Qian Ye left the classroom, a primer in his hand. In the following month, he had to memorize a thousand commonly used characters to pass Zhang Jing’s exam. The consequence of failing the test was a harsh ten lashes!
Only now did Qian Ye realize that whips were the only common hobby shared by all the instructors at the Yellow Springs Training Camp.
However, the training schedule did not slow down due to the need for the children to learn characters. The amount and duration of the training remained the same.
When he returned to the dorm late at night, Qian Ye was as exhausted as if he were falling apart. He fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed, only to be awakened by a grating bell the next morning, realizing he hadn’t even started memorizing a single character!
Clearly, many children shared Qian Ye’s predicament. So, on the second night, most of the children stayed up, desperately trying to memorize the strange-looking characters.
By the time Qian Ye managed to memorize the fiftieth character, he finally couldn’t hold on any longer and collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep.
Time flew by, and it seemed like a blink of an eye before a month had passed.
Qian Ye awaited Zhang Jing’s second class. Before the lesson, there was an exam. During the long hour and a half, Qian Ye wrote down fifteen hundred characters, which were the fruits of his labor for the past month.
Among all the children, Qian Ye ranked fifth. The top four were from noble families, who had started reading and writing at a young age. Among those who had never learned to read, Qian Ye was unquestionably the first. After him, there were three other aristocratic children who had also learned to read and write from a young age.
Eleven children failed to pass Zhang Jing’s exam.
“Now, it’s time for you to pay the price for underestimating my course!” This beautiful woman said softly, but then she personally picked up a whip and lashed the children who failed the test, with a force even stronger than Long Hai’s!
The ten lashes were a heavy punishment. Right before Qian Ye’s eyes, two children were whipped to death!
Qian Ye realized that this beautiful teacher was even more ruthless than Long Hai!
This exam made Qian Ye and all the children remember that literacy was just as important as physical training.
Zhang Jing called in two burly men to drag the two motionless children away. She then calmly wrote four large characters on the blackboard: “Dawn War.”
As she wrote these four characters, Zhang Jing became unusually serious and solemn, her voice taking on a heavy tone: “The Dawn War ended one thousand two hundred years ago…”
The Dawn War took place on the lowermost continent of Eternal Night, where humanity first settled and thrived.
In the Dawn War, humanity used all the forces at their disposal, culminating in a final showdown between the power of the dawn, the burning black stones, the surging energy vapor, the roaring firearms, the crude machinery, and the dark forces!
In this fateful war, which lasted over a hundred years, the awakened humans paid a heavy price, with their total population reduced to one-tenth of what it was before the war. But they ultimately defeated the dark races, freeing themselves from the status of slaves, vassals, and livestock, and expelled the dark races from the realm of Eternal Night, establishing the first human-dominated empire: Qin.
This fateful war was called the Dawn War in human history. Because for the first time after living in Eternal Night, humans saw the dawn. The first original force they awakened was defined as the force of the dawn. From this war, the two major factions of Eternal Night and the Dawn were officially formed.
The Dawn War was not an end, but a beginning. Over the next one thousand two hundred years, humanity gradually conquered four new continents in the middle and lower layers of the world and began to look up to the upper continents. The Empire of Qin officially relocated its capital, taking most of the aristocratic families to the new continents, and more human nations began to emerge.
But the Eternal Night continent, where the Dawn War occurred, due to its extremely harsh natural environment and scarce resources, eventually became a giant garbage planet and was again infiltrated by the dark races, unwilling to accept defeat.
Hearing this, Qian Ye shivered. Since he could remember, he had never left the garbage dump, but occasionally he would hear the strong adults bragging about the dark races, and it turned out that they were not just legends but real darkness and bloodshed.
However, Zhang Jing’s expression and tone as she spoke made him even colder, a coldness that was indifferent.
Yes, in the last one thousand two hundred years, the dark races and humans have never stopped fighting, clashing on every continent and every border. For centuries, hatred and blood flowed everywhere, and the Eternal Night region was not particularly special, or even the least important among the many battlefields.
At the end of this class, Qian Ye felt a heavy weight in his heart, something he couldn’t quite put into words. The other children felt similarly. They were still too young to understand the weight of history. But as soon as they left the classroom, the children rushed to the training ground. If they were late, they would receive another three lashes.
Life quickly returned to its original track.
Time passed without them noticing, and half a year had already gone by.
Qian Ye’s physique improved dramatically, growing ten centimeters taller in just six months. Apart from the rigorous yet scientific training, the camp’s food was also key.
The children’s diet included a lot of nutritious ingredients, some of which came directly from the dark races. Additionally, a small amount of special medicine was added to their daily soup, which could rapidly stimulate their body’s potential.
Qian Ye felt that the days were monotonous, as if nothing ever changed, except that the number of his companions seemed to be decreasing.
When the number of children around Qian Ye dwindled to fewer than fifty, they welcomed a new batch of companions. The newcomers were of varying ages, totaling over fifty. The only thing they had in common with Qian Ye was their similar physical attributes.
After another half a year, the number of Qian Ye’s companions was back to fifty. They welcomed yet another group of new companions. By this time, Qian Ye learned that he and the one hundred people around him were considered a company. Whenever the number was halved, new recruits were added to replenish the numbers, maintaining the total at one hundred. The principle of supplementation was to match the strength.
When Qian Ye had been in the training camp for a full year, one day, all the children were gathered in the training ground, lined up, awaiting instructions.
During the wait, Qian Ye suddenly felt a strong urge to look around, even though such a small movement might invite a lash.
He subtly and quickly glanced to his left and right, then, seizing the moment when the instructor turned his gaze, he quickly looked back, instantly returning to his normal stance. This simple action made his heart race wildly.
Because, to his surprise, among all the people around him, there were less than thirty familiar faces! Of the original one hundred children, most had already left this world forever.
It was only at this moment that Qian Ye understood the true meaning of the phrase “Welcome to Hell” at the entrance of the valley.
Long Hai appeared before the children, his gaze coldly sweeping over them, his single eye seeming even more vicious. But all the children bravely met Long Hai’s gaze, unafraid. These children, after a year of hellish training, had developed either a brave or numb heart.
Long Hai was very satisfied, saying, “Very good! After eliminating the dregs, the remaining ones are finally presentable. However…”
After a long pause, Long Hai gave a meaningful smile: “The good news is that you all have received preliminary recognition and will be given serious cultivation. You will no longer be punished for minor offenses. Of course, breaking the rules will still have the same consequences. The bad news is, you will find that the real training is only just beginning!”
Long Hai paced back and forth in front of the line, his voice bombarding the children’s ears: “In the coming years, you will truly begin to cultivate! Cultivate the original force! You will learn the most direct and effective killing techniques. You will have the opportunity to kill every type of dark race, and of course, you will have a high chance of being killed by them. So, pray, little ones! Finally, I can tell you that among those standing here today, only less than a quarter will be lucky enough to leave alive.”
The last sentence was heavy, but Qian Ye did not take it to heart. He had learned not to worry about things beyond his control.
No matter how slim the chances, as long as they existed, Qian Ye would wholeheartedly strive for them. Without this resilience and focus, he, a young and severely injured boy, would have long since turned to dust in the garbage dump.
With a wave of Long Hai’s hand, several burly men came forward and distributed new textbooks to each child.
On the cover of the textbook, the three large characters “Bing Fa Jue” were written in a powerful and sharp script, as if carved by swords and knives! Looking at it, Qian Ye felt a sting.
This was the cultivation manual, the key that separated ordinary people from the capable! Holding the Bing Fa Jue, Qian Ye’s young heart felt a sense that his fate would be changed by this thin little book!
The children were led into the classroom, and to their surprise, it was Zhang Jing who stepped up to the podium to teach the Bing Fa Jue. It seemed that beneath her beautiful appearance, she possessed extraordinary strength. Qian Ye had noticed that Long Hai never got too close to Zhang Jing, maintaining a distance of about five meters. Now, he suddenly understood—it was fear.
Zhang Jing pushed up her glasses, and her chest, which was generously proportioned, rose and fell with the slight movement.
“This Bing Fa Jue is a cultivation method specifically prepared for cannon fodder!”
Qian Ye was very surprised by her evaluation.
For the past year, although life in the training camp was more brutal than in the garbage dump, it was still a relatively normal society. In the limited interactions among the trainees, Qian Ye had learned some basic knowledge of life and naturally noticed that the training camp had invested significant resources in them.
The elimination rate at the Yellow Springs Training Camp was extremely high, with fewer than one in a hundred able to leave. So, the resources spent on the 99 eliminated individuals were essentially wasted. After such a costly investment, was the final result just a cultivation method for cannon fodder?
Many children shared Qian Ye’s thoughts.
Zhang Jing saw the changes in the children’s expressions and sneered, “Don’t think of ‘cannon fodder’ as a derogatory term! In fact, many people wish they had the qualifications to be cannon fodder! Only if you survive and complete the training can you be considered a qualified cannon fodder! Next, you must cultivate a complete tide of original force within three months and ignite your first original force node within a year! If you fail…”
Zhang Jing suddenly licked her lips and said softly, “You will be punished…”
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