Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Bang!

Bang!

”Three rings!”

”Seven rings!”

”Nine rings!”

…

On the training field, the heavy machine gun spouted flames from its muzzle, with targets five kilometers away either remaining still or shattering on the spot, only to be replaced by new ones.

”The fixed target test is over; next topic, single moving target!”

Instructor Zhang Dingjun’s words had just finished when Jiang Ding, holding a heavy machine gun weighing more than 200 kilograms, leaped up and ran quickly, aiming and shooting as he moved.

His feet were as swift as the wind, but his upper body was as immovable as a mountain.

Vajra Print!

Bang!

”Eight rings!”

…

”Next topic, dual moving targets!”

In Jiang Ding’s drone view, the targets five kilometers away started moving, S-maneuvering at the speed of a cultivator in the late stages of Qi refining, sometimes suddenly accelerating to several times their speed.

”Miss!”

”Miss!”

…

The miss rate increased sharply, though no surprise was evident in the gazes of teachers and classmates around.

Cultivators in the late stages of Qi refining typically have a Divine Sense range of 70 to 100 meters, meaning that without the aid of Engraved Restraint Invisible Characters, they would be detected at this distance and able to maneuver in advance.

But there were still methods to counter this.

The bullets from the heavy machine gun traveled at a speed of 1,254 meters per second, giving the cultivators in the late stage of Qi refining 0.5 to 0.8 seconds to react. As long as ten shots were fired in succession to create a barrage and blockade, it would be possible.

Hitting the target once would result in a score of eighty percent for that question; hitting it twice would yield a perfect score.

If you didn’t hit at all, the test would measure the average distance of ten bullets from the target, which was the most common scenario.

This was significant because, in most cases on the battlefield, cultivators in the Qi Practicing Phase would face encirclement by groups of ten to dozens of people targeting them simultaneously.

”Three rings!”

A hush fell over the surroundings.

”Damn!”

”Lucky bastard!”

Spectators like Li Junhao and Sun Xiao, awaiting their tests, cursed with envy.

Typically, an entire class of students would struggle to hit the target in the dual moving test; they could only distinguish themselves by the average distance of the bullets from the target.

”Get lost!”

Jiang Ding smiled, admitting that this time he had indeed been a bit lucky.

The mobility speed of late-stage Qi refining cultivators was too fast, with a Divine Sense that was overly sensitive, and shooting from five kilometers away, even a barrage as dense as a net would have difficulty hitting the target, with deviations of several tens to hundreds of meters being common.

And this was after they had restricted use of abilities like invisibility, flying, and earth or wood escaping techniques.

If it weren’t for military combat operations, which involved tools like Spirit sonar, and guidance from cultivators of equal rank, even groups of soldiers would have a hard time causing harm to a late-stage Qi refining cultivator.

Moreover, the manufacture of Magic Arts-Breaking Steel required extremely high industrial technology, and thus, it was difficult for Outer Realm Cultivators to produce low-cost bullets unaffected by Divine Sense. However, they could also create special type Magic Tools at great cost, with a range comparable to heavy machine guns and even more flexibility.

These special Magic Tool-wielding cultivators were rare, but they did exist.

In any case, even if mortals had the capability to harm Qi Practitioners, it didn’t mean they could be regarded as equals.

”Jiang Ding, your composite score for firearms testing is 35 points.”

Jiang Ding felt reassured.

That was quite good.

The total score for firearms was 60 points; one needed to operate a tank as a Qi Practitioner to score over 40 points, so 35 was considered a high score.

”Next candidate, Li Junhao.”

”Yes!”

Li Junhao, cradling a heavy machine gun, walked confidently into the shooting range.

Several minutes later.

Li Junhao returned with a gloomy face: ”Ah, it’s all over.”

Ha.

Jiang Ding glanced at him, releasing a sigh of relief.

That’s what you get for showing off during the academic exams!

After half the day had passed, Instructor Zhang Dingjun floated away, beginning tests for the students in the Qi Practicing Realm.

In the distance, the roar of tank engines and the thunder of artillery fire could be heard.

A moment of silence ensued.

Many glanced toward that direction, including Sun Xiao and Li Hu, who had reached Minor Completion of Internal Qi; complex emotions flickered across their faces.

Without truly exceptional talent or outstanding academic performance far above Qi Practicing students, it was virtually impossible to embark on the path of cultivation for those in the Inner Qi Realm.

Jiang Ding wasn’t concerned with these matters; he lifted a camouflage cloth, revealing a pile of bladed weapons beneath.

He picked up an unremarkable steel sword, its hilt resting comfortably in his palm, and instantly felt at peace, free from distracting thoughts.

He sat cross-legged with the sword at his waist.

A trace of Inner Qi flowed from the Lung Channel of Hand Taiyin, pouring into the most crucial ten meridians of the Pericardium Channel of Hand Jueyin, refining and nourishing them.

Two days went by, and the second main meridian, the Pericardium Channel of Hand Jueyin, had been largely refined, though progress was slightly slower than expected.

Jiang Ding had also figured out the reason after researching.

Meridians are not sealed spaces; when Inner Qi flows through the primary Lung Channel of Hand Taiyin of the first major meridians, it does not pass without impact. Instead, a small amount of Inner Energy seeps into the auxiliary meridians, which can also temper and nourish them to some extent.

”Right, let’s practice.”

Seeing this, other classmates woke up from their daze and also picked up their weapons to warm up, sharpening their blades just before the test, which would still gleam even if not bright.

As for someone like Jiang Ding, who nourishes his meridians with static exercises at any time and place, one must at least reach the Minor Completion of the ”Eagle Taking Off Technique” to do so.

Half an hour later,

Instructor Zhang Dingjun returned with fourteen students in the Inner Qi Realm, and upon seeing the entire floor bustling with students practicing, he couldn’t help but show a look of surprise.

”Now, let’s begin the cold weapons test.”

Zhang Dingjun said casually, ”The total score is 40, for the Inner Qi Realm levels, first place gets 25 points, second place 23 points, and so on, down to the lowest at 5 points.”

”The total score remains the same for the Qi Practicing Realm, with the first place getting 35 points, second place 33 points, and so forth, down to the lowest at 20 points.”

”Of course, due to limited conditions in Rongcheng City, this is a simplified test procedure,” Zhang Dingjun explained. ”In top-tier cities or during the College Entrance Exam, the method is to enter the Tai Xu Fantasy Realm in the educational network zone for battle, where the scores for first to last place differ.”

”Now let’s start with the Inner Qi Realm assessment.”

Zhang Dingjun pointed to Jiang Ding and said, ”Student Jiang Ding, as the first place in the Inner Qi Realm cold weapons assessment, does anyone dispute this or wish to challenge?”

The students looked at each other, feeling a bit unwilling, but none of them stepped forward.

Used to being outclassed in every cultivation class, they had no confidence in victory and thought it wiser to conserve their strength for a good ranking.

”I’ll do it, goddammit.”

Sun Xiao stepped forward with a single arm holding a shiny metallic long spear, sneering, ”My ’Sky Streaming Spear’ has already achieved Minor Completion. I refuse to believe...”

Clang!

Jiang Ding drew his sword halfway, and a faint white light emerged between the blades.

Inner Qi!

”Jiang Ding has broken through to the Inner Qi Realm?”

”Damn it! No wonder his heavy machine gun shooting scores have improved so much!”

The students buzzed with discussion, their curses filled with envy.

At this stage, there were only three Inner Qi Realm Martial Artists in the class, and counting Jiang Ding, that made four.

Of course, this was also related to the strong teaching staff at No.1 High School, who were adept in teaching both the Qi Practicing Phase and academic subjects. Many students with good martial dao aptitude chose Rongcheng No.7 High School, where the teachers included Xiantian Martial Artists who specialized in this area of teaching.

”...I don’t believe it... no... ”

Sun Xiao silently retracted his silver spear and retreated back into the crowd.

”Anyone else?”

Zhang Dingjun continued to ask, not surprised in the slightest.

After waiting for a while and seeing that no one responded, he went on, ”Second place in the Inner Qi Realm, Sun Xiao. Does anyone dispute this?”

”Yes!”

”I want to challenge.”

As soon as the words were spoken, Li Hu and Liu Meimei, two Inner Qi Realm Martial Artists, stood up without a trace of fear.

Sun Xiao’s expression turned even uglier as he took out his silver spear and approached the two.

In the clash of weapons, the outcome fluctuated, and even if there were occasional mistakes, the weapons hadn’t even touched the bulletproof vests before they were blocked by shields materialized by Zhang Dingjun’s thought, causing no injuries.

Standing with his sword, Jiang Ding quietly tempered and nourished his meridians.

The process was fast; the Inner Qi Realm battles ended quickly, with Sun Xiao winning second place, Li Hu third... and Li Junhao, unsurprisingly, came in last, securing the base score of 5 points.

”Qi Practicing Phase test.”

Zhang Dingjun pointed to Hua Bing, ”Student Hua Bing, at the Sixth Layer of Qi Practicing, as the first place in the Qi Practicing Realm cold weapons assessment, does anyone dispute this?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Wu Tianli.

He was at the Fifth Level of Qi Practicing and was the only one who could pose a threat to Hua Bing.

”I acknowledge it.”

Wu Tianli looked at Hua Bing, his voice gentle to the extreme; even a fool could understand his intention.

”So handsome...”

The girls around him immediately turned green with envy.

Hua Bing frowned slightly, her valiant and handsome face showing some displeasure.

I’m at the Sixth Layer of Qi Practicing, have a superior Magic Tool, and have been taught by a father at the Foundation Establishment Stage since childhood. It was as if this first place was something you were graciously granting me.

But she couldn’t say anything about it, and she was so frustrated.

”Student Hua Bing, please teach me.”

A Qi Practitioner at the Fourth Level stepped forward with an inkstone, which was the defensive Magic Tool favored by Xianmen cultivators. Moreover, sparring more with other cultivators, regardless of winning or losing, was always beneficial.

”Student Luo Feng, be careful.”

Hua Bing pointed with her sword, and a silver-shining Flying Sword flew out from nowhere, striking the inkstone firmly and forcing Luo Feng back several steps, then relentlessly, the Sword-light wove a fine net, rapidly wearing down the Spiritual Light on the inkstone.

Within a few breaths, Luo Feng staggered, retreating quickly, but still, the Silver Flying Sword found a gap, knocking the inkstone away and piercing the shield, coming to a stable stop at his chest.

”I’ve lost.”

Luo Feng exhaled a sigh, retrieving his inkstone.

Standing aside, Jiang Ding felt his whole body tense and his spine chill as soon as the Silver Flying Sword appeared.

The Flying Sword’s speed was not particularly fast, still far from the speed of sound, and one could barely keep up with its trajectory with their eyes, but it was too agile, too sharp!

As thoughts raced, the body simply couldn’t keep up, and in just one move, a head could be severed!

Following that, the dance of Sword-light and red silk, the Giant Shield Shielding, and the scattering of Spiritual Light went on, contrasting with the boisterous brawling of the muscular martial artists below the Inner Qi Realm. It was as if they inhabited an ethereal realm, the level of skill so high it was incomparable.

Only when the students of the first and second levels had their turn did Jiang Ding manage to regain a bit of confidence.

Their Flying Swords and Flying Knives were not much faster than arrows, nor were they that agile. If he could hit them repeatedly, he was confident he could dissipate the Divine Sense on their magic tools.

But there was nothing to be proud of.

Practicing Qi monks mainly focused on driving tanks and operating anti-aircraft machine guns, whereas cold weapons combat was just an elective hobby.