From a slave to the Great Qian Martial Saint

For three consecutive days, whenever Chen Shi prepared to drill the troops, a student who had passed the imperial examinations would come out to cause trouble, so that after three days, he spent all his time practicing troop formation.

Moreover, judging from this posture, Chaju is probably prepared to fight him to the death.

"Is there really that much resentment?"

Chen Shi shook his head, speechless.

But if you delve deeper into the reasons behind this, it's no wonder that the student was so angry.

From Zhuge Liang to the present day, the Zhechongyuan (academy for military strategy) has existed for hundreds of years. Although there have been occasional interruptions, its influence has never been lost. The two selection systems of recruitment and recommendation have also been in place for one or two hundred years.

Firstly, their backgrounds differed, and secondly, the academy intentionally created this situation; the rivalry between recruited students and those recommended for official positions had existed for over a century. Not everyone could graduate in a year; some had to repeat a year, and the conflicts and grudges were passed down, making it a long-standing feud.

Under the hospital's control, it was impossible for them to fight directly, so they could only compete with each other in regular tests and exams.

Throughout the years, those who passed the imperial examinations through the recommendation system were much more diligent and hardworking than those who were recruited through the civil service examinations. However, regardless of whether it was a regular quiz or the autumn or spring examinations, those recruited through the civil service examinations generally outperformed those who passed the recommendation system.

It's not that those who are recruited through official channels rely on their backgrounds to cheat or fabricate information; rather, it's a genuine difference in their fundamental qualities!

Those recruited through the imperial examinations came from prominent families, and many had already studied strategy and military tactics before entering the academy. Some from military families, having been exposed to these skills from a young age, had even served on real battlefields.

In contrast, students from humble backgrounds who were recommended for official positions had no opportunity to be exposed to these things before entering the Imperial Academy.

Even if a candidate for the Imperial Examination is highly talented, he cannot make up for the gap of the previous twenty or thirty years in just one year.

It can be said that the system of selecting candidates through the recommendation system has been suppressed by the system of recruiting officials through the conscription system for over a century.

Until this year, a Nangong Caiyun and a Feng Chi emerged. Both of them far surpassed the recruited students in both regular classes and monthly quizzes, which truly made the recommended students proud!

But at that very moment!

In the crucial autumn exam, Chen Shi outperformed Nangong Caiyun and Feng Chi to take first place in the top class.

The impact on those who passed the imperial examinations was predictable.

If Chen Shi had earned his first place through genuine ability, that would be one thing; a student recommended for the imperial examinations is not someone who can't accept defeat. The key issue is that Chen Shi got first place by using connections!

Who can tolerate this!

Moreover, those from humble backgrounds often have the strongest sense of self-esteem.

"but……"

Chen Shi could understand the revenge of the recommended students, but judging from the current situation, it was clearly organized.

Chen Shi couldn't help but sneer, fearing that someone was deliberately instigating the candidates behind the scenes.

As for who it was and what their purpose was, he will investigate that later.

The current problem is how to conduct military drills.

After lunch, Chen Shi did not go to the wooden dummy field to collect the military puppets this time, but went straight back to his residence.

The door closed, and a heavy iron box was taken out from the bottom of the cabinet.

Open it with the key you carry with you, and inside is the Eight Trigrams Formation!

The Eight Trigrams Formation was rather large, making it inconvenient to carry around all the time and likely to attract attention. Therefore, before Chen Shi came to the Zhechong Academy, he specifically commissioned a craftsman to forge this box out of black iron.

Nothing more than firmness.

Without the key, even a fifth-grade grandmaster would find it difficult to open by brute force.

Of course, if someone really comes to steal it, even if you can't open it right away, you can just take the metal box with you.

Therefore, Chen Shi placed a piece of incense stick for tracking in the iron box and under the array plate. As long as the spell was cast, the location of this incense stick could be sensed.

This way, even if a thief steals the box along with the box, he can catch up in time.

"Who says you have to use wooden dummy soldiers to practice military formations?"

According to Chilong, this Eight Trigrams Formation is one of Zhuge Liang's Seven Treasures.

The so-called Seven Treasures correspond to the Seven Wonders of Zhuge Liang.

One of the Seven Wonders is the formation, and this Eight Trigrams Formation is the culmination of Zhuge Liang's formations.

Once you fully comprehend the Eight Trigrams Formation, although you may not be able to use troops as skillfully as Zhuge Liang, you can still reach the same level as Zhuge Liang in terms of troop deployment alone.

With such a broad road leading to heaven laid out before him, why should Chen Shi bother fiddling with those wooden blocks?

"If Zhuge Liang could create this Eight Trigrams Formation, why can't I comprehend it!"

Taking a deep breath and looking at the array diagram in his hand, Chen Shi's expression turned serious.

Knowing full well that it was a path to heaven, Chen Shi had previously refrained from taking it, not because he was uninterested in formations, but because ascending to heaven was no easy feat.

The Eight Trigrams Formation, as the culmination of Zhuge Liang's formations, is extremely profound and mysterious. Chen Shi had actually tried to study it before, but apart from understanding the basic usage of the Chilong Cave Formation, he was still completely clueless.

Now that the recommended students are causing trouble, he can't use the military puppets to practice military formations, so he took them out again.

There are still six months left. If he gives it his all, even if he can't fully unravel the Eight Trigrams Formation, just grasping a little bit of it will be of immense benefit!

"Gossip..."

The array plate was no more than a foot square, and the energy inside surged and formed a Bagua (Eight Trigrams).

The array plate can be moved, and by changing the positions of the eight trigrams, many variations can be created.

Once you can understand the changes, you can comprehend the Eight Trigrams Formation.

But Chen Shi had tried many times before and had no clue what to do.

"Again."

After a moment's thought, Chen Shi cleared away all his previous ideas and started to comprehend the concept from scratch.

First, follow the basic order of Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui to manipulate the array diagram.

The Eight Trigrams Formation changed rapidly, with a faint killing intent surging within, but it was not clear and it vanished in a flash, leaving much to be unclear.

Chen Shi frowned and turned the array plate again.

After fiddling with it back and forth for an hour, my eyes were sore from staring at it, but I still couldn't get the hang of it.

Setting the array diagram aside for the time being, Chen Shi lay back on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

After a moment, he sat up, picked up the array plate, and started fiddling with it again.

The afternoon passed in this manner, and there was still no progress.

squeak~

Just as Chen Shi was worrying, a soft sound was heard, and the door was suddenly pushed open a crack.

Clang!

Chen Shi's face darkened, and with a wave of his hand, he created a gust of wind and slammed the door shut again.

"If you come in again without permission, watch your legs."

Chen Shi, his face grim, shouted at the door.

"Young master, you misunderstand. I saw you locked yourself in your room for so long and I was worried that something might happen to you, so I... that's why I was so impulsive."

Lian'er spoke from outside the door, her concerned tone tinged with grievance.

Chen Shi ignored him and continued studying the Eight Trigrams Formation.

From dusk to late at night, and from late at night to the next morning.

Chen Shi studied for eight or nine hours straight, but still came up empty-handed.

"Is there some kind of obstacle?"

Chen Shi frowned as he looked at the Eight Trigrams Formation in his hand.

He considered himself to have a fairly good comprehension ability, but he had never been able to get the hang of it. Could it be that he needed a specific method to comprehend the Eight Trigrams Formation?

If he keeps stumbling around like a headless fly, he might never stumble upon the secret in his entire life.

If that's the case, what is the secret or key to that method?

"Others may not know, but Zhuge Liang himself certainly did!"

After pondering for a moment, Chen Shi gave a soft hum, thinking that perhaps he could go and ask Zhuge Liang himself!