"Cut through the grass, Brotherhood at the rear, Curse guards the left wing, the Guard protects the right wing, and Three Gun Disciples provide support in the center."

The Grand Steward assigned positions based on the various factions without re-adjusting their strengths, which aligned with everyone's intentions—these groups were originally gathered out of interest, so it's fortunate if they don't hold each other back. Acting only with their comrades from the same organization would allow them to exert their maximum combat strength in this makeshift team.

Those unaffiliated naturally stayed in the center, and Le Yuxin was no exception. However, he noticed two iron-masked men clad in black trench coats beside the Grand Steward, vigilantly watching over the movements of these unaffiliated ones. When their gaze swept over him, Le Yuxin's Ice Blood faintly warmed.

He realized there was an insider, Le Yuxin thought.

Given the situation now, it's naturally expected that the attackers would detect an insider. The series of traps earlier clearly suggested that they were aware the attackers would infiltrate from the northeast of the Imperial Academy, prepared as a welcoming surprise. Without an insider, how could Qin Yueyang have made such an accurate judgment?

However, the Grand Steward did not mention this, even when changing routes; he spoke casually, trying not to let the attackers dwell on it—the alliance was never based on trust; mentioning insiders would only lead to mutual suspicion and hostility among the factions.

The increasing difficulty of missions and the conflict of decreasing team morale and combat capability is the current major issue. The insider is a minor problem; if searching for the insider leads to the team's collapse, Le Yuxin might as well laugh out loud.

Yet, the Grand Steward did not simply leave the insider alone; he seemed to particularly trust the Grass Cutters, Brotherhood, Curse Hunters, and their own Guard, so he sent them to guard the four sides, leaving others in the center for monitoring.

Still, Le Yuxin didn't intend to stir up trouble; merely staying in the team was enough for him to become a party annihilation engine.

"Neather's Heart" evidently deserved its reputation as one of the legendary Divine Weapons among the Glorious Four Guardians, although it needed to go through Lord Zune as a relay station. Le Yuxin could still communicate secretly with Chenchian Dust and Qin Yueyang, completely invisible to outsiders. If he had this during school days to chat with his deskmate, teachers would never notice.

Soon, they arrived at the road leading to the Nightmare teaching building. The attackers chose to infiltrate from the northeast of the Imperial Academy because the Platinum Tower was directly north of the academy. According to the original plan, they just needed to walk along the outskirts of Wanxiang Forest for a while to reach the Platinum Tower.

That's why everyone was happy to agree to the detour—the terrain in Wanxiang Forest was perfect for ambush.

They weren't interested in becoming the forest's fertilizer.

However, the Nightmare teaching building wasn't a wise choice either, as it appeared to be two opposing rows, leaving a road in the middle. It looked like the maw of an abyss, waiting for the ignorant to willingly become its food.

Among students, the Nightmare teaching building had the worst reputation—because many challenging elective exams were held there, resulting in poor grades, students claimed it devoured their energy and spirit.

The Grass Cutter paused at the entrance of the building, glancing at the silent, dimly-lit floors, and spoke quietly, "If someone ambushes from the second or third floor, they can easily eliminate us walking on the ground floor avenue, and we have almost no cover. It's a dead zone."

"But if we don't go through here, we'll have to skirt through the unlit forest outside," the Grand Steward looked up at the night sky and said, "The moonlight isn't beautiful; if there's an ambush in the forest, we wouldn't even be able to counterattack—don't count on using flares, in the darkness, light sources would merely become targets."

He briefly explained and offered a better solution: "Therefore, we'll take the second floor."

No objections from the team, compared to the exposed avenue, the second-floor passage, although narrow, was surrounded by walls and floors providing cover. If ambushed, they could even climb the walls for counterattack.

Without forming squads, twenty-plus people directly took the stairs, and as the leading Grass Cutter stepped onto the second floor, gunshots shattered the campus silence—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Grass Cutters fearlessly drew their long blades and swung, dodging the supersonic bullets, even reporting, "Three Gunmen are ambushing on the second floor, probably Lingxu Martial Artists. The bullets lack the destructive power of flying petals!"

"Grass Cutter assault, kill upon sight!" ordered the Grand Steward.

"Understood!"

Two Grass Cutters advanced against the volleys, slashing out wind barriers knocking the bullets aside, charged ahead relentlessly! In contrast, the three Gunmen appeared more flustered; they wielded semi-automatic long guns, not automatic ones, requiring shell ejection and reloading between shots, creating shooting intervals!

Seeing the Grass Cutters advancing, they began retreating in haste, but Youyun, adept in "root cutting," wouldn't give them a chance to gain distance. Swinging the blade from meters away, they drew away the air between, speeding up their pace and slowing down their opponents!

No spare words, the Grass Cutter raised their blade in a high arc, striking down heavily, the blade tip breaking the air with hissing wind sounds, seemingly the blade's thirst calling. The Gunman was pushed toward the Grass Cutter by the air pressure, appearing to willingly send their head to the blade!

Le Yuxin, having reached the second floor and witnessing the scene, squinted; he was rendered defenseless by the Grass Cutter with this maneuver. Despite being one versus two, the move was indeed brilliantly executed!

Careful observation revealed the Grass Cutter's blades were longer than average, and nearly all Grass Cutters had hands extending to their knees, demonstrating their training included the "lengthening arms" program. With double reinforcement, the Grass Cutter's attack range was exceedingly far.

Le Yuxin once consulted Lord Zune, learning the "Grass Cutter's Flash" crucially depended on mastering distance. Every Grass Cutter must cultivate the "Grass Cutter's Flash" most suitable for themselves. Once the blade swung, it ensured the enemy's head appeared at the farthest blade edge, a distance beyond the enemy's reach.

Moreover, the Grass Cutter employed cunning tactics, their blade tip covered with light burst, seemingly extending the blade with light burst—an often-used technique by sword-wielding martial artists. However, because "Grass Cutter's Flash" blended sword and light, if the enemy mistook it for a light burst slash and relied solely on Light Armor for defense, they would inevitably lead the charge.

It could be said that if these three Gunmen couldn't break free from "Grass Cutter's Flash" grip themselves, they were doomed.

Just as the Grass Cutter was about to claim the night's first blood, the classroom walls suddenly shattered beside them!

Spears pierced through, creating an impenetrable spear forest thrusting forth!

Though the Grass Cutter instinctively drew their blades to counter, against a well-prepared assault, their defense was meaningless, instantly impaled and pushed out of the second floor!

Liaoyuan Combat Technique: Hundred Birds Crown Phoenix Army Formation!

Born from the military, Liaoyuan Combat Technique required little coordination; as long as identical techniques were used side-by-side, it was an unstoppable charge!

In an instant, prey became bait, hunter became hunted!

"Ambush in the classroom!" the Grand Steward shouted.

Curse Hunters and unaffiliated immediately broke down the nearby tiered classroom's door, thrown burning flares into the dark classroom to dispel the darkness, but this room had no hostiles.

Meanwhile, the Gunmen and Liaoyuan martial artist who completed a double kill hurriedly retreated, turned into classrooms, then sounds of windows breaking echoed, seemingly fleeing by jumping out.

The Grand Steward raised a hand signaling others not to move, glanced at the Grass Cutter lying on the ground floor courtyard, shook his head, saying, "They're dead."

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