Myriad Rivers to the Sea

Chapter 907: Burden of Pain and Voluntary Defeat

The two hour rest period expired with the mechanical precision characteristic of the military camp. The heavy iron gates of the premium courtyard swung open as Li Yu stepped back out into the dusty air. He felt physically restored but his mind remained heavily guarded.He navigated the packed dirt thoroughfares of the camp and headed back toward the central plaza.

The five hundred recruits were already gathering around the towering stone pillars. The atmosphere was notably different from the morning session. The initial energy that had defined the group during their arrival had been thoroughly ground away by the gravity array. Many walked with stiff strides. Others quietly rubbed their aching joints while trying to project an aura of unbothered strength.

Some of the gazes of the crowd drifted toward Li Yu as he took his position near the rear of the formation. The previous hostility had evaporated and it was replaced by a calculating wariness. Nobody wanted to invite disaster by provoking him.

Li Yu looked up at the raised stone platform and found that Lei Gang was not standing at the podium. Instead, the mountain of a man was positioned near the edge of the instructor quarters. His presence completely faded from the sensory perception of the recruits as he was hiding his aura to observe the session from a distance without interfering.

A new figure stepped onto the platform.

The new instructor was a tall woman who carried an incredibly dense physical presence. Her dark leather armor was tightly bound across a frame defined by corded and heavy muscles. Her shoulders were broad and her arms were mapped with the thick lines of a seasoned warrior who practiced body tempering to a high level. Her long dark hair was tied back in a severe topknot and her sharp amber eyes scanned the five hundred recruits with absolute disdain.

"My name is Instructor Rasha." Her voice cut through the howling wind like a snapping whip. It lacked the gravelly rumble of Lei Gang but possessed a piercing metallic clarity that made the air vibrate. "The chief instructor handled your stamina. I handle your resilience. This army has no use for warriors who can run forever but shatter the moment a blade touches their skin."

She clapped her hands together with a sharp concussive force that sent a small shockwave across the dirt plaza.

"Today we begin the Iron Skin Defiance drill." Rasha announced. "There are no winners or losers here as well. There is no ranking board for this session. This session, like the one this morning, is purely for your own benefit. The longer you last the more your benefits will become. You will endure for as long as your body allows. You are here to toughen your flesh and harden your bones against real impact."

She raised her hand and gestured toward the perimeter of the platform.

A series of spatial ripples broke out across the plaza and hundreds of heavy, metallic training dummies materialized from the void. They slid into position until one stood directly in front of each individual recruit. The dummies were forged from a dark and lustrous iron alloy. They lacked facial features but their solid limbs were carved with intricate martial arrays that pulsed with a dull crimson light.

Li Yu looked closely at the construct directly in front of him. He could feel the internal matrix of the doll scanning his baseline energy. The dummy was dynamically adjusting its internal mechanism to perfectly match his specific cultivation realm. The attacks it delivered would carry the force of a cultivator at his level.

"The rules are simple." Instructor Rasha walked along the edge of the platform while her hands were tucked behind her back. "You will stand in your designated circle. You are strictly forbidden from utilizing external Qi shields. You cannot deploy spiritual domains. You cannot use defensive talismans. You cannot dodge the strikes. You cannot evade the impact."

The recruits looked at the iron constructs with varying degrees of apprehension upon hearing those words. It nearly meant that they could not do anything at all.

"You may use only internal Qi reinforcement to fortify your muscles and bones from within." Rasha continued while her voice grew cold. "You are permitted to use your arms and legs to block the incoming blows. Nothing else. You will stand your ground and you will absorb the punishment until your vessel can take no more. If you step out of the circle or collapse, the array will teleport you to the medical pavilion. Now activate your internal reserves!"

The metallic training dummies hummed to life simultaneously. The dull crimson arrays carved into their iron chests flared with sudden intensity.

Li Yu took a deep martial stance within his circle and prepared his internal energy. He began to circulate his Qi through his meridians as he focused the energy entirely within his flesh and bones to create a dense internal cushion against impact. But as he waited for the first blow a sense of skepticism began to root itself in his mind.

He looked around at the mechanical constructs and the shouting instructor. He began to think this entire training camp was an elaborate scam. He had crawled his way through the myriad realms by relying entirely on his own wits and luck. He was a self taught warrior who had figured things out through experience.

Li Yu wanted to come here because he believed he would receive proper martial guidance. He had expected to learn advanced cultivation insights, supreme fighting techniques and refined weapon forms from ancient masters.

Instead, the first test of the morning had simply been a mindless endurance run under a gravity array. Now the second test of the afternoon was an invitation to stand completely still and get systematically beaten until his body gave out.

Neither of these things felt like actual guidance to him. It felt like abuse masquerading as elite education. Anyone could turn on a gravity array or command a machine to strike a stationary target. There was no artistry in it. There was no profound Dao being transmitted through the iron limbs of a machine.

Li Yu frowned deeply while his internal thoughts raced. He forced down his rising frustration and tried to rationalize the situation. He convinced himself that this must simply be a preliminary phase.

The legion was likely using these brutal and simplistic methods to thoroughly toughen up the recruits and weed out the weak elements before the real guidance arrived. He decided to play along for now to see what lay beyond this initial crucible.

The training dummies began to move.

The construct in front of Li Yu stepped forward with mechanical precision and its iron arm cut through the air with a heavy whistling sound. It delivered a direct and straight punch aimed squarely at his chest.

Li Yu did not dodge because it was against the rules. He brought his left forearm up in a swift arc to intercept the strike.

The impact was deafening. The sound of solid iron crashing against reinforced flesh echoed across the plaza like a strike on a temple bell. The force of the blow traveled up Li Yu's arm, rattling his elbow and vibrating through his shoulder blade. The pain of the impact was real as it stung his skin and sent a throbbing ache deep into his muscles.

Before he could reset his stance, the dummy's opposite arm snapped forward with a brutal hook aimed at his ribs. Li Yu shifted his weight and brought his right elbow down to block the blow.

Another heavy thud shook his frame.

All across the wide plaza, the sounds of systematic violence erupted into a chaotic symphony. Five hundred iron dummies were delivering relentless and unyielding combinations of strikes.

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The recruits could only use their limbs to block the continuous assault. They were trapped in their small circles and were forced to absorb the momentum of machines calibrated to match their exact strength to the best of their ability.

The weaker recruits or those that weren’t used to taking a beating began to fail almost immediately. Many of them hailed from vassal clans where they had relied almost exclusively on external Qi barriers or complex movement techniques. They had never properly conditioned their physical vessels to handle direct and unmitigated trauma. These people were not weak by any means but they didn’t have the bodies for this.

Within the first ten minutes, several recruits let out agonizing cries as their forearms fractured under the relentless iron fists. The moment their defense broke and their bodies stumbled out of the designated circles, the silver arrays flashed. They were instantly teleported away to the medical pavilion to have their bones mended.

The plaza grew emptier with every passing minute. The remaining recruits were forced to think of different things to distract their minds from the escalating agony. Some focused on ancestral mantras while others focused on their burning desire for promotion within the legion. To make a name for themselves here and return as a hero to their clan.

Near the front of the formation, Vennia stood firmly within her circle. Her dark eyes were bloodshot and her teeth were ground together so tightly they audibly creaked. Her forearms were already covered in purple contusions from blocking the machine's relentless straight punches. Her vassal clan practiced a specialized internal hardening technique that allowed her to cycle her energy to help endure.

Despite the throbbing agony in her limbs, her mind remained hyper focused on a single task. Every once in a while she would take a peek at Li Yu.

She had been bested by his performance during the morning run. She had pushed herself to the verge of skeletal collapse just to take a single step while he had stood upright like an immovable monument. She was determined to outlast him this time even though that wasn’t the point. She wanted to prove that her centuries of systematic body tempering were superior to his.

'Stand still you pampered bastard.' Vennia thought while she brought her bruised shins up to block a low sweeping kick from her dummy. 'Let us see how your noble blood handles a true and unmitigated beating.'

A short distance away Zhan Mingyu absorbed the punishment with absolute stoicism. He was like a monk standing in the wind. The prominent talent of the main Zhan Clan did not even block most of the strikes with his arms.

He stood with his chest squared and was allowing the iron dummy to land direct blows against his sternum and shoulders. His skin had turned a deep bronze color as his internal Qi reinforced his muscle fibers. The main clan was built on the foundation of physical supremacy and this exact type of body tempering was something he had undergone since childhood.

Like Vennia, Mingyu kept his eyes on Li Yu every now and again. He had recognized the newcomer as a potential peer during the morning endurance run even though it was too early to tell. He wanted to see how the boy's foundation responded to impact.

'His vessel is incredibly dense.' Mingyu noted internally as he watched Li Yu block a heavy overhead strike. 'But his movements are wrong. He is fighting his own instincts.'

Mingyu's analysis was entirely correct. Li Yu was not doing well during this drill. His physical body was undeniably tough due to his physique. His bones could handle the structural load and his muscles were fully capable of absorbing the kinetic force without tearing. But his combat philosophy was fundamentally incompatible with this exercise.

Li Yu was a relatively agile fighter. He was a warrior who had survived by utilizing fluid movement, exceptional footwork and precise evasion. His staff techniques were designed to deflect incoming force, slide past defenses and strike from unexpected angles. If all of that failed he would overwhelm his opponents with his power. He had spent his entire life training his mind and his reflexes to never take a direct hit if he could avoid it.

Being forced to stand completely still within a tiny circle and willingly allow a metal construct to smack him repeatedly was absolute torture for his reflexes.

Every time the dummy swung, his body instinctively tried to slip to the side or parry the blow away into the empty air. Forcing himself to suppress those hardwired survival instincts required an immense amount of mental energy.

Furthermore, while his body was durable, he had never actively trained his mind to simply endure the dull and repetitive pain of a systematic beating. The continuous throbbing in his forearms and shins was incredibly irritating. It was a grating sensation that offered absolutely no tactical value or intellectual stimulation.

His mind drifted to the few times that he had been beaten so badly. The first thought that came to mind was Zephyr when that damn old man had beaten him nearly to death. The second time was when he was nearly killed within the third layer of the void, dodging the hand that he would later learn was Xerxis.

Li Yu hated both events and did not like to just endure pain. He endured pain in combat because he had to, to endure it now seemed completely useless.

The dummy stepped forward again and delivered a rapid three hit combination. Li Yu blocked the first two with his forearms but his timing was slightly off due to his internal annoyance. The third iron fist slipped past his guard and slammed heavily into his shoulder blade.

The impact sent a sharp jolt of pain down his back. Li Yu staggered slightly but maintained his footing within the circle. He reset his guard and blocked the next strike but his mind had reached its limit.

He looked at the iron dummy. He looked up at Instructor Rasha who was screaming at a recruit who had dared to quit. He thought about the remaining hours of the afternoon.

'This is completely pointless.' Li Yu decided internally. While he understood the reasoning they were using, he didn’t feel like the result was worth it at all.

His physical vessel was still perfectly intact. His bones were nowhere near breaking and his internal Qi reserves were plenty. He had the physical capacity to stand in that circle for much longer if he truly wanted to push himself.

But mentally he simply refused to endure the punishment any longer. He saw absolutely no reason to participate in an exercise that he considered to be unguided abuse. If the camp was going to withhold actual technique instruction and simply focus on stationary beatings he had no interest in participating.

The dummy swung a heavy right cross aimed at his jaw and he took a deliberate step backward. His boot crossed the white line of the designated circle. The array wove around his body instantly as the silver light flared and Li Yu vanished from the central plaza before the iron fist could connect with his face.

He materialized a second later on the smooth stone floor of the camp plaza near the exit line. He was roughly the fifteenth person to get taken out of the entire group of five hundred.

Up on the platform Vennia witnessed the silver flash take Li Yu away and her eyes widened in a mixture of sudden shock and immense triumph. A ragged and breathless laugh escaped her bleeding lips as she blocked another heavy strike from her construct.

'He quit!' Vennia screamed in her mind while her heart hammered with pure elation. It was the confirmation she had wanted, he was unworthy. 'The monster from the morning run is a coward! He cannot handle the raw pain! He lacks the iron will of a true warrior!'

Zhan Mingyu watched the spot where Li Yu had been standing and a subtle look of disappointment crossed the main clan talent's bronze face. He had expected the newcomer to push him to the absolute limit and then even further.

Seeing the boy exit the drill so early brought a sudden sense of relief to his own pride but it also made him reevaluate Li Yu's true potential. Down in the shadows, Lei Gang watched the entire sequence with his sharp eyes narrowed.

The chief instructor had not missed a single detail. He had seen the exact moment Li Yu stepped out on purpose. He had noted the calm and unhurried precision with which the boy had stepped out of the circle.

As a seasoned veteran who had trained thousands of soldiers, Lei Gang knew exactly what a failing body looked like. Li Yu's breathing had been steady, his muscle had shown no signs of structural failure and his internal energy had been perfectly stable.

The boy had not been beaten out of the array. He had simply chosen to quit because he was bored, annoyed or couldn’t take the pain. Lei Gang rubbed his scarred chin and let out a quiet sigh. He felt a massive headache returning to full force.

'The kid has one of the greatest physical vessels I have ever seen in a thirty year old.' Lei Gang thought while cursing his own luck internally. 'But he has the mindset of a wild rogue. He does not understand the value of body tempering. He needs to get beaten up properly until his flesh is the strongest. How in the world did he get such a body without undergoing such things?!.'

He faced an incredibly tough situation now. He knew Li Yu possessed the potential to become something truly terrifying if he was pushed through the pain. Lei Gang's own martial heart desperately wanted to force the boy into the grinder to see exactly how far he could go.

But then the image of Zhan Tielan's chilling glare flashed through his mind.

She had explicitly stated that if her son suffered unnecessarily or lacked anything he needed, he would be severely punished. If Lei Gang ordered the other instructors to target Li Yu or forced him into specialized beating drills to break his habit of quitting, he would be directly causing the boy to suffer. If word somehow reached his mother or if his mother was spying Lei Gang would pay the price in blood.

Lei Gang couldn’t help but look around him, as if she was there watching from somewhere.

The chief instructor stood in the shadows and groaned quietly to himself. He was caught between his duty as a master craftsman. He wanted to forge this unpolished stone in a great warhammer but it was weighed down by his need to survive the wrath of a fierce commander. He watched Li Yu turn and walk calmly away toward the barracks and he knew he had to find a way to trick the boy into enduring the punishment willingly.