Chapter 191 : Chapter 191
Chapter 191. What? The Exercise Has Only Just Begun, and You’re Already Clearing the Whole Map?
The western part of the Eastern Great Desert.
In a rocky ravine piled high with jagged stones, without even a trace of green in sight, seven people in camouflage military uniforms descended from a helicopter.
“Team leader, what’s our mission?”
After the Fourth Military District group landed, they all turned to look at their leader, Lin Wan.
Lin Wan activated her exercise wristband, and a mission prompt immediately popped up on it.
“Within two hours, do not get eliminated by any other group.”
?
Lin Wan froze. What kind of mission was that?
She looked at the tactical instructor in confusion. “Instructor Xiao, this mission is a little strange.”
Instructor Xiao did not reveal the true nature of the exercise. Instead, he said, “Since it’s the mission, we carry it out. For the next two hours, we need to hide ourselves as thoroughly as possible and make sure no other group finds us.”
“What? Isn’t that way too cowardly?”
Instructor Xiao shook his head slightly. “If we’re supposed to hide, then that means at least one group must have a capture mission. And judging by past exercises, the group assigned the capture mission is always the strongest among all the groups.”
The moment he said that, Lin Wan and the others’ expressions changed slightly.
The strongest rookie squad among the ten military districts... wasn’t that Jiang Yichen’s group from the First Military District?
They had heard that Jiang Yichen’s strength had already reached the astonishing Seventh Realm, and that even his teammates included people in the Fifth and Sixth Realms.
But their own team leader was only at the sixth layer of the Fourth Realm. There was no comparison at all.
“Actually, hiding isn’t so bad. As long as we complete the mission, that’s enough.”
Their attitudes instantly made a complete turn.
But Lin Wan clenched her fists, clearly unhappy.
“Good.” Instructor Xiao nodded and surveyed the surrounding terrain. “This rocky ravine is a natural hiding ground. As long as we aren’t discovered, the final victory will be ours.”
“That’s right! No matter how strong the First Military District group is, the Eastern Great Desert is so vast. They don’t know where we are, so if we hide, who’s going to find us?”
“Exactly. Then haven’t we basically already won?”
Instructor Xiao smiled but did not deny it. He was an expert in ambushes and concealment in the Fourth Military District.
He was supremely confident that, under his guidance, Jiang Yichen’s group would never find them.
“Lin Wan, take the group and find the best hiding spots nearby. Spread out if possible. Don’t stay clustered together.”
Lin Wan raised her eyes, hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Even if winning this way was not exactly honorable, completing the exercise came with cultivation resource rewards, and she needed those resources to raise her realm.
It made her unable to stop missing the days when Jiang Yichen had still been by her side.
Even now, she still could not understand it. Wasn’t it normal for couples to break up and get back together?
She had only brought up breaking up once. How had something so small made Jiang Yichen become like a completely different person?
Lin Wan took a deep breath and shook her head. Just as she was about to lead her group to choose their hiding spots—
Whoosh—
Crimson flames suddenly ignited around them, surrounding them from every side.
“What are these flames?”
“No idea, but they look kind of familiar!”
Lin Wan’s face changed drastically. She recognized those flames. They were the same flames Su Linyu had used in the Huaxia Team League.
They had caught up.
Impossible! Every group was separated by a hundred kilometers, and nobody knew the others’ locations. How could they have found them this quickly?
“This is bad, we’ve been discovered!” Instructor Xiao immediately assumed a fighting stance, shock filling his eyes.
The exercise had not even started five minutes ago. How could they possibly have been found so quickly?
The other members of the group were equally bewildered, unable to believe it.
But before they could think further, Su Linyu, her whole body bathed in flame, appeared standing atop a mass of rocks. Crimson flame-trails curled at the corners of her eyes, making her look sacred and noble.
“I found you. Hand over your exercise wristbands. You’re not my opponents, you know,” she said with a smile, looking down at them.
“That’s impossible! You cheated! We only just got off the helicopter. There’s no way you could have found us this fast!” Lin Wan shouted angrily.
The others in the group echoed her.
“Exactly! I’m reporting this! Instructor Xiao, they cheated! They’re cheating!”
Instructor Xiao, however, remained silent. Frowning, he looked up at Su Linyu and asked, “How did you find us so quickly? Even just traveling a hundred kilometers shouldn’t have been possible in such a short time.”
“It seems you don’t know enough about us.” At that moment, Jiang Yichen slowly walked to Su Linyu’s side and looked down at them. “I’m a space-type martial artist. A hundred kilometers is nothing. It’s too short.”
Huh?
Everyone was stunned. A space-type martial artist could use Spatial Jump across such a distance?
The limit for Huaxia’s space-type martial artists was only seventy to eighty kilometers, and they could not immediately make a second jump afterward.
But even if they really could jump a hundred kilometers, how had they known where this group was?
“I’ll leave them to you. You still have two more groups to deal with.” Jiang Yichen did not continue answering. Instead, he turned to Su Linyu.
She nodded seriously. “Don’t worry, Brother Yichen. I’ll definitely finish as fast as possible.”
Jiang Yichen smiled faintly as he watched Su Linyu dive downward, while he himself showed no intention of making a move.
After all... they were too weak.
Su Linyu slowly raised her right hand. The instant she clenched it, the ring of fire began to shrink.
The scorching heat instantly left Lin Wan and the others drenched in sweat, as if they were about to melt.
“A Sixth-Realm Great Grandmaster!”
Sensing Su Linyu’s aura, as well as the talent he could not hope to match, Instructor Xiao shook his head helplessly and removed his own exercise wristband.
“We lost. Give her your exercise wristbands.”
Lin Wan and the others were stunned. Handing over their exercise wristbands meant the exercise mission had failed.
But in the face of absolute power, what else could they do?
One after another, they removed their wristbands and tossed them to Su Linyu.
But Lin Wan gripped hers tightly, her arm trembling. The exercise reward was her only chance to break through to a higher realm.
Jiang Yichen, how could you be so heartless? Even now, you still want to target me?
A trace of hatred appeared in her eyes. Instead of handing over her wristband, she activated her wood-element talent. A thick vine burst from the ground and dragged her out of the ring of fire.
“Wood Spike!”
Lin Wan flung out her right hand, and a flashing green wooden spike shot toward Su Linyu’s face.
However, before the wooden spike could even touch Su Linyu, it was reduced to ashes by the crimson Radiant Flames.
“Team leader! Don’t fight! We can’t beat her!”
“Lin Wan, come back!” Even Instructor Xiao tried to stop her.
But Lin Wan refused to accept it. She rushed forward and threw a punch at close range.
Su Linyu sidestepped with ease, then spun with dazzling grace and drove a kick into Lin Wan’s lower abdomen.
The immense force sent Lin Wan flying backward. She smashed through several massive rocks before finally coming to a stop.
Pfft!
Lin Wan coughed up a mouthful of blood in pain. Clutching her abdomen, her face was still full of unwillingness.
Su Linyu slowly walked up to her, picked up the exercise wristband lying in front of Lin Wan, and stared down at her coldly.
“In the future, stay away from Brother Yichen. I’m afraid I might get the wrong idea.”
Hearing that, Lin Wan glared at her through gritted teeth.
Su Linyu ignored her. She leaped back onto the rocky height, took Jiang Yichen’s arm, and said, “Brother Yichen, let’s go.”
Jiang Yichen gave a faint nod. From beginning to end, he did not look at Lin Wan even once.
As Lin Wan watched the two of them leave in such intimate closeness, gradually disappearing from sight, her eyes turned blank.
The Jiang Yichen who had once loved her so deeply could not even be bothered to spare her a glance now.
Lin Wan bit her red lips, her heart filled with regret.
If she had only been willing to lower her head back then, she would not be struggling like this now, racking her brains over cultivation resources.
Jiang Yichen would still have helped her without reservation, letting her walk all the way to the peak of the martial path and providing for her family.
If they had married, she might even have gained access to the Jiang family’s wealth. And if she had asked for a divorce later, she could have gotten a great deal from it.
But all of that had been lost because of a single wrong thought.
Lin Wan let tears of remorse run down her face.
At the same time, inside the temporary command headquarters of the New Recruit Tactical Exercise—
“Instructor Qin! Instructor Qin, something’s wrong! Hurry and look at the satellite map!”
An instructor from the Second Military District suddenly rushed over, grabbed Qin Feng, who had been drinking tea, and looked extremely anxious.
Holding a cup of clear tea, Qin Feng looked puzzled. “The exercise hasn’t even been underway for five minutes. What’s the point of looking at the satellite map?”
“No, that’s not it! Jiang Yichen’s group has already eliminated five groups in less than five minutes since the exercise began!”
Crash!
The teacup in Qin Feng’s hand fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.