2 hours and 30 minutes later;
As the time reached noon, Shang Wen returned to the court with a piece of bad news that Shang Xiang, the Grand Prince is nowhere to be found.
Following the rules, Emperor Shang announced the disqualification of Shang Xiang and just ended the trial with Shang Wei as the winner. Everyone was dismissed and given a break for the rest of the day.
Shang Jun, Shang Wei, and Shang Zexi proceeded to the next trial, which is called the Trial of Strength.
This trial is quite straightforward.
They shall choose their teammates and fight Bai Xun in the arena in a 2v1 battle. The only condition is that the selected teammate must be someone who works for the military. Retired or active duty, it doesn't matter.
Shang Wei was leading in the previous trial. Hence, he got the opportunity to choose his teammate before the others.
Without any hesitation, he went for his brother. Shang Wen accepted it as he too was rooting for the third prince in his heart.
Shang Zexi cried fouled in his heart but he cannot do anything about it.
First of all, Shang Wei has the privilege.
Secondly, the relationship between him (crown prince) and the second prince isn't so great that the latter would work with him.
And then, Shang Jun surprised everyone by choosing General Hu, the one who was captured by Mark and released by Western Moon, as his teammate.
That leaves Shang Zexi with two generals and four vice generals to choose from the active-duty soldiers. The remaining ones are all in 5-circle or below realms despite their huge numbers.
As for the retired soldiers, they are either too old or suffering from a disability. No sane person would pick them for a battle.
As a result, Shang Zexi had to pick up General Yan, the one who commands the northern imperial army while staying in the imperial city.
They were given five days of preparations to increase their strength, improve teamwork, develop strategies, etc…
***
Meanwhile, in the Western Moon kingdom;
"Okay, that's it for today. We'll resume the training tomorrow with explosives," said Mark to the royal knights. There's Song Yue and Xie Mei in the group too. The former was gleaming in excitement while the latter looked very depressed. As for Song Yun, he just stayed on the side as if he doesn't exist.
Soon, the four of them started returning to the palace.
On the way, Song Yue was chattering nonstop about how she has improved so greatly during the past few days. On the other hand, Xie Mei stayed silent as she was following them.
For the past couple of weeks, Mark spent most of his time training the soldiers.
Originally, for the following week, he planned to tour all over the kingdom to choose the right spots for airstrips and runways.
But, as he was stuck with the newly formed firearms division, his plans were postponed a bit.
Not wanting to just stay as a trainer all the time, he included Song Yue in his training so that he gets valuable time to spend with her. Xie Mei also joined them with an excuse of mastering the sniping rifle. Of course, there's also an underlying motivation of impressing the guy she is determined to marry.
But, the reality struck her quite hard.
As a person who devoted to archery since she was a child, it is tough for her to handle the guns despite her superior eyesight.
As if that wasn't bad enough, Song Yue's superior talent in handling the gun frustrated her even more.
In her eyes, this woman, who Mark loves, is an individual who cannot do cooking, house chores, fight, or even has the potential to reach high cultivation realms.
All Song Yue had is the beauty and gracefulness of a noble lady.
While there were no ill feelings between Song Yue and Xie Mei, the latter believes herself superior to the former in every way except for age and driving the unique vehicle.
When she was badly defeated by Song Yue in the art of firearms, she was shocked but then told herself that it is not the difference in talent. She thought that it is the difference in experience.
While she was depressed about losing, she was determined to surpass her as fast as possible.
The only problem was that she knew Mark wouldn't cooperate to fulfill her ambitions.
Hence, she decided to opt for a different method.
Upon reaching the royal palace, she didn't talk much and returned to her room with an excuse of showering.
Mark and Song Yue didn't pay much attention to her as they were busy chatting about their wedding plans.
Song Yue was talking about consulting the fortune teller recommended by Princess Shen Ling but Mark was skeptical about such things.
He doesn't want to say no but doesn't want to listen to the fortune teller or his pieces of advice either. Hence, he decided to make a personal visit to the fortune teller before their official visit.
Time passed away and midnight arrived.
Mark sat on his bed and closed his eyes. He concentrated on establishing a connection with one of the ancient beasts on his private island.
Since the distance isn't that high, the two-way telepathic communication was set up easily.
"How is our new hostage doing? Any resistance?"
"Doesn't matter. Just don't kill him. That's all. Break his legs and heal them again and again if it is necessary."
"Is Shang Jiao going to break through very soon?"
"Oh, Yong volunteered to spar her for today? That's new."
"Okay, what about your progress?"
"You all need to make the breakthrough to 7-circle within the next five days even if you had to eat every spirit beast living in the ocean. It will be tough to keep three of them there if you couldn't do it."
"I know that the four of you could work together to cast a grand barrier over the island but still, you have to be careful. You cannot underestimate anyone with a strong bloodline like Blizzard Pegasus or Phoenix."
"Just a few months of wait; you all will find a new home that you like. Until then, please be patient."
"Okay, I need to sleep. I'm severing the connection."
Once he was done conversing with the leader of his four mythical beasts, Xuanwu, the Black tortoise, he lay down on the bed and took a nap for a couple of minutes before deciding to enter the factory.
