Chapter 40: Genius Camp
Xue Wei would not allow his enemy to get back up, so he advanced again. After every single clash, the sheer power of their clash would force him back. However, by relying on the Forbidden Rush and his boosted speed, Xue Wei would quickly come to a stop and be able to advance again.
He threw out one attack after another with the sword in his hand, but he dared not use the Sacrificial Stab wantonly anymore as he knew that he could not kill the third layer Earth Warrior that easily. Furthermore, if he used the Sacrificial Stab too many times, he would use up all his energy and would become spent and easy to crush.
Xue Wei continued to attack with the sword form of his profound technique Inner Might, but he frowned as he felt that although his regeneration and absorption speed of Qi had multiplied by many times due to the Sacrificial Stab, he was not restoring enough Qi to continue using the Qi sword for much longer.
"I have to bet it on this," Xue Wei frowned as he retreated another hundred meters from the third layer Earth Warrior bandit. He then stomped hard on the ground as he advanced at a rapid speed.
He once more used the sword to make three attacks at the bandit to occupy him, but he made his strikes softer than before so that he would not be thrown back by the rebound.
Instead, he continued forward and was almost standing right in front of the bandit.
This bandit used a spear. Although he was somewhat decent at using it in ranged attacks, his melee lacked sorely. He lifted the spear to protect himself, but he was too late.
A rock-like palm suddenly soared and steered right towards the bandit"s head. The spear was too far away and the bandit"s reaction time was slow, so he did not manage to raise the spear in time. The palm landed on his right temple.
A crack could be heard as the palm continued in through skin and bone and embedded itself within the bandit’s head.
The bandit’s eyes were filled with disbelief, and Xue Wei retreated as fast as he could. While the bandit had not raised his spear in time to protect himself, Xue Wei had still acquired a wound in the exchange; the spear grazed his chest and caused his blood-soaked clothes to be shredded apart as a gash appeared on his chest.
Blood welled out, but Xue Wei used his remaining Qi to stop the blood flow. He knew that he should have asked Manager Su to bring some herbs for him. Had he had a Rising Mountain Dewflower, he would have been able to heal the wound in no time.
Xue Wei sighed, but he then noticed that the entire area was silent. There were no sounds of battle that could be heard anymore and no one was trying to rush towards him to kill him even though he was wounded.
He looked around him and found that all the bandits were dead and that the guards from Tiankong City alongside the other youngsters had created a ring around him and the now deceased bandit.
"Not bad kid!" the captain suddenly called out. "Although I imagine you used some ability to boost your strength, you still managed to kill an expert at a realm above you – and not even in the first but the third layer! This is an achievement you can be proud of; it seems that you might be able to make it into the genius camp at the recruitment camp."
"We only have a few people who make it into the genius camp every year, so if you make it, it will become a great honor for your family and friends. You should aim for the genius camp! In there, you get more resources, better skills, and more training."
"I thank Captain for the pointers," Xue Wei said politely as he cupped his hands. Blood had splashed all over him, and he looked ferocious and dangerous as he stood there with blood all over him, as even streaks of blood could be seen on his face.
"You are a fierce warrior. Although some of these other youngsters fear you, you are the kind of warrior that can become a peerless Primordial Beast Hunter! You fight with your life on the line, going to the edge of the abyss, and keep struggling! You do not turn back in the face of a challenge. You are indeed a true warrior!"
Hearing all this praise, Xue Wei felt slightly awkward. He could not help but rub his nose slightly as a small smile appeared on his lips. He had never before received such praise from anyone other than his uncle on those occasions when he had cooked for him, so he was slightly embarra.s.sed by it.
"Senior, I wonder if you can tell me more about the genius camp," Xue Wei asked as he started stripping off his clothes, and found some clean clothes in the bag that Manager Su had given him. Fortunately, he had at least ten sets of clothes, so even though some of them got destroyed, he would not have to walk naked.
"Join me at the front," the captain said as they started moving again. "I will tell you about the genius camp."
Xue Wei quickly changed his clothes and tossed the old ones on the battle-ravaged ground before he promptly made his way to the front of the entourage.
The captain was waiting for him, and a position to the right of the captain had been prepared for him.
As they started to move again, the captain began to explain. "The army obviously consists of soldiers, but the soldiers have different ranks depending on their strength. Although Tiankong City is one of the major cities of the Kingdom of Heping, it is not the biggest, and our geniuses are not the most outstanding."
"Those geniuses that come from the capital are able to reach the strength of an Earth Warrior before they make it to the army fields. As a result, almost all the spots in the genius camp goes to them."
"The Genius Camp is a camp where the experts are gathered. They get special training from Primordial Beast Hunters, and they get more cultivation resources than others. They get a lot of privileges."
"When it is time to make the groups that go to the front line, they will make a battalion on their own. This battalion will consist of five hundred experts, as that is how many are allowed in the Genius Camp."
"They will be sent to deal with the most dangerous tasks, but they will also be hunting together with Primordial Beast Hunters, as they will be the true elite."
"Everyone wishes to make it into this battalion, but not many are able to do so. If you can do it, you will be a hero for the entire Tiankong City."
"I heard about your issues with the He, Jia, and Li families. If you enter the Genius Camp, your rank will be equivalent to the City Lord"s and they would not dare to do anything to you as doing something to you is the same as going against the kingdom itself."
"My guards and I will be waiting at the recruitment camp for a few weeks to ensure that everyone is settled in properly and bring back news of how the experts have been ranked since the n.o.bles would like to know about their ranks."
"Ranks?" Xue Wei asked. He had never gotten too much information about the recruitment camp from Manager Su since it was a long time since Manager Su had been in the army and was unaware of how things were now.
"They are not only ranked in the genius camp and then everyone else. The experts are divided up among nine ranks, according to their rank. A one layered Ordinary Warrior will be ranked in the ninth rank; second layer ordinary warrior will be in the eight rank, and so on."
"The higher rank you have, the more items you will get and the easier it will become for you to raise your strength."
"You will be at the recruitment camp for a year. From the time you arrive until the next batch of recruits arrive, the recruitment camp will be your home."
"While you are at the recruitment camp, you have to fight tooth and nail for cultivation resources. Your cultivation speed will be fast because many of the items you can"t get in Tiankong City are available for the recruits."
"We all know that the Kingdom of Heping is poor, but the army of Heping Kingdom is not that bad compared to some of the other kingdoms. This is because the majority of the taxes goes into ensuring that the recruits and armies are well fed and given access to cultivation resources."
"Fortunately, the Kingdom of Heping has only one danger zone, and that is the part of the Northern Taiga that is within our kingdom. Although some Primordial Beasts will venture into the area, they only live in the northern parts. And even though we have beast hordes all over, the likelihood of running into a Primordial Beast is rather small."
"Thank you, senior, for explaining things for me," Xue Wei said politely as he cupped his hands.
"It is my pleasure," the captain said with laughter. "I believe that helping you now will be beneficial for me in the long run; you cannot become someone who is able to slay a third layer Earth Warrior while still being a ninth layer Ordinary Warrior by being average."
"I am flattered," Xue Wei said with an embarra.s.sed smile on his face as he rubbed his nose, and he genuinely was flattered. This captain had been in Tiankong City for a long time and knew about Xue Wei"s history, but he still seemed to have a very favorable opinion on him.
"Well then, back into the group with you," the captain smiled as he continued to move forward. The entire group was surrounded by guards to protect them, and those that were on the outside of the guard line were in much more danger.
Xue Wei did not hesitate and rushed into the group of youngsters. On the way, he could not help but chuckle.
The strongest n.o.ble-born children were marching right behind the captain; their ears stretched to hear everything that the captain and Xue Wei had been talking about.
The further into the group that Xue Wei went, the weaker the experts became. It was clear that many had not known about the ranking of the recruits either, nor about the genius camp.
Even though Li Jian"s face was ugly when he overheard the fact that Xue Wei seemed to have the strength to enter the Genius Camp,a sinister smile still appeared on his lips. "I made a deal with that woman – she will ensure that he does not get to the recruitment camp alive!"
Li Jian was not stupid. For a giant Sand Snake to attack them when they were still in the desert proved that she was doing her best to kill Xue Wei, but Xue Wei had much better combat ability than expected. It would be hard to kill him with the means she had tried so far.
The other youngsters had a wistful expression on their faces as they dreamed of being able to join the Genius Camp. Especially Shen Mu and Luo Zhirou were eager to partic.i.p.ate when they heard about the extra benefits one would get, and they were lost in their reverie for a bit while marching on.