Please pull the trigger for this world one more time.

"Stop! Show your invitation letter and household registration certificate."

"OK."

After having his credentials checked, Mo Zian entered the guard post and then followed instructions to an open area for assembly.

Before long, Wei Qiao and Luo Chong, whom they had met while hunting, also arrived at the open space. The three greeted each other and then gathered together.

"Hey, Brother Zian, give me a piece of the story. How many cycles of ether can you circulate now?" Wei Qiao asked in a low voice.

"A little over one hundred and twenty," Mo Zian said calmly.

"So many?" Wei Qiao exclaimed in surprise, then said, "Your ether quantity is quite stable, mine is only in the 90s..."

Mo Zian shrugged and said, "It's not that simple, but I appreciate your kind words, A-Qiao."

"And you, Brother Chong?" Wei Qiao continued to ask.

"I'm in the 100s."

Luo Chong shook his head and said, "There's no point in worrying about this. The key is the person himself. If we only look at the amount of ether, I'll eat a piece of top-grade ether every day like candy."

Mo Zian asked, "Doesn't it hurt your teeth?"

Luo Chong was taken aback, blinked rapidly a few times before saying, "Is it a matter of whether it hurts my teeth or not?"

Mo Zian shrugged: "The main problem is that I've never eaten it before."

Luo Chong glanced at Mo Zian sideways: "Nonsense, I've never eaten it either."

……

Mo Zian, Wei Qiao, and Luo Chong chatted idly for a while. Before long, the number of people at the sentry post gradually increased, probably to around a hundred, and the environment began to become noisy.

Mo Zian glanced at them and saw that there were mostly male soldiers, but also quite a few female soldiers.

Just then, a scarred major and several men emerged from the barracks and walked toward a raised wooden platform.

Mo Zian had a sharp eye and immediately signaled with his eyes. The two people next to him turned their heads and glanced at him, then stopped talking at the same time.

"quiet!!!"

A sound wave, almost tangible, swept over everyone present. The rough sound vibrated in everyone's eardrums, causing everyone, including Mo Zian, to instinctively cover their ears.

Even so, a faint buzzing sound still appeared in Mo Zian's ears.

The open space fell silent instantly.

At this moment, the scarred major strolled up to the platform and looked down at everyone present—even just standing there, the air seemed to carry a hint of metallic stench.

"Look at you all, you don't look like soldiers at all."

The scarred major suddenly spoke, his piercing gaze like a scorching heat, causing a phantom pain, "Where do you think this is? A vegetable market? A teahouse? Or your heated kang bed?"

The other person paused, then scanned everyone again with their gaze.

"This is a military camp! This is a military unit! During pre-training, the first thing we emphasize is discipline! Iron discipline! I see you've all forgotten that, haven't you? Well, let me remind you. Everyone, 100 push-ups, get ready!"

Except for a few people, the people in the open space were a little stunned and at a loss for what to do.

"Are you all deaf? Here's another hundred! Did you hear me now?"

The harsh sound waves swept over everyone again. At this moment, most people finally came to their senses, lay down on the ground, and began to sit up and do push-ups with grunts.

The scarred major stepped down from the platform and walked to the center of the crowd. His gleaming leather shoes dangled in front of the students in the square.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Shen Yi, from the First Independent Paratrooper Battalion of the Southeast Group Army. I am currently the commander of the First Independent Company and have been ordered to serve as the chief examiner for the retest at the Capital Military Academy."

If any of you are fortunate enough to pass the retest, I will also serve as your recruit instructor. The purpose of the two hundred push-ups just now was not to punish you, but to tell you that wearing this uniform does not mean you are qualified soldiers.

Let me give you a heads-up: your performance just now was extremely disappointing and left a very bad impression on me. So you'd better ask me for a closer look later.

He's even worse than a soldier...

Shen Yi's last sentence wasn't loud, but it was just loud enough for everyone to hear. After saying that, the other person whispered a few words to someone and got into a military vehicle and left the post.

Mo Zian could sense that the breathing rhythm of the person next to him changed noticeably after hearing the last sentence.

Mo Zian, who had experience in this area in his previous life, remained completely unmoved—whether you call it a show of force or a warning shot, it's all the same thing; most new recruits have to go through this step.

Two hundred push-ups were not a big problem for the people in the square—one of the basic entry standards for the capital military academy was that one had to be an Awakener, so those who could enter the retest must also be Awakeners, and theoretically, the lowest level was a beginner martial apprentice.

To put it bluntly, they all possess martial arts skills.

After the push-ups were completed, everyone began to line up on their own. Once the line was almost complete, a captain walked up to the platform and put a megaphone to his mouth.

A distinctive, hoarse voice echoed across the open ground of the outpost.

"Alright, everyone, at ease... attention!"

The captain on the platform paused slightly before saying, "I won't introduce myself. You'll know once you enter this gate. Those who can't get in aren't worthy of knowing me."

Don't be so smug, I can take on ten of you on the battlefield by myself. Alright, listen carefully to my instructions, I'll only say this once!

Later, I will lead you on foot to the military academy gate. It's not far, probably only about 20 li (10 km).

Also, there are some small pieces of timber in this watchtower that haven't been moved yet. Let's be generous and help out by each carrying one over.

Listen up, everyone! Stick close to me! I don't care if you carry me on your back, hug me, or hold me in your arms, even if you have to use your teeth to carry me through the gate!

Wherever I go, you go! Anyone who falls behind or gets left behind doesn't need to go anymore; just go home and rest. Don't waste your energy! Do you all understand?

Everyone: "Understood."

The captain frowned: "Tsk, what's going on? Is it limp or has it ejaculated? Do you understand?"

"clear!"

Mo Zian understood. This was a typical scoundrel. He had seen many of these kinds of people when he participated in a training camp in his previous life.

"Good, not bad, that's the spirit! Stand up again! Everyone, right turn, march!"

Mo Zian followed the group around a corner and saw what the "small timber" Captain "Duck" was talking about was—that's right, it was a round log that could be carried by one person.

Mo Zian weighed them and estimated that each one must weigh around 120 jin (60 kg), which in a sense, they were indeed the small members of the log family.

In his previous life, when he was doing armed cross-country running, he would carry a load of at least 40kg, and sometimes even more. Although he was well-trained at that time, he was still an ordinary person. Now, however, he is an enlightened being who cultivates ether.

But things are not that simple.

In my previous life, most of the load for armed cross-country running consisted of field backpacks, with a portion being the equipment I carried on my body, resulting in a relatively reasonable weight distribution.

Logs are different; at least there are no grips on them.

Moreover, Mo Zian guessed that, given the nature of this "male duck" in front of them, they would definitely need to run fast, and who knows what other trouble might arise along the way.

As it turns out, Mo Zian's guess was absolutely right.

"Run! Run! Youths of the Empire, run!"

As soon as one of the male ducks stepped out of the sentry post, he led his group off the main road and headed straight into the mountains—

A hundred or so trainees, dressed in neatly ironed military uniforms and summer leather shoes, carried a 120-pound (60kg) log and ran through the mountains at the pace of armed cross-country running.

At first there were some small paths, but after a few miles there were almost no paths left. If you came across a wild animal trail, you were lucky.

The road was getting more and more difficult, but the person leading the way seemed to be having more and more fun—Mo Zian could tell that the other person was very good at jungle off-roading, and Mo Zian also discovered a rather strange place.

He was not very able to sense the other party's etheric fluctuations.

But he couldn't be an ordinary person; his physical abilities wouldn't be up to par.

"Hey, students, don't run around so listlessly! Cheer up, how about we sing a song? It's our Guangwu Army Song. Anyone who doesn't sing, just get the hell out of here."

I'll start: "How can we say we have no clothes? How can we say we have no clothes? Ready, sing!"

The first contestant to be eliminated appeared after only two lines of singing.

Why?

Because I sprained my ankle.

Having already run for a long time and reached a physical limit, coupled with the fact that leather shoes are not suitable for trail running, and then being distracted by singing, spraining one's ankle seems accidental, but in some ways it was inevitable.

The first person eliminated is like the first hole in a dam breached by a flood, and people start falling behind one after another.

Mo Zian didn't know exactly how far he had run, but he estimated in his mind that he had probably already passed 20 li (10 km).

He was very familiar with the speed of armed cross-country running; it was a required subject in his previous life's martial arts competitions. He had already been running on the mountain road for more than half an hour, which was equivalent to an hour in his previous life.

Gradually, more and more people fell behind, and even Mo Zian felt a little strained.

"Hey everyone! I have good news. There's a little stream up ahead, perfect for cooling off. Let's go! Wade across!"

So a male duck, leading a group of ducklings, splashed and jumped into the river, which was about 10 zhang (5m) wide.

The river was waist-deep, and the condition of the riverbed was hard to describe.

Some people fell down as soon as they entered the water, and after accidentally swallowing some water, they were unable to stand up again and were eliminated.

Just one river eliminated ten people.

When Mo Zian got ashore, he found a gentle slope. Although he slipped and fell, it wasn't a big problem.

Unfortunately, the material of military uniforms isn't very absorbent, and they become quite heavy when completely soaked.

The river water was over my waist, filling my crotch completely. A lot of the water didn't drain out of my trousers immediately, so I could only run while water gushed out of my crotch with a "plop, plop" sound.

The leather shoes were wet, and the indentations were a bit slippery.

They kept running, as if there was no end in sight.

Everyone else was soaked through – their lower bodies were wet and their upper bodies were covered in sweat.

The once crisp military uniform was torn in many places by thorns, and the areas on the shoulders where the logs were carried were long since chafed raw, along with the skin and flesh. Sweat dripped onto the wounds, causing sharp pains.

My feet were already covered in blisters, which goes without saying.

Mo Zian knew that the number of people around him was dwindling, and even he felt like he had a mouthful of blood stuck in his throat—

Mo Zian didn't know how far he had run. The people who were still following him were just gritting their teeth and mechanically taking steps, relying on sheer willpower.

All that talk about a sense of direction and distance is nonsense; it'll just leave you completely disoriented.

He didn't know how far he had run, but suddenly he felt one of his feet step back onto the smooth asphalt road.

Mo Zian was overjoyed and subconsciously looked up, only to find a solemn black wooden gate with carved dragons about 400 zhang (200m) away from him.

Above the wooden door was a line of large vermilion characters: "Army Military Academy of the Capital of the Guangwu Empire".

There was also a couplet on both sides of the door, which Mo Zian had to run several steps to see clearly.

Mo Zian was momentarily stunned when he saw the two couplets.