Fifth Youlin, standing at the forefront of his team with his sword, was astonished to discover that the leader of the opposing beast army was the same peculiar Flame Tiger he had encountered before.

When they first met, this tiger had bowed its head and then turned and ran away.

To his surprise, this same creature was now the leader of the beast tribe?

Fifth Youlin suddenly felt that the beast tribe wasn’t so terrifying after all.

This time, the Flame Tiger didn’t seem as spineless as before.

Its enormous body stood at the front of the army, flames rolling over it, looking quite imposing.

With the sound of the war horn blaring, the battle began.

Having just been promoted, Qin Ruqing wanted to make an impression on her new subordinates.

She immediately charged forward.

Fifth Youlin blocked her.

As they faced off, Qin Ruqing cast an envious glance at Fifth Youlin, thinking to herself, “You’re lucky, not having to worry about choosing a side. As a human general, you just charge forward and win the war. Unlike me, I still don’t know what to do.”

Fifth Youlin noticed this glance and felt a subtle stiffening in his sword hand.

Here it was again, this strange feeling.

Why did this beastly tiger always look at him so oddly?

Qin Ruqing keenly noticed the stiffness and opened her mouth full of sharp teeth, firing a cannon shot.

The cannon’s power was immense, scorching the ground black in its path.

If Fifth Youlin didn’t dodge, it could have blown off half his body on the spot.

Lin the Fifth’s eyes narrowed as he sensed the hidden danger in what seemed like a casual attack from the tiger.

If he had such a technique, why had he fled in haste before?

Fifth Youlin’s fingers moved swiftly.

As the cannonball reached him, a circular magic seal glowing with green light appeared, with intricate patterns.

The cannonball hit the seal, causing violent ripples before sinking into it, completely absorbed by the seal.

With this attack neutralized, Fifth Youlin’s gaze towards Qin Ruqing turned cold.

Ah, getting angry.

Qin Ruqing wanted to smile, but unfortunately, her tiger face couldn’t manage such a sophisticated expression.

She had to channel her smile into fighting energy.

In a general’s duel, the soldiers below, having not received any orders to advance, lined up on the sides, all eyes fixed on the duel between the leaders.

The outcome of such a duel would directly affect the morale of both sides.

Seeing the Flame Tiger take the initiative with such a majestic demeanor, clearly eager to erase the previous disgrace of surrender, Fifth Youlin became serious and engaged in the fight.

Qin Ruqing observed that the Fifth Youlin was getting more focused as the battle went on.

With her tiger eyes flashing, she deliberately moved closer to the human soldiers.

Fifth Youlin, thinking she was just adjusting her position, didn’t suspect anything.

When the timing seemed right, Qin Ruqing pretended to prepare a powerful attack, gathering a violent red energy in her mouth.

Fifth Youlin, perceiving the threat, began to prepare his own special move in response.

Qin Ruqing’s fierce red tiger form released the energy in a loud explosive burst.

Fifth Youlin, fully on guard, was momentarily stunned.

The energy ball, which looked very threatening, seemed to transform into a barrier rather than attacking him.

It then dawned on Fifth Youlin that he had unknowingly moved away from the human army.

The barrier had effectively separated him from the army, while the beast tiger was now closer to the human soldiers than he was!

When he realized he’d been tricked, he could see the tiger’s mocking expression, as if it had intentionally used this moment to taunt him.

Qin Ruqing wasn’t genuinely malicious, but if a bit of psychological warfare could delay the enemy’s advance, she didn’t mind using it.

It was just a quick glance.

After giving the taunting look, Qin Ruqing turned her round tiger head and shouted in beast language to the beast soldiers behind her, “Let’s attack—!”

After dealing with the Fifth familu for so long, Qin Ruqing felt she had a basic understanding of Fifth Youlin.

He had a noble and imposing appearance, but in person, she found him much more straightforward and benevolent than the Fifth Lingyu.

Fifth Youlin, as a young leader of the Fifth family, was genuinely trained to govern the human realm.

He had a kind and compassionate heart, treating others very kindly, which might also be due to the Fifth family’s cultivation practices.

In contrast, Fifth Lingyu seemed more like an anomaly.

In the Source Rules realm, although the initial setup was difficult, Qin Ruqing realized she did have an advantage—she recognized Fifth Youlin, but he didn’t recognize her.

She was now a slick and polished big tiger!

Who would have thought it was Qin Ruqing?

It would be such a waste not to use this to trick Youlin.

So, from the beginning of the war, she made it look like the general was going to face off alone.

There had indeed been precedents in previous wars where a duel between generals determined the outcome or was used to set the tone for the battle. Generally, soldiers were not allowed to interfere in such situations.

When she first came forward, she put on a one-on-one posture, and naturally, Youlin was fooled after a few rounds of combat.

But Fifth Youlin was a gentleman, while Qin Ruqing was not!

Did I say I’d fight you 1v1?!

Qin Ruqing feigned an attack but intentionally set up a barrier.

This barrier effectively delayed Fifth Youlin for quite some time.

Combined with the overwhelming attack speed of the army Qin Ruqing led, it quickly became apparent that the human side was losing momentum.

By the time Fifth Youlin broke through the barrier and arrived, the outcome was already decided.

He had no choice but to order a retreat to preserve the remaining forces.

Back at the human army’s base, Fifth Youlin leaned on the desk with one hand, his expression clearly displeased.

Anyone would be unhappy after being tricked and defeated.

However, Fifth Youlin was more concerned about… that red demon tiger.

He felt something was off… Could that lively, mocking gaze really be something a beast could display?

Of course, Fifth Youlin wasn’t questioning the intelligence of beasts.

It was just that beasts usually looked at humans with hostile eyes. Although this tiger demon had a bad reputation, it seemed to hold little animosity towards him…

Fifth Youlin fell into deep thought.

Footsteps approached from outside the tent.

A soldier reporting the damage came in, and Fifth Youlin had him explain.

The young general reported with an odd expression that although they had lost the battle, there were surprisingly few casualties, almost as if the beasts had deliberately held back.

After hearing this, Fifth Youlin remained silent for a long time before waving the young general away.

If he had doubts before, the report on the damage gave him about ninety percent certainty.

Fifth Youlin revisited the list of candidates and rankings from the primordial rule cave in his mind.

The list of choices under the primordial orthodoxy included only himself and Qin Ruqing.

Given that he had joined the human camp first, Fifth Youlin had naturally assumed that Qin Ruqing had joined the human side as well.

But now, looking at the requirements of the primordial rule cave—“lead your faction to ultimate victory”—

This “faction” seemed a bit ambiguous.

Was it possible that those entering the primordial rule cave could join either the human side or the beast side?

If so, the red demon tiger who had bowed and then tricked him was actually Qin Ruqing?

At the beast tribe’s base, Qin Ruqing was listening to her soldiers boast about their victory.

It was quite something for a newly appointed general to score a surprise victory, until a leopard-shaped beast asked her:

“Commander, why didn’t we kill those human soldiers? Wouldn’t that have better weakened their fighting strength?”

Qin Ruqing swallowed the dried meat offered by her subordinates without changing her expression and replied, “Because this battle emphasized speed—blitzkrieg! With our beast tribe’s formidable physique, it’s easy to knock the humans away and injure them, but if it were a life-and-death struggle, they’d inevitably fight back with all their might, which would lower our efficiency…

This battle was meant to create momentum and weaken the two-legged beasts’ morale. Next time, we’ll let them see some real blood!”

Afterward, Qin Ruqing stood up and gave the beast soldiers a motivational speech, stirring their blood.

Seeing them excitedly roaring, Qin Ruqing smiled and subtly glanced in a certain direction, thinking that Fifth Youlin should have figured out her identity by now…

It would be hard to use this trick on him again in the future!

Qin Ruqing withdrew her gaze and looked at the adoring Lion-Tiger-Leopard army.

For a few moments, she truly felt like she was one of them.

Whenever this thought occurred, Qin Ruqing quickly reminded herself that she was human.

Although these beasts were friendly to her, they were not so to humans.

This time, although she led the victory in a small-scale battle, it didn’t change the overall situation or harm many humans, so she felt safe in her actions.

But what about next time?

How should she choose to lead her faction to ultimate victory in the war…?