Desert Energy Core Capture

Xu Lingqu left right after seeing that. The next day at noon, Xu Xiqin came to tell her the final outcome. Qingjun and Lianda had replicated their strategy and eliminated Youfeng as well. By that point, Lianda's population score was higher than Qingjun's.

Tansen Meilin and Jia Xianglan seemed to have reached some agreement and didn't move against each other.

But in the final moments, Qingjun took advantage of Lianda's distraction and launched a direct attack, eliminating over twenty of Lianda's members. In the end, Qingjun surpassed Lianda in population score and took first place.

"This has caused quite a stir in the Federation. Many people say that Jia Xianglan, the merchant's son, only cares about personal gain and has no sense of contract spirit. But many also defend him, saying it's normal to do whatever it takes to win on the battlefield, and that Tansen Meilin was just careless." Xu Xiqin recounted these events vividly, then paused mid-sentence and asked, "Today Longyuan and Dolanston have a match. Are you going to watch, sis?"

"No," Xu Lingqu shook her head, then added, "You all go watch. Around dusk, bring the Moye students back. We'll do a pre-battle deployment."

Tomorrow was the final match of the qualifiers—their match.

Xu Xiqin nodded repeatedly but still felt a bit odd, since this was the first time they'd done pre-battle deployment the day before a match. "Do Shaji and Due have some secret weapon?"

When Jinfang Taibai and Guan Chuanjun were loudly conspiring, Xu Xiqin had left her seat and didn't hear what they said.

"Mm," Xu Lingqu nodded. "You could say that."

---

The second group match drew a volcanic map. The volcano would erupt within 24 hours, with lava spewing out from time to time—harsh conditions, full of danger at every turn.

Gu Tingzhi and Jia Xiangying had both made adjustments after their last loss, and their performance in this match was a full notch above the previous one.

Initially, they also reached a consensus like Qingjun and Lianda, launching a joint suppression of the other three academies. They hit Federation's Kezhen especially hard, eliminating them all within five hours. It was clear that Gu Tingzhi and Dolanston had a lot of pent-up resentment.

By the time the field had been cleared down to just the two of them, there were only six hours left in the match.

Longyuan and Dolanston were both academies that excelled in combat. When they clashed, it was like a red-tasseled spear meeting an eight-foot lance—both sides threw themselves into relentless offense, and the scene was intense.

The audience was thrilled, and it stayed exciting right up to the end, when Dolanston narrowly lost to Longyuan by just one person.

But after this match, everyone was in a good mood, because they knew the familiar Dolanston and Longyuan were back.

At this point, the commentators had switched to Professor Zhuang and Senior Colonel Ren.

"It feels great to see Gu Tingzhi and Jia Xiangying waving to the audience with renewed vigor. So far, Qingjun leads with the highest score of 13 points in this qualifier. Longyuan is second with 12 points, just one point behind. Dolanston and Lianda are tied for third with 10 points each. These four academies have already secured their spots in the league's top eight. Cimei Academy, with 9 points, can basically lock in a top-eight spot as well. The remaining three spots will be decided in the next match—the final match of the qualifiers." Professor Zhuang gave a basic rundown.

The number of viewers in the livestream and on-site kept growing, seemingly poised to surpass the viewing data of the second group's third match, which had featured the top four academies.

The three Empire academies entered. When Xu Lingqu appeared, the venue erupted with unusual enthusiasm. The crowd cheered the slogan they had shouted at the opening ceremony. At that moment, "Empire's Blade, Unstoppable" rang out loudly.

The Sky Network also intended to make this final match a grand affair. Special effects featuring Moye's emblem—the blue and green twin swords—appeared in the venue. Jinfang Taibai pursed his lips; he had to admit, those two swords flying beside Xu Lingqu did look pretty cool.

Moye Military Academy's entrance was stunning, and with the Sky Network's special effects, the audience's enthusiasm nearly blew the roof off. But the Sky Network didn't play favorites—Shaji and Due got the same treatment on their entrances.

Xu Lingqu entered the competition pod. The three Empire commanders met the three Federation commanders. At that point, Zhicheng's commander Jie Luo and Dongwen's Yetai Yangquan both looked grim, their gazes fixed on Xu Lingqu.

Everyone was busy talking about the psychological shadow Xu Lingqu had cast on Guan Chuanjun. In truth, Yetai Yangquan and Jie Luo's psychological shadows from Xu Lingqu were no smaller than Guan Chuanjun's.

Limuyi and Guan Chuanjun stood on either side of Xu Lingqu like bodyguards. Guan Chuanjun glared at Jie Luo and Yetai Yangquan. "What are you looking at? We're drawing the map, and you're still staring."

Why did these Federation commanders all have to keep staring at Xu Lingqu? Guan Chuanjun thought they deserved a beating. Limuyi quietly added fuel to the fire: "I heard you used to stare at Xu Lingqu too. You not only stared, but you were also confident enough to send her flowers and chase after her."

Guan Chuanjun's confidence, which he had barely managed to rebuild over the past two days, shattered a little more. He shot Limuyi a look.

(We're allies now! Why are you exposing me like this?)

Ever since their loud conspiracy was caught by Xu Lingqu last time, Due and Shaji hadn't given up on their private alliance, but they only dared to communicate with their eyes in front of Xu Lingqu.

(I'm exposing you on purpose! That way Xu Lingqu won't suspect we're allied!)

Both sides agreed that Xu Lingqu probably hadn't taken Jinfang Taibai's words seriously, and besides, Guan Chuanjun hadn't agreed to it then.

But honestly, allying openly in front of Xu Lingqu wouldn't be a problem either—the league officials didn't forbid such behavior. They were just afraid that if Xu Lingqu found out, she'd go after one of them hard.

Back when Moye had been surrounded by three academies, Xu Lingqu's response had been to single out Lianda and beat them senseless.

Limuyi held firm this time. Due wanted first place's five points to have a chance at the top eight, while Shaji only needed second place's four points—nine points was already enough to basically secure a top-eight spot. Guan Chuanjun just wanted to beat Xu Lingqu once. The two sides hit it off and cooperated smoothly with no major issues. The only problem was they still felt guilty facing Xu Lingqu.

At that moment, Xu Lingqu, who was drawing the match map ahead of them, seemed oblivious to their private scheming. She drew and left.

After everyone had drawn, the map for this final match was finally revealed.

Desert Energy Core Capture.

Everyone was stunned for a moment. A desert map—this was Shaji's home turf! Desert Eagle Star, where Shaji Academy was located, was eighty percent desert.

More importantly, the desert map was the one where Moye had been utterly crushed last year.

Shaji had drawn their destined map, but Moye had drawn their own nightmare.