Chương 156: Is there some hidden agenda behind Chapter 156?

Whenever a great trend is about to unfold, there will be all sorts of unusual phenomena.

The emergence of outstanding talents and the flourishing of diverse ideas are an important part of this process.

The situation is stable, with the entire population engaged in cultivation above and ancient sects being revived below.

The whole of China is thriving.

Under such circumstances, exceptionally talented individuals emerge in large numbers.

Suddenly, a ten-year-old boy reached the Grandmaster realm, achieving great success in one day, with ten thousand swords resounding in unison; another genius stepped on a snow-covered mountain and comprehended the true meaning of extreme cold, exhaling true energy that froze hundreds of meters in ice!

Novel news is constantly emerging and is all too common.

Although the veracity of these stories is unknown, they quickly spread in today's interconnected world.

The terrifying power, exaggerated martial arts effects, and extremely pretentious behavior of these people in the video and the story have invigorated the spirits of young people throughout society.

What's the point of flaunting money?

What's a faster way to gain followers than showing off your martial arts skills?

Is it cool to be flashy?

This is truly amazing!

Thus, fueled by some bloggers and online celebrities, the martial arts trend, which was already government-led, became even more intense.

Young people take pride in mastering martial arts, and the concept of a "small martial arts world" has begun to spread in schools and some youth organizations.

Online, strange titles such as "Top Ten Martial Arts Masters" and "Peak Young Generation Warriors" have even become popular.

Whether these strong individuals truly deserve their reputation or are merely attention-seeking internet celebrities remains to be seen.

Anyway, these people are very famous.

Often, a single practice video can attract hundreds of thousands of followers.

Lincheng No. 1 Middle School!

After class, Zhao Ke was about to leave when Tian Yaru walked over, knocked on his desk, and said, "Wait for me after school!"

Zhao Ke scratched his head sheepishly and said, "This isn't appropriate, I'm not in a good position!"

Upon hearing his words, Tian Yaru immediately became furious and promptly smacked Zhao Ke on the head.

"Where's something bothering you? Let me treat it!"

Zhao Ke instinctively dodged, his speed and precision allowing him to escape in an instant.

Tian Yaru missed her target and was taken aback for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "You, you've entered the path of martial arts?"

As soon as he said that, the students around him all turned to look at him.

"Yes, we just stepped in not long ago."

Zhao Ke scratched his head, then said seriously, "I... I really have something to do. You go ahead and do your thing, don't bother me if you don't need anything!"

"Fine, Zhao Ke, I guess I misjudged you. Humph!"

Tian Yaru left a lingering fragrance behind, then turned and left the classroom.

"Wow, Zhao Ke, what a real man!"

The students cheered and applauded him enthusiastically.

On ordinary days, Zhao Ke was often "bullied" by Tian Yaru, just like a wronged little wife.

I never imagined I'd be the one in charge today.

"Did you two have a fight?"

Zhao Ke's deskmate asked curiously.

"No, shouldn't I keep my distance from girls?"

Zhao Ke said it as a matter of course.

"cut!"

The students around him all gave him the middle finger.

What does it mean to be blessed but not know it? Tian Yaru is one of the prettiest girls in the class, and being so close to her is something that countless boys dream of day and night.

Zhao Ke ignored them, packed her schoolbag, and left the classroom.

However, he didn't ride his bike home; instead, he stopped at an intersection outside the school.

A few minutes later, a red, cute-looking women's electric scooter slowly drove over.

A pretty, petite girl stopped the car with a smile on her face.

"Hmph, are you doing this on purpose for me?"

The girl gave a slightly reproachful smile, as if she were flirting with him.

"I like you, so I can't get too close to other girls."

Zhao Ke chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head.

"Um!"

Suddenly, the girl reached out her slender, fair hand and gently took Zhao Ke's hand.

Seeing his astonished expression, he chuckled and said, "This is a reward for you!"

Zhao Ke blushed and suddenly felt a little flustered.

Let's go!

After the girl finished speaking, she let go of his hand and rode her bike away into the distance.

Seeing this, Zhao Ke quickly pedaled his bike a couple of times and hurried after them.

Just after the two left, a pretty girl's head peeked out from the corner of the wall.

"Damn it, that bastard! He's forgotten his sisters for the sake of a woman! I'm telling your brother!"

This girl was naturally Tian Yaru, who had just stormed off in anger.

How could such a clever and mischievous girl just leave like that?

Tian Yaru took out her phone and called Zhao Rui.

"Hey, Yaru, what brings you to call me? Is something wrong?"

"Your brother is in a relationship, and she's a gold digger."

"puff!"

Zhao Rui, far away on the northwestern frontier, almost choked on his saliva.

"So, is it definitely green tea?"

"100% green tea bitch, I'm a woman, my intuition is spot on. She's definitely not a good person."

"Well, it's not really appropriate for me to get involved. Why don't you take charge?"

"He broke up with me over a woman. I'm so angry! And we have our college entrance exams coming up!"

"The National College Entrance Examination?"

Zhao Rui was stunned. Time flies so fast; his younger brother is about to take the college entrance exam.

"Okay, I'll talk to him about it."

"Um, when are you coming back? I haven't seen you in so long. I'm in college, will you be able to come back?"

"Not necessarily, it depends on the situation!"

"oh!"

Tian Yaru chatted pitifully with Zhao Rui for most of the day, complaining about many things before hanging up the phone.

Zhao Rui looked at Dudu's haphazardly placed phone and couldn't help but shake his head.

It seems like I'll be taking the college entrance exam in a few months.

It's clearly unwise for my younger brother to be in a relationship at this time.

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Rui dialed his brother's number.

The phone rang for ages before it was finally answered.

Zhao Rui subtly hinted to his younger brother that he should focus on his studies.

Zhao Ke kept agreeing.

She also said she would definitely do well in the exam and try to get into the same school as Zhao Rui.

Such obedience made Zhao Rui wonder if Tian Yaru had made a mistake.

However, he was in the far northwest, far away and could only take time to call his younger brother and give him some advice.

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Rui looked at the sun. The sun was getting warmer, and spring had arrived.

At this point, more than ten days had passed since the month had ended.

The soldiers under his command trained extremely hard.

However, those with exceptional talent are few and far between.

However, Zhao Rui is proficient in all kinds of martial arts, and his sharp insight and profound understanding of martial arts are probably unmatched in the world except for masters like Master Ge who are proficient in one method and proficient in all methods.

Therefore, he specially tailored a specific cultivation process for each person, taking into account their physical condition and comprehension.

This will allow each of them to cultivate this martial art in the best way possible.

In just half a month, more than a third of them had achieved minor success.

Zhao Rui, eager to test his skills, once had ten soldiers who had mastered the Myriad Manifestations Thunder Technique form a combined attack formation to spar with him.

The results showed that a ten-person team attack could enable a single person to exert five times the strength.

This is far more powerful than simply adding force together.

"Pass this on to the Qingcheng disciples as well!"

Zhao Rui had already formed an idea in his mind: this was a great martial art for guarding the gate and protecting the house.

The only drawback is that the battlefield atmosphere is too violent, which is somewhat contrary to the Taoist principles of tranquility and non-action.

The soldiers made rapid progress, which pleased Zhao Rui greatly.

For the next ten days or so, in addition to teaching the soldiers how to improve their individual combat skills, Zhao Rui also trained them in combined attack techniques.

This is the fundamental reason why this martial art was selected by the military.

Of course, besides official business, Zhao Rui also took advantage of his position to do personal things. During his breaks, he copied the soldiers' original martial arts techniques.

Although most of the soldiers in the group of several hundred were copies of military martial arts, he still managed to find five of his own private martial arts techniques.

It was a small success.

A month is not a long time; it passes in the blink of an eye.

Soon, the day of the military martial arts competition arrived.

This competition was specifically organized by the military to assess teaching results.

"Rest assured, instructor, our assault battalion will defend our honor!"

The soldiers were in high spirits, and in just one month, half of them had made some progress, and most of them had mastered the basics.

This achievement is something to be proud of.

Zhao Rui wasn't particularly concerned about winning or losing in this kind of competition; as long as the soldiers' martial arts skills improved, that was all that mattered.

On the day of the competition, Zhao Rui, dressed in military uniform, stood at the front of the procession alongside a group of grandmasters.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Behind him stood a dense mass of soldiers, their solemn presence amplified by the intense aura emanating from them as they shouted their commands. Perhaps due to their shared cultivation of the same martial arts, the soldiers' menacing aura intensified instantly.

Even the grandmasters standing in front felt an inexplicable pressure from this intense atmosphere.

"What a powerful presence!"

The group of high-ranking military officials on the stage were surprised and delighted.

I never expected that a mere few thousand people could have such power.

If there were tens of thousands of people, what an incredible scale that would be.

"Soldiers, I've seen your spirit, very good!..."

In the upcoming matches, I hope everyone can maintain this momentum and perfectly showcase the results achieved during this period.

The army commander looked around at the soldiers and officers below the stage, gave a motivational opening speech, and then announced the start of the competition.

Having served as the commander for several months, Zhao Rui was already quite adept at it. As soon as the army commander finished speaking, he ordered the soldiers to run away from the field and wait at the designated location.

Once the soldiers were in position, Xu Shaolei went on stage to announce the competition rules.

The competition was simple, testing three aspects: first, team strength, with five people per team.

Secondly, the team combat strength test involves grouping 100 people into a team and using a Grandmaster as an opponent to test the overall combat effectiveness.

Thirdly, there is auxiliary combat force, also in groups of 100, but they are to assist the instructors, namely the Grandmasters, in fighting against the chief instructor Xu Wenlei.

The last type is used to test whether, under extreme circumstances, a combined attack skill can be used to assist a skilled player in defeating a high-level opponent who is of a higher level.

The competition events were announced on short notice, and none of the camps received any advance notice.

After hearing about the project, the instructors were all dumbfounded.

Why, after all this time, do we still have to make them go up into the ring?

Moreover, it's against a master of the Battle Aspect Realm. What's there to test? Going up there would just result in being instantly killed!

Unfortunately, what's done is done, and orders from above cannot be changed, so they had no choice but to quickly think about how to allocate personnel among the three groups.

Although they taught these soldiers for a month, it was only a month, so how could they possibly have a deep understanding?

Basically, they just teach and that's it. Those with good talent get more guidance, while those with less talent are urged to practice harder.

That's it.

At this point, it was quite difficult to let them choose people. After thinking it over, they had no choice but to let the battalion commander, who was familiar with the troops, make the selection.

That saved a lot of trouble.

The military commander on the stage looked at the actions of the masters below and couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

Besides having the soldiers learn the Myriad Thunder Technique in advance, they also had another purpose in doing this: to select branch instructors.

Let them lead other grandmasters and be responsible for training soldiers in a division.

But seeing the hands-off attitude of these masters in the audience, he immediately shook his head.

Just as everyone was feeling somewhat disappointed, a deputy commander pointed to a section of the camp to the east and asked, "What's that little Zhao doing?"

His words immediately drew everyone's attention.

Everyone looked over and saw Zhao Rui standing at the front of the formation on the east side of the camp, calling out the names of the soldiers.

For every person called, one person would stand up.

In a short while, a hundred soldiers jumped out.

The military officers on the stage exchanged glances, all showing surprise in their eyes.

Clearly, this young Master Zhao had become familiar with his soldiers in just one month.

He clearly put his heart into it.

"I'm actually looking forward to it!"

The army commander smiled and glanced at Zhao Rui before looking away.

After the selection was completed, the competition began with the first match at Xu Wenlei's command.

Five against five is a contest of both individual combat skills and teamwork.

Although small in scale, it embodies a lot.

The ten people in the arena didn't seem to have gotten used to the meaning of combined attacks. After entering the battlefield, they didn't last long before they were caught up in a one-on-one fight.

The leaders in the stands shook their heads at the sight.

Aside from a significant increase in individual combat prowess, the match did not demonstrate the effectiveness of combined attack techniques.

Not only in the first game, but in the subsequent games, the same problem persisted.

It wasn't until the fifth match that one team used a combined attack, easily defeating the opposing five.

This team was naturally Zhao Rui's assault battalion.

The soldiers below the stage, including the grandmasters, suddenly realized that combined attacks could be so powerful.

They were immediately filled with regret.

The competition quickly moved into the semi-finals, and this time, all the battalions that advanced were ready.

They all unleashed combined attacks against the enemy.

Unfortunately, their teamwork was not very good, and their actions often produced results that were completely opposite to what they intended.

"How come his team is doing well?"

The masters were all taken aback.

What they didn't know was that Zhao Rui had spent the past month training his soldiers in coordinated attack techniques.

Given this disparity in intent versus lack thereof, Zhao Rui's assault battalion effortlessly secured the final victory.

"The instructors are awesome! The assault battalion is awesome!"

After their victory, the soldiers shouted excitedly.

"This young Zhao is good. He's persistent, patient, and has a keen eye. He's just a bit young."

"A deputy army commander said."

"Don't judge a hero by his age, let's see how he fares."

The army commander laughed.

The competition continued into the second round, which was simpler this time: each battalion sent out one hundred people to fight against a grandmaster.

This grandmaster is a veteran grandmaster with a military background and considerable skill.

These soldiers had only been training for a month, and some of them had no prior martial arts experience, starting from scratch.

No matter how many people there are, they are no match for a grandmaster.

In this battle, Zhao Rui's team went first.

Zhao Rui didn't expect the assault battalion to defeat the grandmaster; he only asked the soldiers to make good use of their combined attack techniques and hold out for a while.

Once the warriors were on the field, following Zhao Rui's instructions, they sometimes formed groups of five and sometimes groups of ten, moving nimbly and defusing the Grandmaster's attacks from his side.

"It took them eighty moves to break up the group. It seems this grandmaster is nothing special."

As soon as Zhao Rui's team was defeated, a master instructor began to assess the strength of this master officer from the military.

His tone carried a hint of disdain.

"We have to hold out for at least two hundred moves!"

The master instructor gave the soldiers a heartfelt pep talk.

The soldiers were also full of confidence. With the experience of Zhao Rui's team, they felt that they were now incredibly strong.

Before he could even count to fifty, his own soldiers began to fall in droves.

They had clearly been subdued by this grandmaster.

"What happened?"

This caused the other grandmasters to lose their composure.

The problem wasn't that the Grandmaster was too weak, but rather that Zhao Rui's camp was too strong.

After a period of emotional fluctuation, everyone quickly understood the reasoning behind it.

Clearly, Zhao Rui's team had practiced their combined attack techniques more thoroughly, making them more fluid in their execution. They were always able to attack where the enemy had to defend, and naturally, they could hold out for longer.

"Could there be something fishy going on?"

The masters' eyes narrowed slightly.

(End of this chapter)