One Month Later

Time flew by in the blink of an eye.

Before they knew it, an entire month had passed.

"The cultivation of Cannon Fist emphasizes fierce, explosive force. Its momentum is like fire, its fists like cannon explosives erupting..."

At the Tianhu Military Department training grounds, Su Bei lectured the martial artists. Over the past month, his Martial Artist strength had grown increasingly stable. With the help of the Emperor Sun Aura and the S-grade Secret Treasure, Solar Crystal Essence, his strength had advanced at a rapid pace.

His physical strength had now surpassed the twenty-thousand-kilogram mark.

His aura had become more composed, and his body seemed to have grown a little taller. Dressed in a standard combat uniform, he cut a tall, imposing figure with a handsome face. Simply standing there, the Solar Energy in the air naturally gathered around him, as though he were the center of this world.

His temperament resembled a sun hanging high in the sky—warm and approachable when still, explosive enough to scorch the heavens when in motion.

"Watch carefully. This is how this punch should be thrown."

Without using his vital energy and blood, he suddenly swung out his right fist. The air exploded with a bang, and immense currents of air surged and layered together, blasting fiercely forward.

The power of Cannon Fist was displayed to the fullest.

"..."

"This is Soft Fist. Soft Fist and Cannon Fist are complete opposites. You must be as gentle as water. What it teaches is not how to strike, but rather how to borrow force to counter force..."

"Frostbite Fist uses the physical body to drive vital energy and blood, absorbing the ice-element energy of heaven and earth for one's own use. The Gene Method I cultivate is sun-elemental and somewhat conflicts with it, so I have only dabbled in it..."

"The Blazing Sun Fist Technique, this fist technique..."

Every fist technique Su Bei used seemed effortless. Even the Frostbite Fist that he claimed conflicted with his cultivation was performed with ease and natural grace. There was no sign at all that he had merely dabbled in it.

Everyone around him felt their hearts skip a beat, shock appearing on their faces.

No matter how many times they watched, they still found it absurd whenever they saw it. Such utterly refined physical techniques left them far behind.

Those with questions spoke up promptly. Su Bei's fist techniques had reached the Completion Realm, and his understanding of them ran extremely deep. He could immediately resolve minor questions, explaining them in a simple and accessible manner. Even for more difficult issues, he only needed to demonstrate a few times before offering advice.

Compared with the other Martial Arts Instructors, Su Bei always had the largest crowd around him whenever he taught.

An hour later.

Su Bei clapped his hands, signaling for everyone to look over. "That's all for today's martial arts training. If you still have questions, come back tomorrow. If it's urgent, you can find the martial arts material I've posted recently on the internal website and study it yourselves first."

"Yes!"

Whether they were First-order Martial Artists, Second-order Martial Artists, or even the few Third-order Martial Artists who had come with questions, all of them answered with great respect.

A new recruit who had come to learn for the first time watched this scene and asked someone beside him in confusion:

"What's Su Bei's status?"

The military placed greater emphasis on hierarchy. It went without saying that one could be a teacher if one had attained a higher martial arts realm, but that still depended on strength, didn't it? Su Bei seemed to be only a First-order Martial Artist, yet no one found his leader-like demeanor strange.

Among those Third-order Martial Artists, the recruit had not only spotted his own superior, but even Liu Shan, someone close to the commander.

"You think you can just call him Su Bei?" The squad leader smacked him on the head. "I told you to read more of the military department's documents, but you refused, didn't you? Take a look at his rank."

The recruit had not cared much at first. Only then did he look at Su Bei's shoulder insignia. His expression shifted from confusion to disbelief, his face turning red as he squeezed behind his squad leader.

"M-Major?"

"Is this for real? Instructor Su doesn't look that old, does he?"

"Such a young major?!"

Only then did the squad leader glance at him. "He's a year younger than you. He's the youngest major in the history of our Tianhu Military Region, and he was personally appointed by military headquarters!"

The recruit shrank back even further. A year younger than me?!

He looked at the ordinary soldier insignia on his own shoulder, his face full of bewilderment. So all these years, had he been living like a dog?

The squad leader looked at Su Bei as well, sighing inwardly.

About a month ago, military headquarters' commendation decision for Su Bei had been distributed to every military region. An officer from military headquarters had even personally delivered the commendation to the Tianhu Military Region, where Commander Li himself awarded Su Bei the rank of major!

This was a commendation from the entire military!

Su Bei had truly caused a massive stir in the Tianhu Military Department!

And the contents of the commendation were equally stirring: he had led a team into the Shattered Battlefield and, with four teammates injured, personally slain a Nascent Stage Origin Devourer Beast!

The team was awarded one Special Merit, while he was awarded one Individual First-Class Merit!

Who could compare to that?

Third-Class Merit was received standing, Second-Class Merit was received lying down, and First-Class Merit was received by one's family. That was no joke. To a certain extent, First-Class Merit had to be earned with one's life.

There was even less need to mention team Special Merit. One could only have a chance to touch it after making contributions of a certain magnitude.

A living recipient of both Special Merit and First-Class Merit—Su Bei's significance in the Tianhu Military Department was entirely different. To a certain extent, he represented the face of the entire Tianhu Military Region.

After all, recipients this young were difficult to find in any military region!

Who would dare treat him disrespectfully? Others would be the first to object!

"Instructor Su, heading out?"

"Instructor Su, thank you for your hard work today."

"Instructor, I heard you'll be going to True Martial University for further study in a few days?"

Quite a few people came forward to greet him. Someone asked the question everyone cared about, and all eyes immediately focused on him.

"Mm. I have to report there in three days." Su Bei did not deny it, smiling as he said, "But even if I'm not around, you can't fall behind in your spear and fist training."

"Especially spear techniques. They're more important than fist techniques when carrying out missions."

"Yes!"

Everyone answered, though their expressions varied. Su Bei himself had never seemed particularly youthful, and his temperament was especially composed. Hearing suddenly that he still had to attend university gave them a somewhat surreal feeling.

But they were all still somewhat envious.

True Martial University already had a military background and deeply intertwined connections. With the merits Su Bei had earned so far, they did not even dare imagine how vast his future prospects would be after graduating from there!

"Without you around, our progress is going to slow down."

Someone said it jokingly.

A Greater Achievement Realm spear technique and a Completion Realm fist technique were absolutely unique throughout the entire Tianhu Military Region!

"I'll still be coming back later. If you have questions, contact Brother Shan. I'll make instructional videos and upload them to our internal network." Su Bei smiled and waved his hand. "Don't ask overly basic questions. Especially you, Brother Chen. Even if you ask, I won't answer."

Everyone laughed and teased one another, their relationship harmonious.

After serving as a Martial Arts Instructor for a month, Su Bei had thoroughly integrated into the Tianhu Military Region.

And the position of Martial Arts Instructor truly was excellent. In the past month, he had seen no fewer than a hundred kinds of spear and fist techniques. Thanks to his exceptional martial arts talent, he picked them up extremely quickly. By drawing inferences from one example, both his spear techniques and fist techniques had improved.

No martial skill could be developed in isolation. The more one encountered, the more nourishment one absorbed, and the greater the benefit to one's martial arts cultivation.

After the lesson ended.

A dedicated car took Su Bei back to the family housing compound. At his current rank, being assigned a vehicle was perfectly ordinary.

His phone rang.

"Hello."

"Brother Bei, when are you coming to the school? How about I pick you up early, and we can get together? Lei Bin, Xu Zhijie, Lu Yan, and I are all here."

The call was from Liang Dao.

Ever since the commendation decision had been announced, Liang Dao had always addressed him as Brother Bei.

On the day it came out, Liang Dao had rushed to Tianhu City to find him, looking as though he wanted to accept punishment with a thorny branch on his back. He insisted that Su Bei stab him once. Su Bei had been utterly speechless and naturally refused. Liang Dao then wanted to do it himself, practically wishing he could stab himself.

The man was straightforward, but also somewhat stubborn. He had always felt that he and the others had stolen Su Bei's credit.

Apparently, he had nearly argued himself into a falling-out with his family. Even after his father beat him senseless, he still refused to yield, shouting that this was absolutely not the conduct of a true man. After Liang Dao's grandfather heard about it, he proved to be equally ruthless and gave Liang Dao's father another beating...

The reversal had come quickly.

In the end, there had been no other choice. Liang Dao's father had even called Su Bei. Su Bei suspected that the old man had been holding a knife to his neck on the other end...

Su Bei could only helplessly spend a long while explaining that they had merits of their own in this matter.

What a bizarre situation.

Although "merit" was something open to interpretation, when one had connections, it was only natural for such ambiguous matters to be solidified.

Su Bei was not actually as young as he appeared. He could understand the thoughts of parents. Besides, the commendation had made things very clear. There had been no filthy business of passing off one person's achievement as another's, and he had even been awarded a separate First-Class Merit. They had already behaved quite honorably.

After all, Special Merit was still somewhat excessive for a Nascent Stage Origin Devourer Beast.

Xu Zhijie, Lei Bin, and Lu Yan had not been quite as dramatic, but they were more or less the same. Still, once everything had been discussed openly, it was fine.

These second-generation types really did vary from person to person...

"No need to pick me up. It's too much trouble. I'll go over early when the time comes, and we can get together."

"We'll talk on the phone then."

Liang Dao laughed on the other end. "Alright, it's a deal!"

Su Bei hung up.

Not bad.