119: Chapter 119 Establishing Authority

After the words fell, Su Bai took a step forward, his center of gravity suddenly lunging forward. In an instant, his entire body's strength converged through his waist, hips, spine, and arms, finally gathering into the wooden blade in his hand.

This strike carried an aura of peerless overbearingness.

Pang Hai's pupils suddenly constricted!

He only saw Su Bai's figure instantly enlarge before him.

A wave of pressure rushed toward him.

Pang Hai didn't even have time to think; he could only rely on instinct, using all his strength to firmly brace the shield in front of him.

"Bang!"

A loud explosion.

The moment the wooden blade made contact with the wooden shield, Pang Hai felt a burst of immense force.

That power was simply not something he could contend with.

The wooden shield in his hand instantly shattered into pieces, turning into countless fragments that flew in all directions.

As for him, he was directly blasted off his feet by that immense force, flying over ten meters away with a scream before crashing heavily onto the ground.

The entire field instantly fell silent.

Just now, they had felt it clearly: there was absolutely no fluctuation of Spiritual Qi on Su Bai's body.

Everyone was left dumbfounded by the scene before them.

Their mouths hung open and their eyes were wide, as if they had seen something inconceivable.

One move!

Just one move!

That immensely strong Pang Hai had been sent flying by Su Bai just like that?

This... what kind of power is this?

Pang Hai lay on the ground, his mind blank and buzzing.

He was in a state of being completely dazed from the blow.

This is impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

Didn't he say he wouldn't use Spiritual Qi?

With such terrifying power, could it really be emitted without using Spiritual Qi?

It took a long time for Pang Hai to catch his breath and struggle to climb up from the ground.

Clutching his chest and looking at the figure not far away, a look of humiliated rage appeared on his face.

Pointing at Su Bai, he roared with feigned bravado:

"You... you cheated! You definitely used Spiritual Qi! You're a general, yet you personally came down to bully a green recruit like me. Have you no shame? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at if word gets out!"

"Bully you?"

Su Bai sneered disdainfully, looking at Pang Hai as if he were a buffoon. "With your capabilities, do you even deserve to be bullied by me?"

Then, he casually tossed the wooden blade in his hand to Ma Lie, who was standing nearby.

"Ma Lie, you're up."

"Don't use Spiritual Qi either. Let him get a good look at the lower-body foundation skills we've developed from standing."

"Yes, General!"

Ma Lie had been itching for a fight for a long time.

Hearing this, he strode forward, picked up a wooden blade from the ground, and looked at Pang Hai with ill intent.

This Pang Hai, relying on his bit of brute strength, had been overbearing in the army and now dared to defy the general.

This was the perfect opportunity to give him a good lesson on the general's behalf!

Seeing Ma Lie walk up, Pang Hai's confidence returned.

Ma Lie?

Isn't he just a dog by Su Bai's side?

He didn't believe Ma Lie could have the same freakish strength as Su Bai!

"Bring it on! I'm not afraid of you!"

Gritting his teeth, Pang Hai climbed up again and took his stance once more.

However, it didn't take long for Pang Hai to fall into complete despair.

He saw that Ma Lie's feet were rooted to the spot as if they had grown into the ground.

No matter how hard Pang Hai slashed with all his might, Ma Lie only parried unhurriedly.

All of Pang Hai's attacks were completely blocked head-on by Ma Lie.

"Is that all you've got?"

A mocking curl appeared at the corner of Ma Lie's mouth as he said to Pang Hai, "You can't even shake my foundation, yet you're clamoring to practice actual combat?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Lie suddenly sank into a horse stance, exerted force from his waist, and instantly twisted his entire body's strength into a single thread.

The wooden blade in his hand struck second but arrived first, ruthlessly lashing Pang Hai's wrist that was holding the blade.

"Ah!"

Pang Hai screamed as the wooden blade flew out of his hand.

Immediately after, Ma Lie closed in, giving Pang Hai no room to breathe.

His shoulder dropped, and a fiercely powerful Mountain-Leaning Strike slammed solidly into Pang Hai's chest!

"Bang!"

Another loud bang.

Once again, Pang Hai flew backward like a kite with a broken string.

He lay on the ground, unable to get up for a long time.

Ma Lie walked up to him, pointed the tip of the blade at his throat, and looked down at him, saying: "Now, do you still think standing in military posture is useless?

I'm telling you, every bit of strength I use was trained from those most basic standing postures!

You can't even beat someone like me who stands with you every day as punishment; what right do you have to question the General's training methods?"

Pang Hai lay on the ground, gasping for air, unable to say a word.

Su Bai slowly walked up to Pang Hai.

His shadow completely enveloped Pang Hai.

Looking down with cold eyes at the prone Pang Hai:

"Pang Hai,"

"In the army, merit is rewarded and faults are punished! Publicly defying a superior officer and inciting the troops is a grave crime that shakes the very foundation of the military."

His tone suddenly shifted, becoming sharp: "Men!"

"Here!"

Ma Lie and Zhao Ding immediately stepped forward, their voices booming like bells.

"Drag this man away and, in front of everyone, give him thirty strikes with the Military Staff as a warning to others!"

Su Bai's voice was cold. "From this day on, he is stripped of his status as a combat soldier and demoted to a laborer in the Cookhouse to chop wood and stoke fires. When he learns the meaning of 'obedience,' then he can crawl back to the ranks."

"Yes."

Ma Lie and Zhao Ding did not hesitate in the slightest. They stepped forward, one on each side, and hoisted up the limp and terrified Pang Hai, dragging him to the bench already prepared in the center of the training field.

"Strip his pants and carry out the sentence!"

At Zhao Ding's command, two strong veteran soldiers raised military staves as thick as the mouth of a bowl.

"Smack!"

"Ah—!"

With the first strike, Pang Hai let out a scream.

That sound was even more shrill than when he was sent flying by Ma Lie earlier.

"Smack! Smack! Smack!"

The military staves whistled through the air, landing solidly on Pang Hai's buttocks one after another.

The dull thud of the staff hitting flesh made every recruit present tremble with fear.

After just a few strikes.

Pang Hai began wailing for his parents, begging for mercy with tears and snot streaming down his face:

"General, I was wrong! I was really wrong, I'll never dare to do it again! Please, spare me this once!"

However, Su Bai turned a deaf ear.

He stood expressionless on the high platform, watching it all.

Ma Lie and Zhao Ding supervised the soldiers carrying out the sentence, showing no mercy.

Except for Pang Hai's screams and the dull thuds of the military staves, there was no other sound on the entire training field.

All the new recruits watched this scene, as quiet as cicadas in winter.

They finally understood deeply what it meant for military law to be as immovable as a mountain.

Under the shed, Li Han's eyelids twitched as he watched: "Old Zhou, this son-in-law of yours... these methods are a bit too ruthless, aren't they? You all came from the same village; is it necessary to be so heavy-handed?"