2: First Battle

The Dayan Kingdom and the neighboring Fengming Kingdom frequently engaged in war, with Dayan often on the defensive. General Lu Chaoyang advocated for war, while Prime Minister Peng Zhihao favored peace. King Xiao Long remained indecisive.

At such a sensitive time, telling his father about this matter would likely affect the relationship between the King and his father, and even the fate of the Dayan Kingdom.

It seemed he would have to avenge this himself!

The most pressing task was to quickly improve his strength.

Next, he would join the army!

Not only could he quickly kill enemies and level up on the battlefield, but he could also alleviate his father's pressure.

On the way to the recruitment office, Host: Lu Xingchen kept hearing kill notifications, indicating that the assassins had succumbed to the poison.

His Realm also Advanced to Two-Star Martial Artist.

Arriving at the recruitment office, two well-presented officers sat at the front desk.

Host: Lu Xingchen put away his dagger and slowly walked forward.

"Sirs, I wish to join the army!"

Both men stood up simultaneously.

"Hello, young brother, I am squadron leader Shen Tao of the Dayan Kingdom's border defense army!"

"Hello, I am squadron leader Xu Feng! Young brother, which branch of the military do you wish to join?"

Host: Lu Xingchen smiled slightly and said seriously, "I want to become an Archer!"

Hearing this, both squadron leaders were somewhat surprised and couldn't help but look at Host: Lu Xingchen a few more times.

Archers were an Advanced branch in the army, with high pay and excellent equipment, but also high demands and great danger, as they would receive priority "attention" from the enemy.

This fellow looked fair and slender; could he even pull a bow?

But neither of them asked further.

Shen Tao said in a deep voice, "Go to the firing range and try. If your aim is good enough, you can join my squadron."

Xu Feng continued recruiting at the front desk, while Shen Tao led Host: Lu Xingchen to the firing range.

Ten targets, a hundred meters away, Host: Lu Xingchen hit them all.

Are you kidding? Host: Lu Xingchen had been trained by General Lu Chaoyang, mastering various weapons, especially fond of Archery Skill and swordsmanship.

Completing a rookie test was simple, wasn't it?

Shen Tao's eyes widened.

Hitting six targets was considered passing, but this young man hit every single one!

In fact, Shen Tao felt that this was not the boy's limit.

It seemed he had found a treasure this time!

The two returned to the front desk.

"Young brother, congratulations on passing the test. Please register your name and age, then report to the new recruit camp!" Shen Tao said gently.

"Lu Dazhuang, 18 years old!"

Everyone in the Dayan Kingdom had heard of General Lu Chaoyang's son, Host: Lu Xingchen, but only a few had seen him. These two squadron leaders clearly didn't recognize him.

Host: Lu Xingchen also had no intention of revealing his identity; otherwise, he would be revered by the army. Only by fighting on the front lines could he kill and level up.

Hearing this, both men were slightly stunned.

A fair-skinned young boy, with such a domineering name?

But they politely said nothing more.

Three days later, recruitment ended.

New recruits trained in the suburbs of the Royal City.

A month later, the new recruits were sent to the border between the Dayan Kingdom and the Fengming Kingdom.

New recruits were sent into battle after only one month of training, which showed the severe shortage of troops in the Dayan Kingdom, truly stretching its resources thin.

Tonight was Host: Lu Xingchen's first day at the Dayan Kingdom's border.

He felt a little excited.

An ancient poem said: "Yellow sands, a hundred battles, pierce golden armor; until Loulan is broken, I shall not return."

He also had a beautiful dream of achieving great deeds, and soon, he would have the chance to fulfill it.

He couldn't sleep.

Just then, the assembly horn suddenly sounded.

One hundred new recruits quickly gathered and lined up.

Shen Tao said in a deep voice, "Tonight, you will carry out your first combat mission: to wipe out a small stronghold of the Fengming Kingdom. Sons of the Dayan Kingdom, the time has come to achieve great deeds. Do you have confidence?"

At Shen Tao's words, there was no response.

The new recruits also had lofty ambitions, but more than that, they felt fear—fear of battle, fear of death.

Shen Tao frowned deeply, a bad feeling rising in his heart.

If an army lacked morale, it would be very difficult to win.

Just then, Host: Lu Xingchen shouted in a high-spirited voice, "Until the enemy is broken, we swear not to return to camp!"

With Host: Lu Xingchen leading the way, the other new recruits gained some courage and successively shouted, "Until the enemy is broken, we swear not to return to camp!"

Shen Tao looked at Host: Lu Xingchen a few more times, a slight smile playing on his lips.

This boy had some guts; he had really helped him out this time.

"Depart!"

This was just an appetizer. If these new recruits performed well, they would immediately enter the main battlefield.

If they performed poorly, they would be demoted to the logistics unit.

The moon was bright, the stars were sparse, and magpies flew south.

Shen Tao led a squadron of new recruits to stealthily infiltrate a small stronghold of the Fengming Kingdom in the dark, and Host: Lu Xingchen was among them.

Here, it's necessary to explain the military organization of the Dayan Kingdom.

From smallest to largest, they were: Squad (10 people), Squadron (100 people), Battalion (1,000 people), Division (10,000 people), and Legion (100,000 people).

However, the Dayan Kingdom did not have the strength to form Legions.

An hour later, everyone saw the firelight at the stronghold.

Shen Tao whispered an order: "First squad, take out the sentries. Once within range, the Archer squad will fire flaming arrows to burn down the tents. Then the other squads will charge together! Understood?"

"Understood!" Host: Lu Xingchen responded softly.

Ideal beauty, realistic harshness.

A new recruit from the first squad fumbled, causing a sentry to raise the alarm, turning a surprise attack into an encounter battle.

By the time the Archers fired their flaming arrows, most of the Fengming Kingdom soldiers had already grabbed their weapons and emerged from their tents.

Battle was imminent.

New recruits against veterans, although the Dayan Kingdom had the initiative, winning would still be very difficult.

Host: Lu Xingchen sighed lightly, feeling a bit helpless.

But now he could only give his best. If things went south, he would cover Shen Tao's retreat.

Visibility was poor at night, making it difficult for the small squad of Archers to hit enemies.

Host: Lu Xingchen was an exception; although his firing speed was slow, every attack yielded a result.

Fengming Kingdom soldiers continuously fell under his arrows.

Moreover, he had a strong sense of the overall situation; the placement of each arrow was very clever, helping the Dayan Kingdom soldiers tear open a gap.

[Congratulations, host, for killing a One-Star Martial Artist, gaining one experience point and one exchange point!]

[Congratulations, host, for killing a Two-Star Martial Artist, gaining two experience points and two exchange points!]

...After killing seven or eight enemies, Host: Lu Xingchen aimed his bow at an enemy Archer.

He drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and scored a headshot!

[Congratulations, host, for acquiring the talent: Eagle Eye. Talent effect: Vision range increased by one meter!]

Host: Lu Xingchen was overjoyed.

Finally, a talent dropped!

Having defeated so many enemies, only one talent had dropped, so he knew how difficult it was to acquire talents.

"Eagle Eye" was a talent tailor-made for an Archer; the farther one could see, the greater the range.

Although the initial vision range increase was only one meter, it could be continuously upgraded.

Every meter increase in vision range exponentially boosted an Archer's combat power!

Host: Lu Xingchen immediately allocated all three talent points gained from leveling up to "Eagle Eye," instantly increasing his vision range by ten meters!

In the chaotic battle, he immediately noticed something amiss.

Shen Tao was facing off against the Fengming Kingdom's leader; both were Eight-Star Martial Artists, making it difficult to determine a victor for a time.

However, the enemy leader called for reinforcements, two Five-Star Martial Artists, while Shen Tao had no backup.

If Shen Tao were eliminated, the morale of his comrades would surely collapse!

Host: Lu Xingchen drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and shot an arrow at one of the Five-Star Martial Artists ganging up on Shen Tao.

Despite the four being very close and constantly fighting, Host: Lu Xingchen's Archery Skill was just that good.

An arrow struck the Five-Star Martial Artist's shoulder, incapacitating him.

In the enemy leader's eyes, the first arrow was an accident.

But with the second arrow, Host: Lu Xingchen severely wounded another Five-Star Martial Artist.

The enemy leader panicked.

There was a master in this Dayan Kingdom unit!

If they continued fighting, their side might be completely wiped out!

He chickened out, immediately ordering a retreat, leaving behind a field of corpses.

As the enemy leader retreated, Host: Lu Xingchen shot an arrow at him, leaving his back bloody, but ultimately failing to kill him.

This raid ended in a victory for the Dayan Kingdom.

However, due to the darkness, few noticed Host: Lu Xingchen's brilliant performance.

While everyone was cleaning the battlefield, Host: Lu Xingchen opened the System panel.

[Host: Lu Xingchen]

[Realm: Two-Star Martial Artist]

[Experience Points: 20 / 30]

[exchange points: 50]

[Talents: Eagle Eye (4)]

[Profession: None]

Host: Lu Xingchen complained inwardly.

Damn it, it takes 30 experience points to advance from Two-Star Martial Artist to Three-Star, but killing a Three-Star Martial Artist only grants three experience points.

This System is truly ruthless!

Having finally accumulated some exchange points, Host: Lu Xingchen planned to buy something from the System shop.