl of vegetables, and his appetite was steadily growing.

Eating more meant the total amount of blood and qi energy he absorbed each day increased.

General Sun had also sent them medicinal decoctions to replenish blood and qi, ensuring their cultivation progress.

Martial arts cultivation techniques were important, but the restorative decoctions were even more precious.

Otherwise, practicing martial arts could lead to a depletion of the physical body.

Even if one succeeded in the end, once past their prime, the decline and decay of blood and qi would bring severe consequences.

A daily bowl of nourishing decoction supplemented a good amount of blood and qi, combined with eating more.

So even now, while training, Chen Mo's progress in accumulating blood and qi wasn't lagging; in fact, it had slightly improved.

Originally, he had estimated it might take over two months, but now two months seemed sufficient, and it might even be faster.

As Chen Mo repeatedly practiced the postures of the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, he could already sense a surge of blood and qi gathering within his body.

This was the blood and qi condensed through stance work; each session refined a thread of it.

When the practice ended, this blood and qi would disperse, enhancing the martial artist's physical body.

The Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist had its drawbacks, but that didn't stop it from being a top-tier external hard technique.

The gains from a year of cultivation surpassed ten years of bitter practice with internal techniques.

Aside from causing greater harm to the body over time, it had no other flaws.

Thus, martial artists who cultivated this technique would, upon reaching a certain level, switch to internal techniques for nurturing the body.

Having completed a full set of fist techniques, Chen Mo slowly withdrew his energy. He could feel a mass of blood and qi in his abdomen gradually dispersing.

The Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist had seven layers. The first layer increased a martial artist's strength by one hundred jin.

The second by two hundred, the third by three hundred, the fourth by six hundred, the fifth by twelve hundred...

And so on. Cultivating all seven layers could increase blood and qi power by nine thousand six hundred jin. Adding a martial artist's natural strength, it was no exaggeration to say one could bear ten thousand jin of force.

Yet, even though this technique was simple, reaching the seventh layer was no easy feat.

Easy to learn, hard to master—just like the spear techniques in the military.

One could certainly learn it, but how many layers one could reach depended on personal fortune.

Chen Mo had only just entered the first layer and had no idea when he would achieve the second.

The highest among the other guards in the camp was only the third layer. As for General Sun's level, no one knew, but it was definitely above the third.

After finishing his practice, even though it was winter, a thin layer of sweat had formed on Chen Mo's body.

"Chen Mo." Mo Hu lightly knocked on the door and called out.

To avoid being seen by guards who hadn't cultivated the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist, Chen Mo either practiced in the training hall or in his own room.

"What is it, Fifth Brother?" Chen Mo opened the door and asked with a smile.

"The General wants to see you. It's good news." Mo Hu winked, as if he was about to witness a good show.

Chen Mo's eyes lit up. If the General wanted to see him, it was probably really good news.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he stepped out of the house.

"First to the mess hall. Round up all the new recruits." After giving these instructions, Mo Hu went off to notify the other new soldiers.

Chen Mo immediately got moving as well, calling on a few new recruits he was somewhat familiar with to help spread the word.

Before long, dozens of new soldiers gathered in the mess hall.

The tables were laden with meat dishes rarely seen on ordinary days, their abundance rivaling the monthly reward feast.

Though the New Year was still far off and no one knew why the general had suddenly prepared such a fine meal, that didn't stop Chen Mo from planning to eat his fill.

Aside from needing to consume more to build up his blood and energy, he was also genuinely hungry after just practicing the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist.

"Everyone, sit down and eat first. But we'll have work to do afterward, so no drinking," General Sun said with a smile as he looked over the crowd.

These new recruits had now trained for two and a half months. Their individual combat was passable, but they lacked coordination.

There was also one major flaw: they had never killed anyone, never witnessed scenes of blood and flying flesh. If thrown directly onto the battlefield now, they might not even be able to grip their weapons firmly.

If a couple of comrades beside them died, most of these new soldiers would inevitably break and flee.

There was no easy solution to this problem. The only way was to find an opportunity for these personal guards to kill and steel their nerves.

To that end, he had spent considerable effort over the past few months pulling strings, ensuring that some of the condemned criminals scheduled for autumn execution in Xingyuan Prefecture were kept alive until today, so his personal guards could practice on them.

First, let them cut down criminals to get a feel for it. Then, after the New Year when spring came, he would lead them out to wipe out the roving bandits within Xingyuan Prefecture.

Of course, it was inevitable that some might die during the bandit suppression, but there was no helping it.

As the commanding officer, he could only train them harder and equip them better, doing his best to minimize casualties.

After a year or two of this, as long as he could replenish his forces to four hundred men, he could once again request to be sent to the border for battle.

Though they had no idea what they were about to do, the ravenous new recruits didn't care. One by one, they let loose, wolfing down the food and feasting heartily.

The pile of bones in front of Chen Mo grew at a rapid yet steady pace.

It was a pity there was no drinking this time, and since they had work to do afterward, he couldn't sneak any dishes back to enjoy slowly at night.

When the tables were a mess of empty plates and the soldiers gradually stopped eating, Chen Mo spat out two lamb bones and set down his chopsticks.

Even though he could still eat more, since everyone else had stopped, it would be inappropriate for him to continue.

Seeing that everyone had paused, General Sun gave a light smile, rose to his feet, and swept his gaze across the new soldiers. In a low voice, he asked, "Have any of you ever killed a man?"