Chapter 7: Heavy Machine Gun

After more than ten minutes, Jiang Ding's arms began to tremble, aching fiercely; the thudding sound of firearms hitting the ground echoed beside him, only for him to pick them up again under the instructor's sharp bellow.

The hundred-kilogram weight that had initially seemed negligible now felt as heavy as a mountain.

Jiang Ding ignored the physical pain, forcing his focus onto the dynamic visualization in his mind—muscles turning like gears in orderly sequence, mechanical formulas flashing and vanishing.

Gradually, he entered a state of empty clarity.

The muscle ache vanished; nothing remained in his thoughts except the quiet, orderly rotation of the mechanical giant in his mind.

"Time's up!"

Amidst the rising and falling thuds of heavy machine guns hitting the ground, Jiang Ding opened his eyes, his body trembling.

Compared to endless problem-solving study, the repetitive firing of machine guns, and especially this real, blade-to-blade combat, stirred the blood of the youths far more.

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Hold your breath, let the Diamond Seal circulate through your body, stabilize your frame, and use the Thousand Threads Guide to adjust the firearm.

"I'll go!"

"Now, Hidden Sword Style!"

Ding! Lord Dingding!

Practicing these two martial arts was this repetitive and dull.

Around eleven in the morning, during the fourth class, Zhang Dingjun returned from the Qi-Condensation students, carrying a steel longaxe over two meters tall.

"I'll say it again: maintain a regular schedule, keep training," Jiang Ding glanced at him. "Skin and muscle refinement are the beginning of martial cultivation—how hard can it be to break through? Keep going, and you'll reap rewards."

Li Li Junhao held his breath; from his viewpoint, the silver light flashed by in an instant—he had no time to react.

"Damn, Jiang Ding's got guts—he didn't drop it for twenty minutes."

With the sword hilt in hand, an unexpected sense of security welled up inside him.

Yanzi-1's eyes flickered, completed its self-check, flapped its wings, and soared into the sky; simultaneously, a series of images appeared in the panoramic helmet.

After the students relaxed for a while, Zhang Dingjun roared again.

"Reverse Spear Technique! Has Sun Xiao mastered a new martial art? No wonder he dares to challenge!" Li Li Junhao exclaimed.

"This…"

After catching his breath, he aimed at a target constantly moving unpredictably at the speed of a Qi-Condensation Level Three cultivator using Wind Manipulation, firing repeatedly—the roar never ceased, shell casings flying. This was even harder; it took over fifty rounds before he finally shattered it.

"Free activity."

Zhang Dingjun waved his hand, his figure flickering as he flew toward the Qi-Condensation students using Wind Manipulation.

At the shout, Jiang Ding opened his eyes; the aching in his arms and knee joints eased, temporarily relieved.

"Lost again—damn, freak!" The surrounding students cursed under their breath but dared not approach, knowing they'd be instantly defeated if they did.

"Yes, Instructor!"

The Thousand Threads Guide had only been cultivated to the proficient level of "Ten Threads," capable of dividing one force into ten.

Jiang Ding stepped forward and unhesitatingly chose a steel sword about a meter long.

Having been overpowered by a Bone-Refinement martial artist, Team Three's captain Li Hu lost face and swung his great axe upward.

A tidal wave of intense muscle ache surged over him, nearly drowning him; it took a long while to recover, and he set down the heavy machine gun with slow, jerky motions.

A flash of silver light—Jiang Ding sheathed his sword and glanced around.

The blade flowed like water, racing swiftly along the rifle barrel, soon nearing his fingers, its edge icy cold.

Another Qi-Flow student stepped forward, clanged for a moment, then fell.

Boom! Amidst fire and smoke, the bullet exited the barrel, flying at over 2,000 meters per second, reaching its target in two and a half seconds.

Cultivators strive toward tank-driving control, inherently standing at the endpoint of martial artists.

"I lost," Sun Xiao took a deep breath.

At this moment, he truly envied cultivators—they had specialized spells to control firearms; their spiritual sense and magic power granted them extraordinary precision, easily achieving a perfect forty-point score on light weapons.

"Ready stance."

Sun Xiao's face darkened, stepped back quickly, then suddenly thrust forward—white light flashed, his speed more than doubled, and in an instant he lunged into Jiang Ding's embrace.

"Wind speed…"

Finally, on the sixth shot, he hit the target, blasting its head into fragments on the ground.

"Cold weapons—swords, spears, axes, halberds, staves—have little use on the battlefield, only occasionally useful in rare special circumstances," Zhang Dingjun lifted the longaxe with one hand. "But the Immortal Sects' enemies use them—and they're mainstream: magical swords, magical shields, magical water beads—all equally terrifying in power."

Zhang Dingjun glanced at Li Li Junhao and the others, frowning silently, saying nothing.

"Everyone else is the same—Qi-Flow martial artists train like dogs, still can't beat Bone-Refinement."

"Next, freely choose sparring partners—whichever weapon strikes the torso wins," Zhang Dingjun pulled back a camouflage cloth, revealing a pile of cold weapons.

He called the students over, forming a circle.

Other students adopted various stances—some held long spears loosely, others slammed hammers into the ground—all variations of Hidden Sword Style.

Hidden Sword Style—one of the Nine Sword Forms! It relaxes muscles, stores power, and conceals qi—far superior to massage or meridian unblocking.

Jiang Ding tapped the activation button in his helmet's field of view.

Sun Xiao's face changed—he had to release his grip, letting the weapon fall; before he could react, a streak of sword light flashed, directly stopping at his throat, halted by his bulletproof camouflage suit.

"Activate."

!.

"I'll go!"

"I really envy you."

"Understood?" "Good!"

The students each chose their own cold weapons—varied and diverse; especially Li Li Junhao, whose primary cold weapon was a pair of meteor hammers.

Bluetooth connected to panoramic helmet.

"Therefore, the Immortal Gate has set up an elective course on cold weapons. You don't have to use them, but you must understand them. The college entrance exam is worth forty points out of the total."

Zhang Dingjun made a motion of a long axe held at a slant: "'Eaglet Takes Flight Art' is a Gong Fa that unifies practice and combat. Many martial techniques in the Immortal Gate are derived and specialized from it, such as my 'Long-Armed Ape Axe'."

"Begin!"

Everyone had chosen their weapons, yet no one began sparring right away. Gaze after gaze shot toward Jiang Ding.

Not daring to waste shots so recklessly again, he stopped after one shot, slowly pondering, carefully comprehending the heavy machine gun's massive recoil, dissolving it with the Vajra Seal, observing wind speed, humidity, and other conditions, then using Thousand Silk Pull to adjust the heavy machine gun bit by bit.

"Bullshit. If you're so tough, you go up. You don't even have internal Qi…"

With the long sword in hand, Jiang Ding's heart calmed down. He nodded.

"The Vajra Seal didn't even deform. He seems even stronger than some of the internal Qi realm students…"

Jiang Ding said loudly, his heart overjoyed.

"Sun Xiao still wants to challenge? How many times has he lost already?"

A trace of surprise flickered across Jiang Ding's face. He turned sideways, and the long sword scraped violently against the side wing of the spear tip, sparks flying. The returning spear strike immediately missed.

Jiang Ding picked up the heavy machine gun from the ground, walked to the firing point, and casually opened the Swallow-1 drone case at his waist.

Jiang Ding Zi murmured.

Bang! The second shot, the third shot…

Compared to the drones Jiang Ding bought online, this one had higher precision, better image quality — it could clearly see even ants crawling on the ground. Besides that, even hidden targets that stayed perfectly still, it could find and mark them.

Missed the target.

One after another, basically most of the students went up. Some lasted six or seven moves, some only one or two, ending the fight in extremely short order.

True Qi Refining Layer Three cultivators were far more cunning than the targets. They had divine sense, with a coverage range of about thirty meters, and far-seeing spells. Even though heavy machine gun bullets flew at several times the speed of sound, they could see them clearly and predict, dodge, and take cover in advance.

Jiang Ding frowned.

His footwork shifted again, dodging the third thrust, and he swiftly darted inside the steel spear's reach.

He knew that since these people had gotten into First High, their martial cultivation was poor, so their cultural course scores should be decent — but he still didn't like it.

Clang! Clang! Jiang Ding drew his sword. A perfect arc flashed, precisely catching the side wing of the spear tip. His feet slid like flowing water, and while deflecting most of the force, he struck again with one sword, knocking aside the spear tip's side wing.

He knew this had to do with the Broken Sword Tip — it had greatly enhanced his comprehension. The fleeting inspirations that had appeared many times before but were never grasped had been captured this time.

More than two hours later.

Whoosh! With the steel spear in hand, it seemed to transform into a winding, slithering long serpent. At extreme speed, it struck three times in succession, forming three points of starlight that shot toward Jiang Ding's body.

The difference was that some people quickly entered the state, their muscles began to relax, getting rest, while others merely closed their eyes tightly and struck a pose, their bodies twisting from time to time, only wearing themselves out.

A swallow the size of a palm crouched at the bottom of the case, its eyes gleaming like gemstones.

"Unbeatable…"

Zhang Dingjun praised without stint: "Your Vajra Seal should have had a breakthrough. Remember this feeling — it'll help you step into the internal Qi realm."

An internal Qi realm cultivator challenged across realms to Bone Refining realm, yet the surrounding students weren't surprised. They crowded around.

Hum! The long axe slashed diagonally, the air exploding, forming a gale that spread outward, making the clothes of the surrounding students flutter loudly. Then he swept horizontally, forcibly cutting down the gale that had risen again, unmoving in all directions.

Display Sword Form! Step Sword Form! "Damn! This again. Clearly Sun Xiao's speed and strength are far superior — how can he dodge it?" Some students who also used swords widened their eyes and said indignantly.

Jiang Ding reaped a great many gazes of astonishment.

"Jiang Ding!" First Squad Captain Sun Xiao, holding a two-meter steel spear, revealed a slight smile: "Care for a round?"

"Not worth it. Better to practice 'Eaglet Takes Flight Art' more and enter the next realm…" someone shook his head.

"First time is a warning, second time is a demerit, third time is direct expulsion!"

Soon, at four thousand five hundred meters out, targets came into view one by one — human-sized, some standing, some prone, some hiding behind large trees.

After five moves, the long sword stopped at his throat.

Li Li Junhao dragged the heavy machine gun along behind him listlessly. For him, standing firm while holding the gun was difficult, and the Tibetan-style practice wasn't enough — he got no rest. This kind of course was pure torment for him.

Li Li Junhao's face showed hesitation.

"No matter the reason, no matter how justified your excuse, no matter the great grievance you've suffered."

"Yes, Instructor!" Jiang Ding and the others answered loudly.

"Besides, your cultural scores are so high — this is a great help to martial cultivation."

Sighing, Jiang Ding continued practicing. The surrounding students kept firing, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Jiang Ding arrived at the firing point, lay down, set up the heavy machine gun, loaded the ammo belt, aligned his left eye with the scope, and aimed at Target One.

Jiang Ding stood still, made a motion of sheathing his long sword, and slowly closed his eyes.

"Next is live-fire shooting. I've set up targets at four thousand five hundred meters. Each person is limited to two hundred rounds." Zhang Dingjun paused, then said sternly: "Under no circumstances are you to point the muzzle at another student!"

"Good."

He was at the Minor Accomplishment Realm of internal Qi, ranking among the highest of the internal Qi realm martial artists in the class.

"I'm done playing!"

"Beast!"

In the end, no one sparred with Jiang Ding anymore. Only he, alone, chose an empty plot to practice his sword.

Zhang Dingjun roamed among the various fights, occasionally giving pointers, correcting the students' force exertion and sparring techniques.

(End of this chapter)