All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes

Without any notice, one morning, when the instructors should have been leading everyone in practicing martial skills, it suddenly changed to lecturers giving lessons in the great hall.

This lecture had nothing to do with reciting the Imperial Heaven Scripture that they had done in the past; instead, they discussed very practical training techniques.

For example, methods to conserve energy when breathing; the correct use of muscles to exert force; techniques for protecting the joints. And so on, things like that.

The majority of people didn't quite understand why; they had all experienced the long escape from the Northern Border and had their own understanding of how to conserve energy and protect themselves.

What did it signify for Hanging Fate Manor to be so serious about teaching these basic techniques?

—What did it signify? It signified that the good days were over!

Only a few people, including An Jing, became vigilant, realizing this was a signal—An Jing diligently took note of every technique the lecturers taught, even if he had already learned them before. It never hurt to check for gaps and fill them in, as there was always something new to learn.

That afternoon, An Jing, along with everyone else, experienced the severity of 'formal training' first-hand.

The One-eyed Instructor leading the session announced, "Here at Hanging Fate Manor, we uphold the creed of selecting the elite from the elite, preferring quality over quantity in our official disciples. Physical and endurance strength are the foundation of our martial skills; therefore, a comprehensive physical training session to test everyone's limit is highly important."

"Now, let us make ten round trips up and down the mountain."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took the lead, setting the pace, and An Jing, who was naturally the front-runner of the group, had no choice but to step up and follow.

By now, he understood that the previous half a month of relaxation was nothing more than a period for the disciples to recover physically, to nourish their spirit, and to develop an initial sense of camaraderie.

Essentially, it was about laying the foundation, so that they wouldn't urinate blood after a little practice or drop dead after increasing the intensity a notch!

To be honest, having survived the Frost Calamity and specially selected by Hanging Fate Manor, most of the Children of Calamity had decent talent. Their endurance and willpower were strong, and their physical strength was definitely not weak.

The half-month of rest didn't decrease their stamina; on the contrary, it greatly enhanced it.

The selected young men and women even surpassed the average adult in physical condition.

But Hanging Fate Manor was situated among mountains. The slope of the path up and down the mountain was between twelve and twenty degrees, with some sections steep enough to be nearly vertical.

The round trip was more than five miles of extremely rugged terrain.

Such difficulty, and to run it ten times back and forth... the intensity seemed exaggerated no matter how you thought about it.

More importantly, they had to keep up with the instructor's pace; slowing down meant falling behind.

As expected, before even the fourth round trip, some already began to slow down, and even fell behind unable to keep up.

By the sixth or seventh round trip, more than half were laid out flat.

"Perhaps the standard for passing the test is to be able to complete half of it?"

At this point, An Jing still had plenty of energy to spare.

After all, he had been trained in martial skills; fifty miles of mountain road might only tire him out a bit, but the breathing techniques and methods he mastered allowed him to endure more easily than others. He even had the capacity to look back and observe those 'promising' peers.

Upon looking, he noticed several familiar faces.

First, there were two people who shared a dormitory with An Jing. One was called Zhang Ying, and the other was called Ye Xiuyuan.

Zhang Ying's family used to be hunters in the mountains; he had been running around the mountains with his parents since he was young, so naturally, his physical strength was extraordinary. Although he appeared to be gasping for air, his steps were still quite steady.

He was quite simple-minded and had once been quite unconvinced about An Jing's status as 'Eldest Senior' and 'leader.' The second day after arriving at the manor, he challenged An Jing to a test of strength. After being pressed down by An Jing's single hand until he almost fell to his knees, he acknowledged An Jing as the big brother and had been following him ever since.

Ye Xiuyuan's family had a background in literature, and he had quite a gloomy personality, but he was very smart.

An Jing knew that before Zhang Ying came to challenge his strength, he had talked with a group of people, and the leader among them was Ye Xiuyuan.

After testing with Zhang Ying, Ye Xiuyuan also directly acknowledged An Jing as the boss. If it weren't for the fact that he often took the lead in showing that everything was up to An Jing, the 'big brother,' acting as a foil to bolster An Jing's authority, An Jing might not have secured the position of 'Eldest Senior' so easily.

Ye Xiuyuan's physical strength wasn't very good; even after half a month of cultivation, his physique remained rather thin, but he seriously took note of all the skills taught by the lecturer and kept exploring and trying them out before and after lunch. Surprisingly, he also persevered and followed behind An Jing.

Beyond these two, there was also a young girl following An Jing.

Her name was Gu Yeqi, a fellow townsman of An Jing, and she was the one who had been cured of frostbite. She was one year younger than An Jing and had seen An Jing negotiating with the One-eyed Instructor, selling herself for her mother, and admired him greatly, echoing his actions in everything.

Gu Yeqi's family had once been a big clan that served a medicine manor, and they had their own family martial skills. Though not strong, their foundation was solid, and like Zhang Ying, even though her breathing was unstable, she could still hold on.

Feeling An Jing's gaze, she revealed a big smile.

These three people—Ye Xiuyuan fainted on the seventh-and-a-half lap, Gu Yeqi held on until almost the ninth lap. If Zhang Ying hadn't tripped over himself, he might have been able to finish the run with An Jing, but tripping at that point was pretty much the same as passing out.

At that moment, they fully understood why the manor was called 'Hanging Fate.'

One hour later, out of the more than two hundred people, only fourteen could still stand after running the entire course.

"So many?"

The One-eyed Instructor was quite surprised; his running speed wasn't slow, and he had even sped up towards the end. Running over fifty miles of mountain road in less than an hour, half uphill and half downhill, that speed and difficulty were definitely beyond the limits of an average person from Da Chen.

Only truly 'special' children could run the entire course.

He couldn't help but laugh: "Your batch really has remarkable talent. The majority of you completed half the distance, and fourteen still have energy left—over the last ten years, the combined total of the previous batches was not as many as you have this time."

But then he spoke with a certain 'trouble': "But with this, how do we select the leader among you?"

Upon hearing this, An Jing remained motionless, his eyebrows lifted slightly, an intriguing expression on his face, but the other thirteen who had completed the full course all turned their heads simultaneously, their gaze focusing on him.

The One-eyed Instructor looked at An Jing, too, his mouth curving up as he waved his hand and said, "Continue! Back to the manor, lift stone weights two hundred times!"

The stone weights caused three people to fall, but what followed were two hundred times Long Staff Dance, two hundred times Horse Stance Punching, two hundred times squatting with stone weights in place... Before collapsing, An Jing fell deep into thought: "Will I have to practice like this every day in the future?"

Even he felt a tinge of panic facing these primitive training methods that were even more daunting than modern leg workouts.

But soon, An Jing didn't have time to think about these things.

Because on the third day, a total of ten people applied to challenge An Jing's position as 'Eldest Senior.'