Wei Yangwang was momentarily speechless.

Wen Yuesheng’s training method was completely different from that of a typical army.

In a normal army, where would you find so many dart throwers?

However, when he saw the entire battlefield in chaos, especially the previously fierce Yulin Army, their bows and arrows seemed clumsier compared to the flying darts used by the Guard Army.

Without preparation, many soldiers were knocked out.

In a short time, both the Yulin Army and the Imperial Guard had lost hundreds of men, while the Front Palace Army and the city garrison, though suffering fewer losses, still lost many soldiers.

Reports kept coming from the high platform.

Wei Yangwang sat back in his chair and, seeing this, relaxed a bit, remaining calm.

It wasn’t just their Front Palace Army being attacked, so he felt a little relieved.

“I hadn’t expected that, besides traditional weapons, flying darts and hidden weapons could play such a significant role on the battlefield.”

“Indeed, and such hidden weapons are difficult to defend against. I noticed that after the Imperial Guard entered the forest, they had been trying to locate the positions of each army, especially keeping a lookout for the Guard Army. But their appearance still caught the Imperial Guard off guard.”

However, someone disagreed and said in a low voice, “Hidden weapons are a side skill. They may work once, but once the soldiers realize what’s happening, defending against the dart attack won’t be difficult.”

That was true.

And indeed, the soldiers who had been under attack by the darts gradually figured it out.

They first spread out their formations to avoid the darts falling on large groups of people. Then, led by the Imperial Guard, each army began to defend against the darts.

After one round of the dart barrage, the attack weakened quickly.

“There is another drawback to these hidden weapons,” Duke Zhongyong said after a pause. “That is, the number of hidden weapons the soldiers carry is limited. Once they run out, they cannot be reused.”

He was right.

By the end of this wave of attacks, the Guard Army had exhausted their darts.

“If the dart throwers no longer have darts, it’s like the Yulin Army without their bows and arrows. At this close range, those Guard soldiers will probably be knocked out soon.”

The situation took a sharp turn.

The dart attack stopped abruptly, and while the Yulin Army and Imperial Guard had suffered casualties, they still held the advantage due to their larger numbers.

Among them, the Yulin Army, which was skilled in forest warfare, still had the most soldiers left.

After roughly counting those who had been eliminated, it was found that nearly two thousand Yulin soldiers remained.

After such a long drill, to have this many left was already a great advantage.

Once they adjusted their formation, their momentum was even stronger.

The Guard Army’s surprise attack had caused the Yulin Army to suffer its largest loss since entering the forest.

After regrouping, the Yulin Army planned to join forces with the Imperial Guard, which had also been severely weakened, to wipe out the remaining few hundred Guard soldiers.

But unexpectedly, due to their first collaboration, the Yulin Army began to hesitate and lost credibility with the Imperial Guard.

Now, the Imperial Guard was unwilling to work together again.

Instead, they reformed their ranks and prepared to retreat.

Seeing this, the Yulin Army was unwilling to let such a formidable foe escape. Unable to form an alliance, they ripped their alliance apart and faced off against each other again.

At the same time, the Front Palace Army, which had the fewest remaining soldiers and was in the worst situation, launched an offensive.

With no retreat left, this was their only chance to survive. If they kept defending, they would truly be waiting for death.

Thus, the Front Palace Army threw everything into the fight, aiming to wipe out the Guard soldiers who had run out of darts.

Wei Yangwang glanced at the battlefield and then asked Wen Yuesheng, “Sining, do your soldiers have any more surprises?”

He was genuinely worried after the hooks and darts.

His question caught the attention of many people, all looking at Wen Yuesheng.

Wen Yuesheng replied calmly, “No.”

Wei Yangwang sighed in relief. If that’s the case, the Guard Army, without darts, shouldn’t be a match for the Front Palace Army.

Before he could be too relieved, Wen Yuesheng spoke again, her tone calm and steady: “On the battlefield, what matters is life and death. What other tricks could there be?”

Wei Yangwang: ?

Before he could understand her words, he looked up and saw the Guard soldiers who had been leaping from the roofs and walls, each pulling out a large blade.

Wei Yangwang: …

No tricks, so they’re just going to fight to the death, huh?

His expression was suddenly quite intense.

The hundreds of Guard soldiers under Wen Yuesheng suddenly drew their blades, shocking everyone in the forest, including the officials on the platform.

Lord Zhongyong was dumbfounded: “Aren’t they only supposed to throw darts?”

Wen Yuesheng brushed her sleeve. “Today, the ones entering the forest are the Blade Troops from the Northern Barracks.”

She had selected a few hundred of the best sword fighters from the Northern Barracks. Since taking control of the military there, these soldiers had been continuously trained.

And today, this was the first time the Blade Troops had appeared on the battlefield.

“What about the darts?” someone asked.

Wen Yue Sheng replied, “They are just small activities used to train accuracy.”

Everyone: …

What a way to train accuracy!

The Yulin Army commander, sitting high up, turned pale.

What had been a small activity wiped out nearly a thousand men, and now everyone thought she posed no threat… and then her people pulled out blades!

But that wasn’t the most shocking part.

The most shocking thing was that after drawing their blades, these Guard soldiers exuded an unstoppable aura!

Earlier, because they had thrown so many darts, most of the armies had ordered their soldiers to spread out.

Once they spread out, the Guard soldiers, each holding a large sword, began hacking away indiscriminately.

In just moments, countless soldiers were knocked out.

“Report! 123 soldiers from the Front Palace Army are out!”

“Report! 65 soldiers from the Imperial Guard are out!”

“Report! 173 soldiers from the Yulin Army are out!”

…

Wherever the sharp blades went, the opposing armies seemed to fall apart, as though they were ripe melons being split open by the sword.

In terms of martial skills, all three elite armies had many highly skilled warriors.

But when it came to solo combat, the soldiers of the Guard Army’s Blade Troops might not have been able to defeat them.

However, the soldiers under Wen Yue Sheng were truly well-trained.

They didn’t care about anything; they were focused solely on killing or, rather, on winning.

The scattered black-clad soldiers, each like a sharpened blade, moved through the battlefield with an almost bloodthirsty focus.

They weren’t afraid of pain or hardship, their only goal being to kill the enemy.

With such intense momentum, and in the right situation, they cut through the battlefield with abandon.

This crazy scene left all the officials at the top stunned.

There had been military drills for years, but drills weren’t real battles. This was the first time they had seen such simple and direct combat, with no frills, purely focused on killing the enemy.

The soldiers under Wen Yue Sheng seemed to have been born for one thing: to kill.

Upon entering the battlefield, they seemed unstoppable, treating the crowd as if it were empty space. For the Guard Army, anyone not clad in black became a target.

They pursued enemies across the entire field, slashing indiscriminately.

This relentless ferocity sent shivers through every other army present.

Even knowing this was just a training exercise and the weapons were dulled, the other soldiers couldn’t help but feel that every swing of the Guard army’s massive blades was aimed to take their heads.

Intimidated by the sheer force of their momentum, the other troops fell back repeatedly. The Imperial Vanguard, stationed at the forefront, was the first to suffer significant losses at the hands of the Guard Corps.

Of course, such a wild fighting style did come at a cost. The Guard Corps also sustained losses.

But compared to their casualties, the way they fought—head-on, with no tactics, relying solely on relentless kills to achieve victory—was even more shocking.

Despite their madness in combat, the soldiers themselves remained disciplined.

During the slaughter, they regrouped, merging their forces and welcoming black-clad soldiers who shed their disguises to join in.

In no time, the thousand soldiers who entered the field reunited, minimizing their own losses and amplifying their offensive power.

They transitioned from passive defense to proactive assault.

Amid the chaos, many noticed a familiar figure among the fierce warriors on the ground.

It was none other than Captain Li Qingyuan, who had previously accompanied Wen Yuesheng.

Just over half a month ago, during the martial tournament, Li Qingyuan had been severely injured by a strike from Lord Zhongqin.

Yet here he was, back on the field despite his wounds.

And he was entirely transformed.

Gone was the hesitant and timid captain of old.

This time, it seemed as though his injury had unshackled him.

With his right arm still heavily injured and reserved for steering his horse, Li Qingyuan unlocked the potential of his left arm.

Wielding a long blade, he cut through the chaos, carving a path of blood and bringing several of his men with him.

They managed to capture an officer from the Imperial Vanguard and even the commander leading the Capital Garrison troops.

Raising his arm, Li Qingyuan shouted, “Guard Army!”

“Kill—!”

His voice echoed across the training grounds.

The first forest exercise ended in a manner no one could have foreseen.

Of the thousand soldiers Wen Yuesheng deployed, over 800 remained standing at the end.

Their kill count was several times their number.

Meanwhile, the once-favored Yulin Army and Imperial Guards fought valiantly in the later stages, clashing fiercely with the Guard Army.

But ultimately, they lacked the sheer madness of the Guard Army.

In this world, nothing intimidates like those who abandon all regard for their own lives.

By the end, the other armies, battling on multiple fronts and enduring the unrelenting assault of the Guard Corps, were in full retreat.

The Yulin Army was left with just over 500 soldiers, and the Imperial Guards retained close to 700.

The remaining two factions had numbers so low they were barely worth mentioning.

The officers quickly tallied the final results. Even though they had braced themselves, hearing the staggering figures left many visibly shaken.

Countless gazes turned toward Wen Yuesheng, their emotions complex.

Prince Jingkang’s expression grew dark and brooding.

With such a dominant display and so many kills, it was impossible for the emperor not to harbor suspicions toward Wen Yuesheng.

But fate had other plans.

News from Haozhou had arrived, forcing the emperor to set aside his doubts about Wen Yuesheng, at least for now.

And with the Guard army’s stunning performance today…

“The sixth tri-army exercise, first round, forest combat: victory goes to the Guards Army!”

The military drums thundered, and the cheers of the Guard Corps reverberated across the grounds.

Within the court, silence reigned.

Prince Jingkang lowered his eyes.

The Guard army, once unable to break into the top three and regarded as the weakest force in the capital, had transformed completely under Wen Yuesheng’s command.

From the underdog of the northern training grounds, they achieved an overwhelming victory in their first round, defeating larger forces with fewer soldiers.

The court officials finally recovered and began congratulating Wen Yuesheng one after another.

Even Duke of Zhongyong couldn’t help but exclaim, “Today’s performance by the Guard Army was unstoppable! With soldiers like these under the command of the Lady Commandant, they will one day surely conquer Haozhou’s lands!”

This was the dream of every soldier in Dahui.

After the forest exercise, the reputation of the northern training grounds spread throughout the capital.

With the Haozhou threat looming, nothing was more exhilarating than witnessing the rise of a force capable of standing against the tri-army.

The morale boost even eclipsed the dark news that had arrived from Haozhou just days prior, reigniting hope in many hearts.

However, in the subsequent rounds, the Guard Corps did not claim victory in every match.

Their most elite unit, the Blade Battalion personally trained by Wen Yuesheng, stood out.

But the other three divisions of the Guard Corps, which had only recently come under her command, lagged behind.

During the second round, a valley exercise, and the third round, a field combat exercise, the disparity became evident.

In the valley, with only 2,000 troops, the northern training grounds’ Guard Army managed to secure second place, narrowly beating the Capital Garrison for third.

But in the field exercise, which involved 4,500 troops, their performance dropped significantly.

Despite their numbers, they barely outperformed the Yulin Army, which had deliberately withdrawn most of its forces, fielding just over 500 soldiers.

The result was far from impressive.

Yet, many understood the reasons behind this disparity.

The three other divisions of the Guard Corps had spent little time under Wen Yuesheng’s leadership and still bore the remnants of their former command under Marquis Wuan.

Prince Wei Yangwang aptly summed it up:

“It’s as though there are two completely different armies.”

Even so, Wen Yuesheng’s prowess and the transformation she brought to the Guard Corps had left an indelible mark on everyone present.