Lord of the Eternal Night

Chapter 8：Special training method for cannon fodder

This Eternal Night Continent was the place where he had lived since he could remember. In fact, in his memories, it seemed that there were people living with him at first, but he couldn't recall when that person left and never showed up again.Before he knew it, this class had come to an end.Zhang Jing retracted the model into the podium and then said, "We'll meet again in a month. The topic of the next class is the Dawn War. This was the war in which the human race truly rose, a war of destiny and also the founding war of the empire."Zhang Jing left, and when Qianye left the classroom, there was an additional literacy textbook in his hand. In the following month, he had to memorize a thousand commonly used characters in order to pass Zhang Jing's exam. And the consequence of failing the exam was to be whipped a full ten times!Only now did Qianye realize that in the Huangquan Training Camp, the leather whip was the only common hobby among all the instructors.However, the subsequent training courses didn't slow down just because the children needed to learn to read. The training volume and time remained unchanged.When Qianye returned to the dormitory late at night, he was as exhausted as if his body was falling apart. He fell asleep as soon as he got into bed and didn't wake up until he was awakened by the shrill bell the next morning. It was only then that he remembered that he hadn't memorized a single word yet!There were clearly quite a number of children in the same situation as Qianye. So when the training ended on the second night, the vast majority of the children forced themselves to stay awake and tried their best to memorize those characters that seemed like words from heaven.When Qianye managed to reluctantly memorize the fiftieth word, he finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell headfirst onto the bed and then drifted off to sleep.Time flew by like an arrow, and a month seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.Qianye awaited Zhang Jing's second class. There was an exam before the class. During the long one and a half hours, Qianye wrote down one thousand and five hundred characters, which were the fruits of his efforts in this month.Among all the children, Qianye's score ranked fifth. The top four were all children from noble families who had started learning to read and write since childhood. Among the children who had never learned to read before, Qianye was undoubtedly the first. After him, there were three more children from prominent families who had also learned to read since childhood.A total of eleven people failed to pass Zhang Jing's exam."Now, it's time for you to pay the price for underestimating my class!" This beautiful woman said gently, and then she actually picked up the leather whip herself and lashed out at the children who had failed the exam with even more force than Long Hai!Ten lashes were an extremely heavy punishment. Right in front of Qianye's eyes, two children were actually whipped to death!Qianye then realized that this beautiful teacher was even more ruthless than Long Hai!This exam made Qianye and all the children firmly remember that learning to read and write was just as important as building up their physical strength.Zhang Jing called in two burly men and asked them to drag the two motionless children out. Then, without changing her expression, she wrote four big characters on the blackboard: "Dawn War".When writing these four characters, Zhang Jing became unusually solemn and dignified, and even her voice took on a solemn tone. "The Dawn War ended one thousand two hundred years ago..."The Dawn War took place on the Eternal Night Continent at the bottom of the world, which was also the place where the human race first inhabited, multiplied, and grew stronger day by day.In the Dawn War, the human race mobilized all the forces at its disposal. It was the ultimate showdown between the Dawn Origin Force, the blazing black stones, the gushing energy steam, the roaring firearms, the huge and crude machinery, and the Dark Origin Force!In this fateful decisive battle that lasted intermittently for more than a hundred years, the human race with awakened origin force paid an extremely heavy price. The total population was reduced to only one-tenth of what it was before the war. However, they finally defeated the Dark Races, broke free from the fate of being slaves, vassals, and livestock, drove the Dark Races out of the Eternal Night Region, and established the first empire dominated by the human race: Qin.This fateful decisive battle was called the Dawn War in the history of the human race. Because the humans who had always lived in the Eternal Night saw the dawn for the first time after this war. The origin force that people first awakened was also defined as being on the Dawn side. With this war as the dividing line, the two major camps of Eternal Night and Dawn were officially formed.The Dawn War was not the end but the beginning. In the past one thousand two hundred years, the human race had successively occupied four new continents in the lower and middle layers of the world and began to look up at the upper continents. The Great Qin Empire officially moved its capital, taking away most of the noble and powerful families and heading for the new continent. More human countries also began to emerge one after another.However, the Eternal Night Continent where the Dawn War took place became a huge garbage planet due to its extremely harsh natural environment and scarce resources. And it was once again infiltrated by the Dark Races who were unwilling to accept defeat.Hearing this, Qianye suddenly shivered. Since he could remember, he had never stepped out of the junkyard. But occasionally, he had heard those strong adults boasting about how powerful the Dark Races were. It turned out that it wasn't just a legend but real darkness and bloodshed.However, Zhang Jing's expression and tone when talking about these things made him feel even colder. It was a kind of calm indifference.When this class ended, Qianye felt a heavy weight in his heart, as if something indescribable had been added. The other children also had a similar feeling. They were still young and didn't know that this was the profoundness of history. However, when they left the classroom, the children immediately rushed towards the training ground like the wind. If they were late, they would be whipped three times again.Life quickly returned to its original track.Time passed by without anyone noticing, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.Qianye's physique had improved by leaps and bounds. In half a year, he had grown a full ten centimeters taller. Besides the strict but scientific training, the food in the training camp was also the key factor.The food provided for the children contained a large number of nutrient-rich ingredients, and some were even directly obtained from the Dark Races. In addition, a small amount of special medicine was added to the daily soup, which could quickly stimulate the body's potential.Qianye just felt that the days were repeating day after day, as if nothing would ever change, except that the number of his companions seemed to be constantly decreasing.When the total number of Qianye and the children around him was less than fifty, they welcomed a new batch of companions. The ages of the newly arrived children varied, and there were more than fifty of them in total. The only thing they had in common with Qianye was that their physical qualities in all aspects were similar.Another half a year passed, and there were only fifty people left among Qianye's companions. Then they welcomed another new batch of companions. At this time, Qianye learned that he and the one hundred people around him were considered a company. Whenever the number was reduced by half, new people would be added to make up a hundred again. The principle of replenishment was that their strengths were similar.When Qianye had been in the training camp for a whole year, one day, all the children were suddenly summoned and lined up on the parade ground, waiting for instructions.While waiting, Qianye suddenly had a strong urge to look around. Although such a small movement was very likely to bring him a whipping.He quickly and discreetly glanced to the left and right, and then took advantage of the moment when the instructor looked away to quickly turn his head and look back, and immediately resumed his normal standing posture. Such a simple little movement made his heart beat wildly. Qianye was astonished to find that among all the people around him, there were less than thirty familiar faces! Most of the original one hundred children had already left this world forever.It was only at this time that Qianye understood the true meaning of the words "Welcome to Hell" at the entrance of the valley.Long Hai appeared in front of the children, his gaze sweeping coldly over them. His single eye seemed to become even more fierce. However, all the children bravely met Long Hai's gaze without showing any fear. These children had already developed a brave, or perhaps numb, heart during a year of hellish training.Long Hai was quite satisfied and said, "Very good! After getting rid of the dregs, the rest finally look presentable. However..."After a long pause, Long Hai showed a meaningful smile. "The good news is that you have all received preliminary recognition and will be carefully cultivated. You won't be punished for trifles anymore. Of course, the result of violating the ban remains the same. And the bad news is that you'll find that the real training starts now!"Long Hai paced back and forth in front of the troops, and the rumbling sound constantly bombarded the children's ears. "In the next few years, you will truly begin to cultivate! Cultivate the origin force! You will learn the most direct and effective killing techniques. You will have the opportunity to personally slay every kind of Dark Race. Of course, you also have a great chance of being killed by them. So, pray, little ones! Finally, I can also tell you that among the people standing here today, less than a quarter of the lucky ones will be able to leave here alive."The last sentence was quite heavy, but Qianye didn't take it to heart. He had already learned not to worry about things that were beyond his control.No matter how slim the chance was, as long as it existed, Qianye would wholeheartedly strive for it. Without this tenacity and focus, when he was young and seriously injured in the junkyard, he would have already turned into dust long ago.Long Hai waved his hand grandly, and several men came over and distributed new textbooks to each child.On the cover of the textbook were written three big characters, "Soldier's Assault Art", with a vigorous and forceful writing style. Each stroke was as sharp as a sword or a knife! When Qianye saw it, he actually felt a stinging sensation.This was the cultivation art! It was the key that distinguished ordinary people from those with abilities. Holding this "Soldier's Assault Art" in his hands, Qianye suddenly had a feeling in his still young heart that his fate was about to change because of this thin little book!The children were led into the classroom, and the one who walked onto the podium and was responsible for teaching the "Soldier's Assault Art" was actually Zhang Jing. It seemed that beneath her beautiful appearance, there was extraordinary strength hidden. Qianye had actually noticed that Long Hai never got too close to Zhang Jing. The distance was probably about five meters. Now he suddenly understood that it was out of fear.Zhang Jing pushed her glasses up, and her voluptuous curves heaved vigorously with this tiny movement."This 'Soldier's Assault Art' is a cultivation method prepared specifically for cannon fodder!"Hearing her evaluation, Qianye was quite surprised.In this past year, although survival in the training camp was even crueler than in the junkyard, it was still a somewhat normal society on a daily basis. In the extremely limited interactions among the trainees, Qianye had learned some common sense of life. Naturally, he also saw that the training camp had invested a considerable amount of resources in them.The elimination rate of the Huangquan Training Camp was extremely high. It was said that only one in a hundred could walk out of here. So the resources spent on the ninety-nine people who were eliminated were actually wasted. After investing so much to cultivate them, in the end, they were given a cultivation method for cannon fodder?There were quite a number of people who had the same thought as Qianye.Zhang Jing noticed the changes in the children's expressions and sneered, "Don't think that 'cannon fodder' is a derogatory term! In fact, there are many people who want to be cannon fodder but don't even have the qualification! Only when you survive and walk out of here intact can you be considered a qualified cannon fodder! Next, you need to cultivate a complete origin force tide within three months, and then ignite the first origin force node within a year! If you can't do it..."Zhang Jing suddenly licked her lips and said softly, "Then you'll be punished..."This woman looked as dignified as a noble lady in history books when she wasn't smiling. But once her expression became vivid, there was an indescribable charm and allure about her.At this moment, her voice and her movements were extremely seductive. Some of the older children began to breathe rapidly. However, the burly men who were responsible for miscellaneous tasks and acting as enforcers all showed a look of fear on their faces, and even Long Hai's expression clearly became unnatural.Qianye suddenly remembered the two partners who had been whipped to death by her because they failed the exam, and he felt a chill in his heart.Next, Zhang Jing explained in detail the principles of origin force cultivation and the introductory methods of the "Soldier's Assault Art".There were nine major origin force nodes in the human body. After igniting the first origin force node, one would officially enter the ranks of soldiers and become a first-level soldier. After that, for each additional node that was ignited, one would be promoted by one level.When all nine nodes were ignited, there would be an opportunity to break through the first major bottleneck. Successfully opening up all the nodes would form an origin force vortex. That was a qualitative breakthrough! Such a person was already a true powerhouse, with the ability to confront the Dark Races head-on. On the battlefield, they would be the mainstay and could be called a warlord.Since the "Soldier's Assault Art" was the basic cultivation method in the imperial army, its style was as fierce and overbearing as its name suggested. Its biggest feature was its quick results. Once the first node was successfully ignited, the origin force in the body would surge like the tides, layer upon layer, crashing against the origin force nodes like waves.Compared with the secret methods of other noble families, the "Soldier's Assault Art" progressed extremely quickly in the early stage of cultivation, and it was even possible to break through the original talent barriers. However, its shortcomings were also obvious. That was, the power of the origin force tide was too great, and it would damage the cultivator's body at the same time. The more one cultivated later, the more obvious the damage would be.Therefore, no one had ever been able to break through to the warlord level solely by relying on the "Soldier's Assault Art". To break through, one had to change the cultivation method in the later stage. It was precisely because of this that this cultivation method was called the one specifically for cannon fodder.