Cultivation Online

”Listen carefully. I do not care if General Mei found him first. We cannot allow him to join her division!” General Gu declared.

No one in the room responded, as they all understood why he was so determined to stop Yuan from joining General Mei’s division. After all, General Gu was currently competing with her for the military’s top rank, and she already held a slight advantage thanks to her latest talented recruit.

If she gained someone like Yuan as well, surpassing her would become countless times more difficult.

Although this was mostly a fight between General Gu and General Mei, each had their own people and sides, and everyone in the room sided with General Gu.

Meanwhile, in another room, Mei Feng and several other high-ranking soldiers were also watching the trial.

”Where did you find such a monster? Do you have a special machine that brings you directly to them or something?”

One of the soldiers asked her after witnessing Yuan’s performance in the third trial.

Mei Feng smiled and said, ”As much as I want to take credit, I wasn’t the one who found him. Instead, it was my daughter who found him.”

”Speaking of your daughter, why didn’t you tell us that she’d participate in this year’s recruitment? Do you have any idea how shocked I was to see her?”

Mei Feng shook her head and said, ”I am just as surprised as you are since I also had nothing to do with her participation in the recruitment.”

”Hm? Does that mean your daughter joined because of 42,011? What’s their relationship? Don’t tell me that they’re lovers...”

”That is none of my business,” Mei Feng said nonchalantly.

”This isn’t the time for jokes, Captain Jing. Although it’s great for us that he’s so talented, I’m worried about what General Gu’s side might do. I highly doubt they’d let us have him without a fight, after all.”

”Do you think there’s a chance they might be able to steal him from us?” someone else then asked.

”No, it’s not possible,” Mei Feng responded with confidence.

”Did you already make a contract with him or something?”

Mei Feng nodded, ”But that’s not the only reason why.”

”What other reason do you have?”

”Sorry, but I can’t tell you, even if it’s you guys.”

”Is that so?”

”As for General Gu...” Mei Feng narrowed her eyes slightly. ”Let’s see what he has planned first.”

Eventually, the third trial ended, and, surprisingly, more than half of the participants passed.

”There is one last trial left before you are accepted into the military,” Sergeant Zao said to the remaining 7,000 participants, then led them to another room.

This room was not as large as the previous rooms, and it had a single raised platform in the middle with rows of seats around it, most of them already occupied by soldiers.

”For the final trial, each of you will have to fight a soldier,” said Sergeant Zao.

”What?!”

The recruits exclaimed in shock; their expressions quickly turned concerned.

They were all civilians without proper training, and even those who had been trained because of their background couldn’t hope to come close to a trained soldier.

”There’s no way any of us can defeat a soldier!”

Sergeant Zao shook his head and elaborated, ”Nobody is expecting or asking you to defeat a soldier. In fact, regardless of the results, you won’t be disqualified.”

”Huh? Doesn’t that mean we’ve already...”

”That’s right. You have all technically already qualified to join the military, and this is simply a traditional event—a celebration of sorts.”

In reality, however, it was anything but a celebration. While Sergeant Zao was telling the truth that no one would be disqualified by this event, its true purpose was to condition the newly recruited soldiers and instill fear into them. More than anything, it served as a humiliation ritual designed to break whatever arrogance or ego they might have.

Of course, several of the recruits, who had family in the military, were aware of this.

”Once your number is called, enter the stage. If you manage to defeat a soldier, you’ll be given a special pass to skip the year-long training that everyone will be required to do after joining the military, so work hard,” said Sergeant Zao.

Nobody was surprised to hear that they still needed to train for a year before they could become proper soldiers, but since many of them had no hope of defeating a soldier, they’d already resigned themselves to their fate.

Soon, the first recruit was called onto the stage to fight a soldier.

”Number 8,091.”

While the soldier could’ve easily defeated the recruit, they did not rush to do so. Instead, they messed around for a bit, like a hunter playing with its prey before consuming them.

After several minutes of light strikes, the soldier suddenly switched gears and began beating the recruit until his face was nearly black and blue.

The other recruits visibly paled at the sight, their eyes widening with terror.

Meanwhile, the soldiers clapped and cheered. Not a single one of them felt sorry for the recruits, as they had once stood in the same place and endured the same beating themselves.

By the end of the fight, the recruit on the stage was barely conscious and had to be carried off the platform.

One’s gender did not matter, either. Men or women. They were all beaten.

After witnessing a few more beatdowns, a recruit asked Sergeant Zao whether it was possible to avoid participating in this event.

”Of course,” Sergeant Zao said. ”However, if you don’t participate, your qualifications will be revoked.”

When the recruits heard this, they felt like crying, but no tears came out.

At the end, they all accepted their fate and mentally prepared themselves for the beatdown...except for a few.

”You nervous?” Yuan asked Mei Xiaoyun with a calm look on his face, as if whatever was happening didn’t even faze him in the slightest.