The Commander-in-Chief

"What's wrong, Yi Yun?"

Seeing Yi Yun pause slightly, Chu Xiaoran asked.

"It's nothing, it's just that some people are paying attention to me," Yi Yun said nonchalantly.

"It's understandable that they're paying attention to you. They probably already know about your performance in last year's Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom ranking competition."

This time, Tai'a Divine City's main opponent is the Seventy-Two Towers of Cloud Dragon, while the Southern Ten Kingdoms will fight against other smaller forces.

Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran walked to their seats together. All the contestants from Tai'a Divine City gathered together, filling four large tables.

And the old man with the Cang Yan was right there in this group.

Yi Yun glanced around and also saw Wen Yu, Qiu Niu, Yang Gan, and Demon Blade...

There are also Li Hong, Yang Dingkun, and Yang Haoran, who are enemies of Yi Yun.

Although Yang Haoran lost an arm, his strength was still among the top in Tai'a Divine City, so he was naturally selected.

But Yi Yun didn't see Luo Huo'er...

"Hmm? Luo Huo'er didn't come?" In Yi Yun's opinion, Luo Huo'er's talent Savage Heaven Master was so extraordinary that her own strength should not be bad either.

"Luo Huo'er said she has no talent in combat, so she won't come and embarrass Tai'a Divine City."

Someone who knew the inside story spoke up from the side.

Yi Yun was stunned. Could such words really come from Luo Huo'er?

Yi Yun didn't have time to think it through. At this moment, Cang Yan spoke up, "Listen carefully, what I'm about to say are the rules of this great battle."

"We, along with the Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom, have divided all our participants into eight groups: four groups for those under fifteen and four groups for those over fifteen. Each group will select a commander. The rest will be vanguards."

"Each team's captain holds two seats. If the captain is defeated, their seat will be taken! Therefore, the captain's position is extremely crucial. As for the vanguard... their main role is to protect the captain, shield them from challenges, and also to test the opponent's strength."

"Everyone has only one chance to fail. Once defeated, they can no longer fight."

"Besides defeating the opposing team's captain to secure a council seat, if you can win first place in the under-15 group, the over-15 group, and the overall group, defeating all opponents, you can also obtain additional seats!"

Cang Yan explained the rules in a few words, and everyone understood. Only the commander-in-chief is most likely to gain merit.

The others, to put it nicely, are pioneers; to put it bluntly, they are cannon fodder and scouts.

"Now, I announce the list of commanders!" Cang Yan took out a scroll, and all the young talents present held their breath.

This competition is far more important to them than any previous attempt to break into the Heaven Ranking or the Earthly Ranking.

"Under 15 Group. Key Players: Chu Xiaoran! Qiu Niu! Yi Yun! Li Hong!"

Cang Yan paused after each name he pronounced, and when he called out Yi Yun's name, Yang Haoran clenched his fist. This kid has become the commander-in-chief!

Although Yang Haoran hated Yi Yun, he also knew that it was reasonable for Yi Yun to be the commander-in-chief.

Of the four, Li Hong was the weakest, but there was really no one else to choose from; they couldn't very well let Wen Yu or Lu Jie be the main generals.

Li Hong is, after all, the number one among the three-year trial participants of Tai'a Divine City.

"Next is the group of 15 years and older, with the following captains: Demon Blade! Hua Yue! Fang Hai! Yang Haoran!"

After Cang Yan read out the names of the four main generals, everyone was stunned. What was going on?

Yang Gan's strength is second only to Demon Blade, and his ranking on the Earth Ranking is extremely outstanding, yet he is not a commander.

What happened to Hua Yue, Fang Hai, and Yang Haoran?

"I'm the commander-in-chief, haha, I'm the commander-in-chief too!"

Yang Haoran was overjoyed. He felt that if he hadn't lost his arm, he would have had no problem being a commander-in-chief, but after losing his arm, it was basically impossible for him to be a commander-in-chief.

Now, Cang Yan has chosen him as the commander-in-chief, which has finally lifted the spirits of Yang Haoran, whose life had been bleak before.

Before anyone could figure out what the commander-in-chief was all about, Cang Yan produced another scroll. "The commander-in-chief has been decided. Next up are the vanguards..."

When Yang Haoran received the list of his subordinates, he was dumbfounded.

The reason is simple: the people on his list are all terrible!

They are mostly people with average talent who, relying on their age advantage, managed to break into the top 30 or 40 on the Earthly Ranking.

These kinds of people are just cannon fodder, to put it bluntly!

He, a commander, led a bunch of cannon fodder as his subordinates?

Isn't he just cannon fodder himself?

Yang Haoran then looked at the other lists and found that, like Yang Gan, the strongest individuals among the trial participants aged fifteen and above in Tai'a Divine City were all in the Demon Blade's group.

All the other groups were assigned to cannon fodder, and even among the cannon fodder, his subordinates were the worst!

He suddenly realized that he had actually been abandoned.

The higher-ups of Tai'a Divine City placed all their bets on the Demon Blade team. Even someone as capable as Yang Gan was not chosen as the team's commander, all to ensure the Demon Blade team's victory.

As for the others, they were just there to make up the numbers because of the rules...

"They actually think I'm cannon fodder!"

Yang Haoran clenched his fists, the veins on his forehead bulging. Receiving this list intensified his hatred for Yi Yun. If it weren't for losing his arm, how could he have ended up as cannon fodder!

He suppressed his anger. With Cang Yan present, he dared not show it. He could only hope in his heart that the two people he had found yesterday could cripple Yi Yun, or even kill him.

At this time, Yi Yun also received the list of his subordinates: four vanguards, all of whom were one-year trial participants. Apart from Wen Yu, who was not bad, the others were just there to make up the numbers.

Cang Yan intentionally assigned the stronger individuals under the age of fifteen to Qiu Niu and Chu Xiaoran to enhance their group's strength.

As for Li Hong, the people in his group weren't very strong either, about the same level as Yi Yun, so it was clear that they were also giving up.

The reason why Li Hong, who is stronger, was still included in the group is probably because the higher-ups of Tai'a Divine City are afraid that Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom will also adopt this tactic. Since they are both cannon fodder, if their cannon fodder is too weak and is defeated by the other side's equally weak cannon fodder, then they will lose unfairly.

Overall, the Tai'a Divine City leadership is confident in the under-15 age group and wants to secure more spots.

As for the age group of fifteen and above, they only want to win one group and give up on the rest without even thinking about it.

When Li Hong saw his own list of subordinates, he was very frustrated. Then he looked at Yi Yun's list and found that Yi Yun's subordinates weren't much better.

However, Li Hong did not feel any psychological balance because of this. He guessed the plan of the higher-ups of Tai'a Divine City. They mostly trusted Yi Yun, which is why they assigned Yi Yun some relatively weak vanguards, hoping that Yi Yun turn the tide with his own strength.

Li Hong gritted his teeth, "These old guys are so condescending! They're treating us all like cannon fodder, letting Yi Yun be the hero. Hey! Being a hero isn't so easy!"

Li Hong looked towards the Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom.

There, the venomous snake boy was talking to someone, appearing quite relaxed and cheerful.

Seeing the composed and collected young man, Li Hong chuckled sinisterly. "The arrangements made by Tai'a Divine City suit me perfectly. Wouldn't this make my plan even easier to implement? Yi Yun, just you wait..."

After the group assignments were completed, the birthday banquet began.

The Lord of Tai'a Divine City, dressed in a blue robe, sat side by side with the Lord of Seven Stars Tower on the honored seat, smiling as he looked down at the young people from various forces below.

By this time, the Lord of Seven Stars Tower had already learned about the group assignments for Tai'a Divine City. He smiled and said, "City Lord Yang has remarkable composure; even at this moment, he can still smile so calmly."

"Likewise," the Lord of Tai'a Divine City replied calmly.

"It seems City Lord Yang has gathered all the powerful figures together; that's quite a clever move."

The Lord of Seven Stars Tower's words appeared to be praise, but they clearly contained a hint of sarcasm and mockery.

This tactic is hardly honorable.

The Lord of Tai'a Divine City smiled slightly, seemingly oblivious to the Lord of Seven Stars Tower's sarcasm, and went along with it, saying, "Thank you for the compliment. Everything is for victory, so naturally, some strategy is needed in terms of military tactics."

"Unfortunately, before absolute power, any strategy is useless." The Lord of Seven Stars Tower's smile turned cold. "You will see my disciples from the Seventy-Two Towers of Cloud Dragon sweep across the entire arena."

"Oh? Then I'll wait and see!"

The atmosphere in the arena was tense and fraught with tension. The birthday banquet was only served symbolically, with hardly anyone touching their chopsticks. Everyone's attention was focused on the league competition.

Yi Yun and his four teammates sat in the players' section.

The people from the Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom lived right next door to them.

At this moment, a boy covered in tattoos and wrapped in venomous snakes walked up to Yi Yun.

"Yi Yun, right! You're the commander-in-chief, and so am I. This is interesting. I'll take both of your positions!"

Both sides are free to challenge each other, and the decision on whether to accept is made by their respective captains.

Only if an agreement cannot be reached will a draw be used to determine the opponents.

Yi Yun had long anticipated that this venomous young man would target him, and he didn't care who he fought.

Since someone had challenged him, he accepted.

"Oh? Then let's see if you have the ability to take it!"

Upon hearing Yi Yun's words, Wen Yu, standing behind him, felt a jolt of fear and a bitter expression. He accepted it so casually!

"Um... Senior Brother Yi, do you know who this person is?"

Because they were going to play in the league competition, people like Wen Yu had already made preparations in advance, and they had thoroughly researched their opponents' information.

This tattooed teenager, nicknamed Viper, is ruthless and extremely powerful.

He is already fifteen years old and has broken through to the Origin Foundation Realm. In the Cloud Dragon Divine Kingdom's battle roster for the under-15 age group, he is definitely a very troublesome guy.

Wen Yu had absolutely no desire to encounter this sinister fellow; she felt like a lab rat in front of a venomous snake. Yet, their commander readily accepted the Viper's challenge.

This made Wen Yu feel like crying but had no tears left to shed.

(The second update will be at 2 or 3 AM. I'm currently jet-lagged, so I apologize. I suggest you read it tomorrow.)

...(To be continued~^~)