Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Zhang Zhiwei was completely reassured by the "Imperial Advisor's" assurances. After all, the "Imperial Advisor" was the true expert when it came to setting up interior illusions.

The effect he casually created was something I couldn't achieve even if I racked my brains. This isn't self-deprecation, but rather a matter of specialization.

Afterwards, he gave a few instructions to the people in the formation, and then with a thought, he withdrew his consciousness from this inner space and began to set up the second "Return to Origin Formation".

Zhang Huaiyi and the others who remained in the interior found themselves in an extremely unfamiliar and oppressive place.

The sky was overcast, with leaden clouds hanging low. A strange smell of earth, gunpowder, and rotting corpses filled the air. The temperature was extremely low, making their hands and feet stiff with cold.

Even worse, they seemed to be subject to some kind of restriction, unable to sense the Qi within their bodies at all, and unable to use any means!

For someone with supernatural abilities, suddenly losing their Qi is like a fish out of water or a bird with a broken wing. They feel awkward and uncomfortable all over.

All around them were blond, blue-eyed foreigners in worn-out military uniforms, speaking a language the foreigners couldn't understand at all.

"What's going on? Is this an illusion? Why does it feel so real?" Tian Jinzhong said in a low voice. He could even smell the strong stench of sweat on the foreigner next to him.

“It’s normal to feel it’s real,” Zhang Huaiyi said in a low voice, a hint of bitterness on his face, “My senior brother’s…”

He originally wanted to say "inner demon," but when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he remembered that he was currently in the illusion created by this inner demon and was afraid of offending him, so he immediately changed his address. He imitated Zhang Zhiwei and called him "National Preceptor."

"The Imperial Advisor is very good at this. I'm afraid things will get... a bit tough from now on."

As he said this, Zhang Huaiyi couldn't help but recall an incident from many years ago. Back then, after learning that Zhang Zhiwei had overcome his inner demons, he found it incredible and wanted to try it himself, so he begged Zhang Zhiwei to let him experience it as well.

The result... he died after trying it.

That brief encounter with his inner demon known as the "National Preceptor" left him with an extremely deep psychological scar, and he still feels lingering fear when he thinks about it.

"Look closely," a keen-eyed fellow student whispered, "This seems to be in another country. Those foreigners noticed us earlier, but they didn't seem to care about us at all."

Tian Jinzhong nodded and added, "This seems to be a battlefield overseas. Senior Brother brought us in so we could gain experience on the battlefield. I estimate that a battle will begin soon. Should we discuss how to deal with it?"

“The main problem is that we’ve lost our Qi, and we’re not used to it. We really should discuss it,” Zhang Huaiyi nodded.

In truth, although he had lost his Qi, Zhang Huaiyi's perception was exceptionally sharp. He could vaguely sense that the Qi within his body hadn't actually disappeared, but was merely "sealed" by an extremely powerful force. He was even confident that he could forcefully break through this seal and regain some of his power.

But after thinking about it, he gave up the idea. After all, this was a trial, arranged by his senior brother.

If he openly cheats here, he might attract the ire of his inner demons. To fight against one's inner demons within the inner realm is an extremely unwise move. Aside from that monster, my senior brother, I doubt anyone could do it.

Just as everyone was whispering among themselves, a voice appeared in their minds.

"This place is Verdun. The time is twenty years ago. This was a battle in which nearly a million people were killed or wounded on both sides. It was known as the meat grinder. You are now on the French side. Because it is difficult for superhumans to integrate into the army's combat, you will not participate in any offensive missions. Your only task is to fight your way through the entire battlefield as an ordinary soldier, without the support of Qi or magic."

Most of the people present knew nothing about this famous battle, but the words "millions of casualties" still sent a chill down their spines. Such a massive scene on their first battlefield experience?
Zhang Huaiyi's expression was relatively calm. Several years ago, he had accompanied Wugensheng to Hecheng in Northeast China, where he had fought the Japanese pirates in real combat. He had a clear understanding of the cruelty of the battlefield. However, at that time, he could use Qi, as well as cast the Golden Light Mantra and the Five Thunder Orthodox Method, allowing him to move almost freely across the battlefield.

But now, all those advantages are gone. Not only that, he's even a size smaller than the foreigners around him.

Looking at his own 1.5-meter-tall, childlike figure, he could only silently comfort himself: This way... I'm a smaller target, which makes me feel safer.

Then, the group began to cautiously survey their surroundings. Directly in front of the position was a no-man's land, pockmarked by artillery fire. In the distance, the outline of the enemy's position was faintly visible in the thin mist, like a silent, predatory beast.

This deathly silence was chilling.

"What should we do now? Just stay here and wait?" one of the fellow disciples couldn't help but ask.

As soon as he finished speaking, the soil in the trench beneath his feet suddenly trembled slightly.

The group exchanged glances, each seeing surprise and disbelief in the other's eyes.

Immediately afterwards, the tremors came again, this time a continuous, increasingly intense roar that came from afar.

"What...what is that sound?" someone asked nervously.

"The foreigners around us seem to be saying something like 'ga le' and 'da sha bei'? Is someone cursing someone who died?" a young Taoist priest who didn't understand foreign languages ​​guessed.

"It's not 'Big Silly Cup,' it's 'Big Bertha'! 'Ga Le' doesn't mean someone died, it's what their 'God' means! Saying this is similar to how Taoists say 'Infinite Heavenly Venerable' and monks say 'Amitabha Buddha'!" Tian Jinzhong, who had been abroad and was more knowledgeable, quickly explained to everyone.

As he was speaking, Zhang Huaiyi's expression changed drastically. He grabbed him and pushed him to the ground, while pointing at the foreigners around them.

When Tian Jinzhong looked around, he realized that all the foreigners around him were now lying on the ground with their heads in their hands, their faces filled with extreme terror.

Although the other Taoist priests were puzzled, seeing that everyone had prostrated themselves, they quickly followed suit and prostrated themselves as well.

The next second, a tremendous roar, unlike anything they had ever heard in their lives and beyond description, resounded!

Then, the entire world before their eyes crumbled.

...The next moment, the consciousness of the fifteen of them, like a kite with a broken string, was suddenly pulled into the sky by an invisible force.

They looked down and saw that the trench where they had been standing had completely disappeared, replaced by a huge shell crater! The charred soil was swirling around them, still emitting wisps of smoke.

All fifteen of them, along with the foreigners in the nearby trenches, were completely wiped out, except for Zhang Huaiyi, whose body remained because he had been lying down further inside.

But it was incomplete; his upper body was completely gone, leaving only two legs, dressed in Taoist trousers, stuck forlornly in the mud at the edge of the crater. The scene was both horrifying and comical.

Everyone looked around in horror, only to see thick black smoke obscuring the sky, and the air filled with the pungent smell of saltpeter and a nauseating, burnt meat-like stench.

Suddenly, their vision was pulled away by an invisible force, stretching to a distance of ten kilometers. They finally saw the culprit that had instantly "sent them away."

It was a colossal cannon. Its barrel was astonishingly thick, with a diameter as wide as an adult's embrace. The more than six-meter-long barrel stretched straight out, and beneath it was an even larger gun carriage and four sets of tracked steel wheels, each wheel almost as tall as Zhang Huaiyi. The soldiers operating it appeared as tiny as ants before it.

And just as they were watching, one of the giant cannons fired.

The sound was like an invisible steam train rolling across the sky. Even though they were in a spirit state, they were still shaken so badly that their heads were buzzing, their hearts felt like they were being squeezed by a giant hand, and even breathing became difficult.

They watched helplessly as a massive shell, weighing nearly a ton, traced a despairing arc through the sky and hurtled down.

A deafening explosion! A blinding white light burst forth, followed by a deafening explosion, so loud it was as if a mountain had collapsed right next to them.

The trench was instantly torn apart, leaving a huge crater six meters deep. The soil around the edge was charred black by the high temperature, and the corpses inside were unrecognizable.

In mid-air, the fifteen people, in their spirit form, stood speechless. Fear, like a cold, venomous snake, coiled around their hearts.

Is this... a war in the secular world?

Looking at the huge crater on the ground and the eight massive cannons poised to fire in the distance, they felt it was all so unreal.

They were all extraordinary individuals. In their inherent understanding, even if they weren't the legendary warriors who could take the head of a general amidst thousands of troops, they were definitely capable of taking on a hundred men single-handedly.

As long as one acts cautiously and avoids being greedy for quick success, the battlefield is not necessarily a dangerous place. Hasn't our own Senior Brother Zhiwei repeatedly moved through battlefields as if they were empty?
But now, those monstrous cannons, with their continuous roar like raging waves, linger in their minds.

It was an indescribable feeling. These massive cannons brought them more than just violence and slaughter; they brought them a terrifying baptism that transcended their lifelong values!
It turns out that the battlefield for mortals is terrifying!
The things Zhang Jingqing emphasized again and again, but they never truly listened to, the "National Advisor" loaded into the barrel of the Great Bertha Cannon, and then fired a powerful shot that pierced the deepest part of their hearts.

……

Although Zhang Zhiwei was not actually inside the inner realm, he still spared a sliver of his attention to check the scene inside while setting up the second Returning Origin Array outside.

He was taken aback when he saw the "Grand Master" immediately unleash eight "Big Bertha" cannons.

This thing is a major weapon of the French, a super-heavy howitzer with a 420mm caliber. Each shell weighs 820 kilograms and can easily penetrate 12-meter-thick concrete fortifications. The French claimed that their fortresses would never fall, but in front of it, they were as fragile as paper.

No superhuman could withstand such a cannon shot head-on; even he himself couldn't use the Golden Light Spell to withstand it.

Looking at his fellow disciples, who were frozen in terror inside the room, Zhang Zhiwei nodded in satisfaction, thinking to himself: "The Imperial Advisor really knows how to play the game! First, strip them of their abilities, then throw them directly into the Verdun meat grinder. If they can fight their way through the entire game and still walk out alive, then they'll truly be considered seasoned veterans."

After they pass this stage, send them to even more brutal battlefields like the Somme and Brusilov. Once they've completed all five major dungeons and graduated from the game, they can then be sent out to fight the Japanese pirates.

By then, with the experience gained at the cost of their lives, plus the added bonuses from their own abilities, it's impossible... for another generation of disciples to die in battle, right?!

……

Meanwhile, inside the scene, after a brief death cutscene, the fifteen people were resurrected and returned to the cold, muddy trench. The foreigners around them were performing the exact same actions as before.

The fifteen men were stunned for a moment, then Tian Jinzhong was the first to react. He let out a strange cry and scrambled out of the trench on all fours, shouting as he did so:

"Damn it! Run! Run! This place is about to be blown into a six-meter-deep crater!"

Upon hearing this, the group of Taoist priests didn't have time to think and hurriedly scrambled out of the trenches. Looking at the smoke-filled, ravaged battlefield outside, they were momentarily at a loss as to where to go.

Just then, San Dezi's artillery barrage began, with a full 1,200 cannons roaring simultaneously!

The sky was instantly torn apart by countless red trails drawn by the shells, and then completely dyed blood red by the flames of the explosion.

The earth was no longer solid. It was like a tattered cloth being repeatedly pounded by a giant with an iron hammer, trembling, groaning, and shattering wildly.

Soil, gravel, twisted metal, and mangled limbs were hurled tens of meters into the air by the massive shockwave, then fell like a terrifying, viscous downpour.

The fifteen Taoist priests felt as if they were a small boat thrown into a raging storm, their eardrums already ruptured, leaving only a high-frequency, maddening buzzing.

Those outside the trenches were not much better off than those inside.

Several Taoist priests had barely run a short distance when they were torn to shreds by the shockwave and stray bullets from a nearby artillery shell. Several others were thrown into the air by the blast wave and disappeared without a trace. A few quicker ones reacted quickly, immediately taking cover, only to be smashed into a bloody pulp by the various debris falling from the sky. (End of Chapter)