"Not bad, not bad." The Qian Jin passed by the young warrior, raising a hand to pat the top of his head, chuckling, "Next year, you might make a good squad leader. Keep at it."

The young warrior stared blankly as Qian Jin walked away, then looked at the splintered practice stick in his hand. A bead of cold sweat traced a path down his forehead to the ground. His Adam's apple bobbed as he muttered to himself, "He couldn't be a Demon Exterminator, could he? I actually dared to attack a Demon Exterminator..."

Qian Jin walked on, shaking his head with a wry smile. What was wrong with him just now? The other guy was only a year younger, yet looking at him felt like an elder regarding a junior.

Three days vanished in the blink of an eye. Qian Jin busied himself with crafting various arrows while simultaneously focusing on elevating the strength of the Jiang Mo Dian Shi (Demon Extermination Priestess). Time slipped by unnoticed.

In the early morning, Qian Jin packed his strong bows, sharp arrows, throwing knives, clothes, and the peculiar magic hat all into his Dou Jie (Battle Realm). He stepped out of his room carrying his Zhan Ma Dao (Horse-Slaying Saber) and paused, taken aback. Fabredice, Gu Yuejiaying, Luo Qingqing, and Biluo were all already waiting outside his door. "What's with the...?" Qian Jin scratched his head. "Is this really necessary?"

Luo Qingqing, carrying a backpack with both hands, walked slightly behind Qian Jin, her face flushed. She helped sling the pack onto his shoulders and whispered, "The military camp is made up of people too. Bring some local specialties; smoothing things over now might be useful later."

Qian Jin was caught between laughter and tears. Wasn't this trip supposed to check out the Human-Demon Battlefield? Why did it feel like they were heading out for a picnic?

"Inside, I packed a whole carton—that’s ten packs of cigarettes," Luo Qingqing instructed quietly. "These are scarce. If you run into any trouble, sometimes a single pack can earn you a favor or two."

Fabredice clapped Qian Jin on the shoulder, cautioning him, "Don't underestimate any demons, even the Beliya Demons with those curved horns. In the demon world, where strength dictates status, simply managing to preserve your clan isn't easy. Becoming one of the Seven Great Demon Clans—I imagine I don't need to elaborate on how difficult that is, do I?"

Gu Yuejiaying produced a necklace-like metal tag and hung it around Qian Jin's neck. The scent of a subtle orchid drifted into his nostrils, and her voice, carrying an innate simplicity, whispered near his ear, "This is a protective amulet I sought at the Temple."

Qian Jin picked up the tag and looked at the four characters engraved upon it. Indeed, it was the exclusive protective charm issued by the Temple for warriors heading into battle: [Long Lasting Battle Luck]. He’d heard that Temple warriors wore the same thing over their chests when deploying against demons. "When you return..."

As Gu Yuejiaying’s words echoed in his ear, Qian Jin felt the soft touch of gentle lips lightly graze his cheek, and he instantly froze.

Gu Yuejiaying maintained her simple composure, yet the area around her cheeks couldn't entirely suppress a blush. Her simplicity was laced with a faint shyness; bathed in the rising sun, she was devastatingly beautiful.

"Oh, I suddenly remembered I haven't done my mandatory daily exercises yet," Fabredice announced, tilting his head up as if he hadn't noticed the preceding scene. With his hands clasped behind his back, he sauntered toward the backyard.

Luo Qingqing adjusted the collar of Qian Jin's tunic, then, mimicking Gu Yuejiaying, she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Blushing furiously like a ripe apple, she covered her face with her hands and dashed toward the backyard.

The courtyard was soon left with only Qian Jin and Biluo. The situation had already mortified Biluo to the point where she couldn't lift her head; her large magic hat was pulled down even lower. The two of them arrived at the academy grounds, where Rodriguez was already waiting with the assembled team.

Excluding the supervising instructors and Qian Jin and Biluo, the group consisted of only ten squads, totaling just thirteen people. Everyone was burdened with various kinds of packs on their backs.

Rodriguez looked at Qian Jin and Biluo, who were nearly empty-handed, and could only sigh again and again. Everyone else was dressed as if going on a short outing; these two looked more like they were heading out for window shopping. Perhaps once the academy had more funding, they needed to plan better in this regard.

"Let's go," Rodriguez waved his hand, taking the lead. He frequently cautioned them, "This time, we are heading to a real military camp. Once there, we must obey their rules. Do not think this is still the academy; they have military law there." Due to tight funding, the group traveling to Fort D1 had no carriages and had to rely entirely on their own two feet.

Initially, Dak and the others were spirited, occasionally observing the outside world around them. As time passed and evening approached, nearly everyone had lost their initial vigor. A full day of arduous travel was far more tiring than their morning runs and drills back at the academy.

The small city of Oakland was not particularly prosperous; besides a main official road, there was mostly wasteland. It was still summer, and the land was lush green, taking on a vibrant vitality under the setting sun.

As dusk deepened, Rodriguez decided they would rest on the spot for the night and continue traveling in the morning.

No extensive direction was needed. Everyone had studied basic military knowledge at the academy and immediately set about their tasks. Dak even took two warrior trainees to scout the vicinity for signs of wild beasts or bandits.

Several warriors struggled to start a fire, their faces smeared with black ash, still unable to coax the flames to life. Rodriguez shook his head repeatedly in disappointment. It seemed the knowledge learned in the academy truly needed to be combined with practice; they needed to provide more practical opportunities for the students in the future.

Biluo timidly approached the fire pit. With just a few gentle adjustments, the nearly exhausted kindling immediately roared into a vigorous flame.

The warriors stared, dumbfounded, at the shy Biluo who had retreated to the side. Rodriguez was also startled. Was this truly the same Biluo who was incapable of doing anything? After two years, not only had her spiritual power reached Level Five, but she was also this adept at something as simple as lighting a fire? Where was Qian Jin? Did he fall for her? Where was Qian Jin?

Several warrior trainees took out pieces of clean, dry rations from their pouches and offered them to Biluo. She accepted them with a quiet thank you, but unlike the other trainees who were washing down their food with cold water, she merely held the ration and sat quietly.

Rodriguez found himself increasingly unable to fathom Biluo. After walking all afternoon, she was clearly very hungry; why wasn't she eating? Who was she waiting for?

Before long, Rodriguez and the others understood what Biluo was waiting for.

Qian Jin returned to the camp carrying two plump wild pheasants slung over his shoulder, along with a freshly killed wild wolf. The others watched, dumbfounded, holding their dry rations and water bottles.

His small throwing knife skillfully sliced open the wolf's hide, and the unappetizing entrails were quickly discarded.

Biluo took the wolf from Qian Jin. Just as skillfully, she plucked the pheasants and gutted them, then used the sticks Qian Jin had brought back to skewer and section the meat, setting them up to roast over the fire pit.

Salt and seasonings were lightly sprinkled over the pieces of meat. Biluo carefully turned the food, ensuring the heat cooked the chunks evenly, occasionally eliciting sizzling sounds.

Roast meat is not inherently a delicacy; aside from the very poor, everyone can eat it.

Normally, it wouldn't incite much appetite. But here, isolated with no village nearby and no town ahead, when everyone held nothing but cold rations and cold water, roast meat became the peak of earthly deliciousness!

The group unconsciously gathered around the fire, watching the turning meat. So much roast meat was clearly not just prepared for the two of them, but for everyone. The cold rations in their hands were instantly put away.

Rodriguez looked at Qian Jin and Biluo with surprised curiosity. Since these two young students returned after being missing for two years, why did he feel they were so different from before, yet he couldn't pinpoint exactly how? Where did Qian Jin acquire hunting tools?

And that composure! Rodriguez looked at the other trainees; even when facing food, they held an instinctive tension and excitement about heading to the Human-Demon Battlefield. Almost no tension or excitement was visible on Qian Jin's face. This kind of tranquility was something only a battle-hardened veteran possessed—how could it be found on him?

The sunset completely vanished from the land, and night reclaimed the entire earth. The wilderness night was frighteningly dark. The warrior trainees watched their food while warily observing their surroundings. In the blackness of this world with seemingly no light, the night wind whistled past, carrying distant wolf howls—sometimes seeming near, sometimes far—making one's scalp tingle.

"Qian Jin..." Rodriguez accepted a piece of roasted meat handed to him by Biluo and asked with curiosity, "Where did you learn all this?" "Two years of wilderness survival," Qian Jin glanced at the meat in his hand and shrugged. "We learned how to take care of ourselves." "Tell us about it," Rodriguez moved closer. "Tell your teacher what happened to you these past two years." Everyone else unconsciously edged closer too, watching him, eager to hear about his experiences over the last two years.

"These past two years..." Qian Jin tilted his head back to gaze at the moonless, starless night sky, sinking into thought before slowly beginning to speak. He selectively recounted his two years of experiences, omitting the matter of the Dou Shi (Battle Stone) mine from Xiao Changleiming's betrayal story, and leaving out the Feng Yun Dou Qi (Wind and Cloud Battle Aura) and the old man from the Four Seasons Valley.

A person who chose to live in seclusion in the Four Seasons Valley, hiding a map within a book instead of wandering about, clearly did not want too many people to notice his existence.

Even the edited story was captivating. The crowd gasped repeatedly. They listened to another segment after dinner before going to sleep.

Traveling five hundred li in six days left even the warrior trainees, accustomed to daily drills at the academy, feeling utterly exhausted. The not-so-large earthen fortress stood not far away—it was a fortress belonging to the True Strategy Dynasty.