318: Chapter 253: War Practice, Simulating the Offensive and Defensive Warfare of a Divine Kingdom

Deep within the "Hall of Myriad Laws", inside the "War Simulation Hall".

The holographic projection platform in the center of hundreds of floating student seats was now replaced by a vast and realistic virtual Star Domain.

This Star Domain simulated a real Universe environment, containing stars, planets, asteroid belts, nebulae, and even faint background radiation.

The Star Domain was divided into two regions, marked in pale blue and dark red, representing the offensive and defensive sides respectively.

Dean Lei Gang's tall figure floated outside the virtual Star Domain, like a giant overlooking a chessboard.

His voice echoed in the minds of every student in the hall, devoid of any emotion:

"The first large-scale war practice of this semester—'Star Domain Offensive and Defensive Battle', begins now. The rules are as follows:

Twenty students who have completed the construction of micro-furnaces and passed the basic tests will be randomly selected and divided into offensive and defensive sides, with ten people on each side.

Offensive objective: Within seven days, break through the defensive core of the defenders and capture or destroy at least three core Divine Kingdoms.

Defensive objective: Hold for seven days and ensure at least five core Divine Kingdoms remain intact.

All participating students will connect their consciousness to the virtual battlefield, using their own real Divine Kingdom data (including area, dependents, military strength, buildings, furnace performance, etc.; the System will generate virtual projections based on the real situation of the Divine Kingdom, but they are not physical entities and will have no real losses) as a blueprint to generate simulated Divine Kingdom projections at designated coordinates.

The Divine Kingdom projections possess real rules and energy reactions and can engage in comprehensive combat.

Divine Kingdoms can move, set up defenses, conduct resource collection (virtual), and use preset war facilities (need to be built or exchanged in advance).

Deities can consume Divine Power to cast Spells, and dependents can fight.

Simulated damage and death will be fed back as consciousness shock and point loss, and will not cause real damage.

Each side must designate a commander-in-chief, who will have the highest tactical authority.

Command decisions will directly affect the battle situation and be included in the final score.

This practice focuses on assessing: Divine Kingdom mobility and defensive capabilities, tactical command and cooperative combat, rule understanding and confrontation, and resource allocation and protracted warfare capabilities.

Those who perform exceptionally well will receive high academic credits and special rewards."

As his voice fell, a row of seats (twenty in total) on both sides of the hall lit up with eye-catching lights, signifying the selected students.

Lin Zhou, Zhao Hao, and Wang Meng were among them, all assigned to the defensive side (blue).

Li Mo and Qin Qing were not selected and could only watch from the periphery.

On the offensive side (red), Lin Zhou also saw several familiar and unfamiliar faces. Among them was Michael Saint-Hui, a branch member of the Galactic Royal Family whose Divine Domain was the "Angel Court" and who had competed in the sophomore league. He was looking coldly at the defensive side, clearly recognizing Lin Zhou, with a hint of provocation on the corner of his mouth.

Several students with equally extraordinary Aura gathered around him; obviously, the offensive side had him as the core.

"Lin Zhou, on the defensive side, your furnace performance assessment is the best, and you have previous practical command experience." Dean Lei Gang called him out directly, "You will serve as the commander-in-chief of the defensive side. Any objections?"

The other nine defenders (including Zhao Hao and Wang Meng) cast their gazes toward Lin Zhou, mostly expressing approval or silence.

Lin Zhou had a brilliant record in the academy and had just brought back major intelligence from the front line, so everyone was convinced of his command.

Only one upperclassman (LV310, high-level Lesser Divinity) from a military family, whose Divine Kingdom favored the traditional "Steel Fortress" style, frowned slightly but did not voice opposition.

"I accept the Order." Lin Zhou stood up and replied calmly.

"Good. Three minutes of preparation time. Connect your consciousness to the battlefield, familiarize yourself with the environment, and designate defensive Formations. Three minutes later, the battle begins!" Dean Lei Gang announced.

Lin Zhou, Zhao Hao, Wang Meng, and the other seven defensive students immediately sat down, and their consciousness sank into the virtual battlefield through the seat connection devices.

The lights and shadows shifted before his eyes, and Lin Zhou found himself floating in a strange Void Realm of the Universe from a "God's eye view".

Below him was his Divine Kingdom projection—a spherical plane with a diameter of about 50 kilometers (the projection was scaled down proportionally for battlefield display, but the internal rules and data ratios were real), slightly shrouded in the golden light of civilization rules.

He could clearly perceive everything inside the Divine Kingdom: the operating [Civilization Furnace] (the virtual projection showed its energy output was stable), the core buildings distributed everywhere, and a total of about 50,000 various dependent units (projected proportionally).

Zhao Hao's Dragon Cliff Divine Kingdom, Wang Meng's Behemoth Divine Kingdom, and the Divine Kingdom projections of the other seven teammates also appeared in the Void Realm near him, forming a loose array.

They were in a relatively complex Star Domain.

The initial position of the defensive side was located on the inner edge of a vortex-shaped asteroid belt, which was over 1,000 kilometers wide and filled with rock fragments of varying sizes and irregular movement trajectories, naturally forming a physical barrier and a visual/energy interference zone.

Further out from the asteroid belt were several relatively desolate rocky planets that could serve as outposts or ambush points.

Further away was the direction from which the offensive side might attack, where there were several thin nebulae and empty Void Realm.

"The terrain is favorable." Lin Zhou made a judgment instantly.

The asteroid belt was an excellent buffer and ambush zone.

He quickly communicated with his teammates through the battlefield communication network (simulating real Divine Thought communication, with potential for delay and interference).

"All units, report your Divine Kingdom's core data, main troop types, and skilled tactics." Lin Zhou's voice was calm and rapid.

Zhao Hao: "Dragon Cliff Divine Kingdom, area 45 square kilometers, main force: Red Dragon x2 (projection Rank LV40 elite template), Dragonman Warriors x3000 (average LV25), skilled in aerial assault and long-range Dragon Breath coverage. Furnace power: 0.8 Astral Units/day."

Wang Meng: "Behemoth Divine Kingdom, area 48 square kilometers, main force: Behemoth Giant Beast x800 (average LV30, Hero unit x1 LV38), skilled in frontal ground assault and positional defense. Furnace power: 0.7 Astral Units/day."

Student A (Traditional Mage Tower Divine Kingdom): "Area 42 square kilometers, main force: Mage Corps x500 (average LV25), Elemental Puppet x2000, skilled in long-range Spell bombardment and positional defense. Furnace power: 0.65 Astral Units/day."

Student B (Elf Forest Divine Kingdom): "Area 38 square kilometers, main force: Elf Archers x4000 (average LV26, Hero Ranger x1 LV35), Treant Guards x100, skilled in jungle guerrilla warfare and long-range sniping. Furnace power: 0.6 Astral Units/day."

Student C (Undead Graveyard Divine Kingdom): "Area 40 square kilometers, main force: Skeleton Sea (low-level units, quantity about 20,000, average LV15), Death Knight x200 (LV25), Lich x1 (LV36), skilled in war of attrition and negative status stacking. Furnace power: 0.55 Astral Units/day."

... (The remaining four are omitted)

Lin Zhou quickly digested the information, and he had already begun to build a defense System in his mind.

The ten Divine Kingdoms had different areas, troop types, and tactical styles, including heavy assault (Zhao Hao, Wang Meng), long-range (Mages, Elves), crowd control (Undead), and support (other Divine Kingdoms inclined toward production or defense).

They needed to leverage their strengths and avoid their weaknesses to form a complementary force.

"Everyone, listen to my command!" Lin Zhou ordered decisively, "First line of defense: The asteroid belt! Zhao Hao, your Red Dragon and Dragonman warriors, in the form of a mobile squadron, rely on the asteroids for concealment to conduct guerrilla harassment, delay the enemy's advance speed, and scout the enemy situation. Do not engage in head-on combat!"

"Wang Meng, Behemoth Divine Kingdom and Student C's Undead Divine Kingdom, move to the inner edge of the asteroid belt and rely on larger rocks to establish forward support points. The Behemoth will be responsible for frontal resistance, and the Undead will be responsible for weakening and interference, forming the first hard barrier."

"Student A's Mage Tower Divine Kingdom, Student B's Elf Divine Kingdom, and Student D (Divine Kingdom skilled in setting up barriers), establish a long-range firepower and defense core in the orbit of the second rocky planet (codename 'Rock-2') behind the asteroid belt. Mages and Elves provide beyond-visual-range strikes, and the Barrier Master builds multi-layered defensive barriers."

"Student E (skilled in rapid construction and repair) and Student F (resource production type), be responsible for establishing logistics supply points and rapid repair stations behind the defense line, utilizing the asteroid belt and battlefield wreckage (virtual) to recover resources and maintain the durability of the defense line."

"Student G (Reconnaissance Specialization) and Student H (Mobile Harassment), as Rangers, will patrol the perimeter of the defense line, scouting the movements of the enemy's main force and seizing opportunities to harass their logistics lines."

"My own God Kingdom, along with Student I (Rule Interference Type), will serve as the strategic reserve and core defense node, positioned at the innermost 'Rock-3' planetary orbit, ready to support all battle lines at any time and responsible for countering potential high-level unit raids or rule-based strikes from the enemy."

The instructions were clear and precise, taking into account the characteristics and positioning of each God Kingdom. Everyone executed them immediately. The projections of the God Kingdoms began to move in the virtual space; the pale golden exhaust of the Civilization Forge, the crimson dragon shadow of the Dragon Cliff God Kingdom, and the primal Aura of the Behemoth God Kingdom... all streaked across the Star Domain, carving out trajectories.

Lin Zhou's own God Kingdom began to make deeper preparations. He was not satisfied with simple defensive positions. Combining Mohist Mechanical Arts, Daoist Formations, Legalist Edicts, and the School of Military's philosophy on terrain utilization, he commanded the vassals within his God Kingdom (mainly Creation Dwarves engineers and Wenxin Elf Scholars) to construct a massive and concealed composite trap in a specific area of the asteroid belt, utilizing floating rocks and the power of rules output by his God Kingdom—the Civilization Maze Formation!

This Formation was not merely a physical maze but a Fusion of: Mohist Mechanisms: Trigger-based energy disruptors, invisible gravity traps, and movable camouflaged rock obstacles placed at key nodes.

Daoist Formations: Inducing weak Void Realm energy flows within the asteroid belt to form a localized 'spatial sensory distortion field,' causing intruders to lose their sense of direction and distorting distance perception.

Legalist Edicts: Temporarily defining weak rules in the core area of the Formation, such as 'High-speed movement is prohibited here' and 'Energy bursts will suffer rule backlash' (leveraging the power of the God Kingdom's rule projection, with limited range and duration, but sufficient to cause chaos).

School of Military's Deception: The overall Formation was designed with a loose exterior and tight interior, making it difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood, leaving several seemingly safe 'passages' that actually led to more complex trap cores or crossfire zones.

Setting up this Formation consumed a vast amount of Lin Zhou's (virtual) Divine Power and his God Kingdom vassals' 'Action Points,' but he deemed it worth it. He was not looking to kill many enemies; rather, he wanted to stall for time, disrupt the enemy's rhythm, and drain their mental effort and energy.

The three-minute preparation time ended.

"The offensive and defensive battle, begin!" Dean Lei Gang's announcement echoed across the battlefield.

The dark red group of attacking God Kingdoms appeared at the edge of the distant Star Domain and began to press aggressively toward the asteroid belt! Leading them was the projection of the [Angel Divine Court], belonging to Michael Saint-Radiance, radiating brilliant Holy Light and surrounded by countless angel phantoms. Spanning over 55 square kilometers, it was clearly the core and spearhead of the attacking force! The battle was on the verge of breaking out!

The initial skirmishes unfolded through reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance. Zhao Hao's Red Dragon squad and the attacking force's flying scouts engaged in brief firefights on the perimeter of the asteroid belt, with mutual casualties. Wang Meng's Behemoth and undead support points were also subjected to probing attacks by the attacking vanguard and were pushed back.

Michael was clearly no fool; he quickly discovered the defenders' intention to build a defense line relying on the asteroid belt. He did not blindly launch a full-scale assault but instead commanded the attacking God Kingdoms to spread out on the perimeter, utilizing their advantages in numbers and range to begin long-range firepower coverage and rule suppression against the asteroid belt, while simultaneously dispatching elite troops to infiltrate via multiple routes, attempting to find weaknesses in the defense line.

With long-range support from Mage Towers and the Elven God Kingdom, the defenders relied on the terrain and pre-arranged simple fortifications to resist stubbornly. The battle became deadlocked, with virtual explosion light and energy ripples constantly blooming in the starry sky.

On the second day, the attacking force increased the pressure and successfully broke through parts of the asteroid belt's perimeter, with the vanguard approaching the main defense line of the 'Rock-2' planetary orbit. The pressure on the front line increased sharply.

On the morning of the third day, Michael seemed to lose patience, or perhaps he judged that the main defensive force had been tied down. He personally led the [Angel Divine Court] and two other God Kingdoms adept at heavy assaults to form an elite assault spearhead, choosing a path that appeared relatively weak in defense but had denser asteroids, attempting to break through the center and strike directly at the defenders' core!

"It's here!" Lin Zhou, who had been monitoring the battlefield through a global view in the core area, saw a flash of light in his eyes. That path was precisely one of the main 'lure' areas pre-set for his Civilization Maze Formation!

"Let them in! Perimeter defense units, retreat slightly to create the illusion of being unable to hold! Long-range firepower, focus on bombarding their flanks and rear, forcing them to accelerate into the designated area!" Lin Zhou ordered quickly.

Michael's assault spearhead fell for the trap, or perhaps he was confident that with the [Angel Divine Court]'s powerful defense and purification capabilities, he could handle any trap. The three God Kingdom projections dove headfirst into that area which appeared to simply have denser rocks.

Just as they had penetrated about fifty kilometers and were about to cross this area, the Civilization Maze Formation activated!

Boom!

The first to trigger was the Mohist gravity trap; several massive camouflaged rocks suddenly generated abnormal gravity, pulling at the movement trajectories of the three God Kingdoms and causing their Formation to fall into chaos.

Immediately after, the Daoist spatial distortion field took effect! The deities and vassals of the assault spearhead suddenly discovered that the surrounding reference objects (rocks, starlight) had become twisted and strange. The previously clear path seemed to be infinitely extending or folding, and their Divine Thought perception was severely interfered with, making it impossible to accurately judge their own position and distance from friendly forces!

Then, the Legalist temporary rules took effect! All units attempting to accelerate for a dash or burst energy to force a Breakthrough felt an invisible force of 'sluggishness' entangling them. Their speed plummeted, and their energy circulation suffered slight backlash and disorder!

Finally, there was the true 'maze'! Moving rock obstacles, 'walls' formed by energy turbulence, as well as dead ends and crossfire zones they were specifically guided into...

"What's going on? My Divine Thought perception is being interfered with!"

"The direction is wrong! We seem to be spinning in place!"

"There's a trap! It's a composite rule trap! Try to purify it!"

"It's no use! The purification effect is limited. The rules here are very strange; they aren't completely evil or chaotic, but rather... Order, yet twisted!"

Inside the attacking assault spearhead, the communication channel was in chaos. Michael's face was grim as he commanded the Angel Legion to deploy the [Holy Purification Halo], attempting to dispel the anomaly. However, the power of the Civilization Maze Formation was not merely a 'negative status,' but an 'environmental change' that fused multiple rules; the effect of Holy Purification on Order distortion and spatial interference was greatly diminished.

They were trapped! Like a giant beast stuck in a quagmire, possessing power but having nowhere to unleash it, they could only struggle in vain within the increasingly complex maze traps, consuming energy, and enduring continuous harassing strikes from the defenders' long-range firepower.

Three hours! For a full three hours, the assault spearhead led by Michael failed to break free from the Civilization Maze Formation! They tried forcing a bombardment (suffering rule backlash and suppression from the defenders' firepower), dispersing to explore (making them easier to be split and weakened), and even attempted to return the way they came (finding the 'path' had changed)... all failed.

These three hours won valuable time for the defenders to catch their breath and make adjustments. Lin Zhou commanded other defense lines to stabilize their positions, even launching local counterattacks to push back the offensives of other attacking units. Michael's assault spearhead not only failed to achieve the strategic objective of a central Breakthrough but instead became a burden that tied up a large amount of the attacking force's energy and resources.

Ultimately, Michael had to pay a significant price, using the [Angel Divine Court] to launch a large-scale, high-consumption [Holy Nova] to forcibly clear the rule interference in an area, and after regrouping with the other two God Kingdoms, he managed to retreat from the range of the maze Formation in a disheveled state, but his momentum was lost, and his energy consumption was massive.

In the first large-scale offensive and defensive battle, the defenders, relying on the Civilization Maze Formation meticulously laid out by Lin Zhou, successfully thwarted the attacking force's strongest strike and trapped their main assault team for three hours, stabilizing the defense line.

Outside the virtual battlefield, Li Mo, Qin Qing, and other students watching the battle all revealed expressions of amazement. A trace of approval also flashed in Dean Lei Gang's eyes.

The war practice had only just begun. But Lin Zhou's command artistry and the tactical value of the Hundred Schools of Thought had already begun to shine.