Chapter 95: Formation

Chapter 95: Battle Formation

In the video, soldiers stood on the drill ground.

Unlike the neat formations of a military parade, this time, the soldiers weren’t arranged in orderly rows or columns.

The drill ground was crowded, yet not chaotic. Upon closer inspection, one could discern that their positions followed a deliberate pattern.

The soldiers moved and shifted across the training field.

"What are they doing?"

"Wandering around like they’re confused."

"They’re not gonna fight?"

"I thought this would be a demonstration of martial arts—either in one-on-one fights or free-for-alls. But it just looks like they’re running around and changing positions."

Viewers online were baffled. But Sheng Qingquan already understood what was happening.

Just as expected, the next moment, several tanks pulled up, much like in a military parade.

"Isn’t that the fourth-generation assault tank? That’s the most advanced and high-end tank on Tianlan Planet right now—at least on the surface."

An eagle-eyed commenter immediately recognized them.

Strangely, though the tanks were advancing steadily, once surrounded by the soldiers, their orderly formation quickly fell apart. Some began swerving wildly, while others remained motionless, almost spinning in place out of frustration.

It was as if they had no clue how to break free from the encirclement.

"Why’re they frozen? Are they afraid of crushing the soldiers and causing casualties? That wouldn’t be fair—one side’s got tanks; the other’s bare-handed."

"But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Some tanks are stationary, while others keep trying to break free but seem to be slamming into an invisible barrier. There are even gaps right in front of them, yet when they double back, they nearly collide with other tanks."

As viewers online were totally stumped, the video cut to the interior of a tank.

Most people couldn’t make sense of it, but fortunately, a voice-over broke it down.

"The fourth-generation assault tank is equipped with an upgraded radar system. However, as we can see now, the radar’s detection system is pretty much useless. Its environmental scans are completely inconsistent with reality."

"And the driver’s visual observations match the radar’s readings."

"Human eyes get tricked—same with tech."

"The opposing side is using an illusion-based defense array. It doesn’t just work on people; it also affects many high-tech detection methods. Moreover, the more people involved in setting up the array, the stronger its power. The more fluid the shifts in the formation, the harder it is to break."

"But even with very few people, an array can still be arranged. Just three individuals are enough to form one."

"Even crazier, with deep expertise in arrays, a single person can successfully set one up using nothing more than randomly piled-up stones."

With that, the footage switched to another scene.

The tanks were gone, as were the many soldiers forming the array.

Instead, the setting was a rural courtyard.

Someone inside was casually tossing stones around. Once finished, they grabbed a hyper chicken—one that had been flapping its wings and darting around—and tossed it into the array.

The chicken, which had been flailing fiercely when caught, immediately tried to escape upon entering the array. But no matter how much it flailed, it couldn’t break free from the area marked by the stones. Even when it spread its wings and attempted to fly out, it only ended up dizzy and plummeting back down—not even as tall as the chicken, much less its wingspan.

But even then, the chicken couldn’t manage to escape.

It was like being trapped in a cage.

"Qimen Dunjia (a mystical Chinese divination art)!"

"Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams (a Daoist cosmological concept)!"

"Whoa, that’s wild! Maybe I should grab a copy of the *I Ching* to get a head start?"

"Is this hard to learn? It looks so cool!"

"One hero can hold a pass against a thousand—even without a gate, this formation makes its own barrier. Badass!"

...

After demonstrating the formation, the video returned to the square at the end, showing soldiers sparring with martial arts.

They traded blows evenly. Since no one was injured, it seemed more like a demo than actual combat, so it was hard to gauge their real skill.

You could only tell when they stomped, leaving dents in solid granite.

Or when they leaped four or five meters into the air to dodge an attack.

Or when they split a soft fabric hat in midair with a palm strike—

From these moments, their skill became evident. It left everyone itching to try it themselves, wishing they could do the same.

"Right now, the military’s all-in on martial arts training, achieving initial success. Cops and traffic police nationwide are getting martial arts experts assigned to train and supervise them."

"Gym class is getting swapped out for martial arts. Even morning calisthenics are turning into kung-fu practice. The state will later establish specialized martial arts universities. Anyone who wants to level up, regardless of age, can apply when the time comes."

"Additionally, those already in the workforce who cannot return to school can join free martial arts classes offered by local communities. Different martial arts will be taught, starting from the basics. When signing up online, check the schedule to arrange learning according to your availability."

"Before starting martial arts, get your bones checked at the community center to gauge your aptitude and determine the best path. Save yourself the hassle."

"Those with poor physical foundations shouldn’t be discouraged—they can try their hand at magic arrays, venomous bugs, or poison arts instead..."

"Avoid self-teaching online or private instruction. Lack of professionalism can easily lead to training mishaps."

"You don’t wanna mess up your qi."

"Clearly, while encouraging nationwide martial arts practice, the government made sure to show off their chops. They’re making it clear: don’t get cocky with your new skills, thinking you can bully others or break the law."

"Sure, you’ve learned martial arts and grown stronger. But the authorities have plenty who started earlier, with better talent and harder training. So don’t even try anything stupid."

Sheng Qingquan wasn’t the only one who picked up on this. After all, the government wasn’t exactly subtle about it.

Admittedly, instead of pissing people off, it actually put them at ease.

“‘Martial arts lead to chaos’—what regular person wouldn’t be scared of that?”

Sure, revenge sounds cool, but think of those in martial arts dramas who just set up their stalls, only to have them wrecked by brawling warriors. Their whole family’s screwed in a flash. Or imagine running a restaurant when some brawl tears the roof off—and good luck getting paid back.

Who could endure such a life? Just picturing it is enough to make folks sweat.

This peace of mind couldn’t have come sooner.

Therefore, even though everyone heard that they could learn martial arts, things didn’t descend into chaos. Instead, people were buzzing with excitement.

When the authorities announced that classes would officially begin the next day and registration was now open, everyone jumped at the chance.

The basics were the toughest grind. Once classes started, things went dead quiet—even the internet slowed down.

After all, even typing took effort. Many people, after finishing their daily work or school assignments and enduring the grueling training, were too wiped to even scroll when they got home. They couldn’t even muster the strength to move their fingers, let alone take a shower before collapsing into sleep.

Though every person on Tianlanxing had jianghu fantasies, dreams were just dreams. Many simply weren’t willing to endure the hardship.

People wanted to learn martial arts for the flair of qinggong, slick moves in a fight, and the extraordinary prowess they imagined mastering. They envisioned becoming powerful and renowned—not the grueling slog of basics.

Some gave up, but others persevered.

Though Sheng Qingquan didn’t attend the classes, he still practiced daily.

Having already trained diligently for over two months and possessing twenty years of internal energy, he wasn’t as worn out as the others.

Even though people knew Sheng Qingquan had struggled just as much when he first started learning, those who’d seen him struggle couldn’t help but envy him as they dragged their exhausted bodies home.

However, Sheng Qingquan had his own troubles.

Like now, for instance—another doomsday fic popped up.

Sheng Qingquan opened the novel and began reading.

"Nausea, vomiting, swollen hands and feet, back and leg pain, constipation, hemorrhoids… A man mysteriously developed these symptoms. A hospital visit later, it turned out he was pregnant?!"