A Great Victory at the Border

Yesterday, Lu Mingyuan had taught the children their usual lesson.

The next day, he began preparing to create his second divine ability.

Well, publicly speaking, it would still be his first divine ability.

This time, Lu Mingyuan planned to create a divine ability related to the Agricultural School. It was a little more difficult than Mathematics, which relied purely on thought, so he planned to look for reference materials in the academy library.

Of course, this research was also partly for show. He couldn't just skip the accumulation of knowledge and conjure a divine ability out of thin air. He had to study first; that would make things seem more reasonable and keep people from suspecting that he was Anonymous.

Moreover, Lu Mingyuan didn't plan to make this divine ability too heaven-defying. A tree that stood out in the forest would be battered by the wind, so he figured it only needed to be a little better than average.

Naturally, it couldn't be too poor, either. Ideally, he'd make back what he spent.

Some might ask: weren't all those classics and reference materials already available on the Heavenly Dao Virtual Network? Why go to the academy library?

They were!

The Heavenly Dao Virtual Network had them!

But the classics section on the Heavenly Dao Virtual Network charged at least one Qi Luck Point per book, and Lu Mingyuan planned to consult quite a few—possibly dozens or even hundreds. The costs would add up.

It wasn't that he begrudged spending those few hundred Qi Luck Points. It was just that, in other people's eyes, he hadn't created a divine ability yet. He shouldn't be wasting Qi Luck Points.

Besides, Lu Mingyuan didn't need to read every reference book from cover to cover. He only needed to browse through them, so there was no need to buy them outright.

Buying them would be like carrying a library around with him, and he'd be able to consult the materials anytime, anywhere.

But as he'd said, according to common sense, Lu Mingyuan should be very poor right now and should be focusing more on creating divine abilities. There was no need for him to do all that.

Of course, if Lu Mingyuan made money from this second divine ability, then the first thing he'd do would be to buy every reference book he could, fulfilling his dream of carrying a library around with him.

That way, nobody else would have anything to say. Plenty of people did the same thing, after all.

So for now, he'd make do with the academy's free version.

What could he do? He was broke!

In other people's eyes, Lu Mingyuan had a little over two thousand Human Luck Points and a thousand Earth Luck Points, for a total of just over three thousand. Spending several hundred just to save himself a trip really wasn't like him, and most people wouldn't do it either.

There was no need for him to be different.

After breakfast, Lu Mingyuan was about to lock the door and head to the academy. Just then, a familiar figure came jogging slowly down Guihua Lane.

"Jing Zhi? What brings you here?"

"Mingyuan, you haven't left yet—that's wonderful. Come with me to the restaurant."

Seeing that Lu Mingyuan hadn't left, Jing Zhi smiled in relief. Then she came forward, grabbed his hand, and pulled him outside.

"Wait!"

Seeing the girl in front of him panting, Lu Mingyuan called out, his heart aching a little.

Jing Zhi stopped and looked back at Lu Mingyuan in confusion, as if asking what he needed.

Lu Mingyuan didn't say anything. He stepped forward and walked right up to her.

The two of them stood face-to-face, very close—only about ten centimeters apart.

They could hear each other breathing clearly and seemed to feel each other's warm breath. They could even hear each other's hearts pounding fiercely.

Lu Mingyuan's sudden closeness made Jing Zhi uneasy. She didn't back away, but her pretty face turned bright red in an instant.

She couldn't tell whether it was from running or some other reason.

At the same time, Jing Zhi's mind began to race.

Why had Mingyuan suddenly come so close?

Did he want to... or...

For some reason, Jing Zhi suddenly didn't dare look at Lu Mingyuan. Her eyes darted to the side, as if there were some captivating scenery there.

It seemed her heart was in a turmoil.

Lu Mingyuan, on the other hand, wasn't thinking so much. Once he was close, he simply raised the sleeve of his right hand and wiped the sweat from Jing Zhi's forehead and cheeks. "Look at you, you're drenched in sweat. Why were you running so fast?"

Feeling Lu Mingyuan's gentle touch, seeing the warmth in his eyes and hearing his concerned words, Jing Zhi's racing heart settled down. She lifted her head slightly and gazed steadily at the young man before her.

No, she should call him a man now.

Suddenly, Jing Zhi smiled for no apparent reason.

Lu Mingyuan didn't understand why. He hurriedly called to her, "What are you looking at? Let's go!"

"Oh! Right!"

Only then did Jing Zhi come back to herself. She took a small step forward, and the two of them walked side by side, hand in hand.

"Mingyuan, didn't you tell me to come notify you if something important happened?"

"Did something happen at the restaurant?"

Lu Mingyuan quickly asked.

If something had happened to the restaurant, that would be a serious matter. Jing Zhi's whole family depended on it to make a living.

"No! No! Something happened with the storyteller. Well, not exactly—our Human Race won a great victory at the border yesterday, and the storyteller is talking about it right now. Let's hurry over."

"A great victory at the border? That happens all the time. Don't rush; take it easy."

Lu Mingyuan knew that the Human Race and the Demon Race were locked in a standoff at the border. The tide of battle shifted back and forth: if one side won today, the other might win tomorrow. So one great victory wasn't anything unusual.

"It's different this time. Apparently, none of our people died. It was a complete victory. I heard we wiped out dozens of the enemy's battle formations. Lots of people are listening at the restaurant right now. Let's hurry, or we won't be able to squeeze in."

"None of our people died? And we wiped out dozens of their battle formations? That can't be right, can it?"

It wasn't unusual for nobody to die.

As far as Lu Mingyuan knew, the border armies arranged every ten thousand soldiers into a battle formation. Then, under the direction of a master strategist, they used divine abilities to form a giant thirty to forty meters tall, which fought the Demon Race in single combat.

Of course, the Demon Race did the same. They used divine abilities to form giant beasts and attack.

The reason was that forming a giant greatly increased their combat strength.

A giant formed from ten thousand people could easily cut through a hundred thousand enemies, even several hundred thousand.

Moreover, once they formed a giant, it was difficult to inflict casualties unless one of its parts was completely pulverized.

In other words, if the giant wasn't badly injured, then after they returned and dispelled the military formation divine ability, all ten thousand soldiers might still be alive. Some might have been injured, but that was all.

The Demon Race's giant beasts worked the same way.

So both the Human Race and the Demon Race formed giants and giant beasts to fight.

And it was entirely possible for them to battle back and forth without suffering a single casualty.

After all, if they couldn't win, they could flee. There was no need to fight to the death.

Everyone valued their lives.

But this time, the Human Race had achieved a complete victory and wiped out the enemy entirely?

And not just one or two formations, but dozens—that meant they had killed hundreds of thousands of demons?

That was truly inconceivable.

Could they have been fighting three against one, or four against one?

No, the Human and Demon Races had comparable strength at the border. A situation like that shouldn't have happened.

Then why?

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Lu Mingyuan's steps quickened of their own accord.

He was genuinely curious about the reason for this great victory. And, as expected, the storyteller would probably explain it.