Chapter 890: Lavish Rewards

Zhang Lie looked up toward the sky. "I suspect you know the answer already."

Looking up in the direction of Zhang Lie's gaze, Zhang Hong did understand: it had to be the Martian crisis!

The next morning, all the disciples of the Zenith Dojo gathered on the field.

The Zenith Dojo had expanded and expanded again as Zhang Hong purchased all the surrounding land. By now, it was the size of five stadiums. However, the gathering was still an extremely crowded affair, because the Zenith Dojo had now amassed over five hundred thousand disciples.

The ones standing at the very front of the field were the hunters of Team Zenith. Yang Ze had returned from the third realm; it had only been half a day on Earth, but over three weeks in the third realm, and Yang Ze had recovered fully from his injuries.

The six members of Team Zenith stood straight, their heads erect, setting perfect examples for those behind them. They were followed by Hong Xi, Hong Xiao, Jun Jiuxiao, and Ye Xianchen, and subsequently by the disciples of the Zenith Dojo, ordered by seniority.

The first, second, and third waves of disciples were relatively small, but the number had grown far larger by the sixth, seventh, and eighth waves.

Zhang Lie walked into the field with both hands clasped behind his back, nodding in satisfaction as he observed the disciples standing neatly and waiting for his arrival.

Sun Xiaowu suddenly shouted, "We greet the dojo leader!"

The members of Team Zenith thumped their chests with their fists.

"We greet the dojo leader!" With a shout, all the disciples of the Zenith Dojo repeated Sun Xiaowu's actions.

Zhang Lie couldn't help but marvel.

It had been a long time since the last such gathering, perhaps two or three months by Earth's time, when the disciples of the Zenith Dojo were constructing their own settlement in the first realm.

Zhang Lie walked up to the stage, whereupon Zhang Hong walked over and draped a cloak behind him.

Zhang Lie asked softly, "Who thought of this idea?"

"You mean, what they did just now?"

"It was imposing, impactful," Zhang Lie praised.

"Sun Xiaowu and the others suggested it themselves." She fastened the cloak, then stepped back.

Zhang Lie strode forward, his cloak billowing behind him as he unleashed his aura. The crowd of disciples watched on with bated breath.

Rather than deal with audio equipment, Zhang Lie simply infused genetic energy into his voice. Zhang Lie's voice filled the field. "You must be wondering why I, the dojo leader, have gathered all of you here today."

The disciples of the dojo listened quietly. No one dared speak or even murmur; they were all shocked stiff by Zhang Lie's aura.

"Mars is suffering an unprecedented disaster, an invasion of space bugs beyond anything ever experienced in its history. Over a billion humans are imperiled, and millions are dying day by day. Humanity looks out for itself, and as a part of humanity, I don't intend to let those bugs do as they will any longer. I've decided to lead all of you to clean up this mess!"

Zhang Lie cut straight to the chase, not mentioning how Hong Tianqi had tasked him with this responsibility or how he had observed that the first few batches of disciples were growing lazy and complacent.

"I don't intend to expound on morals. Your life is precious and valuable—and it belongs only to you. Our enemy is a swarm of space bugs that has since invaded half of Mars, and heading to that battlefield will put you in danger. Expect the possibility of death. If you don't want to go with me, turn and leave—give up your status as a member of the Zenith Dojo. I won't stop you. Those who intend to follow me to Mars, hone your blades and prepare to fight for your lives. You have one day to decide."

When Zhang Lie was done with his speech, he did a sharp about-face, then marched off the stage. The members of Team Zenith and Hong Xi's group of four immediately followed behind him.

They headed to a private conference room. Zhang Lie sat down and crossed his legs. "Yang Ze, are you feeling better?"

Yang Ze flexed, revealing a muscled arm. "Yes, Captain! I'm ready to slaughter some bugs with you."

No member of Team Zenith raised an objection to Zhang Lie's words. Either they agreed with his actions, or they trusted him to do what was right.

Zhang Lie turned to Zhang Hong. "Zhang Hong, please prepare a large shuttle. Given what's going on on Mars, we need to be prepared that the wormhole will be unusable. Furthermore, inform all participating disciples to gather at the Chinese spaceport next morning."

"Will there be any punishment for those who don't intend to go?"

Zhang Lie shrugged. "There's nothing to punish. Respecting their own lives and choosing to leave the dojo is a commendable decision, but we'll reward all disciples who participate and survive with a superior limit-breaking potion."

Hong Xi's eyes widened. "Master, are you releasing it publicly so early?"

"Only within the dojo, for now."

There were only a rare few disciplies in the Zenith Dojo who had imbibed such a potion; not even Zhang Hong had had access to it.

Zhang Lie turned to Hong Xi and the others. "How many sets of ingredients have you been able to collect for the superior limit-breaking potions?"

Hong Xi rolled her eyes. "Master, surely you aren't underestimating your apprentices? Since we have wood spirits in the kingdom of Limit, we don't have to go out hunting for these rare herbs anymore. We've set up an efficient system of farming to produce them in bulk, with the wood spirits' help."

Zahng Lie nodded. "I forgot about this."

Yun Bing had mentioned something similar. Zhang Lie had delegated this task to her, and then conveniently forgotten about it.

Hong Xi reported, "Given the rate at which we're producing these ingredients, we'd be able to supply all of Earth with these potions, let alone the Zenith Dojo."

"Good," Zhang Lie replied, nodding. "As for rewards, we'll go with 1, 10, 100, and 1,000 points for a one-star, two-star, three-star, and four-star bug respectively. As for a fifth-star bug—well, I don't think any of the disciples can take one down themselves."

Zhang Hong transcribed Zhang Lie's words in a virtual interface. She would have to be responsible for implementing and keeping track of this point system.

Zhang Lie continued, "Offer a superior limit-breaking potion for 10,000 points, but only up to one per person. In addition, offer a disaster-grade core for 100,000 points! Let them purchase peak-grade lifeforms for 1,000 points each, and superior-grade lifeforms for 100 points, only redeemable in the second realm."

The Zenith Dojo had given all its disciples a regular and mutated limit-breaking potion for free. The former could be obtained by becoming a disciple, and the latter after a hundred days in the dojo.

Many forces in the Milky Way were able to make such limit-breaking potions on their own by now, and the expense was no big deal.

Hong Xi's eyes widened. "Disaster-grade cores, too? None of us have maxed out our disaster gene fragments yet!"

Yang Ze rolled his eyes. "Hong Xi, aren't you a Zenith Dojo member yourself?"

Hong Xi blinked. "Yes, you're right."