Ultragene Warlord

Wang Han's words rattled around Qin Zongming's brain, though he didn't let any of that emotion show on his face. He knew full well what Wang Han's words meant: Zhang Lie's strength was far greater than it appeared at first glance.

"Wang Han, you're not joking, are you?" Qin Zongming sat back down.

"Joking? Do you think I look like I'm joking? What's more, a three-star scarab is on the level of a peak second-realm hunter, isn't it?" Wang Han shook his head ruefully. If he were joking, why would he have sent for Li Mo and Qin Zongming?

"A troublesome affair indeed," Li Mo murmured, his brows furrowing. As the Li clan head, he knew that there was no reason for Wang Han to joke around. And while Qin Zongming shared the same sentiment deep down, he simply couldn't digest this reality.

"Furthermore, the two peak second-realm hunters I sent out were a coordinated pair, and strong even among peak second-realm hunters," Wang Han added. The table fell silent as Qin Zongming and Li Mo digested Wang Han's shocking information.

After all, if Zhang Lie really were that strong, then they surely had to get rid of him as soon as possible. Even if they had to suffer a blow to their reputation, getting rid of Zhang Lie was now of paramount importance.

"I'm sure he must be a significant burden to both of you as well. If you don't take him down, will you really be able to rest in peace?" Wang Han continued. If not for Zhang Lie's stunning growth, nor the protection afforded him by the two titles he had recently received, he would hardly have convened this meeting with the Li and Qin heads.

Qin Zongming raised an eyebrow. At this point, it was obvious what Wang Han was proposing: a coalition of the three clans, working together to get rid of Zhang Lie! It was honestly ludicrous that they had to devote such resources for a single first-realm hunter.

"Please, consider my proposal. If he wins the Void Cup, or if he ascends to the second realm, then..."

Wang Han allowed the two other clan heads to fill in the details on their own.

Qin Zongming's frown marred his face. The enmity between the Qin clan and Zhang Lie grew deep: if not for Zhang Lie, Qin Xiao wouldn't have been expelled from the clan, and the Qin clan wouldn't have suffered such retaliation from the other major clans of the Blacksteel settlement.

Zhang Lie had gone from the bottom of the gene leaderboard to Dragonwolf in just a few months, and his growth rate was incredible. If he were to extrapolate Zhang Lie's growth for another few months...

Qin Zongming's back turned cold. Wang Han wouldn't have called them over if he had no other choice, and Qin Zongming now understood why.

"But if we want to deal with that fellow, we'll have to go against the world federation and Chinese government. What do you propose?" Li Mo brought up the most pressing concern to him; it was out of fear of those two entities that the Li clan hadn't yet moved against Zhang Lie.

"It's true that we can't strike at him directly, but if we do it indirectly?" Wang Han replied, having anticipated the question.

Just like Li Mo, Qin Zongming also frowned. They had entertained such a suggestion before, but Zhang Lie was sly and difficult to get ahold of. He spent much of his time in the dimensional world, and was otherwise difficult to track down.

"His dojo's about to open, yes? The dojo consortium establishes that the dojo leader can be challenged up to three times on the opening day, and if something were to happen then, surely there's no one else to blame but the dojo leader himself. Even if there really were an investigation, do you think the government would crack down on all three of our clans just for a lone hunter who hasn't grown to his full potential?" Wang Han began, the tendrils of a plan forming in his mind.

Qin Zongming and Li Mo's eyes gleamed.

"An interesting point of attack," Qin Zongming mused, the corners of his lips curling up.

Wang Han smiled thinly.

"In that case, it's settled."

"Farewell!"

Qin Zongming and Li Mo stood up. They hadn't worked out an exhaustive plan of attack yet, but the matter was otherwise settled.

The final preparations for the founding of Zhang Lie's dojo represented the calm before the storm. Both in the dimensional world and in the real world, Zhang Lie encountered almost no problems at all, and his dojo steadily took shape.

However, Zhang Hong, who had recently been promoted to legal consultant for the Zenith Dojo, felt a curious sense of unease.

Although Zhang Lie had informed her that his dojo leader's certification would be ready for her shortly, she was still a little concerned because of the extremely negative reception she had received when she approached the Ning branch of the dojo consortium.

Just then, a hovercar landed outside her office. Official Yang stepped out, confirmed that this was where Zhang Hong worked, and hurried inside with a document in his hands. After taking a deep breath, he knocked on her door.

That knock startled Zhang Hong out of her thoughts.

"Please come in."

She shook her head and put on a professional smile.

"It's good to see you, Lawyer Zhang." As Official Yang walked in with a smile, Zhang Hong gasped. The day she had gone to the Ning branch of the dojo consortium to deal with paperwork, he had been so arrogant that it had left a lasting impression on her.

"Official Yang? Please, have a seat." Although she was confused by the sudden shift in his attitude, Zhang Hong still gave him a professional greeting, and she had her assistant prepare some tea for him.

Official Yang sank down onto her sofa, a smile still plastered on his face, seeming a little reserved all of a sudden. "I'm here to bring you Mr. Zhang Lie's dojo leader certification. The process was a little complicated, so it took longer than I'd have liked."

He carefully placed a document on the tea table, along with a microchip and a sheaf of papers.

"Indeed, the dojo consortium's paperwork is quite complicated." Zhang Hong's eyes widened. As she flipped through the documents, she found that all the paperwork had already been completed for her.

Everything was ready! She expected that running around to get all the miscellaneous signatures required would be a rather arduous process, but Official Yang had saved her all that trouble. The Zenith Dojo, which Zhang Lie was intending to construct, was now recognized by both the world federation and the Chinese government.

"Official Yang, thank you, I can't thank you enough!" Zhang Hong was elated by the sudden reversal in his behavior.

"No, it's no problem at all. Now that this matter's been resolved, please inform Mr. Zhang that I've handled the matter satisfactorily, and I hope he'll be able to forgive me this once." Official Yang licked his parched lips as he awaited Zhang Hong's response.

Just what had Zhang Lie done to cause such a dramatic shift in Official Yang's personality?

"Yes, Official Yang, of course I'll do that."

"In that case, I'll have to thank you in advance, Lawyer Zhang." Official Yang breathed out in relief. He prayed that Zhang Lie would let him go now that he had gotten the certification he wanted. "I'll be off now."

Official Yang inclined his head to her as he headed outside her office.

Zhang Hong's assistant came back into the room with tea just in time to see Official Yang leave, and was so surprised by his deference that she almost dropped her tea.

Once he was out of the office, she immediately turned to Zhang Hong. "What's going on, Miss Zhang? Why are the people from the dojo consortium treating you so respectfully?"

"Ha, it's respect toward Mr. Zhang, not me!"

Zhang Hong thought back to Zhang Lie's youthful appearance. She really was quite curious how he had managed to go so far in so short a period of time—it seemed like yesterday that he had barely managed to afford the house he was living in.

She was blessed to have met someone like him before his prime.

Subsequently, she contacted Zhang Lie to inform him of the good news. "Mr. Zhang, the dojo leader's certification is ready, and the construction of the dojo is itself finishing up. We'll be ready for the grand opening in at most a week!"

"That quickly? It looks like Official Yang works pretty quickly when he's motivated to." He cut the connection, smirking. As he stretched, he breathed out. Now that the dojo's opening day was imminent, he would have to temporarily pause his training.

After washing up, he headed toward where the other members of Team Zenith were training.

Zhang Lie was rather surprised that his teammates were so insistent on training; he had expected that they would take some time off after their grueling experience in the Desert of Silence, but they had all continued their training regimens the same way he did.

The encounters they had overcome within the Desert of Silence and during the Kez invasion had made them well aware of how weak they were in the grand scheme of things, and how much hard work still lay ahead of them.

"Captain!" The moment Yang Ze, sweating profusely, noticed his appearance, he immediately restrained his aura.

Within the Desert of Silence, he had gained a deeper understanding of [Fists of the Silent Sea]. That, combined with the countless demonstrations Zhang Lie had shown him, had led to an evolution in his application of the technique, and he even seemed to be able to replicate the variants that Zhang Lie had shown off in the footage of his fight during the Kez invasion.

"Alright, everyone, prepare to return to Earth!" Zhang Lie called out.

Was the dojo finally finished? The hunters' eyes gleamed.

As they left the teleportation array and saw the completed form of the Zenith Dojo for the first time, Sun Xiaowu and the others let out a surprised gasp.

Black steel walls and a gateway arch constructed in the style of yore heralded an expansive dojo that dwarfed the buildings around it. By the entrance, on a slab of gleaming stone, were engraved the words 'Zenith Dojo'.