Chapter 358: 331 Hot Water

"Ah..."

Even though the military regulations were strict, the examinees were listless, yet they still let out sighs one after another.

Didn't they just finish the first test? Starting the second one immediately, do they even want us to live?

Li Yijian shouted sternly: "What? Can't you even endure this bit of hardship? You must know that when performing missions, no one cares whether you have rested well or if you have energy; if you are required to go, you must go. It is impossible that there will always be a complete battle waiting for you after you are full, well-rested, and free of illness or disaster. All kinds of exhaustion and difficulties are the most common things. The front lines are fraught with crises; never complain about why others didn't wait for you!"

"This set of talk again..."

Qu Huan wanted to rub his sore eyes, but immediately smelled the scent on his hands and put them down again, whispering to Qin Yongcheng beside him: "I think this examiner is a bit of a psychopath, clearly taking pleasure in torturing us..."

Qin Yongcheng said: "Keep your voice down, he just said not to complain."

Qu Huan asked in surprise: "I think your state is still okay?"

Qin Yongcheng said: "Me... I have received great tempering recently."

Qu Huan said disapprovingly: "What tempering have you had? Don't we all attend classes and cultivate together? In class and after class, I haven't seen you being particularly diligent lately?"

Come to think of it, for the past half month, Qin Yongcheng had been keeping to himself, focusing on reading books and cultivating his Mysterious Technique, and had even reduced his martial arts practice.

Qin Yongcheng realized he had made a slip of the tongue, changed the subject calmly, and said: "Anyway, I have made great progress, you will see. What do you guess the next assessment is? Survival in a desperate situation? Crossing a desert?"

Qu Huan said: "I don't know, how could I guess the train of thought of such a pervert..."

Just then, Li Yijian said: "Form up, the boys in this line, the girls in that line. Form two lines."

Regardless of how they felt, the examinees climbed up to form lines and were led by military school cadets to both sides of the horse farm.

It didn't look like a large-scale transfer; could it be that the second test was being held right here in the arena?

Qu Huan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately his heart tightened again, thinking: The Instructor said that the easier it is to relax, the more one must stay alert. They didn't make the examination site very grand, perhaps it was precisely to make us relax our vigilance?

However, there was indeed nothing happening along the way, and they didn't walk too far. The group arrived at the edge of the field, in front of a grass shed—if one were to talk about being crude and simple, it was about the same as a horse shed.

The students already had a shadow in their hearts from the horse sheds, and they couldn't help but show a look of difficulty.

A military school cadet said loudly: "Go in, prepare to bathe."

The students felt a surge of joy; no wonder they had to separate men and women, it turned out to be for bathing. They had been with the horses for too long and were in dire need of a bath.

However... was it just a bath?

"This is your water."

After entering the grass shed, each student received a bucket of water, and the ice cubes in the water collided slightly, making a crisp, tinkling sound.

"So cold!"

Hearing this sound, everyone felt their teeth chatter.

It was already the end of November!

Of course, the students all had foundations in Internal and External Arts, so they wouldn't be affected by a cold bath, and the Training Camp had a tradition of winter swimming, but now they were physically and mentally exhausted, and having to take a cold bath while cold and hungry was truly disheartening.

"You have a quarter of an hour to heat the water, then carry the water and pour it into the cold water pool in the next shed. Then you can go in and wash. If everyone heats the water, then mixing it with the cold water will result in a pool of comfortably warm water, allowing you to have a refreshing hot bath to relieve fatigue. If anyone thinks they can just carry a bucket of cold water in and sponge off someone else's hot water, let's see if the others agree?"

Heat the water...

How to heat it?

Without the examiner explaining, the examinees knew it themselves.

Of course, it wasn't with firewood, but with Internal Energy!

Although Internal Energy is not as tangible as Qi, it can also be projected and raise temperatures, but using Internal Energy to heat water to the point of being able to bathe would consume too much. Moreover, it still had to be mixed with a pool of cold water, so the temperature would likely need to be even higher.

Especially in such a situation, some felt physically and mentally exhausted, their Internal Energy unable to circulate, and they weren't even given time to regulate their breathing, yet they had to boil water? Did they want people to live or not?

"A quarter of an hour, timing starts now."

The examinees remained silent, one after another putting their hands into the icy water to circulate their Internal Energy. It wasn't for the sake of a comfortable hot bath, nor was it because they were afraid others wouldn't let them sponge off the hot water, but because they understood this was a test. No matter how relaxed it sounded, the essence was still an assessment; the rules issued by the examiner were iron laws, and failing to follow them would lead to elimination.

For a time, gurgling sounds came from each wooden bucket, and before long, some buckets gradually began to steam.

"If you burst out with full power, you can reach the temperature quickly. But if it's too early, the hot water flowing into the cold pool will be too little, and you still can't wash; you can only wait for others." Qu Huan analyzed while urging his Internal Energy, "And this exam is linked ring by ring; one must be restrained and save a little Internal Energy to prevent accidents."

Over there, the Instructors were also discussing.

"Heating water, the second round really is testing Internal Energy."

Li Yijian said calmly: "What kind of second round is this? It's just a small screening. Filter out those who are truly unqualified. I didn't test Qi; if they can't even practice Internal Energy well, there's really no need to continue the assessment. It's also very troublesome for us to set up safe zones; not everyone is qualified to go."

Tang Zhao said: "That's true, setting a threshold in advance to filter out some unqualified students and not letting them go to overly dangerous places is also a kind heart."

Li Yijian glanced at him and said: "We don't have any kind hearts."

Lan Xiuzhu followed up: "I just said, although these two exams are arduous, the methods are very conventional. It seems like a mouse pulling a turtle—the big head is at the back?"

Li Yijian said: "Of course, the real good show only begins at the front lines. But before that, I gave the students a little gift." As he spoke, he smiled slightly.

"Ah... so comfortable. I feel like I've come back to life."

Qu Huan soaked in the pool, enjoying being surrounded by the already murky hot water. The water vapor curled up like a fairyland, making him unable to see the faces of his classmates who were close at hand.

"This should be the final enjoyment, right?"

"Boss, that's an unlucky thing to say. We brothers still have a long life ahead of us." His underling Zhu Li interjected from the side.

Qu Huan sighed and said: "It's not that I'm being unlucky, but that the exam is too difficult. Look, after two rounds, our brothers have suffered significant losses. Do you think half the people will pass after these two rounds end?"

Qu Huan had five underlings who came to the exam site with him, but now only three remained. Eliminating one more would reach the "half" limit he mentioned.

Because of Qu Huan's protection, his underlings were somewhat suspected of hitching a ride; in fact, they weren't necessarily all qualified to reach the exam site, so it wasn't strange that they were eliminated in the first few rounds. But this showed that the number of eliminations in this exam was indeed quite high.

Qu Huan naturally couldn't recruit top-tier students as underlings, but he didn't look down on those at the very bottom either; his underlings were all of intermediate level, and being eliminated showed that the exam was truly difficult.

Zhu Li sighed: "This exam is indeed difficult, harder than the mock exam. Actually, I also passed by the skin of my teeth just now. The temperature barely reached the standard, and Xiao Chen was behind me, but he didn't get in. In terms of comprehensive strength, he is better than me. I thought that if I failed, he wouldn't fail. But his score in the written test won't be low, while I just answered randomly. When the written test results come out, I'll be gone too. He left a step ahead, and I'll follow immediately... ptooey ptooey ptooey, why am I being unlucky too?"

Qu Huan comforted him instead: "I actually think that if they do it this way, there won't even be half passing at the end, which doesn't look like a normal exam. How can a graduation assessment be so harsh? I actually think there should be adjustments. Maybe just having some brilliant performances during the exam process is enough to be judged as qualified."

Zhu Li said: "Is that so, but if you fail the written test, you won't have a chance either..."

Just as they were talking, a soldier entered the shed and said loudly: "Clothes are placed here. Once you're done washing, put them on, collect your supplies, and get out quickly. The Instructor is waiting for you."

Qu Huan thought: "This is fine, the clothes have also been prepared anew. Stripping us naked first, then changing clothes, inside and out everything is new; this way, can they still be afraid of us hiding equipment to cheat? It saves the trouble of body searches. It seems the real assessment is about to begin."

In the students' hearts, they also knew that the previous written test and small tests were just appetizers; the real assessment was yet to come. Just like crossing the canyon under the Calamity Moon last year, the Central Army must have prepared a special feast this time as well.

An impatient student climbed out of the pool and caught sight of the supply pack nearby, sighing—they often ate these military supply packs, which contained nothing but dry biscuits, salted vegetables, and vinegar-soaked cloth; they could fill you up, but had nothing to do with taste. After a tiring day, they had to eat this?

Then, he saw the clothes and couldn't help but be startled, saying, "What is this?"

He saw that the so-called "clothes" were placed in a basin, looking exactly like a lump of grayish-green paste.

He reached into the basin and grabbed a handful; his fingers felt as if they had been thrust into a clump of slippery seaweed, pulling out a soft, squishy mass that slumped in his palm, and then, when he let go, it fell back into the basin with a *slurp*, merging back into the mess in the basin.

"What is this thing? Is it also a supply? Didn't they say they were giving us clothes?"

The crowd was stunned, climbing out of the pool one by one, stark naked, and sure enough, they saw that each portion of supplies consisted only of a food supply pack and this basin of paste, with not a single thing that looked like clothing.

Most of the students looked at each other, and some even said, "Could there be a mistake?"

Only a few students wore thoughtful expressions; most of them came from extraordinary backgrounds and were well-informed, or they liked to read and were knowledgeable, so they had an impression of this thing.

Qu Huan was also one of the well-informed ones, sighing softly, "So it is this thing."

His long sigh naturally drew attention; Zhu Li had worked with him for many years and they had a tacit understanding, so he immediately followed up and Ask, "Boss, what is this?"

Just as Qu Huan was about to speak, he saw a youth step forward, scoop a lump out of the basin, and for some reason, rub and pat it, immediately transforming it into the shape of a piece of cloth, which he draped over his body and wrapped around himself.

Having been beaten to the punch, Qu Huan stopped stalling and said, "This is the campaign robe."