Finding a place to live wasn't a problem for the other hunters. Given their newfound wealth, they were easily able to find a few places for rent just a kilometer or so away from Zhang Lie's house.

By the time they made all their preparations and gathered again, they had decided to purge their genetic techniques and start anew, as Zhang Lie had suggested. The reason they had all come to Ning was all because of Zhang Lie, so why hesitate now?

Zhang Lie's generosity was evident from the way he handled the superior-grade soulshards he had obtained as loot from Li Hong. If Zhang Lie really wanted to hurt them, he could have done so within the dimensional world, and there was no need for him to gather them here.

"I'm glad you're all willing to trust me. I promise you'll not regret the decision you've made today! Both stages of my plan can be carried out simultaneously. I've already started acquiring the land rights to construct a dojo right here. You're all my teammates as well as my first disciples, so you'd better not lose me face, you hear?"

"Yes, Captain!" the hunters chorused.

"In that case, let's start with the reason for purging your genetic techniques, which I'm sure you're all quite curious about." As the hunters nodded, Zhang Lie continued, "It's very simple: your foundational framework can be advanced past the tenth stage!"

"What? Doesn't the foundational framework only have ten stages? What's this final stage you're talking about?!" Flabbergasted, Yang Ze interrupted Zhang Lie before he could continue.

"The first ten stages are common knowledge, yes, but not this final stage. After breaking through the bottleneck at the tenth stage of your foundational framework and reaching what I've termed the final stage, you'll be able to increase your basic gene capacity by ten. It's for these ten basic gene fragments that I'm having all of you purge your genetic techniques and start anew."

"Basic gene capacity? You mean... it can exceed a hundred?! But are ten basic gene fragments really all that important? It certainly doesn't seem as though it would provide a large boost to our constitution. Is it really worth purging our techniques for just ten basic gene fragments?" Fang Yi asked.

Zhang Lie responded patiently, "Of course it's worth it. These are limit fragments, and they provide much more significant a boost than standard gene fragments. Put simply, these ten basic gene fragments would provide even more of a boost than ten standard mutated gene fragments. Do you understand?"

The shock on the gathered hunters' faces was evident.

Ten mutated gene fragments did provide a significant increase to a hunter's strength, and this wasn't a gap that could be simply closed. 

In truth, they weren't particularly advanced with their genetic techniques yet, and purging them and starting anew wouldn't be too much of a sacrifice. However, for the short term, they would be unable to fight at anything close to their original strength.

"Captain, I trust you. What's there to hesitate about? I'm going to purge my techniques right now!" Having made up her mind, Sun Mengmeng closed her eyes, expelling the engravings on her genetic core. The turbulent genetic energy that was generated as a result caused fresh blood to trickle out of her lips, but she didn't care.

The other hunters followed suit.

"We'll have to carry out the breakthrough in the dimensional world. I'll need to give you a few things, and then you'll have to undergo a trial. Whether you can succeed on your first attempt will depend on your perseverance," Zhang Lie continued, once they had all finished. Truthfully, he had anticipated some more resistance to his suggestion, and was gratified that they had so much trust in him.

Back in the dimensional world, they headed to the training ground that the Yun and Chu clans had set up in the Forest of Blue Maples.

When Zhang Lie brought his teammates, who had just stuffed their faces with white-grub cores, to the site, he found Chu Feng and Yun Bing with a hundred-hunter team right outside. This wasn't a coincidence; Zhang Lie had noticed the Yun and Chu hunters gathering within the Blacksteel settlement, and he had timed his movements so that his team would arrive at the training ground exactly as the Yun and Chu parties did.

"May I help you?"

As the two parties met, the members of Team Zenith were quite surprised by how polite Chu Feng and Yun Bing were. After all, they were the two strongest hunters of the Blacksteel settlement! 

What sort of hunter could merit such respect from them? Just who was their captain? Didn't he live in the slums? Why did it seem as though Yun Bing and Chu Feng were deferring to him?

From Chu Feng and Yun Bing's perspective, they had already witnessed the horrifying strength of the hunter in front of them. Even if he weren't strong, the warehouse of white-grub cores that he controlled was reason enough to be polite. As a result, it was only natural that Chu Feng would greet him with a smile on his face, his tone an equal mix of excitement and anxiety, giving the rest of Team Zenith a big shock.

"What else could I be here for? These teammates of mine need to participate in the trial, so I'm here asking for a favor."

Yun Bing and Chu Feng turned to the hunters of Team Zenith, carefully inspecting them. Fang Yi, Sun Mengmeng, and Yang Ze responded well to the scrutiny, but the other three hunters couldn't help retreating from the attention.

Such behavior disappointed Yun Bing and Chu Feng. After all, given how mysterious and strong Zhang Lie was, they held everything around him to equally high standards, but the hunters behind him were only decent, at best.

Chu Feng cocked an eyebrow. "Your teammates aren't bad! Of course I'll do you a favor. Let them enter with everyone else!"

Zhang Lie nodded, turning to Fang Yi and the others. "Don't worry and head in with Young Master Chu and the others. But you'd better succeed, or I'm kicking you out of the team!"

The slight disdain in Chu Feng's tone didn't go unnoticed, either by Zhang Lie or by the rest of his team. He gave them an ultimatum in order to pressure them more at this critical moment, hoping to increase their chances of success.

In truth, a breakthrough of this nature couldn't be guaranteed at all, and Zhang Lie certainly didn't intend on expelling any hunters from his team, but Chu Feng, Yun Bing, and even his teammates understood his words differently.

Chu Feng and Yun Bing frowned as they tried to analyze the implications of what he had said. Had Zhang Lie found a method to guarantee a breakthrough? Was that why he had given them that ultimatum in plain sight?

As for his teammates, they felt as though Zhang Lie was insulted by Chu Feng's disdain for them, and whether or not they succeeded would directly impact Zhang Lie's reputation. As such, no matter what trials they would have to face, they had to give it their all so as to not let their captain lose face!