Cultivation Online

”Now that I am in the military... what am I supposed to do next? How do I gain more credentials?” Yuan asked.

”Although you’ve passed the recruitment, you’re technically still not a soldier—at least not until the ceremony and you receive your insignia. Once you become a soldier, your credentials will automatically increase as you increase your rank and gain merits,” said Mei Feng.

”When is the ceremony?”

”In a week. Until then, you will need to take some classes, which will tell you more about our world.”

”Does that mean you believe my true origins?” Yuan asked with a smile.

”I think your existence is otherworldly, and I will leave it at that,” she calmly replied.

”Good enough, I guess.”

”Now, about which division you’ll be joining... I command the First to the Fourth Division, so you can join any of these four. General Gu commands the Fifth to Eighth Division, so keep that in mind when you meet soldiers from his division.”

”Speaking of General Gu... Do you think he’ll give up on trying to recruit me? Or rather, will he stop trying to kill me because I refused to join his division? He clearly intends to and has already attempted to kill me because of it,” Yuan asked.

”...”

After a moment of silence, Mei Feng responded in a weird tone, ”As much as I want to assure you of your safety, I cannot do that with a clear conscience. However, I will try my best to get General Gu off your back. I will also have a few people guard you for the time being.”

”Thanks.”

”It’s too early to thank me,” she sighed. ”But if you really want to thank someone, you can thank the one who saved you.”

”I would if I could. Where did she go? She left before I could thank her,” Yuan said.

”She’s a busy woman, but I’m sure you’ll get to meet her again soon.”

”I’m sure we will...”

”In any case, a nurse will be coming to check on you soon.”

”I’m fine, though.”

”That’s for the nurse to decide.”

”We’ll talk more later,” Mei Feng said to him before leaving the room.

A few moments later, the door opened again, and Mei Xiaoyun entered the room.

”My mother left, but she told me to stay with you until your nurse and bodyguards show up,” she said before Yuan could speak up.

”To think I’d need bodyguards the moment I joined the military. This place is pretty messed up for somewhere that’s supposed to be orderly.” Yuan shook his head with a bittersweet smile.

”It wasn’t always like this...” Mei Xiaoyun sighed.

”Let me guess. It all started after General Gu appeared.”

”Not just General Gu. The Gu Family in general. They are one of the most powerful families in the world, with authority and reach in nearly every corner of the world. They started in the business scene, but I guess they weren’t satisfied with whatever they had and wanted to control the military, too.”

”Is that so?”

A few minutes later, the nurse arrived at the room and started examining Yuan’s body.

”Huh? I heard you were struck quite heavily during the recruitment, but there don’t seem to be any injuries on your body,” remarked the nurse, looking confused by the situation.

”They were exaggerating,” Yuan said with a calm smile.

”Well... as long as you’re fine, but just in case, let me double-check.”

The nurse proceeded to examine Yuan again. Once she was certain that he was not hurt, she signed out and left the room.

”I heard we need to take classes until our ceremony next week.”

Mei Xiaoyun nodded and said, ”The classes will start tomorrow. They briefed us after you were taken away, and they said that we’ll be assigned to our own residents later today.”

Some time later, someone knocked on the door.

”Is Corporal Yuan inside?” A voice questioned from outside.

”I am. Did Mei—General Mei send you here?” Yuan asked.

”Indeed.”

”Come inside.”

The next moment, two soldiers entered the room.

Yuan raised an eyebrow after seeing these two soldiers. One of them was a man who looked like Hong Xiuquan, and the other was a woman who resembled Wang Bingbing.

”I’m Sergeant Quang.”

”Sergeant Bing. We were assigned to be your bodyguard by General Mei.”

”Nice to meet you,” Yuan said.

”I don’t know who you are, but you must be fairly important to General Mei if she made two Elite Soldiers guard you,” said Sergeant Bing.

”Did you not watch the recruitment?” Sergeant Quang asked her with raised eyebrows.

”No.”

”This guy’s the top performer. Not only that, but he broke every single record held by the Ironwoman.”

”What?! That’s impossible!” Sergeant Bing exclaimed in disbelief before turning to stare at Yuan with wide eyes.

”Ironwoman?” Yuan inquired.

”The woman who saved you. That’s what we all call her since we don’t know her actual name.”

”Huh? You don’t know her name? That’s possible in the military?” Mei Xiaoyun remarked, surprised.

”It’s possible to hide your identity in the military if you have enough influence,” said Sergeant Bing, and she continued, ”So she’s definitely from a powerful family.”

”And the military is fine with that?” Yuan asked.

Sergeant Quang shrugged and said, ”Nobody cares as long as she does her duties as a soldier. And it’s not like nobody knows her identity. The higher-ups are aware, and that’s all that really matters.”

”Anyway, are you okay? Can you leave the infirmary yet?”

Yuan nodded. ”The nurse said I can leave whenever.”

”Then we’ll take you to your living quarters.”

Sergeant Bing looked at Mei Xiaoyun and added, ”General Mei also told us to show you your living quarters.”

”Okay...”

While Yuan and Mei Xiaoyun followed Sergeant Bing and Sergeant Quang to their living quarters, Mei Feng approached a room that was guarded by two soldiers.

”General Mei, what are you doing—”

”Scram,” she interrupted. ”I have some business with General Gu.”

”I’m afraid that’s not—”

Before the soldier could even finish his sentence, Mei Feng grabbed him by the collar and tossed him to the other end of the hallway.

”What do you think you’re—?!”

The other soldier reacted instinctively and reached for her, but instantly froze when Mei Feng’s gaze shifted to him.

”E-Even if you’re the General, you can’t be doing this...”

”And what are you going to do? Report me to the higher-ups?”

”...”

The soldier became speechless.

Suddenly, General Gu’s voice resounded from inside the room.

”Let her in,” he said.

Without another word, Mei Feng walked past the soldiers and entered the room.

At the other end, General Gu was calmly sitting behind his desk.

”You’re here much faster than I anticipated,” he calmly said.

”If you knew that I would come here, then you must also know why I am here,” she said.

”I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

”Let’s cut the bullshit. You tried to kill my recruit because you couldn’t get your hands on him.” Mei Feng narrowed her eyes at him.

”That’s a serious accusation, General Mei. Do you have any proof? I admit my nephew went a little overboard during the match, but he believed that level of force was necessary to teach such an anomaly a lesson. Moreover, nothing he did was against the rules, and that includes wielding Limitless.”

Mei Feng sneered in disdain before responding, ”You can spew all the bullshit you want, but if anything happens to my recruit, I will not just come for you, but your entire family.”

”...”

A stunned look appeared on General Gu’s face for a moment before he burst out laughing.

”Are you really threatening me... my family? What can you possibly do to me with your puny little family, let alone my empire? You may be a General, but you have no power outside of the military!”

”Is that what you truly believe?” Mei Feng chuckled. ”In that case, you know less about me than I thought. How surprising.”

The smile on General Gu’s face quickly faded, replaced by a frown. However, before he could say anything, Mei Feng continued, ”You may bear the same rank as me, but you’re nowhere near being my equal, General Gu—not that I need to tell you, since I’m sure you’re already aware of this.”

”What did you say, you fucking bitch?!” General Gu slammed his desk as he stood up in anger.

Mei Feng burst out laughing at his reaction. ”Don’t tell me you actually believe you’re my equal. Without your family’s influence, I doubt you would have even reached the rank of Major, let alone General!”

”Still, you’re free to prove me wrong. Instead of trying to steal my recruits, go find your own. If your Gu Family is truly as almighty as you claim, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a few decent talents.”

”That’s all I have to say to you today.”

With that, Mei Feng turned and walked toward the door. Just before opening it, she added, ”I won’t warn you again. If I find out you’re going after Yuan again, I’ll end you.”

Once Mei Feng left, General Gu sat back down with a sinister expression on his face.

”There are plenty of ways to kill someone and make it appear to be an accident...” he mumbled to himself. ”I will make you regret threatening and belittling me today, Mei Feng!”

Meanwhile, Yuan and Mei Xiaoyun arrived at their living quarters.

”Normally, new recruits will live at the barracks and share rooms with several others, but as a Corporal and the top performer in the recruitment, you get to live in the same area as the Sergeants and have a building all to yourself,” said Sergeant Quang.

”I’m not a Corporal, though,” Mei Xiaoyun said.

”No, but you’re General Mei’s daughter,” said Sergeant Bing.

”I never asked for special treatment.” Mei Xiaoyun frowned.

Sergeant Bing shrugged.

”If you have any complaints, feel free to take them up with your mother. She was the one who arranged your living quarters.”

”...”