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

After Zhang Jingqing left, Zhang Zhiwei stayed at the scene for a while longer to confirm that the Guiyuan Formation was operating smoothly before leaving the main hall, leaving only a few fellow disciples who were responsible for taking turns to look after it.

These fellow disciples craned their necks, their eyes glued to the enormous light screen in the center of the hall. They watched with great interest, secretly marveling at their senior brother Zhiwei's unfathomable abilities, while also feeling terrified by the hellish battlefield scene displayed on the light screen.

They were a group who never intended to go down the mountain to fight the Japanese pirates. Now, having witnessed the meat grinder-like battlefield inside the inner world, some of them, who had initially hesitated, felt that staying on the mountain seemed to betray the name of "reputable sect" and make them appear unrighteous.

But now, seeing the battlefield inside the interior, which resembled a meat grinder, their last trace of hesitation vanished, and they became completely resolute in their decision.

Righteousness is precious, but life is even more valuable. Compared to a battlefield where you'd turn into mincemeat if you went in, it's much more suitable to grow vegetables and cultivate oneself in seclusion on the mountain.

After observing for a while, the replacements arrived. The guards handed over the duties to the newcomers, briefly explained the situation inside the hall, and then dispersed.

Then, the Taoist priests who were changing shifts entered the main hall and were immediately attracted by the light screens floating in the air, and began to watch with great interest.

However, after just one glance, they were surprised to find that the situation seemed to be completely different from what they had heard during the shift change!
On the screen, the fellow disciples, elders, and even a few juniors who had just joined the sect were now moving freely and skillfully through the hail of bullets, displaying astonishing combat prowess!

They turned their gaze toward the light screen where Master Yi Qian was located.

The stern-faced old Taoist priest was surprisingly agile, unlike any other elderly man. He didn't use any supernatural abilities; he simply picked up a heavy Maxim machine gun and fired wildly at the charging enemy soldiers, laughing maniacally as he blasted them off their feet.

When he ran out of bullets, he drew his Mauser pistol from his waist and precisely shot down the enemy who was sneaking up at the corner of the trench.

Enemy bullets seemed to have eyes, always grazing past the hem of his clothes, while he always seemed to be able to predict the landing point of artillery shells, and with a nimble roll, he could hide in a safe shell crater.

He moved back and forth through the meat grinder of Verdun, single-handedly killing dozens of enemy soldiers, like an invincible war god.

Then they looked at Zhang Huaiyi, who was only about 1.5 meters tall, making him appear particularly short among the tall and burly foreigners.

But he made the most of this disadvantage, like a slippery mouse, using the craters and ruins as cover to move at high speed across the battlefield, dodging and weaving with a style so unpredictable that it was dazzling.

He often killed the enemy before they could even see him clearly. In a small-scale counterattack, he single-handedly hunted down over a hundred attacking enemy soldiers and then retreated unscathed with his own troops.

Then, they looked at an even younger figure, Fang Qianhe, Zhang Zhiwei's newly accepted apprentice.

This kid has only been a beginner for a short time, barely mastering the Golden Light Mantra; theoretically, he should be the weakest. But his performance on the battlefield is frighteningly calm.

Unlike the others who charged into battle, he was like a seasoned veteran of the battlefield, always finding the safest corner to slowly snipe enemy commanders and machine gunners with a captured rifle. Every shot he fired resulted in the fall of a high-value target, making him incredibly efficient.

The Taoist priests who had just changed shifts exchanged glances, their faces full of surprise and confusion, and began to discuss among themselves.

"What happened? Didn't the senior brother who was changing shifts just say that they suffered terribly on the brutal battlefield inside the inner realm? He even said that they died in all sorts of creative ways, and it was a gruesome sight?"

"But this situation is not right! Although some of my fellow disciples are still 'killed' in the light screen, it's definitely not a fancy way of dying! Look at their performance on the battlefield, this is not torture, this is simply the performance of battle-hardened warriors!"

"Yes, yes! Look at Uncle Yi Qian, even at his age, he's still charging across the battlefield, and those tall, burly foreigners around him can't do anything to him!"

"And there's more! Look at that kid Zhang Huaiyi, he's running around like a rat! Even without any secret techniques, he can dodge a lot of bullets! This isn't like fancy death at all! With their skills, even without any superpowers, they'd be top-tier soldiers on a real battlefield, right?"

The group was very confused, feeling that there was a serious gap in their information. What they heard during the shift change and what they saw with their own eyes were completely different things.

"They have no reason to lie to us."

"Could it be... that the two groups of us are actually seeing different things?"

The group discussed it for a while and all noticed something strange, so they decided to conduct an experiment. They temporarily left the main hall, strolled outside for a while, and then came back in to stare at the light screen.

The group immediately did just that. When they stepped back into the main hall, they were astonished to find that the images on the light screen were indeed vastly different!

Compared to before, the fellow disciples in the light screen have become even more powerful, and there are now several more like Zhang Huaiyi who are adept at fighting on the battlefield!

The group looked at each other in bewilderment, and finally someone exclaimed in realization, "I understand! Perhaps... the flow of time inside and outside is different! What we see is only the current scene, not in real time. When we leave, this scene disappears, and when we come back in, what is projected is their latest situation!"

And indeed, things turned out exactly as they had discussed. The inner world was like a dream; you might spend decades in a dream, but in the real world, only one night might have passed. The inner world of this Returning Origin Array was the same; the flow of time inside and outside was completely different.

The light screen above their heads was actually changing at a speed that ordinary people couldn't comprehend.

If no one observes it, the light screen will not display any images, but will only show energy ripples like water waves.

When someone stares at the light screen, the act of observing itself causes the rippled light screen to instantly form a definite image, which then extends and plays backwards as a time anchor.

Once everyone's attention has shifted and no one is observing, the image on the light screen will revert to its uncertain ripple state.

The underlying principle is somewhat similar to the wave-particle duality and the observer effect in modern physics. When not observed, it is a probability wave. Once observed, it collapses into a definite particle.

This is also a manifestation of a rule simulated by Zhang Zhiwei through his own understanding of "Tao." Although this light screen is merely an entertainment device, it also indirectly demonstrates his terrifyingly unparalleled abilities. Therefore, although only a few hours may have passed outside, a very long time may have passed inside the inner realm. The people inside may have experienced dozens or even hundreds of cycles of death. With so many accumulated experiences of death, their behavior will naturally undergo a dramatic change.

Therefore, they are no longer those clueless battlefield novices. In the repeated life-and-death battles, they are growing at a terrifying speed.

Like Zhang Huaiyi, some can even fight on the battlefield from beginning to end and ultimately survive.

Logically speaking, Zhang Huaiyi has already cleared the level. The main reason why he cannot advance to the next battlefield instance is that this is a team trial, and the fifteen of them are a team.

There were several other people on the team who were not able to complete the task perfectly.

Therefore, Zhang Huaiyi could only patiently lead, cover, and command them time and time again, striving to free the entire team from this "Verdun hell" as soon as possible.

This was also one of Zhang Zhiwei's original intentions when he deployed the troops: to train their collective combat capabilities. After all, when they went down the mountain to fight against the Japanese pirates, it would be impossible for just one or two people to act.

A well-coordinated team is far more likely to survive and play a greater role than a group of individual soldiers fighting their own battles. Therefore, it is essential to cultivate this ability.

Zhang Huaiyi, a man with some lone wolf traits, has never been one to easily fit in with others. But after this trial, his sense of teamwork has improved considerably.

However, Zhang Huaiyi was unaware, and indeed none of them were, that passing this trial would not bring them relief, but rather an even more difficult and brutal ordeal awaited them.

……

While renowned sects like Longhu Mountain and Sanyi Sect were actively preparing to descend the mountain to fight against the Japanese pirates, many other sects in the martial arts world had already taken action on their own.

Not only righteous people, but even the Quanxing sect, which is recognized as an evil sect in the martial arts world, is having heated discussions about the Japanese pirate invasion.

The Quanxing are a group of people who can't find their goals, act as they please, and are lawless.

As the acting leader, Wugensheng has been trying to find a way out and a "path" for every Quanxing disciple in recent years.

The previous leader of Quanxing, Yao Guangxiao, known as the Black-Clad Prime Minister, was not as meticulous as Wugensheng. In order to prevent his disciples from being idle like headless flies, he simply and bluntly set a common goal for everyone: to overthrow the world in the midst of a prosperous era!
Therefore, during the previous dynasty, they had been secretly opposing the court, and even in the famous boxing tournament of that time, there were many members of the Quanxing sect.

At this moment, the world is in chaos, and in a sense, the goal of Quanxing has already been achieved. This, in turn, has left many Quanxing disciples in a state of emptiness and idleness.

At this time, Japanese pirates invaded.

Although most members of the Quanxing sect are regarded as demons by the righteous sects, as the saying goes, "the most righteous are often the lowest of the low," and there are also many who are courageous and righteous among them.

The invasion of Japanese pirates also caused great dissatisfaction among many members of the Quanxing sect.

In their view, the struggles between them and the prestigious sects, and the struggles with the imperial court, were all internal conflicts within China, their own affairs, and had nothing to do with these short people from the East.

Back when they were boxing, they had a lot of trouble with the government of the previous dynasty, but when the Japanese invaded, they would still turn around without hesitation and attack the Japanese first.

Now that the Japanese pirates have invaded, they also intend to take action against them.

Of course, there were also some Quanxing demons who simply wanted to have some fun, or were just in a bad mood and wanted to kill a few Japanese pirates to vent their anger.

As the acting sect leader, Wugensheng discovered this idea among the sect members.

He had a clear understanding of the Japanese pirates. They were wolves in sheep's clothing and ruthless in their methods. Based on what he had seen and heard in Liaodong, those guys were worse than animals, even more vile than the Quanxing demons.

He naturally didn't want such people to have their hands on the Central Plains. Seeing that everyone had this idea, Wugensheng set off to find Granny Liu, who was in charge of relaying messages within the Quanxing Sect.

Granny Liu was an old woman with white hair and wrinkled skin. She sat cross-legged in a dark mountain cave year-round, the cave walls covered with a dense array of yellow wooden plaques.

Anyone who officially joins the Quanxing sect will leave a plaque here. Through these plaques, Granny Liu can use her "dream-telling" technique to convey messages to all Quanxing members.

After exchanging pleasantries with Granny Liu, Wugensheng explained his purpose. He hoped that Granny Liu could send a dream to all the Quanxing disciples, inviting them to a gathering where he could discuss some matters.

After listening, Granny Liu looked at Wugensheng with her cloudy old eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, "From what standpoint do you have this idea? Is it in your personal name, or... in the name of the sect leader?"

As everyone knows, the leader of Quanxing Sect has the authority to command all disciples, but the prerequisite is that every time he uses it, he must risk his own life. Granny Liu is asking Wugensheng whether he should use this authority.

Wugensheng shook his head and said frankly, "I am only inviting everyone to discuss this matter in my personal capacity and as an ordinary member of Quanxing. If you are willing to come, it is to give me, Wugensheng, face; if you are not willing to come, I will not force you."

After learning of his idea, Granny Liu nodded. In fact, she could have easily refused Wugensheng's request. As a senior member of the Quanxing Sect, she could disregard anyone's orders as long as Wugensheng did not use his authority as sect leader.

But she was curious, so she asked, "Why did you do that?"

Wugensheng didn't hide anything, saying frankly, "I've noticed everyone in the sect is getting bored lately and has a lot of complaints about those Japanese pirates. Since that's the case, why don't I take the lead and lead everyone down the mountain to find some fun?" (End of Chapter)