Jiang Zhaoyue took a deep breath and retied her messy ponytail. Her voice carried a hint of unwilling laughter: "Lord Lin, that last move of yours... was too underhanded."

Lin Feng glanced at her: "On the battlefield, there is no such thing as being underhanded, only winning or losing."

Su Yurou clutched her bone healing staff and drifted over, saying softly: "Lord Lin, those last few spear strikes were too fast; my Spell Deflection couldn't keep up at all."

Her voice held a trace of disappointment, but mostly resignation: "All three layers of my shield were shattered. I did my best."

Lin Feng looked at her, his tone plain but earnest: "Your shield is already very thick. Next time, you can position yourself closer to the flank; support will be faster, and the shield is tough enough, so don't be afraid."

Su Yurou pursed her lips, lowered her head to glance at the Wind Whisper Gold Bracelet on her wrist, and nodded gently: "Mm, I'll remember that."

The four of them slowly landed in the open space in front of the Council Hall.

Lin Feng walked in the lead, his golden armor shimmering with a restrained luster in the sunlight.

Jiang Zhaoyue stopped on the steps, a hint of anticipation in her eyes: "Lord Lin, we will go back and properly summarize today's sparring. Can we have another match tomorrow?"

Jiang Yelan softly added: "The Lord's resistance to negative status effects is too high. That's exactly why he could withstand a level 40 Rare Boss before. If it were Zhaoyue or me, as long as we take one control effect and get attacked while vulnerable, we would basically lose a third of our health."

Lin Feng gave a hum and smiled happily.

He silently complained to himself: Of course it's high! My negative status resistance is already at 80%. If I activate the Mountain-Suppressing Might of the Golden Scale Mountain-Suppressing Armor, I can add another 20%, hitting 100% resistance directly. I'm basically a world-class boss.

After laughing, he nodded, pushed the door open to enter the Council Hall, and threw back a single word: "Sure."

Over the next few days, Lin Feng's life was regular and fulfilling.

During the day, he handled territory affairs, reviewing documents sent from all over, allocating supplies, arranging personnel, and planning training. Every single item required his review and signature.

In the afternoon, he would inspect the city walls, watching the soldiers change guard, checking the maintenance of the catapults and ballistae, and observing the rotation of the Archers on the arrow towers.

Occasionally, he would spot-check the training results of the Night Whisper Legion and the New Moon Legion. Jiang Yelan and Jiang Zhaoyue would take turns reporting, and every time Tie Dun saw him, he would puff out his chest and boast about how many attacks he had blocked.

By evening, it was time for sparring.

At first, it was just Lin Feng sparring with the four of them: Jiang Zhaoyue, Jiang Yelan, and Su Yurou.

Later, Zhao Hu volunteered, Tie Dun clamored to join, Feng Qingyan said she wanted to provide long-range bombardment, and Su Yuehua said she could provide shields and healing from the back.

As a result, the sparring team grew larger and larger, eventually turning into Lin Feng alone against all the Third Rank combatants in the territory.

Zhao Hu and Tie Dun stood at the front, shields side-by-side, hard-tanking Lin Feng's frontal assaults.

Jiang Zhaoyue and Jiang Yelan attacked from the left and right, with silver spears and shadow blades striking alternately.

Su Yuehua and Su Yurou stood in the rear, the two healers taking turns casting Healing Spell and shields, while Feng Qingyan bombarded from the back with Flame Burst.

The seven people cooperated for a few days, becoming increasingly tacit in their coordination, and the pace of their attacks grew faster and faster.

At first, Lin Feng would even fly into the air, using the mobility provided by his high agility to thrash them.

Later, feeling that it was an unfair victory, he simply landed back on the ground and fought them while standing in place.

Even so, the seven of them fought very strenuously. Tie Dun's troll bone shield was covered in white dots left by spear tips, Feng Qingyan's shield had been shattered several times, and Su Yuehua and Su Yurou's mana was being depleted rapidly.

Yet their progress was visible to the naked eye. Zhao Hu's blocking timing was becoming more accurate, and Tie Dun's shield could block attacks from more angles.

Jiang Zhaoyue's Silver Moon spear was faster, and Feng Qingyan's Flame Burst could already predict Lin Feng's evasion route.

During this evening's sparring, Lin Feng felt the pressure.

His health bar dropped repeatedly under the siege of the seven, falling from full health to sixty percent.

Feng Qingyan shouted excitedly: "Keep going, keep going! Haha, Lord Lin can't take it anymore! A little more effort and we can knock him down!"

Lin Feng curled the corner of his lips and activated the Golden Set: Armor Unification.

Golden light erupted from his entire body. A layer of dazzling golden radiance shimmered on the plates of his Golden Scale Mountain-Suppressing Armor, causing his total defense to soar to 628 points, plus an additional 30% reduction in ranged damage.

Feng Qingyan slammed a Flame Burst into his chest, detonating a ball of orange-red fire, the heatwave spreading in all directions.

A white number popped up above Lin Feng's head — "-0".

Feng Qingyan froze for a second. The Fire Crystal on her staff flickered, and her voice went out of tune: "No more fighting, no more fighting! The Lord is cheating! How is this even possible to fight? My fireball hits him and doesn't even leave a mark."

She retracted her staff, the halo of her shield dimming slightly, and plopped down onto a stone nearby, pouting.

Lin Feng laughed heartily and sheathed his spear. Zhao Hu retracted his shield and shook his head, a hint of helpless laughter at the corner of his lips.

Tie Dun leaned on his shield, panting heavily, sweat streaming down his cheeks from his forehead, but he grinned: "Lord, this set of golden equipment of yours is just too overpowered."

After the sparring ended, Lin Feng told everyone to disperse, adding a reminder: "Continue tomorrow."

The seven dispersed. Tie Dun carried his shield toward the barracks, muttering, "628 defense... when will I ever have that?"

Feng Qingyan pulled Su Yurou away to eat, Jiang Zhaoyue walked toward the city tower alone, and Jiang Yelan disappeared silently into the shadows.

In the blink of an eye, the morning arrived when the new batch of Great Qin Elite Soldiers was about to finish training.

Just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Lin Feng stood outside the south gate of Hangu Pass.

Morning mist flowed slowly over the Golden Ear Plain, shrouding the distant city walls and arrow towers in a hazy veil.

Meng Yi stood before him, leading a Great-Horned Deer, his halberd resting on his shoulder. Bai Yi through Bai Liu lined up behind him, halberds planted on the ground, their gazes steady.

Lin Feng instructed: "Tonight, the new batch of over ten thousand Great Qin Elite Soldiers will finish training. You all set off today and strive to bring the army back by tomorrow morning. Right here outside this south gate, the twenty thousand Great Qin Elite Soldiers will assemble in formation."

Meng Yi pressed his right fist to his chest, his voice steady: "Understood."

He vaulted onto the Great-Horned Deer, his halberd pointing obliquely toward the sky, with Bai Yi through Bai Liu following closely behind.

Seven figures disappeared into the morning mist, the sound of the Great-Horned Deer's hooves gradually fading away.

Lin Feng watched the direction of their departure for a moment of silence, then kicked off the ground, his body soaring into the air as he flew toward the Council Hall.

The morning breeze blew from the north, causing his robes to snap loudly.

Twenty thousand Great Qin Elite Soldiers, assembling outside the south gate of Hangu Pass tomorrow morning. Orcs, it's almost time.