"He’s certainly arrogant." The comment came from members of a few teams that had returned from the battlefield. They’d all heard about what had happened at the Eastern Capital Military Academy over the past month.

Gao Neng, the number one freshman at the Eastern Capital Military Academy.

He’d first made a name for himself at the freshman orientation, where he’d beaten a whole crowd of new students to the ground.

Afterward, Gao Neng formed the Invincible Team and, to the disbelief of all students, new and old, consecutively challenged 19 ranked teams within a month.

Record: Undefeated.

Of course, there was also the matter of Gao Neng and Shen Ning’Er.

Although Gao Neng had publicly stated that nothing inappropriate happened between him and Shen Ning’Er in his dorm room, the fact remained that she had stayed there for three days and three nights.

Right now, Gao Neng was arguably the hottest rising star at the Eastern Capital Military Academy. Having broken the Fourth Human Limit and mastered Energy Manifestation—all of it pointed to his immense potential.

"It’s starting," an instructor announced.

The surroundings once again fell silent.

On the screen, a dense jungle appeared.

...

Gao Neng and his team appeared on the edge of the jungle, while the four members of the Moon Wheel Team materialized in the center.

Zhang Yuelun was a fourth-year student. While not a dazzling genius, his greatest strength was his unwavering composure, which was how he had held the top spot on the Ding List for a full year.

The moment he appeared, he covered himself in armor.

It was a full suit of battle armor, encasing his body from head to toe. The neck of the armor had even been specially reinforced.

"Defend!" Zhang Yuelun gave his first combat command.

"Defend? But we’re Tier Three!" The three team members, Hua Youque included, were astonished. They had come here for a battle of revenge, after all.

"Is there a problem?" Zhang Yuelun’s gaze turned cold.

"Fine. You’re the captain; you call the shots. So, how do you want to defend?" Hua Youque and the others were frustrated, but they didn’t defy Zhang Yuelun’s orders.

The laws of jungle warfare: sneak attacks, concealment, setting traps, and killing in one strike.

"Hua Youque and Li Ling, set traps. Zuo Qing, find a hiding spot. Signal immediately if you see anyone. I will take the high ground and provide support," Zhang Yuelun instructed.

"Alright!" The three had no objections.

Zhang Yuelun immediately found a large tree and climbed up.

Because he was a long-range attacker.

...

「At the edge of the jungle.」

Gao Neng immediately unleashed his Spiritual Power.

The drain was significant, but he didn’t mind. He quickly located the members of the Moon Wheel Team at the center of the jungle.

However, he only found two of them.

One was Hua Youque, and the other was Li Ling.

But he couldn’t find Zuo Qing and Zhang Yuelun; they must have found very concealed hiding spots.

Gao Neng’s Spiritual Power could only probe, not perform a ’thermal scan.’ Therefore, finding hidden targets would require a slow, meticulous search.

But doing so would consume a terrifying amount of Spiritual Power.

The distance was a bit too far.

Gao Neng didn’t continue his search. It wasn’t worth the cost right now; the drain would be much lower once they got closer.

"They’re in the center. Hua Youque and Li Ling seem to be setting traps, and the other two are probably hiding," Gao Neng relayed.

"Setting traps? Looks like the Moon Wheel Team is on the defensive!" Feng Qingqing concluded.

"Tier Threes versus Tier Twos, and they choose to defend? The Moon Wheel Team really is..." Kong Kun was speechless. He thought *they* were the ones who should have been on the defensive.

"This means they’re scared of us! Let’s attack!" Fang Tangtang’s face was lit with excitement.

"Mm." Surprisingly, Gao Neng didn’t object. Since their goal was to defeat a higher-tiered opponent, there was no need to be conservative. Going all out was the only way to win.

"Are we really attacking?"

"Attack!"

"Alright!"

Having trained together for half a month and fought in ranked matches for almost another, the four had developed a tacit understanding. They didn’t need to discuss a division of labor.

...

The Invincible Team began to advance.

They approached the target at top speed.

When the two sides were less than 30 meters apart, the Invincible Team stopped.

Gao Neng began probing with his Spiritual Power again. This time, his search was more meticulous, advancing from one patch of grass to the next.

"One in the second patch of grass to the left, one hidden behind the tree on the right, and... huh? They dug a hole... one’s buried underground!" Gao Neng had located three of them.

However, he still hadn’t found Zhang Yuelun’s position.

’Is he in a tree?’

’Or did he dig a hole like Zuo Qing?’

Gao Neng couldn’t be 100% certain.

Finding Zuo Qing had been a coincidence. He was actually hidden very well, but he had happened to move. Otherwise, Gao Neng truly wouldn’t have spotted him.

"Still no sign of Zhang Yuelun?" Feng Qingqing asked in a low voice.

"Yeah." Gao Neng nodded.

"That’s to be expected. Zhang Yuelun is a long-range attacker, so he’s bound to be experienced at picking hiding spots. Besides, his personality is extremely cautious; he’ll be hard to find," Feng Qingqing added.

"If we can’t find their long-range support... this could be a problem." Gao Neng was prepared to go all out, but that didn’t mean he was an idiot.

One person was missing.

And it was the crucial long-range attacker, at that.

That meant their movements would be exposed, leaving them vulnerable to being sniped from afar. A frontal assault at this moment would be unwise.

"Which plan are we using?" Kong Kun liked to do things with a bit of style.

"Plan Four!" Gao Neng replied after a moment of thought.

"Then I get to have some fun!" Hearing they were going with Plan Four, the excitement on Fang Tangtang’s face grew even more brilliant, making her look like a red cherry.

...

「In the viewing hall.」

It was still completely silent.

But the freshmen’s gazes toward the upperclassmen held a certain disdain.

Four Tier Threes against four Tier Twos—with such a massive advantage, they had actually chosen to set traps and defend. It was utterly shameless.

"I wonder what this ’Plan Four’ is?"

"Rumor has it Vice Director Gui has been giving Gao Neng’s team special training. Could it be a new combat technique?"

"Could be. Let’s watch!"

The students whispered amongst themselves for a few moments, then fell silent. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

And at that moment, the scene on the screen changed.

Hua Youque, who was lying prone in a patch of grass after setting his traps, suddenly felt that something was wrong. A chill crept up his spine.

’A sneak attack?!’ Hua Youque instantly dove forward, simultaneously swinging his longsword back to block without hesitation.

CLANG! The sound of metal on metal rang out.

’It’s that Earth Dragon!’

Hua Youque knew, of course, what had ambushed him. But the force of his sword colliding with the Earth Dragon still forced him out of the grass.

’I was discovered?’

Hua Youque’s emotions were in turmoil.

’There shouldn’t have been a problem with my hiding spot. There’s only one way I could have been discovered: Gao Neng used his Spiritual Power to scout.’

He didn’t dwell on it.

After being forced out by the strike, Hua Youque slashed his sword at the Earth Dragon again.

But after its attack missed, the Earth Dragon immediately burrowed back underground.

At the same time, a loud BANG erupted near Hua Youque’s ear, stunning him and causing him to glance back instinctively.

And then, he saw a beam of light.

Just like love.

It pierced straight through his chest.

’Am I dead?’ was Hua Youque’s only thought before he materialized at the training room’s entrance. He couldn’t believe it. He’d died just like that?

He had specifically left the Flying Swan Team to come here for his revenge kill.

And the result?

It hadn’t even officially started...

...and it was already over?

Hua Youque couldn’t understand. What kind of strategy was this?

Using an Electromagnetic Cannon right from the start!

’Did they think I was too strong, so they decided to trade Fang Tangtang to take me out right away? No way. If we’re talking about combat power, the other three are just as strong!’

’What the hell?’

’The fight hasn’t even properly started, and it’s already a one-for-one trade. Is that really a good move?’

Hua Youque stood at the entrance to the training room, filled with resentment, fury, and despair... He wished he could charge back in for a rematch.

But the problem was, he wouldn’t get another chance.

「In the viewing hall.」

A large number of freshmen and upperclassmen were also a bit dumbfounded.

Why use an ultimate move right at the start?

And they’d used that ultimate on an ordinary member like Hua Youque. It didn’t seem like that gave them any advantage, did it?

Hua Youque was dead, but Fang Tangtang was also out of combat.

They still had to face Zhang Yuelun, a Tier Three Late Stage expert, plus two more at Tier Three Mid Stage. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a bad trade, didn’t it?

Just as they were thinking this...

...something even stranger happened.

After firing the cannon, Fang Tangtang immediately collapsed to the ground.

This was something everyone had expected.

But what nobody expected was that the instant Gao Neng saw Fang Tangtang collapse, he scooped her up without a moment’s hesitation, turned around, and bolted.

It wasn’t just Gao Neng running.

Kong Kun and Feng Qingqing were also running.

The four of them sprinted toward the edge of the jungle without a single glance back. They had arrived quickly, but they were leaving even faster.

The students were stunned.

Even some of the instructors were baffled.

Finally, all eyes turned to Gui Zian. ’Could this really be the result of half a month of intensive training?’

"Battlefield survival rule number four: Take the advantage and run! Ahem, you could also call it... shoot... and scoot!" Gui Zian seemed to have been expecting this and replied casually.

"..."

The instructors, the students.

Damn, what a ridiculously logical explanation!

But the problem was...

Now that the Invincible Team had fled and the Moon Wheel Team was on the defensive, how was the rest of the match going to play out?

For a moment, the students couldn’t process it.

But soon, their expressions changed.

The Invincible Team had indeed traded Fang Tangtang’s combat power for Hua Youque’s. But the key was that Fang Tangtang was still alive on the battlefield. This meant the Invincible Team already had one point.

They didn’t need to fight anymore!

Once the one-hour time limit was up, the Invincible Team would win.

What a shameless tactic!

Even more shameless than four Tier Threes playing defensively!

In fact, ’shameless’ didn’t even begin to cover it. This pioneered a new age of dirty, underhanded tactics! How did they resemble military academy students at all?

"Didn’t Teacher Gui teach us these tactics in the second semester of our sophomore year?" Chen Qing of the Hunt God Team murmured from the front row.

"But these are battlefield tactics... Does Teacher Gui intend to send Gao Neng and his team to the battlefield already? But that’s not right. The four major military academies have a rule that students can only go to the battlefield after reaching Tier Four, and they’re only Tier Two," Han Yuping said, scratching his head.

"Let’s just keep watching. It’s only the beginning. Maybe it’s just a coincidence?" Qiao Yaqiu shook her head, her gaze falling on Lin Ying beside her.

Lin Ying didn’t speak.

He merely narrowed his eyes, recalling something Gui Zian had said to him during the second semester of his sophomore year, back when he was leaving the academy.

On the battlefield, you only need to remember one word: Survival!

Don’t worry about losing face!

And don’t be burdened by any thoughts of honor!

You must always remember: only those who survive the battlefield can truly master it and become the kings who make the alien races tremble in fear.

What if you encounter an enemy stronger than you?

Then run, of course!

Only an idiot would take them head-on.

That’s not guts, that’s suicide!

Of course, when an opportunity to gain an advantage presents itself, you must seize it. However, remember this one principle: after you’ve gained your advantage, you still have to play it smart.

’Invincible Team... you’ve certainly taken your advantage. So, how are you going to play it smart now?’ Lin Ying’s eyes opened again. As he watched Gao Neng and the others fleeing at top speed, the corners of his lips curled into a rare smile.