In a training room in the gym on an ordinary afternoon.
Jiang Xiao’s team had just finished sparring with Xing Lang’s team.
Under the guidance of Han Jiangxue, the Jiang Xiao’s team won “painstakingly”.
Although they were all students of the elite class, there was also a great difference between the top and last student.
Clearly, Jiang Xiao’s team was much stronger than the opposing team.
Although there seemed to be a fair exchange of strikes during the battle, especially with Xing Lang being the melee fighter, the final result was already decided.
Han Jiangxue practiced the formation changes and after numerous setbacks, she eventually won and obtained victory in the sparring match.
After the two parties rested for a while, Xing Lang left with his team. The stadium was large, and each team had its own separate training room. They were all there for the challenge.
Xing Lang, who was often like a big brother, was also particularly interesting. The first thing he said after he entered was, “We’re here to look for a difference.”
Clearly, everyone thought that the difference was in terms of star slots.
Han Jiangxue was extremely talented and she stood out from the crowd with 30 star slots. It was a fact that she was considered outstanding in the entire Beijiang Province.
On a deeper level, the difference could refer to their mentalities.
Behind every individual’s dream and effort put into it was a hidden story.
After Xing Lang’s team left, Jiang Xiao’s team of four were the only ones left in the training room.
“Get up, Xiaopi. Let’s practice swordsmanship,” said Xia Yan as she stood up, walked towards the wall, and stood against it while throwing the wooden sword at Jiang Xiao.
Recently, Xia Yan taught Jiang Xiao three different moves. According to her, there was a total of 9 moves in this type of swordsmanship. She would teach him the next three moves once she thought that he had perfected the move.
With a good foundation, Jiang Xiao could easily get used to the first three moves. Although the level of the Xia Family Swordsmanship in his Star Map was not upgraded, Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan were both very satisfied in general.
“The location of the Beijiang Province High School League has been announced,” Li Weiyi said after seeing no one else around.
“Huh? When?” Xia Yan asked in shock, gesturing for Jiang Xiao to continue practicing as he turned around to look at Li Weiyi.
Jiang Xiao pouted reluctantly. He had long gotten used to Xia Yan’s teaching habits. 200 forward lunges and basic movements like hacking, chopping, and stabbing were the standard rules.
It was not that Xia Yan had modified the steps for the sake of taking care of him. The basic movements had to be practiced together with the basic stance. If a move was practiced individually, it would take up plenty of time.
“Qingmei told me about it this afternoon.” Li Weiyi shook his head and smiled wryly. As an Awakened, he actually failed to get firsthand news and had to hear it from his girlfriend who had chanced upon it because she had been reading the posts on the official website of the Beijiang Province High School League.
“It’s already been announced? That’s so soon. What’s the date today?” Jiang Xiao asked while training. He asked, “Isn’t the Beijiang Province High School League supposed to start in mid-January next year? Why is the location announced two months in advance?”
“Because there is a change in location,” Li Weiyi answered helplessly.
“Arsenal…” Han Jiangxue said while holding onto her mobile phone. She frowned when she saw the name of the Dimensional Space.
“What? Arsenal?” Xia Yan was also a little stunned for a while. She did not question Han Jiangxue’s habit. It was a habit that had been subconsciously made by the team after several correct decisions that Han Jiangxue had made.
However, Xia Yan’s tone was proud and she was obviously doubting the decision made by the Beijiang Province and the higher education department.
“The Beijiang Province High School Leagues have always been held in the snowfield. What’s going on this year? Our school will choose to let the students go to the snowfield every year for training. That’s for us to adapt to the environment, isn’t it?” Xia Yan asked in disbelief.
As the greatest attraction of Beijiang Province, the snowfields contained plenty of creatures of other dimensions, which were mostly of Brass Quality and less dangerous. However, the environment there was also much harsher. Hence, it was an ideal destination for a test for the children.
Jiangbin High School would organize for the Year Three children to go to the snowfield for training every year, so as to allow them to get familiar with the snowfield and use their limited resources and time to prepare the children for the Beijiang Province High School League.
With a look of dissatisfaction, Xia Yan said, “Besides, where is the Arsenal? Can we enter?”
Han Jiangxue turned to look at her and said calmly, “The first of the team will gain a bonus of 10 points for the college entrance examination. We must go.”
Xia Yan scratched her hair in distress, and the look of worry and confusion on her face eventually turned into immense resentment and disgust.
Clearly, she was not pretending to be disgusted and was definitely repulsed by the Arsenal.
Every family had its woes.
Li Weiyi did not have any special feelings about the Arsenal, but ever since he returned from the snowfield, he had been feeling traumatized.
The trauma was not from the mercenary corps or the creatures of other dimensions but from his family.
Li Weiyi’s mother had never objected to Li Weiyi’s career choice nor supported it. She was merely concerned about her son.
Li Weiyi managed to become an Awakened, partly because he wanted to join that profession and also because he had great support from his father.
However, after the incident that happened in the snowfield, there seemed to be a change in Mrs. Li’s attitude.
Those who hadn’t experienced it in person could never imagine how distressed Mrs. Li felt when she waited painstakingly in Jiannan Village for a month. No one knew how much pain and torment she had experienced.
After she found out about the venue of the Beijiang Province High School League at noon, Mrs. Li sent Li Weiyi a message on WeChat.
Li Weiyi understood his mother too well. Perhaps, she was still feeling uncertain about her son’s choice and his safety.
It had been a long time since Mr. Li returned home and the silent support didn’t seem to be working well at the moment.
Li Qingmei was the most crucial factor. She was the future daughter-in-law that Mrs. Li wanted, so her attitude definitely had more influence than that of the team. However, she had also experienced a month of hell-like suffering while waiting for him.
Ever since they returned from the snowfield, Li Weiyi seemed to have already forgotten this matter as she smiled sweetly and never once mentioned about the arduous month that she had spent waiting. However, the only difference that Li Weiyi discovered was the fact that she had become much clingier.
The announcement of the venue of the competition could be the catalyst for everything this time.
Jiang Xiao, who was practicing his swordsmanship on the side, also secretly sighed. Although he didn’t pass in his academic subjects, he still knew about Arsenal rather well.
Well, at least, he knew some of the knowledge taught in books.
Arsenal.
Just the name made him feel like it was incredibly dangerous.
The environmental conditions there were much better than that of the snowfields, because it was filled with grass and greenery, and the temperature was just right. Hence, it was suitable for combat.
The creatures there were more diverse than snowfields and were of either Brass Quality or Silver Quality.
The thing that really made the Arsenal terrifying was… the fact that the creatures of other dimensions there were too much like humans.
White Ghoul Witches and White Ghouls had black faces and thick fur which were clear signs of them being monsters, regardless of how hard they tried to disguise themselves as humans.
However, the creatures of other dimensions in the Arsenal were too similar to humans in terms of appearance.
That was bad.
Especially for immature children, entering the Arsenal for training was not conducive to their physical and mental health.
Xia Yan was different from others. She and Han Jiangxue had been through thick and thin and experienced various life-and-death situations together. They even destroyed corpses together in front of Jiang Xiao.
They did not kill indiscriminately, but they would never fear to kill.
But then again, there was a limit to being dauntless.
Being dauntless did not mean that they enjoyed it.
Every shot they launched felt like slaughtering a fellow human being, and even a mentally sound person who had been doing it for a long time would definitely be affected emotionally.
Therefore, Xia Yan believed that the leaders who made that decision were all mentally retarded.