"Sorry I'm late, Commander…"
I look over at Luo Chao, who had just caught up to everyone else, taking his place in line next to me.
Peace… Think peace…
Unable to hold back a small amount of anger, I step on Luo Chao's toes, making him both yelp and unintentionally hurl again.
"Luo Chao! Not my uniform now!" Su Cai scolds, the barf landing all over his pants.
"Su Cai, take Luo Chao back in and clean yourselves up. If he keeps throwing up, smack it all out of him."
"Y- Yes sir!"
With that, Su Cai takes his leave with Luo Chao, disappearing into the halls as our attention returns to Commander Gu Xing.
"Now, I want everyone to go through a simple course that'll balance out your basic foundation. I want 3 hours of Ki circulation, then 2 hours of footwork, then 2 hours of upper body exercise. Once you're all done with that, we'll take a one hour break with half an hour to eat after. Then you'll spend the entire afternoon sparring with each other."
"Y- Yes sir!"
Surprisingly, Commander Gu sits down with us as we begin our meditation. His energy is easy to feel, a cold chilling yin energy… Yet at the same time, it feels rough but clear, like a small stream being limited by a dam.
Ah… Enough of that… I need to focus on my own Qi… Unlike Commander Gu, most if not all men have Yang Ki, a rough ruthless Ki that generates much more power and energy.
The upper dantian, middle, and lower. These three dantians contain all of the Ki within a person's body, but if the three are mastered to a perfect balance, one unlocks the fourth dantian, the soul.
Each dantian represents a core of being human, mind, breath, body, and soul.
Right now, I've only got my lower dantian unlocked… I don't have enough Ki to break into the middle dantian and control its flow there anyways…
Letting out a sigh, I simply keep cycling my Ki, letting it slowly build up.
At this rate, I'll never be able to control my Ki…
Before I could get out another thought, I felt a cold hand behind my back, the Commander's Yin Energy seeping into me.
"Do not speak. I will only offer you a small portion of my Ki so as to not end up throwing your Ki off balance and crippling you. All you need to do is breathe."
The commander's Ki entered my body, starting in the middle dantian, flowing naturally down into my lower dantian, joining my own Ki in its circulation process.
"Breathe slowly… To the point it feels like you are no longer breathing… Imagine the Ki as water while you are a cup. Let it settle and rest, then you will expand yourself up into the middle dantian. Don't force it, let it happen naturally."
Making sure to follow the Commander's words, I found my middle dantian slowly being filled by Ki that I can control. A natural flow of Ki… This is what every warrior needs to have to be able to become a first rate warrior… And being able to control where it flows is what makes techniques happen.
Letting out a longer sigh, Commander Gu removes his hand from my back, stepping away and seemingly onto the next person.
My Ki feels much clearer, almost like the waves on a shore flowing in to create a tide.
"This was a technique I learned from the Sword Saint."
"Huh?! The Sword Saint?! Like from the Orthodox Faction? The one that Cheon Ma killed which started this whole war?"
Commander Gu sighed as he stood up, smacking the nearest person over the head. "Yes, the Orthodox Sword Saint. Now keep meditating everyone."
Returning back to our meditations, the next few hours run past by like a simple autumn breeze. From the last 3 hours of meditation, my body already feels much lighter, as if I were a feather floating upon a still lake.
"Next is footwork. I want everyone to attempt to climb the mountain to the east. Make it up at least half way if you want to eat today."
"Yes sir!"
Taking a single step, I had boosted far forwards without the intent to do so, the circulation and expansion of my Ki boosting my outer body. The same could have been said for everyone, because within an hour, the 11 division members had traveled 8km. The mountain itself was 17km high, but most of the west wall was nearly a 90 degree climb.
"Two hours left, make the most of it."
Qigong is scarce within the Demonic Sect as most of us either learnt a demonic teaching, found or had our own Masters, or simply learned on their own through text.
We all focused on power, strength, not speed or footwork.
By the end of the 3 hours, we had only made it up to the halfway point, some of us even failed and got injured.
"Upper body and core strength. Hand on a tree for two hours, for those confident, do pull ups."
"Yes sir!"
The first 20 or so minutes had passed and everything was fine, that was until Commander Gu started to do pull up on tree branches, which led to everyone doing the same. Some of us did them perfectly fine while others had trouble breathing which made them sound like monkeys crying out for help.
"You guys don't need to try, I don't want any monkeys learning martial arts."
The division bursted out laughing, all of us letting our grips loose to land on the floor.
"Stop laughing, go rest up and then we can have lunch."
Division 4 gets up from the floor, saluting Commander Gu before rushing into the halls to relax and rest, the rest of the day passing by like a blur.
By the rise of the moon, we were all in the baths, taking our time to let our muscles relax.
"Don't you think Commander Gu seems much more like an Orthodox member?"
Mo De shakes his head, "Not at all… If anything Commander Gu seems much more like a strategist. His philosophical ideals, his way of acting and how he sees power, it's almost like two conflicting sides."
Tossing a towel at Shen Yan I join the community bath, the warm water enveloping around my body as it settles in. "Really? I personally think he's just a kind person. He shared his Ki with us today, even going as far to train us to become stronger."
"That seems like it too… Ah, forget it… All this thinking about Commander Gu is making the water cold."
This would become our routine just as Commander Gu had promised. For an entire week we would only eat and train, all until we got dispatched for our first mission.
"Rescue the 3rd Division Commander from his hostage situation…"
"A stealth mission?"
"Not necessarily… But for now let's keep it like that. We leave in two days, we'll then spend two days scouting their base, got it?"
"Yes sir!"
"Good, get packing, and pack light."
The members of division 4 leave the meeting hall, returning to our dorms as we start to pack. Swords, daggers, throwing knives, masks, small snacks and medical equipment.
Cai You tosses me a talisman, "For communications, the mages provided less so we'll need to travel in groups of 4."
"Shit, are they cheaping out on us because they think we'll all die on the first mission?"
"Probably… You already know the survival rates for this squad."
"Well fucking shit, its not helping much."
Letting out a sigh, I toss myself onto bed, resting my eyes and body as tomorrow will be some of our last days.