However, where did the dress come from? Qian Ye pondered over this profound question. He shook his head vigorously, and as his gaze swept past the girls beside him, he suddenly realized the source of the dress.
Is this what it feels like to be drunk? It seemed quite wonderful! The more Qian Ye thought about it, the more excited he became.
Song Zining and the two other youths kept talking, occasionally turning to ask him a few questions. However, Qian Ye’s consciousness was very hazy; he could hardly hear them clearly, or even if he did, he couldn’t understand their meaning.
But the general idea was clear: these three buzzing flies were saying, drink, drink, and keep drinking! The other implication was that if Qian Ye acknowledged his drunkenness, he should quickly change into a dress and dance, thus escaping the need to drink anymore.
Song Zining gave Qian Ye a mischievous smile, casually grabbing a girl and starting to unfasten her dress. The girl giggled and didn’t dodge, instead swaying her hips to let the dress slide down slowly.
But Qian Ye didn’t feel drunk at all.
“Of course I can still drink! Come on, cheers!” Qian Ye boasted, raising his glass and tossing it back, immediately downing another one.
Since he made such a challenge, Song Zining and the two youths naturally wouldn’t back down and drank just as quickly.
Qian Ye gazed dizzily at the night sky, feeling that the moon was moving unusually fast. How could it have been on the left a moment ago and now be on the right?
The night seemed very quiet, as it should be.
In this silent night, Qian Ye couldn’t help but yawn, feeling sleepy. Thinking this, he lay down. After lying down, Qian Ye rested his head on something soft and comfortable.
But in the next moment, Qian Ye shot up, breaking out in a cold sweat!
This night shouldn’t be so quiet! Just a moment ago, a group of people were still drinking and making noise, how could it suddenly become so silent?!
Qian Ye looked around, only to see Song Zining and the young men and women sprawled all over the ground, snoring loudly, clearly passed out.
Qian Ye stared for a long time before realizing they were all drunk.
In this bout of drinking, Qian Ye alone had taken down three formidable opponents. And after breaking out in a cold sweat, he became completely sober.
But being too sober wasn’t a good thing either. Looking at the chaotic scene, Qian Ye felt a headache, unsure how to handle the aftermath. Dragging these ten or so pig-like individuals back wasn’t going to be easy.
At this moment, a soft, sultry voice came from behind Qian Ye: “It seems there was quite a commotion here!”
Upon hearing this voice, Qian Ye instinctively jumped up, standing straight and loudly saying, “Good evening, Instructor Zhang Jing!”
Zhang Jing emerged from the woods, looking at the empty bottles scattered around, then fixed her gaze on Qian Ye, smiling ambiguously, “Was this all your doing?”
“Uh… yes, no…” Qian Ye didn’t know how to respond. At that moment, he felt the atmosphere strange, with Zhang Jing’s eyes gleaming brightly, the air seeming to carry a dangerous tinge.
Zhang Jing scrutinized Qian Ye several times, then sighed, her eyes dimming.
She waved her hand, a bit melancholy, “You go back first, I’ll handle this. Report to Instructor Shadow early tomorrow. He will provide you with a week of personal guidance as a reward for this exam.”
Qian Ye was both surprised and elated. Shadow was not only a firearms expert but also a skilled sniper. Being guided by him for a week was immeasurably valuable.
Returning to the dormitory, Qian Ye’s stomach filled with the potent aftereffects of the alcohol, he soon fell asleep.
The next morning, Qian Ye was woken by the commotion on the playground. Perplexed, he went out to see, only to find Song Zining and the other two youths tied to poles, naked, each with three lash marks.
These three were among the top ten in the mid-year exams, reputedly from noble families. Now, not only were they beaten, but stripped and publicly displayed! For most children from humble backgrounds, this was a big deal. Not every day do you get to see three tough guys’ bare bottoms!
Another shocking news was the reason for their humiliation.
It was said that Song Zining and others had been drinking heavily last night, three against one, and were still knocked out. This scene was witnessed by Zhang Jing, who, being an instructor, felt they had disgraced her utterly. She not only lashed them three times each but also stripped and displayed them for a day.
This incident was just a small episode in the training camp. But from then on, Song Zining would never drink with Qian Ye again, always avoiding any mention of alcohol.
Qian Ye regretted this, as he truly enjoyed the slightly tipsy feeling of that night. But without Song Zining, penniless Qian Ye could never afford even the cheapest alcohol.
Three months passed in a flash.
Song Zining ignited his second origin node, went straight to the final graduation exam, and, unsurprisingly, passed, forever leaving the Yellow Springs Training Camp.
At that time, Qian Ye was in the training room, battling the tide of origin power. When he heard the news after class, he also received a wooden box from Zhang Jing, containing four neatly arranged pieces of “Vermillion Blood.”
A year earlier, Xu Lang had already graduated.
Qian Ye was still striving to break through the barrier of the energy sea node. He could now endure twelve waves of the origin power tide, but this progress was only average among the remaining trainees.
After rounds of elimination, the remaining children were all top picks. Most could trigger over fifteen waves of the origin power tide, but the more waves, the greater the pain. Only a handful could withstand fifteen waves.
The more waves of origin power, the stronger the impact, drawing more power from the surroundings, but the corresponding pain and bodily damage increased exponentially.
The initial stages of the “Battle Tactic Scripture” tested the will and physical robustness of the cultivator, both of which were indispensable.
In the imperial army, the number of waves of origin power one could withstand determined one’s valor. Generally, seven or eight waves meant cowardice, ten or more was acceptable, and reaching fifteen or sixteen allowed for some boasting. Reaching twenty waves or more meant one could strut in the military.
Song Zining was said to withstand seventeen waves upon graduation, and now several classmates were close to lighting their second nodes. Among the top ten in overall performance, Qian Ye endured the fewest waves of origin power.
But no one knew the pain Qian Ye endured. Twelve waves brought him pain equivalent to the nineteenth wave for ordinary cultivators!
Another half-year passed, and nine more children graduated.
Qian Ye’s progress remained extremely slow. At this point, he could barely withstand fifteen waves, but igniting the second node was still far off.
New trainees joined the class, many younger than Qian Ye. When he first arrived, he was the youngest, but now he was among the older ones.
The new trainees could all withstand fifteen waves, and their starting point was similar to Qian Ye’s. But almost everyone progressed faster than Qian Ye, as he needed to accumulate three times the origin power to achieve the same results.
The further along he went, the slower his progress. Qian Ye found that not only did the origin power tide bring extra pain, but the barrier of the energy sea node, due to old injuries, was much sturdier than others’.
For others, the impact of three times the origin power and fifteen waves would make the node barrier shake, but for Qian Ye, the surging tide hit the barrier like a mountain, unmoving!
Even Zhang Jing was at a loss, only advising Qian Ye to slowly accumulate origin power, trusting that the node would ignite naturally when ready.
Finally, when Qian Ye could withstand seventeen waves, the barrier showed a hint of loosening. By then, he was fifteen, one of the oldest in the class.
This class was the highest-level training group, and new recruits could all withstand fifteen waves. Usually, they would ignite their nodes within a few months, stabilize, and then take the graduation exam.
The Yellow Springs Training Camp’s graduation exam required hunting a crystal lizard in the rear canyon. These over-ten-meter-long beasts had the strength of second-tier warriors once matured.
Although the surviving trainees were exceptional geniuses, surviving brutal training, hunting a crystal lizard with just a dagger was extremely difficult. Reportedly, the death rate during the exam was around 15%.
Trainees who reached the final exam stage were often fit to be company commanders in the imperial army, highlighting the alarming 15% casualty rate.
But Qian Ye couldn’t ignite his second node yet, disqualifying him from the exam. In the Yellow Springs Training Camp, rules were absolute.
However, Qian Ye excelled in all non-origin power courses.
But origin power was fundamental. Without it, all achievements were hollow.
Approaching his sixteenth birthday, Qian Ye didn’t sleep, instead leaving the dorm and finding a secluded spot under the moonlight.
“Already sixteen…” Qian Ye mused, recalling the fateful encounter in the garbage dump that changed his life.
He never knew his birth date, and Gu Tuohai had used a secret method to determine his age. So Lin Xitang designated the day he found Qian Ye in the dump as his birthday.
Qian Ye remembered the warm, strong hand. His world, once dark and cold, was given its first ray of light by that hand.
Like a newly hatched chick, Qian Ye secretly considered Lin Xitang his father, though he never voiced it.
Sitting quietly, Qian Ye gathered his thoughts, preparing to attempt the eighteenth wave. Success would mean the node’s ignition was near. Failure would mean severe, irreparable damage, possibly even death.
Qian Ye had been stuck at the second node for too long, and now he had to go all-in.
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