Zhang Fan's recent days can only be described as miserable.
After he demonstrated his strength in the fighting arena, Wang Desheng immediately increased his training intensity without saying a word, giving him special tutoring.
His required distance for armed cross-country running is ten kilometers, two hundred sit-ups, and two hundred push-ups. These numbers may seem like only twice as many as other trainees, but this was done while he was carrying a 100-pound load.
Wang Desheng's goal was simple: You like to pretend, don't you? I'll show you what you're capable of!
This was the death of Zhang Fan.
He carried 100 pounds of weight because in this state, when training with other trainees, his physical fatigue level would be similar to that of ordinary trainees, so as not to attract attention.
Now that the training intensity has doubled, the training difficulty has increased several times over for Zhang Fan, who is already fatigued.
Ryan Military Academy, Swordplay Hall.
During sword training, other students would practice in pairs, but Zhang Fan's practice partner was Wang Desheng.
The sword was made of bamboo, but it still stung painfully when it struck my skin.
Slap! Slap!
Zhang Fan had taken two sword blows to the forehead, his scalp tingling, and he glared at Wang Desheng, panting heavily.
Damn it!
Although Wang Desheng was an instructor and an active-duty officer who had returned from the front lines in Milan, Zhang Fan was still confident that he could beat this big, thick-headed blockhead to a pulp.
The problem is that this guy has no martial ethics. Every time Zhang Fan is exhausted from the previous physical training and is completely tired, he still makes him carry weights to practice swordsmanship.
"Hehe, I can tell you have some basic swordsmanship." Wang Desheng looked at Zhang Fan with a grin, repeatedly drawing his two swords. "But your moves are completely disorganized. You probably haven't received any professional swordsmanship training and are just figuring out your attack methods by instinct."
"Dare you let me take off the weights before you fight?" Zhang Fan glared at Wang Desheng, but he was powerless to fight back under the opponent's relentless attacks. "Give me a breather, and I'll beat you to a pulp!"
"Haha, when you're in top physical condition, I might not be your match." Wang Desheng laughed, admitting it quite readily. "Sometimes, brute force can indeed suppress an advantage in technique."
“But wouldn’t it be better to have both strength and skill?” Wang Desheng continued, then changed the subject, “Hiss—what kind of enemy did you face before? How come every move you made was aimed at my lower body? Were your previous enemies dwarfs?”
Zhang Fan was somewhat surprised. In the past, when he used the molten twin swords, his enemies were all mutated cockroaches. The insects crawled on the ground, so he naturally attacked downwards. Even the father cockroaches, which were over two meters long, were not as tall as him when their upper bodies stood up. Now, using the twin bamboo swords, he subconsciously used the same methods he used to deal with insects.
Wang Desheng was able to spot the unusual features at a glance, which shows that his swordsmanship skills were indeed quite high.
Furthermore, the other party referred to themselves as facing an "enemy" rather than an "opponent." What does that mean? Could it be...?
"Stop pretending." Wang Desheng deflected Zhang Fan's attack with his twin swords and quickly advanced to Zhang Fan's side. "We're in the same line of work, aren't we?"
Snap!
Zhang Fan defended against Wang Desheng's attack aimed directly at his face, and looked at his opponent with some surprise.
"What do you mean?"
“I was in the stands the day of the fight,” Wang Desheng laughed. “Judging from your injuries and the demeanor you displayed on the stage, you’re not the kind of student you should be.”
"What kind of temperament?" Zhang Fan was still unwilling to admit it.
“Killing aura, the temperament forged on the battlefield amidst piles of dead bodies,” Wang Desheng said meaningfully. “This is something those young trainees cannot imitate, nor can they possibly imitate.”
"Okay, so what do you want to do?" Zhang Fan felt that there was nothing to hide about his identity as a teacher, nor was there any need to hide it. At most, it would just be less convenient for him to act within the academy in the future.
"I didn't mean anything by it. The temper you showed on the stage really suited my taste." Wang Desheng laughed as he spoke. "It's rare to find someone I can stand. I'm itching to have a few sparring matches."
"That should be done under fair and just conditions!" Zhang Fan was also angry. "How can you be an instructor like this? You're even more corrupt than those aristocratic students!"
"There's no other way." Wang Desheng smiled. "I suffered a minor injury to both hands before, and my strength isn't what it used to be. In order to be on the same level as you, I have to ask you to make do a little."
Damn it!
The two talked in the swordplay arena, but their attacks never stopped. In the short time it took for Zhang Fan to talk and practice, he was hit by seventy, eighty, or ninety swords.
Fortunately, he was wearing protective leather armor specifically for sword training, otherwise Wang Desheng's bamboo sword could have been deadly.
Wang Desheng, despite his large, burly frame and even stronger build than Zhang Fan, lacked the strength in his hands. Zhang Fan capitalized on this weakness, relying on brute force to launch a fierce attack.
However, Wang Desheng seemed to be very familiar with this kind of swordsmanship that relied on brute force. He could easily deflect Zhang Fan's sword strikes with minimal effort and launch counterattacks that caught Zhang Fan off guard.
Ring ring ring—
The bell rang, signaling the end of today's swordsmanship training.
Zhang Fan sat on the floor of the fencing hall, took off his protective helmet, his hair was soaked with sweat, and his whole body felt like it was falling apart.
"You don't need to participate in physical training tomorrow," Wang Desheng said with a smile as he put away his bamboo sword. "Come to the swordplay hall and continue sparring with me."
"Why?" Zhang Fan didn't understand.
"When I see a promising student, I get itchy hands to train him a few times." Wang Desheng laughed heartily. "I don't care who you are. You are my student now, and I am your instructor. So you have to listen to me. It's that simple."
Zhang Fan left the swordplay hall feeling extremely frustrated. He had a theory class on space fleet cluster tactics in the afternoon, and he needed to go back to his dormitory to wash off the smell of sweat before going to the teaching building for class.
Crescent Villa.
In the private reception room on the third floor, a civilian student knelt before Ralph, reporting Zhang Fan's movements throughout the day.
The Charlie family has two lines of agents planted within the academy: the overt line consists of the sons of nobles, while the covert line consists of the ordinary students hidden among the commoners.
Ralph waved his hand, and the student immediately left.
“Wang Desheng?” Ralph frowned. “Captain William, do you know who this man is?”
"The former captain of the First Mech Squadron of the Fourth Space Fleet of the Ryan Nation's army." A man in his thirties, referred to as "Captain of the Guard," stood up from the sofa and walked to Ralph's side.
Ralph treated the head guard, William Shah, with great respect, as William Shah had once been a member of the patriarch's personal guard and had been appointed head guard at Crescent Villa to be responsible for Princess Alice's safety.
The so-called "Crescent Guard" was just something Princess Alice made up out of childishness. The real guards protecting the Crescent Villa were the guards led by Chief Guard William Xia.
“When the Rafa War broke out, one of the important forces that organized the resistance against the Fas Khan army in the border fortress was the First Mech Battalion of the Fourth Space Fleet, led by Wang Desheng,” William Xia continued. “It was the resistance of the First Mech Battalion in the border port that delayed the landing of the Fas Khan army, allowing a considerable number of civilians to successfully evacuate to Milan Star.”
"Oh? So he's a hero?" Ralph was somewhat surprised. "I heard he came to teach at the academy because he was dismissed from his post for violating military orders, and his rank was drastically reduced from major general to captain?"
“That’s because when the civilians were evacuating from the port, Wang Desheng beheaded several nobles who were obstructing order.” William Xia smiled lightly. “He wanted to be a hero among the common people, so he naturally had to bear the wrath of the nobles. After he retreated to Milan, the families behind those unjustly killed nobles would naturally not let it go.”
"It is said that he almost died in the Milan military prison, but the General Staff found him in time and got him out. However, I heard that his hands were crippled when he came out."
"It's a pity I won't have the chance to learn from 'Raging White Tiger King Desheng'," William Xia shook his head with some regret.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com