Chapter Two: The First Battle
The Kingdom of Dayan and its neighboring Fengming Kingdom have been locked in frequent wars, with Dayan largely on the defensive. The great general Lu Chaoyang advocates for war, while Prime Minister Peng Zhihao pushes for peace, and the sovereign Xiao Long wavers indecisively.
In such a sensitive time, revealing this matter to Father could jeopardize the relationship between the sovereign and Father, potentially threatening the fate of Dayan itself.
It seems this grudge must be avenged by myself.
The urgent matter is to quickly strengthen my power.
I shall enlist in the army!
Not only can I swiftly kill enemies and level up on the battlefield, but I can also alleviate Father’s burden.
On the way to the recruitment office, the sound of killing notifications kept ringing in Lu Xingchen’s ears—the assassins had succumbed to their poison.
His realm had also advanced to a Second-Star Warrior.
Upon arriving at the recruitment office, two well-presented officers sat at the front desk.
Lu Xingchen sheathed his dagger and stepped forward calmly.
“Gentlemen, I wish to enlist!”
Both stood up simultaneously.
“Hello, young man. I am Shen Tao, the squad leader of the Dayan border defense forces!”
“And I’m Xu Feng, also a squad leader! Which branch do you want to join?”
Lu Xingchen smiled slightly and solemnly said, “I want to become an archer.”
Hearing this, the two squad leaders exchanged surprised glances and took a longer look at him.
Archers were an elite military branch, well-paid and equipped but demanding and dangerous, often drawing the enemy’s special attention.
This lad looked pale and slender; could he even draw a bow?
Yet they didn’t press further.
Shen Tao said gravely, “Try the shooting range. If your aim is good enough, you can join my squad.”
While Xu Feng continued recruiting at the front desk, Shen Tao led Lu Xingchen to the shooting range.
Ten targets, a hundred meters away; Lu Xingchen hit every single one.
No surprise—he was trained by Great General Lu Chaoyang, proficient with all weapons but especially fond of archery and swordsmanship.
Passing a recruit test was a breeze.
Shen Tao’s eyes widened.
Six hits were enough to pass, but this young man had a perfect score!
In fact, Shen Tao sensed this might not even be his limit.
It seemed he had found a treasure this time.
The two returned to the front desk.
“Congratulations on passing the test. Register your name and age, then report to the recruit camp,” Shen Tao said kindly.
“Lu Dazhuang, eighteen years old.”
Everyone in Dayan had heard of Great General Lu Chaoyang’s son Lu Xingchen, but few had seen him; these two squad leaders obviously did not recognize him.
Lu Xingchen had no intention of revealing his true identity—otherwise, the army would treat him like royalty, and only on the front lines could he kill enemies to level up and allocate points.
The two were momentarily stunned.
Such a pale boy with such a commanding name?
They politely said nothing more.
Three days later, recruitment ended.
The recruits trained outside the royal city.
A month later, they were dispatched to the Dayan-Fengming border.
Only a month of training before deployment spoke volumes about how stretched Dayan’s forces were—truly a matter of scarce resources.
***
Tonight was Lu Xingchen’s first day at the Dayan border.
He felt a stirring excitement.
An ancient poem said, “Clad in golden armor through a hundred battles in yellow sands, never to return without breaking Loulan.”
He too harbored dreams of glory, and now his chance to fulfill them was near.
Sleep eluded him.
Suddenly, the assembly horn sounded.
One hundred recruits quickly formed ranks.
Shen Tao said sternly, “Tonight, you will undertake your first combat mission: to eliminate a small Fengming outpost. Sons of Dayan, the time for glory has come. Do you have the confidence?”
Not a single voice answered.
Though the recruits had aspirations, fear overwhelmed their hearts—fear of battle, fear of death.
Shen Tao frowned deeply, sensing trouble.
An army lacking morale is unlikely to win.
At that moment, Lu Xingchen shouted with a vibrant voice, “No enemy shall remain standing; we vow not to return!”
With him leading, others found courage and echoed, “No enemy shall remain standing; we vow not to return!”
Shen Tao glanced at Lu Xingchen with a slight smile.
This lad had spirit—he’d just done him a great favor.
“Move out!”
This was merely a prelude. If the recruits performed well, they would soon be thrown into the main battlefield.
If not, they would be relegated to logistics.
The moon shone brightly among sparse stars; magpies flew southward.
Shen Tao led a squad of recruits under cover of darkness to storm a small Fengming outpost, with Lu Xingchen among them.
A brief note on Dayan’s military structure:
From smallest to largest, units are squads (10), companies (100), battalions (1,000), divisions (10,000), and corps (100,000).
But Dayan lacked the strength to form a corps.
An hour later, they spotted the flames at the outpost.
Shen Tao whispered orders, “First squad, eliminate the sentries. Once within range, the archer squad will fire flaming arrows to burn the tents, then the other squads charge in! Understood?”
“Understood,” Lu Xingchen replied softly.
Idealism clashes with harsh reality.
A recruit in the first squad hesitated, allowing a sentry to sound the alarm; the surprise attack became a pitched battle.
When the archers launched their flaming arrows, most Fengming soldiers had already armed themselves and emerged from their tents.
The clash was imminent.
Recruits against seasoned soldiers—though Dayan had the advantage of initiative, victory was far from guaranteed.
Lu Xingchen sighed softly, feeling helpless.
But he could only do his best to fight, and if things turned sour, cover Shen Tao’s retreat.
Night vision was poor; few archers could hit their targets.
Lu Xingchen was an exception—though his shooting speed was slow, every shot counted.
One by one, Fengming soldiers fell beneath his arrows.
His strategic insight was keen; each arrow was placed with precision, creating an opening for Dayan’s troops.
[Congratulations, host has slain a One-Star Warrior, gaining 1 experience point and 1 exchange point!]
[Congratulations, host has slain a Two-Star Warrior, gaining 2 experience points and 2 exchange points!]
***
After killing seven or eight enemies, Lu Xingchen took aim at an enemy archer.
He drew the bow, released an arrow, and scored a headshot.
[Congratulations, host has gained talent: Eagle Eye. Talent effect: vision range increased by one meter!]
Lu Xingchen was overjoyed.
He had finally unlocked a talent!
After defeating so many foes, only one talent had emerged; he knew how rare that was.
“Eagle Eye” was tailor-made for archers—seeing farther meant shooting farther.
Though the initial vision boost was just one meter, it could be increased continuously.
Each meter of vision increase exponentially enhanced an archer’s combat power!
Lu Xingchen immediately allocated all three talent points earned from leveling up into “Eagle Eye,” boosting his sight by ten meters instantly.
Amid the chaos, he sensed something amiss.
Shen Tao was locked in combat with the Fengming leader, both formidable Eight-Star Warriors, evenly matched.
But the enemy leader summoned two Five-Star Warriors as reinforcements, while Shen Tao had none at his side.
If Shen Tao fell, the morale of their comrades would surely collapse.
Lu Xingchen nocked an arrow and fired at one of the Five-Star Warriors attacking Shen Tao.
Though the four were close and constantly clashing, Lu Xingchen’s archery was that precise.
His arrow struck the warrior’s shoulder, crippling him.
To the enemy leader, the first arrow was a surprise.
But the second arrow struck another Five-Star Warrior hard.
Panic flickered in the enemy leader’s eyes.
There was a master hidden within this Dayan unit!
If the fight continued, their entire force might be wiped out.
He panicked and ordered a retreat, leaving behind a field of corpses.
As the enemy leader withdrew, Lu Xingchen loosed an arrow at his back, drawing blood but falling short of a kill.
This raid ended in victory for Dayan.
Yet in the darkness, few noticed Lu Xingchen’s remarkable feats.
As the troops cleaned up the battlefield, Lu Xingchen opened his system panel.
[Host: Lu Xingchen]
[Realm: Second-Star Warrior]
[Experience: 20/30]
[Exchange Points: 50]
[Talent: Eagle Eye (4)]
[Profession: None]
Lu Xingchen cursed inwardly.
Damn, it takes 30 experience points to advance from Second-Star to Third-Star, but killing a Third-Star Warrior only grants 3 experience points.
This system was truly cruel!
Having finally amassed some exchange points, Lu Xingchen planned to visit the system store to buy something.