Before receiving the odd prompt in her mind, Qin Ruoqing had felt no psychological pressure in surrendering.

Though she appeared as a tiger, she was still human at heart.

She couldn’t truly help the beast race fight against humanity—such a betrayal of her own race was beyond her!

When the strange prompt appeared in her mind, her first reaction was: No way!

If the leader’s faction wins the war, it meant she’d have to help the beast race defeat humanity.

But she was human!

How was she supposed to choose?

If it weren’t for the red fur concealing her face, her changing expressions of confusion and distress would have been evident.

Fifth Youlin was still observing this unusual Flame Tiger.

Despite its formidable bloodline and reputation for fierceness on the battlefield, this was the first time he had seen a Flame Tiger voluntarily surrender with such skilled and human-like gestures.

It was truly a sight to behold.

With a flick of his wrist, Fifth Youlin adjusted his sword and resumed his cold expression.

Regardless of this Flame Tiger’s true intentions, it had harmed the nearby human soldiers and could not be let off easily.

Since it had surrendered, he would capture it and take it back as a prisoner.

Just as Fifth Youlin was about to act, the previously submissive Flame Tiger suddenly sprang up, its beastly eyes fixed on him.

Fifth Youlin’s heart tightened, thinking, Could it be a feigned surrender, a ploy for a sneak attack?

Growing wary, Fifth Youlin prepared for a potential attack, but the Flame Tiger merely stared at him for a moment before turning and quickly fleeing.

Fifth Youlin: …

Qin Ruoqing dashed away on all fours.

The challenge of the Sourceborn path was as vexing as the previous Sin City in the Four Hells.

Before she figured out her next move, the best course was to make a timely escape.

Running with her head down, Qin Ruoqing, unfamiliar with the battlefield layout, ended up at the forefront, right in the battle area of the Flame Tiger’s elder brother.

As expected, the commanding Flame Tiger was formidable, sweeping aside a row of soldiers with a single lash of its thick tail.

The elder brother Tiger turned, asking in a deep voice, “Why are you here? Is the situation in the rear not going well?”

Qin Ruoqing’s paws momentarily froze in her escape, and she quickly thought of a plausible excuse. “The battle is going smoothly; I came to help you, Big Brother!”

With that, she fiercely launched a fire chain from her beastly mouth, which snaked through the crowd like a dragon, entangling a row of soldiers and slamming them to the ground.

Following this method, Qin Ruoqing stacked the human soldiers in a heap.

The elder brother Tiger, seeing the scorched skin of the soldiers and hearing their pained cries, looked at Qin Ruoqing with satisfaction. “Your fire abilities have improved. But this fire chain—why haven’t I seen it before?”

Qin Ruoqing gave a dry laugh. “Ah, it’s a technique I recently developed.”

The elder brother Tiger nodded in approval and asked, “Why not kill them?”

Qin Ruqing: “Killing them is too laborious and wastes demonic energy. It’s more efficient to simply incapacitate them.”

Her brother, the Tiger, saw that the group of stacked humans were immobile, their outer skin charred as if they had already been roasted to a crisp, and he didn’t doubt her words.

Qin Ruqing sighed with relief.

Fortunately, she had previously mastered the Fire Elemental rules, becoming a master in controlling flames.

The human soldiers looked heavily injured, but in reality, their outer skin was only slightly burned.

With some cooling medicine applied, they would recover in ten days.

Qin Ruqing began to fake fighting behind her brother.

The small-scale battle finally reached its end.

The blazing Fire Tiger displayed astounding combat power, and with the human side led by Lin and the Fifth, their coordination was excellent, leading to a stalemate.

The battle could have continued, but a spatial storm suddenly erupted on the battlefield, forcing both sides to cease fighting.

The Lion-Tiger-Leopard combat squad returned to their base.

As Qin Ruqing chewed on the dried meat Spot (Leopard) had given her, Spot pointed to his own rear and said, “Ah, Mei Hu, you’re injured!”

Qin Ruqing nodded, “It’s just a minor injury.” In reality, she had inflicted it on herself with her claws, and it was quite deep.

Spot asked, “Why didn’t I see you on the battlefield earlier?”

Qin Ruqing replied, “I charged to the front lines and fought alongside my brother.”

As if to corroborate Qin Ruqing’s words, the Fire Tiger brother came personally to praise her and even wanted to groom her as a reward.

Of course, Qin Ruqing declined.

The Tiger brother sighed, “Mei Hu, you’ve grown up.”

Qin Ruqing’s tiger face twitched as she nodded solemnly.

Once the team rested and Qin Ruqing pretended to rest by placing her paws together, she began to ponder the voice that had resonated in her mind earlier.

Leading her faction to ultimate victory in the war—a seemingly simple phrase, but with many important hidden conditions.

First, “leading”? What does leading mean?

With her current rank as a beast soldier, she definitely doesn’t qualify as a leader.

This implies she has a hidden promotion task.

Second, “faction” implies her connection to the beast tribe is inescapable.

At the beginning, Qin Ruqing had considered finding a way to leave this combat squad, but now it seems impossible.

Finally, “ultimate victory” means she must lead the beast tribe to win the war.

After analyzing it all, Qin Ruqing couldn’t help but sigh: It’s tough!

To an outsider, it looked like a red tiger was making strange noises with its mouth full of sharp teeth.

It seems that anything related to the primordial inheritance always involves some inhumane, anti-human dilemmas.

It was the same in the Sin City before, where the choices presented were impossible to make.

In this situation, if she completely followed the illusion’s requirements, would she not be betraying her own race?

If she doesn’t follow the rules, will she even be able to clear the level of the Source Rules?

Without clearing the level, she won’t be able to meet the requirements for obtaining the Azure Lotus Legacy.

The big tiger rolled over, feeling annoyed.

This battle is far from over.

Even the previous fight with Qin Ruqing’s involvement was just a slightly bigger clash.

After thinking for a day, Qin Ruqing decided to focus on the first key task: getting out of the role of a small beast soldier and moving up the career ladder.

Qin Ruqing’s tiger eyes focused on a huge flame-striped tiger nearby.

First, she needs to replace her elder brother’s position.

No, she needs to take over the position of the beautiful tiger’s elder brother.

So Qin Ruqing began officially working in the beast army.

Putting aside human prejudices, she discovered that beasts were not like what human cultivation books or stories described.

In their family’s language, beasts are rarely called “beasts” but are referred to as “monsters” or “demon beasts.”

But once Qin Ruqing joined the beast army, she found that they strongly identify with being beasts and do not acknowledge the term “monster.”

Beasts are a highly intelligent race with strong bodies, long lifespans, their own hierarchy, and culture.

Beasts of the same race seem to have an inherent bond, being very close and trusting, with their ranks defined by strength and bloodline.

Strength is straightforward and often unquestionable.

If there’s any doubt, a fight will quickly clarify it. This clear hierarchy leads to fewer internal conflicts within the beast army.

Weaker individuals or those with lower bloodlines rarely dare to challenge the stronger ones.

The more Qin Ruqing learned about the beast race, the more afraid she became.

It’s not about diminishing her own strengths, but in battle, she had to admit that the current average strength of the beasts is actually greater than that of humans.

Although beasts might not outnumber human soldiers, their strong physiques often allow them to take on multiple opponents.

From her observations within the beast army, Qin Ruqing concluded:

From the perspective of top combat power, humans and beasts are probably equal.

The top combatants usually determine the outcome of a war.

If there were a significant difference, the beasts would have already broken through into the human realm.

However, in terms of mid-level combat power, beasts should be stronger than humans.

Because of their racial advantages, even without cultivation, beasts are naturally stronger.

When both sides are equally cultivated, the beast’s physical strength and bloodline still hold an advantage.

It is only at higher levels, where physical strength and bloodline benefits are limited, that human intelligence and combat skills become more evident.

As for lower levels… there are no lower levels in the Illusionary Soul Battlefield.

In the human realm, the too weak are not sent to the Illusionary Soul.

On the beast side, the too weak stay in the beast realm.

Realizing that the beast tribe had a greater advantage and that she had a better chance of completing her task, Qin Ruqing couldn’t help but feel heavy-hearted.

She felt that what she was experiencing was not entirely virtual and was likely based on reality.

This was the Phantom Soul Battlefield, and the human soldiers she fought against had ancient attire and language.

It was reasonable to deduce that she might be personally participating in a battle that had actually taken place in ancient times.

If that was the case, then the beast tribe’s strength must have been superior to the human race’s in ancient times.

Considering the current situation in the human world, it was clear that the human greats at the time had driven the invading beast tribe back, or else the human race would have been in chaos long ago, and there would be no peace and prosperity afterwards.

In a situation where the enemy was strong and they were weak, how did the human race achieve victory?

Despite the heavy burden on her mind, Qin Ruqing steadily carried out her promotion plan—gradually showcasing her strength, skillfully coasting through the battlefield, and even leading Spot to secure a victory in a small-scale skirmish.

The results were excellent.

Now, as Qin Ruqing walked through the Lion-Tiger-Leopard squad, she could stride with an air of arrogance.

The big cats, however, did not find anything unusual.

Powerful beasts should indeed hold their heads high, and they lined up to offer Qin Ruqing dried meat.

Different flavors and qualities, but all delicious.

Qin Ruqing secretly thought about when she might seize the position.

To her surprise, the opportunity came quickly, but it wasn’t one she created herself.

Instead, her superior, the Fire Tiger brother, requested a transfer.

The reason was less than pleasant. It turned out that the Fire Tiger’s mother, a general in a larger squad, had been injured on the battlefield and had fallen due to lack of timely treatment.

The Fire Tiger brother was deeply saddened, his red fur dulling.

However, in the battlefield, sorrow couldn’t spread, and once he composed himself, he told Qin Ruqing that he would go to his mother’s army.

Qin Ruqing asked why, and the Fire Tiger brother said, “The mother’s Beast Core was taken by the vile two-legged beast general. Mother wanted to return to the Beast Realm, and I need to retrieve her Beast Core and bring her home!”

Qin Ruqing’s whole body trembled.

The Fire Tiger brother thought she was grieving, and he nudged Qin Ruqing with his massive tiger head, saying, “I’ve seen your performance during this time, Mei Hu. You’ve grown up and can handle things on your own now. I’ve requested a transfer from the general. After I leave, you will become the leader of this team!”

Achieving the promotion goal was good, but it couldn’t outweigh Qin Ruqing’s shock.

The Fire Tiger brother had just spoken a Beast Language phrase that she found very familiar.

She kept thinking she had heard it before and had even remembered it.

It wasn’t until her mind translated the phrase “going home” that Qin Ruqing matched it with the familiar Beast Language phrase she remembered—identical!

Back in Sin City, the hungry ghosts in the city often muttered this phrase, and later, when the defensive mechanism of the Ancient City Temple was triggered, the Beast Emperor’s vengeful spirit also shouted this phrase.

Qin Ruqing had once thought this might be the key to saving the Sin City residents but couldn’t understand it due to her lack of knowledge of Beast Language.

Now, as a real beast, she finally understood that the phrase meant “going home”!

Could it be that the resentment of the beast tribe trapped in Sin City, causing the residents to be caught in eternal reincarnation, was rooted in their inability to return home?

Qin Ruqing’s heart was greatly shaken, but regardless, she smoothly ascended to her new position.

The Lion-Tiger-Leopard squad was completely won over by her tiger charm, and they cheered and supported Qin Ruqing as their new leader.

Soon after the new leader took office, a new round of battles quickly began.

The two armies faced off, and the newly promoted Qin Ruqing was up against the human general, Fifth Youlin…!