Xu Daxing ended up exceeding the time limit because of his momentary hesitation and had to endure twenty beatings.

　　However, Xu Cihang did not use much force when he was punishing him. So, Xu Daxing merely suffered some mild injuries, which did not affect his training.

　　Xu Daxing had initially thought that he would be severely punished since he had directly offended Xu Cihang. However, he had never expected to be let off the hook so easily. This made him feel rather ashamed and grateful.

　　Given Xu Cihang’s temper, he would have beaten Xu Daxing to death if he could do so, but Chu Li had repeatedly told him that they could not afford to lose any of these twenty people at the moment. In any case, they should let these men complete their formation training first. Therefore, Xu Cihang had to control his temper and punish the young man lightly.

　　At dawn, Jiang Jinfu quietly came to the Sharp Vigor Battalion campsite and rapidly circled the area to check on what they were doing before he rushed back to the central army tent. After entering the tent, he gave a fist salute and said, “General, they’re still practicing that formation. It looks quite ridiculous!”

　　The both of them had also undergone battle formation training before, but their training method was quite different.

　　Chu Li’s method seemed absolutely ridiculous and funny. His formation did not look powerful at all. Instead, it appeared as though they were playing a game of house.

　　Perhaps they were doing this for their own amusement. After all, once the general had decided to dispatch the Sharp Vigor Battalion, these men would all be fated to die on the battlefield because they would be too weak to withstand a single blow from the enemy.

　　Yang Ping had a book in his hand as he stood in an upright manner with his eyes fixated on the book. “They’re still practicing that formation?”

　　“Yes,” Jiang Jinfu replied. “General, would you like me to tell him to stop fooling around?”

　　“Since he likes to fool around, just leave him be.” Yang Ping lifted his gaze from the book and turned to Jiang Jinfu. “If he doesn’t keep those guys busy, they’ll have nothing better to do anyway… In some sense, he’s doing a good deed.”

　　“Their appetite has grown ever since they started their training. They’re wasting our food supply!” Jiang Jinfu said.

　　“There are just twenty of them. It won’t make that big of a difference,” Yang Ping replied and waved a hand dismissively. “Go and ask them if they would like us to send some people over there to practice with them. Try to find out what exactly he has been training them to do!”

　　“Understood,” Jiang Jinfu replied. Then, he strode out of the tent and quickly made his way to the Sharp Vigor Battalion camp again.

　　Fan Yang welcomed him graciously while he chuckled. “Young Jiang, what brings you here?”

　　“Elder Fan, what are you guys practicing?”

　　“A battle formation.”

　　“Hehe… This is a battle formation?” Jiang Jinfu shook his head and broke into laughter. “Alright then, the general has sent me here to ask you if you need us to lend you a helping hand.”

　　“Coincidentally, we were thinking of asking the general for some help,” Fan Yang replied with a smile. “We were hoping to get a hundred-man troop to come over and launch an attack on these people.”

　　“A hundred-man troop?” Jiang Jinfu laughed heartily in surprise. “Stop joking around!”

　　“I won’t joke around about such matters,” Fan Yang said with a chuckle. “According to Master Zhao, these twenty men should be able to handle a hundred-man troop now.”

　　Jiang Jinfu continued to laugh. “Haha… Okay, sure. I’ll bring them over in the afternoon… Then, they’ll know the true power of the Li Dynasty’s cavalry!”

　　“Great,” Fan Yang said with a smile. “We’ll be waiting.”

　　Jiang Jinfu turned his head and glanced at the twenty people who were walking around on wooden poles with short quick steps. Then, he turned around and left at once to arrange for a hundred-man troop to come over.

　　After breakfast, Xu Cihang raised his voice and said, “There’ll be a battle this afternoon. A hundred-man cavalry troop will be coming over. If you guys can defeat this hundred-man troop, you’ll be rewarded with two days of rest. If you fail to do so, you’ll have to train harder and practice even at night!”

　　When the twenty men heard this, their expressions were filled with helplessness. They wished they would just pass out right away.

　　They had been practicing so diligently. If they had to practice harder and were forced to train even at night, they might as well die. Such an intense training method would eventually drive them crazy.

　　“Now, let’s carry on with your training off from the poles!” Xu Cihang shouted. “Everyone, take a blade and point it diagonally upward. There’s no need to make any special moves. Just don’t get knocked out of formation!”

　　The men began to cheer as they felt an inexplicable joy when they heard that they did not have to walk on the poles anymore. It felt as though they had been bound in ropes before this and were finally released from the ropes that had held them.

　　They each took an ironwood blade from the weapons rack and pointed it diagonally upward. Then, they began to run around a white circle that had been drawn on the ground beforehand.

　　Xu Cihang and Fan Yang could not help but nod in approval. The twenty of them seemed like a circular saw blade that was rotating at high speed. They did not have to wave their blades around because the formation was already terrifying enough and it appeared as if it could cut anything in its path into pieces.

　　After lunch, they took a short break before they continued their training on the wooden poles.

　　Suddenly, the ground started to tremble. Then, a loud rumbling sound could be heard as a hundred-man cavalry appeared like a rushing wind that charged directly into the Sharp Vigor Battalion campsite and toward the twenty people.

　　The hundred-man cavalry was armed with scimitars. Although these weapons were also made from ironwood blades, which would not cause any fatal injuries, they could inflict excruciating pain and could even cause severe muscle and bone injuries. Judging by the cavalry’s aggressive demeanor, they were clearly intent on making the Sharp Vigor Battalion suffer a serious defeat.

　　“Come down! Get into formation!” Xu Cihang shouted.

　　The men hurriedly leaped off the poles and landed in front of him before taking their respective positions.

　　“Rotate the formation!” Xu Cihang instructed.

　　They had come to obey his commands subconsciously since they were frequently punished by him during their training. No amount of fear or surprise could keep them from obeying him. As they began to run in circles, the formation immediately started to take effect as they came charging at the cavalry like a chainsaw.

　　The cavalry was quick-witted and agile. When they saw that they were falling into a disadvantageous position, they quickly sheathed their blades and threw themselves under their horses’ bellies.

　　“Bam, bam, bam…” One by one, the horses collided into the ironwood blades and whined in pain. As the horses continued to suffer more severe neck injuries, they collapsed onto their sides while it neighed.

　　Although the horses were collapsing in front of the formation, this did not stop the formation from rotating. The twenty men swiftly moved backward to avoid the horses that had collapsed onto the ground and waited for the rear cavalry to charge toward them.

　　The rear cavalry took advantage of this situation to surround them from behind. However, their horses could not escape getting struck down by the long blades from the formation either.

　　When the twenty men noticed that this seemingly domineering hundred-man cavalry could not handle their formation, their confidence grew immensely. They began to run faster while they tightened their grip on their weapons. The horses collapsed one after another and struggled to stand back up while the riders gradually withdrew themselves from the battle.

　　If they had been using real blades, these horses would have been dead!

　　The remaining fifty soldiers of the cavalry moved in circles around them in search of their flaws. After a while, they retrieved their bows from their backs and began shooting headless arrows at the formation. The headless arrows showered down on the twenty men like heavy rain.

　　“Puff, puff, puff, puff…” The arrows were sent flying away by the blades just as they were about to hit the top of the men’s heads. Their long blades had formed a net-like shield above them so none of the arrows managed to hit them.

　　The cavalry could not believe their eyes as they kept shooting arrows at the men.

　　The twenty men remained perfectly in order and paid no attention to their opponents at all. The continuous stream of arrows could not break through the protective net formed by their blades.

　　When the cavalry ran out of arrows and still could not defeat these twenty people, they retreated and decisively left the Sharp Vigor Battalion. This was a tradition of Soaring Eagle Cavalry. If all attempts at attacking their opponents failed, they should retreat and should not keep pestering their opponents.

　　Chu Li stood in front of his tent while he watched the battle with a faint smile.

　　When he saw the outcome, he nodded in satisfaction. These convicts possessed tremendous potential. It was truly incredible that they had managed to unleash thirty percent of this formation’s power.

　　“Let’s leave!” one of the riders shouted. “We should stop making fools of ourselves!”

　　A hundred-man cavalry had failed to defeat twenty foot soldiers. This was indeed an extraordinary humiliation for them!

　　In the blink of an eye, they had cleared out of the scene. Only Jiang Jinfu was left behind, staring at them in a daze.

　　He found the outcome of the battle rather hard to believe. In any case, that was a hundred-man cavalry, and an infantry could never go up against a cavalry. A hundred-man cavalry troop should be completely capable of wiping out five hundred to one thousand foot soldiers. However, they had failed to defeat these twenty men!

　　More importantly, these new soldiers had just joined the army and had been training for only ten days!

　　Xu Cihang shouted, “Stop the formation!”

　　The twenty men were perfectly in sync as they stopped and remained motionless in their positions.

　　After this round of battle, their spirits felt entirely different. Their eyes were bright and piercing while their expressions seemed firm and determined. They were already starting to emit a predatory aura.

　　A smile appeared on Chu Li’s face. Only soldiers like these could be regarded as useful. They finally stood a chance at performing a meritorious deed.

　　Xu Cihang and Fan Yang went to Jiang Jinfu and interrupted his daze.

　　“Young Jiang, how was it?” Fan Yang asked with a chuckle. “Are you satisfied with this formation?”

　　“I’ll go and report this to the general!” Jiang Jinfu did not want to see their smug looks, so he walked away immediately.

　　The two of them burst out laughing as they watched Jiang Jinfu leave so hastily.