Firmament Sword

Little Fatty grimaced. He hadn’t expected Sui Yan to see his little maneuver so clearly. After his brothers had laughed their fill, he rolled his eyes and said, ”Hey, Sui Xiaoshi, haven’t seen you in a while. Looks like your strength has improved quite a bit, huh? You can even spot Master Fatty’s subtle moves? Wanna spar sometime?”

”Anytime. I just broke through to Tier One Sword Master after the New Year, and I’ve been itching for a fight,” Sui Yan said, his expression placid and unruffled.

”Oh, what a coincidence! I also just happened to break through to Tier One Sword Master! I’m itching for a fight too!” Little Fatty said with a punchable expression, snorting and rolling his eyes dramatically.

”You’ve both improved quickly. I’m guessing your families put in a lot of effort,” Xu Jie said with a smile, looking at his two brothers. ”I also recently broke through to Tier Two Sword Master.”

Little Fatty pouted. ”Second Brother, you can increase your strength just by forging iron every day. We can’t compare to that. The only reason I could advance was because my dad spent a fortune to buy a huge pile of Spirit Medicines for me to eat...”

Sui Yan also nodded and said, ”Same here.”

Huangfu Chongzhi chimed in from the side, ”Those Elixirs... if we have the materials, I can refine them myself. On this expedition, if we get the chance, we should find some Spirit Medicines to bring back. Then, you’ll all be able to advance even faster!”

”Big Brother is the best!” Little Fatty hurriedly sucked up to him, then asked, ”Big Brother, you’ve already broken through to Tier Three, right?”

Huangfu Chongzhi nodded, his expression showing little excitement. For an ordinary person, his rate of progress was more than fast enough.

But for one, he was several years older than his brothers. And for another... he was a Prince!

Born into the Royal Family!

If any other prince had his talent, they would have likely reached the realm of a Sixth or Seventh Rank Sword Master long ago. How could he only be at Tier Three?

At that moment, the brothers all turned to look at Xu Luo. Xu Jie asked with a smile, ”Third Brother, you’ve been making a name for yourself in the Imperial Capital recently. Your strength must have improved rapidly too, right?”

Xu Luo smiled and said, ”I’m only a Tier Two Sword Master.”

”Huh?” The brothers were all stunned.

Little Fatty Liu Feng’s expression was even more exaggerated as he said, ”’Only’... a ’Tier Two’... ’Sword Master’...?”

He then added, ”My dear Third Brother, are you sure you said ’Master’... and not ’Swordsman’?”

”You idiot. Before the New Year at the academy, Third Brother sent the ’Little Speed King’ flying with a single kick and crippled the arm of one of Wei Ziting’s lackeys with a single punch. Both of them were Tier One Sword Masters!”

Sui Yan said with a sneer. As for that Tier Seven Swordsman, Li Tie, whom Xu Luo had dealt with at the very beginning, Sui Yan couldn’t even be bothered to mention him.

”Uh, well, I’ve been busy...” Little Fatty defended himself awkwardly.

”Busy sniffing out women all day?” In front of his brothers, Sui Yan was actually quite talkative, and his words were sharp.

”Sui Xiaoshi, you listen to me! I’m your Fourth Brother! If you dare to be so disrespectful again, I’ll teach you a lesson!” At a loss for words, Little Fatty could only resort to pulling rank.

Sui Yan pouted, turning his head away to ignore him.

Huangfu Chongzhi and Xu Jie, on the other hand, both looked at Xu Luo with delight. For them, nothing made them happier than seeing their brother succeed.

”Good! Among us five brothers, there are no weaklings. When we get to the battlefield, we’ll definitely achieve great things and beat the enemy so badly they piss themselves!” Xu Jie said with a hearty laugh.

CLACK!

CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!

Just then, the sudden sound of horse hooves rang out. Along with it came an icy voice.

”You bunch of naive, weak, unweaned little brats...”

The voice was cold, the words dripping with mockery.

”Who the hell is that?”

”What bullshit! Who are you calling weak?”

”You’re the one who’s unweaned!”

”You’re the naive one!”

The crowd numbered several thousand, a large portion of whom were the children of decorated nobles from the Imperial Capital, including top-tier young masters like Leng Ping, Wang Ziweng, Wei Ziting, Sun Donghai, and Zhao Mo.

On a normal day, every last one of them, if not looking down their noses at everyone, was at the very least unapproachable.

Even now, wearing the exact same military uniforms that marked them as new recruits, they couldn’t hide the pride ingrained in their very bones.

However, none of the top-tier young masters said a word.

The ones shouting back were all children of nobles from a slightly lower tier of status.

CLAP!

CLAP!

CLAP!

Three crisp claps echoed from the hands of the rider on horseback.

”Good! Very good! Excellent! You little worms, not happy with what I said, are you? Heh, I just love drilling you greenhorns, especially high-status ones. Breaking you in is particularly satisfying!”

The rider’s voice was cold. He gave a sinister chuckle and continued, ”I forgot to introduce myself. My surname is Zhou. You can call me Instructor Zhou. Perhaps some of you have heard of me. Even better. In a bit, you can do me a favor and spread the word to those who haven’t!”

”Oh god, it’s King Zhou... How could we be so unlucky? Of all people, he’s the one leading us...”

”We’re so dead. It’s Devil Zhou... This is just too much!”

”It’s over. We’re screwed. There’s no way to survive this. The Devil Instructor is our instructor... Waaah, I want to go home!”

Cries of despair instantly rose from the crowd. Xu Luo noticed that even his usually composed big brother, Huangfu Chongzhi, couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from twitching violently when he heard the rider’s self-introduction.

As for Little Fatty, he was quietly muttering about wanting to go home to his mommy...

The color had also drained from the faces of Sui Yan and Xu Jie.

Before Xu Luo could even ask who this Instructor Zhou was, the rider bellowed again, ”Look at the state of you! In my eyes, you’re no different from trash! If an enemy showed up right now, a single charge would be enough to scatter you idiots, send you crying for your mommies, and leave your corpses strewn across the field! Now pull yourselves together, dammit! Are you really students of the True Martial Academy? You don’t even know how to fall into formation?”

With that, the rider commanded his personal guards, shouting, ”Go! Each of you take fifty men. First, teach these idiots how to form up and march! If anyone disobeys, beat them senseless! As long as you don’t kill or cripple them, just leave them breathing!”

”Yes, sir!” the personal guards roared in unison. Then, looking as fierce as demons, they plunged into the crowd of True Martial Academy students.

These personal guards were crude in their actions and vulgar in their speech, cursing at every turn, but their movements were as smooth as flowing water. Dozens of them charged into the crowd, and in the blink of an eye, they had split the several thousand students from True Martial Academy into dozens of smaller units.

Although these students were young, the fact that they had been accepted into True Martial Academy meant that every one of them had their own pride and dignity. None of them were particularly weak.

Faced with these boorish soldiers, a few hot-tempered students couldn’t help but resist.

Then, a shocking scene... unfolded.

These seemingly ordinary soldiers, with a mere wave of their hands, took down students who were Sixth to Seventh Tier Swordsmen—and some who were even stronger.

They unhesitatingly lashed the students with the horsewhips in their hands, drawing a chorus of blood-curdling screams!

Any students who couldn’t take it and tried to flee were immediately chased down by the soldiers and beaten even more brutally!

”Holy crap, they’re so strong!” Little Fatty Liu Feng muttered under his breath, standing obediently as instructed.

Xu Jie narrowed his eyes slightly and said, ”These are all soldiers who have been on the battlefield and experienced life-or-death combat. Their raw power might not be that much greater than the students’, but in a real fight, two or three students combined might not be a match for a single soldier! The students would definitely be the ones to die in the end!”

Xu Luo had witnessed the skills of people like the Yuan Brothers, Tang Yong, and Li Yu, so he wholeheartedly agreed with what Xu Jie said.

Meanwhile, Wei Ziting, Leng Ping, and the other top-tier noble scions had no interest in being the nail that sticks out. They each gathered their own cliques and obediently fell into formation as instructed.

”Hmph. Now you’re finally starting to look the part. But... it’s not enough! Not even close! Don’t go thinking you’re some bullshit chosen ones! So what if you got into True Martial Academy? You think that’s a big deal?”

”Don’t think you can demand special privileges just because of your fancy family backgrounds! Those backgrounds were built by your ancestors and fathers; they have nothing to do with you little wastes of space, not even for a single copper plate!”

The rider said coldly, ”Under my command, there are only soldiers and officers! Anyone who doesn’t submit, I’ll beat you until you do! If you’ve got the balls, come knock me down. Then you can be the instructor!”

The formation of several thousand was dead silent. As they stared at the somewhat gaunt, cold-faced rider in black armor upon his horse, everyone subconsciously puffed out their chests.

”Good. So no one’s feeling overconfident enough to challenge me right now, correct? Then listen up! From now on, you belong to me! You will obey my every command! Anyone who dares to violate military discipline will be executed without mercy!”

The rider looked coldly at the crowd. ”And that is not a joke!”

”Alright. Now, in your squads, begin running forward!” the rider commanded coldly.

”Instructor... may I ask how far we have to run?” a student in the crowd dared to ask.

”This is the first time, so I’ll forgive you,” the rider said coldly. ”But from now on, remember this: when I order you to do something, you simply execute it. You are not allowed to ask questions! Understood?”

The student who had asked the question nodded, his face pale, and shrank back into the crowd.

”Since someone asked, I’ll elaborate. It’s the first day. If I train you too hard, I’m afraid some of you might piss your pants and scurry home overnight. Therefore, this instructor, in his great mercy, will take pity on you weak wastes of space. Today, you only need to run forward at a quick pace for fifty li...”

”And one more thing, don’t say I didn’t warn you: you are not allowed to use your True Essence. If I discover anyone using it, heh heh...” Instructor Zhou chuckled sinisterly from his horse. Though he didn’t finish, everyone could hear the unspoken threat.

Many students were relieved when they heard the first part, but as soon as he finished, a wave of despair swept through the crowd.

”Gods, fifty li on the first day without being allowed to use True Essence... Isn’t he trying to kill us?”

”This is impossible! And he calls this showing mercy? What would it be like if he actually trained us hard?”

”This is outrageous! Fifty li without True Essence? We’ll be dead from exhaustion!”

”Sigh, we got the Devil Instructor. We just have to accept our bad luck. The louder you complain, the happier he gets.”

”Yeah, and whatever you do, don’t try to resist him. He was already a Tier Eight Great Sword Master several years ago!”

”And don’t even think about using your status to pressure him. Do you know who he is? He’s the son of our own Dean Zhou! His mother is a genuine Commandery Princess, and his maternal grandfather is a reigning Prince of the court!”

”Anyone who tries to pull rank on him... will die a miserable death!”

The various discussions from the crowd reached Xu Luo’s ears, finally revealing the instructor’s true identity to him.

Thinking of old Dean Zhou Liang’s cunning face, Xu Luo couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. ’The Dean really has high expectations for his students!’

’Otherwise, why would he hand over this group of inexperienced students, as naive as blank slates, to such a monstrous instructor?’

’In terms of martial strength, no one could resist. Forget Instructor Zhou; even those soldiers under his command were not to be trifled with.’

’In terms of status, the man is a Prince’s maternal grandson!’

’Who could possibly compare?’

’Soldiers trained under an instructor like this... once they got on the battlefield... they would be a true army of tigers and wolves!’

Xu Luo narrowed his eyes, and as these thoughts ran through his mind, a sense of anticipation began to build within him.

A hot-blooded youth does not fear a challenge!