Chapter 122: The Change to the Martial Tests

Fang Jie wasn’t a stranger to long-distance running. Although when he encountered danger since he was little, Mu Xiaoyao would pull him by his belt and flee. However, he knew that it was better to rely on himself, and he developed his expertise in running.

Also, with the mind from the modern world on Earth, his understanding of running was different from other participants.

At least not everyone knew that if they gave 100 percent right off the bat, they were going to lose for sure.

After running out of Chang’an, the group of participants already separated into a long line, ranging for one kilometer.

Fang Jie followed the first chunk of people that maintained the lead, not lagging further behind and not advancing forward.

While running, Fang Jie discovered that he wasn’t the only person who knew the importance of conserving energy.

There were five people close to him who weren’t charging forward.

Fang Jie knew these five people.

The closest to him was Zhang Kuang, the lieutenant from Anyan City who joked with him.

Pei Chuxing of the Pei Family and Cui Pingzhou of Boling Cui Family were running next to Zhang Kuang.

Not far behind Fang Jie, there was Xie Fuyao of Yangtze-South Xie Family, and Lu Fan of Chen-State Lu Family was between them.

Clearly, these few young men from big families weren’t spoiled. From their movements, Fang Jie could tell that they probably all started practicing martial arts at a young age, and it seemed like their physiques were stronger than his. That was only a guess since Fang Jie didn’t know what physique he had.

These people all knew the importance of breathing correctly when running long-distance. Their mouths were slightly open, and their breathing was long and steady.

In terms of knowledge, Fang Jie had to admit that these gongzi were much better. After all, people from big families had huge advantages compared to people from poor backgrounds who had to learn on their own.

These gongzi probably started to read classic literature at the age of five, and reputable teachers taught them every day. At about 12 years old, they were all great at zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and they would have started cultivating already under the guidance of cultivation masters.

When they were reading classic literature, most of the children from poor backgrounds were playing in their mothers’ arms. When they started cultivation and practicing martial arts, most of the children from poor backgrounds started to help their parents with work in the fields.

Children from big families couldn’t be that much smarter compared to children from poor backgrounds, but they started on the right paths much earlier, ditching children from poor backgrounds far behind them.

Fang Jie admired people like Pei Chuxing, Xie Fuyao, and Cui Pingzhou. These people came from big families, yet they worked harder than others. Their childhood was mostly occupied by learning.

They didn’t only need to learn zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting; they also needed to have the ability to differentiate between antiques and fakes, be able to tell where makeups came from by a stiff, and know which jewelry shop the women’s accessories came from by a glance.

In Fang Jie’s eyes, such knowledge that these people from big families had was all for showing-off. However, it wasn’t easy to become a gongzi who could show-off successfully.

Most people from big families didn’t have such perseverance, and not many of them could spend most of their time learning.

Since they were born with silver spoons in their mouths, they had access to tempting things, such as delicious food, great liquor, and beautiful women.

These things that people from poor backgrounds couldn’t come to contact with were too common for these gongzi.

While these gongzi spent money like dirt, people from poor backgrounds were sweating profusely in the fields.

When Fang Jie was on Earth, he heard of the old saying – the more you compare yourself to others, the angrier you will become.

This was the harsh truth. Many people had dreams and fought hard for them, but they only saw the strict social hierarchy in the end.

People with 100,000 dollars could get in contact with millionaires, but they couldn’t enter that circle. Millionaires could get in contact with billionaires, but they couldn’t enter that circle as well. Different levels of money could get people different levels of prestige.

Fang Jie looked at himself and the soldiers who were clenching their teeth and holding on with persistence.

The Martial Arts Academy was a gate. Although it didn’t guarantee a beautiful future, it gave people the most hope. To soldiers, the Martial Arts Academy offered another benefit; they could live here for three years in peace, no longer needing to face brutal combat and unforeseeable danger.

It would be extremely fortunate for them not to worry about suddenly dying in battle.

While adjusting his breathing, Fang Jie calculated the distance in his mind. He had been to the training field before, and he had observed the terrain since he developed this habit after being hunted all these years. Although his journey back to Chang’an last time wasn’t pleasant, it didn’t stop him from remembering some special types of terrain along the way. For example, there were thick mushes where he hid last time, a medium-sized yet dense forest on the way, and a tall hill about 500 meters to the left of the public road.

Running was a simple activity, so no one expected it to be a test this year.

More and more people started to puke after they left Chang’an, and the people who were still in the back of the line about an hour later had no hope of coming back on top.

Seeing the training field not far away, the people in the front started to dash as fast as they could, preventing others from surpassing them.

Suddenly, a professor of the academy dashed over on a horse and shouted, “The second test begins! Try to stop others from reaching the end! You can’t kill others, use weapons, or rely on poison.”

…

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this.

While blanking out momentarily, Fang Jie suddenly felt a force coming from behind. He stomped on the ground with force subconsciously, and his legs exerted explosive force, making his body fly forward like a cannonball.

He knew who tried to sneak-attack him without looking back. The person closest to him from the back was Lu Fan from Chen-State Lu Family.

Lu Fan had been famous since he was young. Although Chen-State Lu Family wasn’t a first-tier family, it ranked at the top of second-tier families. A young man with such a status ignored his reputation and sneak-attacked Fang Jie from the back; it showed Fang Jie’s weight in the eyes of these people from big families.

Lu Fan clearly didn’t expect Fang Jie to dodge his sneak-attack, and he was shocked by what he saw. He had been gathering energy from the beginning. Even if that professor didn’t announce the second test, he was planning to make Fang Jie exit this match before arriving at the training field.

From his perspective, this insignificant young man from a border city stole the spotlight yesterday. If this young man obtained high ratings in today’s martial tests, Lu Fan wouldn’t be able to rank in the top three.

After all, he knew that he was a bit weaker compared to people like Pei Chuxing and Xie Fuyao.

However, he didn’t think he would lose to an insignificant soldier in terms of martial arts.

As a result, he couldn’t help but freeze a little after missing the target.

At this split-second, he turned from a hunter to prey.

After missing, Lieutenant Zhang Kuang from Anyan City kicked Lu Fan in the chest before he could pull back his arm.

Since internal forces were used in this kick, even though there was limited power in the kick, Lu Fan suffered under this sudden attack. He felt like his lungs froze for a moment as he couldn’t breathe. Then, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

After landing the strike, Zhang Kuang chased after Fang Jie.

“Gather!” Zhang Kuang shouted while dashing forward.

Many people didn’t hear what he shouted, but the participants from the military all knew the meaning behind it.

After Zhang Kuang shouted, some soldiers close by started to gather around him. Soon, a little more than a dozen soldiers in the first chunk of participants in the lead got close to each other.

“Sharp Arrow!” Zhang Kuang shouted again.

Then, these soldiers quickly formed an array formation in about 20 seconds.

There were about 20 basic array formations that the military of Great Sui practiced, and the soldiers knew these array formations to heart. Although they were from various places in Great Sui and had never trained together before, they were able to cooperate with each other after hearing Zhang Kuang’s command. This showed the quality of the soldiers of Great Sui

“Fang Jie! Come into the middle of the array formation!” Zhang Kuang shouted while charging forward and becoming the tip of the sharp-arrow array formation.

Fang Jie looked back before shouting, “I will be the tip!”

Before Zhang Kuang could reject, Fang Jie already merged into the sharp-arrow array formation. To prevent the array formation from breaking apart after Fang Jie joined in, Zhang Kuang could only give the position of the tip to Fang Jie.

In battle, the soldier in the tip of the sharp-arrow array formation always experienced the most danger, and the soldier in the middle was better protected.

“Elite soldiers of Great Sui, always advance forward!” Zhang Kuang who had backed off into the middle of the array formation chanted the siege command of the military, and all the soldiers in the array formation followed, “Advance forward!”

While running, Zhang Kuang said to Fang Jie, “Don’t force yourself too hard. If cultivation masters come, just back into the middle. Don’t fight with me. Among us soldiers, you have the highest chance of making it into the top three. Since soldiers started to participate in the entrance exam of the Martial Arts Academy, no soldier made it into the top three. Since you obtained excellent ratings in the five written tests already, you will be in the top three after getting an excellent rating in one martial test! We already discussed this! We will make it happen no matter what!”

Fang Jie felt warm inside, and he replied without looking back, “Thanks! Since we already made the array formation, let’s cross the finish line together! Don’t leave anyone behind!”

“Ok!” Zhang Kuang seemed to be stimulated by Fang Jie’s words, and he pointed at the direction of the training field and shouted, “Let’s cross the finish line together! Let them see the power of us soldiers!”

…

Lu Fan endured the excruciating pain, wiped away the blood on his lips, and dashed forward. While running, he said to Xie Fuyao who ran past him coldly, “Brother Xie, how about we join hands? Later, people who are alone will be the targets of others. Only joining hands will make others afraid.”

Xie Fuyao didn’t even look at him while dashing forward. “I don’t need to join hands with anyone. If you don’t want to be knocked out, don’t get any closer.”

Xie Fuyao’s tone was cold and haughty; it seemed like in his eyes, Lu Fan wasn’t on his level and didn’t deserve his attention.

Lu Fan bit his lips and cursed. Seeing that Cui Pingzhou and Pei Chuxing weren’t fighting and dashing forward side-by-side, he instantly sped up and chased after them.

“Brothers, how about the three of us join hands?”

“I might have considered it if you didn’t sneak-attack Fang Jie.” Cui Pingzhou turned around and looked at him while speaking coldly, “Your punch earlier was sneaky.”

“You can’t say that! Sneak-attack is one of the military tactics!” Lu Fan explained with a loud voice.

Bam!

Before Lu Fan could finish speaking, a strong force struck his chest and knocked him away.

This force was quite strange. Although it was powerful, it didn’t injure him.

This force was profound yet soft. After he flew for a while and smashed into the ground, his organs weren’t damaged.

If the person who struck him didn’t hold back, he would be dead by now.

“You are right.” Pei Chuxing of the Pei Family pulled back his left hand and looked at Lu Fan who got knocked into the water ditch on the side of the public road. He said, “Sneak-attack is indeed a tactic, but I’m not interested in cooperating with wastrels who fail to sneak-attack others.”

Cui Pingzhou smiled and pointed at those soldiers who already ahead of them. “What about them?”

While dashing forward, Pei Chuxing replied, “Let’s deal with them after they get to the training field; just let them dash forward now. With their cultivation strength, their stamina would be depleted when they get to the training field. The so-called sharp-arrow array formation is weak and useless.”

Battles were happening everywhere on the public road.

Because of that professor’s sudden command, the dark side of human nature was revealed.