Six days remained before the one-month deadline.
Qin Fan's figure finally appeared at the edge of the training field.
"Instructor!"
As soon as they saw the long-unseen face, all the soldiers shouted in unison, their voices filled with excitent and their eyes with fervor.
With a rare smile on his face, Qin Fan clasped his hands behind his back and asked the dozen or so soldiers, "Hmm, have you mastered those stances?"
"Yes, Instructor!" the crowd shouted in reply.
Qin Fan's previously expressed disappointnt had struck a chord with these soldiers. For several days, they had been studying the stances day and night, enduring all kinds of pain to master every single one from their notebooks.
However, as they answered, strange expressions appeared on their faces. The reason was simple: they felt the stances were completely useless. If they were dancers, they might have taken a keen interest in them. But they were soldiers, and they were about to enter a Martial Arts Tournant, not a dance competition!
Ultimately, Tie Niu spoke up. "Instructor, why do we feel that these stances are useless?"
"Feeling that they're useless is correct! That's exactly the effect I was going for!" Qin Fan said, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile.
Useless is correct? That's the effect he was going for? What in the world is going on? The soldiers were utterly baffled.
"Tie Niu, co here!" Qin Fan beckoned amidst the soldiers' confusion.
"Yes, Instructor!" Tie Niu strode forward. Standing at attention with his chest puffed out, he shouted, "Awaiting your orders!"
"Perform those stances you think are useless in a continuous sequence! And be quick about it!" Qin Fan instructed.
"Alright!" Tie Niu replied and imdiately began to perform the stances he had practiced day and night.
However, as Tie Niu executed the moves, the other soldiers' eyes widened, their faces frozen in disbelief.
Those seemingly useless stances actually possess power when linked together? The whooshing wind they generated is the best proof!
They asked themselves if they could withstand this combination of moves. Everyone felt a little unnerved.
After completing the sequence, Tie Niu stood there, stunned. An expression of boundless ecstasy then surged across his face. As the one performing the moves, how could he not feel the imnse power contained within them?
But before he could snap out of his daze, Qin Fan's voice sounded again. "Continue. Mix up the order of the stances!"
"Oh, oh, oh!" Tie Niu stamred in reply. He hastily began executing the punches and kicks once more. This ti, the unpredictable and almost phantom-like power of the jumbled sequence left the observing soldiers wide-eyed with shock again.
This… this is even stronger than the last set? And every move seems so unpredictable?
"In… Instructor, I-I'm done!" Tie Niu reported, his voice trembling with utter shock. At that mont, even his limbs were shaking slightly, but it was from the wild joy of his excitent.
"Mm, go back to your place." Qin Fan nodded. After Tie Niu returned to the formation, Qin Fan swept his gaze over the seventeen soldiers and continued, "You all saw that, right? Every stance corresponds to a specific technique. The stances you've learned can be linked together to unleash nine distinct martial arts forms. Whether you can fully comprehend them all depends on your aptitude and physical endurance. So, over the next few days, you can ask anything you don't understand." He paused. "However, I don't want you to waste my ti. Only co to when you've truly thought it through and still can't figure it out. Now, begin practicing freely!"
With that, Qin Fan leaped onto the hood of a military vehicle. He watched with a smile as the soldiers, unable to contain their excitent, eagerly threw themselves into practicing every move and form of the Cangqiong Body Tempering Technique.
In his previous life on the Cangqiong Continent, Qin Fan had reached the lofty height of a mortal Saint Emperor and was even granted the title of Heavenly Venerate. Yet, in all those five hundred years, he had never taken a single disciple, nor had he ever guided anyone in the slightest.
But now, as he watched the uncontainable excitent on the soldiers' faces, an unprecedented sense of accomplishnt welled up within him. Perhaps even he didn't realize it, but the cultivation of the Dao Heart for his new life had begun at this very mont. This trip to the military region was perhaps fated all along. It was destined to purge the demonic heart he had developed over five hundred years on the Cangqiong Continent in his past life, and to eradicate the brutality and madness born from the hatred of his return in this one.
The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. The path of cultivation is inseparable from the Dao Heart. How could a heart perpetually filled with malice ever hope to achieve Ascension to Immortality?
Unfortunately, Qin Fan didn't understand this in his past life, and he still didn't understand it now. But whether he understood it or not, everything was already predestined. Perhaps from the mont the Elder of the Heavenly Dao appeared, Qin Fan's destiny had been set upon a predetermined path.
In the days that followed, Qin Fan was on the training ground every day, patiently helping the dozen or so soldiers resolve their confusion regarding the Cangqiong Body Tempering Technique. To his surprise, both Tie Niu and Xi Wa managed to grasp the very essence of the nine Body Refining forms. Even the slowest of the other soldiers was able to master at least five forms!
With this kind of montum, what about the championship of the Martial Arts Tournant? It's a foregone conclusion. This wasn't arrogance on Qin Fan's part; it was the absolute confidence he had in his Cangqiong Body Tempering Technique.
Their feelings had shifted from hatred to admiration and respect. They went from wishing he would drop dead to being unable to bear the thought of his departure. The month passed by in a flash. When this one-month bond, which felt as if it had been etched into their very bones, ca to its end, all seventeen soldiers found their eyes turning red in a rare display of sentintality.
By the edge of the training field, a helicopter had already landed and was waiting. Han Rongguang and Ye Jizu stood tactfully by the aircraft, not wanting to interrupt the farewell between Qin Fan and his soldiers.
"Instructor, co back and visit when you have ti! We seventeen brothers will always be your soldiers!" Tie Niu said through clenched teeth, his eyes red. He didn't dare let his composure slip, fearing that the slightest crack would let the tears through.
"Hold back your tears! Don't let see your cowardly side," Qin Fan said, seeing the reluctance in their reddened eyes. He shook his head with a faint smile; hundreds of years of ntal fortitude had made him immune to such scenes. "This isn't a final parting. If fate allows, we'll et again. Let's skip the sentintal words. Just take care of yourselves."
As his last words fell, Qin Fan turned around coolly, gave a wave, and strode with dignity toward the helicopter.
"Instructor, thank you!" A hysterical roar burst from Tie Niu, who could no longer hold back his tears.
"Instructor, thank you!"
Following Tie Niu's cry, the other sixteen soldiers also lost control of their emotions, which had been pushed to the breaking point. Tears stread down their faces. For these soldiers, farewells were a common sight, and they couldn't rember the last ti they had shed tears at a parting. But at this mont, facing that retreating back, none of them could maintain their composure.
Hearing the heaven-shaking roars behind him, Qin Fan smiled genuinely, continuing to walk forward with his head held high, never once looking back.
"Master Qin!" Han Rongguang and Ye Jizu called out respectfully as he approached the helicopter.
"Mm, no need to see off. You two can head back," Qin Fan said, patting Han Rongguang on the shoulder. "Don't worry about the Martial Arts Tournant. As long as these rascals don't collectively ss up and intentionally throw the competition, I guarantee you the championship!"
After speaking, he gave them no chance to reply, pulling open the helicopter's cabin door and climbing inside.
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