Strongest Soldier King

The night enveloped the valley. As the team went out for training, only two sentries remained quietly standing at the entrance, vigilantly scanning their surroundings. The bright moonlight scattered across the land, draping it in a layer of silvery gauze—soft and beautiful. The valley was shrouded in a peaceful atmosphere, and in the middle of the square, the national flag fluttered in the wind, adding a sense of virility and dignity to the valley.

Luo Zheng, following Lan Xue's advice, hadn't gone to the back mountain for training that evening as he usually did. With confusion, he knocked on Lan Xue's door. Lan Xue opened the door and gestured for Luo Zheng to enter. The room was very tidy and simple: bunk beds, a desk, a few chairs, a small wardrobe, and a corner with a thermos. The only thing of value was the laptop on the desk. It wasn't open but plugged in, with the power light on, indicating it had recently been used.

"Take a seat," Lan Xue signaled Luo Zheng to sit and took a seat on the windowsill. Glancing at Luo Zheng's puzzled face, she got straight to the point, "I saw your training in the pond this afternoon. Your physical fitness is relatively fine, but hand-to-hand combat and live fire shooting are your weak points. I suggest you adjust your training plan."

"Ah?" Luo Zheng was startled, then quickly gathered his thoughts and responded, "You asked me here to talk about this?"

"No kidding, what did you think?" Lan Xue looked at Luo Zheng with dissatisfaction. Suddenly thinking of something, her face blushed with embarrassment, though it couldn't be seen under the silicone mask. She reprimanded, "Don't get any weird ideas."

"Oh, okay," Luo Zheng replied awkwardly.

Listening to Luo Zheng's response, Lan Xue felt a rush of discomfort, giving rise to a sense of loss, but she quickly cast aside these thoughts and continued, "Remember what I said, you're no longer allowed to train in the back mountain until I say it's okay. You'll adjust for the time being. You'll train with me in close-quarters combat in the morning, practice shooting in the afternoon, and also in the evening."

"What about physical fitness and movement techniques?" Luo Zheng quickly asked.

"Training in close-quarters combat includes physical fitness and movement techniques," Lan Xue explained. Seeing that Luo Zheng didn't quite understand and not wanting to elaborate, she continued, "Remember the incident at the pond this afternoon? That Wild Wolf mercenary should have killed you, but instead, he's the one who died. Do you know where he went wrong?"

"It seemed like he wanted to confirm my identity before making a move. I'm very curious, how did he know me?" Luo Zheng asked back, puzzled.

"Your situation has been leaked. I will investigate it; you don't need to worry about that. Worrying is useless. When faced with difficulties, confront them directly, and have the courage to resolve them—that's the right way. What I want to tell you is, as a sniper, your bullets are your language. Being too curious can lead you to lose proper judgement, making you hesitant. Trust yourself, strike decisively, without looking back. That's the quality a sniper should have," Lan Xue said seriously.

"I will remember," Luo Zheng nodded in gratitude.

"Remember, I will only teach you for a month, maybe even less. How much you learn is up to you. Let's go to the sniper training field," Lan Xue said no more and walked outside.

Luo Zheng was startled, suddenly realizing Lan Xue was going to leave. Feeling hollow inside, he returned to his room, picked up his sniper rifle, and then went to the sniper training field. Lan Xue was already there waiting, with three boxes of ammunition on the ground. He wanted to ask why Lan Xue was leaving, but seeing the cold look in her eyes, as if she was awaiting something, he felt moved. He lay down on the ground, pushed all doubts and curiosity aside, and calmly loaded his gun.

"Remember, a qualified sniper must adapt to any terrain, any environment, any time. You skipped the Eye Sniping training and went straight into Heart Sniping, but you still need to adapt to these. The darkness where you can't see clearly is the best time to train Heart Sniping. Aim with your heart, and shoot quickly. You must finish these bullets within an hour, and later I will check the results," Lan Xue, reinstating her cold demeanor, seriously warned.

"Yes," Luo Zheng nodded firmly. Normally, it would take two hours to use up three boxes of bullets, but now he was instructed to finish within one hour. This would undoubtedly drain his energy and strength, causing his vision to blur and his hand-feel to vanish. When the time came to check the results, they would definitely be a mess. Therefore, he had to adjust his body while shooting to maintain his condition.

With this in mind, Luo Zheng immediately employed the Breathing Skill passed down in his family, which allowed his body to remain relaxed at all times and sped up the recovery of his physical and mental energy. Lan Xue calmly observed from the side, occasionally lifting the military binoculars to check the results and was surprised to find that, half an hour later, Luo Zheng's shooting results were still stable. Clearly, after the last high-intensity live ammunition sniper training, Luo Zheng's shooting level had improved.

"Not bad for a guy who's grown up shooting dirt sprayers," Lan Xue thought with satisfaction, continuing her observation.

Before they knew it, time had passed, and all three boxes of bullets had been used up. Lan Xue took out ten bullets and passed them over, saying, "Now let's check your results. Target number eight, rapid fire."

Rapid fire made it difficult to ensure accuracy and was the biggest test of shooting skill. After shooting three boxes of bullets, Luo Zheng's arms were swollen, and his accuracy had dropped significantly. However, Luo Zheng didn't want to disappoint Lan Xue. He took a deep breath, loaded the bullets into the magazine, decisively raised his rifle, locked onto the target with his heart, and without any hesitation, pulled the trigger.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Luo Zheng fired off ten bullets in one go, quickly stood up, pointed the muzzle downward, and looked towards Lan Xue, feeling nervous about his shooting results.

"85 rings," Lan Xue said coolly, but her heart stirred with turmoil. That he could still shoot 85 rings was impressive; she had seen people with a talent for shooting, but never someone with such high talent. She thought to herself, "Indeed, he's a hunter who has been shooting dirt sprayers for more than a decade. His shooting sense is very strong."

Luo Zheng was unaware that 85 rings represented the shooting standard of an Ordinary Special Soldier. Seeing Lan Xue's icy tone, he guessed he hadn't even reached 90 rings, let alone the full 100, and felt dejected. Yet, he was not discouraged and earnestly said, "Give me a little more time, and I'll definitely hit a hundred rings."

"Good," Lan Xue answered succinctly, her heart rejoicing inside. Her expectations for Luo Zheng were even higher now. She said, "The sniper training ends here tonight. Now, I will teach you Fighting Skill. Remember, the techniques I teach you are intended for one-hit kills, not military boxing, and you may not teach them to anyone else."

"Understood," Luo Zheng promptly agreed.

The two found an open area covered by dark clouds, and Lan Xue earnestly began teaching Luo Zheng about the human body structure. Only those familiar with the human body structure could deliver a fatal blow to the opponent with the least effort. Inevitably, there was physical contact during the instruction. Lan Xue was concerned about Luo Zheng and did not feel constrained; as for Luo Zheng, determined to become stronger, he trained with undivided focus, and thus no awkward incidents occurred between them.

Neither of them noticed that, by the window of a certain room in the barracks, two pairs of eyes were intently watching the scene, one pair flashing a resentful glow.