Elite Training Camp!

Inside the command hall of the War Base.

The military's senior officers and the War Gods who had helped this time had all gathered there, and everyone was in good spirits.

Although Ji Yun wasn't a War God, word had already spread that he would be joining the Elite Training Camp. Combined with his valiant deeds on the battlefield, this had earned him the admiration of the many War Gods present.

"Thank you, everyone. We managed to successfully repel this wave of Sea Clan Monsters! The ocean monsters probably won't launch another attack on this scale for several months." The middle-aged commander was in a very good mood. Their losses had been small this time—a world of difference compared with the past.

Most importantly, Ji Yun had fought as if he were ready to die, preventing the Lord-level monsters from breaking into the War Base and greatly reducing their losses.

After they chatted for a while, everyone went their separate ways.

Lu Xiangsheng found Ji Yun. "You didn't leave behind any monster corpses, so the military district wants to offer you some compensation."

"Compensation?" Ji Yun was quite surprised. He had come here of his own accord and hadn't signed any agreement.

"It's like this," Lu Xiangsheng explained. "The Underground Alliance and the martial arts schools collect the corpses of monster lords from the battlefield. War Gods risk their lives fighting for the military and usually don't ask for payment, but they're entitled to keep the corpses of the monsters they kill. You made a great contribution during the beast tide, and you're an unaffiliated Martial Artist, so the military district wants to compensate you. At the very least, you could say it's an investment in a future War God."

Lu Xiangsheng smiled, clearly in a good mood. The beast tide's retreat would give the soldiers a decent stretch of peace.

"That won't be necessary."

"I'll be heading to the Elite Training Camp soon after I get home. Other forms of compensation won't be useful to me," Ji Yun said.

"I knew you'd say that." Lu Xiangsheng nodded, as if he'd expected it. "So I put in a request to award you a military rank."

"The commander's suggestion was to promote you straight to major general. After all, you'll surely become a War God once you enter the Elite Training Camp. A major general's rank wouldn't be undeserved. What do you think?"

"Major general?" Ji Yun couldn't help but find it strange. "That would put me on the same level as you. I only took part in one battle. How could I possibly be made a major general?"

"I only did what I could," he continued. "If I'm going to receive a rank, there's no need to make it so high. Military rank doesn't equal strength, after all. What matters is the contribution you make to the country."

Lu Xiangsheng nodded. That was exactly what he admired about Ji Yun: his sense of duty to his country. Unlike those powerful people who cared only about themselves, Ji Yun clearly had a deep sense of patriotism.

"Then we'll make you a colonel. That's a fair match for your strength. You also earned plenty of military merit this time, so you've more than deserved the rank."

Risking certain death to fight a Lord Monster was a tremendous achievement. Ji Yun's contribution this time was worth many smaller battles—and even those smaller battles couldn't compare with saving lives by reducing losses.

The losses from this beast tide were considered light. Even so, several hundred soldiers had died, hundreds more had been injured, and dozens of War General-level Martial Artists had been wounded or killed.

"All right, I won't keep you any longer. There's still work waiting for me at the military district."

Lu Xiangsheng patted Ji Yun on the shoulder, as if to reassure him, then smiled and walked away.

The battle to defend against the ocean beast tide half a month earlier had helped Ji Yun improve considerably. He had plunged into the beast general ranks amid life-and-death danger, then narrowly managed to drive back the Lord Monster. Over the following days, he spent most of his time each day training his strength output in Fierce Wind. A sudden epiphany about an intent was impossible to force. He had gained some insight at the War Base, but he was still a long way from breaking through to the next level. Besides, Ji Yun felt that the path of intent had reached its end. There was nowhere left to advance.

Time flowed by like water, silently passing. In the blink of an eye, it was already January 28—the day Ji Yun would leave for the Elite Training Camp!

January 28, 1:30 p.m. Kyoto Base City Airport.

Situ Ye was accompanying Ji Yun and the young genius named Wang Xiao.

Ji Yun had seen Wang Xiao once before. He was a member of the Wang Family, the foremost family in Huaxia, and possessed astonishing talent. Wang Xiao had told him that his family had originally planned to request a place for him in this year's Elite Training Camp, but all the slots had already been filled. And since he certainly wouldn't pass the B-level assessment, he had decided to enter the Basic Training Camp and work his way up. After all, most Elite Training Camp members had come up through the Basic Training Camp.

"Brother Yun, to be honest, even though I was born into the Wang Family, this is my first time on a plane." Wang Xiao was an outgoing person. He'd become friendly with Ji Yun as soon as they met and didn't act like a genius at all. After all, Ji Yun was already far ahead of him; getting into the Elite Training Camp was a much greater achievement.

"A-Yun, since you've flown before, why don't you explain things to Wang Xiao? I'll take a nap." Situ Ye led the two of them into first class and found their seats.

"Sure," Ji Yun replied with a smile.

"Wang Xiao, since this is your first time flying, the Limit Dojo is covering the cost," Ji Yun said. "Next time you fly, you'll have to buy your own ticket. The tickets on Huaxia Nation's large passenger planes, which travel from the Six Great Base Cities to our headquarters, cost ten million Huaxia Currency for economy class and twenty million for first class."

"As for travel between Base Cities, Martial Artists usually take the train. Planes are generally for ordinary people who don't have much fighting ability, though you can take one if you're in a hurry."

"What's better about first class than economy?" Wang Xiao couldn't help asking.

"That's because you haven't experienced how crowded economy class is!" Situ Ye suddenly said. "You have to understand, large passenger planes are incredibly rare around the world, and both building and maintaining them cost a fortune. Since there are so few, they have to fit in as many seats as possible! There's enough room to sit in economy class, but you can't stretch out your legs."

The plane's cabin doors closed. Once all the passengers were seated, the plane prepared for takeoff.

"If you want to watch a movie, put on your headphones. If not, get some rest. We'll reach headquarters in just over an hour." Situ Ye closed his eyes.

About an hour and twenty minutes later, the passenger plane landed at the airport in Hongning Base City, home to the Limit Dojo's Global Headquarters.

After the three of them left the airport, they went straight to their designated vehicle.

The entire Base City was beautiful. Its architectural style was modeled entirely on ancient Chinese architecture, with pavilions and towers everywhere. The fact that buildings in this style could reach more than ten stories high left Ji Yun amazed.

"Back during the Great Nirvana Period, the Dojo Master built a simple human settlement here with a group of followers, so that the many refugees could have a place to live. As time went by, Hongning Base City kept growing!" Situ Ye said with a smile. "Hongning Base City is in western Asia, relatively close to Europe."

"With the Dojo Master here, Hongning Base City is the safest Base City in the world!"

"Every year, many wealthy people and Martial Artists join our Base City. But the Dojo Master has always kept its population under control. Even now, the entire city has only eighty million people," Situ Ye said. "If he weren't keeping it in check, a population of two or three hundred million would be perfectly normal."

"Not a single King-level Monster has dared to come bother Hongning Base City," Situ Ye said confidently.

"We've arrived at the Training Camp. Let's get out," Situ Ye said. "This is the Elite Training Camp. Wang Xiao, come in and have a look too. Isn't the Elite Training Camp your goal? Consider this an early celebration."

"Yeah." Wang Xiao could barely contain his excitement.

Ji Yun and Wang Xiao got out of the car and entered the spacious Training Camp gates with Situ Ye.

As soon as they entered, they saw a colossal dragon sculpture. The nearly fifty-meter-tall black dragon fixed its enormous eyes on Ji Yun. An endless darkness pressed down on him, making the air around him seem to freeze. Although Ji Yun was shaken by its aura, he didn't lose focus. Wang Xiao, however, had gone pale and seemed dazed.

"It's just a sculpture, and it scared you?" Situ Ye shook Wang Xiao out of it, then said to Ji Yun, "You're impressive, kid. Even better than I expected."

Ji Yun nodded slightly. The dragon sculpture's pressure wasn't all that strong to him. Having mastered intent, his level of understanding was already higher than that of many War Gods. The black scales of the enormous dragon, which was a full fifty meters long, were actually made up of small screens, each displaying a name.

NO.1 Renatus & Bridge (530321)

NO.2 Chu Qiang (540601)

NO.3 Eben & Pass (520916)

NO.4 Shi Jiang (530706)

NO.181 Ajax (570109)

From top to bottom, each dragon scale displayed one name. There were 181 names in total.

Situ Ye smiled and explained, "These are the rankings. The Elite Training Camp currently has 181 students, all top geniuses from around the world. They're ranked from highest to lowest according to their combat strength points! Ji Yun, once you pass the B-level assessment, you'll have to work hard to climb as high as you can."

Situ Ye had no doubt that Ji Yun would pass. He'd heard about the beast tide, and with the physical strength of a Mid-Level War General, Ji Yun had held off an Elementary Lord. Passing the assessment would be easy.

"Rankings?" Ji Yun looked at the names on the black dragon's tall, dark scales, understanding. His earlier guess had been right: the Elite Training Camp had rankings.

Situ Ye explained, "The competition in the Elite Training Camp is much fiercer than anywhere else. Your rank also determines the benefits you receive!"

"The higher your rank, the more resources you get, of course! If you end up in the bottom three for a total of three times, you'll be eliminated."

"I won't go into everything now. Once you pass the B-level assessment, you'll learn all the rules." Situ Ye looked up at the colossal black dragon sculpture in front of them. "Haven't you noticed what's most unusual about this sculpture?"

"Its aura," Wang Xiao said.

"I think it's the aura of life coming from the black dragon's eyes," Ji Yun replied.

In terms of sheer intimidation, monsters could only rely on their size to frighten others. They couldn't compare with human Martial Artists who had thoroughly studied the martial arts.

"It's actually a real SS-grade King-level Monster—a black dragon born inside a volcano! The Dojo Master killed it and later kept its two eyes, placing them inside this dragon sculpture."

"The entire sculpture is made of fairly precious materials. The most precious part, of course, is its pair of eyes. They're the real eyes of a black dragon!"

"When it was designed, the dragon's eyes were positioned to stare at the entrance. That's why most people who've just entered the gates get scared if they look up at them." Situ Ye smiled, looking rather pleased. "Those two eyes alone are worth more than ten billion!"

"A-Yun, you're the only student I know of who wasn't frightened. You know, even the War Gods are unaffected."

Wang Xiao couldn't help glancing at Ji Yun. He'd known that getting into the Elite Training Camp was impressive, but he hadn't realized his senior was this exceptional.

"Come with me. Remember, don't wander off," Situ Ye instructed.

The Training Camp was called a camp, but in reality it was breathtakingly beautiful, as if they'd arrived at a cluster of ancient palaces. There were all kinds of precious flowers and trees, along with streams and small bridges. Aside from a few main palaces, there were elegant pavilions everywhere, and young people in loose Training Suits could be seen coming out of them from time to time.

These young people included men and women, and people with white, black, and yellow skin.

"Look over there. Those young people are all official students of the Elite Training Camp." Situ Ye pointed toward a huge, nine-story tower at the very heart of the camp. Although it had only nine floors, it was as tall as an ordinary twenty-story building. "All the students are heading there. That nine-story tower is called the Nine-Fold Tower!"

"Inside the Training Camp, students spend almost all their time in the Nine-Fold Tower, except when they're sleeping."

As they walked through the camp, Ji Yun was clearly more relaxed than Wang Xiao. With his keen eye, he could tell that these students were all below his level, so he wasn't particularly interested. Wang Xiao, by contrast, was very reserved.

"Wang Xiao, wait here and don't wander off. I'll take Ji Yun in to get him checked in," Situ Ye said.