Peak Martial Arts Hall Special Training Camp!

Peak Martial Arts Hall Special Training Camp! Even the wind over the wasteland seemed intimidated by the lofty dominance contained in Xiao Wuhen's words, "the rules," becoming cautious and only daring to whimper in the distance.

The two figures continued onward, one ahead and one behind, treading across ground soaked in blood and dried by the wind as they headed in the direction opposite East Forest Base City.

Lin Ming followed behind Xiao Wuhen, mulling over the words "the rules." Not tyranny—rules. Because one was powerful, the rules one set became the rules.

Those who refused to obey those rules were "flies that hurt the eye" and "stones blocking the road," to be casually swept aside and crushed. The logic was simple and brutal, yet it carried the suffocating arrogance of absolute power.

But he had to admit that these "rules" benefited him right now.

If Xiao Wuhen had not forcibly intervened with the Peak Martial Arts Hall's "rules," he might already have been a corpse smashed apart by Chen Haidong, or meat on the Gao Household's chopping block.

"What, finding it hard to adapt?"

Xiao Wuhen, walking ahead, seemed to sense Lin Ming's silence. Without turning around, he spoke, his voice still carrying that carefree amusement.

"You think we're too arrogant, too unreasonable?"

Lin Ming was silent for a moment before answering honestly, "A little."

"Haha, honest." Xiao Wuhen laughed, the sound carrying far across the empty wasteland. "Kid, you need to understand something. In this damn world, especially in the Wilderness, among martial artists, so-called 'reason' usually exists only between people of equal strength, or in the fantasies of the weak toward the strong. Real reason is fought out and killed out. The Peak Martial Arts Hall's rules today weren't established by reasoning with people. Generation after generation, we carved them out with our fists, with blood, with killing!"

He stopped and turned to face Lin Ming. The afterglow of the setting sun fell across his devilishly handsome face, while a nearly fanatical, unquestionable light flashed in those peach-blossom eyes.

"Why do you think Dragon Nation, even all of Blue Star's human civilization, has relatively stable base cities now? Why do brats like you get the chance to awaken, cultivate, and even stir up trouble?"

Xiao Wuhen raised his voice slightly, carrying an indescribable mixture of pride and weight.

"Because of those aristocratic families hiding behind the walls, fighting over power and profit? Because of those conglomerates concerned only with making money? Or because of those council old men whose slogans shake the heavens, yet who squabble with each other when it matters?"

He sneered and shook his head.

"None of them. It's because of the Peak Martial Arts Hall! Because of our great Hall Master, who fought his way out from that dark era of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, when human civilization was nearly wiped out!"

Xiao Wuhen's gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, looking toward some distant and brutal past.

"Without the Hall Master, without the sacrifices and suppression of the Peak Martial Arts Hall's generations of powerhouses, those high-level Mutated Beasts constantly pouring out from spatial rifts, underground abysses, and the depths of the ocean would have torn humanity's last bastions to pieces long ago! Do you think today's peace is a given? It was built by countless Peak Martial Arts Hall martyrs filling the gap with their lives!"

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Lin Ming again, his eyes sharp.

"It's only because the Hall Master entered seclusion in recent years, and the martial hall shifted toward low-profile development and cultivating reserve strength, that some ignorant cats and dogs started thinking the Peak Martial Arts Hall had 'declined' and become 'easy to bully,' daring to jump out and provoke us. The Chen Household? The Gao Household? Hmph. Just toads at the bottom of a well. What right do they have to talk about face or sentiment?"

If you can't find the book by searching its title, try searching for the author. It may simply have been renamed!

Xiao Wuhen's tone was full of disdain, but it quickly shifted into an almost bewitching fervor as he looked at Lin Ming.

"Lin Ming, you won't regret joining the Peak Martial Arts Hall. This is the cradle of geniuses, the hall of the strong! Our Hall Master cherishes talent most and loves nurturing promising seedlings like you!

"Here, as long as you have talent, work hard enough, and are ruthless enough, you'll have resources, cultivation methods, martial skills, guidance... everything you could need! Your strength will rise at an unprecedented speed! Your grudges and the things you want to do can all find a way to be realized here!"

Lin Ming listened quietly, and Xiao Wuhen's words truly stirred something within him.

From Xiao Wuhen's tone and gaze, he could feel the heartfelt reverence and fanaticism toward the martial hall and its Hall Master. It did not seem feigned.

If the Peak Martial Arts Hall truly was as he said—the backbone holding back humanity's extinction, a holy ground for cultivating top powerhouses—then it was indeed a path to the heavens for Lin Ming.

Not only could it shelter him from the Chen Household and any other possible pursuers, but it could also give him the best environment to grow stronger faster.

"Are we going back to South River Base City now?" Lin Ming asked. He wanted to settle some matters first, such as his second uncle's family, and... reclaim what belonged to him.

"South River? No." Xiao Wuhen shook his head, that wicked smile returning to his face. "What's worth staying for in a little place like that? I'm taking you straight to headquarters."

"Headquarters?"

"That's right, the Peak Martial Arts Hall headquarters—Upper Capital Base City." Xiao Wuhen's tone carried a trace of yearning and pride. "That is the true core of Dragon Nation, even of all human civilization on Blue Star! That's where the strong belong!"

"Upper Capital..." Lin Ming's heart trembled slightly. It was Dragon Nation's capital, a legendary place teeming with powerful figures, where dragons coiled and tigers crouched. He had never imagined he would have the chance to set foot there so soon.

"Perfect," Xiao Wuhen continued. "This year's Peak Special Training Camp is about to begin. It's open to official disciples under thirty from across the entire hall, and it's an excellent opportunity. I plan to handle your registration directly, then send you in."

"Peak Special Training Camp?" Lin Ming caught the unfamiliar term.

"Mm. Simply put, it's the Genius Trial Grounds, a place for raising gu." Xiao Wuhen was concise, though his tone carried a peculiar undertone.

"It gathers the very best talents under thirty from the entire hall, as well as those selected from all over the country. The competition is far fiercer than you can imagine. But as long as you walk out alive, even if you graduate early, it'll be enough to make you famous and have major factions scrambling to recruit you."

He glanced at Lin Ming and added, "You should have heard of Huaxia Academy Martial Arts University back in South River, right? The number one academy in Dragon Nation, at least openly."

Lin Ming nodded, his gaze dimming slightly. "I've heard of it. Didn't get in." He recalled the martial arts entrance exam three months ago that had decided his fate, along with the betrayal and framing that followed.

"Compared to the Peak Special Training Camp," Xiao Wuhen scoffed, his tone filled with undisguised contempt, "that so-called martial arts university is nothing more than children playing house. There, you'll truly understand what it means for 'strength to decide everything.' Resources, status, respect, even... the power to decide life and death—if you're strong enough, you can have it all. It has the best cultivation facilities, the richest libraries of cultivation methods and martial skills, the harshest combat training, and... the most merciless elimination system."

Listening, Lin Ming felt that the place was indeed extraordinary. But the question he cared about most was still...

"Can you kill people there?"

Lin Ming suddenly asked.

If you can't find the book by searching its title, try searching for the author. It may simply have been renamed!