For the five little monsters of the Bagpipe Squad, these past half a month had not been easy.
Taishu Xuan, that guy, actually meant what he said—every single day, he followed them outside the city for training, making sarcastic and mocking remarks as they trained together.
Yet Jie Shui and the others were powerless against it; no matter how hard they tried, they were still thoroughly outperformed in training results.
Fifteen days of cultivation was nowhere near enough to catch up to their enemy’s strength and speed.
The other side had used over a decade of intense training to reach their current achievements; it was simply impossible to close the gap in one stroke.
Jiang Ke’er also suffered.
Fighting System Dummy Su Yayaya with two Seal Bracelets on was basically like serving herself up for defeat.
That particular agony, where her mind could keep up but her body just couldn’t react, nearly drove Jiang Ke’er mad.
But there was some benefit—this training method was monstrous for developing her calculation ability.
By now, anticipating her opponent’s move variations had become second nature to her.
She couldn’t control her calculating mind, always thinking, always deducing.
As long as the opponent made even the slightest movement, she would immediately predict not just the action but also their mental activity and the next possible steps.
If she didn’t do this, she wouldn’t even last two moves under the hands of the System Dummy.
But this left her utterly exhausted; once again, she started losing hair from malnutrition, and the dark circles around her eyes were painfully obvious.
The rest of the little monsters thought she was like the other members, troubled and defeated by Zhanhuang Sixteen Team’s provocation.
No one was having a good time these days.
The initial confidence they’d felt when first forming the team—the sense that they could crush all opponents—was long gone.
Jie Shui and Gan Ruǎnruǎn, who used to chirp and chatter, were now silent, and the oppressive mood was suffocating.
The feeling of being outdone in every aspect was truly unbearable.
Half a month later, in the early morning, the sound of drums signaled the start of a new day’s Town Arena Tournament—and also the end of a night’s training.
Taishu Xuan, head held high, waved as he collected the training equipment.
With a scornful glance at the little monsters, he felt no more desire to toy with them.
In his mind, he’d already won—completely and utterly.
He’d successfully crushed their confidence, and the collapse of confidence was the beginning of a broken Dao Heart.
These little monsters were finished.
There was no need to waste time here anymore.
Although he was disappointed not to have killed them and taken the Meteoric Iron, he was already satisfied enough.
He had achieved victory once more, just as he had led the Wasteland War Team’s Eighth and Sixteenth Teams to victory every time before—easily and simply.
They were never in the same league, not equal in strength in the slightest.
But just then, he suddenly heard conversation from the Bagpipe Squad.
“Rest for three hours, and we’ll get on the arena at noon.”
Taishu Xuan thought there must be something wrong with his ears.
He wasn’t the only one— the little monsters looked completely bewildered, unable to understand.
Wasn’t this just suicide?
They’d been crushed for half a month and, already knowing they were far behind, they were still going to go up and throw their lives away… Had Aunt Si Lian lost her mind?
“I don’t get it,” Lin Gang said bluntly, “I’ve thought about it for a while, but I don’t want to die.”
“You don’t need to understand. Let’s go, back to the Hotel.”
Si Lian’s style was as decisive as ever, leaving no room for doubt from the little monsters as she strode toward the Hotel.
At first, Taishu Xuan was incredulous.
He didn’t know what sort of trap Si Lian was planning. But soon, his worries were replaced by wild joy.
Meteoric Iron delivered for free—why not take it?
He had already been ready to leave, but who would’ve thought his opponents would lose their minds all on their own!
“Fine, let’s put a perfect end to this! Zhanhuang Sixteen Team, prepare for battle!”
After returning to the Hotel, Si Lian’s expression suddenly grew unusually solemn.
She gathered all the little monsters in her room and immediately set up a Formation Arts barrier to block out all perception.
“After fifteen days of training, I imagine both sides have a thorough understanding of each other’s limits.”
“Yes, which is why we’re even more confused. Why do you…” Jie Shui looked miserable.
“Sometimes you tell us to avoid fighting them, sometimes you want us to go up and die—what exactly are you thinking?”
Si Lian smiled slightly. “I want to kill them.”
The little monsters were stunned.
“From the moment we first met, I wanted to kill them,” Si Lian finally revealed her true thoughts, leaving the little monsters dumbstruck.
“If you’d gone up against them straight away, you would have died for sure. But now, that might not be the case.”
Si Lian took out a notebook.
Only then did the little monsters notice that, at some point, she had filled it with page after page of densely written intelligence—hundreds of pages!
Everything from the opponent’s profession and attack capabilities, down to their subtle habits when stepping forward or throwing a punch.
“Zhanhuang Sixteen Team is a formidable opponent. Whenever you encounter them, it’s extremely dangerous. So since we’ve run into them, we need to eliminate them if possible.” Si Lian put on her glasses and tapped the paper with her pen.
“But you’re too weak. Taishu Xuan might have cautiously gathered intelligence on you, but he didn’t need to spend much effort strategizing against you, because the gap in strength is too great! On the other hand, we’ve already studied them inside and out.”
So the plan had started all the way back then—it was a scheme to kill two birds with one stone, both motivating the little monsters to train and gathering intelligence on the enemy.
Jiang Ke’er couldn’t help but marvel.
“But we still can’t win,” Jie Shui sighed.
“As you said, the gap in raw power… it really is too much.”
“Team Combat isn’t a one-on-one fight. Raw strength differences can be weakened by all sorts of factors. It’s true your abilities are worlds apart, but… you’re not without a chance.”
Si Lian’s words lifted the spirits of the little monsters.
It was the only glimmer of hope they’d felt during these stifling fifteen days.
Every one of them now held a mass of resentment and fury in their chests.
“Also, Qing Yi hasn’t participated in training—the enemy knows nothing about her. This will be a crucial turning point.”
“All right, gather in and listen up. It’s time to go over the battle strategy.” Si Lian placed the notebook in the center of the table.
“The enemy’s lineup consists of one Strength System Cultivator, two from the Agility System, and two Magic-Type Cultivators—a special composition. The key is how to neutralize their raw power advantage… Qing Yi, what would you do?”
Jiang Ke’er was caught off guard by the sudden question.
But she’d been pondering this for days, so she answered quickly, “Two against one!”
Si Lian’s eyes sparkled with delight.
“Go on.”
“Since the enemy has only one Strength System Cultivator, we can have Jie Shui and Lin Gang gang up on and restrain him, making up for our lack of power individually.”
“And after that?”
“Then Ruǎnruǎn and I will charge the enemy’s back line at any cost, drawing their fire so they’re too busy defending to help their Strength System Cultivator. At that moment…”
“No need to say more,” Si Lian interrupted, her gaze at Jiang Ke’er growing more and more pleased.
“Qing Yi, you’ll command this battle.”
“Eh?”
“From today on, you are the Captain of Bagpipe Squad—you are the commander!”