"However, our Southern Province has several very strong ones in this batch."
Huo Zihao did not notice anything unusual about Lu Chen and the others and simply continued on his own.
"Oh? How strong?"
At those words, a sharp glint flashed through Lu Chen's eyes. His hand rested on the hilt of his saber, but he made no other move.
"Ah, it's embarrassing to say. I've suffered setbacks at their hands several times."
"Oh? They're even stronger than you? Tell me about them."
Lu Chen seemed interested. The hand holding his saber hilt withdrew, and he stroked his chin as he looked at Huo Zihao with great interest.
"It's like this..."
So Huo Zihao began embellishing his account of Lin Mo, Chen Jia, Xiao Ya, and Liu Peipei, while directly skipping over Lin Dabao.
Naturally, he had heavily altered the parts where he had made trouble for himself.
As for the embarrassing parts, he omitted even more of them.
In any case, according to him, these people were all unruly and arrogant, relying on their formidable strength and lashing out the moment a word displeased them.
"Besides them, there are a few others who aren't bad either. I feel they're about as strong as I am. They are..."
Lu Chen listened patiently as Huo Zihao finished, the sharpness in his eyes growing even brighter.
"Less than 600 vitality, yet strong enough to crush you? A power-mutation type? A Psychic Master? A Light Element Awakened?"
Lu Chen repeated the words under his breath, a sinisterly charming smile appearing on his face.
He licked his lips, seeming somewhat excited.
"Brother Chen, I have an unreasonable request." Huo Zihao suddenly spoke at that moment.
"Go on."
"Could you help me get my pride back?"
"You mean you want me to deal with Lin Mo and the others?"
"Yes. They've gone too far in bullying people. I just can't swallow this anger." Huo Zihao wore an expression of grief, fury, and unwillingness.
"Fine. You're my brother, after all. I'll take this on. But the other people you mentioned—bring me to meet them too. You know where they are, right?"
Lu Chen nodded and smiled at Huo Zihao.
"No problem! I know roughly which direction they're in. They'll be easy to find."
Hearing Lu Chen's words, Huo Zihao was somewhat puzzled.
Why did Lu Chen want to find those other capable people he had mentioned later?
But he could not be bothered to care. As long as Lu Chen was willing to help him deal with Lin Mo and the others, that was enough.
"Then... let's go." Lu Chen was straightforward enough.
"Now? Have all your mission points been filled?"
Though Huo Zihao was happy, he had not yet gathered enough points.
Venting his anger was one thing, but if he failed to collect enough points and could not pass the assessment or enter the camp, that would be a tragedy.
"How much time would teaching those people a lesson take? Are you afraid there won't be enough time to earn points?"
Lu Chen spoke indifferently, though a trace of impatience flashed through his eyes.
However, he quickly concealed it.
"Uh, fine then. Follow me!"
Huo Zihao nodded. Thinking about it, that was indeed true.
He knew very well just how powerful Lu Chen was.
His father and Lu Chen's father were lifelong family friends.
Lin Mo and the others were troublesome, especially Xiao Ya.
But he knew Lu Chen did not fear them.
To others, Psychic Masters were indeed nightmares before one reached Skin Refining and Bone Refining.
But Lu Chen had long since completed Skin Refining. He was an absolute freak.
He had not mentioned this during his earlier introduction, but he knew it perfectly well.
Otherwise, Fourth-grade alone would not have been enough for Lu Chen to become Ning Province's number one.
Ning Province itself was vast and rich in resources, far wealthier than Southern Province in that regard.
Therefore, the overall strength of its martial artists was also considerably greater than that of Southern Province.
To put it bluntly, among the geniuses selected by Southern Province each year, not a single one had ever ranked within the top thousand at the Martial Alliance Elite Camp.
It was precisely because of this that Lu Li had valued Lin Mo so highly after discovering that he had become a Thunder Element Awakened and that his combat power increase was so monstrous.
Yet his expectation was only for Lin Mo to enter the top thousand of the Elite Camp.
That was because several provinces had terrifyingly deep pools of talent, constantly producing freakish monsters.
Even with geniuses as monstrous as Lin Mo, Chen Jia, and Xiao Ya, Lu Li still had no confidence at all!
Before long, their group found a team.
Zhang Qi, one of the team members, was precisely the genius Huo Zihao had mentioned as being about as strong as himself.
"Huo Zihao, what are you trying to do?"
Seeing that Huo Zihao's group had fifteen people, ten of whom were complete strangers, Zhang Qi and the others immediately became wary.
Those ten people were clearly not from Southern Province.
After all, the trainees from Southern Province who had come to participate in the Martial Alliance Elite Camp had all met at the Southern Province Military Department plaza.
Those ten had not been among them.
"Zhang Qi, there's no need to be nervous. A friend of mine simply wants to get to know you."
Seeing this, Huo Zihao said with a cheerful smile, preparing to introduce Lu Chen to him.
However, before he could explain, red-haired Lu Chen stepped forward. "You're Zhang Qi?"
"Yes. You are... What are you doing? Bastard!"
Zhang Qi had just begun to speak when Lu Chen instantly drew the curved saber from his waist and charged at him.
A savage expression appeared on Lu Chen's face, an unnatural smile spreading across it.
At that moment, he moved like lightning and reached Zhang Qi's side in the blink of an eye.
"Pfft—"
Without the slightest hesitation, the curved saber drew several dazzling streaks of silver light as it swept past Zhang Qi's limb joints.
Several strands of blood sprayed through the air.
"Ah... you..."
Zhang Qi instantly collapsed to the ground, in unbearable pain.
The joints in all four of his limbs had already been severed, leaving him unable to move.
The piercing agony turned Zhang Qi's face deathly pale and drenched him in cold sweat.
But now, he could only cry out in pain.
He could not utter a single word.
Disbelief and terror filled his eyes.
Zhang Qi's teammates, as well as Huo Zihao's team, all stood dumbfounded at the sight.
Other than Zhang Qi's agonized cries, not a trace of other sound remained.
"Bastards! How dare you strike with such vicious cruelty!"
Only after several breaths did Zhang Qi's teammates come back to their senses, immediately erupting in furious curses.
Several people quickly rushed to Zhang Qi's side to examine his injuries.
Their eyes were filled with hatred and vigilance toward Lu Chen and Huo Zihao.
"Huo Zihao, you bastard! You actually brought people to ambush Zhang Qi. We'll definitely report this to the Elite Camp instructors."
Seeing that Zhang Qi's limbs had been crippled, his teammates immediately cursed Huo Zihao.
"I... I... this has nothing to do with me."
Huo Zihao was utterly stunned as well. He had never expected Lu Chen to strike with such ruthlessness.
His main purpose in bringing Lu Chen here had only been to crush Lin Mo and the others and vent his anger.
At best, he had wanted Lin Mo and the others to lose their qualifications to enter the Elite Camp.
But no matter what, he had never considered crippling their limbs.
As for Zhang Qi before him, he held no grudge against him whatsoever. There was absolutely no reason for this.
Huo Zihao looked at Lu Chen in shock and confusion. At that moment, Lu Chen felt utterly unfamiliar.
"Is this still the Lu Chen I know?"
Yet in the face of their furious shouting, Lu Chen spoke coldly, "Report us? You won't get the chance."
Before you continue