Immortal Path Space

“Woo! Woo! Woo!”

A low and long horn sounded, and everyone’s expression became serious. They looked for their teammates and confirmed their positions.

The Academy’s battle formation training adopts military regulations. Every five people form a team, with a temporary squad leader rotating every month. Ten people form a squad, with a squad leader, and one hundred people form a small team, with a Hundred-Man Commander.

Wang Hong quickly found his position. On his left was a naive-looking, burly teenager named Zhang Tie Mao. His family owned several dozen acres of land in the countryside, which was enough to feed his family.

On his right was a round-faced little girl with a baby fat, who would show a small tiger tooth when she smiled. Her name was Li Xiao Ya, the daughter of a tea merchant in the county.

To the right of Li Xiao Ya was a handsome, fair-skinned young man named Hua Wen Jue. His parents were in the gemstone business. Hua Wen Jue had been practicing martial arts since he was a child and was the only entry-level martial artist among the five.

To the right of Hua Wen Jue was a skinny guy who looked like a monkey, with two beady eyes that made him look like a thief. This guy’s name was Lu Jin Gou, and his family had a small boat. He had been running boats with his parents since he was a child.

The five of them formed a team, currently led by Zhang Tie Mao as the temporary squad leader.

“Woo! Woo! Woo!”

The horn sounded for the second time, and everyone stood still, looking straight ahead, not daring to move. On the Training Ground, hundreds of people were so quiet that you could hear every breath.

“Pat! Pat!”

At this moment, a panicked sound of footsteps rang out, and a fat white guy ran towards the Training Ground, still hastily adjusting his clothes with both hands.

Everyone was a little happy to see him late, but they tried not to look at him.

“Woo! Woo! Woo!”

As the third horn sounded, a tall figure came from afar, taking big strides. The horn stopped, and the person stopped in front of everyone, as if carefully calculated.

The person had a tiger’s back and a bear’s waist, wearing leather armor, carrying a Treasured Saber on his waist, and a circle beard on his face. Especially the knife scar on his face made him look extremely fierce.

This person was Military Formation Instructor Feng Li, who was privately called Feng Lao Mo by the students.

“Count!”

Soon, each Hundred-Man Commander reported the number of people, and everyone was present.

“Jin Da Bao, come out!”

The fat white guy who was late just walked out of the queue.

“Do you know your crime?”

“I know, I know, I’m late, five whips.”

Immediately, someone pressed him down and whipped him five times. The pain made the little fat guy cry and snot all over the ground, then he returned to the team to start training.

The current training mainly consisted of a small square for every hundred people, and several hundred-person teams formed a large square, requiring the formation to remain stable while advancing, retreating, turning left, and turning right.

In fact, battle formation training was not too tiring, as long as you were serious. It only made you sweat a little after an hour.

“Brother! Let’s go eat, I’m so hungry, I’ve been so hungry these past few days.” As soon as the formation was disbanded, Younger Brother ran over.

Wang Hong’s teammates had all left, and only Zhang Tie Mao was still daydreaming. So he invited him to go together, and Zhang Tie Mao happily agreed.

The three of them each received a free meal provided by the Academy. The two brothers had a big appetite these past two days, and Wang Hong spent money to buy two pounds of cooked beef.

The three of them sat together, eating and chatting. Zhang Tie Mao spoke little and mostly listened, occasionally saying a word or two.

"After dinner, the two brothers had to attend literacy classes. Over five hundred people joined at the same time, but only a dozen or so needed the literacy class. After all, for brothers as impoverished as they were, who didn't even recognize characters, it was impossible for them to come up with the ten silver coins needed for tuition.

Others had already begun studying inner strength cultivation, which put the brothers significantly behind. They felt a sense of urgency as the Academy required them to reach the novice martial level within a year of enrollment.

Novice martial level meant mastering an internal energy technique, becoming proficient in a martial skill, and achieving a strength of three hundred catties.

After finishing the literacy class, the brothers hurried off to the medical course, foundational to martial arts.

The medical instructor was an elderly man with a youthful appearance, seated at the head.

"Man consumes various grains and cereals, digesting and absorbing their essence through the spleen and stomach, distributing it throughout the body to nourish every part. Part of this essence transforms into qi."

"The body's qi consists of various types—ancestral qi, primary qi, defensive qi, and nutrient qi, among others. Each type serves its own purpose."

"For instance, both nutrient and defensive qi originate from the essence of grains and cereals, yet their characteristics differ. Nutrient qi sustains the body's nutrition; insufficient nutrient qi results in dull skin and a withered physique." Hearing this, several female students unconsciously glanced at their chests.

"Defensive qi, on the other hand, acts as an army defending against external pathogens. Individuals with weak defensive qi are more prone to colds. Defensive qi circulates in the yang for twenty-five circuits and in the yin for twenty-five circuits, making nighttime more susceptible to external pathogens. If defensive qi does not circulate during the yin phase, one may sleep with open eyes."

"..."

"The internal true qi cultivated by martial practitioners is merely a form of qi. All strengths have their origins, and internal true qi also derives from the essence of grains and cereals and the inhalation of natural clear qi, refined through internal cultivation techniques."

"Hence, martial practitioners require more grain and cereal essence, resulting in larger appetites. There are even anecdotes of innate-level martial practitioners consuming an entire cow in a day."

Wang Hong finally understood why his appetite had increased. It was only the beginning; he should be able to eat even more in the future. No wonder they say the poor study while the wealthy focus on martial arts; ordinary people might not even afford food.

After the medical class, for dinner, Wang Hong intentionally bought two large pork elbows. The brothers ate until their stomachs were round.

At night, Wang Hong entered the space, grateful that he could fly inside, or he'd have had nowhere to stand. Apart from half the land covered in wheat and rice, the other half was filled with various medicinal herbs and even a small raspberry tree.

Most abundant were the ginseng plants—initially, there were over a hundred, and later, numerous seedlings sprouted. Additionally, there were hundreds of lingzhi mushrooms, and various other herbs grew densely, like weeds.

"It seems I need to tidy this up; otherwise, it will affect their growth."

Wang Hong spent five or six hours clearing out half of the densely grown medicinal herbs. What remained were the healthiest ones, forming a small pile in the space. These could only be air-dried in batches inside the room. They should fetch a considerable sum when sold.

After dealing with miscellaneous tasks, Wang Hong reviewed the day's lessons in the space. Having twenty times more time enabled him to thoroughly master the content.

Days turned into weeks, then into half a year. Through this period of training and study, Wang Hong finally grasped the basics of writing and at least could locate the body's meridians and acupoints for medical practices. Finally, he could start cultivating inner strength.

In this half-year period, some students had already become novice martial practitioners. Every time Wang Hong saw others cultivating inner strength or martial skills, he couldn't help but feel envious. His younger brother didn't have the advantage of his space, yet his learning progress was no slower than Wang Hong's. He often marveled at his younger brother's greater intelligence."

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