Part 1
Title: "The Throne and the Trial"
The world continued to change. People pushed forward, and Han Yue continued to train relentlessly, pushing her limits day after day. Her training weights increased, her routines intensified, and finally, a week had passed.
Shadow 3 gathered all the awakeners and announced a progress evaluation in the battle arena—1v1 and team battles to test their strength.
The kids were paired strategically—fire and wind, electricity and water, and so on. Three arena fields were opened. Teams of children faced off against shadow guards using wooden swords and paintball guns. Han Yue, now far beyond their level, would be tested separately.
From the sidelines, she watched the kids struggle. "The end is cruel to the young and old," she muttered. Shadow 8 nodded solemnly. Shadow 3 overheard, scribbling a note to increase the elderly and children's training intensity.
As expected, the kids lost. Their bulletproof vests were covered in paint splatters, and their skin marked red by wooden blades. Results: "3 minutes—eliminated."
Even the mutants, though physically enhanced, lasted only five minutes against one guard before being defeated. Everything was recorded.
Then it was Han Yue's turn.
Her first match: 10 shadow guards armed with knives. As they charged, she froze the ground beneath them—an ice field immobilizing them instantly. Some hurled knives, but she blocked them with ice picks. Shadow 3 took video and notes.
Next, 10 paintball gunners. She shielded one side with an ice wall and countered the other side with tennis-ball-sized ice orbs. Those who flanked her met sharp ice picks. Five minutes later, she stood untouched. Another win.
Impressed, Shadow 3 escalated it again—this time, one shadow guard with a real gun. The guard bowed and fired near her head. She countered with three ice picks in sequence: the first broke, the second slowed the bullet, and the third froze it. It dropped harmlessly to the ground.
Applause and chatter broke out. Her timing was perfect. Then the gunfire resumed—multiple shots toward her body. Han Yue used a double-layered ice shield. Cracks formed but bullets didn't pass through. After more than ten hits, the shield finally shattered. Shadow 3 ended the test—he had all the data he needed.
He addressed the group: "Work hard and you'll catch up to Han Yue. As for us, we shadow guards will also awaken and mutate—we won't be left behind." Cheers followed.
To Han Yue, he added, "Your training schedule will be multiplied by six. Your rank is promoted from 9 to 6."
Shock spread. A jump of three ranks was rare, but no one objected—they'd seen her strength firsthand. Shadow 8 gleefully shot fireballs into the air like fireworks. Han Yue sighed, "This idiot learns fast."
At lunch, Shadows 3, 6, and 8 sat with her. Shadow 8 grumbled, "Look at him showing off his crows again! They even follow him around now!"
Shadow 6 smiled, feeding his birds pieces of meat without denying it.
Han Yue, quietly eating, remembered the wolves in her space. She glanced up. "Didn't you want wolves? I have snow wolves, forest wolves, sand wolves…"
Shadow 6 stood immediately and bowed, "PLEASE."
Shadow 3 rolled his eyes. "Sit. Han Yue, put them in the animal training cages later."
She nodded. Shadow 8 sulked. Wolves again?
After lunch, they went to the animal training area. Han Yue released five wolves into five separate cages. Vicious and growling, she warned, "Let me know if you want more."
Leaving Shadow 3 and 6 behind, Shadow 8 dragged Han Yue to Long Yi's office. Assistant Chen saw them rushing past and just sighed—clearly more chaos incoming.
Inside the office, Han Yue summoned the throne out of thin air.
Shadow 8 gasped, rubbing the chair excitedly. "Finally! That bastard Long Jin kept bragging about this at parties… now I have it! Take pictures!!"
Han Yue calmly took out an instant camera and snapped away. Shadow 8 struck poses, pretending to be an emperor.
"Eunuch Chen! Come worship your king!" he shouted.
Assistant Chen, standing by, expressionless: "…fool." But quietly thought, I'll take a photo later.
After a while, they left the camera and extra film behind for the others. Han Yue knew it would be popular.
They returned to training. Now officially Rank 6, Han Yue's badge reflected her strength. The obstacle course now featured barbwire, spear pits, fire traps, towering walls, and hills.
Shadow 8, ever loyal, added more weights and joined her.
That night, Han Yue rested. But Shadow 3 and 6 had business elsewhere—Long Yi's office. Assistant Chen casually informed them the camera was still there.
Of course, they took photos.
Soon, other shadow guards did too. Han Yue had cleverly positioned the throne against a blank wall—no furniture or identifying office details visible.
Far away, Secretary Wen briefed Long Yi.
"They placed the throne in your office. Many shadow guards took pictures on it."
Long Yi replied calmly, "Anyone who takes a photo on it must run 100 rounds with 300kg of weight—per photo. Post the notice."
The next day, the bulletin board displayed the message. Han Yue laughed. Luckily, I didn't take a photo.
Shadow 3, 6, and several guards sighed. "It was worth it."
Shadow 8 screamed, "OMG I TOOK TEN PHOTOS!!!"
Everyone paused. Coughed. Laughed.
Han Yue pointed and laughed the loudest. Shadow 3 and 6? Quietly relieved—only one photo each.
Part 2
While Han Yue was jogging, she noticed more Shadow Guards out today—including Shadow 3, 6, 8, and even Assistant Chen—each carrying 300kg weights like it was nothing. They even found time to provoke Shadow 8, who had to complete 1,000 extra laps. No time limit, thankfully, but still.
Shadow 8, who was clearly doubting life, spotted Han Yue jogging by with a big smile.
"YUEYUE! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TOOK TEN PHOTOS OF ME!!" he yelled out, scandalized.
Han Yue turned her head, grinning. "Well, you kept yelling 'Take this emperor's photo now!'—so I just did!"
Then she burst forward, giggling, while the others laughed behind her.
"This fool!!!" someone said, shaking their head.
Shadow 8 sighed, "Oh well, at least I got my photos… I'll brag to Long Jin later and make him mad to death! Hehehe!"
He kept running. A coach nearby recorded all the laps.
After a long day, Han Yue returned to her room and entered the space. She harvested crops, fed her little babies, and checked on their growth.
Her little bunny had mutated—becoming even smaller somehow. "Aww, still want to be called a baby?" she giggled, snuggling it close.
The two kittens had grown big, nearly dog-sized now, with sharp claws and teeth—still adorable.
Snowball, her baby leopard, had also mutated and awakened ice powers like her. "Aww, you're just like Mommy!" she whispered, kissing its cold little forehead.
She played with them for a while, then exited the space and went to sleep.
—
The next morning after breakfast, she spotted Shadow 8 jogging again. Curious, she checked the coach's board.
Shadow 8 – (50/1000)
Her lips twitched.
"Still a long way to go, huh?" she chuckled, then joined him on the track.
Days passed like this.
Her body adapted. Her strength steadily increased. Her old self—the one from the past life—was slowly returning.
Outside the training site, things were changing fast.
At Hidden Dragon Peak, Long Yi had issued a full-scale logging task. Troops were cutting trees, gathering grass and leaves, and processing everything into fodder for the breeding zones. The logs were dried and converted to firewood and coal. The directive spread quickly.
Colonel Long forwarded the intel to national higher-ups. Soon, the same task was issued across the board. Grass, leaves, branches—everything was now valuable. The point system was updated to allow exchanges for all of it.
The entire country went into high-efficiency survival mode.
Bases continued to expand, but with over a billion people, there was no way to house everyone. Privately funded bases and underground shelters started popping up.
Other countries weren't as lucky. Some were still disorganized—already slipping into chaos. Looting, killings, and riots had begun.
The creeping fog was now visible. The Weather Bureau confirmed the slow invasion. But strict order and information control kept their country stable—for now.
—
Another week passed.
The combat arena was reassembled. It was time for another round of evaluations—for the Shadow leaders, the awakened kids, and Han Yue.
The kids had improved, increasing their survival time by two extra minutes.
Han Yue impressed once again. Against ten armed enemies, she defended and countered with smooth precision. She even won a knife-only match—though her fighting style, Shadow 3 noted, was still the kind of desperate brawling used by people with nothing left to lose.
"She needs proper martial arts and weapon training," he told the coach. "Add it to her curriculum."
The Shadow leaders also showed great improvement in power control. While their output still wasn't as wild as Han Yue's, they were catching up quickly.
After the evaluation, Shadow 3 handed her Rank 5 for winning again.
Everyone was dismissed.
Shadow 8 returned to the track. He checked the board and grinned.
Shadow 8 – (250/1000)
"Hehe… just a bit more and I'm done!"