Chapter 321: Meeting with Zhang Hong

"Don't worry, Brother, I'll keep your secret!" Zhang Hanxiang nodded, happy that her brother had seen fit to trust her about such an important secret.

The members of Team Zenith knew their captain's personality well, and they certainly wouldn't divulge anything either.

Zhang Lie turned to them. "Hand me the materials—that'll be it for today. I'll let you all know when I have your potions ready."

Instead of heading straight to the lab, however, Zhang Lie then walked off in the direction of Zhang Hong's office, where Zhang Hong and Lin Xiu were already waiting for him.

"Sorry for the delay," Zhang Lie apologized, but Zhang Hong only smiled. "It's not a problem. We've been talking about some matters regarding the disciples."

"Good, good. How are the alien researchers doing?" Zhang Lie cut to the chase.

Lin Xiu and Zhang Hong glanced at each other, and Lin Xiu chuckled. "Lad, if you didn't bring them up, I would have suspected that you'd forgotten about them entirely. It's been a few months, and all you've done is give them the barest hint about what they should be doing. Even I think you've been too harsh! I know you've been busy, but it isn't appropriate to just leave them hanging either. How about you find some time to help them get started?"

Lin Xiu was hardly ever this verbose, and Zhang Lie was surprised that he was speaking up in defense of the alien researchers. Lin Xiu felt that this was only the right thing to do. During the past few months, the four alien researcher teams had gradually assimilated themselves with the Zenith Dojo, and they had petitioned Lin Xiu and Zhang Hong to help them out with regards to Zhang Lie.

They had been remarkably useful in helping out the Zenith Dojo, and they had even requested rare and precious resources from their home planets in order to do so, and Lin Xiu and Zhang Hong felt the need to compensate them for their trouble. Furthermore, they both understood Zhang Lie well—he would never renege on a promise he had made.

Zhang Lie would have to help them sooner or later, and they would try their best to ensure that it was sooner rather than later.

Zhang Lie smiled. "They must have been on their best behavior if even you were convinced to speak up for them, Lin Xiu. Very well, I'll show them a few tricks."

Zhang Lie deliberately took a big breath while they watched him in anticipation, then continued, "What do you think of my two apprentices, Jun Jiuxiao and Ye Xianchen?"

"Jiuxiao and Xianchen?" Zhang Hong frowned. Lin Xiu was likewise confused. Was there some sort of relationship between the limit fragment research and his two apprentices?

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𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"What do you mean? How are they related?" Lin Xiu asked directly, only to be met with one of Zhang Lie's mysterious smiles. "Have a chat with the two of them, and you'll see. I think it should make the four research teams' work a lot easier if you do—let them work on that for now, and if they run into an issue they can't resolve on their own, then I'll help them out once I'm out of the lab myself. I've already made preparations in the second realm, and I might be gone longer than I was this time around."

Zhang Lie's words shocked Lin Xiu and Zhang Hong. Apparently, Jun Jiuxiao and Ye Xianchen were instrumental to the alien research, but in a manner that wasn't yet apparent to Lin Xiu and Zhang Hong. Somehow, it seemed as though Zhang Lie had planned this all along— even before the start of the Void Cup itself. Lin Xiu found himself marveling at the extent of Zhang Lie's plans.

Even he couldn't block his curiosity any further. "Lad, tell me the truth—did you plan all this in advance?"

Zhang Lie laughed. "Not perfectly, but I was hoping for a little luck. You'll find out about everything once you ask the two of them what's going on. Right, tell them that I won't punish them for what they tried to hide from me. Please do keep an eye on them for me, too—I don't want my apprentices to be bullied by those fervent alien researchers."

Zhang Lie stood up and prepared to walk out of the room. "Right, that's that. I have to go brew some potions now, so I'll leave the two of you to take care of the dojo's affairs."

His tone was so indolent that the two of them gnashed their teeth and wanted to attack him, but there was little they could do. After all, he had bribed them with all sorts of expertise, potion knowledge, rare frameworks, techniques, and herbs...

Lin Xiu was already a master in his own right, and the treasures that Zhang Lie had access to had furthered his cultivation by a significant degree. Even Zhang Hong, who had just been a regular human, was now a proficient hunter in her own right.

Long ago, she had specifically booked time with Zhang Lie to begin her own training as a hunter, and she had continued that training with Lin Xiu despite how burdened she was with work.

"Ah, wait! You can't just leave everything to us—the first batch of disciples from the dojo are ready to enter the dimensional world! They're hoping you'll be present for the ceremony, and we were so overwhelmed with new recruits ?this year that we don't have space for all the promising candidates even with all the branches of the Zenith Dojo that currently exist. Do you think we should construct another set of branch locations?"