Formal Training

Without any prior notice, one morning, the time that was supposed to be for the instructor to lead everyone in martial arts practice suddenly turned into a lecture hall session.

This lecture had nothing to do with the Huangtian Sutra everyone had been reciting; instead, they were taught very practical training techniques.

For example: breathing methods to conserve stamina; how to exert force using the correct muscles; techniques to protect joints, and so on.

Most people were confused. Having survived the long trek of fleeing the Northern Frontier, they all had their own understanding of how to conserve energy and protect themselves.

What could it possibly mean for Xuanming Manor to teach these basic skills so solemnly?

--What does it mean? It means the good days are over!

Only a small group, including An Jing, became vigilant, realizing this was a signal. An Jing diligently recorded every technique the instructors taught, even if he had already learned them before; there was always something to be gained by filling in the gaps.

That very afternoon, everyone, including An Jing, learned the severity of "formal training."

The one leading the team today was the One-Eyed Instructor: "Our Xuanming Manor has always upheld the creed of selecting the best of the best. The formal disciples who receive our heritage are valued for their quality, not their quantity. Stamina and endurance are the foundation of our martial arts, so a full-scale physical training session to test everyone's limits is essential."

"Now, we will run up and down the mountain ten times."

With that, he led the team, taking the lead himself, and An Jing, as the default leader at the front of the pack, had no choice but to keep pace.

Now he finally understood: the ease of the past half-month was merely to let this batch of disciples recover their bodies, build up their spirits, and foster an initial sense of camaraderie.

Essentially, it was about laying a foundation so they wouldn't cough up blood after a little exercise or drop dead the moment the intensity increased!

To be honest, having survived the Frost Calamity and being specifically selected by Xuanming Manor, most of these children of disaster had decent talent, strong endurance and willpower, and their physical strength was certainly not weak.

This half-month of rest had not diminished their stamina; on the contrary, it had greatly enhanced it.

These selected boys and girls had physical constitutions that even surpassed the average adult.

However, Xuanming Manor was located among the mountains, and the path up and down had a gradient of about twelve to twenty degrees, with some sections being nearly steep.

The round trip was over five miles of rugged, uneven mountain road.

To endure such hardship and run it ten times... no matter how you looked at it, the intensity was a bit exaggerated.

More importantly, they had to keep up with the instructor's pace; they could not slow down, or they would fall behind.

Sure enough, before they had even finished four laps, some people were already slowing down or falling behind, unable to continue.

By the sixth or seventh lap, more than half of the people had collapsed.

"The passing standard for the test is probably just finishing half the distance, right?"

An Jing still had plenty of energy left at this point.

After all, he had practiced martial arts before. Fifty miles of mountain road was tiring at most, but the breathing techniques and skills he had mastered made it easier for him to persist than the others. He even had the presence of mind to look back and observe his "promising" peers.

With that glance, he spotted a few familiar faces.

First, there were two people from An Jing's dormitory: one named Zhang Ying and the other Ye Xiuyuan.

Zhang Ying's family had been hunters in the mountains. He had been running through the hills with his parents since he was a child, so his stamina was naturally impressive. Although he looked panting and breathless, his pace remained quite steady.

He was a simple person who had once been dissatisfied with An Jing's status as "senior brother" and "leader." On his second day at the manor, he had challenged An Jing to a test of strength, only to be pressed down by one hand until his legs nearly buckled. Since then, he had acknowledged An Jing as his big brother and followed him everywhere.

Ye Xiuyuan's family had been scholars. He was quite gloomy by nature, but very clever.

An Jing knew that before Zhang Ying came to challenge him, he had spoken with a group of people led by Ye Xiuyuan.

After being tested by Zhang Ying, Ye Xiuyuan had also directly acknowledged An Jing as the boss. If it weren't for him frequently taking the lead to declare that everything should follow the orders of "Big Brother" An Jing, acting as a plant to bolster An Jing's authority, An Jing might not have secured his position as "senior brother" so easily.

Ye Xiuyuan's stamina was not great, and his build was quite thin even after half a month of rest, but he had diligently memorized all the techniques taught by the instructors. He had been exploring and practicing them around lunch, and surprisingly, he had managed to persist, following right behind An Jing.

Besides these two, another girl followed An Jing.

Her name was Gu Yeqi, a fellow villager of An Jing's, the one whose frostbite had been cured. She was a year younger than him and had seen An Jing bargain with the One-Eyed Instructor and sell himself to save his mother, so she admired him greatly and followed his every move.

Gu Yeqi's family had once been a large clan that served a medicinal manor, and they possessed a set of family martial arts. Although not powerful, the foundation was solid. Like Zhang Ying, even though her breathing was ragged, she was still holding on.

Noticing An Jing's gaze, she flashed a big smile.

Of these three, Ye Xiuyuan rolled his eyes and fainted when he reached the seventh and a half lap, while Gu Yeqi persisted until nearly the ninth lap. If Zhang Ying hadn't tripped over his own feet, he could have finished with An Jing, but falling at that stage was essentially the same as passing out.

At this moment, they finally understood why the manor was named "Xuanming" (Hanging Life).

An hour later, out of more than two hundred people, only fourteen were still standing after completing the full course.

"So many?"

The One-Eyed Instructor was also quite surprised. He hadn't run slowly, and he had even accelerated toward the end. Covering over fifty miles of mountain road in less than an hour, with half the distance being uphill and half downhill—this speed and difficulty definitely exceeded the limits of ordinary people in Da Chen.

Only truly "special" children could complete the full course.

He couldn't help but laugh: "Your batch really has good talent. More than half finished the half-distance, and fourteen still have energy to spare—the batches from the past ten years combined don't have as many as this time."

But then, he said with a look of "distress": "However, in that case, how do I choose the leader?"

As soon as these words were spoken, An Jing remained motionless, his brows slightly raised, his expression subtle, but the other thirteen boys and girls who had completed the course all turned their heads in unison, focusing their gazes on him.

The One-Eyed Instructor also looked at An Jing. The corners of his mouth curled up, and he waved his hand: "Continue! Back to the manor, lift the stone lock two hundred times!"

Lifting the stone lock caused three people to collapse, but then there were two hundred swings of the long staff, two hundred horse-stance punches, two hundred stationary stone lock squats... Before he collapsed, An Jing fell into deep contemplation: "Are we going to have to train like this every single day from now on?"

Even he felt a trace of panic in the face of this primitive training method, which was even more terrifying than modern leg training.

But soon, An Jing had no time to think about such things.

Because on the third day, ten people applied to challenge An Jing for the position of "senior brother."