The students in class automatically made way to the sides.
Li Junhao jogged out of the high-rise teaching area, and the ground began to show patches of wild grass, shrubs, and sandy soil. The number of people on both sides started to dwindle; this was an area often used for live-fire shooting, a semi-military exercise zone.
"One two one..."
Not far off, several classes of students were also jogging forward, but they were not on the same route and soon branched off in different directions.
"Pick up the pace, twenty kilometers!"
Li Hu, the third squad leader, bellowed in the team channel.
"Yes!"
The formation began to speed up, shifting from a jog to a sprint. The sound of the wind whistling past, the formation went from a neat block to a scattered oval.
Whoo~
Jiang Ding let out a breath, relaxing his muscles. A twenty-kilometer run was nothing to him, but sprinting that distance at such a speed was still a significant burden.
Li Junhao's running form had already started to deteriorate.
A breeze swept by.
Jiang Ding looked back to see squad leader Hua Bing leading two teams composed entirely of Qi Practicing Realm students, a total of fourteen, catching up with ease and leisure.
Their pace was not fast, nor was their frequency high, it was as if they were walking for pleasure, not a bead of sweat in sight.
But their speed was fast, much faster than his, and in a short while, they had passed his team and soon disappeared from sight.
"First-order military Formation Method—Rapid Wind Formation."
Li Junhao connected to Jiang Ding's communication, slightly out of breath, enviously saying, "These guys really aren't human."
"You need to consider your health," Jiang Ding couldn't help but say. "Staying up all night, not getting enough rest or exercise, how can you expect to make advances in your martial arts cultivation base with this routine?"
"You don't understand, my Martial Dao Aptitude is just too bad, my only path lies in academic subjects."
Li Junhao shook his head.
As long as one could get into the Cultivation Department, high-level cultivators would specifically refine rare elixirs for these one-sided students. While it wouldn't make them into instant geniuses, it would at least make their Martial Dao Aptitude better than most people's.
Moreover, those one-sided students who could get into the Cultivation Department were quite talented. Once their aptitude issues were resolved, they could grow rapidly.
About ten minutes later, the team started to fragment.
Li Hu and the other two Internal Qi Realm students quickly disappeared from the view of the students at the back, followed by Jiang Ding and other Bone Refining Realm peak martial artists, and finally the Body Refining Realm martial artists.
Without a doubt, Li Junhao was the last to finish.
Jiang Ding was panting heavily, not knowing how long he had been sprinting, when ahead, rows of students stood as neatly as nails.
In front of them stood a middle-aged man, as burly as a bear, who simply by standing there exuded an intangible aura of power.
"Reporting!"
"Enter."
Zhang Dingjun's voice was deep.
Jiang Ding took his place in line, right behind Li Hu, as the third squad was the order designated by their teacher.
More students filed in line behind them.
Ding-a-ling!
At eight ten, the alarm in Zhang Dingjun's hand rang.
Jiang Ding glanced left and right—Li Junhao had not arrived yet.
After five or six minutes, a breathless Li Junhao arrived belatedly and weakly said, "Reporting!"
Zhang Dingjun gave him a cold look: "Forty kilometers after class, I don't care about your intentions or plans, not qualified here means not qualified!"
"Yes!"
Li Junhao's face turned bitter.
There wouldn't be any danger, the Xianmen Sect had magic, they had professional healing methods, even if one's knee swelled up and bled, a few days with crutches was inevitable.
"You all may now engage in free activity," Zhang Dingjun said, looking towards Hua Bing and the other Qi Practitioners.
"Yes, Instructor!"
Whirr!
Zhang Dingjun lifted a thick camouflage tarp.
Sunlight shone, reflecting off metal, and several two-meter-long heavy machine guns stood erect on the ground, next to piles of ammunition boxes, the thick scent of gun oil spreading.
"On the battlefield, there are none of those pistols, submachine guns; those toys can't even break the defense of cultivators!"
Zhang Dingjun casually picked up the two-hundred-plus-pound heavy machine gun with one hand and pulled the bolt: "The only partner you can rely on in your future military service or college entrance exam is this."
"Type 89 heavy machine gun, made of N2702 spell-breaking alloy, with half magic tool runes engraved on the barrel, Falcon-1 scope, 12.5mm caliber, total length 2140mm, theoretical rate of fire 600 rounds per minute, theoretical range 5 kilometers, capable of piercing the conventional shields of Qi Practitioners at the ninth level from that distance."
"If it hits the shield of a Foundation-building cultivator, it can also consume a bit of their mana."
Jiang Ding knew that it wasn't that simple.
Qi Practitioners at the ninth level would avoid, conceal, and hide as long as they were not as stupid as pigs; shooting those with Divine Sense from five kilometers away was no easy feat.
Let alone the ninth level of Qi Practicing, even at the first or second level, learning an Optical Invisibility spell and launching a simple fireball after advancing could kill a swath of martial artists.
The use of heavy machine guns was on a large-scale battlefield!
Infantry Spirit Radar would locate the enemy, heavy artillery would bomb wildly in advance, and dense barrages would fire; this was the way to fight against cultivators.
"Using firearms is quite simple, but precise shooting within five kilometers is not easy; this exceeds the visual limit of ordinary people," Zhang Dingjun said, pointing to a series of small boxes next to the ammo boxes, "This requires the help of drones, and the ones issued to you are military-grade Swallow-1."
"Additionally, you need to practice martial arts, 'Diamond Seal' and 'Thousand Threads Guide.' The former ensures the stability of your shooting so that your upper body remains motionless like Mount Tai, even when shooting while running, and the latter ensures the precision of your shooting, where a force can be divided into a thousand portions, accurately hitting a squirrel from five thousand meters away."
"Two martial arts techniques; achieving minor success in both means becoming a qualified Xianmen Soldier. It's that simple."
Zhang Dingjun paused:
"Now, take a gun, one for each person, two chains of ammo, and a drone."
"Yes, Instructor!"
Jiang Ding stepped forward quickly, slinging the Type 89 heavy machine gun over his back, the one hundred and twenty-five-kilogram weight making his step sink, then he picked up two chains of ammo and slung them across his chest, one hundred rounds each.
Swallow-1, along with its box, was the size of a basketball, had a hook, and was clipped to his waist; he stood still back in formation, the whole process taking seven seconds.
He glanced around stealthily; everyone stood tall and silent, burdened with heavy machine guns and ammunition.
"Spread out, raise your guns," Zhang Dingjun commanded.
"Yes!"
The group quickly dispersed, spacing out over ten meters between each person, holding the gun in both hands, aimed diagonally at the sky, legs in a bow stance.
Jiang Ding silently visualized a mountain descending from the sky, falling into the arms of a giant; a massive force of gravity struck, dispersing to the four limbs of the giant, and eventually, through the legs, rooting into the ground.
The giant in his mind was divided into countless lines, the dispersion and convergence of strength within them, how much force each muscle should bear, and how much strength should be used to maximize the elimination of external force on the entire body.
"Twenty minutes."
Leaving just that phrase behind, Zhang Dingjun walked to the group of students in the Inner Qi Realm, including Hua Bing, where faint voices could be heard.
"The three basic spells of the Internal Qi Realm—electromagnetic wave induction, affixing magic, and spirit control—you all..."
Soon after, the rumble of tank engines started, and a line of Type 59 tanks moved towards the distance.