Chapter 143: An Opening Celebration

Chapter 143: An Opening CelebrationZhang Quan's face turned pale the moment he saw the imposing figure, and the clan heads and dojo leaders opposing Zhang Lie suddenly turned uneasy. Why was Su Feng visiting Zhang Lie? Even the titles of galaxy fighter and dragonsoul warrior shouldn't have been enough to attract his attention.

Was there some unusual relationship between them? Doubts filled the audience's mind.

"Not bad! There are quite a few people here, aren't there?"

Su Feng's eyes swept over the guests—just an ordinary glance, nothing more, but everyone seemed to collectively hold a breath. Su Feng, from the Blackwind Fort, along with his team of elite soldiers... none of the guests present dared to draw attention to themselves.

The Blackwind soldiers were elite warriors that the military had stationed at the third realm. As soldiers whose primary purpose was to counter alien invasions, their martial ability was naturally staggering. A few dozen soldiers had accompanied Su Feng on this sudden visit.

"Is that Commander-in-Chief Su Feng?" someone whispered.

Qin Zongming and the others swallowed a gulp of saliva—who would have expected that Su Feng himself would attend such an event?

"Commander-in-Chief Su Feng!" Zhang Quan and the clan heads of the capital hurriedly stood up and bowed in deference, and they were quickly followed by the rest of the audience.

Hovercar after hovercar filled the entrance to the dojo, and a staggering number of soldiers spilled out.

"Look—there must be at least a whole platoon of soldiers gathered here!" The citizens of Ning had never seen such a scene. They wanted to find out just what was happening within the dojo, but they didn't dare step too close.

"Here! A congratulatory gift for you," Su Feng spoke to Zhang Lie, then nodded at the gathered guests. He motioned for his subordinates to come forward with the lavish present. The last two Blackwind soldiers strode forward bearing an object.

Zhang Lie was surprised by how much thought Su Feng had put into this: his appearance alone was shocking enough, let alone the gift he had prepared.

"Congratulations on the opening of your dojo, Dojo Leader Zhang!" Su Feng handed Zhang Lie the prepared gift himself, his face beaming.

Zhang Quan and the others felt their hopes shatter. Given these circumstances, it seemed as though Zhang Lie would be protected by Su Feng from now on.

"Commander Su, you're too kind."

The object that Su Feng presented him was pitch black and gave off surprisingly concentrated cosmic energy. As Zhang Lie stepped closer to it, he realized that the genetic energy he had consumed during the fight against Li Xin was quickly being regenerated. Zhang Lie gaped in surprise.

"This is a starstone?!"

"Indeed. A small gift—don't mind it." Su Feng smiled.

Despite the pressure that Su Feng gave off, the guests still began to chatter away.

"A starstone, such a large starstone!"

"No wonder I felt as though my genetic energy was trying to burst out of my body when Commander Su appeared—it must be the effect of the starstone!"

"What a generous gift! Who could this Zhang Lie be? Surely not a relative of Commander Su... surely not his illegitimate son...?"

"Oh? This isn't something you can find on Earth, and it's rare even in the Milky Way. The disciples of the Zenith Dojo are really going to get a big boost!"

Su Feng's generosity shocked them all.

Of course, what they didn't know was that Zhang Lie's value to Su Feng was worth far more than this starstone.

"In that case, I really have to thank you, Commander Su."

Many of the guests were eyeing that hunk of starstone with jealousy and envy, even the five major clan heads of the capital.

"Between us, there's no need for courtesy! The starstone is a gift, yes, but also the precursor to a request. As the commander-in-chief of the Blackwind Fort, I'd like to hire you as an instructor for the fort—I hope you won't deny this request of mine!" Su Feng continued.

Zhang Quan's forehead beaded with sweat.

Zhang Lie was going to be employed as an instructor for the Blackwind Fort? Why was he receiving such preferential treatment?

It was rare for even the most notable third-realm hunters to be employed as external instructors for the military, let alone a first-realm hunter like Zhang Lie!

Why? Why did everything good seem to happen to Zhang Lie?

"What? Is Commander Su serious?"

"The Dragonwolf Zhang Lie as an external instructor for the Blackwind Fort? Just what can he teach the soldiers?"

The guests gasped to themselves as they added Zhang Lie to the list of people they would never dare to offend. Who would dare touch an instructor of the Blackwind Fort?

"Of course, Commander Su!" Clearly, Su Feng wanted to invest in his future potential, and Zhang Lie wasn't going to turn him down. The information that Zhang Lie possessed certainly qualified him as an instructor. After all, he would be primarily responsible for handling affairs related to limit fragments.

Su Feng casually glanced around him. "Is the opening ceremony over?"

"Yes, yes, it's over! There was a small misunderstanding just now!" Zhang Quan interjected hurriedly before Zhang Lie could speak, as though he wouldn't have the chance to do so if he were too slow.

"No, Commander Su, please wait a moment. The ceremony isn't yet over. I want to take this opportunity to spread an important piece of information," Zhang Lie clarified.

Sun Mengmeng and the others hurriedly added another seat to the VIP area by the stage. However, instead of leaving the stage, Su Feng patted Zhang Lie's shoulder and stood behind him, as though he were trying to transmit some of his strength and authority to Zhang Lie.

"Good, good. It isn't a bad idea to announce it now!"

Zhang Lie's enemies went pale: with Su Feng as his backer, they would have no chance of dealing with Zhang Lie at all!

Zhang Lie began, "Everyone, the ceremony traditionally ends with an advertisement for the new dojo, but I'm sure you're all well aware of what the Zenith Dojo has to offer by now. As a result, I'd like to take the opportunity to share a gift instead, a gift for one and all. Let me pose you all a question: as a first-realm hunter, am I strong?"

The room burst into an uproar.

"Of course!"

"What other first-realm hunter would have been able to defeat a third-realm hunter in a single blow?!"

Zhang Lie smiled. "In that case, would you all like to know the secret to my strength?"

Chu Feng, Yun Bing, and the Chu and Yun clan heads realized the identity of the gift that Zhang Lie was about to share.

When Zhang Lie sold the Chu and Yun clans the information about the limit fragments, one unusual stipulation that he added was that neither clan would be allowed to pass the information to the authorities. Only now did the Chu and Yun clan heads understand why—had Zhang Lie been planning to found a dojo all along?

This was certainly an excellent opportunity to spread this piece of information: there were countless strong and famous hunters present, as well as a few reporters from the media.

Once this information was revealed, the Chu and Yun clans would have no advantage over the other factions who had yet to learn about the existence of these limit fragments, and given the Chu and Yun clans' decision to remain neutral, it was unlikely that Zhang Lie would be willing to work with the two clans with regards to manufacturing Potion #1.

Chu Feng and Yun Bing glanced at each other, sighing again at their elders' lack of foresight. In the end, as members of the younger generation, they had no authority to direct clan affairs.

The other guests were quite curious about what Zhang Lie was hinting at.

"It's because our gene capacities aren't capped at a hundred fragments each—I've overcome this limit!"

Despite the series of shocks that had stunned the audience, this was the most overwhelming of them all.

"What?! How could our gene capacities not be a hundred fragments each? Isn't this common knowledge?"

"You must be joking! What's the limit, then? A thousand gene fragments?"

"Dojo Leader Zhang, you must take responsibility for your words!"

This news, if it were true, would be overwhelming indeed.

Except for Su Feng and the Yun and Chu clans, who already knew about this information, everyone else, Lin Xiu included, stared at Zhang Lie.

"Yes, you've heard me correctly: I don't know what the upper limit to our gene capacities is, but it isn't a hundred fragments!"

Having revealed this piece of information thrice already, Zhang Lie was getting quite used to handling the disbelief and shock that resulted from it, and his performance greatly enhanced his credibility.

Thinking back to the unusual strength that Zhang Lie had shown, much of the audience was willing to entertain the notion, even if they weren't completely convinced.

However, a small minority believed that Zhang Lie was trying to hoodwink them all.

"That's impossible! It's common knowledge that the gene capacity is a hundred fragments. You're just spouting nonsense!"

Beside him, Su Feng glared in irritation. Clearing his throat, he called out, "Listen up! As commander-in-chief of the Blackwind Fort, I validate Zhang Lie's words."

The audience fell into stunned silence. If Su Feng was willing to back Zhang Lie up with his authority granted by the world federation, then things were different. No one doubted the truth of Zhang Lie's words any longer—or if they did, they weren't foolish enough to say so.

After all, the commander-in-chief of the Blackwind Fort certainly wouldn't joke about such serious matters. There was only one conclusion: the maximum capacity wasn't a hundred gene fragments.

"No, how could this be?!" several dojo leaders muttered to themselves, clearly needing some time to digest the news.

Just as the crowd was all reeling, Zhang Lie continued, "And now that I've brought up these limit fragments, I'll continue with the gift I have for all of you: information about obtaining these limit fragments for yourself, based on my own experience."

Zhang Lie paused while his words sank in.

"Quick, this is important news! We have to record it!" The members of the media who were present at the ceremony pulled out their own recording devices to capture this moment when the truth of these limit fragments was revealed to one and all. As media reporters, they knew how momentous this occasion would be.

"To surpass the basic gene capacity limit of a hundred fragments, there are three important requirements. The first, and most basic, condition is to raise your foundational framework to its tenth stage, and to not have progressed to a more advanced framework in the meantime. The second is to consume sufficiently many white grub cores, or their extracted growth factors. The third is to reach a certain density of adrenaline in your body, so as to spark a transformation in your genetic core."

Zhang Lie revealed everything he knew about the foundational breakthrough. This was information that every member of the audience undoubtedly would attempt to confirm for themselves.

Many of the guests dropped their sense of propriety and began contacting their disciples, subordinates, or other clan members to have them verify this information immediately.

Zhang Lie paused while the guests mulled over the shocking information. Most people focused on the white grub cores, a key ingredient that Zhang Lie had mentioned, but only a rare few noticed the crux of the issue, such as Lin Xiu, still standing by the side of the arena. "And what about those who've already moved to a more advanced framework?"

Zhang Lie's reply was somber. "Those hunters must choose to either purge their framework and start from scratch, or to accept their inability to obtain these limit fragments."

"Purge their framework—" Lin Xiu hesitated, his face turning blank. Purging one's framework wasn't a hard decision for first-realm hunters, but for those who were already in the second or third realms, this was a far more devastating requirement.

After all, they had spent the majority of their lives cultivating their framework, and if they had to start from scratch—the very thought of it was enough to cause them pain!

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