We hit the battlefield like a thunderbolt.

Chen Rou led the charge, her Stage 9 cultivation creating a visible shockwave that scattered the combatants nearest to Azure Peak Team 4. Tang Bolin followed, his massive frame plowing through two Crimson Peak disciples who were too slow to dodge.

"Team 7, wedge formation!" Chen Rou commanded. "Protect the Azure Peak survivors!"

[COMBAT ASSIST: MAXIMUM ACTIVATION]

[BATTLEFIELD ANALYSIS: ACTIVE]

[TARGETS: PRIORITIZED]

[LET'S DO THIS]

I moved with Yun Xia on my left, Han Feng on my right. The Infinite Tide Scripture flowed through my Stage 6 cultivation as I engaged the first enemy, a Verdant Valley disciple with Stage 5 cultivation and a saber.

He was competent. Trained. Experienced.

He was also not expecting a Stage 6 cultivator to move like water and hit like a hammer.

My first strike, Tide Breaker, caught him mid-swing. The spiraling Qi shattered his defense and sent him flying backward into two of his sect brothers.

[ENEMY DISRUPTED]

[OPENING CREATED]

Yun Xia capitalized immediately, her Flowing Water Palm redirecting a spear thrust meant for Zhou Ming while simultaneously protecting Liu Yan who was trying to reach the wounded Azure Peak disciples.

"Liu Yan, go!" I shouted, covering her advance with a series of strikes that forced the surrounding enemies to back off.

She reached the Azure Peak Team 4 leader, a woman with a nasty gash across her chest, barely conscious. "I've got her! Covering fire!"

Su Mei's staff spun in complex patterns, creating a defensive perimeter that bought Liu Yan precious seconds to stabilize the injured leader with emergency healing techniques.

[TEAM COORDINATION: EXCELLENT]

[RESCUE PROGRESS: 33%]

[ENEMIES: VERY ANGRY]

"More incoming!" Wei Long called from his position. "Crimson Peak reinforcements! Eight more cultivators!"

"Fuck," Chen Rou swore, the first time I'd heard her curse. "Tang Bolin, with me! Everyone else, form defensive shell around the wounded! We're extracting in sixty seconds!"

Sixty seconds. An eternity in combat.

A Crimson Peak Stage 6 cultivator charged me, his fists wreathed in blood-red Qi. "Azure Peak scum! This treasure is ours!"

"Don't care about the treasure!" I deflected his first strike. "We're just here for our people!"

"Liar!" He unleashed a technique, Crimson Fist Barrage, that turned his arms into blurs of attacking force.

[ATTACK PATTERN: AGGRESSIVE, OVERWHELMING]

[DEFENSE: INSUFFICIENT]

[RECOMMEND: COUNTER-ATTACK]

I let the Infinite Tide Scripture's flow take over, my body moving through the gaps in his barrage with automated precision. His fists hammered at empty air while I positioned myself for the counter.

"Tsunami Fang!"

My strike caught him in the solar plexus, concentrated Stage 6 Qi punching through his defenses. He collapsed, gasping.

[ENEMY NEUTRALIZED]

[BOSS, YOUR COMBAT ABILITY HAS IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY]

[STAGE 6 + TRAINING + EXPERIENCE = DANGEROUS]

Beside me, Zhou Ming was struggling against two Stage 5 opponents. His technique was sound, I'd taught him well, but he was being overwhelmed by numbers.

"Zhou Ming, duck!"

He dropped without hesitation. My sword swept over his head, catching one opponent across the chest. Han Feng's fist drove into the second, sending him sprawling.

"Thanks, Senior Brothers!" Zhou Ming panted.

"Stay close!" Han Feng barked. "This isn't training anymore!"

[ZHOU MING: LEARNING FAST]

[COMBAT EXPERIENCE: INVALUABLE]

[IF HE SURVIVES THIS, HE'LL BE MUCH STRONGER]

Chen Rou and Tang Bolin were absolute monsters. The Stage 9 and Stage 7 cultivators carved through enemies like they were made of paper. Chen Rou's technique, Azure Dragon Ascension, created phantom dragons of pure Qi that struck with devastating force. Tang Bolin simply crushed anyone who got close.

"Thirty seconds!" Chen Rou called out. "Liu Yan, status?"

"Leader stabilized! Two more wounded, I can move them!"

"Do it! Zhao Fei, prepare retreat formation!"

Zhao Fei's hands moved in complex patterns, Qi flowing into the ground. Ancient formations responded, creating a pathway that would boost our movement speed while hindering pursuit.

[RETREAT PREPARATION: 80%]

[ENEMY RESPONSE: AGGRESSIVE]

[THEY'RE NOT LETTING US LEAVE EASILY]

A Verdant Valley Stage 7 cultivator, their apparent leader, blocked our escape route. "You think you can just leave? You crashed our battle! You pay the price!"

"Move," Chen Rou said, her voice cold.

"Make me, little girl."

[BAD DECISION]

[VERY BAD DECISION]

Chen Rou moved.

It wasn't even a fight. Stage 9 versus Stage 7, with Chen Rou angry and motivated. Her Azure Dragon Ascension technique manifested fully, a massive spectral dragon that roared and struck with enough force to create a crater where the Verdant Valley leader had been standing.

He went down hard, unconscious before he hit the ground.

"Anyone else want to block us?" Chen Rou asked the stunned battlefield.

Silence.

"Retreat formation, NOW!" she commanded.

[DOMINANCE: ESTABLISHED]

[ENEMIES: INTIMIDATED]

[TIME TO GO]

Zhao Fei's formation activated. The ground beneath our feet glowed with acceleration arrays while behind us, hindering formations slowed pursuit. We moved as one unit, wounded in the center, combatants on the perimeter.

The Crimson Peak and Verdant Valley disciples tried to follow, but the formations slowed them enough that we gained distance. Chen Rou and Tang Bolin covered our retreat, their powerful cultivation deterring anyone from pressing too hard.

We ran for maybe ten minutes before Chen Rou called a halt in a defensible ravine.

"Perimeter security!" she ordered. "Liu Yan, full medical check on everyone! Zhao Fei, detection formations! Move!"

[ESCAPE: SUCCESSFUL]

[TEAM CASUALTIES: NONE]

[AZURE PEAK RESCUES: 3]

[OVERALL: VICTORY]

I collapsed against a rock, breathing heavily. My Qi reserves were at maybe 40%, not dangerously low, but the continuous combat had been draining.

[STAMINA: 31%]

[QI RESERVES: 43%]

[PHYSICAL CONDITION: MODERATE FATIGUE]

[RECOMMENDED: REST AND RECOVERY]

Yun Xia sat beside me, equally exhausted. "We did it. We actually did it."

"Chen Rou did most of it," I said. "She's terrifying when she wants to be."

"Stage 9 cultivators are no joke." Su Mei joined us, her staff across her lap. "But you two were impressive. That coordination, you moved like you've been fighting together for years."

[COMBAT SYNERGY: YUN XIA + LIN TIAN]

[EFFECTIVENESS: HIGH]

[RELATIONSHIP STRENGTH TRANSLATES TO BATTLE EFFICIENCY]

Liu Yan finished treating the rescued Azure Peak disciples. The team leader, a woman named Feng Yue, was conscious now, her chest wound sealed with emergency healing techniques.

"Thank you," Feng Yue said hoarsely to Chen Rou. "Team 4 was... we got greedy. Pushed too hard for the vault. Lost four members before you arrived."

[TEAM 4 CASUALTIES: 4/10 DEAD]

[EXACTLY THE KIND OF DISASTER CHEN ROU WARNED ABOUT]

"What happened?" Chen Rou asked, not unkindly.

"The vault had better treasures than expected. Advanced cultivation manuals. Immortal-grade weapons." Feng Yue's expression was haunted. "We found a way to open it, but so did two other teams at the same time. Everyone attacked everyone. It became a massacre."

"And the treasures?"

"Still inside. The fighting collapsed part of the entrance. Nobody got anything except corpses."

[GREED + MULTIPLE TEAMS = DISASTER]

[EXACTLY AS PREDICTED]

[THIS IS WHY CHEN ROU'S CAUTIOUS APPROACH IS CORRECT]

Chen Rou nodded grimly. "Team 4, you'll travel with us back to the extraction point. We'll keep you safe until you can return to the sect."

"Extraction point?" Feng Yue looked confused. "The expedition lasts three months."

"For healthy teams. You've lost four members and your leader is critically wounded. Sect policy allows early extraction for teams that can't continue safely." Chen Rou's tone was firm. "You're done. We'll escort you to the nearest extraction formation in two days."

Feng Yue looked like she wanted to argue, but one glance at her remaining team members, all injured, all traumatized, changed her mind. "Thank you, Chen Rou. Your team saved our lives."

"Sect loyalty," Chen Rou said simply.

That night, our camp was more subdued.

Team 4's surviving members huddled together, processing their losses. Zhou Ming had gone quiet after his first real life-or-death battle. Even Han Feng's usual joviality was muted.

"First major combat," Su Mei said quietly as we prepared dinner. "Reality hits different than training, doesn't it?"

"People died today," I said. "Team 4 lost four. The other teams probably lost more. All for treasures that nobody even got."

"Welcome to the cultivation world." Her smile was sad. "Power, resources, advancement, they all have prices. Usually paid in blood."

[HARSH REALITY]

[BUT TRUE]

[THIS IS world ISN'T KIND]

Yun Xia found me later, during my watch shift. She didn't say anything, just sat close and held my hand.

"You okay?" I asked eventually.

"I killed someone today," she said softly. "That Crimson Peak disciple who was attacking Liu Yan. I hit him and he just... stopped moving. I don't think he was breathing when we left."

[FIRST KILL]

[PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT: SIGNIFICANT]

[THIS IS NORMAL BUT DIFFICULT]

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He would have killed Liu Yan. Probably killed me too." She squeezed my hand. "I just... I didn't expect it to feel like this."

"Like what?"

"Empty. I thought I'd feel guilty or horrified. But I just feel... nothing. Is that wrong?"

I thought about my own fights today. The cultivators I'd beaten, possibly killed. The system's clinical reporting of "enemies neutralized."

"I don't think there's a right way to feel," I said. "We did what we had to do. Protected our team. That's all that matters."

She leaned against my shoulder. "The expedition has eighty-eight days left. How many more people are going to die?"

[ESTIMATED TOTAL CASUALTIES: 35-45]

[CURRENT CASUALTIES: APPROXIMATELY 8]

[MORE TO COME]

"I don't know," I said honestly. "But Team 7 is going to survive. All of us. I promise."

[BOSS, YOU REALLY NEED TO STOP MAKING PROMISES YOU CAN'T GUARANTEE]

'Let me have this moment.'

[FINE]

[BUT WHEN THIS COMES BACK TO BITE YOU, I'M SAYING 'I TOLD YOU SO']

We sat in comfortable silence, watching the crimson night. Somewhere in the Wastes, other teams were fighting, dying, struggling to survive.

But here, now, we were alive.

Together.

That was enough.

[DAY 2 SUMMARY:]

[MAJOR COMBAT: VAULT BATTLE]

[TEAM 7 CASUALTIES: 0]

[RESCUES: 3 AZURE PEAK DISCIPLES]

[ENEMIES DEFEATED: 11]

[TREASURES ACQUIRED: 0 (MISSION WAS RESCUE, NOT LOOT)]

[MORAL VICTORY: SIGNIFICANT]

[TEAM MORALE: MIXED BUT STABLE]

[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 63%]

[DAYS REMAINING: 88]

[STATUS: EXHAUSTED BUT ALIVE]

The next morning, we'd begin the journey to the extraction point with Team 4.

Two days of travel through the Wastes.

Two days of potential danger.

But Chen Rou had made her decision, sect loyalty over treasure hunting.

And I respected that.

[CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: CHEN ROU]

[SHE'S NOT JUST COMPETENT]

[SHE'S HONORABLE]

[GOOD LEADER]

Tomorrow would bring new challenges.

But tonight, we rested.

Team 7, battered but unbroken.

Together.

[NEXT: EXTRACTION ESCORT AND NEW COMPLICATIONS]

[BECAUSE NOTHING STAYS SIMPLE]

[EVER]

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