...

Eastern Capital Military Academy.

Inside the Vice Dean’s office in the War Academy’s training building.

Gui Zian looked at the four people standing before him, their expressions utterly relaxed. He was truly exhausted. ’If I had another chance, I would absolutely never want to be the mentor for these four.’

It had only been one night, and they had already caused a huge uproar.

"Just tell me, what on earth are you trying to do?" Gui Zian asked, weary.

"We’ve challenged 20 teams from the Ding List!" Fang Tangtang announced excitedly. She showed no awareness of having done anything wrong; on the contrary, she looked eager for more.

"That’s right." Gao Neng nodded as well.

’Since we’ve already decided to challenge the Ding List, there’s not much point in being secretive anymore. At the very least, we can’t afford to lose when it comes to morale.’

And besides that...

’I also need Gui Zian’s full support.’

’So, the only way is to drag Gui Zian down with us. If we win, we all share the glory. If we lose, we all share the shame.’

Gui Zian, of course, understood this now. He glanced at the four of them again and finally sighed in resignation. He had truly been backed into a corner.

These four had already made their declaration public.

’Stop them now? That’s pretty much impossible.’

"When do you want to start the challenges?" Gui Zian asked, finally relenting after a moment’s internal struggle.

"Tomorrow!"

"So soon?!"

"We have to challenge 20 teams from the Ding List within a month. We have no choice but to be fast!" Gao Neng replied.

"Have you never heard the saying ’sharpening the axe doesn’t delay chopping the wood’?" Gui Zian’s expression was grim. ’Do these kids really have no idea what they’re up against?’

’Fighting tomorrow? What do they take the teams on the battle rankings for? Pushovers?’

"I only know that you have to strike while the iron is hot. Hesitate, and you lose your nerve. Since we’ve decided to fight, let’s ride this momentum and challenge them all at once!" Gao Neng retorted.

"Kids these days... honestly... All right, since you’ve made up your minds, I’ll be direct. You want my help? Fine. But there’s not much I can do," Gui Zian finally conceded.

"Are you giving us Merit Points? A thousand points for each of us should be no problem, right?" Gao Neng immediately asked.

"Do you take me for a fool? Merit Points are out of the question. However, I can open a training room for you for a day. How much you can learn in that time is up to you!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"You’ve got to give us some Energy Pills, then, right? We’re all dirt poor!" Gao Neng wasn’t too disappointed; he had only been testing the waters with the Merit Points request.

The Energy Pills, however, were something he really needed to fight for.

’I trained all night yesterday and used up more than half my energy again, but the magnetization of my right arm still isn’t finished. Clearly, completely magnetizing my entire right arm is much harder than just doing my palms.’

"You’re poor?" Gui Zian’s gaze shifted from Gao Neng to Fang Tangtang. ’Do they really not know who Fang Tangtang is?’

’With a vice-captain like her...’

’...you actually have the nerve to cry poor in front of me?’

"Uncle Gui, we really are poor," Fang Tangtang said, seeming to notice his gaze. A subtle smile touched the corners of her lips.

"Fine. I can provide some Energy Pills. Five per person."

"Only five?" Gao Neng was clearly unsatisfied. He was about to challenge 20 teams in a row; what good would five Energy Pills do?

"What I mean is, I’ll sponsor five pills for every team you defeat. If you lose... not only will you get nothing, you’ll have to pay back double the amount you’ve already taken! How about it?"

"We have to pay them back if we lose?"

"If you don’t have the guts, then don’t compete!"

"Fine. We’ll pay you back double if we lose. But if we really manage to beat all 20 teams, how about an extra 100-pill bonus from you, Teacher Gui?" Gao Neng said, cutting to the chase.

"We’ll see about that. For now, everyone follow me to the training room!" Gui Zian ignored the question, standing up and heading for the door.

’Five Energy Pills per team? That seems acceptable.’ This time, Gao Neng didn’t say anything more. As long as he could replenish the energy he spent, it would be fine.

...

The group of five left the office.

Led by Gui Zian, they soon arrived at the door of a training room.

Gui Zian was efficient. Without wasting words, he spoke briefly with the instructor at the door and then led Gao Neng and the others inside.

The training room was spacious, at least three or four hundred square meters in area. And this was just one such room; the Eastern Capital Military Academy had a total of 80 of them.

It was Gao Neng’s first time truly setting foot in one of the Eastern Capital Military Academy’s training rooms, and he found it all rather novel.

Inside, there were various machines for physical training.

There were also two large screens.

Additionally, on the eastern and western walls, there were two identical metal doors. Gao Neng guessed that the real training area lay behind them.

A Virtual Battlefield, just like the one from the practical portion of the college entrance exam.

"Do you know why the battle rankings at the Eastern Capital Military Academy are based on teams?" Gui Zian asked, his expression serious. He made no move to enter the doors.

"Because military academies don’t train individual soldiers. They train for team coordination!" Kong Kun answered immediately.

"Correct! The biggest difference between a military academy and a regular university is that we place far more emphasis on teamwork. Having great individual strength is all well and good, but can a single person truly dominate an entire battlefield? It’s possible, but only if there’s an extreme imbalance of power between the two sides!"

Gui Zian paused for a moment before continuing. "But how often do you see that kind of imbalance? Humans have their powerhouses, but don’t the other races have them, too? If a human powerhouse were to wantonly slaughter the weak of another race, couldn’t a powerhouse from that race do the same to humanity’s weak to vent their anger?

"So, in reality, battles with such a huge disparity in power are incredibly rare!