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"So we still can't let our guard down." Xue Zhongqi sighed, rubbing his temples under immense pressure.

Xu Jintang's attention remained on the video. She raised her hand and tapped the screen to replay the video, which finally froze on the scene of Qiu Zhuyu shooting with two guns.

"Her bullet seems to be different from ordinary bullets?"

Yan Yuting and the others turned their heads and stared at the bullets in the video.

A moment later, Xue Zhongqi noticed something amiss. "These bullets are specially made; if I'm not mistaken, they should be made of a rare Living Spirit Alloy called 'Life-Generating Alloy'."

Xu Jintang was a little surprised, "How could you tell it's Living Spirit Alloy?"

Xue Zhongqi pointed to the surface of the bullet and continued, "The bullet is dark gold in color. Only a material like the Living Spirit Alloy can achieve this color. The Living Spirit Alloy is very hard, so if it's used to make bullets, the attack damage will be even higher."

Xu Jintang stroked his chin. "I see."

Xue Zhongqi continued, "Furthermore, the Living Spirit Alloy is too hard; only the mental energy threads of an Inscription Master can cut it. Making bullets like Qiu Zhuyu would require considerable effort and cost."

Xu Jintang understood and said nothing more.

After the meeting, Xu Jintang returned to his room and began searching online for information about Living Spirit Alloy.

This stuff is quite expensive; it costs 5,000 Star Coins per gram.

However, its effect is indeed very strong. In terms of hardness, it is five times higher than ordinary refined iron. Simply put, a weapon made of the Living Spirit Alloy can easily penetrate refined iron.

Xu Jintang fell into deep thought.

At this moment, the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx started chirping again. "My life is so miserable. I didn't do anything, and I inexplicably became a human's contracted beast. And this human is clearly rich, but he won't spend 100,000 to buy me a deluxe pet space."

As he spoke, he kept glancing at Xu Jintang's expression out of the corner of his eye.

I thought these words would make Xu Jintang realize something.

She paused for a moment, then suddenly looked up and said, "Then I'll buy five grams to try."

Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx: "?"

He couldn't help but lean closer and ask, "What are you buying?"

"Living Spirit Alloy," Xu Jintang replied.

After saying that, she looked down, tapped the communicator's screen, logged into the "Have You Earned Money?" shopping website, selected five grams of Living Spirit Alloy, and placed an order directly.

Another 20,000 five-star coins were spent.

Fortunately, the military academy provided ample funding, so the account wasn't about to run out.

After a while, Xu Jintang thought of something and placed another order for an arrow mold.

The neglected Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx: "..."

A few seconds later, he silently returned to his pet space, continuing to feel frustrated.

Not long after, "Have You Earned Money?" delivered the goods to your door using its delivery drones.

After confirming receipt, Xu Jintang opened the box, took out the Living Spirit Alloy, and examined it under the light for a moment.

The Living Spirit Alloy has a dark golden color throughout. When you tap its surface, it produces a crisp sound, which is completely different from the dull sound produced when you tap refined iron.

After observing, Xu Jintang took out the Yellow Sand Fire Cloud Brush and began cutting the Living Spirit Alloy according to the tutorial he found online.

The strands of spiritual energy traced a straight line along the tip of the pen, slowly falling onto the Living Spirit Alloy.

The silk threads, close to the Living Spirit Alloy, sliced it into two pieces as easily as cutting tofu.

Xu Jintang pursed his lips, focusing all his attention on the Living Spirit Alloy, and began to cut it again.

A few minutes later, the Living Spirit Alloy was cut into evenly sized pieces.

Next, as the tutorial explains, you need to use your mental power to refine and fuse the Living Spirit Alloy, and then recreate it into the weapon model you want.

Xu Jintang wanted to make some matching arrowheads for his ruby sleeve darts.

Now her hidden blades have tracking capabilities and fire-attribute attack effects. If you add the arrowheads made of Living Spirit Alloy, the damage effect can basically be maximized.

Xu Jintang raised his hands, and a massive amount of spiritual power surged from his body, enveloping one of the Living Spirit Alloy.

It took more than an hour before the stubborn Living Spirit Alloy began to melt.

The lumps slowly transformed into drops of dark golden liquid, which fell into the arrow mold that Xu Jintang had already placed below.

Night fell, growing heavier.

Xu Jintang's room, however, remained brightly lit.

It wasn't until dawn the next day that Xu Jintang rubbed his shoulders and removed all the solidified Living Spirit Alloy arrows from the mold.

The dark gold arrow gleamed in the sunlight.

Xu Jintang loaded all of them into the ruby sleeve darts, adjusted them to the firing position, raised his right arm, and locked his target on a mural on the opposite wall.

The arrow was fired swiftly, and upon touching the mural, it pierced through it effortlessly, as if penetrating a river. The thick wall was pierced in half, leaving a deep arrow crater.

A hint of surprise flashed in Xu Jintang's eyes. He stepped forward and bent down to examine the arrow crater, which was more than five centimeters deep.

The walls of this villa are reinforced, so the fact that the arrow could penetrate this deep is proof of just how incredibly sharp the arrow made of the Living Spirit Alloy was.

Xu Jintang smiled with satisfaction, pulled out the arrow, then turned around, picked up his communicator, and made a warranty call.

In the afternoon, the people in the villa woke up and came downstairs.

While yawning, Song Tianqi shouted, "I'm going crazy! I watched replays of other teams' battles all night yesterday!"

Yan Yuting, who was already sitting at the table eating, looked up and replied, "I also stayed up late watching the battle replays. The other teams all seem pretty strong. I wonder how far we can go without our special abilities."

Xue Zhongqi leaned back lazily on the sofa, fanning himself with a newly replaced folding fan. "I mean, if we really made it to the semi-finals, could we use a little bit of our unremarkable superpower?"

"We'll see," Xu Jintang replied, who happened to be coming downstairs.

Xu Jintang came to the dining table, picked up a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth. "I saw the notice from the competition organizers this morning. We're going to draw lots tonight to choose our opponents for the second round of the qualifying matches."

"Class monitor! I've been having good luck lately, so I suggest I try my luck in the second round of the draw?" Song Tianqi rubbed his hands together, his eyes full of anticipation.

Xu Jintang turned to look at him, but before she could speak, Xue Zhongqi shoved Song Tianqi away. "No, don't believe him. He's ruthless. What if he picks the strongest team from the top half of the bracket?"

Yan Yuting quickly nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes, let the class monitor draw the lot."

Xu Jintang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright."

In the afternoon, at the draw area for the Ability User Competition, all teams gathered again.

After the five members of the Mask Squad, who stole the show in the first match, appeared, they immediately became the focus of the entire arena.

Various probing and suspicious glances were cast upon him.

Xu Jintang led the team into the draw area, then stood aloofly with his arms crossed.

The members of the Silver Light Team next door were all sizing her up.

Everyone could see that the person standing in the very center was the core of the Mask Squad.

Huai Yangxia was also staring at her, his fighting spirit undisguised.

"All teams are present. We will now begin random matchmaking," the staff member announced.

All eyes turned to the large screen in front of them.

The names of each team flashed wildly on the screen, with the words "Mask Squad" appearing particularly frequently.

Three seconds later, everything stopped.

Xu Jintang raised his eyes, his gaze falling on the eighth line: [Mask Squad vs. Dragon-Slaying Team]

Yan Yuting muttered to himself, "Which team is the Dragon-Slaying Team?"

In the past few days, Teacher Wu has led them to preview information about many strong teams, but they had never heard of the Dragon-Slaying Team.

Xue Zhongqi, fanning himself, added, "Probably a small team that poses little threat."

Xu Jintang looked around but couldn't find anyone.

At this moment, Jiang Shiyi suddenly pointed in a direction, "It's probably that team."

Xu Jintang looked in the direction she was pointing.

Five people dressed in red team uniforms stood there looking nervous. The uniforms were printed with dragon patterns, which certainly lived up to the name of the Dragon-Slaying Team.

The captain, standing at the head of the group, looked uneasy, glancing at Xu Jintang's position every now and then before quickly looking away, like a mouse seeing a cat.

Seeing this, Xu Jintang nodded in confirmation, "Yes, it's probably them."

After drawing their opponents, Xu Jintang and his group of five turned around in unison with a cool demeanor and headed towards the exit of the draw area, leaving behind only a row of dashing figures.

The other teams around them exchanged silent glances, their fear of this Mask Squad growing even stronger.

Except for the first qualifying match, which is played immediately after the draw, all subsequent matches will be given a day to plan tactics after the opponents are drawn.

Back in the villa area, Song Tianqi quickly removed the ghost mask, "Phew, I was suffocating."

Actually, no one required the five of them to act aloof and mysterious, but once they put on the masks, they unconsciously adopted the persona, and that's how this cool persona came about.

Yan Yuting was also feeling stifled, so she quickly took off her mask, threw it into her bracelet space, and fanned herself with her hand.

"No, this Ruthless Killer persona must be maintained until the very end! Only then will it be worthy of our Mask Squad's title."

Xu Jintang removed his mask and led the way into the courtyard. "Everyone, take a break. We'll meet in the conference room later to discuss the Dragon-Slaying Team."

"Let's skip the rest and get straight to the point. Judging from the performance of those guys from the Dragon-Slaying Team today, they didn't seem like much of a threat." Xue Zhongqi waved his fan and followed them into the courtyard.

Jiang Shiyi added cautiously, "It's also possible that they deliberately faked it to trick us into underestimating them."

Finally, the five of them unanimously decided not to rest and to immediately start planning their tactics.

Xu Jintang nestled in his chair, his arms clasped together. "The Dragon-Slaying Team's opponent was the Silver Light Military Academy. From the battle replay, it's clear that the Dragon-Slaying Team was instantly wiped out, without any chance to fight back."