Chapter 54 We need to cry out, as if in greater misery! (2)

Although his past two days had been filled with much danger, he had at least gotten through it relatively unscathed. For now, the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Academy would not come after him, and as long as he kept a lower profile, there shouldn’t be any major problems. The most important thing now for him was to quickly purchase the various materials and ingredients for him to continue creating Consolidating Equipment Scrolls. After all, these scrolls were just pure profit, and he needed to keep earning as much as he could so that he had the finances when he eventually returned to the Heavenly Bow Empire.

The other reason why Zhou Weiqing had taken it upon himself to create Consolidating Equipment Scrolls for his classmates was a form of training. Just simply following the steps or the previously designed Scrolls which Huyan Aobo had taught him, there wasn’t much to improve besides increasing experience in creating them. However, to custom design and create Consolidating Equipment Scrolls for others, it was a whole different ball game. It would need him to actually fully understand the basics, to design everything from the start. For example, among the six sets of scrolls he had created yesterday, the one which had taken him to longest to create was the one he had custom designed and created for Kou Rui. In fact, almost half the entire time he had used was spent on that set.

Ever since he had entered the Fei Li Military Academy, Zhou Weiqing had increasingly recognized the true importance of a Consolidating Equipment Master. Previously, he had known they were important in theory, but had not recognized the extent until he had witnessed it for himself. As such, becoming an outstanding Consolidating Equipment Master was now of even more importance to him than even becoming a powerful Heavenly Jewel Master. After all, only an outstanding Consolidating Equipment Master would be able to recruit many powerful Jewel Masters to stand by his side… and this was just exactly the key to the Heavenly Bow Empire’s growth in the near future. Although the Fei Li Empire was much stronger, it was not his home, and in Zhou Weiqing’s heart, no country in the world could replace the standing of the Heavenly Bow Empire. That was the beauty of one’s motherland.

“Dearest, it’s time for class…” Zhou Weiqing dipped his head down and kissed Shangguan Bing’er on the cheeks.

Shangguan Bing’er opened her eyes blurrily to see a mouth heading down towards her, and in shock she quickly dodged aside. Jumping up, she remembered where they were, and blushed deeply as she told Zhou Weiqing: “Little Fatty, this is in academy grounds, you should control yourself…”

Zhou Weiqing was delighted, saying: “Does that mean… when we’re home later at night, I do not need to control myself…?”

Shangguan Bing’er giggled and said: “Enough of that, I’m immune to your tricks now. Let’s go to class now, come on!”

The class in the afternoon was personal military training, and was held right in the main square. Personal military training was to build up their solo fighting capabilities, and not just in terms of Jewel Masters fighting. Among other things, there was fighting styles, hand to hand combat, hiding and concealment, ambushes, sniping and assassinations, luring the enemy and other various individual combat tricks and capabilities. In the Fei Li Military Academy, this was one of the most important classes. Every year, this was one of the three most important exams to pass, with the other two being battle analysis and strategy, and they had to be passed with a single try. For other classes, there was still the opportunity of a re-exam, while if any student failed any of this three main classes, they would be expelled from the academy.

The Fei Li Military Academy Main Square was extremely huge, and the commoner class one’s students were gathered on the left side of it. On the other side, there was another class gathered there… clearly they were also there to take the personal military training class. It was a senior noble class of around 40 or so students, and many of them looked towards Zhou Weiqing’s class when they gathered.

“Form Squad… Attention!” Ming Hua’s voice rang out, and all twenty nine of the commoner students immediately arranged themselves into two rows. Zhou Weiqing and Ma Qun naturally ended up at the back of the rows.

When Zhou Weiqing looked at Ming Hua, his eyes lit up. She had changed into a rose red attire, with her hair tied behind her head. At this point, she no longer had any hint of her previous seductive look, but had a valiant, battle ready look, full of fighting spirit.

Ming Hua’s gaze swept across the faces of her students, and after confirming that they were all present, she nodded and said: “This morning’s test will be graded and returned to you within two days, though I believe many of you know how you have done deep in your hearts. I do not care what school you are from previously, but from now on, you are part of our illustrious Fei Li Military Academy, and you will study hard according to my requirements. Otherwise, I will not hesitate to expel anyone who fails at the end of the year. The students who do not finish their entire four years will not be allowed to mention that they are from our academy. Class Monitor…”

Zhou Weiqing quickly stepped forth. “Here!”

Ming Hua glanced at him and said: “Lead everyone to run ten rounds around the main square. You all have fifteen minutes to complete the rounds, and those who do not finish within the stipulated time will have to run another ten rounds.”

“Yes.” Zhou Weiqing agreed. The main square was about eight hundred metres per round, though that was quite some distance, but to him, the ten rounds would be as easy as taking a stroll.

“Teacher, do we Elemental Jewel Masters have to run as well?” At this moment, a soft, timid voice sounded out. It was a young girl, one of the students whom Zhou Weiqing remembered vaguely as one of the rare Elemental Jewel Masters in the class. She was of the Water Attribute, and her name was Ye Tingxue. Her looks were just above average, and she was a gentle, timid girl, her frail appearance seeming as if a gust of wind would blow her over.

Ming Hua glanced at her and said passively: “I said everyone, didn’t you hear?”

Ye Tingxue was startled into almost crying. She was a two-Jeweled Water Attribute Elemental Jewel Master, and though her physique was stronger than an ordinary human with her Heavenly Energy, she knew it would be impossible for her to run eight thousand metres in fifteen minutes. With the addition of the ten rounds penalty, she would be in deep trouble.

It wasn’t just her. All the six Elemental Jewel Masters in the class revealed troubled looks on their face.

“Attention! Right Turn.” Zhou Weiqing shouted out loud, glancing at Ming Hua. He laughed in his heart, thinking to himself: Is this the ‘problem’ you have set me? You have severely underestimated me!

“Ma Qun, Kou Rui, Yan Zhexi, Shangguan Bing’er, each of you bring along a Elemental Jewel Master classmate, while I will bring two.” Zhou Weiqing called out, before picking two of the male Elemental Jewel Master youths. His method was rather simple, grabbing each of them under his arms, before running at the head of the class.

The four he had called out did not hesitate - Shangguan Bing’er went to Ye Tingxue, while Yan Zhexi and Kou Rui each quickly went for the last two female students. As for Ma Qun, he was too slow, left with the last student who was a rather heavyset male. Ma Qun scolded inwardly: Ugh, I’m just a little too slow, such a disadvantage! However, he did not hesitate as well, pulling that classmate along as he ran on. As for the rest of the Physical Jewel Masters, they naturally had no problem running, and all twenty nine of them charged forth along the running track.

A hint of surprise appeared in Ming Hua’s eyes. She had not expected Zhou Weiqing to react so quickly, and with a wry twist to her mouth, she stood there recording the rounds.

As Zhou Weiqing ran, he called out to the rest: “Our commoner class one is an entire group which works as one together. No matter what we do, we cannot leave anyone behind. If we are on the battlefield, our backs are given to our most trusted comrade in arms. Perhaps, we are still unable to reach that state, but let us work towards that together. Everyone just needs to remember that we are one. One for all, and all for one! [1. Ok this wasn’t there, I added it for fun :P Thought it was fitting]” As he said that, he thought to himself: The best will be for all of us to move over to our Heavenly Bow Empire together too! Heh heh!

Before long, they had completed the first round. Just as they were starting on their second round, all of a sudden, there was a loud ‘Aiyah’ sound, and one of the students fell down.

Although Zhou Weiqing was right in front, he has been keeping track of his classmates behind him. Turning around, he saw one of his male classmates fallen on the floor, his hands clutching his belly, his face a mask of pain. In front of him lay an arrow without the arrowhead.

“Stop!” Zhou Weiqing shouted loudly, and all of them stopped, turning to the other class also going through the lesson at the other side of the main square.

The noble class was currently practicing their archery, and their target was about a hundred yards or so away, while their entire class was at the side of the main square. No matter how you looked at it, it was impossible for them to have shot in this direction. Even if there was no arrowhead, but being shot at such a close distance, one could imagine the pain.

The next moment, on of the noble students shouted over mockingly: “Aiyyaahh… I’m so sorry, my arrow went astray. This junior, are you okay?”

The teacher of the noble class was not around, and they had been practicing their archery by themselves. After saying that, the noble student continued mockingly: “A moving target is indeed much more fun than a boring set target. If you all are interested, you can try! Haha!”

His words caused the rest of the noble students to laugh uproariously, while the commoner students glared angrily at him.

Ming Hua was currently in the midst of recording the rounds ran, and was also startled by the sudden incident. Luckily, the arrow had no arrowhead, or the student might have been heavily injured or killed.

“Bastards, are you asking for death?” Ming Hua shouted angrily.

The noble students were rather afraid of her. After all, the name of ‘Flower of Hades’ Underworld’ was notorious, and they immediately quietened down.

Right at that moment, Zhou Weiqing walked towards Ming Hua, murmuring something in her ears. Ming Hua furrowed her brow for a second in thought, before nodding to him. All of a sudden, she turned and walked off. Some of the more quick thinking members of the commoner class one revealed evil smiles as soon as they saw that.

Zhou Weiqing returned to his classmates, picking up the arrow and walking to the noble student who had spoken and calling out in a fake, kindly voice. “Senior, here is your arrow. I’ve picked it up for you.” His words were slow and with a hint of flattery, as if trying to fawn on the noble senior; and he had a big smile on his face. All of a sudden, he flicked his hand, sending the arrow forward.

At that point, he was fifty feet from the noble students when he threw out the arrow. To the surprise of the commoner class one students, the arrow seemed to be even faster than when shot from the bow earlier, and it sped through the fifty yards in the blink of an eye.

A loud pained cry sounded out as the arrow shot forth right into the noble student who had just turned around, and furthermore, it embedded itself right deep into an unmentionable place...