Nuwa, the goddess of immortality, said that cultivating immortality does not require spiritual energ

The next morning at nine o'clock, the group of friends met up at the bustling Baiwei Square.

After finding a place to sit down, Li Yanran didn't keep everyone in suspense. She picked up a small piece of pastry from the table and began to demonstrate her newly comprehended principle of illusion and reality to everyone.

A faint light flowed from her fingertips, and the soft pastry in her hand sometimes transformed into a flat and insubstantial shape, like the most realistic ink painting; at other times, it instantly returned to its original shape, exuding an enticing aroma.

She can even turn one part of a pastry into a phantom while keeping another part real, switching between them at will.

Watching the food effortlessly shift between real and illusory images, the group members showed expressions of surprise and understanding.

Now they had a direct understanding of what the Law of Illusion and Reality really was—a wondrous law that could manipulate the state of existence of things.

"This law of illusion and reality... it's quite powerful." Chu Xiaonan clicked his tongue and couldn't help but sigh.

The others nodded in agreement. Just imagining the various applications of this ability—creating illusions, attacking by switching between reality and illusion, and even influencing an opponent's perception of the real world—was enough to make one feel troubled.

However, Li Yanran shook her head and commented soberly, "I'm not as invincible as you think. Against opponents of the same level, as long as they are on guard and their minds are stable, my switching between illusion and reality is unlikely to directly affect them. It's more likely to be used for support, creating opportunities, or in specific situations."

"That's pretty good too," Qin Le interjected with a smile. "At least, if you want to gang up on someone in the future, you can create dozens or even hundreds of virtual clones on the spot. The scene will definitely be spectacular."

"That's a great idea!" Li Yanran's eyes lit up, and she smiled.

She had indeed considered this direction, just like how she used the artistic conception of paintings to create clones before. Now, with the law of illusion and reality, the clones she created would be even more difficult to see through, greatly increasing their practicality.

The group chatted and ate, exploring the various possibilities of the new rules in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

Afterwards, we strolled around the commercial area until sunset before dispersing and heading home.

Time flies, and the holiday is over. The second semester of senior year—also the last semester for Qin Le and his classmates at the college—has officially begun.

On the second day of the semester, a new announcement was pinned to the top of the college forum, which concerned adjustments to the rules of the Heavenly Soldier Trial challenge.

Most of the students who saw the announcement were not surprised.

The Heavenly Soldier Trial, originally designed to challenge players who were level-up to Earth Immortal level Chaos Beasts, was somewhat beyond its scope from the outset. This was largely due to the presence of Qin Le, an even more extraordinary monster, and Luo Qiuyue, who also possessed the art of military command.

Now that these two are about to graduate, the academy naturally needs to adjust the difficulty of the trials back to a level more suitable for the average student; otherwise, once they leave, no one will be able to pass the trials.

At noon, in the cafeteria.

Qin Le sat down to eat with a few of his dining buddies.

Wang Zhiheng swallowed the food in his mouth, recalled the contents of the announcement, and asked, "The Heavenly Soldier Trial has been changed, so does that mean... we won't need to use 'Military Strategy' anymore?"

The art of war was the key to the students' previous success in defeating the strong with the weak and accomplishing the feat of conquering immortals with mortal strength.

The challenge target has now been lowered from the Earth Immortal level to the Refinement of Void and Integration of Dao level. Although the number has increased significantly, theoretically, many elite students may still be able to cope with it by relying on their individual strength or teamwork.

"Let's ask the other students for their opinions in the group chat later," Qin Le said, taking a sip of soup. "Although the opponents have become those at the same level, there are still 15,000 of them. That means each person has to deal with about ten on average, so the pressure is not small. Let's see if everyone wants to try new tactics or if it's safer to continue using the familiar fighting style."

Wang Zhiheng nodded: "That's true. In the past, we relied on teamwork to fight a small number of elite monsters that were higher level than us. Now we rely on teamwork to fight a large number of monsters of the same level. The tactical thinking is indeed different."

Although with Qin Le and his group's current strength, if they really went all out, 15,000 Chaos Beasts at the Refinement and Integration stage wouldn't be much of a threat, that would completely violate the original purpose of the Heavenly Soldier Trial—to train the cooperative combat capabilities between human and demon students and simulate large-scale legion cooperation.

In these collective activities, their extraordinary presence primarily serves a supporting and backup role.

After the meal, Qin Le solicited opinions in the grade's group chat.

After discussion, most students believed that, in the face of the first rule change, it would be more appropriate to use the most familiar and reliable military strategy to complete the challenge and accumulate combat experience under the new rules.

Soon, the first trial of the celestial soldiers under the new rules began.

In the familiar trial realm, more than a thousand students stood in formation.

Luo Qiuyue hovered in mid-air, her expression solemn. Clear instructions were precisely conveyed to every participant through the five-colored military flag, which was formed from the spirit of humanity.

Under her command, the students moved as a cohesive unit, advancing and retreating with precision, attacking and defending in an orderly fashion, efficiently annihilating the overwhelming tide of Chaos Beasts at the Void Refinement and Dao Integration levels.

Are we outnumbered and outgunned?

For Luo Qiuyue, who already had a thorough understanding of military strategy and tactics, this was actually a battlefield where she could better demonstrate her command abilities.

Previously, due to the limitations of challenge mode, many of her tactical ideas, such as large-scale coordination, encirclement and luring the enemy deep into the territory, were difficult to implement.

Now, this massive amount of training partners is a good opportunity for her to accumulate valuable practical command experience in advance, preparing her for the truly brutal legion battles she may face when she ascends to the Heavenly Realm in the future—after all, no one will actually die in the Heavenly Soldier Trials, but on the Heavenly Battlefield, a single command error could cost countless comrades their lives.

Qin Le remained standing not far from Luo Qiuyue. His role remained unchanged; his main task was to provide backup and prevent any unexpected incidents, and he did not directly participate in the fighting on the front lines.

Looking at the battle formation below, which was operating smoothly and achieving remarkable results under Luo Qiuyue's command, Qin Le nodded approvingly and smiled:

"Not bad, you commanded very steadily. I thought you'd be a little unaccustomed to this 'beast horde' mode for the first time."

Upon hearing this, Luo Qiuyue continued to monitor the battlefield and issue orders, while also glancing at Qin Le with a complex expression in her voice:

"He's good at commanding... but he's still far behind you."

Her words were not humble, but a truth based on profound understanding.

To date, Qin Le has only personally commanded the Heavenly Soldiers Trial once, in the very first instance, before she had mastered the art of war.

At the time, she only felt that Qin Le's conducting was smooth and effortless, but she didn't understand it deeply.

With her own command abilities improving rapidly over the past few years, when she looked back and carefully studied Qin Le's one and only command, she felt even more how terrifying it was—that absolute control over the battle situation, the accurate prediction of details, and the ingenious use of her classmate's potential limits, which she still finds difficult to reach.

"Take your time," Qin Le said optimistically. "You've already achieved immortality, so you have plenty of time. Command ability is very important; experience and practical insights are crucial. You'll surpass me sooner or later."

His command skills were honed through repeated brutal defeats more than two hundred times in a simulated battlefield personally created by the great god Chi You.

This kind of treatment is something others don't receive.

Outsiders either attribute his extraordinary talent to his exceptional comprehension or to his extraordinary ability to understand things; in any case, he seems very unconventional.

"Do you even believe what you're saying?" Luo Qiuyue couldn't help but roll her eyes at him again.

Surpassing Qin Le?

She had considered this idea before, but deep down, she didn't have much hope for it.

Because she knew very well that Qin Le never stood still and waited for others to catch up.

As for the speed of progress...

Luo Qiuyue felt that, looking across the Three Realms, there would probably be few who could keep up with Qin Le's pace, even though he usually appeared leisurely and lazy.

"Of course I believe you," Qin Le said matter-of-factly. "Why wouldn't I believe what I said myself?"

In response to him was another silent eye roll from Luo Qiuyue, a look that seemed to say, "You're just pretending."