Qin Yan led the group to a wide clearing outside the village.
A new face had joined their ranks a boy they had encountered on the road named Li Erniu. He was Luo Fei's best buddy.
Erniu had originally come looking for Luo Fei to go play, but Luo Fei had dragged him along, tricking him with the promise that he could learn the Way of Martial Arts from Qin Yan.
Erniu had followed along eagerly. Perhaps because Qin Yan had displayed such god-like power while slaying the Demon King the previous night, the boy's eyes were filled with a fiery adoration. His honest, simple face was lit with anticipation.
Erniu, Luo Fei, and Xiao Bei were all roughly the same age around eight or nine years old. However, Erniu was significantly more robust and taller than his peers.
While Luo Fei and Xiao Bei stood at about 1.2 meters, Erniu was nearly 1.4 meters, making him almost as tall as Luo Xuanyi. He had bronze skin, thick black eyebrows over large eyes, and an air that was at once loyal, simple, and determined.
"So, all of you want to learn martial arts, is that right?" Qin Yan asked with a smile as he looked at the row of children.
"Yes, yes!"
Luo Fei and Erniu were particularly excited, nodding their heads incessantly.
Luo Xuanyi and Xiao Bei were much quieter, though the joy on their faces was no less apparent than the boys'. Little Liya, on the other hand, was mostly filled with confusion and curiosity.
"Very well. I have only one rule," Qin Yan said, his voice turning serious. "Regardless of your reasons for practicing martial arts, you must never use your strength to commit evil or bully the weak.
On the contrary, if you encounter those who use their martial skills to torment innocent people, they are your enemies. You must give them a lesson they won't forget. Understood?"
"Understood!"
Luo Xuanyi and the others nodded in comprehension. Only Little Liya stared at Qin Yan with a blank expression, likely not understanding a single word of his rambling.
Ahem! Qin Yan coughed, placing his hands behind his back with a helpless sigh. Forget it, she's still small. It doesn't matter if she doesn't understand. He then turned back to the group. "In that case, let the training begin! We'll start with a relaxed jog."
"Okay!" the group responded in unison.
"If you can't keep up with my rhythm and want to quit, I won't mind at all," Qin Yan said over his shoulder in a mocking tone as he turned around.
"Understood!" Startled by the challenge, the group straightened their postures and shouted their response.
"Good. Follow me. Let's go." With that, Qin Yan began to run.
"Yes!"
Luo Xuanyi, Xiao Bei, Luo Fei, and Erniu followed closely behind him. Little Liya stared dazed at the retreating figures for a moment before snapping out of it. Imitating the others, she chirped a cute "Yes!" and chased after them.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!..."
The group ran with vigorous strides under the glow of the rising, fiery sun.
"One, two, one..."
As they ran down the path, they hummed a rhythmic cadence.
After about ten minutes of jogging...
"Qin Yan said the training would be strict, but it's just this? It's not that impressive! This is actually pretty easy," Luo Fei muttered from the back. His voice was so low that the others couldn't hear him, but nothing escaped Qin Yan's ears. Every word was crystal clear to him.
Heh! Young man, you are far too naive, Qin Yan thought. The fun is only just beginning.
It looks like I need to bring out the real 'hard work.'
Jie jie jie!
Qin Yan let out a sinister internal laugh. A strange, eerie smile played on his lips, causing a sudden wave of cold air to surge up from beneath the feet of the children behind him. Luo Fei, in particular, felt a sudden chill run down his spine.
The reason Qin Yan had started with a relaxed jog was partly to give them a warm-up, but more importantly, he needed to adjust his own breathing to adapt to the 50x Gravity.
"Alright! Stop!" Coming to a halt beside a pile of rubble, Qin Yan raised his hand and shouted.
"What's wrong, Qin Yan?" everyone asked, confused by the sudden stop.
Qin Yan gave them a faint smile and pointed at the rocks. "Everyone, pick up a stone. Make sure it's about the size of your head."
"What are we holding stones for?" They looked at one another, unable to guess what Qin Yan was planning. Nevertheless, they obeyed and began picking out rocks they liked.
Little Liya followed suit, picking a rock with great focus. To her, it seemed like they were playing a game, and she simply did whatever the others did.
"Hey! Luo Fei, come here," Qin Yan called out, waving to the boy who was buried in his search.
Hearing his name, Luo Fei looked up in confusion and walked over. "Yeah? What is it, Qin Yan?"
"You take this one." Qin Yan pointed to a rock on the ground that was twice the size of a human head.
"What? Me take that? Hey, that's way bigger than theirs! Why do I have to take this one?" Luo Fei asked, his face a mask of disbelief.
"Didn't you say this was easy? I'm just giving you some special attention. Do you like it?" Qin Yan smiled at him, looking perfectly harmless.
"Ah? You... you heard..." Luo Fei's face paled in shock. He covered his mouth with one hand and pointed at Qin Yan with the other.
"I... I love it!" Realizing his muttering had been overheard, Luo Fei could only lie through his teeth. He accepted his fate, picked up the massive rock, and stood to the side with a bitter expression.
By then, everyone else had finished choosing their stones.
"What's wrong, Luo Fei? Why do you look so miserable? And why is your rock so much bigger than ours?" Luo Xuanyi asked, noticing his wilted expression. The others looked at him curiously as well.
"I just like it this way," Luo Fei said, his heart and mouth completely out of sync.
The others were even more confused.
"Alright, is everyone ready?"
"Yes! All set."
"I'm ready too, Brother Qin Yan!" Liya held up a rock that was larger than anyone else's. Her innocent, brilliant smile made it look as though she were showing off a prize to him.
"Good girl," Qin Yan said with a smile, making Little Liya beam with happiness.
"Alright, listen up. Hold your stones against your chest like I'm doing. You aren't allowed to hold them over your heads; they must remain level with your chest. Understand?" Qin Yan picked up a large rock and held it flat against his chest as a demonstration.
"Yes!" the group replied, immediately imitating his posture.
Qin Yan nodded in satisfaction. Seeing they were ready, he announced, "Good. First, we'll do a three-kilometer cross-country run—by leaping. You have to jump while you run."
"By leaping?" They blinked in confusion.
"Three kilometers?" Luo Fei cried out, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
"That's right. By leaping. If it were as easy as you thought it was, it wouldn't be training."
"Understood!" Realizing Qin Yan was right, Luo Xuanyi and the others nodded.
"Move out!"
"Yes!"
Qin Yan led the way, and the others followed close behind. True to the instruction, every step was a literal hop.
"Heigh-ho, leap and run..."
"Leap and run, run and leap..."
"Leap and run..."
After they had leaped and run for over two kilometers...
Most of the group looked relatively fine, with only a light sheen of sweat on their brows. Luo Fei, however, had fallen far behind.
He was gasping for air, muttering feebly as he hopped along, "Leap and... run..." He sounded like he was on the verge of death.
Qin Yan looked back at the lagging Luo Fei. After a moment of thought, he decided to provoke him. "Hey, hey, hey! Luo Fei, what's with you? You're so far behind, and your voice is so weak. Are you sure you don't want to quit?"
"No!" Hearing his name called out, Luo Fei was jolted by fear and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"If you want to give up, I really don't mind," Qin Yan continued to goad him.
"I won't give up!" Luo Fei roared with every ounce of strength he had.
"In that case, hurry up and get over here!" Qin Yan barked, seeing he had reached his limit.
"Yes!" Luo Fei squeezed out a response using his last bit of strength and accelerated to catch up.
I knew I could fix that attitude, Qin Yan thought with a smirk as he continued forward.
After the three kilometers were over, the group arrived at the mouth of a long boulevard lined with two neat rows of large trees.
"See those two rows of trees ahead? Next, we're going to weave around them. While you run, you have to shout: 'Circling, circling, circling!'" Qin Yan said, pointing down the road.
"What? There's more?" Luo Fei shrieked in surprise.
"Circling, circling, circling?" The others were equally baffled.
"Alright, let's go." Qin Yan didn't waste any more breath and shouted the command.
He began weaving back and forth through the trees along the road, shouting as he ran: "Circling... circling!"
"Circling..."
"Circling..."
The others followed suit, rushing to keep up while shouting the cadence.
They passed through the boulevard and crossed through a forest before arriving at the foot of a mountain about four to five hundred meters high. A pavilion stood at the summit. It was unclear who had built it or when, and no one knew its purpose whether for sightseeing or something else.
The path to the peak was a spiral of stone stairs.
"You're too slow, Luo Fei. At this rate, we won't even make it back in time for lunch." Qin Yan waited at the base of the mountain for a while until Luo Fei finally arrived, lagging behind the rest.
"Yes..." Luo Fei collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. He was so exhausted he didn't want to say another word.
"Luo Fei! Who gave you permission to rest?" Qin Yan barked when he saw the group starting to relax.
"Yes, sir!" Startled, everyone scrambled to stand at attention.
"Alright! Next, we're going to climb those stairs to the peak and then come back down. You don't have to run for this part."
With that, Qin Yan led the way up.
Phew!
Hearing that they didn't have to run, everyone let out a sigh of relief. However, after looking up at the summit shrouded in clouds, their expressions turned bitter again. In the end, they could only grit their teeth and follow.
By the time they reached the halfway point, every single one of them was drenched in sweat and panting heavily.
It seemed the others were finally feeling the strain as well.
Qin Yan stopped and told the others to head up first while he stayed behind to wait for the lagging Luo Fei.
After a long while, Luo Fei's figure finally appeared.
"Qin Yan wasn't lying... this training really is brutal!" Luo Fei said as he trudged along. He seemed to regret his earlier complaints.
"Luo Fei! There's still half the distance to go!" Qin Yan said as the boy reached him.
"What? Still half?"
"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to be a Royal Knight? Are you scared already?" Qin Yan asked teasingly.
"No, I will definitely become a Royal Knight," Luo Fei said with firm determination.
"Then keep it up and follow me!" Qin Yan said with a smile.
"Yes!"
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