After ten days, half of the people was already eliminated. After two months, there might not be even half of that number that could remain here.
Yet precisely after these ten days, those that were left were the ones not only with better tenacity and strength, but also displaying the initial fostering of military discipline. Although they were still not comparable with experienced soldiers, they demonstrated the early signs of being extremely promising.
One month later, the elimination rate had dropped drastically; there were still a hundred people who managed to stay.
"Three days later, all of you will be separated into ten small groups, and each group will be assigned to carry out a task. I shall then assess you and give the score, and the group with the lowest score will then be eliminated!" announced Xiao Yong Nian.
Everyone was startled by this, and even more so felt it somewhat unacceptable.
If I am being assigned to a group full of incompetent teammates, wouldn't I be affected and be doomed to fail as well? they thought.
"Heng, this is precisely a test of the unity and team spirit among your group. If a group can't even coordinate well among themselves, how could we even talk about joining into the army?" Xiao Yong Nian snorted. "I would rather choose a teammate with good rapport over one who is a lone hero!"
Ling Han secretly nodded. At that time, the cultivation of the hundred veteran soldiers that were headed by the Lunar King were only at the Deity Transformation Tier, yet the concerted efforts of these hundred people actually withstood the aftermath of a battle on the level of the Shattering Void Tier. What sheer terror.
This was the power of unity. Of course, this group of hundred people certainly must have used some kind of array to combine together their defensive strength; otherwise, that would also be something unimaginable.
How nice it would be if I was able to secretly learn this array, Ling Han thought to himself.
Their mission this time was to wipe out a group of bandits.
Actually, those bandits used to have legit and lawful businesses, and were the forces of a Deity Transformation Tier. As the army of the Purple Moon Empire swept across, the senior elder of the Deity Transformation Tier was slaughtered, yet others actually chose to surrender.
However, recently, the five great sects secretly instigated a rebellion among them. They entered into the complex mountainous area and became bandits, and time and again preyed upon the common people and wreaked havoc—naturally, they did so with the sole purpose of wrecking the power of nation of the Purple Moon Empire.
If there were strifes among the people, it would only bring about a negative impact on the power of the nation!
This kind of remnant party with only a few cultivators at the Spiritual Infant Tier was certainly not enough to make the Purple Moon Empire start a real war campaign; thus, it was being used as a training target for new recruits like them.
Frankly, even if that Deity Transformation Tier senior elder of this gang of bandits was still alive, Ling Han could also single-handedly crush them with ease. But, this time, for the sake of cultivating the teamplay within their group, Ling Han also did not intend to make any move to showcase his strength, and decided to honestly behave as per his "Flower Blossom" Tier.
They were being imparted with knowledge of an array that could fuse the strength of ten people, achieving a fifty percent power.
Don't think that it's merely fifty percent, For a cooperative attack, it had always been the more the people, the poorer the effect. Otherwise, as long as they were enough in number, wouldn't Body Refining Tier warriors also be able to kill Shattering Void Tier ones?
In reality, there was only the Heaven Tier elites who could rely on numbers to crush Shattering Void Tier opponents. For the Deity Transformation Tier, no matter how many, they were all only cannon fodder—imposing aura of the Shattering Void Tier was already enough to eliminate them.
Therefore, to retain half of all 10 people's strength could simply be said to be terrifying.
They only had three days' time. Three days later, they'd need to depend on this array to meet head on that gang of bandits. Allegedly, the numbers of the Spiritual Infant Tier were no less than four, exceeding the "two" of their hundred-man group.
Everyone was a mass of fear and trepidation, putting all efforts and going all out to cultivate; else, not only would they be eliminated, but they would also lose their lives.
Every group had their strongest person to act as the formation's eye, merging the strength of the other nine together and taking command. Ling Han's strength was the strongest, so he naturally served as his team's leader, taking up the duty of being the crux of the array.
The strength of every group was well-balanced. For instance, as to the formidable strength of two individual Spiritual Infant Tier, the teammates they were assigned in respect of holistic strength would need to be inferior to other groups'.
Without doubt, Zhu Xuan Er would not possibly be assigned to the same group with Ling Han; there was only a total of six cultivators at the Flower Blossom Tier and above, so, of course, they would all be split to each lead a separate group, while the rest of the other four groups didn't even have anyone at the Flower Blossom Tier to assume command.
But, they also did not have to confront anyone at the Spiritual Infant Tier, as there was a fixed task arranged for every group—those groups that were weak would be assigned to fend off random soldiers, and the results would not be affected because of this reason.
Three days later, they set out.
That gang of bandits was not far from them, only half a day's travel. Upon reaching the place, Xiao Yong Nian then commanded them to launch their attack.
It was also the first time Ling Han witnessed the styles of attack of the Purple Moon Empire. Before this, he was looking upon it from the perspective of the five great sects, but now, becoming a puny private of the Purple Moon Empire, he get to personally participate in it—the feeling was naturally different.
A group made up of ten people was practically all-conquering; now, after layering the strength of the ten and striking out with half their combined power, even the weakest group would possess the combat strength of the Flower Blossom Tier.
All the way, they advanced with an overpowering force, forcing out the four Spiritual Infant Tier elites of the bandits, which sparked a fierce battle.
Ling Han's performance was quite moderate as he merely elevated his battle prowess to roughly about two Battle Stars of the Spiritual Infant Tier, leading his nine teammates to engage the opponents.
The fight went on for close to three days. In the end, these bandits' forces were thoroughly wiped out. The armed forces also paid the price of seven killed in battle, while 18 were injured as well. Taking into account that there was altogether only a hundred of them, and moreover that the number of elites was much less, this combat success was practically amazing.
Even Ling Han also nodded in approval. This was definitely a typical example of a match where the weak defeated the strong. If he were to similarly lead such a large group of people to battle, unless he displayed his true prowess, it would only cause the whole troop to completely perish.
"Heng, seven people actually died!" Xiao Yong Nian's face was grim. "You lot are really too useless. Aamong these seven, three killed were in Gong Fei Yang's team, two killed were in Su Cheng Wen's team, and another two killed in Jian Qi Zheng's team. Don't think I have not noticed. Were it not for you lot coveting merits in extreme, would your teammates have died?"
Gong Fei Yang and Su Cheng Wen were both at the Spiritual Pedestal Tier. When they heard such words, they could only admit their faults—how would they dare to refute a Spiritual Infant Tier elite. But Jian Qi Zheng was actually that old man in the Spiritual Infant Tier, and he gave a snort, then retorted, "With the sacrifice of three Spiritual Ocean Tier cultivators, we have slain a Spiritual Infant Tier one. Don't tell me that it is not worth it?"
"What right do you have to decide who lives and who dies?" Xiao Yong Nian's expression darkened. "On this battlefield, teammates are your sole support, and you actually treat them as chess pieces that can be sacrificed? Who would have the confidence to trust their backs to the likes of you? Scram, you are dismissed."
"What?!" Jian Qi Zheng nearly jumped in a fit of anger. He was an impressive Spiritual Infant Tier elite, entirely worthy of being the number one ace in this training camp! To actually be dismissed now… How did you expect him to accept it?
He swept his sleeves out, and remarked, "Want me to leave? Also fine, hand over a complete Eighth Tier cultivation technique! You think I am willing to suffer here?"
All cultivators fought alone, hence they were used to living in an unconstrained manner. Many naturally could not adapt to the lifestyle of a military camp.
Xiao Yong Nian laughed with a sneer, and countered, "You did not even pass through the New Recruit Training, yet still want to ask for cultivation techniques?"
"Are you referring to me?" Jian Qi Zheng said thickly. "If you don't hand out the cultivation technique, I shall then slaughter every single one of you!" He then drew forth a black-colored sword, which looked just like an evil blade—there was already a dark aura twining around the sword's blade, looking incomparably frightening.