Meng Jun walked with his hands clasped behind his back, followed closely by the two reinforced regiment commanders.

Their unit had just rotated off the battlefield after a four-year deployment.

"I have a mission for you two. If more than fifty people reach Base 105, your supplies for the next quarter will be cut by thirty percent. For every person over that limit, I’ll add another two percent to the cut."

Jiao Yu’s eyes flew open. "Mr. Meng, isn’t that a bit much?" he argued. "This whole group is made up of prodigies! We may have the numbers, but you know we’re just regular folks. There’s no comparison!"

Seeing Meng Jun was unmoved, Jiao Yu continued his sob story.

"For starters, there are forty-five people in the Inner Qi Realm alone! And every single one of them has a vast Qi Sea and incredible stamina. This is impossible! If you want to cut our resources, just say it. The men can tighten their belts; it’s no big deal. We survived tougher days on the battlefield. We don’t have to risk life and limb anymore, so a little hardship is nothing."

Luu Yuxin followed silently. As the other reinforced regiment commander, she shared Jiao Yu’s position, but now wasn’t the time to voice her opinion. She needed to see Mr. Meng’s final decision.

Sure enough, Meng Jun stopped and shot Jiao Yu a disgusted look. "Cut the crap, kid. Stop trying to guilt-trip me with your ’little hardship for the men’ routine. I’m telling you, if they really exceed that number, it’s like they say: a weak general makes for a weak army. It will mean you, the regiment commander, are incompetent. This is a direct order!"

Meng Jun paused, then continued, "And don’t talk to me about ’prodigies.’ Right now, those kids are just a bunch of greenhorns. Their Cultivation Techniques are incomplete, they haven’t been educated in the principles of modern Martial Artist warfare, and they have no idea what your combat capabilities are. If you, Jiao Yu, can’t handle them, I’ll have you relieved of command. You can go work in the mess hall."

Jiao Yu’s face soured, and he fell silent. Mr. Meng rarely gave direct orders, but when he did, there was no room for negotiation.

Luu Yuxin quickly stepped forward with a smile. "My dear Mr. Meng, you can’t have punishments without rewards. The men will certainly do their best, but what’s in it for us if we succeed?"

Meng Jun laughed heartily. "Benefits! Of course there are benefits. We’ll set the line at thirty people. If the number who get through is below that, you’ll get an extra ten percent in resources. For every person under thirty, you’ll get another five percent on top of that, with no upper limit.

If you’re skilled enough to prevent a single one from passing, I’ll personally authorize it: next quarter’s cultivation resources for both your regiments will be multiplied by five!"

Jiao Yu scrambled forward, unable to contain his excitement. "Mr. Meng, you have to keep your word! No bullshitting us!"

Enraged, Meng Jun sent Jiao Yu flying with a kick. "What the hell are you talking about, you little shit? When have I ever lied to anyone?"

Jiao Yu’s body twisted in mid-air like a swallow before he landed right back where he started.

"Don’t you worry, Mr. Meng! I’ll crush these noobs! I guarantee not a single one gets through."

Meng Jun’s eyes narrowed into a grin. "Oh? We’ll see about that. If you actually manage it, I’ll give you a grand prize."

He didn’t actually believe Jiao Yu and Luu Yuxin could pull it off. Every year, there were always a few prodigies who defied all expectations.

"However, make sure your medical support is ready. And I’m drawing a red line: no one dies. If anything goes wrong, all three of us will be facing a military tribunal!"

Luu Yuxin smiled. "Understood. No killing them. But we can beat them half to death!"

Having gotten Mr. Meng’s permission, the two commanders rushed back to their troops, buzzing with excitement, to give their final briefing.

Jiao Yu’s voice was the loudest of all. "Listen up, men! Mr. Meng said that if we can stop every last one of these newbies, our resources for next quarter will be multiplied by five!"

"LONG LIVE THE BOSS!!"

Morale instantly skyrocketed, and the cheers echoed for miles.

Jiao Yu’s face turned serious. "But let me give you the bad news upfront. If we let more than thirty of them slip by, we lose fifty percent of our resources. And for every person after that, we lose another five percent! Brothers, whether we’re eating steak or gruel is all up to you now!"

"KILL! KILL! KILL!"

The squad of battle-hardened veterans, now thoroughly provoked, roared with bloodlust. On the other side of the field, Luu Yuxin was making similar arrangements.

Jiao Yu had deliberately exaggerated Mr. Meng’s penalties to create a sense of urgency among his men.

He knew perfectly well that getting Mr. Meng’s reward would be no easy feat. ’Even though all eight hundred-plus of them are called prodigies, there are huge differences in their actual abilities.’

Out in the wilderness, the runners gradually spread out. The Inner Qi Realm Martial Artists sped forward, seeming to skim across the ground, while the Qi Blood of the Third Realm Martial Artists surged.

Yu Fei observed that the vast majority of them hadn’t cultivated a proper movement technique. Some Martial Artists in the Inner Qi Realm were even still using the Light Swallow Shadow technique to travel, but due to the fundamental differences between Qi Blood and Inner Qi, their movements looked incredibly awkward.

’No matter how gifted these prodigy Martial Artists are,’ he thought, ’they just haven’t been training long enough. It’s already incredibly difficult to advance your realm when resources are scarce.’

But some people always managed to stand out from the pack.

As soon as the starting gun fired, a dozen or so Inner Qi Realm cultivators shot out like lightning, disappearing into the wilderness almost immediately. They were followed by a few Third Realm Martial Artists who were even faster than the average Inner Qi practitioner.

It was clear these individuals had practiced a proper movement technique.

Yu Fei felt a pang of regret. ’The Three Powers Step I practice is a Body Technique,’ he mused, ’focused on dodging and maneuvering in close quarters, not long-distance running.’

Still, some of its principles were universal, so he was faster than the other Second Realm Martial Artists, trailing just behind a group of Third Realm practitioners.

’According to the rules, we get a thirty-minute head start. That means I should run as fast as I can for the first twenty minutes, and then start thinking about where to lie low.’

Suddenly, Yu Fei heard a deafening roar of "KILL!" from the direction of the base. He glanced at the time—only about ten minutes had passed. A sense of urgency gripped him.