Chen Mo looked at the eight-hundred-jin stone wheel before him. In the Guard Camp, only eight or nine people could lift that much weight.
Even the other two guards who had received an A-grade evaluation like him could lift only six hundred jin at most. Perhaps they could manage a little more, but they absolutely could not lift seven hundred jin.
Seeing him walk up to such a heavy stone wheel, everyone undergoing the assessment alongside him could not help casting sidelong glances.
"Can you lift it? Don't throw out your back." Mo Hu furrowed his brows and asked with faint concern.
Chen Mo said nothing more. He merely nodded lightly, drew a deep breath, and gripped the stone wheel. With a burst of strength from both arms, he effortlessly hoisted it up.
His strength now far exceeded eight hundred jin. The heaviest stone wheel used in the assessment weighed twelve hundred jin.
Chen Mo had secretly tested himself the day before. He could lift it with ease and still had some strength to spare.
By that measure, his strength had to be at least fifteen hundred jin, and most likely even higher.
"Hiss!" Seeing him lift the eight-hundred-jin stone wheel, Mo Hu could not help sucking in a cold breath.
He had spent quite a lot of time with Chen Mo and knew that Chen Mo was not one to make baseless claims. Even so, he had never expected Chen Mo to truly lift an eight-hundred-jin stone wheel.
Even Mo Hu himself could barely lift a thousand-jin stone wheel now. Chen Mo had only been in the camp for how long, yet he could already lift eight hundred jin. The speed of his strength improvement was astonishingly fast.
Mo Hu was not the only one shocked. Every soldier who saw this was likewise startled and cast sidelong glances.
An ordinary guard could not lift eight hundred jin. Among several dozen new recruits, it was as rare as a scorpion leaving droppings—there was only one.
"Chen Mo lifts eight hundred jin—top A!" the old man responsible for recording the assessment results shouted, his voice seeming to carry a trace of excitement.
Only then did Chen Mo slowly set down the stone wheel and exhale a long breath of foul air.
"Has your Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist broken through recently?" Mo Hu immediately came over and asked.
"Yes." Chen Mo did not deny it. This was precisely the result he wanted.
Mo Hu pondered for a moment, then nodded with a smile. "Good. Continue with the other assessments."
With that, he did not linger and hurried away.
Chen Mo's expression remained calm as he walked to the target range to prepare for the other assessments.
Several veteran soldiers who had seen him lift the eight-hundred-jin stone wheel earlier now all smiled and greeted him.
They understood that being able to lift eight hundred jin was exceptionally rare even in the Guard Camp.
If nothing unexpected happened, General Sun would certainly take Chen Mo seriously. For now, he was still an ordinary soldier like them, but in another stretch of time, that might no longer be the case.
Only those new recruits who had recently joined the camp had yet to react. A few of them were even pondering how they could surpass Chen Mo.
They did not know that lifting an eight-hundred-jin stone wheel was not something simple effort could achieve. Talent was even more important.
The other assessments went without surprise. Only his spear technique received a high B; everything else was an A.
After the final overall evaluation, he was still rated A-grade.
"Come with me. My foster father wants to see you." Mo Hu came over at that moment as well.
He did not address Sun Shouren by his official title, instead using the term foster father. It seemed that what followed would certainly be a private matter, not an official one.
"Why is the general looking for me?" Chen Mo followed closely behind him and asked in a lowered voice.
"You've caught my foster father's eye this time. This is absolutely a great thing." Mo Hu wore a mysterious smile and looked especially pleased.
Chen Mo had a fairly good relationship with him. More importantly, they belonged to the same faction.
Compared with the clansmen faction and the fellow-townsmen faction, their faction of men without powerful connections was truly weak in the Guard Camp.
Having another guard like Chen Mo, with such excellent strength, was unquestionably a good thing for them.
That was why Mo Hu had immediately gone to report to General Sun after seeing Chen Mo display his strength. If it had been someone else, he would not have bothered.
Chen Mo did not ask any further. He followed Mo Hu into the drill grounds, and before long, General Sun also arrived.
"How far have you cultivated your Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist?" Sun Shouren got straight to the point without wasting words.
"Reporting to the general, I've cultivated it to the perfected second layer and am preparing to break through to the third." Chen Mo recited the answer he had prepared.
Before cultivating it, he had been able to lift a five-hundred-jin stone wheel. After reaching the perfected second layer, he could lift eight hundred jin—exactly as expected.
Saying this would also lay the groundwork for his future breakthrough to the third layer. At that point, he would be able to obtain Sun Shouren's internal cultivation method.
"Then your talent is quite remarkable. Even if you were not born with divine strength, you are not far from it." Sun Shouren nodded in praise. Chen Mo's cultivation speed was not much slower than his own had been back then.
"However, the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist cannot possibly produce internal energy. Even with excellent talent, it cannot be done. Remember that." Sun Shouren suddenly recalled Chen Mo asking him about this two days earlier and once again warned him earnestly.
In his view, Chen Mo had probably asked because his talent was fairly good.
But so what if his talent was even better? Using the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist to cultivate internal energy was simply beyond the ability of any human being.
"This subordinate understands." Chen Mo nodded.
"With such talent, have you ever thought about what you want to do in the future?" Sun Shouren suddenly changed direction and asked.
Chen Mo had talent, so of course he deserved to be cultivated with all their strength.
But cultivating a person required money and energy, and might even consume favors. None of that was a small expense.
They were neither relatives nor friends. Why should he cultivate Chen Mo? Would it not be better to cultivate some clansmen's sons?
Even if those young men lacked Chen Mo's talent, they were ultimately closer to him by blood.
"Reporting to the general, I only wish to serve under your command. If I can make achievements on the battlefield in the future and secure an official position, that would be more than enough." Chen Mo answered honestly.
"You really don't put on airs, lad. Those are all honest words." Sun Shouren threw his head back and laughed.
Chen Mo's words suited him quite well. If Chen Mo had only said that he wanted to follow Sun Shouren and make achievements, without mentioning anything else, Sun Shouren would instead have found the speech somewhat false.
By contrast, Chen Mo saying that he wanted to earn an official position after making achievements showed that he was speaking the truth.
"Heh heh." Chen Mo grinned. When getting along with others in the Guard Camp, sincerity was the ultimate killing move.
After all, falsely reporting military intelligence on the battlefield could truly get everyone killed. That was why people who liked to lie were ostracized among the guards and could not remain there.
In truth, this applied not only to the entire Guard Camp. Looking across the world, no one liked people whose mouths were full of empty words.
It was not necessary to speak the truth in every single sentence, but most of the time, honesty produced much better results than lies.
"Making achievements and securing an official position on the killing fields sounds easy, but it is not so simple in practice. Moreover, I am currently training troops in Xingyuan Prefecture. I probably will not be able to return to the frontier army in the short term." Sun Shouren spoke slowly.
Chen Mo did not interrupt and simply listened in silence. Since General Sun was telling him about the difficulties, it proved that he must have another path for Chen Mo to choose. Otherwise, he would not have said this.
"If you want to earn battlefield merit and become an official, it probably won't be easy for you right now. However, you can take another route." General Sun deliberately kept him in suspense.
"Please enlighten me, General!" Chen Mo bowed and asked.
"That is to sit for the military examination. With your strength now, I cannot say you can pass as a juren, but becoming a xiucai should certainly be no problem." Sun Shouren did not continue stringing him along and spoke with a chuckle.
"However, to pursue an official qualification, someone must be willing to recommend you. Do you know any other officials or anyone who already holds an official qualification?"
Great Qian had civil service examinations, but an official qualification was not something any common peasant could simply test for.
Without an official or someone who already held an official qualification to recommend him, he could forget about even entering the examination hall.
"If you do not know anyone, I can help you. But we are neither relatives nor friends—why should I help you?" Sun Shouren raised a very realistic question.
He had not known Chen Mo for long. The two could only be considered acquainted, not even familiar. Without any reason, why should he serve as Chen Mo's recommender?
"Why aren't you paying your respects to your foster father?" Mo Hu tugged at Chen Mo's sleeve and spoke in a low voice.
Sun Shouren saw all of this clearly. The reason he had called Mo Hu over as well was so that someone could remind Chen Mo when the time came.
After all, it would be awkward for him to bring it up himself. Someone had to open the subject for him.
"Foster father above, please accept this son's bow!" Once reminded, even someone as honest and simple as Chen Mo knew what he should do.
He had actually been mentally prepared for this long ago. Given his identity and origins, if he wanted to rise in the military camp, paying his respects to General Sun as his foster father was an indispensable step.
Moreover, accepting General Sun as his foster father was absolutely worthwhile. It meant that Sun Shouren was truly beginning to devote himself to cultivating him.
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