A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

At 2:45 AM, Zhao Daxuan arrived at the core camp. When he reached the entrance, Li Erlong was already waiting there.

"Lord Zhao, our team has assembled and is waiting for your arrival to take charge of the roll call."

Zhao Daxuan nodded, continuing forward without stopping, saying as he walked, "Erlong, where do we meet up? Lead the way!"

Li Erlong immediately came to Zhao Daxuan's side and guided him to the team's assembly point.

When Zhao Daxuan arrived at the training ground where his team was to assemble, led by Li Erlong, he saw the team chattering away. The team was sparsely packed together, and some people were even sitting on the ground.

Zhao Daxuan frowned, and just as he was about to speak, two people in the group who had been keeping an eye on the direction of the camp gate saw Zhao Daxuan arrive and immediately jogged over to him.

Upon seeing the person who had arrived, Zhao Daxuan's face darkened.

He still remembered the two people in front of him; they were the two who had escaped from the group that tried to kidnap Li Shishi and her companion near the market a few days ago.

"You still have the nerve to come see me? You've got some nerve."

The two men looked embarrassed, and then one of them hurriedly took out a bag of silver from behind him and respectfully presented it with both hands.

"Lord Zhao, we were blind and ignorant, and have offended you. We beg your forgiveness!"

"This is two hundred taels to apologize to you. In addition to the one hundred taels you mentioned before, we have also given you another one hundred taels. The portions for the other three people are also here."

Zhao Daxuan stared at the two men for a while, until their faces turned ashen and they were covered in cold sweat, before finally taking the long canvas money bag from their hands.

He weighed it in his hand; the weight was correct. He was too lazy to open it and check, figuring they wouldn't dare lie to him.

"Where are the other three? Hmm, Deng Rong too. Why didn't he come to see me?"

The two city guards opposite breathed a long sigh of relief when they saw Zhao Daxuan put away the silver. One of them respectfully replied, "Sir, we haven't seen Squad Leader Deng since he came down from Daliang Mountain. The other three are still recovering from serious injuries, especially Brother Li."

"The doctor said he had injured his lungs and internal organs, and that he would never be able to wield a sword again in his life, and that he probably wouldn't live past forty. He was preparing to resign from the city guard and return to his hometown to recuperate."

After hearing the other party's reply, Zhao Daxuan sneered. He was smart enough to admit that the other party was shrewd. If he dared to go back to the city guard, he would make him know what regret was.

Then, Zhao Daxuan squinted at the two of them, his voice revealing a chill.

"I'll accept your apology, but it's not enough!"

"Alright, each of you cut off one of your arms, and then no matter what method you use, get out of my group. I don't want to see you again, and that's the end of it."

Upon hearing this, the two men's expressions changed, their eyes filled with struggle. After hesitating for a moment, recalling Zhao Daxuan's god-like figure on the Daliang Mountains, they gritted their teeth, drew their long knives from their waists, and slashed their left arms with the backs of the blades.

With a sharp crack, their arms were struck hard, and the bones broke instantly. The two men screamed and fell to their knees.

The long sword in their right hands fell to the ground. The two men, clutching their severed arms, looked up at Zhao Daxuan, their faces deathly pale: "My lord, is it alright now?"

Seeing this, Zhao Daxuan nodded indifferently and waved his hand, saying, "Get lost. And remember to tell the other two not to stay in my team either."

The two city guards gritted their teeth, bowed their heads in agreement, and hurriedly left.

After the two men left, Li Erlong smiled and said, "Lord Zhao, what magnanimity! If I had your abilities, I would definitely wipe out anyone who dared to provoke me."

Zhao Daxuan smiled but didn't reply, simply saying, "It's getting late, let's check in."

Upon hearing this, Li Erlong immediately agreed and then arranged for the starting point official to begin the roll call.

The official in charge of roll call out names loudly from the roster, and those whose names were called would step forward and respond, "Present!"

Zhao Daxuan also took this opportunity to get to know the team members, most of whom were men in their early 20s and 30s, in their prime, which showed that his team had great potential.

After roll call was completed, Li Erlong came over to report.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, roll call is complete. The team has 98 registered members, and 93 members are present. All have been counted."

Zhao Daxuan waved his hand, signaling Li Erlong to rejoin the team, standing with his hands behind his back in front of the loosely organized group.

His sharp gaze swept over the crowd, his voice slow yet powerful, reaching each person's ears clearly.

"From today onwards, I officially assume the position of centurion. I believe many of you have witnessed my exploits in the Liangshan Mountains; following me will certainly not be a loss for you."

"However, one must be strong to succeed! To thrive and survive in the city guard, one must possess genuine skills."

"From today onwards, your training will be increased tenfold! No one is allowed to stop until I say so! If you can't handle it, you can leave my team. I don't want cowards."

The people in the group looked at each other in surprise. They had noticed Zhao Daxuan when he arrived at the front of the group, and they were especially shocked to see the two city guards cut off their own arms. They were even more in awe of Zhao Daxuan.

Seeing Zhao Daxuan say this, although everyone had strong opinions, no one dared to refute him.

After Zhao Daxuan finished speaking, he waited for a while, looked at the silent crowd in front of him, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Since no one objects, let's begin today's training. Everyone line up and run around the training field with me. Don't stop until I say stop! Anyone who falls behind will have to run ten more laps! Understand?"

"Understood~"

Everyone felt bitter inside, but they still responded in unison. Then Zhao Daxuan led the team to start running around the camp.

As soon as the team started running, Zhao Daxuan used his newly acquired skill, [Extreme Refinement of Life], on them.

During the first and second laps, no one noticed anything unusual. However, by the tenth lap, after running 10 kilometers, the city guards' pace slowed down.

This distance was already the limit for most people under normal circumstances. Most of them were already drenched in sweat, and even breathing made their tracheas hurt. They felt that they could not continue.

Everyone looked at Zhao Daxuan at the front of the group, hoping he would call a halt to rest. However, Zhao Daxuan was neither red-faced nor out of breath, and continued walking without saying a word.

He even turned around to look at the people behind him, grinned, and said, "Keep running, don't stop!"

The city guards behind him all looked disappointed. Just when they thought they were about to die, a strange power surged from their hearts, and at the same time, a warm current flowed through their limbs and bones, making them feel much more relaxed.

The group gritted their teeth again and continued onward.

Eleventh lap, twelfth lap... fifteenth lap!

Whenever people wanted to give up, that inexplicable force would emerge, supporting them to continue.

Just as Zhao Daxuan was leading his team to persevere, he received a notification that a man named Li Tiezhu was looking for him at the entrance of the military camp.