Lucia Lu glanced at Divine Lady Jenna, thinking to herself that she really was determined to butt heads with her to the end.
Someone else asked, "What happens if we fail? Will we get eliminated too?"
"No, no, no! Don’t worry!" His Majesty the Celestial Emperor waved his hand. "If you fail the task, you won’t be eliminated!"
Everyone patted their chests, instantly feeling the pressure melt away.
"But, if you fail three practical tasks in a row, I’ll have to assume you’re not cut out to command thousands of Divine Soldiers as a Divine General. You’ll have to leave!" His Majesty the Celestial Emperor added.
Then came another round of wailing...
...
Next up, teams and tasks were assigned by drawing lots.
Lucia Lu drew number five.
When His Majesty the Celestial Emperor called for number five to stand, Lucia Lu saw Snow Yuan stand up.
The two exchanged glances, neither looking very happy.
Then someone called out excitedly from behind her, "Cousin! Cousin! I’m in your group!"
Lucia Lu turned around and saw Jumin Jing.
Great... now she felt even less happy.
"Each group has four members. Who’s the last one?" His Majesty the Celestial Emperor asked.
Sean Shaw, sitting in front, stood up. "Me."
"Ah! It’s Fifth Highness." His Majesty the Celestial Emperor remarked. "Remember your teammates, everyone sit down! Number six, stand up."
"Your Majesty!" Jenna Summers had another complaint.
"Divine Lady Jenna, what do you want to say now?" His Majesty the Celestial Emperor asked.
"This isn’t fair!" Divine Lady Jenna said. "Fifth Highness and Jumin Jing are both High Gods! Their group has two High Gods, that’s totally unfair!"
"You probably weren’t listening carefully just now. All of you, whether you’re Divine-rank or High God-rank, will be downgraded to Immortal-rank. Got it?" said the Celestial Emperor.
Jenna Summers froze, but stubbornly insisted, "Fifth Highness has mastered all the military classics—he could be our teacher! He’s stronger than everyone here! It’s still unfair!"
The Celestial Emperor chuckled, "That’s true, Little Five studied military strategy from a young age, but honestly, he’s just like the rest of you—no actual combat experience! So he’s not that impressive!
Besides, even if he really is a bit stronger, anyone lucky enough to be in his group—well, that’s just their luck, right? Haven’t you heard? Luck is part of strength too!"
Jenna Summers bit her lip, clearly upset.
"Jenna, if Fifth Highness ended up in your group, would you call that fair?" Ryan Lu said sarcastically. "Next time, bring more lucky bracelets and charm bags!"
Jenna shot him a fierce glare.
His Majesty the Celestial Emperor grinned, "No need to wait for next time. If you’ve got lucky bracelets or charm bags, you can wear them now! Since this is live combat, you never know what you’ll get—some easy, some hard! Now, each group send a representative to draw your mission!"
...
Once the missions were drawn, His Majesty the Celestial Emperor reviewed them, then smiled and said, "Divine Lady Jenna, you don’t need to feel so wronged. Because Group Five drew the hardest mission of all."
His Majesty the Celestial Emperor looked at Lucia Lu’s team: "At the border of the South Wilds and West Wilds, there’s a tiny border kingdom with fewer than a hundred thousand troops—Silver Clementine Kingdom. Because it colluded with an enemy empire, Silver Clementine has angered its overlord, the Southern Mystic Empire, which is about to send troops to... wipe it out!"
His Majesty the Celestial Emperor shook his head. "The Southern Mystic Empire! One of the strongest empires in the South Wilds! Backed by great noble houses, with immortal soldiers and generals, a million flying cavalry, tens of millions of troops—crushing Silver Clementine is like squashing an ant!"
Seeing Lucia Lu’s face grow darker and darker, His Majesty the Celestial Emperor smiled kindly, "Good luck!"
...