Trial? What trial? Was everything from before really nothing more than a trial? And what did Zhang Lie mean by the changes to their bodies?

"Ah, my body!"

"No, could it be? I've broken through? When?!"

The elites present might have grown cocky and arrogant because of their skill, but they weren't idiots. They had, one and all, realized what Zhang Lie had accomplished.

"I apologize for my actions, everyone. Whatever doubt I cast on your pride and service was solely for the purpose of inducing your breakthrough; I'm very proud that you soldiers are the ones protecting our country. But this mindset is exactly what makes the standard trial useless for all of you, so I had to come up with a more creative approach instead. If I'm not mistaken, all of you should have broken through by now.

"Congratulations, and, once again, my apologies!"

Zhang Lie bowed toward the gathered soldiers, then left the training chamber.

"As expected!" Su Feng's smile grew more and more intense.

The pioneer of this entire development was far more experienced than he, or any other member of the military. Just this one trial alone had induced a breakthrough in every member of the special forces.

"Commander-in-Chief, this—" Beside Su Feng, Lin Yue still seemed to be rather stupefied by just what had occurred.

"See what you have to learn? Alright, return to the troops!"

"Ah—yes!" Lin Yue felt as though he had been Su Feng and Zhang Lie's pawn all along.

As Zhang Lie headed to the door, Lin Yue, who had rushed back into the training chamber, immediately bowed as he saw Zhang Lie. "Instructor, I apologize for the disrespect!"

Of course, he now understood what Zhang Lie was trying to accomplish, and his words were perfectly genuine.

Seeing Lin Yue apologize, the other troops did the same. "Instructor, we apologize!"

In other words, they had recognized Zhang Lie as their instructor. They blushed at their earlier ignorance and foolishness; after all, they had mocked this seemingly unqualified instructor with their pride and arrogance, but in the end, it had been Zhang Lie who had apologized first.

They glanced at Zhang Lie shamefaced.

"Don't worry. Keep training!" Zhang Lie waved a hand at them as he left the training chamber. The remainder would be easy. Once the troops got used to their additional limit fragments, they would be able to proceed to the next stage of the training.

Su Feng then commanded Zhang Lie to repeat what he had done with a series of other troops; as the skies darkened, Zhang Lie, who had been forced to work the entire day, was finally released from Su Feng's evil clutches.

With the military's affairs settled, next would be the dojo's affairs. By the time he returned to the dojo, it was already late at night, but the Zenith Dojo was still lit up brightly.

Zhang Hong, as well as a number of dojo workers around her, had yet to rest. There were quite a few residents of the slums loitering outside the dojo's entrance; they were anxiously waiting for good news.

After their children had taken the dojo's placement examination, the dojo had told them that results would be out shortly, but they had heard nothing for an entire week. Their patience exhausted, these parents began camping outside the dojo so as to be the first to hear the news.

By the arena, Lin Xiu was leisurely smoking a cigarette. There were quite a few nervous youth up in the arena, each about ten years old. Lin Xiu glanced at them appreciatively.

"Hmm? Ah, may I ask what you're doing so late at night?" Zhang Lie immediately stepped forward.

"Well, thanks to you, even I got assigned a task from Zhang Hong. None of us are allowed to sleep until we finish the selection process!" Lin Xiu scoffed.

Zhang Lie barely hid a smile; he hadn't expected Zhang Hong to be so daring as to cajole Lin Xiu into this as well.

"The Dragonwolf Zhang Lie! It's my first time seeing him in person!"

"Che, what's there to be excited about? Once we enter the Zenith Dojo, we'll be his disciples, and we'll see him frequently!"

"That's true, but he seems so much more handsome in person. Ah, I'm infatuated!"

The youth in the arena all began quietly whispering to each other the moment Zhang Lie showed up, their chatter only dying away as Zhang Lie got closer.

Zhang Lie scrutinized the youth in the arena carefully. Most of them were about ten years old, and based on their attire, most came from the slums.

"All of you want to enter the Zenith Dojo?"

"Yes!"

"Please, Dojo Leader!"

"You're my idol!"

The youth were apparently all very eager to be accepted, though Zhang Lie suspected that much of what they were saying had been taught to them by their parents.

"The Zenith Dojo prizes loyalty above all, and no amount of sweet-talking will get you anywhere," he warned. What he brought up was indeed the first criterion that he had emphasized. "Yes, loyalty!"

His gaze turned cold as he unleashed his aura, causing the children to tremble. At their age, what could they know of loyalty? They had come to the Zenith Dojo mainly because of the existence of Zhang Lie, and the announcement of limit fragments and the foundational breakthrough. Faced with the frightening visage of Zhang Lie, the youth cowered, unwilling to meet his gaze, trembling with fear.

"I swear lifelong loyalty to the Zenith Dojo!" a thin, reedy voice suddenly piped up. A poorly attired child stared steadfastly at Zhang Lie. His eyes were limpid and expectant. His cheeks were smudged with dirt, his shirt and pants tattered and threadbare, and a sour smell lingered on his body.

After his proclamation, the two children beside him also did the same.

Zhang Lie was surprised that a child had responded so quickly, and he glanced curiously at the boy. "What's your name?"

"I'm Jun Jiuxiao!"

What a lofty name. [1] "And you?" Zhang Lie then asked the two children by Jun Jiuxiao's side.

The two of them both glanced at Jun Jiuxiao, then replied with youthful exuberance, "If we are admitted, then we too swear lifelong loyalty!"

"This isn't a game among children, but rather a decision that will guide your life. Are you certain?" Zhang Lie asked sternly as he looked once more toward Jun Jiuxiao.

Despite the tremendous pressure, Jun Jiuxiao stood stiffly and regarded Zhang Lie with a scorching gaze. He nodded. The other children did the same.

"Good, good. I look forward to your growth!" Zhang Lie retracted his aura again as he stepped away.

Under Sun Mengmeng's guidance, the youth present were assigned and sent to a series of communal dorms within the dojo. They were no different from the other disciples that had enrolled, except that they had coincidentally met Zhang Lie and passed his cursory inspection.

Once everything was settled, Sun Mengmeng came to his room. "Captain, I've brought you the list of new disciples!"

"What were the names of those other children beside him?" Zhang Lie asked. It was clear who 'him' referred to.

"The boy's Wu Wei, and the girl's Ye Xianchen," Sun Mengmeng replied immediately, having anticipated the question.

"These three children are somewhat interesting. Have them consume some white-grub cores and focus on nurturing their talents," Zhang Lie instructed as he stretched.

"Yes, Captain!"

After Sun Mengmeng left the room, Zhang Lie once again activated [Eclipse]. The room was replaced with the starry sky and a radiant moon. As the serpent devoured the moon, inch after inch, darkness seemed to descend, but just as the serpent was about to swallow the moon whole, Zhang Lie suddenly opened his eyes, panting loudly.

No, I can't combine the two techniques just yet. Whenever he tried, the sudden loss of control at the very end struck his body with severe backlash. It seemed as though he would have to hunt down the peak-grade moonlight wyrm before he could make any progress on this front.

The moonlight wyrm had been a legend in the first realm in his past life, one that he now knew was reality. This was the only peak-grade lifeform he knew of within the first realm; indeed, they shouldn't have been able to survive here at all. Although the wyrm was, at this point, significantly stronger than Zhang Lie, it was still restricted in its abilities by the fact that it was in the first realm. If he were able to concoct Potion #3 and hence to accrue superior-grade limit fragments, then he would have some chance of defeating it.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Lie began preparing to hunt the moonlit wyrm.

The next morning, as Zhang Lie walked out of his room, he saw hundreds of disciples practicing the basic [Dragonfist Punch], Jun Jiuxiao, Ye Xianchen, and Wu Wei among them. After they had washed up and replaced their shabby attire with dojo uniforms, they looked much more revitalized. Zhang Lie considered the disciples' practice for a moment before heading back to the dimensional world.

Within the dimensional world, over ten days had passed since the incident at the Runic Forest, but news of the matter was still circulating around the Blacksteel settlement, especially after Zhang Lie was sighted. However, no one dared approach him; who would be daring enough to provoke a hunter willing to slaughter even hunters of the Long clan?

Zhang Lie wandered around the settlement, then vanished as he headed in the direction of the Desert of Silence, causing those hunters who had been spying on him to have done so to no avail.

1. Imagine naming a boy Monarch. ☜