Chapter 336: 345 News of an Old Friend

Tang Zhao smiled, then said with a serious expression, "It is me. We once fought side by side."

That Pei Family youth was dazed for a moment, then felt a sense of relief, saying, "It really is you. I remember you... you were very brave."

Just as Tang Zhao always remembered that battle against the Heavenly Demon, the Pei Family youth also held it deeply in his heart.

That battle four years ago was the most tragic one he had experienced in his life. Late that night, his family and clansmen were all killed by the Heavenly Demon that descended from the sky, and he had also picked up his sword to enter the fray to protect the smaller children.

Speaking of fighting side by side...

Young Master Pei also felt a bit embarrassed; his martial arts at that time were not worth mentioning, and it was nothing more than hot-blooded impulse as he rushed forward with his sword; it was hard to say how much of a role he actually played. The ones who truly fought were Deputy Envoy Peng, and Tang Zhao, who made the final self-sacrificing strike.

The scene of Tang Zhao's final sword strike, which turned the Heavenly Demon into fly ash while he sacrificed himself, gave him a tremendous shock. For so many years, the memory had remained fresh, branded into the bottom of his heart, and it even influenced his later choices.

Even though Tang Zhao was later saved and did not truly die a heroic death, he still admired him greatly—even knowing one could be resurrected, facing death like that was still remarkable.

Of course, he did not know that Tang Zhao did not know he could be resurrected; at that moment, it was a pure sacrifice. If he had known, his admiration would have been doubled.

Young Master Pei said in a hurried breath, "I have always remembered that sword strike of yours. I also remember Deputy Envoy Peng, which is why I came to the Land Inspection Division. I feel that everyone in the Land Inspection Division is a hero, and I also want to become someone like you. To do more meaningful things."

Tang Zhao said with a solemn face, "That you can think this way shows that you possessed extraordinary courage to begin with. Even at that time, you were also very brave; I have always remembered you."

Facing such a ferocious Heavenly Demon at that time, anyone who dared to step forward was a good person. Whether it was Tang Zhao or that youth, both possessed the courage to disregard life and death, which had nothing to do with ability. Tang Zhao was able to play a key role because of the Xiezhi Sword; it just happened to be his turn to stand in that position. Although their roles were different, their courage was equally pure and dazzling.

Receiving Tang Zhao's affirmation, Young Master Pei could not help but feel inexplicably excited. He knew Tang Zhao was not lying; otherwise, he wouldn't have pointed out that they had met in Heiyang County, as he must have recognized him the moment they met by the river.

Hehe, happy!

Tang Zhao asked, "I still don't know your name..."

Young Master Pei said impatiently, "My name is Pei Renfeng, second in line."

Tang Zhao said, "I am Tang Zhao. Renfeng, a dragon and phoenix among men, a good name."

Pei Renfeng knew Tang Zhao's name, bowed in greeting, and said with some embarrassment, "They say it's a dragon and phoenix among men, but actually 'Renlong' sounds better, though it was already taken by my older brother."

Tang Zhao realized and said, "Phoenix is also good. The male is the Feng and the female is the Huang, it is also a proper name. Renlong... actually, Renhu would also be nice..."

Pei Renfeng spread his hands and said, "My younger brother took that. You know, there are too many people of the same generation in a large family; good names are limited, so one cannot be too picky. The ones who come first can be called Tiger or Leopard, but don't the ones who come later have to make do with names like Biao, Zhi, or Dog?"

Tang Zhao asked curiously, "Is there really a Ren-Dog?"

Pei Renfeng said, "For now, we've only been born up to Ren-Bear."

Tang Zhao laughed, and Pei Renfeng also laughed out loud.

After laughing for a while, Pei Renfeng said, "Since it is you who has come, I am no longer worried. How old were you four years ago, and you already had such strong power; is there any need to ask about now? I originally thought that if the new Instructor lacked prestige, I would have to lend a hand to suppress those wild kids, but now it seems it won't be needed at all. Among them, one by one, who would dare to bristle at you?"

He did not know that Tang Zhao knew nothing four years ago and relied entirely on the power of the sword. He was truly strong now, but there was no need to mention the ins and outs of that; why shatter someone's worldview for no reason?

Tang Zhao hurriedly said, "Don't do that; you've already offered a helping hand, can you take it back? I am unfamiliar with the place and am just about to need your help. By the way—"

He suddenly remembered something and said, "You graduated a year ago, right? Do you know Wei Zhangle?"

Pei Renfeng was startled, then said, "Zhangle, I know him. We were in the same class. He is half a fellow townsman of mine just like you, and his grades were even better than mine; he was the top of our class. If he hadn't given up to go execute some secret mission, I wouldn't have been qualified to stay at the school."

Tang Zhao said, "He and I are good friends; we have been separated for four years."

Everyone who knew Wei Zhangle said he went to execute a secret mission, and no one explained exactly what the mission was. It stood to reason; a secret mission was, of course, a mission that people were not supposed to know about.

Pei Renfeng smiled and said, "You are good friends? That is truly rare. Zhangle has always been a loner. This person, to put it nicely, is particularly cautious; to put it not so nicely, he feels a bit suspicious. He is polite to everyone, but never opens his heart. Because we both came from Heiyang County, I was considered to have a good relationship with him in the camp, but I wouldn't dare to say I am his friend. But his talent is truly good, not to mention his hard work; the level of his diligence made me feel ashamed. At first, I wanted to compare myself to him, but later I really couldn't keep up, so I let myself off the hook. Otherwise, how could I have kept a head of hair until now?"

Tang Zhao said, "Zhangle is indeed cautious in nature, but once he makes a friend, he is a very loyal and reliable good friend."

Pei Renfeng nodded and said, "I know he is a good man. The Head Instructor liked him very much and urged him to stay in the Training Camp. He loves safety and will not take on dangerous missions unless necessary. The Training Camp can be considered the safest place; I thought he would definitely stay, but I didn't expect him to take the initiative to accept a particularly difficult mission. It has been a year, and I haven't seen him since."

Tang Zhao said softly, "As for him, he also doesn't lack the courage to disregard his own safety at critical moments." Seeing Pei Renfeng lost in thought, he said, "Did you become a Teaching Assistant here right after graduation? Are you very familiar with the students?"

Pei Renfeng said, "I graduated last year and wanted to go to the Land Inspection Division in my hometown of Heiyang at the time. But according to the rules of the Land Inspection Division, except for those retiring or recovering from injuries, others cannot stay in their hometown. I thought being in the surrounding area would be fine, but unexpectedly, there were no vacancies. It just so happened that Zhangle's Teaching Assistant position opened up, and my grades were quite good, so I filled in. I'll see whether I will be promoted to an instructor in the future or go to a place closer to home. The salary and prospects of a Teaching Assistant are quite good. But the possibility of becoming a Sword Guest is too low. If one doesn't go to the front line and has no opportunity to perform meritorious service, how can one become a Sword Guest as soon as possible? And I really do want to do some practical things; there isn't much to do in the Training Camp. I suppose I will have to go out eventually, right?"

These "workplace" worries were very realistic. Although Tang Zhao had passed the stage of job hunting, he faced various choices after entering the Hou Mansion, so it sounded very resonant.

Pei Renfeng sighed about himself for a bit before saying, "Although I am new here, this batch of students about to graduate are all my juniors from back then. I had already gotten to know most of them long ago, and there are a few who hung out with me from the start; they still listen to me."

Tang Zhao was very happy. Clearly, this Pei Renfeng was a student leader who could "gather people," so he hurriedly asked him to introduce the situation of the students. The two of them walked toward the dormitory with Wei Se, chatting idly.

"Well, there are thirty people in the class now, eleven of whom are girls. Actually, although there is no final exam, everyone knows their grades in their hearts. About ten or so people will be able to graduate smoothly, which is about the same as in previous years. If I were to count, twelve people are stable. Eight or nine have no hope at all. The rest depend on their performance on the spot."

Tang Zhao counted silently. Every session of the Training Camp had one hundred spots, and only ten or so could graduate in the end. One out of ten; the elimination rate was very high. Originally, those selected in the initial screening for the Training Camp were young talents, and to select the best among them like this was even more extraordinary. Everyone who went out had the potential to be a Sword Guest.

It was a pity that there were not that many swords; out of ten excellent Swordsman Seeds, only one or two could eventually become Sword Guests.

Nowadays, the Land Inspection Divisions in various places were actually still very short of manpower. Like the Xun City Land Inspection Division, although there were many people, more than half were old hands left over from Feng Zhilie's era, whose strength was hard to improve, and they had no ambition, just waiting to retire on the government payroll. They were as different as clouds and mud compared to the juniors strictly selected from the camp.

Moreover, Demon Cave missions were dangerous, and attrition was a common occurrence. After the Turtle Bandits caused a scene, Xun City was half-short of staff. Originally, the dozen or so people each year were actually not enough. But the Gaoyuan Marquis preferred to have a shortage rather than accept the inferior, wanting to use the fully qualified talents from the Training Camp to slowly replace the old blood and let the Land Inspection Division be reborn.

In the end, only the elites would remain in the Land Inspection Division, each being an individual combat force, and when supplemented by ordinary soldiers in the local area, the combat effectiveness should be even higher than the current Land Inspection Division.

However, although the students eliminated from the second year onwards would not enter the Land Inspection Division, they could still receive public positions, serving in government offices like the local Six Fan Gate, and would still be looked upon with high regard. If they performed well and performed meritorious service in countering sporadic Fierce Beasts, Phantoms, or Yin Calamity, they could still be transferred into the Land Inspection Division; this was also a means of filling gaps.

"As for the best ones, I favor three people. Ouyang Zhou is the recognized first place. That kid with the surname Qu is one step behind him, but it's about the same. The little girl from the Wen family, although her martial arts are slightly inferior, her Inspiration is truly high, and her Inspiration direction is broad, so it won't be difficult for her to become a Sword Guest."

"Problem students? You mean troublemakers, right? That kid with the surname Qu is one. Although the Training Camp is not an army, it follows military law; orders are executed and prohibitions are observed, and there is no one too arrogant. Furthermore, after several rounds of elimination, those with poor grades and poor tempers have basically been kicked out. The ones remaining are either hardworking or have truly excellent talent. Everyone's grades can be seen; if you are not the top, what qualifications do you have to run wild? Qu Huan has a good background and good talent, which is why he is a bit disobedient, but it's not a major flaw. As for others, at most, their temperaments are a bit strange, making them hard to approach."

"You mean those two kids we met on the road? They are among the last few; even if they are a bit mischievous, there is no need to pay attention to them. For example, that kid with the surname Qin actually has decent martial arts and knowledge, but he is stuck at the Inspiration barrier, and there is truly no hope for him. So he has a bit of a 'broken pot' attitude, and his grades have dropped; there are many cases like this. Having worked hard for three years, seeing that there is no hope at the end, they get a bit of a temper. It's come to this point, everyone knows it in their hearts, and I allow them to relax a bit. The ones who truly have hope are the ones who don't relax for a single moment. You will know after staying for a few more days."

Tang Zhao listened carefully and said, "Can you find a copy of everyone's information for me? I want to take a look."