Chapter 162: The Veterans' Trial

However, just as the soldiers were laughing at Zhang Lie, Su Feng's voice came from the speakers to the training chamber.

"Lin Yue, get your ass out here! You'll be transferred away immediately!"

Silence took over the chamber; everyone was speechless. Was Su Feng serious? Was their leader really going to be fired from his position?

"Commander—"

"If anyone dares plead for mercy, they'll be transferred out too!" Someone immediately tried to stand up for Lin Yue, but Commander Su shot them down.

Only then did the soldiers in the arena realize just how serious Su Feng was. Lin Yue, despite initially being stricken by the news, quickly calmed down and walked out of the chamber after reassuring several of his comrades that he would be fine, leaving Zhang Lie in charge within the training chamber.

"In truth, if not for Commander Su insisting that I come, I would have refused such an obligation. A minute of my time is worth tens of millions of dollars; do you think I have any interest in your training? I was the one who discovered the foundational breakthrough, who discovered these limit fragments hunters all over the world are lusting over! The reason you've all been asked to purge your frameworks is because of me!

"How dare you call yourselves soldiers if you can't even obey the orders of your commander-in-chief? And you think I'm the fool here?!"

Zhang Lie had managed to anger all the soldiers, but Su Feng's previous orders hung over their heads like a sword of Damocles, and none of them dared make a move against him.

"You all think yourself far more experienced than I am, don't you? That I have nothing worth teaching any of you? I'll give you a chance, then. If you don't think I'm worth your time, step forward and we'll have a practice match, one-on-one."

Zhang Lie's voice wasn't particularly loud, but it caused a stir within the ranks of soldiers. Everyone stared at him, be it in disdain or rage. Zhang Lie knew very well that none of these soldiers respected him, and this would be the key to their breakthrough. He would have to make use of their self-confidence and refusal to back down.

"A one-on-one battle? You're sure, Instructor? We won't take any responsibility if you're too frail to take a single blow!"

Several hulking soldiers stood out from the formation, raring to give Zhang Lie a good beating.

Zhang Lie smirked. "You think I'll be the one begging for mercy?"

"You're quite arrogant, aren't you, Instructor? In that case, let me, Wu Hao, be the one to challenge you!" The soldiers made way as the hulking Wu Hao walked forward. Wu Hao was the team leader of the special forces' first subdivision, and a peak second-realm hunter with a strength comparable to that of a regular third-realm hunter.

"To be honest, I was impressed by your performance at the capital during the Kez invasion, but I hadn't expected that all these accolades would make you so arrogant! Don't worry, I'll go easy on you. Let me show you just what the real world's like!"

Wu Hao cracked his fingers as he readied to fight.

"Do your worst."

The other soldiers stepped off-stage, leaving the arena to the two of them.

"Brash, impudent youth!" Wu Hao stomped on the ground, which shook slightly. "[Beast King's Tome: Stampede]!" magic

His muscles suddenly bulged as the shadowy figures of a dozen types of beasts appeared behind him. Even space seemed to distort; if this blow were to land, Zhang Lie would be severely injured.

Zhang Lie remained cool and collected. He circulated his genetic energy, [Mirrored Refraction] on his left, [Three-Wave Crescendo] on his right. Because these hunters had just purged their old frameworks, he was restricting himself only to lower-grade techniques.

The beasts charged forward, but their figures were pulverized and shattered by the combined effects of Zhang Lie's skills. Wu Hao's face fell. He knew that the techniques Zhang Lie was using weren't anything high-grade, but the strength of those techniques was far greater than he had expected.

One blow fell harder than all the others. With a pained grunt, Wu Hao flew out of the arena, a reddening slap clearly visible on his face.

"Trash! As I thought, all of you are trash!"

The soldiers glanced at Zhang Lie with consternation, with shock and smoldering anger. As their representative, Wu Hao's loss was their loss. Even Su Feng, who was monitoring the scene from the cameras scattered around the training chamber, looked rather displeased.

Zhang Lie was clearly trying to trample on Wu Hao's pride, of the pride of all the soldiers in the Blackwind Fort, of the pride of the military itself.

Despite knowing that Zhang Lie wouldn't be doing this for no good reason, Su Feng was still rather upset; it was apparent, then, just how much worse the soldiers themselves would take it.

"You—I'm taking you down!" Wu Hao, who lay stunned on the floor, pushed himself up as he felt his face, then rushed toward Zhang Lie with bloodshot eyes. His unbelievable loss and subsequent humiliation caused adrenaline to flood his body, and he broke through without even realizing it.

Unfortunately, the rampaging Wu Hao wasn't able to take his revenge. Instead, with Zhang Lie's fist ramming into his abdomen, he fell to the floor unconscious. As Zhang Lie placed a boot on Wu Hao's skull, he glanced at the rest of the soldiers disdainfully.

"Trash! You're far too weak! Why don't you all come at me together? That'd save me some time!"

"Together? Zhang Lie, don't think we won't be able to take you down!" one of Wu Hao's good comrades, Lin Wei, shouted, green veins throbbing on his head. "Oh? How many of you can compare to this blockhead, then?"

Zhang Lie tapped Wu Hao's cheek with the sole of his boot, a devilish sneer appearing on his face.

"Get at him!"

"He's asking for it!"

The soldiers had to admit that Zhang Lie was indeed a strong hunter, and that the rumors circulating about him weren't exaggerated. If he were able to knock Wu Hao unconscious with a single blow, then his strength really was comparable to a third-realm hunter's.

Lin Wei's eyes turned cold as he circulated his genetic energy, as did the fellow soldiers beside him.

"Come at me, you walking dirtbags!" Zhang Lie continued to taunt them.

"We won't go easy on you!" Lin Wei shouted, motioning for everyone to charge forward.

The moment they did so, Zhang Lie activated the technique he had been charging up. Black ripples flooded the arena. The ceiling was replaced by a starry sky and bloody moon, and the floor had turned into an underworld river. A tremendous pressure blocked their advances, forcing them onto the ground. An ancient power seemed to be sucking the genetic energy from their bodies.

"This, this is [Eclipse]?" Lin Wei cried out. Against this overwhelming force, he couldn't even move, let alone attack.

All the soldiers present, even the ones that hadn't made a move, were all kneeling on the ground, unable to force themselves upright.

"I told you, didn't I? Is this all you can accomplish, even with the resources of an entire country spent on you? Trash. Trash! TRASH!"

The floor lit up with explosions of genetic energy as all the soldiers tried to buckle the strength that had felled them all. They wanted to force themselves up, to prove to Zhang Lie that they weren't pieces of trash, that they had slaughtered countless invading lifeforms, that they were warriors lauded with honor and glory!

The soldiers' pained grunts and howls filled the chamber, but the blood moon unrelentingly quashed their efforts. Even as their bones creaked and groaned, none of them were able to get all the way up. Several of the soldiers had fainted of overexertion, and others had unwittingly broken through as their genetic energy flared up.

Su Feng, observing everything from a distance, finally understood what Zhang Lie was trying to do.

"I can't say this is a method I approve of, but the results do speak for themselves," he mused, smiling.

Time seemed to slow tremendously within the domain. Zhang Lie had barely activated it for a quarter of a minute, but that was sufficient time to drain all the soldiers' energy and leave them slumped on the ground.

Their faces were pressed disgracefully against the hard floor, and they couldn't even look Zhang Lie in the eye. The greatest shame they had felt in their lives forced out their bodies' potential.

Lin Wei, who had long since broken through without knowing it, couldn't bear it any longer. "We're soldiers, members of the special forces who look death in the eye! You might be able to best us, but we won't submit to you! Kill us if you dare—we won't give in!"

"Kill you? Subjugate you? ? Surely not. You're all prized soldiers under Commander Su's care, and I'd hardly dare do anything to you."

Zhang Lie smiled as he deactivated [Eclipse]. As the blood moon vanished, so did the pressure on the soldiers' bodies.

"Alright, the trial is over. You've all done well, everyone. Stand up and feel how your bodies have changed," Zhang Lie casually instructed.