The Fifth Stone Weight: The Pity of Being Unable to Cultivate

Pick it up?

Li Dao shook his head with a smile and said nothing, walking over to the fifth stone weight.

Everyone below the platform understood what was happening when they saw this.

He actually dared to challenge the fifth stone weight!

Since testing began today, not a single person had attempted the fifth stone weight. The man on the platform was the first.

For a moment, everyone waited to see him make a fool of himself.

But Li Dao's next move surprised them.

On the platform, Li Dao did not bend down to grab the stone weight. Instead, he slipped one foot beneath the wooden bar connecting the stones.

"Boy, what are you..."

Before the officer standing guard beside him could finish, Li Dao flicked his foot upward.

The next second, under everyone's disbelieving gazes, the stone weight flew straight into the air.

Once airborne, the stone weight began falling under gravity.

As it fell, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and caught the middle of its wooden bar.

With an upward force applied to the middle, the heavy stones at either end dragged the ends of the bar downward. It creaked and bent into an arc, looking ready to snap at any moment.

But ultimately, it did not break.

Once his grip was secure, Li Dao pulled the stone weight straight upward with one hand.

In a matter of moments, he easily raised the five-hundred-jin stone weight above his head.

The sight left everyone present stunned.

They looked as though they were gazing upon God himself, disbelief written across their faces. Some stared with wide eyes and mouths that remained agape for a long time.

For a moment, the entire crowd fell silent.

Smack!

A sudden sound broke the silence.

The recorder looked down and discovered that the booklet he used to record results had somehow fallen to the ground.

Li Dao silently counted to five.

Then he stepped backward and released his grip.

Boom!

The five-hundred-jin stone weight slammed into the platform with an enormous crash.

Some people leaning against the platform could even feel it shaking.

At the same time, the tremendous noise snapped everyone out of their daze.

For a moment, they could not find the words to describe it.

"Holy shit!"

Someone could not help exclaiming.

But then he froze again. What kind of phrase was that? Why had he said it?

He soon brushed it aside. The point was, that was badass.

Li Dao turned to the recorder. "Did I pass?"

"If not, should I lift it again?"

Those words successfully brought the recorder to his senses. He hurriedly said, "You passed. You passed."

Are you kidding? Do you think I didn't see you lift it with one hand? If that doesn't count as passing, everyone here might as well go home, wash up, and sleep.

Hearing that, Li Dao nodded and quietly stepped down from the platform.

At that very moment, everyone below erupted into cheers.

"That was incredible, brother! Five hundred jin! That was five hundred jin!"

"Did you all see? He lifted it with one hand! This guy must have been born with divine strength!"

"Born with divine strength? All I can say is that Heaven really dared to spoon-feed this kid."

"..."

The other forty-nine people in Li Dao's group were equally shocked.

They finally understood why Elder Zheng had singled him out for praise earlier.

It was because he truly existed on an entirely different level from them.

Many of them could hardly comprehend what it meant to lift a five-hundred-jin stone weight with one hand.

Elsewhere.

The lead officer's previously dark expression gradually gave way to an upward curl of his lips.

Beside him, the smile of the officer who had bet against him had completely frozen on his face. Even now, he had not recovered.

Not until the lead officer patted him on the shoulder.

"Remember, twenty meals. Not one less."

Having said that, the lead officer walked away, laughing heartily.

Before long, he returned to the group.

Seeing everyone clustered together, his expression chilled, and he barked, "What are you all doing? Break it up!"

Those words instantly scattered the people surrounding Li Dao.

The next second, his icy expression turned into a smile, and he told Li Dao plainly, "Well done, boy. You didn't embarrass me."

That change of face sent a chill through the other forty-nine people.

But they could not protest. He was stronger than them, after all. In the military camp, strength was the only argument that mattered.

Only after greeting Li Dao did the lead officer look at the others. This bunch had nearly made him lose everything today. Luckily, someone at the end had turned the raging tide; otherwise...

Glancing at Li Dao, he snorted softly. "For this boy's sake, I'll let you off this time."

"Otherwise... hmph."

Seeing the lead officer's threatening demeanor, some of them instinctively swallowed.

Then came the business at hand. The lead officer surveyed the group and continued, "The next test is a little different."

"First, let me ask: which of you are martial artists?"

At those words, several people in the crowd lit up with excitement.

"Sir, I'm a martial artist!"

"Me too! I'm eighth-grade Acquired!"

"Does ninth-grade Acquired count?"

Soon, five people stepped out of the group. The strongest was the eighth-grade Acquired martial artist, while the remaining four were all ninth-grade Acquired.

But although five martial artists among fifty people seemed like a high proportion,

that was entirely because many of these people had come from elsewhere after hearing of the recruitment.

The poor studied letters, while the wealthy practiced martial arts. Most families struggled even to fill their bellies, let alone train in martial arts.

Looking at the five, the lead officer instinctively glanced at Li Dao beside them and asked in puzzlement, "You're not a martial artist?"

In his eyes, of these fifty people, the young man before him was the most likely to be a martial artist.

Li Dao shook his head. "No."

The lead officer looked him up and down and could not help saying, "You look like you come from a decent family. Surely you've been exposed to cultivation."

"I have."

"Then why..."

"Born Severed Meridians. I have no meridian pathways in my body, so I can't cultivate. That's all."

"Severed meridians? You can't cultivate?"

The lead officer froze. He had never expected such an answer.

A look of regret immediately appeared on his face.

To him, such a promising seedling being unable to cultivate was a sheer squandering of Heaven's gifts.

Beside them, the five men with cultivation were also taken aback.

Only those who had experienced cultivation understood how painful it would be to be unable to cultivate and grow stronger.

Although they possessed cultivation, Li Dao's earlier strength had still shocked them. After all, in the early stages of the Acquired realm, a person's strength did not surpass an ordinary person's by much.

That strength to lift five hundred jin with one hand alone was enough to make them shrink back.

But now that they heard he could not cultivate, their hearts immediately regained their balance. They even felt a little sorry for him.

After all, no matter how strong he was, without cultivation, his ceiling was fixed.

They, on the other hand, could continue improving.

Having learned this, the lead officer said no more about it. He turned to the other five. "Since you have cultivation, you'll follow me to another place for testing later."

Then he looked at those remaining again. "Do any of you have other skills?"

"Archery, for example. If you do, you can take a test. Meet the standard, and you can join the camp as well."

As soon as he finished speaking, several people raised their hands.

The lead officer glanced at them and nodded. "All right. You can follow me for testing too."

"As for those remaining who didn't pass, you now have two choices."

"First, go eat in the mess hall, then go home."

"Second, go straight home."

At those words, many of them looked dejected.

Some could not stomach being eliminated and turned to leave immediately.

In the end, only Li Dao and a few others remained.

The lead officer glanced at them and said plainly, "Follow me first. We'll get your business settled."

Before long, Li Dao and the others were brought outside a tent.

Quite a few people had gathered inside, all of whom had passed this recruitment test.

"Wait here."

Leaving them with those words, the lead officer entered the tent. A few minutes later, he emerged with some sheets of paper in his hands.

"Write your names and your temporary addresses in Cloudrise City on the paper, then hand it to me."

After speaking, he handed a sheet to each person.

They quickly finished writing and handed in their papers.

Putting the papers away, the lead officer said plainly, "All right, that's everything for you. I'll give you two choices as well."

"Either eat a meal in the mess hall or go home and wait for word."

Unlike the unlucky souls who had been eliminated, these people were delighted and naturally chose to stay for a free meal.

Along the way, a few even tried to bring Li Dao with them.

Although Li Dao could not cultivate, most people in this world never had the opportunity to cultivate, which amounted to the same thing. Naturally, they did not dwell on his condition.

They only knew he was formidable, and getting closer to him would do them no harm.

Li Dao shook his head. "Sorry, you go ahead and eat here. Someone at home has already made lunch and is waiting for me."

At that, someone teased him cheerfully, "Looks like you're not quite as guileless as Elder Zheng said."

Li Dao smiled faintly and offered no further explanation.

After taking care of everything, Li Dao left the military camp and headed back.

Before long, he returned to his home in Cloudrise City.

"Young master, you're back!"

Seeing Li Dao, Jiu'er immediately came out to welcome him, holding Yuanbao with delight on her face.

Although he seemed to have been busy in the camp, only a single morning had actually passed. He returned just in time for lunch.

"I finished my business, so naturally I came back."

Li Dao sniffed the air. "Is lunch ready?"

"Yes. We were just waiting for you, young master."

Before long, Li Dao sat at the dining table, watching speechlessly as Jiu'er carried her rice bowl off to one side.

"Didn't I tell you? From now on, you can eat at the table with me. Why are you running off?"

Jiu'er said quietly, "Young master, Steward Li taught me that masters and servants have different stations."

Li Dao put down his chopsticks. "Then tell me, does Steward Li have more authority, or do I?"

"Of course you do, young master. You're the master of the house, after all."

"Then whose words should you listen to?"

"Yours, young master."

"Then hurry up and sit over here."

"Oh."

Jiu'er stuck out her tongue, ran over to the table, and carefully sat down.

Li Dao picked up a chicken drumstick with his chopsticks and placed it in Jiu'er's bowl before beginning to eat.

Suddenly, seemingly remembering something, he picked up another piece of meat and placed it on a corner of the table.

Smelling it, Yuanbao came running over, sat down without the slightest ceremony, and began eating with the meat clasped in its paws.

"Look how readily Yuanbao makes itself at home. You should learn from it."

Jiu'er looked at Yuanbao with a wounded expression. Since when could her own pet compete with her for affection?

As though sensing something, Yuanbao looked at Jiu'er with its adorably vacant eyes, glanced down at the meat in its paws, then suddenly lifted its little paws and nudged the meat toward her.

Seeing this, Jiu'er could not help laughing. She felt a little foolish for getting jealous of her own pet.

Pinching Yuanbao's plump cheeks, Jiu'er gave it another piece of meat as an apology for her earlier overthinking.

Seeing this, Li Dao shook his head, picked up the large wooden bucket in front of him, and began eating.

Ever since his physique had grown stronger, his appetite had increased tremendously as well.

Fortunately, so long as he did not exert himself intensely, his body would seal in its energy and prevent it from dissipating. Otherwise, with a physique more than a hundred times that of an ordinary person, his appetite would have to be a hundred times greater too.

By then, food alone would be a major expense.

At that thought, he recalled another benefit of joining the army.

He would save on food.

Fufeng Pass was Great Qian's main stronghold against the Northern Barbarians.

In the north, a defensive line stretched east and west from Fufeng Pass.

This border line ran for more than eight hundred kilometers, with a standing garrison of as many as a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers.

Even if that number varied from year to year, it never fluctuated much.

Those hundred and fifty thousand or so troops were divided into fifteen legions.

Each legion had ten thousand men, further divided into two sub-legions of five thousand each.

Each sub-legion was then split into numerous battalions.

At the battalion level, numbers ranged from as few as five hundred to more than a thousand.

Recruits were generally assigned to the various battalions within the legions.

These battalions varied in strength and served different roles.

Some legions recruited to replenish weaker battalions, so they turned no one away and took anyone who showed up. But when stronger battalions needed fresh talent, applicants had to undergo an assessment.

The reason recruitment in Cloudrise City had drawn such a fervent response this time was that every recruit would be assigned to the legion directly under Shen Zhong, the Marquis Who Guards the North.

That alone put successful recruits a cut above soldiers in the other legions.

All fifteen border legions were under Shen Zhong's command.

But there was still a difference between those close to him and those farther removed. Certain benefits would naturally favor his own legion; even if Shen Zhong never said a word, his subordinates would act accordingly.

For that very reason, the requirements were stricter.

In the legion directly under Shen Zhong, the Marquis Who Guards the North, even ordinary battalions only accepted men who had passed an assessment.

A day later.

After a full day of recruitment yesterday, everyone had been registered.

Next came assigning this batch of recruits.

At that moment, in the military camp north of Cloudrise City.

Representatives from the various battalions of Shen Zhong's own legion had all gathered there.

Every one of them was eyeing the others with hostility.

Because from this point on, everyone around them was an enemy.

An enemy competing with them for recruits.