Chapter 893: An Overwhelming Reward

The members of the Zenith Dojo looked toward Zhang Lie with shock and respect.

He was truly an excellent inventor—one who had already developed and mass-produced Potion #3 while the rest of the Milky Way was still researching how to adapt Potion #2 to their respective species, as well as setting up production lines for the core ingredients.

Zhang Lie was truly at the frontier of limit fragment research.

Many of those present had joined the Zenith Dojo either because of their deep respect for Zhang Lie or because they wanted access to the limit-breaking potions that he had developed.

Upon learning that the superior limit-breaking potion, Potion #3, was now available, they congratulated themselves for having the foresight to join the Zenith Dojo in advance.

Zhang Lie wasn't worried that news of Potion #3 would spread; it was just annoying to deal with all the trouble that would result in the aftermath. However, all the disciples of the Zenith Dojo were risking their lives on this mission. Zhang Lie thought it only fair that he presented them with something of value for their efforts.

Zhang Lie had clearly delineated the dangers of participating in this expedition to Mars, which meant that those disciples willing to brave the battlefield truly wanted to remain in the Zenith Dojo. He might not be able to entrust them with his life, but he would surely show them the courtesy of basic trust.

Those disciples who had come with ulterior motives, who were only interested in what the Zenith Dojo could give them, rather than the other way around, wouldn't have been willing to risk the trip to Mars, let alone be among the first wave of disciples that would arrive there.

With this mission, Zhang Lie was essentially selecting the cream of the crop, a trustworthy group of hunters who would be tempered by this expedition and form the core fighting force of the dojo.

Zhang Lie was confident that those who managed to survive on Mars would grow into fearsome fighters. With the help of a superior limit-breaking potion, it would be only a matter of time before they exceeded Hong Tianqi himself. Thirty thousand Hong Tianqis—if Zhang Lie could grow a force that strong, no one would ever dare pull anything against the humans again.

The disciples of the Zenith Dojo had originally been rather scared of the space bugs they were about to face, but after seeing the lavish rewards that they could receive, all that fear dissipated.

The space bugs might as well have been walking sacks of gold. Nowhere else would they be able to obtain vials of Potion #3, nowhere in the universe! A single vial would be able to purchase an entire planet.

Sun Mengmeng instructed, "Everyone, keep this a secret for now—this is a major development that will shake the entire galaxy. The herbs that are required for this potion largely grow in the second realm, and we don't have enough of a supply for the entire Milky Way."

Sun Xiaowu continued, "Once word of this development spreads, the Zenith Dojo will be bombarded by requests and demands from all sorts of entities, so we need to keep this a secret for now."

The disciples all nodded fervently.

They returned to perusing the list of rewards. As they glanced at an unassuming little line, they rubbed their eyes, sure that they had misread something.

One disciple drummed up her courage and asked, "Dojo Leader, is something wrong with the rewards?"

Zhang Lie frowned. "Not as far as I'm aware. I checked the list over with Zhang Hong before it was distributed."

The disciple continued uncertainly, "Well, the disaster-grade cores listed here... do they refer to disaster-grade lifeforms?"

Zhang Lie countered, "What else could they refer to?"

The disciples of the Zenith Dojo all widened their eyes.

"The disaster-grade lifeforms that you discovered, dojo leader?"

"Disaster gene fragments..."

"I've read quite a few articles about them. The dojo leader was the one who discovered and identified them. Allegedly, these disaster-grade lifeforms possess disaster-grade cores that have to be absorbed via special means. Disaster gene fragments are said to be remarkably powerful, and they're something the strongest hunters are fervently seeking out."

The disciples of the Zenith Dojo all began to pool their knowledge together.

"Is the dojo leader crazy? He's giving such precious cores out as rewards?"

"What are you talking about? Of course he's not crazy!"

"Then—are we really going to be able to obtain such cores as rewards for hunting down these bugs?!"

"More importantly, where did the dojo leader find such a large supply of disaster-grade cores that he can give them out as rewards? You know how the strongest organizations are all trying to hunt these disaster-grade lifeforms down, but the majority can't even find one, let alone kill one!"

Because Zhang Lie had started a disaster-grade farm in the second realm, he and the members of Team Zenith had never had to participate in the stiff competition for hunting down disaster-grade lifeforms, and they weren't aware of just how bad the situation was in the second realm.

The hunters of the Milky Way and all major factions were trying to find and take down as many disaster-grade lifeforms as they could. The number of disaster-grade lifeforms in the second realm was surely limited; every lifeform that someone else hunted was one less for them.

Competition was stiff and growing stiffer by the day.

Zhang Lie had had a hard enough time trying to find these disaster-grade lifeforms with the monarch of stars' map and detailed information and no competition besides. The situation had to be far worse for the hunters of the Milky Way.

To them, the discovery of disaster gene fragments was far more impactful than that of the limit-breaking potions that Zhang Lie had pioneered.

Although these limit fragments were of immense value to the races of the Milky Way, many of the races were yet unable to develop their own analogues of those potions. On the other hand, every race could absorb disaster-grade cores directly.

As such, the disciples of the Zenith Dojo were unbelievably shocked to see these cores appear as potential rewards for this mission.

If other hunters and factions could participate in this mission, the disciples were certain that the space bugs would be wiped out to the point of extinction in a matter of days—that was how valuable these disaster-grade cores were.

For the Zenith Dojo to be able to supply its disciples with these rewards, well, some of the disciples were tempted to sell them rather than to absorb them themselves. Rationally, it was near-impossible for them to believe that they could really receive these miraculous cores just by hunting down bugs.

Of course, the number of points they would have to obtain for this ridiculous reward was commensurate with its value, but that didn't diminish the disciples' eagerness at all. These cores were just that valuable.

The only thing they worried about was whether Zhang Lie could really supply them with these cores.