Thirty-five. Thirty-five.

Soon, amidst the chaos and clamor, the second week of cold weapon training and hand-to-hand combat training came to an end.

On the first day of the third week, Feng Bai announced the matter everyone cared about most.

"Today, I will explain the assessment objectives for the fourth week."

The assessment results were tied to academic credits, and only half of the students would pass. Since it involved the most important aspect of their student life, neither school’s freshmen dared to lose focus, listening with rapt attention.

Looking at the standard military posture and the eager eyes of all the freshmen, Feng Bai looked satisfied.

"Even though the instructors have treated all departments equally over the past two weeks, considering you are all just students who can't even be called 'green recruits' yet, it would be biased to judge you solely on physical strength and combat prowess."

"Therefore, after a meeting and discussion by the entire instructor team, we have decided to set the fourth week’s assessment mode as a joint confrontation match between the two schools."

Wu Haoxuan muttered, "They finally remembered us poor support-type students. After two weeks of hellish training, they finally remember we exist. Truly, it’s like a knife scraping a butt—an eye-opener."

As he muttered, he suddenly realized the surroundings had turned dead silent.

Even the voice of Chief Instructor Feng had stopped.

Wu Haoxuan immediately had a bad premonition.

Just as he was about to sneak a look to see why Ke Junda wasn't responding to him, a voice that could be described as gentle came from above his head.

"A knife scraping a butt—an eye-opener, is it?"

The adjutant stood in front of him, wearing a kind smile.

The sunlight refracted from behind him, reflecting off the frames of his glasses like the gaze of the Grim Reaper.

Although Wu Haoxuan possessed a passive skill that made him easily overlooked, it was useless against a talent user of a much higher rank. Ke Junda, standing to the side, couldn't even bear to watch.

Knowing full well that the Chief Instructor’s mimic was a Dark Spirit Ghost Cat, which boosted a talent user’s hearing to a terrifying degree, how could this idiot dare to whisper in public? He was truly tired of living.

"Today, I’ll let you have your eyes opened. Three hundred push-ups. Go."

Watching Wu Haoxuan reluctantly begin his push-ups in public, unable to express his anger, Feng Bai snorted coldly and continued his explanation: "The joint confrontation match will be grouped by academy, divided into the Silver Star team and the Empire team."

"Once the match begins, each group will be issued a badge. The person wearing the badge will have an indicator floating above their head, and the location of the badge holder will be displayed on their optical computers."

"The task for each group is to seize this badge from the opposing academy. As soon as the badge is captured, the joint confrontation match will be declared over. The group that obtains the badge will receive full military training credits; conversely, the other group will have to participate in a second military training next year to make up for the credits."

"Of course, besides seizing the badge, a group that wipes out five hundred students from the opposing side ahead of time can also secure an early victory. So, do not focus your attention solely on the badge. This is a collective activity."

Halfway through the rules, excitement flickered in the eyes of the students from both groups, and a fighting spirit rose across the training ground.

As early as the first week of physical training, the Silver Star freshmen had continued the fine tradition of countless previous classes and formed an unshakeable grudge with the Empire freshmen.

The second week of cold weapon and combat training was limited to two-on-two sessions within their own groups, and Xuanyuan Sheng had even been punished with five hundred push-ups by an instructor for trying to go pick a fight with the Empire school. The grievances between the students of the two schools had nowhere to vent and had long since reached a breaking point.

Now, hearing that the final assessment meant winning would cause the other side to lose their credits collectively.

Everyone thought: There’s such a good thing?

Then we must make the Empire/Silver Star side taste a real defeat!

Seeing everyone’s eagerness, Feng Bai adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses: "To reasonably allocate combat resources and increase the competitive nature, the badge wearers will be appointed from the senior students."

"Both groups may invite one senior student to enter the field as a badge wearer, but with the restriction that they can only summon their mimics, they cannot synchronize, they cannot annihilate the enemy, and they must remain in a fixed location. Unless someone attempts to seize the badge, they cannot counterattack."

The conditions were nothing if not harsh.

Xuanyuan Sheng was the first to fall into deep thought.

As a royal grandson, he had received various types of education from a young age, including imperial studies and military science, so his perspective was far broader than that of an average freshman.

The moment the instructor announced the rules, he sensed the underlying issues.

What appeared to be a simple joint confrontation match between two schools, with these rules announced one by one, revealed information that was far from simple. Whether it was the allocation of combat resources, how to protect students from departments with weaker physical capabilities, or how to deploy assault specialists—all became issues that required careful consideration.

"There will be no other military training tasks scheduled for the next week or so. The event is set for the weekend of the fourth week. You can prepare well for the joint confrontation match."

After speaking, the instructor announced the dismissal.

After the dismissal, Yuan Han-shuang took her light sword and continued to exercise in the shade of a nearby tree. From time to time, she would offer guidance to her two followers, who were sparring nearby.

Practicing swordsmanship is actually quite monotonous. Even though weapons have been upgraded to light swords, the daily basic training is still the same set of swings and slashes, at most adding some training for mental power output.

On the other side, Xuanyuan Sheng, surrounded by a crowd, was stretched thin.

As soon as they were dismissed, the Silver Star freshmen had crowded around him.

"Student Xuanyuan, what should we do for the joint confrontation match?"

"And the instructor said we could invite a senior. Who should we invite?"

"Yes, not to mention that our overall strength isn't as strong as the Empire school's. If we can invite seniors, the other side will definitely invite their academy president! That’s the Holy Son of Light. Even if he’s a support type, he has an S+ level mimic. We can't beat that!"

Although only two weeks had passed since the start of school, Xuanyuan Sheng had indeed been working tirelessly toward his goal of becoming the next academy president.

Inviting others to meals was indeed a good way to foster friendship, and coupled with the strong charisma and personal strength Xuanyuan Sheng had displayed during training, he had preliminarily established his prestige among the freshmen.

Just like now, the Silver Star freshmen all looked to him for guidance, hoping he could make a decision.

"Don't be anxious yet," Xuanyuan Sheng thought for a moment. "The matter of inviting a senior can be looked into tomorrow. Right now, the most important thing is to determine the core members of the freshman team and establish a command unit."

It was still only the preparation stage, and the location for the confrontation match hadn't even been determined, let alone the military arrangements.

In terms of tactical planning, Xuanyuan Sheng, who had studied it and experienced the battlefield firsthand, was much more experienced, so he wanted to settle the core team first.

"Do you have any recommendations?" he asked.

"For the melee department, it has to be Student Yuan!"

A freshman spoke up, and the others nodded in agreement.

"That's right, Student Yuan is so strong, she's the most suitable."

Of this year's freshmen, only Xuanyuan Sheng and Yuan Han-shuang were at the fourth rank. In terms of cultivation level alone, these two left everyone else miles behind, making them unreachable.

In the training sessions of the past few weeks, the brilliant sword duels between Yuan Han-shuang and Xuanyuan Sheng, and her skipping the third-level combat class, had left a deep impression on all the freshmen.

It was just that Student Yuan usually seemed a bit cold, and since she was so strong, while many freshmen wanted to strike up a conversation, they didn't dare to approach her.

"As a friend whom I acknowledge, she is of course the first choice for the team. Do you even need to say that?"

Hearing someone nominate Yuan Han-shuang, Xuanyuan Sheng looked triumphant, as if he were the one being praised.

"As for others, that follower of Student Yuan's is also quite capable. I remember his surname is Ke?"

"Oh, you mean that Macaw?"

Xuanyuan Sheng stroked his chin. "He's from the defense department; his strength is indeed not bad."

Getting a "not bad" from him could be considered the highest praise.

On the surface, Xuanyuan Sheng was arrogant and conceited, but at times, he was terrifyingly sharp.

Although Xuanyuan Sheng had been chattering away beside Yuan Han-shuang during morning exercises for the past two days, he had also been carefully observing the two followers beside his new friend.

Having settled on the two candidates, Xuanyuan Sheng went straight to them.

"A core team? Sure."

Yuan Han-shuang had no objection to becoming the main force for the confrontation match; after all, she had a share in earning the credits.

Ke Junda, who always followed his boss's lead, was flattered that he had gained the appreciation of a genius like the young imperial grandson, and naturally agreed immediately.

On the contrary, Wu Haoxuan, who was standing to the side, looked left and right. "Wait, what about me?"

"You?" Wu Haoxuan spoke up, and only then did Xuanyuan Sheng notice there was another person, giving him a slightly disgusted look.

Although support-type students were quite rare, and Wu Haoxuan was a rare A-rank, his attitude of trying every possible way to slack off during morning exercises had left a very bad impression on Xuanyuan Sheng.

Of the two followers, Xuanyuan Sheng actually quite admired Ke Junda, who added extra training for himself every morning.

Given his background and having seen so many geniuses since childhood, he was actually more respectful of ordinary people like Ke Junda, who used sweat and hard work to make up for their limitations.

"Let him join. Even though this guy's mimic is bizarre."

Yuan Han-shuang glanced at the aggrieved Wu Haoxuan. "If he's lucky, his support ability can play a big role."

Of course, that was provided he was lucky.

"Alright then." Since Yuan Han-shuang agreed, Xuanyuan Sheng naturally wouldn't raise any objections. "So, there are already four people in the team. We're still missing two."

A reasonable team configuration usually consisted of six people. In the upcoming academy ranking tournament next year, each team sent by an academy for the group combat stage could only have six members.

"Two melee types, one defense type, one support type... hm, we're missing long-range and control."

Although the departments were divided into melee, control, defense, support, long-range, and agility, when actually forming a team, the situation would be analyzed specifically. It wasn't strictly necessary to have one from each department; sometimes, they could be adjusted accordingly.

Yuan Han-shuang said, "For the control department, I do have a candidate."

"Who?"

"My roommate."

Speaking of this, Yuan Han-shuang also found it quite incredible.

The young lady usually looked delicate, and during the military training, she complained about being tired every day. But after such a long time, not only did she never give up, she actually managed to endure it all.

Back when they had the first day of the weighted long-distance run, quite a few Silver Star students fainted, but Xia Mengrou not only finished the run, she was able to walk back to the dormitory herself—it was practically a miracle.

And that wasn't the most miraculous part. The most miraculous part was that, as an A-rank control student, Xia Mengrou’s cultivation level had actually reached the peak of the third rank, two levels higher than Wu Haoxuan and one level higher than Ke Junda, which was quite astonishing.

One must know that the current batch of A-rank freshmen at Silver Star were basically hovering around the middle and high stages of the third rank. Ke Junda was only B-rank, and his ability to keep up with the main force was entirely due to his diligent and hard training.

At this rate, the young lady had a good chance of breaking through to the fourth rank within half a year.

If she was lucky, it might even happen this semester.