Chapter 16

Qianye didn't expect Mimi's senses to be so sharp. Just now, when he saw her suddenly kill someone, his heart raced slightly, and his hand on the bush moved a little, making a very subtle sound. He didn't expect her to notice it.

"It's me, Qianye." Qianye stepped out from his hiding place.

Being able to meet up with Mimi so soon after entering the battlefield made Qianye feel quite lucky. In a place like this, where enemies surrounded them on all sides, having a trustworthy teammate was indeed a great advantage.

When Mimi saw it was Qianye, her expression relaxed, and she said, "It's you! You scared me just now. How about we act together from now on?"

This suited Qianye just fine, and he nodded immediately, "Sure!"

"Here, take this." Mimi tossed a whistle to Qianye.

Qianye caught the whistle and said, "Your luck is really good. Let's head back now!"

Mimi shook her head immediately, "No, we can't go back. Now that we are two, we can hunt more points. We have a chance to compete for the top ten."

Qianye hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed.

In fact, even if they teamed up, the risks still existed and were not much less than going solo.

Other students might also form teams, and the true dark race warriors were extremely powerful, not something these young boys and girls could easily contend with. From the instructors' descriptions, even with Mimi, Qianye might not be able to defeat a strong dark race warrior.

At this moment, Qianye's gaze swept over and suddenly noticed that Mimi had three more whistles hanging from her waist!

Excluding her own, in this short time since the battle began, she had already killed three people!

One of the whistles suddenly rolled with Mimi's movement, revealing the number on the back. Qianye's heart suddenly trembled; he felt like he had seen this number somewhere before.

While Qianye was thinking, Mimi gestured to him, indicating they should move forward to the side and that he should go first.

Qianye crouched low and began to slowly move through the forest. Mimi followed a few steps behind, occasionally looking back, as if she was diligently covering their rear.

Qianye took a few steps forward, and suddenly a flash of insight cut through the fog in his mind! He remembered where he had seen this number before!

That whistle belonged to a rather strong boy from their class, who was ranked near Qianye.

This boy was also very close to Mimi, and it was rumored that they had even had an intimate relationship. Because of Mimi, he had once been very hostile towards Qianye.

However, due to Song Zining's blatant favoritism and Qianye's own reputation for being ruthless, he had always been angry but dared not speak out. Qianye, on the other hand, was not interested in what Mimi did out of his sight. After all, he and Mimi were not a real couple and had no intention of developing into one.

But now, this boy's whistle was on Mimi's waist!

In an instant, Qianye vaguely grasped something and immediately felt an intense chill!

Without hesitation, Qianye lunged forward with all his might!

Behind him, Mimi let out a light exclamation, and then a sharp wind struck his waist. Despite Qianye's quick movement, he still felt a chill and then a burning pain in his waist!

Qianye rolled several times, hiding behind a large tree, and only then did he have the chance to stand up. During the evasion, he narrowly avoided several of Mimi's attacks, but he still added two more wounds to his body.

Qianye looked down at his injuries, then at Mimi, and said coldly, "Why?"

"To pass the exam, for the reward."

Mimi casually smoothed her disheveled hair and then sneered, "If it wasn't to lower your guard, do you think I would deliberately get close to you and the others? Damn, I even had to sleep with those fools! Fortunately, you're not much of a man and don't have those kinds of demands. But even though you were more cautious than I expected, you still got hurt, didn't you? So, you're finished!"

"I thought we could gain more by working together," Qianye frowned.

Mimi sneered, "More benefits? Can two people sharing the benefits get me into the top ten? If you were Song Zining, I might consider it! But now, with just you? What are you, anyway? Without Song Zining, do you think you could still hold your position?"

Qianye weighed the dagger in his hand, his eyes gradually burning with flames, and said, "I understand. If you want to kill me, then come on!"

"I won't be polite then!"

Mimi pounced like a mother leopard, and in an instant, she and Qianye were locked in combat.

They had fought more than once in the combat class, and Mimi had always thought she was very familiar with Qianye's fighting style. However, to her surprise, as soon as they engaged, she realized something was different. Qianye's style had completely changed; he was no longer the meticulous, defensive fighter he used to be, but instead fought with a wide, aggressive style, each strike fierce and powerful!

Qianye paid no attention to his own defense, fighting in a mutually destructive style. Mimi managed to cut Qianye three times, but Qianye also struck her twice! Both of their arms were injured.

When their blades clashed again, two equally fierce currents of energy, both driven by the War Tactics Decree, collided. The intense pain from the wounds on her arm made Mimi shudder.

At that moment, Qianye suddenly roared, his entire body surging with energy, and an incomparable force erupted from his dagger!

Mimi's body shook, her hand went limp, and immediately a gap appeared! Qianye's dagger flew past, instantly opening a deep wound on her shoulder, revealing the white bone.

"You, you..." Mimi clutched her wound, both shocked and angry.

Qianye's arm was also injured, and his wound was even deeper. However, it didn't affect his movements at all, as if the wound didn't exist. Mimi now even suspected that Qianye had no sense of pain!

She didn't know that Qianye did feel pain, but the pain he endured during his training in the War Tactics Decree was far more intense. In comparison, these external injuries were nothing.

Mimi's injury affected her tendons and bones, and her left arm was now useless.

As Qianye approached step by step, his previously underestimated, delicate face was now cold and calm. Mimi suddenly burst into tears, screaming, "No, don't kill me, I don't want to die! Spare me!"

She seemed to be overwhelmed by fear, crying and screaming, and suddenly turned and ran, looking extremely disheveled, her back completely exposed. It seemed that in the face of death, she had completely broken down.

Qianye's fingers loosened and tightened, tightened and loosened, and then suddenly he gripped the dagger, gathered his energy, and threw it with all his might!

The dagger emitted a faint red glow, flying like a meteor with a sharp whistle, and instantly buried itself hilt-deep in Mimi's back!

Mimi suddenly stopped, turning back in shock, unable to believe that Qianye would really kill her.

Although she appeared panicked, she had actually been slowly gathering her strength, waiting for the moment when her energy would surge to its peak, allowing her to suddenly escape. This secret technique allowed for an explosive burst of speed over a short distance, and she was confident that no one in the training camp could catch her. However, she didn't expect that at the last moment, Qianye's dagger would suddenly arrive.

At this moment, deep in Qianye's heart, a soft sigh echoed, and then this sigh was frozen in the deepest corner of his heart. This was the first time he had truly killed someone with his own hands.

Qianye collected all the whistles and quickly disappeared into the forest. The rustling sounds around him indicated that someone had heard the sounds of the battle and was coming to take advantage.

The night was particularly long. In the dark forest, Qianye encountered two powerful opponents. After a hard-fought battle, Qianye managed to defeat them using a mutually destructive strategy. These two opponents had brought him nine whistles, indicating their strength.

After taking down Mimi and two other powerful opponents, Qianye was covered in injuries and could no longer hold on. He had to find a secluded thicket to hide and wait for the next opponent. Qianye's injuries were severe, and his energy was almost depleted, but after a brief consideration, he decided not to blow the whistle and leave the battlefield.

The energy Qianye had cultivated through great hardship was far more powerful than others, so he still had the strength for one final strike, which was as powerful as a second-level war soldier. If he were found by an opponent, he still had the strength to fight back.

Since he had already held on this long, Qianye decided to stay until the end. Not only would this earn him more points, but it would also prepare him for the even more dangerous and harsh environments he would face in the future. In such an exam, if he couldn't hold on to the end, he would die even faster in the future. Qianye's heart slowly calmed, and he remained motionless, conserving his last bit of strength.

Not long after Qianye had hidden, three sharp whistles sounded in the sky above the mountains, signaling the end of the exam!

Qianye was stunned. The exam was over? It hadn't even been a full night, and the exam was already over?

This meant that in just one night, more than half of the over a thousand students had died.

Qianye looked at the more than ten whistles hanging from his waist. The heavy feeling in his heart was now numb. He casually picked up a whistle and blew it hard. A moment later, an instructor appeared in front of him. Qianye followed the instructor and slowly left the exam area.

But he knew that he had left something behind on this exam ground. In such a world, in such an environment, the things he once thought were unchanging would gradually change.

The next morning, the results of the mid-year exam were announced. To his surprise, Qianye's name was ranked tenth! Considering that over a thousand students had participated in the exam, this was quite an achievement.

In Qianye's class, apart from Song Zining, who was ranked seventh, no one else made it into the top ten. Being tenth meant that Qianye was eligible for a special reward. The training camp's rewards were always so generous that they made people's eyes turn red. Seeing his ranking, even the usually calm Qianye felt a strong desire for the reward.

Song Zining appeared beside Qianye at some point, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile, "Good job! We'll have a break tonight. How about we celebrate together?"

Qianye was a bit dazed, "How do we celebrate?"

"Of course, with alcohol and women! And I'll introduce you to two annoying guys," Song Zining said with an air of experience, as if he had already mixed in the upper echelons of the empire.

Qianye couldn't help rolling his eyes. Song Zining had entered the Netherworld Training Camp the same year as Qianye, just in a different squad. Qianye was seven, and Song Zining was eight. Could he really have been so talented and strong that he could mix in the upper echelons at eight?

Sure enough, they had a break that night, the first in several years.

Song Zining, Qianye, and two other boys from other classes, brought packed food from the cafeteria and some unknown source of alcohol, found a nice hillside, and started a bonfire for a picnic. The other two boys were also influential, and they had all ranked in the top ten of the exam.

There were only four boys, but there were seven or eight girls accompanying them. The alcohol was surprisingly good, all aged and strong.

Qianye had only taken a small sip when he was immediately choked and started coughing, his face turning red and wobbly.

Seeing how weak he was, Song Zining and the two boys burst into laughter, taking turns to encourage him to drink, as if they were determined to beat him while he was down.

Qianye felt like each sip of alcohol was a ball of fire in his stomach. His consciousness became hazy, and strange thoughts kept popping up. His courage seemed to suddenly grow, to the point where he himself couldn't believe it. During the drinking game, he seemed to have agreed to many outrageous things.

After all, Qianye was already a bold child, but now he was fearless. For example, he seemed to have agreed that whoever got drunk first would have to wear a skirt and dance in public.