160 The warriors return (1/2)
”Ah?” Jin Feng Lie suddenly stood up despite his injuries ”What do you mean by that?”
”What do I mean? Brother Jin, you need not be present in the woods when I confront the man.” Hai Chen Feng turned away and sighed: ”I will deal with this man in black alone!”
[If you're there and you see me losing, then wouldn't you recklessly jump in to save me? It is completely unnecessary to increase the number of causalities.]
[Whether I defeat him or die trying, it's better that you don't witness either... this is the least that I can do after so many years of friendship to save you...]
Once Hai Chen Feng was finished speaking, he turned around to face the wall and sat down cross-legged, unwilling to speak any further.
”Brother Hai...” Jin Feng Lie cried out as a sudden and heavy feeling clogged his heart. His mind was crowded with concerns about his friend's safety: [was involving Brother Hai a bad thing? Is Brother Hai's life in danger? Brother Hai has always been very confident about himself…. I've never seen him worry like this before. I think everything will be fine once he gets his confidence back! Brother Hai has never ever failed at any task before!]
Since Hai Chen Feng didn't seem interested in any further conversations, Jin Feng Lie sighed in a low voice and then exited the room.
Jun Mo Xie sensed a difference in the aura around his courtyard, so he put on his robes and stepped out into his courtyard under the twilight sky.
Jun Mo Xie's small courtyard was at present housing over two hundred men, who were neatly organized in lines. They stood up straight as soon as they saw Jun Mo Xie, brushed their uniforms, and shouted in unison: ”Master, we've returned!”
Jun Mo Xie smiled in return. His eyes scanned each and every one of the men in his courtyard, and then inwardly nodded in approval. The incompetence of these men had been completely annihilated by the training they had undergone, and these originally useless soldiers had now turned into iron-blooded warriors with the blood thirst of an unrestrained beast.
”What's the report?” Jun Mo Xie asked with a smile.
”The report, Master, is this; twenty seven men dropped out of the training, nineteen lost their lives, making our total downsizing of forty six, while the remaining two hundred and fifty four men stand here in front of you! One hundred and thirty people broke into the ninth layer, eighty four men advanced to the Silver Xuan, while another thirty six men advanced to the peak of the Silver Xuan realm. A total of four men have already made it to the Gold Xuan! Also, we hunted down all the Beasts that we were required to, young master!” one of the men stepped out from the ranks and debriefed Jun Mo Xie. The man's voice was clearly expressing his excitement! These people seemed very happy and proud of their progress!
”Very good!” Jun Mo Xie praised approvingly: ”You all have done a lot better than I expected. Can everyone feel that change in their bodies?”
Jun Mo Xie's sentence left the entire lot laughing in embarrassment as they recalled their days in the forest, and the times when they didn't even have enough food to eat... who could have ever imagined that they would return victorious, and the suicide training mission that their young master had sent them on would force out their skills! The strength of these men had more than doubled over the course of their training!
”Remember, you've only managed to achieve this result because you pushed yourself to the limits! Pushing oneself is the only way to tap into the infinite potential of the human body! Even cowards can become warriors! But if you stop pushing yourself, then your body will start decaying, and the warrior inside you will transform into a coward!”
Jun Mo Xie continued in a loud voice: ”You have made excellent progress and it is your right to celebrate, but let me tell you that you've only taken your first step. Even the best of you has only reached the Gold Xuan, what's the value of that in this world? There's still Jade Xuan, Earth Xuan, Sky Xuan and then the Supreme Xuan realms left! There's a long way to go, and I find it very strange that you haven't realized that yet... always keep your eyes and ears open and one day you may be able to attain the Supreme Xuan realm as well! There's still a long way for you all to go, but haste makes waste, and you need not look too far now. Just keep pushing yourself everyday… one step at a time, and unknowingly one day you'll realize that you've achieved the heights you could never even have dreamt about!”
”Yes! We honor and respect the young master's instructions!” everyone replied in unison.
Before accepting the training mission, these men didn't really think very highly of Jun Mo Xie. But these men were alarmed to realize that Jun Mo Xie's instructions had helped them in avoiding several life threatening situations inside the forest, owing to which these two hundred and fifty four men were convinced of Jun Mo Xie's leadership qualities and foresight.
”You must go and report to third uncle, and he will assign you to your tasks.” Jun Mo Xie waved his hand.
”Master…..” several of the men stepped forward in excitement: ”We know that we don't deserve it, but….. Master… can you allow us to follow …. You?”
”Third Uncle will make the decisions.” Jun Mo Xie smiled since he knew that Jun Wu Yi would assign these men back to him. The uncle and nephew duo had a very clear tacit understanding in this respect!
Tang Yuan's snoring was loud enough to shake the very foundations of the Jun residence, and occasionally he'd even scream out: ”ah…. My ass in paining…..!!” Everyone preferred his snoring over his complaining.