Chapter 146: Are You Knowledgeable?

"Starfall Medal?"

Upon hearing these words, not only were the new recruits in the audience stunned, but even many of the instructors on stage were shocked!

This was an honor second only to the Star Sea Medal. Even Yuan Gang, the head of the training camp, only had three of them. And here was Lin QiYe, a fresh recruit who hadn't even left the camp yet, receiving a Starfall Medal?

But upon further thought, it wasn't entirely unimaginable.

Take for instance, the way he shielded the entire bus of recruits from missile fragments—this alone ensured that the medal he received would be no small honor.

You have to understand, there were over two hundred recruits in this camp, all of whom were from the Night Watch's reserve forces from across the Great Xia, and they represented the future backbone of the nation's defense. If anything were to happen to these recruits, it could cause a gap in the Night Watch's strength, weakening the nation's defense.

In recent years, mysterious forces across the country had grown stronger. If the Night Watch's strength were to be disrupted, the danger wouldn't just be limited to one city—it would trigger a nationwide crisis!

From this angle, what Lin QiYe had done satisfied the criteria of "quelling a major incident that could destabilize society."

As for the heavy injury to the Snake Lady and the cooperative killing of Han Shaoyun, while they seemed like big events, in the grand scheme of the country, they were relatively minor—after all, a "Pond" level Medusa agent and a "Sea" level Believer wouldn't cause any major upheaval.

There was another point that only a few could truly understand.

Since Lin QiYe had directly confronted members of the Ancient God Church and severely wounded the Snake Lady, it meant he had rejected their recruitment and firmly stood with the Night Watch.

In the eyes of the higher-ups in the Night Watch, for such a decisive stand from a double-god agent, not rewarding him would have been unthinkable.

What kind of reward would be appropriate? Money or Forbidden Objects? Promises of a bright future?

Too mundane, too conventional.

By coincidence, a merit application for Lin QiYe had already been submitted. Naturally, they wanted to make this "gift" as grand as possible.

Given all these factors, it was perfectly reasonable that Lin QiYe received this Starfall Medal.

"Lin QiYe, come up for your award," Yuan Gang's voice rang out, snapping Lin QiYe out of his thoughts. He quickly walked up to the martial arts stage.

Yuan Gang walked to Lin QiYe's side, slowly opened a small black box, and inside, on a dark silk cushion, was a dazzling deep blue medal, sparkling with a crystal-like brilliance. Embedded in the crystal seemed to be a shining star.

Yuan Gang solemnly took the Starfall Medal and hung it on Lin QiYe's chest.

Lin QiYe took a deep breath and gave Yuan Gang a formal military salute.

Under the envious and jealous gazes of everyone, Lin QiYe slowly descended the stairs and returned to the ranks.

Bai Li Pàngpàng swallowed loudly and gave Lin QiYe a thumbs-up. "QiYe, you're amazing!!"

After Lin QiYe, the second person to receive an award was announced, and it caught everyone by surprise.

"Shen Qingzhu, for promptly neutralizing the destructive eye of the Great Wind Disaster, preventing half the city from being destroyed, is awarded the Starshine Medal."

"What the heck, Bro Zui?" Bai Li Pàngpàng widened his eyes.

Everyone turned to look at Shen Qingzhu, who was just as confused as they were. He stared at Yuan Gang on stage, as if thinking, Are you joking with me?

After confirming Yuan Gang wasn't joking, Shen Qingzhu reluctantly walked up to the martial arts stage.

He never expected that the snap of his fingers would somehow save half of Cangnan City.

Stunned by receiving the award, Shen Qingzhu walked back down, still in a daze, and returned to his spot in the ranks, feeling like the world had gone mad.

When Yuan Gang ordered the camp to disperse, everyone rushed to the mess hall. Immediately, three of Shen Qingzhu's lackeys—Deng Wei, Li Jia, and Li Liang—surrounded him, their eyes filled with admiration!

"Shen Bro! When did you save Cangnan City?!"

"Yeah, Shen Bro, weren't you out making money? How'd you end up with a medal?"

"Shen Bro, you're still my hero! Too cool!"

Surrounded by the three of them, Shen Qingzhu coughed twice, raised his head proudly, and said, "Hmph, look at you guys, so naive. It's just a Starshine Medal, what's the big deal? In the future, I'm going to get an even more amazing medal!"

"Shen Bro is awesome!"

"Shen Bro is amazing!"

Bai Li Pàngpàng saw this and smirked, "Bro Zui is at it again... I can't let him get too cocky."

With that, Bai Li Pàngpàng took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"QiYe is the strongest!"

"QiYe is the coolest!"

"QiYe is amazing!!!"

Upon hearing this, the group across the room turned toward them with unamused expressions, glaring at the duo.

Lin QiYe rolled his eyes and slapped Bai Li Pàngpàng on the back of the head. "Are you a child? Let's go eat."

"Oh…"

After physical training ended, the training projects for the new recruits became more varied.

Tactical guidance, simulation drills, Forbidden Ruins theory, combat exercises, a complete set of world mythologies, and explanations about the high-risk Forbidden Ruins that had appeared in recent times.

If the past six months had been spent entirely on outdoor physical training, now, 80% of the training consisted of theoretical knowledge taught in classrooms.

This gave Lin QiYe a sense of being in college… or more precisely, in a military academy.

For most people, the days of passing out from exhaustion in the training field were now behind them, and this new classroom-based training felt like heaven. However, a small minority of recruits rejected theoretical study with every fiber of their being.

"What is the essence of spiritual power?"

At the front of the classroom, an instructor wearing black-rimmed glasses slowly spoke, his gaze sweeping across the recruits. Finally, it landed on the last row.

"Shen Qingzhu."

Shen Qingzhu, who had been napping with his head on the desk, sluggishly lifted his head and stared at Instructor Gu.

"What is the essence of spiritual power?"

"I don't know."

"…Go run ten laps."

"Got it!!"

Shen Qingzhu suddenly sprang to life and darted out of the classroom like the wind, full of energy, starting his laps on the field.

Instructor Gu sighed and looked for his next target. His gaze finally fell on Lin QiYe.

"Lin QiYe, do you know?"

"The essence of spiritual power is the supernatural force generated by conscious activity in specific situations," Lin QiYe stood up and answered calmly.

Instructor Gu nodded, a hint of appreciation in his eyes. "Not bad. I hope everyone understands that theory is just as important as practical combat in the process of clearing the mysteries. We must always maintain the attitude of a learner—seeking, researching, and only through continuous reflection and dialectics will we truly grasp the truth of the world…"

Hearing these words, Lin QiYe suddenly had a flash of inspiration. It seemed like he'd just come to a realization.

Instructor Gu was about to continue speaking when he noticed that Lin QiYe was still standing.

"Why are you still standing?"

Lin QiYe pondered for a moment before asking, "Instructor Gu, is your knowledge vast?"

The instructor chuckled lightly, a proud smile on his face. "I'm a professor at Huaqing University. What do you think?"

"Then, Instructor, can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead," Instructor Gu pushed his glasses up.

Lin QiYe asked, "Do you think the world we are in right now... is real?"