The outer edge of the desert was surrounded by warships, and countless surveillance cameras floated in the sky, just as the rules stated—this league would be live-streamed in its entirety.
Students disembarked from the spaceship one after another. Soldiers ahead were handing out small AI devices shaped like wristwatches. A final announcement rang out from the broadcast system: “If you wish to withdraw, press the emergency distress button immediately. There is no upper limit on the death rate during the competition. Life only comes once—proceed within your limits.”
In the distance stretched an endless desert. Everyone put on the equipment they had purchased in advance and applied expensive heat-resistant coatings, preparing themselves for departure.
A single gunshot signaled the official start of the competition.
The senior students had participated before. With wilderness training under their belts and stronger survival skills, they immediately headed toward the center of the desert.
Su Cha’s team also set out. The wrist AI contained a detailed desert map, so getting lost was not a concern.
Despite being coated head-to-toe in heat-resistant material, the scorching temperature made each breath feel like fire searing their lungs. If not for their spiritual energy protecting their bodies, they wouldn’t even survive—let alone fight off strange beasts.
The military had previously surveyed the desert and set up supply points. According to their plan, Su Cha’s team would first find a base and prepare for nightfall.
Su Cha noticed that Ji Tianjin’s brows were furrowed and asked, “Something wrong?”
Ji Tianjin said thoughtfully, “The senior students are all going straight to hunt strange beasts.”
At first glance, it made sense—experienced students with field training naturally took the initiative. But when all of them chose that same approach, it was worth reconsidering.
“It’s not right,” Di Yuansi added. “People have different fighting styles—it doesn’t make sense that they’d all use the same strategy.”
Unfortunately, the specific reason was unclear, so they could only continue with their original plan.
Ji Tianjin and Liu Xiqin took the front and rear of the group, respectively. With their spiritual energy boosting the team, they moved swiftly through the desert. After over an hour, they were nearing the inner desert region.
In that time, they had already used up over 20 units of nutrient solution—an amount normally consumed over a full day.
Rong Shao gave a bitter laugh: “So that’s the trick behind the limited rations.”
Their stamina and spiritual energy were draining fast in the desert—especially the latter. The nutrient solutions provided very limited replenishment.
No wonder the seniors had rushed off to earn points—they likely wanted to go all in while still in peak condition. Some new teams had started to catch on and also chose to go straight into combat.
The team continued trekking. Before long, that familiar sense of hunger struck again.
The cameras in the sky precisely captured the contestants’ expressions. The livestream across the Starnet continued, and the commentator joked: “Now’s the time for a Power Pill—eat one and wipe out the enemy.”
The comment section flooded with “Hahahaha.”
Ling Shang Kai Hua: [Not gonna lie, even though the freshman zone isn’t super exciting, I’ve been following the ‘Here He Comes’ team the whole time.]
Are You Asleep Yet?: [Same. I just want to see Su Cha starve. Don’t ask me why—his ads even show up in my dreams.]
Sha Qiufeng: [Uh-oh. They found a supply station.]
…
Luck was on their side—Su Cha’s team discovered a small cabin.
But luck was also not on their side—just as they finished splitting the nutrient supplies and water, another team showed up. And they were all seniors.
Zone E was only a recommended area for freshmen—not off-limits to seniors. Su Cha muttered, “It’s a live broadcast—everyone has a reputation to maintain. They wouldn’t bully freshmen and act like kings of Zone E, right?”
Just as he finished speaking, a loud voice from the other team said: “Robbery.”
“Hand over all your supplies. And give us 60 more nutrient units.”
Su Cha: “…”
Among the ten schools, someone had to be at the bottom—and some teams would always choose to play dirty.
Ji Tianjin said calmly, “Fine. But once you take the supplies, you leave immediately.”
“Relax, we’re reasonable…”
But they didn’t finish their sentence. Ji Tianjin released his spiritual form—accompanied by a roar, a white tiger lunged at the opposing team leader. Liu Xiqin also attacked another opponent without hesitation.
Su Cha immediately retreated to a safe corner, synchronizing with Rong Shao.
Rong Shao said, “It’s not our time to shine just yet.”
Su Cha nodded rapidly like a pecking chick.
Although the opponents were senior students, their strength was average—otherwise, they wouldn’t have come to the freshmen’s zone to bully others. Their team had far more competition spots than the freshmen and didn’t need to go through preliminaries, so the overall quality varied greatly.
Ji Tianjin believed the fight was winnable, but it had to be quick. Before awakening, drawn-out battles held no advantage.
“Finish it fast.”
Liu Xiqin and the others nodded.
The opposing team obviously felt insulted. Everyone tacitly moved the battleground outside the supply hut. Ji Tianjin locked the opposing captain’s wrist and threw him out. As the captain scrambled up in embarrassment, he set his sights on Su Cha and Rong Shao at the rear.
Su Cha said, “Outrageous. He actually wants to threaten the emperor to control the vassals.”
Rong Shao replied, “Very outrageous indeed.”
Then he threw two homemade flash bombs, forcing the opponents to retreat in panic.
Su Cha pondered aloud, “If you mixed a bit of my poison mist into those, they’d be even better.”
Rong Shao paused, then grew interested.
While they were chatting, the roles between attacker and defender had reversed. Ji Tianjin and Liu Xiqin went full offense, Di Yuanxi launched sneak attacks, and the Wu siblings, when coordinated, doubled their combat effectiveness. In no time, the enemy’s momentum had completely crumbled.
Ji Tianjin said coldly, “One hundred and twenty nutrient vials.”
Even if they didn’t agree, they’d be looted. Cursing under their breath, the team obediently handed over the nutrient vials.
Dusting themselves off, they retreated in shame. One team member wiped sweat from his forehead and muttered, “This is too humiliating.”
To have lost to freshmen.
“Well, let’s make it even more humiliating,” said the team captain, unwilling to let it go. “Spread word that we were robbed. Let everyone know they’ve got plenty of supplies.”
The supply station was built from special materials, making the indoor temperature slightly lower.
Fighting in the desert consumed even more energy than elsewhere. After downing another nutrient vial, Rong Shao suggested, “While we’re still in good shape, why not go hunt some strange beasts?”
Everyone had brought high-concentration nutrient vials this time, which provided pure energy, but even that wasn’t enough. Despite just acquiring over a hundred more, it was barely a drop in the bucket for the week-long event.
Su Cha said, “I brought seeds and super-enhanced fertilizer.”
Everyone turned to look at him.
Rong Shao asked, “You’re not thinking of farming in the desert, are you?”
He tried to detect a hint of sarcasm on Su Cha’s face, but all he saw was complete seriousness.
Ji Tianjin simply said, “Then let’s farm.”
The rest turned to stare as well. Rong Shao looked up and asked, “Bro, are you serious?”
While he questioned his life choices, Ji Tianjin had already started planning, “We’ll split into teams.”
Su Cha nodded.
One dared to propose it, the other dared to believe it. Viewers watching the livestream were dumbfounded.
The commentator chuckled: “Well, something interesting is happening—Team ‘He’s Here’ is preparing to grow crops in the desert. What can I say? Brave souls indeed.”
“I’d say they’re boldly innovative,” the other commentator added with a clear tone of mockery.
The livestream comment feed exploded, with viewers commenting that while these freshmen looked strong, they clearly weren’t all there mentally.
The commentator suddenly shifted tone: “Zhou Zhiyuan’s team has just entered Zone A!”
…
Still lingering in Zone E, the team found a temporary base. Ji Tianjin marked the location on the smart device and, following the same arrangement from the preliminaries, set off with Rong Shao and Liu Xiqin to hunt strange beasts.
Su Cha got to work immediately, planting seeds in the sand.
Wu Zhi said faintly, “Wouldn’t this just scorch everything?”
Su Cha replied, “I’m shielding them with spiritual energy.”
When he pulled out the fertilizer, he suddenly beamed at the sky camera: “Jialejia Fertilizer—the best fertilizer you can use, even in the desert!”
The watching manufacturer was nearly moved to tears. No matter what others said, Su Cha was their perfect spokesperson!
Di Yuanxi suddenly headed off to the side. Wu Zhi stopped talking, and a white dove silently flew in that direction. Even though its movements were already subtle, it was still detected. A golden scorpion hidden in the sand suddenly leapt out—it was over five meters long, and its hooked tail sprayed venom.
The white dove dodged skillfully, but its tail feathers were grazed. The detector indicated toxins, but Wu Zhi ignored it and continued commanding the attack.
Wu Shui skimmed low across the sand, slashing under the scorpion’s belly with a dagger. Di Yuanxi seized the moment, transforming his spiritual power into wind blades and cleanly decapitating the golden scorpion.
“You okay?” he asked Wu Zhi.
Wu Zhi shook his head. The toxin made him dizzy, but he could manage. He headed back inside for water and turned his head—Su Cha’s seeds had already grown to a foot tall.
Nothing grows that fast, not even with growth hormones!
Wu Zhi swallowed hard. “Chives?”
Su Cha nodded. “Cut one batch, it grows back again.”
Farming in the desert—this went beyond science. Wu Zhi opened his mouth, barely squeezing out, “Don’t tell me…”
“That’s right,” Su Cha held up the fertilizer again to the sky, “Jialejia Fertilizer—great fertilizer everyone deserves.”
Livestream replays weren’t available. Since Su Cha had been crouched the whole time, no one saw exactly how the plants grew.
The audience’s reactions matched Wu Zhi’s—mouths agape in disbelief. Within just five minutes, the manufacturer’s phone lines blew up, including calls from officials asking whether their fertilizer really had such effects.
The manufacturer repeatedly stressed it was just ordinary fertilizer—then turned and saw the chives on screen had grown another few centimeters. Su Cha was still pitching to the sky.
“D*mn it, stop with the false advertising!”
They wished they could jump into the screen and pay Su Cha to shut up.
It all looked easy, but Su Cha was actually cautiously using spiritual energy to stimulate the seeds. He was nervous too. The desert was extremely dry, and the sand might contain toxic substances from long-term infestation by poisonous creatures. His demon power couldn’t fully purify the soil.
The crop had grown fast, but he wasn’t confident in the result.
The chives didn’t smell like chives at all—they had a strange fragrance. Nearby black vipers slithered out of their dens and began converging in this direction. The number was alarming; even Su Cha could feel the movement beneath the surface.
He quickly sealed off the scent with spiritual energy. Deprived of their target, the vipers scattered like headless flies.
Wu Shui whispered as she approached, “Feels like you’ve grown something serious.”
Di Yuanxi fetched a stone, split it, hollowed it out, and started a fire. Once hot, Su Cha cut some chives and placed them on the stone to grill.
His expression was complicated. “I don’t think this is right.”
While infusing the plant with spiritual energy, he had sensed a volatile energy inside.
When the chives were done, Su Cha took the first bite.
Di Yuanxi tried to stop him, but Su Cha had already eaten it.
Five seconds later, he swallowed.
Di Yuanxi asked, “Well?”
At that moment, everyone—him and all the viewers—eagerly awaited the outcome.
Su Cha stayed silent for five seconds. After his demon energy filtered the plant’s energy, he turned to uproot the chives.
Di Yuanxi stopped him—not out of logic, but because watching the plants get ripped out felt like a crime.
“Was it poisonous?” he asked.
Su Cha shook his head. “No, but it has side effects.”
He had neutralized them with demon power, but couldn’t tell what they were. It felt like eating ten energy pills at once.
For the others, that was all they needed to hear. Di Yuanxi said what everyone was thinking: “As long as it’s edible.”
Su Cha waved his hands frantically, “We can’t just feed people something problematic!”
Di Yuanxi replied seriously, “At this point, don’t be so picky.”
The Wu siblings were already gathered around the stone. Normal food wasn’t enough for them anymore—their energy burned too fast. But they could sense that these chives were packed with power.
Oddly, the detector showed a floral aroma. Wu Shui took a bite.
After chewing and swallowing, the smile slowly faded from her face.
“I don’t know why, but I feel kind of aggressive.”
I really want to punch someone!
Wu Zhi said, “…Sis, you look buffer.”
Wu Shui followed his gaze and saw her bulging biceps. She went silent.
Su Cha quietly turned to uproot the chives.
“Wait,” Wu Shui said. “This power is manageable.”
She walked forward, stomped the ground, and lured out a thick black viper. After just a few exchanges, Wu Shui grabbed the massive snake with one hand, twirled it a few times in the air, and flung it hard into the sand.
In the swirling yellow dust, Wu Shui shouted boldly: “Ten more!”
Wu Zhi was stunned. The livestream audience was also stunned.
The fertilizer company’s phones rang off the hook again.
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