Chapter 127: Preparing a Gift

After finally returning to the Blacksteel Inn from the Desert of Silence, Sun Mengmeng and the others quickly fell asleep. Over ten days of high-intensity hunting had taken its toll, and they were tired beyond all measure.

Zhang Lie, on the other hand, was standing motionlessly in one of the training rooms in the inn, his white attire blending in perfectly with the white paneling of the room. With his aura curtailed, it was surprisingly difficult to spot him.

As his breathing became weaker and weaker, he seemed to become a cohesive whole with the training room itself. However, just as his breath was about to expire, he suddenly opened his eyes.

His water- and darkness-attuned genetic energy circulated around his body, and his serpent took form. Its pupils were a deep green, and its forked tongue a curious purple.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The well-lit training room began to darken, as though the serpent was absorbing all the light that impinged upon it. And as the light was about to be fully extinguished, a series of ripples spread out from Zhang Lie, blanketing the room in an illusion of a starry sky and a full, radiant moon.

The serpent soared toward the moon, wrapping itself around it, diffusing the light that reflected off its scales and seemingly solidifying the darkness around it.

A leaf fell into the room through a window. The moment it entered Zhang Lie's domain, it withered instantly, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Zhang Lie breathed out and halted the circulation of his genetic energy. The starry sky vanished, as did the glowing moon and his illusory serpent.

He clenched his fist. Before the fight with the two peak second-realm hunters, he had only briefly grasped [Eclipse]'s auxiliary domain, but during the fight, when he had somehow managed to combine the effect of his framework and the technique, [Eclipse]'s strength and power of dissolution had all been magnified.

Unfortunately, the combination of both effects was a huge drain on his reserves. His framework was still relatively low-rank, and he would only be able to sustain this combination technique for a minute or so.

"I really do need to find a way to develop my framework quickly," Zhang Lie sighed to himself.

The opening of his dojo would be the culmination of a month of hard work. After what had happened to Wang Xiaohua and the incident at the venombane glade, Zhang Lie had established quite a few enemies, and he was certain they would try to stir something up then.

Back on Earth, in the slums of Ning, as the first rays of dawn shone on the bleak, gray buildings nearby, the residents of the slums were starting another dreary day.

However, today was more special than most: the whirrs and hums of all sorts of robots had roused the residents awake, and they were wondering what was causing the commotion. The buildings all around Zhang Lie's house were being torn down, and smoke and dust filled the air.

Such was the size of the destruction that the residents were all stunned by the sight.

"What's going on? Is the government going to be developing the slums?"

"What? Haven't you read the news? ?That house belongs to the Dragonwolf Zhang Lie!"

"What? That Zhang Lie, the one who's been in the news? He's from Ning, and he's even from the slums? ?Surely that can't be true!"

"You're really far behind the times, aren't you? It's perfectly true, and his background's already been vetted by all sorts of media sources! Furthermore, I even heard that he'll be building a dojo right here in the slums."

"A dojo? You're joking, aren't you? Isn't he only in his twenties? Is he qualified to start his own dojo?"

"Of course he is! You realize that he's a dragonsoul warrior and a galaxy fighter—with those two titles in hand, he can basically do what he wants!"

"Ah, in that case, what's going to happen to us?"

"Whatever's coming our way, I doubt it can make our lives worse."

The residents of the slums felt as though they were indelibly marked as lower-class citizens. Many of them dreamt of accomplishing great achievements and elevating their status, but their upbringing and environment deterred them from this lofty goal.

And yet, despite all odds, a youth who had to care for his disabled sister had done just that. His accomplishments at such a young age and without any semblance of an illustrious background to speak of shocked and caused envy in those around him.

"Heh, my daughter's just turned 19, and our house is right by Zhang Lie's..."

"Pshaw! You think your daughter'll stand a chance against those highbred women from the major clans?"

It seemed as though everyone around was discussing the construction happening around them.

News that Zhang Lie was constructing a dojo in the slums of Ning spread throughout China, and even the world federation. Quite a few curious people in or close to Ning even came to observe what was happening. If the dojo was receiving such publicity before it had even been completed, what would the opening day be like?

Of course, there were those who couldn't stand hearing about Zhang Lie's success.

Qin Zongming's face was seething with rage. As he smashed a fist down on a nearby table, it splintered and cracked. "He's starting a dojo, is he?!" Qin Zongming thundered.

The elders gathered around him knew what that implied.

In modern times, dojos were sources of strength, as well as one of the easiest means by which a faction could easily grow strong. Some of the more prestigious and established dojos boasted power comparable to a few ancient clans.

A fair number of disciples viewed their mentor as more important than their own clan, and even those that didn't would place mentor and clan on nearly equal footing.

Once Zhang Lie's dojo was open, he would quickly develop a mass of followers and grow significantly in strength. As long as he didn't die, countless hotblooded youths would flock to his dojo and form the basis and foundation of his power. And once he reached the apex of his growth, even without the protection of the federation and Chinese government, the Qin clan would be powerless against him.

"Head, don't worry: the dojo hasn't been constructed, and whether or not it'll ever be finished will depend on us major clans," the sixth elder, Qin Feng, advised. A few other elders immediately agreed with his viewpoint.

"A dojo requires considerable resources to found, and if it were to fail, then so would this poor lad's reputation!" Qin Zongming murmured to himself, the details of a devious plan swimming through his head. "Yes, you're quite right. In that case, the day of his dojo's opening, we'll send him a generous gift, won't we?"