"The opportune hour has come. The opening ceremony shall now begin!"

With a huge bang, fireworks rose into the air, and the word 'Zenith' slowly emerged in the skies, formed out of a series of colorful explosions. After the fireworks, a screen of light emerged over the top of the training ground, sealing it off from the outside. The soulstone floor soaked up the light and gave off a radiant blue glow.

The guests' faces turned serious as the dojo's opening ceremony began in earnest.

The dojo's energy systems activated, surrounding the entire dojo in phantasmagorical flashes of light. Small holes emerged from the floor, manipulating the environment in a localized region of the arena.

As genetic energy surged through the paneling, the arena switched between different virtual environments, shocking the gathered guests. While the exterior design of Zhang Lie's dojo wasn't anything unusual, the interior machinery was state-of-the-art.

No ordinary hunter could afford to open such a dojo, let alone someone who came from the slums and was without a backer, like Zhang Lie. After all, he was only in his early twenties. With his burgeoning reputation, if this opening ceremony were successful, Zhang Lie was sure to become a power to contend with.

Warning bells rang in the head of everyone who opposed Zhang Lie. They had to kill him now, before he could grow into his full power!

The smiles had long since disappeared from the faces of the heads of the Qin, Wang, and Li clans, and their cold, distorted expressions were rather frightening.

With another mechanical whirr, expressionless robotic hunters emerged from the ground.

"Simulated practice?"

"What are these robots doing here?"

"Manipulating your environment at will, and training with foes whose strength you can calibrate... This is as close to a real battle as you can get, and only the top dojos are as well equipped. Honestly, considering that Zhang Lie's just opening his dojo, I'm shocked by the quality of his facilities."

Many of the dojo leaders spectating the ceremony felt immensely threatened the moment Zhang Lie began putting on his display.

"This is an interesting dojo!" commented Ren Tianlong, leader of Dragon's Ascent, his eyes sparkling.

Once the demonstration of all the facilities was complete, mist covered the training ground, spelling out two large words: Zenith Dojo.

Zhang Lie bowed to a smattering of applause that grew to a thunderous crescendo. Everyone in the audience was shocked. Many of the spectators thought that Zhang Lie was making use of his newfound popularity to start a dojo, but they hadn't expected just how much time and energy Zhang Lie had put into the design.

It seemed as though he really were serious about this venture.

"As expected of the Dragonwolf Zhang Lie."

"The quality and quantity of facilities available is comparable to that of top dojos in the nation."

Zhang Lie's expression remained cool and confident throughout.

"Not bad, but it's still somewhat worse than our Warrior's Heart dojo!" a muscular hunter groused. He represented the Warrior's Heart dojo in Ning, which was ranked third in the region. He wasn't the dojo leader, but rather his first disciple, Liu Dongsheng.

"In that case, why don't you challenge him later on?" a dojo leader by his side suggested.

"So I will! Do you think he's all that strong?" Liu Dongsheng countered. Perhaps Zhang Lie was a genius, but he was still a first-realm hunter, after all. As a peak second-realm hunter himself, he had no fear of Zhang Lie.

However, if he knew that Zhang Lie had destroyed two peak second-realm hunters working in tandem from the Wang clan, he might not have dared to challenge Zhang Lie.

"Zenith, peak, acme—my goal is to repeatedly surpass my own limits, to evolve to handle greater and greater challenges, to adapt to my environment and to continue to improve myself. It is for this purpose that I established the Zenith Dojo, and for this purpose that the Zenith Dojo is named!" Zhang Lie concisely explained the motivation behind his decision.

"Excellent! The name itself shows foresight!"

"Here I thought Zhang Lie had done all this on a whim, but he's actually put serious thought behind his decision!"

The crowd applauded.

After all, Zhang Lie's goals were admirable, and from the demonstration of the dojo's facilities, it was clear that Zhang Lie had designed the dojo with these goals in mind. Far more of the spectators in the audience wanted to develop a relationship with Zhang Lie than to destroy him.

Of course, after the applause would come attacks from his enemies.

As Wang Han clapped, he shouted, "I must admit I'm captivated by your motivation behind the word 'zenith', but I'm more curious about the overall strength of this dojo that claims to be at the zenith!"

Many of the dojo leaders were already raring to challenge Zhang Lie. Zhang Lie gave the audience a faint smile: it looked as though the three clan heads plotting against him were eager to start their attack.

Naturally, the crowd understood the hidden meaning behind Wang Han's words.

"Of course. Following tradition, the floor is open to challengers."

Some members of the audience, brash and impatient, were already rolling up their sleeves.

Chu Feng and Yun Bing clenched their fists tightly; what they had been dreading was about to happen.

Fight, fight! I want to see just how long Zhang Lie will be able to stand before he falls. Zhang Quan pushed up the rim of his glasses, smirking inwardly.

"Who wishes to test the Zenith Dojo's mettle?" Zhang Lie called out, surveying the gathered crowd.

"Haha! I, Dugu Xun, leader of the Lone Wolf dojo, accept the challenge!" A middle-aged man leapt out of the stands and onto the arena, the aura surging from him making his strength evident to all.

"The Lone Wolf dojo, the top-ranked dojo in Hong? And that Dugu Xun's a peak second-realm hunter, with an undefeated record in Hong! Isn't this far too disadvantageous for Zhang Lie?"

"Well, what choice does he have? Most dojo leaders are second-realm hunters, and only the Dragonwolf Zhang Lie is an exception. If he wants to be a dojo leader as a first-realm hunter, then he had better have overwhelming strength, as well as the ability to defeat second-realm hunters!"

Most of the spectators didn't favor Zhang Lie, given his apparent disadvantage in terms of strength and experience.

Dugu Xun glanced at him arrogantly, clearly not thinking much of his opponent.

"Haha, Dojo Leader Dugu, you're not a weak hunter, but I'm afraid challenging me might be too much of a stretch. Why don't you beat one of my instructors first?"

Just as Dugu Xun looked down on Zhang Lie, so too was Zhang Lie looking down on Dugu Xun.

Dugu Xun's face turned red. "Oh? You're an arrogant one, aren't you? In that case, send this instructor of yours forward!"

Lin Xiu, dressed in black and white, appeared on stage like a gust of wind. No one saw just how this rough-hewn middle-aged man had made his way on stage—he seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

Zhang Lie made eye contact with him, then stepped off the stage, leaving only the two of them in the arena.

"Dojo Leader Dugu, you may have the first blow," Lin Xiu stated calmly, as though he were instructing, rather than sparring against, Dugu Xun.

"Just as arrogant as your dojo leader, are you?" Dugu Xun thundered. "In that case, die!"

Dugu Xun leapt up into the air, pouncing straight toward Lin Xiu. The mud-colored genetic energy he exuded covered the stage; when Lin Xiu tried to step away, he found his feet stuck to the ground. Dugu Xun was an earth-attuned hunter, and his framework was particularly suited to controlling the battlefield, catching his opponents unaware.

"That instructor's been caught by Dugu Xun's attack! He's dead!" a spectator murmured.

The hunters of Team Zenith were rather worried by the sight: they had all heard of Dugu Xun's name. This so-called instructor of theirs might have looked imposing, but he had been caught by Dugu Xun's first attack!

"Let me see just how you'll escape!" Dugu Xun laughed coldly.

Seeing his opponent defenseless, he rushed forward even more quickly, the polearm in his right hand smashing down toward Lin Xiu with staggering force. If this blow were to hit, Dugu Xun's victory would be all but guaranteed.

However, Lin Xiu barely reacted to the incoming blow. He slowly raised his arm and waved it about. An explosion erupted, dissolving Dugu Xun's mud-colored genetic energy. Sensing a pain at the back of his neck, and a sudden loss of vision in his eyes, Dugu Xun collapsed.

When the smoke cleared, silence descended over the training ground. No one knew just how the supposed instructor had attacked. Lin Xiu had barely moved, but Dugu Xun was slumped on the ground in an unconscious heap.