Chapter 6: Entering the Academy

Chapter 6: Entering the Academy

After everyone had collected their sandbags, a man stepped out from the high platform.

"I am Chang He, the instructor of the Martial Arts Academy."

"Your assessment this time is to carry the sandbag you received, reach the summit of Sunset Peak before sunset to pass. Note that each sandbag has your own name on it, do not mix them up."

At the same time, he pointed to the mountain peak behind him: "The mountain in front of you is Sunset Peak. Everyone get ready, start climbing!"

Everyone swarmed towards the foot of the mountain. Wang Hong carried the 50-jin(25~30 Kg approx) sandbag. Initially he did not feel tired, but after walking three to five miles, he felt the sandbag on his back getting heavier and his younger brother's breathing becoming more and more coarse.

"This won't work." He grabbed the sandbag from his younger brother's back and squeezed towards a less crowded place, pretending he urgently needed to pee and drilled into a bush alone. He brought both sandbags into his space, first poured out the sand inside, then filled them back up with straw.

The next part of the journey became much easier. By the time they reached halfway up the mountain, many people had already started falling behind.

A burly youth in black, carrying a sandbag on his back, breathed like a cow. His legs were heavy and he could only take small steps whenever he lifted his leg.

At this moment, one tall and one short silhouette quickly overtook him from the side. The burly youth saw that the taller one was carrying two sandbags, yet his pace remained light. He couldnt help but be amazed.

Afterwards, many people saw a skinny teenager walking uphill effortlessly with two sandbags on his back, accompanied by a seven or eight-year-old boy, heading towards the peak.

On the way, Wang Hong also saw someone moving even more effortlessly than him. A youth in brocade robes was walking casually with both hands behind his back.nove(l)bi(n.)com

Behind him followed two youths in green, one of them carrying a sandbag while the other held a fan, fanning cool wind for the brocade-robed youth as they walked.

It turned out this person had brought two servants with him. They had already discarded the sandbags at the foot of the mountain long ago. Later on, Wang Hong saw several more people similar to the brocade-robed youth, so he was no longer surprised.

"It seems that there are always cheaters in any exam."

Qingyang Academy was an academy run by the Chu State mainly to groom and supply talents for the Great Chu. It was divided into the College of Liberal Arts and College of Military Arts, or College of Letters and College of Military for short.

The basis of learning in College of Letters lies mainly in studying the classics passed down by ancient sages. It comprised many categories, like Astronomy, Arithmetic, Agriculture, Laws and Medicine.

The focus of College of Military Arts encompassed internal and external martial arts, 18 different weaponry skills, battle formations and strategies, medicine -- overlapping with College of Letters in certain areas like Medicine, but each specialized differently, for example Medicine in College of Letters focused more on illnesses and nurturing health while Medicine in College of Military emphasized more on trauma injuries. Students from College of Letters would also learn some horse riding and archery.

But at present, these sophisticated courses matters little to Wang Hong. The only thing he was taught was the most basic Eight Fundamental Martial Practice Methods.

It wasnt that the academy was unwilling to teach him more advanced martial arts, but that Wang Hong was completely illiterate and couldnt even differentiate the human bodys channels and acupoints. All advanced martial arts were profoundly abstruse. Going wrong by a tiny margin would mean completely derailing. Even if taught, he wouldnt dare practice randomly.

The Eight Fundamental Martial Practice Methods was very simple with only eight moves, but it could provide a very comprehensive overall conditioning for every part of the body. It was very suitable for entry level martial arts practitioners.

Wang Hong now stood with feet as wide apart as his shoulders, toes gripping the ground, rectum puckered and buttocks raised, teeth biting together, tongue curled up touching the palate, lower jaw retracted slightly backwards, both hands raised to his sides, four fingers joined and fingertips pointing forward, thumbs cocked up as his hands slowly thrusted forward until palms elbows shoulders aligned evenly before flipping palms down to push down, then slowly withdrawing back.

This was the horse stance push from the Eight Fundamental Martial Practice Methods. After each practice, Wang Hong could feel his palms and soles slightly feverish. Having only practiced for three days, he already felt noticeably stronger all over.

"It should be about time for battle formation training, being late calls for a whipping."

Wang Hong would get up at the hour of yin every morning to practice on his own for an hour before the hour of mao for battle formation training, which was compulsory for all Martial Academy students. They would only be drilling battle formats initially before learning how to kill the enemy in formations.

Arriving at the training grounds, many people had already gathered.

"Brother! How come you've only just arrived? I've been here for a long time already." Younger brother was waving to him from afar. Wang Hong walked over and asked, "Little brother, this early in the morning, did you practice your martial arts routine?"

"Of course I practiced. I got up to practice at the hour of yin, and I practiced yesterday afternoon and night too. I'll be roaming jianghu with a sword in future! I feel like my arms have become thick and strong already." As he spoke, he compared his arms before Wang Hong. His arms were the same as ever of course, it was just Younger Brother's illusion. The Eight Fundamental Martial Practice Methods created a sensation of inflated vigor after completion.

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