Chapter 90

The sky spun and the earth turned, countless scenes shifting rapidly.

Jiang Ding opened his eyes; before him stood a vast expanse of dense mountains, his blood and qi churning violently, threatening to make him vomit—his classmates nearby were much the same.

In the sky,

beneath countless parachutes, five-wheeled Type 62 tanks descended slowly, surrounded by tracked trucks and square-wrapped air-dropped supplies: weapons, ammunition, and more.

Boom!

The dozens-of-ton Type 62 tanks slammed down, crushing several tree trunks as thick as bowls, reducing them to white splinters and sinking dozens of centimeters into the earth.

The tracked trucks and other supplies followed one by one.

Jiang Ding paid special attention to the disciples of Liyun Sect.

After a brief adjustment, they immediately scattered to guard the surroundings, their magical auras flickering, nearly blending into the forest—evidently seasoned fighters.

Hua Bing and the others remained alert, transmitting mentally: “Magical light camouflage can obscure spiritual sense scans within a certain range, but it has zero effect against subatomic radar waves.”

This was a deliberate feature retained by the Immortal Sect’s Dao-Bing units.

Jiang Ding nodded.

“First, inventory the supplies!”

Hua Bing clapped her hands, gathering all nearby classmates: “The top six students from each class board the tanks and form three tank squads to patrol and scout the perimeter.”

“Understood.”

Gong Sun Ling and Ding Qi from Class Two and Three exchanged glances and agreed.

By convention, without formal rank, the cultivator with the highest realm automatically becomes commander—something the teachers constantly emphasized.

Roar!

Engines thundered as dozens of military drones rose into the sky; the three tank squads rolled toward the distance.

Each tank squad consisted of six tanks, spaced over a hundred meters apart; trees thinner than utility poles were simply rammed through, leaving wide, crushed paths across the ground.

Occasionally, when encountering trees too thick, the anti-air machine guns raked their bases with rapid fire, while the hundred-millimeter tank cannons blasted them apart—the forest became as flat as a battlefield.

The Liyun Sect disciples watched these steel monsters with awe.

Upon receiving orders, the three Liyun Sect squads each followed one tank squad, patrolling nearby at fifty-meter intervals.

“Conserve ammunition!”

Hua Bing, viewing through the drone feed, frowned: “I checked the logistics—each person has about fifty rounds of artillery shells; whether reinforcements will arrive is still unknown.”

“Understood.”

Gong Sun Ling smiled apologetically—she had been the one blasting trees with the tank cannon.

After they left, the remaining classmates rushed to pick up heavy machine guns, donning camouflage uniforms, tactical helmets, drones, and other gear.

Jiang Ding donned his Recon-1 camouflage and anti-materiel sniper rifle—both were special-grade superior magic artifacts—then his form blurred and vanished.

The nearby Liyun Sect disciples showed a flicker of shock.

Under their tightly woven spiritual sense coverage, this mortal of the Immortal Sect had simply disappeared—even with their naked eyes, they could not see him.

The Recon Camouflage possessed powerful abilities to block spiritual sense and light, combined with Jiang Ding’s perfected Lesser Stillness Technique; in terms of stealth alone, he surpassed over half of the Immortal Sect’s active-duty reconnaissance infantry.

A few tree branches nodded slightly; then, on a high ridge of rock, a small blade of grass was flattened.

Jiang Ding silently scanned the enemy situation within a five-kilometer radius through his sniper scope and drones—no signs detected.

After Hua Bing and the others left, Wu Tianli and the remaining Qi Refining fifth-layer disciples from Classes Two and Three gathered for a brief meeting, then dispersed.

Ding!

Jiang Ding realized he had been connected to the combat channel.

“Wu Tianli, Hua Bing, Gong Sun Ling, and Ding Qi have initiated the election for the ‘Class Three Joint Combat Command Center’—nominating ‘Hua Bing’ as the highest commander of this operation, temporary company commander. Do you agree?”

You may choose to agree or disagree.

If votes fail to reach fifty percent, the motion will not take effect; if repeated voting still fails, the cultivator with the highest realm in this location will assume command.

The voice came from an integrated smart local network formed by tank-mounted computers, helmets, and built-in microcomputers in the camouflage suits—a reduced, weakly artificial intelligence version of a formation spirit, responsible for communications.

Jiang Ding selected “Agree.”

“Counting votes…”

“Hua Bing received 53 votes, accounting for 56.9%. Hua Bing is appointed temporary company commander of this operation.”

This barely passed fifty percent because Gong Sun Ling and Ding Qi had voluntarily withdrawn and mobilized their close classmates to vote for Hua Bing—otherwise, most students would have voted only for their own class members.

“Nominating Gong Sun Ling as temporary deputy company commander.”

“Nominating Ding Qi as temporary chief of staff.”

Hua Bing reciprocated by campaigning for them in the class group.

…

“Voting approved.”

“Three elected individuals—temporary company command center established.”

…

“Temporary company command center appoints Wu Tianli as commander of the First Tank Company…”

“Temporary company command center appoints Wu Bing as commander of the Second Tank Company…”

Appointments continued, detailed down to platoon leaders, squads, and even individual soldier assignments—thorough beyond measure.

“Temporary company command center appoints Jiang Ding as platoon leader of the First Reconnaissance Platoon, commanding the Fourth Liyun Dao-Bing Squad, squad leader Qian Tongyi, equipped with a mid-grade magic artifact: Liyun Sword… skilled in…”

Jiang Ding froze.

Assigning him to reconnaissance was normal—he was the only reconnaissance infantryman—but commanding a Dao-Bing squad was unexpected.

He had also noted Li Junhao’s position: commander of the First Logistics Squad.

This guy had extremely high academic scores and played a vital role in setting up arrays—but he lacked spiritual sense and magic power, unable to perceive spiritual energy flows or terrain lines, requiring assistance for mapping.

With all positions assigned, Wu Tianli and the others immediately set the classmates to work, sorting and categorizing the air-dropped tanks, tracked trucks, spirit stones, array devices, and ammunition.

Efficiency was extremely high; within less than fifteen minutes, everything was neatly organized.

Roar!

Around the same time, Hua Bing and the three tank squads returned from reconnaissance, leaping from their vehicles.

“Radar search within a forty-kilometer radius detected no enemy presence.”

Hua Bing announced in the large group: “Next, we must rapidly deploy a Level-One electromagnetic sensing array, a Level-One Revival Array, a Level-One optical camouflage array, dig deep ammunition bunkers, and overlay them with a Level-One Golden Body Array. Among these, those brain-dead brutes from School Seven are nowhere near as capable as us…”

She, Gong Sun Ling, Ding Qi, and others continuously assigned tasks; all students from the three classes sprang into action.

The maximum range of a Level-One infantry radar is thirty kilometers; mountainous forest terrain affects subatomic radar waves, but only slightly.

“Jiang Ding! Jiang Ding, where are you? Come here!”

Hua Bing couldn’t find him anywhere, so she shouted in the group.

It wasn’t because he was beyond spiritual sense range—she had already scanned him with the tank’s Level-One radar while riding, and found nothing.

On a large rock over a hundred meters away, a boy in camouflage deactivated his invisibility, slung his anti-materiel sniper rifle, and lightly tapped his toes multiple times before leaping down from the treetops.

“Your Lesser Stillness Technique is well-trained.”

Hua Bing nodded, then waved toward a large tree dozens of meters away; instantly, ten Liyun Sect disciples revealed themselves and sprinted swiftly toward her.

“Greetings, Immortal Envoy!”

The ten bowed respectfully.

“Comrade Qian Tongyi.”

Hua Bing didn’t waste words: “From now on, your squad will follow Jiang Ding’s orders and conduct reconnaissance along the eastern flank.”

“Immortal Envoy, this…”

Qian Tongyi hesitated; the surrounding Liyun Sect disciples also looked uneasy.

Following a mortal’s command was hard to accept.

Beyond their pride as cultivators, there was also the danger—this mortal could easily get them killed!

Even a Level-One Immortal Sect cultivator would be preferable!

“Hmm?”

Cultural and customary differences were vast; Hua Bing had no intention of persuading them. She raised an eyebrow: “Comrade Qian Tongyi—are you refusing this order?”

“We dare not! We humbly obey the Immortal Envoy’s command!”

Qian Tongyi and the other disciples stiffened, replying solemnly.