Almost without warning one day, the usual martial training was replaced by a lecture session in a large hall. The lecture had nothing to do with the Imperial Sky Classic that they had been studying. Instead, it mainly concerned practical training techniques, such as breathing techniques that conserved bodily energy, the proper way to use one's muscles, and best practices to protect their joints.

Most of them didn't understand the sudden change. They had survived the aftermath of disaster for a long time and had some understanding of self-preservation techniques, so why was Direlife Manor teaching them the basics of the basics? It could only mean that their relaxing days would soon come to an end!

Only a small group of children, An Jing included, recognized this signal and remained alert. An Jing memorized every single technique that the lecturers taught, even those he already knew. There were sure to be gaps in his understanding which he could use this chance to patch up. Afternoon the same day, everyone got to experience how intense their formal training really was.

The one that led the session that day was the one-eyed leader. "A core principle of Direlife Manor has always been to pick out the cream of the crop. Formal disciples that formally inherit the legacy of the sect are far and few in between. The foundations of our martial techniques are stamina and endurance. As such, we need you to take part in an extensive full-body training to test all of your limits."

When he was done, the leader led the group on a run. An Jing, being at the very front of the group, wordlessly became the leader of his peers and tried to keep up with the one-eyed instructor. He finally understood that the relaxation they had experienced in the past two weeks was merely to allow their bodies and spirits to recover to their original states. The rest was just preliminary molding to ensure that the trainees didn't get thrown straight into grueling training that would overwhelm them completely.

The children who had survived the disaster to be picked out by Direlife Manor were already a cut above most, with their strong wills, endurance and stamina. The recuperative period had even enhanced their capabilities beyond their former levels. In fact, they had even better constitutions than average adults.

Even so, the mountainous roads around Direlife Manor often sloped from twelve to twenty degrees, with some locations nearly resembling cliffs. The two-way journey of five li was nothing if not arduous, not to mention the fact they had to do ten laps. No matter how one looked at it, the difficulty was ridiculous, especially with how they had to keep up to the instructor's constant pace. Slowing down meant being left behind. Unsurprisingly, some people began to slow down and even stop outright before four laps were even over. After seven laps, more than half of the children collapsed.

Running half of all this should be enough to pass this test, right? An Jing still had lots of energy to spare. Having practiced martial techniques, the fifty-li mountain trek only tired him out slightly. The breathing techniques that he had mastered helped him last much longer than the rest. He even had the luxury to turn back and observe the more promising of his peers, recognizing a few familiar faces among them.

There were two from the same dormitory as he was, Zhang Ying and Ye Xiuyuan. Zhang Ying belonged to a family of mountain hunters and had been running around the mountains with his parents since childhood, hence his good stamina. Though he did seem to be breathing rather heavily, his steps were rather stable. Being of simple character, he used to be unconvinced of An Jing's status as the senior disciple and challenged him to a test of strength the second day they were brought to the manor. Once An Jing pressed down on him hard to the point of almost making him kneel, he immediately accepted An Jing's seniority and had become a follower since.

Ye Xiuyuan was from a family of scholars. Despite his gloomy personality, he was really sharp witted. An Jing was aware that Ye Xiuyuan was the mastermind of the children that had a problem with An Jing and had spurred Zhang Ying to challenge him. Having used his minion to test out An Jing, Ye Xiuyuan came to accept his authority. If not for how he made a point to loudly proclaim that he would listen to the senior disciple, bolstering his authority, An Jing wouldn't have had that easy of a time securing his position as senior disciple.

Ye Xiuyuan's stamina wasn't as good, being rather sparse even after the two weeks of recuperation. Even so, he had memorized all the techniques that the lecturers had imparted upon them and tested them out before and after lunch, allowing him to keep up with An Jing during the laps.

There was also a girl who managed to keep up. She was Gu Yeqi, someone from An Jing's hometown, the very same girl who had been healed of her frost burns. She was one year younger than him and had been impressed by his filial act of selling himself into servitude for his mother. Her respect for him made her a willing and eager follower.

Gu Yeqi's clan used to be an influential one that served an apothecary. They also passed down martial techniques of their own, which, while not that powerful, were stable and reliable. Her breathing was uneven like Zhang Ying's but she was still holding on. Noticing his gaze, she smiled brightly.

Ye Xiuyuan collapsed unconscious when they finished the first half of the seventh lap. Gu Yeqi lasted until the ninth lap. Had Zhang Ying not tripped himself, he would've lasted the whole way with An Jing, but that fall took him out completely. By now, all of them understood why Direlife Manor was named as such. Two hours later, only fourteen among more than two hundred remained standing.

"There's so many of you left!" The one-eyed instructor was quite surprised. He had kept quite a tough pace and even accelerated near the end, speeding through more than fifty li of mountain path, half uphill, half downhill, within two hours. That kind of speed was far beyond the limits of any normal person from Grand Chen. Only truly special children could complete the run.

"Hahaha! This batch truly is talented. Most of you finished at least half of it, and fourteen of you finished the whole thing with energy remaining. The batches in the past ten years didn't have nearly that many that lasted this long." Despite his jovial mood, he seemed troubled. "Then again, how will we pick a leader for you if so many of you are this outstanding?"

An Jing remained frozen and raised his brow slightly as the other thirteen children who finished with him looked at him. The one-eyed instructor turned to him with a smile and raised his hand. "Let's continue! Once we head back, do two hundred reps of stone lock training!" [1]

The stone-lock training made three of them collapse. Those that toughed it through got a regimen of two hundred staff swings, two hundred horse-stance punches and two hundred stone-lock-assisted squats. Before An Jing collapsed, his last thought was, don't tell me we have to train like this every day from now on...

Even he was starting to panic at the primitive training regimen that was far harsher than many modern ones. However, he soon found himself to not even have the time to think about these things.

On the third day of formal training, more than ten people came forward to challenge An Jing for his senior-disciple position.

1. Stone lock training involves using padlock-shaped stones like kettlebells. ☜