This competition method was also the fastest, given their limited time and the fact that they still needed to train—there was absolutely no time to waste.

When Rong Yunfei learned about the competition Gu Qingwan organized, he wanted to bring the kids he’d been training to give it a shot.

So, he brought it up to Gu Qingwan, and Meng Xingzhou also expressed his interest in participating. Naturally, Gu Qingwan didn’t stop them—after all, it was indeed a great opportunity for experience.

Meng Xingzhou and Rong Yunfei brought ten older kids to participate in the competition.

The venue was an open field, and nearly everyone who had signed up for the militia came to watch.

After all, the winners would become their future team leaders.

Even if only temporarily, people still wanted to see if these team leaders were truly capable.

This also concerned who they would be following in the future. Gu Qingwan had said that once teams were formed, members could choose their own team leader freely—but once chosen, there would be no switching later.

To ensure fairness, Zhao Zhuo served as the judge.

The competition rules were strict: no fatal injuries, no weapons allowed, clasping one’s head with both hands was a sign of surrender, and those who surrendered or withdrew were not allowed to continue fighting.

Once Zhao Zhuo explained the rules, he struck a bronze gong.

As the gong echoed out, the thousands of people in the white ring began to push and jostle each other. Those standing at the edge were quickly squeezed out.

Once out of the circle, they were considered eliminated, and no re-entry was allowed.

Government soldiers from the prefecture office patrolled the perimeter to watch for rule-breaking. If anyone was caught cheating, they could be immediately removed.

In just the time it takes to burn one stick of incense, nearly a thousand people were eliminated.

Zhao Zhuo couldn’t help but praise Gu Qingwan’s clever method.

Zhao Jing’er had also come along today.

Ever since she discovered Gu Qingwan was a woman, she felt deeply humiliated, as though she’d been tricked.

To make things worse, her father now viewed Gu Qingwan with special admiration—and now she had even been granted the title of County Princess.

Naturally, Zhao Jing’er was unwilling to accept this.

As for Jin Qianqian, who had dared to laugh at her, she definitely wouldn’t let them off easily.

Privately conscripting and training soldiers—Zhao Jing’er wanted to see how many heads Gu Qingwan had to spare.

While her own father was also involved, he belonged to the War King’s faction.

The War King would never allow something to happen to him.

But this newly appointed County Princess was a different story entirely.

Zhao Zhuo probably never imagined that his own daughter would betray him like this.

While he was busy managing the event, his daughter was secretly spreading the news that they were privately recruiting soldiers in Suzhou.

Though the truth would come out eventually, they had hoped to delay it as long as possible.

Gu Qingwan did notice the unfriendly glare from Zhao Jing’er, but she was far too busy now to waste her time with a pampered noble lady.

Jin Qianqian had originally wanted to join the militia too, but her body was too frail.

On the battlefield, she wouldn’t even know how to kill someone.

So, Gu Qingwan didn’t let her participate.

But Jin Zhengyang did join.

The boy had practiced martial arts since childhood—not exactly a master, but far better than most others.

What surprised Gu Qingwan was that the Jin family even allowed him to join, considering he was their only son, just like Zhou Jiabao—both were heavily pampered.

After about a stick of incense’s time, only half of the participants remained in the circle. Jin Zhengyang, like a young bull, had pushed back wave after wave of people trying to get close.

Meng Xingzhou had improved his martial arts significantly and was guaranteed to make it to the end. Despite only having one arm, Rong Yunfei was undoubtedly the most skilled fighter among them all.

The ten kids Meng Xingzhou brought ranged from thirteen to fifteen years old. Though young, they had already shown great potential—especially compared to the untrained participants.

Aside from Meng Xingzhou’s group, many people from Dahe Village also joined the competition.

Two of the Yang family’s sons came, along with Dawang, Erwang, the village chief’s second son Lu Dahe, Zhang Kui, Li Ping’an, Liu Yong, and several others Gu Qingwan wasn’t too familiar with.

By the end, only Zhang Kui and Yang Chenggao remained in the circle.

The eliminated boys cheered from the sidelines, hoping Zhang Kui and Yang Chenggao would hold on until the end and bring honor to Dahe Village.

As the competition went on, the fights became more intense.

Since it was a free-for-all, people took every chance they could to eliminate others.

Meng Xingzhou and Rong Yunfei obviously wouldn’t attack their own team, which gave them a huge advantage in the final stages.

Other groups also started working together, figuring that as long as they lasted until the end, it didn’t matter how.

After half an hour, Zhao Zhuo struck the gong again.

At that point, only one hundred people were left in the ring.

All of them looked ragged—after a brutal round of fighting, many had bruised faces. Only Rong Yunfei and Meng Xingzhou were relatively unscathed.

Zhang Kui and Yang Chenggao had helped each other and surprisingly made it to the end. When they saw Gu Qingwan watching them, they waved in her direction.

Gu Qingwan nodded in acknowledgment, signaling that she’d seen them.

After the competition ended, the remaining one hundred were registered and followed Gu Qingwan. That very day, she would begin training them on how to use repeating crossbows and begin the team leader selection process.

Among the hundred, there was only one woman—a butcher’s daughter named Wu Daniu. She was tall and strong, sturdier than most men, so it was no surprise she made it to the end.

Gu Qingwan brought them back to Dahe Village for intensive training.

Time was tight and the tasks were heavy, so she had to make the most of every moment.

After distributing the repeating crossbows, Gu Qingwan explained how to use them. Her requirement was that they become precise and proficient—only then could they teach others.

They had to master not just the crossbows, but also the mounted crossbow carts.

In addition, Gu Qingwan equipped them with knives.

She had collected thousands of weapons in her storage space from various places—though not enough for everyone, it was enough to make do for now.

“Ha! I hit it—I actually hit it!”

“Oh my god, am I really that good at archery?”

“County Princess, this crossbow is amazing!”

The group, trying out their new weapons, quickly grew excited.

Following Gu Qingwan’s instructions, they found themselves hitting their targets easily.

Since there were no bullseyes set up, she had them practice by shooting at trees in the nearby forest.

Thanks to the scopes on the crossbows, even someone with no experience could hit a target as long as they weren’t totally clueless.

“If you hit your target—congratulations. That means you’ve reached the level of an average person,” Gu Qingwan said.

Instantly, their excitement faded. So… those who missed—were they below average?

“These crossbows aren’t like traditional bows. They have sights,” she continued. “So, as long as you align the sight, the arrowhead, and your target in a straight line, you should be able to hit it almost every time. Steady hands and quick firing are key. Practice until you can hit your target without even aiming—that’s when you’ll really be good.”