At the same time.

Beside a flowerbed in the dormitory building of the Alliance First Military Academy participants, under layers of climbing vines, the light and shadows danced as Wei Xiaoxiong, Wu Jingyue, and Li Jiu stood facing each other.

Wei Xiaoxiong said, "I’ve confirmed it, Ji You is not to be feared." In that brief moment of close contact, without a hint of expression, Wei Xiaoxiong had already carefully probed Ji You’s spiritual power.

At that time, her spiritual power activity was very low, appearing lethargic. It seemed she wanted to achieve a good result, forcibly holding on, which caused the detection to take an extremely long time and overburdened her spiritual power. Even with treatment, it couldn’t completely recover immediately.

So, her state was no different from what Wei Xiaoxiong had imagined. Unless one’s spiritual power is so powerful that it creates a chasm-like difference with the masses, it’s very difficult to fake it. And, to discern a person’s authenticity, don’t listen to what they say or watch what they do; instead, probe the state of their spiritual power.

Because of this characteristic of spiritual power, some polygraph devices used by the interstellar police during investigations are developed based on it.

Ji You, with a level of 2B, even if her spiritual power threshold and Spiritual Silk Cleaning Rate are higher than his, Wei Xiaoxiong doesn’t believe her spiritual power is worlds apart from his. This is not arrogance on Wei Xiaoxiong’s part, but confidence as a prodigy.

Therefore, her state of spiritual power cannot deceive anyone.

"Indeed, not to be feared." Wu Jingyue and Li Jiu, upon hearing this, felt relieved in their hearts, but when they thought of one matter, their expressions turned sour.

Wu Jingyue said, "So to speak, there’s still no news of her."

She—

naturally referred to the Rag Queen.

Thinking of this matter, Wei Xiaoxiong also felt frustrated in his heart. The Rag Queen was an unstable factor, a time bomb. Without rooting her out and preparing the strongest defenses—

Otherwise, the Alliance First Military Academy’s chances of winning would be uncertain.

Wei Xiaoxiong said, "Send a few classmates to keep an eye on the detection station. As soon as there’s a suspicious person, inform us immediately."

Wu Jingyue said, "I’ve already arranged it. But—"

His voice hesitated a little; Li Jiu next to him spoke directly, "But once we enter the participant dormitory, it’s impossible to step out again."

"We can’t leave again until the competition is over." Wu Jingyue hesitated and said, "Our communication numbers might also be temporarily blocked, so..."

"Xiaoxiong, should we enter the participant area later?" Li Jiu looked at the tall, imposing gate of the participant area, asked a question, then continued, "The rule is that before we step inside, we can discuss and strategize in any way, but once we cross that threshold, it’s not allowed."

Wei Xiaoxiong thought for a moment and said, "Have you contacted the other people from our school?"

"Yes." Wu Jingyue nodded and said, "Aside from Shen Sheng, everyone else is quite cooperative."

"Why is she so unsociable?" Li Jiu complained, but thinking of Shen Sheng’s power, slightly pursed his lips, and said somewhat helplessly, "As long as she doesn’t drag us down, we might not need her."

The three skipped over Shen Sheng, and Wei Xiaoxiong said, "It’s already very late, and we can’t delay too much. We must leave enough rest time to prepare for tomorrow’s match. We enter in another 20 minutes."

Wu Jingyue, Li Jiu: "Okay."

Time silently passed by, but the three waiting by the flowerbed never received accurate information from the classmates guarding the detection station.

Li Jiu couldn’t help but say, "Xiaoxiong, is it possible the Rag Queen didn’t participate this year?"

Hmm?

Wei Xiaoxiong frowned slightly, "That shouldn’t be possible."

Li Jiu said, "What I’m suggesting is maybe. Since we haven’t found her, it’s very likely she hasn’t appeared. If there’s an issue, like a physical anomaly, family matters, or simply not wanting to compete... these are all very possible."

Admittedly, Li Jiu’s idea was a bit overly simplistic; Wei Xiaoxiong shook his head and said, "No way, she’s definitely among these 10,000 people."

Wu Jingyue also said, "I believe she will be here."

Here? 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

But where is she? What’s her real name? Which school is she from?

...

Everything was unknown.

Wei Xiaoxiong and Wu Jingyue didn’t explicitly say it, but there seemed to be a huge mountain pressing on their hearts.

The Rag Queen hid so deeply, how unfathomably strong could she have become? And her presence, what unpredictable changes would it bring to the competition?

As long as she didn’t show up, the mountain on Wei Xiaoxiong and Wu Jingyue’s heart wouldn’t be lifted.

Checking the time, Wu Jingyue changed the topic and said, "Xiaoxiong, we’re not in the same region. What do you think is the most likely format for tomorrow’s competition?"

Wei Xiaoxiong said in a deep voice, "Internal duels within regions."

Wu Jingyue and Li Jiu listened.

Wei Xiaoxiong said, "So, you must do your utmost to stand out from your small region."

Among 1,000 people, standing out is both easy and difficult.

If you’re strong enough, it’s quite easy.

If slightly less so, you’ll have to overcome numerous challenges.

Thinking of this, Wei Xiaoxiong gave a subtle glance at Li Jiu. Among the 10 people competing for the Alliance First Military Academy, Li Jiu was considered the weakest.

Dangerous.

However, Wei Xiaoxiong didn’t point it out. Li Jiu, though slightly weaker, was adept at reading situations, compensating for his shortcomings.

Whoosh~

A slight breeze blew past, rustling the climbing vines on the wall, and bringing a chill to Wei Xiaoxiong and the others. Wei Xiaoxiong said coolly, "Even though I speculate that the first competition format might be internal duels within regions, we cannot exclude the possibility of inter-region duels."

Upon saying this, Wu Jingyue and Li Jiu were slightly startled.

Wei Xiaoxiong said, "Inter-region duels would increase the difficulty several times over."

Upon hearing this, the two frowned.

"In my heart, I certainly hope the format is internal duels, but!" Wei Xiaoxiong said, "there’s no need to be overconfident. We must prepare for the worst, the most challenging situations, such as a format that is unfavorable to everyone."

"And, for example, if opponents hid their true strengths," Wei Xiaoxiong remarked while observing the swaying climbing vines.

Upon hearing this, Wu Jingyue and Li Jiu were startled.

Li Jiu opened his mouth, "This—how could it be possible?"

Didn’t you say the testing equipment is advanced and can’t be faked?

In any case, Li Jiu’s test results reflected his true strength, and no deception, however minute, was possible.

How... could anyone hide?

"Don’t forget, there are still people who haven’t been tested, and some data didn’t show potential value..." Wei Xiaoxiong said nonchalantly, "I’ve said it, prepare for the worst. Our goal is foolproof, at least to get the school six entry tickets."