Back in the barracks, silence filled the wooden room. Recruits lay motionless on their bunks, too exhausted to speak.
Chu Feng rinsed the frost from his hands, wrapped his fingers, and sat on his bed. His breathing was steady, calmer than others.
But inside his chest…
A spark burned.
Anticipation... Resolve... And a quiet thrill.
This place would either break him or forge him.
Outside the window, snow continued falling softly over Northwatch Stronghold.
Inside the barracks, Chu Feng closed his eyes and prepared for the next dawn.
Dawn in Steel Frost Quarters always arrives like a hammer blow.
Horn blasts always tore through the barracks, ordering every recruit out before their minds were even awake.
Snow drifted down from the grey sky, silent and merciless. The cold bit deeply, an early reminder that the Northern Border cared nothing for comfort.
Today was not a training day, but an assignment day.
The morning air was heavy with tension as hundreds of recruits formed rows across the frozen yard, breaths misting in front of their faces. Their cultivation had been unsealed the night before, finally allowing them to feel whole again.
The commander with a hawk tattoo on his bald head strode to the front, boots crunching on ice. In his hands was a thick iron-bound scroll.
He did not open it immediately.
Instead, he pointed at the recruits.
"Step forward if your primary weapon is the sword."
Dozens obeyed, Chu Feng among them.
"Take these."
Soldiers stepped out, dumping long spears into their arms. The metal was cold and heavy enough to numb their skin.
Confusion rippled through the sword users.
The officer ignored them and barked again.
"Spearmen, step forward."
Those recruits were given swords.
This time, voices rose in frustration and disbelief.
One recruit stepped forward, unable to hold back.
"Sir, we trained our whole lives with our weapons. Why force us to—"
A punch cut his words short. The officer's fist drove into his gut, and the recruit flew backwards, skidding across the snow.
Silence crushed the yard instantly.
The officer's voice rumbled like distant thunder.
"When your blade breaks on the battlefield… when your spear snaps… when you are surrounded, exhausted, bleeding… will you stand there waiting for death because the weapon in your hand is not your favourite, or will you pick any weapon you can find to survive?"
No one dared to answer.
His gaze swept across the rows like a predator searching for weakness.
"Out there beyond the walls, adaptability keeps you alive. Complacency gets you buried under the snow."
He looked over them all.
"Today, you learn to fight however the battlefield demands, not however you prefer."
Only then did he flip open the scroll.
"Assignments begin."
Names were called one by one as recruits stepped into squads destined for scouting runs, defensive rotations, and patrolling.
Those chosen for that unit went pale.
A minute later, the officer's voice rang out again.
"Chu Feng. Ironwind Barracks. Second-tier outbound patrol. Report immediately."
Chu Feng stepped out of formation without hesitation.
The Ironwind training grounds were harsher than even Steel Frost. Metal stakes lined the earth. Frozen dummies waited with cracked skulls. Pits filled with sharpened bone fragments yawned like traps waiting for the weak. Recruits swung their weapons in grim silence, each strike echoing their will to survive.
At the centre stood Captain Jiao.
Broad-shouldered. Scar-lined. His presence felt like a battlefield condensed into a single man. He tightened a pair of heavy gauntlets onto his hands, faint runes pulsing beneath the metal.
He looked up as Chu Feng approached.
"You are the new one."
He picked up a heavy pole bearing the Ironwind flag and tossed it toward Chu Feng.
"Carry that until sunset. If you drop it even once, do not come back."
Chu Feng caught it.
Jiao watched the motion for a brief moment, expression unreadable, then jerked his chin toward a squad of hardened patrol warriors preparing their gear.
"Fall in. Learn by surviving."
Chu Feng joined them. Their eyes scanned him from head to toe, cold and measuring. They judged him with a single look, deciding whether he would be a burden or an asset.
No one introduced themselves. No one asked his name, for names only mattered if someone lived long enough to be remembered.
This was the Northern Border.
Only strength earned acknowledgement.
Outbound Patrol
By noon, the squad reached the northern gate. Towering iron doors groaned as they opened, revealing an endless expanse of frozen wilderness. The cold wind rushed in immediately, sharp enough to sting the skin.
The patrol stepped out.
Snow crunched under their boots. The sky above was a flat, suffocating grey. The world beyond the wall felt abandoned by heaven, filled only with silence, wind, and the quiet promise of death.
Chu Feng walked steadily with the banner pole strapped to his back and spear in hand, senses sharpened.
His improved consciousness caught every flicker of motion, every shift in the wind, every faint tremor beneath the snow.
Hours passed.
Snow thickened.
Then he felt it.
A vibration.
So faint it could have been nothing more than settling ice.
Then another.
Stronger.
Closer.
Without a word, the patrol formed a defensive arc. Spears lowered. Eyes narrowed.
The ground in front of them ruptured.
Beasts burst from beneath the snow, leaping upward with snarls that shredded the stillness.
Ironhide Burrowers.
Thick plates lined their backs.
Their claws are sharp enough to cut through metal.
Eyes glowing with feral madness.
Ten of them.
The attack came fast and lethal.
Captain Jiao reacted first.
He stepped forward, met the first beast in mid-air, and smashed his gauntleted fist straight into its skull.
A sharp crack followed.
The creature hit the ground like a dropped boulder.
Another lunged at him. Jiao seized its horn, pivoted with brutal force, and slammed it into a third beast. Snow burst upward in a violent spray.
The rest of the squad engaged without shouting, without hesitation. Their movements were practised, shaped by countless battles.
Chu Feng tightened his grip on his spear.
A beast shot toward him from the left. He sidestepped smoothly, turned his body, and drove the spear through its jaw. Bone crunched, and the creature collapsed.
Another erupted from behind. Chu Feng pivoted, thrusting upward. The spear pierced its throat, and hot blood sprayed across the frozen ground, steaming in the frigid air.
He moved with clarity and precision, breath steady, every motion efficient. The banner pole remained strapped to his back, never shifting.
By the time the final Ironhide Burrower fell, the snow was stained with streaks of black and red.
Captain Jiao surveyed the aftermath.
Some recruits panted hard.
Others clutched wounds with shaking hands.
One trembled uncontrollably.
Chu Feng stood straight, spear planted in the snow, the Ironwind banner still steady behind him.
Jiao's eyes rested on him for a brief moment.
Then he turned away.
"Clean up. Move out."
No praise.
The Northern Border expected competence.
Nothing more.