The next day, 3 AM. The air in early autumn already had a hint of chill.

Normally, special forces soldiers would get up to run at 5:30 AM, but now, without any reason, this was moved two and a half hours earlier. This was unbearable for this group of soldiers; their biological clocks were severely disrupted.

However, after all, they were specially trained special forces soldiers. At exactly 3 AM, the entire team assembled quickly. Standing under the big lights in the courtyard, the sky was just beginning to lighten at this moment.

Looking closer, all these soldiers appeared sleepy, some were even so drowsy they couldn’t stand steadily.

What surprised them a bit was that Xiao Tian seemed to have already been waiting there as if he had been there all along. One of the soldiers couldn’t help but ask, "Instructor Xiao Tian, aren’t you tired?"

"Tired? There’s no such thing as tired for special forces! You must always be combat-ready. The way you are now, if you were on a mission, you’d have been executed by the enemy a hundred times over. You’re nowhere near what I was back then." Xiao Tian retorted coldly, his tone not lacking in disappointment.

Xiao Tian was someone who was strict with himself. Since he took on the task of training the special forces, he was determined to train them until he was satisfied.

Hearing Xiao Tian’s words, many soldiers instantly felt deeply ashamed. They immediately stood at attention, standing straight and tall. Chen Gang shouted, "Attention!"

The night before, Chen Gang delivered the list and some information about the special forces to Xiao Tian. And when he got up at dawn to prepare things according to Xiao Tian’s instructions, he found the light still on in Xiao Tian’s room. When he sneaked a peek, Xiao Tian was engrossed in writing something, apparently having stayed up all night.

Moreover, Xiao Tian arrived early for the early morning assembly to familiarize himself with the venue. Upon noticing this, Chen Gang couldn’t help but respect Xiao Tian more.

Xiao Tian’s serious attitude alone was admirable!

Then, as Chen Gang looked around, he noticed something was off with the number of people. He quickly ran to Xiao Tian and said, "Instructor, two people haven’t arrived. I’ll go and get them."

Xiao Tian nodded, but before Chen Gang could head to the dormitory, he saw Dong Feng and Cai Qiang slowly walking over.

Dong Feng leisurely walked up to Xiao Tian and said with a "sorry" look, "Sorry, Instructor, I had a stomach upset..."

Next to him, Cai Qiang also scratched his head, "Me too..."

"You guys!" Just as Chen Gang was about to lose his temper, Xiao Tian calmly said, "It’s fine, just rejoin the team."

Subsequently, Cai Qiang and Dong Feng swaggered back to the team with great satisfaction. Anyone could see that the two were clearly doing it on purpose.

Once everyone was present, Xiao Tian waved his hand, and Cheng Gang came from under a tree carrying a sack, which he threw in front of everyone.

The sack opened, revealing it was full of leg weights.

Xiao Tian pointed at the leg weights and said, "In here are the iron sand leg weights Captain Chen Gang prepared, each weighing ten kilograms. Put them on. Today’s task is simple, run fifty laps around the courtyard. Those who finish fifty laps can have breakfast, no waiting!"

"What???"

When Xiao Tian finished, the scene was filled with groans. They weren’t afraid of running, but running fifty laps with twenty-kilogram leg weights and not being allowed to eat until they finished was too much!

"Hurry up. I’m not responsible if you miss breakfast," Xiao Tian said coldly.

Amidst Xiao Tian’s repeated urging, even though the special forces soldiers were unwilling, they reluctantly put on the leg weights and began running lap after lap around the courtyard.

After all, being elites of the army, these special forces soldiers had extraordinary stamina. Ten laps went by, yet their pace didn’t slow down in the slightest. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Xiao Tian sat on a chair, watching the special forces soldiers run, his thoughts drifting back to his days in the ranks.

In fact, Xiao Tian wasn’t trying to make things difficult for these soldiers, he just wanted to train them for the improved Iron Chain Cross River, requiring their legs and feet to be in their best condition to adapt to the pressure.

This kind of training not only rapidly boosts the fitness of special forces soldiers but also lays a foundation for the future practice of Iron Chain Cross River, which is a necessary step.

However, the training path wasn’t all smooth sailing. After twenty laps, by which time it was bright daylight and the sun was rising, everything was bathed in a reddish glow.

Yet, Dong Feng couldn’t take it anymore after a few more laps and directly walked up to Xiao Tian. Panting heavily, Dong Feng asked, "Instructor, is this outdated and torturous running method really your training method?"

Xiao Tian didn’t respond, neither speaking nor moving. At this moment, Dong Feng let out a cold laugh, "Or maybe you don’t have any experience training special forces? With one command, you have us brothers blindly suffering."

Dong Feng’s tone was sarcastic, clearly mocking Xiao Tian’s training methods.

At this moment, Xiao Tian showed a sliver of interest and smiled, "I couldn’t tell, you’re quite considerate of your comrades. Alright then."

Xiao Tian stood up and waved his hand, "The rest of you go have breakfast."

Upon hearing Xiao Tian’s words, Dong Feng couldn’t help but feel smug, a smile just breaking on his face. But as soon as he heard Xiao Tian’s next words, that smile froze.

Xiao Tian’s eyes squinted into slits as he smiled, "Since Dong Feng is so considerate of his comrades, how can I refuse? You can finish the rest for them. I won’t make it hard for you, just an extra twenty laps, seventy laps in total. If you don’t finish, no breakfast."

"You!!" Dong Feng trembled with anger, barely able to stand.

In the next moment, Xiao Tian wasted no words and shouted, "Dong Feng!"

"Here!"

"Run, go!" Xiao Tian commanded.

Dong Feng was so furious he turned pale, but he couldn’t disobey the order. In the end, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue running alone in the courtyard, inwardly cursing Xiao Tian’s family.

----

Quickly, the day’s training was over.

In the morning, everyone ran with sandbags to train leg strength. In the afternoon, they did push-ups with stones on their backs to train arm strength.

By the end of a full day of training, these special forces soldiers were utterly exhausted. When the training ended, they could only feel severe pain in their arms and legs, as if they had lost all feeling. They lay sprawled on the ground.

"This... is hell training!"

"Isn’t this just torture? Pure physical training is useless; other military districts are practicing martial arts!"

"Continuing like this will surely cost us our lives..."

The group of special forces soldiers lamented on the ground.

Looking again at the courtyard, a sweat-soaked Dong Feng was still stubbornly running, veins popping on his forehead, clearly exhausted beyond his limits.

Finally, Dong Feng finished fifty laps and collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath as he watched the setting sun.