Of course, whether or not there would be any disciples willing to train with Zhang Lie wasn't something that she, Zhang Hong, had to concern herself with. After the customary farewell, Zhang Hong left with her briefcase.

Zhang Lie, who had worked hard the entire day, slumped into bed and immediately fell asleep.

The next morning, just as the first rays of dawn shone through the window, as Zhang Lie lay drooling in bed, dreaming sweet dreams, the doorbell rang.

"Master, Master, you have a guest!" The robotic housekeeper slid toward Zhang Lie's bed and began trying to wake him up.

Zhang Lie groaned. "Who is it? Who's here so early in the day? Go open the door."

As he blearily rubbed his eyes and stretched, Zhang Lie began the arduous process of waking up. The moment he pushed his blankets away and walked out of his bedroom, a young woman rushed up to him.

"Surprise!"

It was the first of the hunters from Team Zenith. Zhang Lie expected that the first hunter to get to his house would be Yang Ze, but it turned out to be Sun Mengmeng. 

She flitted around the house in a pale blue dress, looking quite a bit more relaxed than she did as a hunter in the dimensional world. She seemed to have deliberately put on makeup to leave a good first impression on everyone in Team Zenith, and it was certainly paying off.

"Welcome to my place, Mengmeng. Have a seat—I just woke up, so I'm going to go wash up."

Despite this being their first encounter in real life, Zhang Lie seemed to be as casual with Sun Mengmeng as they were in the dimensional world. It gave Sun Mengmeng the impression that they were already rather familiar with each other, because Zhang Lie behaved much the same way in the Blacksteel settlement.

She smiled. "Captain, did you just wake up? And here I thought all the top hunters preferred to practice at a dojo in the morning!"

Zhang Lie couldn't respond, because he was currently brushing his teeth.

After he gurgled, he countered, "Training at a dojo? Is that useful? Why not kill a few lifeforms in the dimensional world instead?"

There was some argument for Zhang Lie's proposition. Quite a few teenagers had trained in a dojo since their childhood, but quailed the moment they entered the dimensional world and saw a ferocious lifeform for the first time. What good would their trained constitution do for them then?

"Both in moderation, surely," Sun Mengmeng replied. "Since I'm here early, would you like me to make some breakfast?" After all, she was largely responsible for food preparation in the team, and cooking was second nature to her by now.

"That'd be great!" Zhang Lie called back from the bathroom. He had just been wondering what to do for breakfast. By the time he finished washing up, there were already three dishes set on the dining table: coddled eggs, slices of ham, and fresh soy milk.

Having passed through Sun Mengmeng's hands, the three rather simple dishes were elevated to sophistication. Zhang Lie was full of praise for the food.

After breakfast, they sat together in the living room waiting for the other hunters from Team Zenith to show up. Within half an hour, the next hunter, Li Feng, was here. The rest of the team trickled in over the next hour or so: Fang Yi, Sun Xiaowu, and Zhou Ying.

However, Yang Ze, who had demonstrated the most eagerness to come, had yet to arrive.

Zhang Lie couldn't help but start to worry. Of them all, Yang Ze had the most illustrious background. Could his clan have forbidden his sudden move?

"Fang Yi, Yang Ze was originally one of your teammates. How much do you know about his family situation? Could he have been waylaid by members of his clan?"

Another hour had passed without his appearance.

Fang Yi thought about it for a moment, but shook his head. "No, Captain, that wouldn't happen. Yang Ze's basically been exiled from his clan, and the rest of his clan would gladly chase him away given the opportunity. But since he's all the way over on Mars, he likely woke up late and missed the scheduled teleportation. I'll message him and see if he's about to arrive."

Just as Fang Yi tapped out a message, Yang Ze's voice could be heard from outside. "I'm here, everyone! Fang Yi, you must have missed me  if you're sending me such an urgent message!"

He appeared in the doorway with a few suitcases trailing behind him.

"Sorry, sorry, Captain, I had a hard time finding my way around the slums."

Finally, all the members of Team Zenith were gathered. Zhang Lie's small living room was packed to the brim with luggage and people.

"Be more punctual next time, you hear?" Zhang Lie clicked his tongue.

Yang Ze gave him a mock salute. "Yes, Captain!"

"Alright, now that everyone's here, have a seat and I'll discuss the next stage of my plan. First, welcome to Ning, and welcome to my house. I've called you all over for two reasons: first, to have you help me set up a dojo, and second, to have you purge yourselves of your genetic techniques and begin anew, so as to gain access to what I've been calling limit fragments."

Both of these were topics that Zhang Lie had yet to broach with any of the members of Team Zenith, and they were both of significant importance.

Each was like a jolt to their heart.

The first issue was the dojo. Dojos had sprung up shortly after the discovery of the dimensional world, and they had developed into a professional enterprise. At present, one would need to be at least a superior-grade hunter to meet the required qualifications.

Although their captain had quite a lot of points, he was still a mortal lifeform, and he had yet to advance into the second realm of the dimensional world. Compared to most other dojo leaders, he would be underqualified.

The second issue, of purging their techniques and starting from scratch, was much more significant and personal. 

Although they had been quite curious about how Zhang Lie had managed to dominate Li Hong despite having about the same number of stats, their genetic techniques were such an important part of their strength that they would certainly hesitate before giving them up.

After all, how were they to fight in the dimensional world without their techniques?

Sensing the hunters' hesitation, Zhang Lie smiled. "It looks like all of you need some time to think about this, so let's deal with lodgings for the moment. My place is so small that you certainly won't all be able to stay here, so we'll need to find you places to live first. Once we've gotten that sorted out, we can discuss what I've brought up today."

They rolled up their sleeves and got to work.