Your skills are excellent, and now I have them too.

Chapter 42 First-Class Military Merit

For Chen Qinhu, shouting in front of everyone was a challenge even more terrifying than fighting Xin Li one-on-one. If Lu Zhao asked him to do it, he would be extremely embarrassed, but he had no choice because he was timid and dared not disobey Ji Ye, so he finally shouted it out.

Lu Zhao hoisted the seemingly dead Shi Jian onto his shoulder and ran over, panting heavily.

Old Ji stared at him for a while, then pulled out a bag of wet wipes from somewhere.

"It's all bloody, wipe it off."

Lu Zhao accepted the wet wipes without hesitation. It seemed that from the very beginning, he was inexplicably more familiar with Old Ji.

It wasn't that Ji Ye cared for or paid more attention to him than to others, but rather a subtle and difficult-to-understand distinction.

If I had to put it into words, Old Ji was more like a esteemed elder in front of others, but when he spoke to Lu Zhao, he acted like an equal.

Chen Qinhu, an introverted but meticulous person, noticed this, but he didn't know why.

"Your wet wipes smell awful." After wiping the blood off his face, Lu Zhao threw the remaining half-bag back.

"Yeah?"

Ji Ye took the wet wipe, unsealed it, and smelled it. "I think it's alright."

Chen Qinhu seemed to understand; it was probably because Lu Zhao spoke without any consideration for others, as if he didn't treat the old man like an outsider.

Perhaps I should learn from him? I'll think about it later... No, procrastination is the biggest obstacle to action; I must act now.

He looked at Ji Ye, and on a whim, exclaimed, "Old man!"

Snapped!

The back of his head was adorned with a large, round head.

Lu Zhao was shocked.

"Damn, why is he so bold today? Like he's going to die tomorrow."

Soon, everyone gathered around, and everyone lined up except for Shi Jian, who was still unconscious.

Ji Ye coughed and said, "I have an announcement to make. The training period is already halfway over, and I'm going to hold a midterm test to assess your martial arts skills."

Hey ~

If this were a school, everyone would probably be crying out in alarm, but that's not the case. Even in elite classes where students have more personal freedom, basic discipline is still required.

"The test will be held in three days and will consist of martial arts skills assessments, including melee weapons and shooting. Also, I have eight Refinement Pills, so the top eight will receive rewards."

Everyone's eyes lit up. Apart from Chen Qinhu's extraordinary physique, everyone else needed a second Cleansing Pill to consolidate their strength and, incidentally, increase their cultivation speed.

Hmm? You can actually hold it in?

So Old Ji continued, "In addition to the Cleansing Pill, there is also a Level 1 Military Merit reward."

"Wow!"

Finally, gasps of surprise came from the crowd.

Haha, with just a little trick from me, I can get them all excited.

Old Ji was finally satisfied; he loved seeing these young people so easily startled.

For new recruits, military merit is extremely rare and precious. After enlisting, they are assumed to have no achievements and will not be able to go to the battlefield, so they have almost no way to accumulate military merit.

Why do we say almost none, rather than absolutely none? Because the training results were outstanding, and it was a way to obtain military merits as stipulated in the laws of the Great Qin Dynasty. It was just very rare, and everyone has had their eyes opened.

Lu Zhao immediately began to calculate.

"I have no military merits, so after I die I will only receive a token pension of 20,000. If I had this level of military merit, I could have been promoted to sergeant, and according to the law, the pension would have increased to 80,000, and I should have been able to start receiving my monthly allowance as well."

The elite soldiers certainly received stipends, but the new recruits in training did not. To the Qin Dynasty, they were still just students, learning only how to practice martial arts and kill enemies.

If you have military merits, that's a different story. You can start receiving rewards immediately, although they won't be much, but it's still an income.

Lu Zhao was thinking that his family had spent 20 yuan to get in touch with Lin Zhouyun, and if they received the allowance, they could apply to have the money transferred directly to their family account.

He was obsessed with money, and Chen Qinhu, whose family was even worse off, was even more so. He was so envious that he seemed eager to start competing right away.

However, not everyone is interested in the tangible benefits of military merit. Some people come from well-off families and don't care about the small amount of money they receive for a first-class sergeant, but they are still very envious of this level of military merit.

Because in just over half a month, I will be assigned to a unit, and having a military rank could very well become a stepping stone to higher levels.

Even after Old Ji left, the bombshell news kept everyone from leaving.

Such unexpected events have brought some vitality to the otherwise numb training life, which may be exactly what Ji Ye wanted to see.

Lu Zhao overheard many people talking about it.

"If it's just a test of martial arts skills, I might not necessarily lose."

"If I could win a Cleansing Pill, I could catch up with those people ahead of me."

"As expected of the academic official, he had already devised a corrective mechanism, giving us a chance to catch up."

"Come on, when Xu Shu mastered her special skill, you all thought you could too. Now? Not a single one in the entire elite class."

Lu Zhao felt deeply ashamed, as he had also failed to grasp the essence and could only copy it.

"However... obtaining the Cleansing Pill will not only allow me to reach the limit of my physique in the Warrior Realm, but will also help me break through to the Iron Body Realm in one go."

He continued carrying the still unconscious Shi Jian and called to Chen Qinhu, "Come on, don't waste time, let's start training."

......

Thump.

"Ouch."

Lu Zhao sat up from the ground.

He discovered that when it came to wrestling, he was no match for Chen Qinhu, even with a nearly 20% advantage in skill level.

As his skill level increased, the physical advantages brought by the Chongxuan Technique became more and more obvious. Its most prominent feature was its ability to overcome skill with brute force in hand-to-hand combat. In the entire elite class, no one should be a match for Chen Qinhu.

"Although, you still need to practice."

Lu Zhao patted his butt. "I meant shooting and short-range weapon techniques."

Whether it's an elite class or a small or large class, martial arts training includes unarmed combat, melee weapons, shooting, and driving. I don't know how Old Ji wants to assess them, but the content is definitely comprehensive.

"My turn!"

Shi Jian, who had already regained consciousness, jumped out and joined the training.

They practiced until evening, and then the martial arts class began again.

As an officer of the elite Qingming Guard, Xin Li is proficient in all kinds of weapons, from swords and spears to shoulder-fired rocket launchers. He is currently teaching medium-range shooting.

The Kun-class transport ship is definitely one of the slowest military virtual sea vessels, but it is really huge, and even has an indoor shooting range. We've been teaching shooting here for the past few days.

"Mr. Ji has already told you about the content of the inspection three days from now."

Xin Li said with his hands behind his back, "But I also have some bad news for you. This time, it's not just you so-called 'elite class' recruits who are participating in the assessment."

"Report. Are there still any talented individuals in the senior class?"

Hahahaha.

In the elite class of about a hundred people, many burst into laughter.

While there are young people like Lu Zhao with sound values ​​and good character in this group, there are also some who, under the shadow of the "genius halo," gradually develop arrogance, which leads to their silliness.

However, Xin Li did not rebuke their contempt, but instead smiled, though with a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes.

"Hehehe, I did ask if anyone from the senior class could participate, but unfortunately they couldn't choose. The junior class, however, has some good ones."

At this point, no one reacted yet.

"But I wasn't talking about those people. You might have forgotten, there was a group of new recruits who boarded the ship with you, but they never trained with you from the beginning."

At this, many people's expressions changed, because they were reminded of this group of people.

Those scions of martial arts families who practiced martial arts before enlisting in the army.