Qu Tong and his team unexpectedly encountered the top-ranked team while they were resting and preparing dinner.

Fei Wenxing and the others who were sitting on the ground all stood up, entering a state of battle readiness.

Enmity filled the eyes of both Fei Wenxing and Cheng Yao, but Qu Tong casually put down the spoon he was holding and turned the stove to simmer before standing up.

"What a surprise, even a bunch of trash like your team managed to climb to sixth place. Did someone take a shortcut?" Ouyang Linna sneered as she glanced over Fei Wenxing and the rest, her insinuating gaze landing on Qu Tong.

"Ouyang Linna, don't forget the whole network is broadcasting the competition live. Do you want to see what you're saying?" Cheng Yao held back Fei Wenxing, stepping forward to warn first.

Ouyang Linna snorted coldly, her disdain still apparent in her eyes, but she refrained from saying anything too outrageous.

Qu Tong signaled with his eyes for Cheng Yao and Fei Wenxing not to speak, as both were too impulsive—quick to catch fire.

It wasn't that they were bad, it was just that when there was a significant gap in strength, it was very easy to suffer losses.

Ouyang Linna was cautious, but Lan Xingye was not, speaking in a particularly sharp tone: "That being said, although your team's strength isn't much to speak of, you sure have a lot of connections. Who knows, right?"

"If you want to know so badly, why don't you go ask His Highness yourself? He's so amiable, I'm sure he'd be delighted to answer you," Qu Tong said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Pfft!" Cheng Feng, who was watching the live broadcast with Si Yuting in the command room, spat out his water.

He stared incredulously: "Who told my sister-in-law that you, Boss, are a nice person?"

As a general in the Empire's military, second only to the Palace Commander, Si Yuting was never an easy person to deal with in front of outsiders.

Moreover, what Si Yuting despised the most were people like Lan Xingye who disregarded Imperial Laws and acted recklessly with the backing of the Alchemist Association.

God, to say he's nice—wasn't my sister-in-law blatantly telling a bald-faced lie?

This was plainly telling someone to go ask themselves if they dared, or keep their mouth shut if they didn't.

My sister-in-law's mix of softness and firmness is quite impressive.

Feeling a chill down his spine from Si Yuting's glance, Cheng Feng quickly smiled awkwardly and said, "I'll pack up, I'm packing up right away."

Fortunately, he was sitting far from the screen; otherwise, Boss would've definitely thrown him out.

But how could Boss watch my sister-in-law praising him with a straight face?

Doesn't he feel a twinge of conscience?

In the live broadcast, Qu Tong's words had completely broken Lan Xingye's defense, and he became so enraged that he wanted to start a fight.

Who didn't know that back when Lan Xingye was a rookie, he questioned Si Yuting for refusing his sister's kindness and, when he tried to stop Si Yuting a second time, he got blown away by Si Yuting's spiritual power and ended up lying in the Healing Chamber for half a month.

This incident even made the news, with the Royal Family only offering some resources as compensation and not a single apology from Si Yuting.

Lan Xingye wanted to eliminate Qu Tong's team on the spot but was stopped by Lan Weiying.

It was only the third day, and although eliminating a team wasn't against the rules, there were so many netizens watching.

There was plenty of time later to eliminate them, so why bother with a dispute that was not beneficial to oneself?

Lan Weiying's elegant brows furrowed slightly as she looked at Qu Tong in front of her, her voice cold: "Are you really an F-rank in terms of physical constitution?"

She found it hard to believe that someone's luck could be so good, even though their team had Song Nuan and two other SS-rank spiritual powers, they hadn't encountered that many Star Beasts.

Although their team led with 8,400 points, 5,000 of those points came from a single level six Star Beast.

Yet Qu Tong's team, lacking the strength to deal with a level six Star Beast, still managed to secure so many points.

"Hmm~" Qu Tong rested his hand under his chin, and after a moment of serious thought, he asked, "Is it possible that the genetic database mixed up my data with another baby?"

Lan Weiying wasn't expecting such a response from Qu Tong.

However, this reminded Lan Weiying and the audience in front of the screen.

Qu Tong's parents both had pretty low fertility values, so Qu Tong was born from a test tube in the gene bank.

The gene bank is the most authoritative genetic testing institution, with virtually no possibility of baby-swapping or falsified data.

Even in the unlikely event that babies were mixed up, the data tested at the age of enlightenment at five and adulthood at eighteen would still be transmitted to the database to correct the foundational information.

Lan Weiying looked deeply at Qu Tong, then took Lan Xingye and the others to rest at the other end of the woods.

Fei Wenxing and Cheng Yao felt somewhat uncomfortable.

They had been toiling away these past few days, killing Star Beasts, only to be talked about like that.

Although their brother also came to the competition as an instructor this year, they hadn't been in contact since they arrived.

Qu Tong raised her eyebrows and asked Fei Wenxing, "Your brother came too?"

She knew that Cheng Feng had come, but she didn't know that Fei Wenxing's brother had also arrived.

"Yeah," Fei Wenxing nodded, murmuring discontentedly, "He's serving as an instructor at the Fourth Military Academy."

Qu Tong patted their shoulders and whispered comfortingly, "Take it easy, just think about how, even if he gets first place, it'll still be tough for him to advance in his studies."

Fei Wenxing was stunned for a moment, his mood instantly cleared up.

"Hahaha, Sister Tong, you're right," Cheng Yao also started laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Xu An saw the three of them laughing together and asked curiously.

"Laughing at Lan Xingye, that bastard who ranks at the bottom in every final exam," Fei Wenxing said loudly without any hesitation.

"Ah? I didn't expect that he looks alright and his strength is okay, yet he's a poor student," Rong Yueqing, who didn't know the situation well, joined in eagerly.

"That's right, let me tell you, last year..." Fei Wenxing rattled on, starting his own gossip journey.

The atmosphere became relaxed and harmonious all at once.

The audience outside the live broadcast almost laughed themselves silly.

[The Princess Consort knows how to comfort people.]

[Lan Xingye: How presumptuous of you.]

[Help! He's still nearby, is this really okay?]

[Although it's a bit rude, it's really funny.]

[I have to say, the third young master of the Lan family's subjects are too imbalanced, ranked second to last, pffhahahaha.]

While everyone was eating and laughing, Qu Tong was thinking about whether to take down their first place.

But Song Ke and the others weren't strong enough, and if they encountered danger, she risked exposing herself; better wait until the second round.

Song Ke was on watch tonight, but Qu Tong, wary of Lan Xingye and the others taking action, didn't sleep but simply leaned against the tree trunk with her eyes closed, gathering strength and extending her spiritual power, staying alert to any sounds around her.

The moon was dim, and the stars were sparse; the night quieted down, the flickering flame cast a gleaming glow on Qu Tong's fair, jade-like cheeks.

After 10 p.m., the miniature broadcasting orb also went into hibernation mode.

A gaze lingered on Qu Tong's face for a while before shifting away, followed shortly by a faint noise.

After allowing the person to move some distance away, Qu Tong opened her starry eyes, pensively looking at the figure that now blended into the darkness.

About ten minutes later, Song Ke returned, sat back down by the fire, poked at the firewood, and added some more to make the fire burn brighter and warmer.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.