Chapter 56: What Counts as Winning?
Chapter 56: Chapter 56: What Counts as Winning?
BAM!
Another Wooden Man Target shattered.
Tang Wen silently calculated. After leveling up, his punches were about a third faster than before.
’Hmm, with my current punching speed, if I get an opening—like if an enemy makes a mistake—I should be able to land a solid punch in a real fight.’
’Uh, no, wait.’
’If the enemy has already made a mistake, why wouldn’t I just kill them with a knife or a rock? Why waste the energy and stamina to land a punch?’
He gazed at the headless Wooden Man Target, his eyes profound.
’I still need to practice this Fist Technique.’
’I’m only at the Beginner Level.’
’Once I reach the Master Level, I might actually be able to use it in combat.’
After thirty punches, Tang Wen’s physical and mental energy were both completely drained.
However, he was now able to consciously speed up his Visualization, and his Experience Points had increased significantly.
[Skill: Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist, Beginner (45/1000)]
He returned to his dorm and collapsed into sleep.
The next day, he woke up at five in the morning.
Without getting out of bed, he first began practicing the Mixed Element Stance.
Then he got dressed and practiced the Eight Vajra Techniques.
At seven o’clock sharp, he arrived at the plaza to practice the Earth Fire Stance in Meditation with everyone else.
For an ordinary person, practicing these three major Cultivation Techniques would leave them unable to do anything else for the rest of the morning.
Eating, returning to their rooms, and recovering their energy would be their only options.
But for Tang Wen, the day’s training had only just begun.
It was worth noting that, except for the relatively difficult movements of the Mixed Yuan Technique, he practiced both the Eight Vajra Techniques and the Earth Fire Stance while wearing several hundred pounds of weights.
This got to the point where every time they were doing Posture Stance Meditation in the plaza, everyone else would crowd forward, trying to keep Tang Wen out of their line of sight.
It was just too demoralizing!
「In the mess hall.」
The sound of heavy footsteps rang out.
Without even needing to turn around, everyone knew Tang Wen had arrived.
In the morning, a group of Forbidden Guards rubbed their hands together, approaching Tang Wen with clubs and malicious grins.
"Heh heh, Tang Wen, we’re not going to hold back!"
"Give me your best shot."
"To be honest with you, there’s a line of Forbidden Guards who want a piece of you!"
"Haha."
The sound of THUD, THUD, THUD echoed.
Tang Wen held his breath, letting the clubs rain down on his body.
After dozens of thick wooden clubs were broken, the Forbidden Guards shook out their sore wrists, cursed him for being a monster, and walked away, shaking their heads.
Where was the justice in beating someone up and getting zero satisfaction out of it?
[Hard Qigong, Master (490/1000)]
After finishing his Hard Qigong practice, he put on his Double-layered Scale Armor and Weighted Clothing, then CLANK CLANK CLANKED his way into the mess hall.
After lunch, he took a short rest.
In the afternoon, Tang Wen arrived early before the Plum Blossom Stakes.
The Plum Blossom Stakes varied in height and size.
He leaped up and began training his footwork on them.
Fortunately, the Plum Blossom Stakes were made of bronze pillars. If they had been wooden, they probably would have needed to be replaced daily.
"HUFF... HUFF... HUFF..."
Half an hour later, Tang Wen climbed down, breathing heavily. The weights were too heavy; he could barely move anymore.
He took off the five-hundred-pound Lead Clothing.
He then switched to a four-hundred-pound set of Lead Clothing.
He immediately felt an illusion of weightlessness.
’I can do this again!’ he thought. ’Let’s go!’
Another twenty minutes passed.
He came down for a short break, switched to three-hundred-pound Lead Clothing, then two-hundred, then one-hundred, until he wasn’t wearing any at all.
He was still wearing two sets of Scale Armor and a pair of Metal Boots.
Together, they still weighed three hundred pounds.
But when Tang Wen jumped onto the Plum Blossom Stakes, his steps were as light as flight.
Thanks to this extreme, self-exhausting training method, the Experience Points for his Traceless Step rose the fastest.
In the evening, he returned to his room to practice the Mixed Element Stance and the Vajra Technique. After dinner, he continued with Posture Stance, and late at night, he practiced the Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist.
His days were packed from morning to night.
It was the same day in, day out.
Zhou Bing’s seclusion lasted much longer than Tang Wen had expected.
By the seventh day, she still hadn’t returned, and Tang Wen finally couldn’t bear it anymore and prepared to go look for her.
But then, Zhou Bing had Elder Xia bring a message to Tang Wen.
After she came out of seclusion, she had been taken away directly by Zhao Tong to participate in real combat.
"She just broke through, how can she be sent straight into real combat?"
Tang Wen was displeased.
For the entire afternoon, he broke his routine and didn’t train for the first time.
This prompted Zhang Lin and a few familiar Forbidden Guards to come to his door to check on him, thinking he was sick.
Their interruption slowly calmed him down.
’On second thought, this is probably how it should be.’
’Now that Zhou Bing has broken through to the Martial Master Level, it wouldn’t make sense for her to keep hiding in the Underground Palace.’
"Attention everyone, halt your afternoon training and go move things at the warehouse."
"Attention everyone, afternoon..."
A few Forbidden Guards shouted in the hallway, knocking on every door as they went.
"Move things?"
"Why are we suddenly moving things?"
"Wait, are we moving them into our camp, or out of it?"
Thinking about the state of war outside the camp, everyone couldn’t help but worry.
A Forbidden Guard led the way. Tang Wen, Zhang Lin, and the others arrived at the warehouse door beneath the Underground Palace.
They saw many Forbidden Guards already bustling about, carrying heavy sacks down from the surface.
"It’s maize!"
Tangtang’s little nose twitched, her eyes wider than anyone’s.
She mumbled to herself, as if calculating how many years it would last.
"They’re moving it in from the outside. Looks like we won, or at least we didn’t lose."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and began to help with renewed vigor.
Tang Wen also followed the stairs up to the surface. The cold wind blew against him, invigorating his spirits.
"It’s been so long since I’ve seen the sun!" Tang Wen stretched.
Everyone who came up from underground struck the same pose, opening their arms to embrace the sun.
Tang Wen smiled. ’No matter how safe it is underground or how good the environment is, people still need to get some sun. We’re meant to live on the surface.’
They were in a large courtyard filled with grain transport carts.
When the Forbidden Guards saw Tang Wen, they teased, "Here comes the capable one! Tang Wen, how many sacks are you planning to move at once?"
The burlap sacks were larger than usual, each weighing over a hundred pounds.
Tang Wen surveyed the area, then suddenly pointed to a thick tarp on the ground and asked, "Is this sturdy?"
"It’s sturdy. It’s for waterproofing. Why, you want to bundle a few sacks to carry down?"
Tang Wen shook his head. "If it’s sturdy, I have a faster way. Come on, Zhang Lin, help me out."
They found four people. Two stood at the surface entrance to the Underground Palace, holding two corners of the tarp. They let the tarp drape down the stairs, where two others in the palace held the other two corners.
The four of them pulled the tarp taut.
Using the difference in elevation, they created a simple slide.
Sliding the sacks of maize down the "cloth slide" was much faster than carrying them.
When Commander Zhang saw this, he praised him, "Smart thinking, Xiaotang! Come on, First and Second Squads, help hold the tarp. Third and Fourth Squads, stay up top. The rest of you, get down there and catch, then move them to the warehouse."
Efficiency suddenly skyrocketed.
Commander Zhang pulled Tang Wen aside to chat. "You’re from the Outer City, kid. After next month’s assessment, how about you come back and help me manage the Outer City?"
Tang Wen had great respect for the man who had lost an arm on the battlefield protecting the camp. "If I have the chance, of course I’d be willing. But I’m just an ordinary soldier. I still have to listen to my captain."
"That’s easy to solve. Your captain can come over too!"
Tang Wen nodded repeatedly and asked in a low voice, "So, does this mean we won?"
"Heh, what do you think it means to win?" Commander Zhang’s words carried a testing tone.
’What does it mean to win?’
’Obviously, it’s when the enemy suffers a crushing defeat, sustains heavy casualties, cedes territory, pays reparations, and begs for mercy on their knees.’
But as he thought about it more carefully, he realized that was impossible.
’If the enemy can’t win, won’t they just run away?’
The Black Mountain Camp was a slave-based camp. Its high-and-mighty rulers were mostly experts.
Experts are hard to kill. If they can’t win, they’ll just flee. At worst, they’ll just abandon their camp.
’Then they’ll come back to launch sneak attacks every day, killing your people and burning your camp. Who could withstand that?’
’So, in this cruel environment, what really counts as a victory?’
Seeing Tang Wen fall into deep thought...
A trace of appreciation flashed in Commander Zhang’s eyes. The fact that he didn’t give a rash answer full of talk about killing and fighting, but instead showed such composure, already put him above ninety percent of the people in the barracks.
After thinking for a long while—long enough for half of the hundred-plus carts of grain to be moved—Tang Wen finally looked up. "I think a victory is when you suffer few casualties, gain resources, and strengthen yourself!"
The appreciation in Commander Zhang’s eyes turned into deep surprise. "Not bad! Not bad at all! You’re a sharp kid."
He sighed internally. ’If my own boy had this kind of Talent and insight, I wouldn’t have any regrets even if I had died in battle this time, let alone just losing an arm!’
After the grain was moved, life in the Underground Palace returned to normal.
Martial Arts Training became the only thing that mattered.
「One month later, the day of the assessment arrived as scheduled.」