Chapter 95: Preparation for Elite Soldiers

“I was not joking, nor was I trying to scare anyone,” Liu Houfeng said with a bitter smile, a deep bitterness crossing his face. “The Late Tendon Training Stage was Jiang Xincheng’s strength yesterday, but today in Tianhai University’s Challenge Tournament, Jiang Xincheng broke through the bottleneck of the Late Tendon Training Stage and stepped into the Bone Training Realm.”

“When Jiang Xincheng was at the Late Tendon Training Stage, he could cross one major realm and three minor stages to defeat a Primordial Warrior at the Bone Tempering Late Stage, let alone now that Jiang Xincheng has advanced to the Bone Forging Initial Stage, with his strength increasing several times over. At this moment, with Jiang Xincheng’s strength, he could probably fight several Bone Tempering Late Stage Primordial Warriors alone, and with our current abilities, the chance of us successfully ambushing Jiang Xincheng is less than ten percent.”

Liu Houfeng’s words made Liu Shizhen, Liu Yuan, and the others freeze again. They stared at him in shock, unable to believe their ears.

“Are you saying Jiang Xincheng actually broke through during the competition and cultivated to the Bone Training Realm?” Liu Yuan asked in astonishment.

Liu Houfeng nodded, his face full of bitterness. “Yes, that’s right. Again, if you don’t believe me, you can watch the livestream. By now, this matter has probably spread throughout Jinguo Province. Jiang Xincheng’s talent and potential are incredibly high. If the conflict between our Liu Clan and him wasn’t already beyond reconciliation, I truly wouldn’t want our Liu Clan to become mortal enemies with such a genius.”

Liu Yuan and Liu Shizhen fell silent, unable to speak for a long time.

“But since we are already mortal enemies, we must eliminate him as quickly as possible, in the shortest time, while he is still in his infancy. Otherwise, once he grows stronger, it will be a disaster for our Liu Clan.” Liu Shizhen said coldly. “Our Liu Clan currently doesn’t even have a single Great Yuan Warrior at the Cloud Condensation Realm. That means unless we attack him as a group, no one in our Liu Clan can defeat Jiang Xincheng one-on-one. He has already grown to this extent; we can’t delay any longer. We must eliminate him completely at the fastest speed.”

Liu Yuan nodded fiercely. “You’re right. I never expected Jiang Xincheng to have grown to such a level. We can’t let this continue. Let’s return immediately, gather the clan’s Bone Tempering Late Stage Elders, and surround and kill Jiang Xincheng.”

Liu Houfeng and Liu Shizhen nodded together, cold light flashing in their eyes…

Jiang Xincheng did not know that the people of the Liu Clan had already planned to surround and kill him. At this moment, Jiang Xincheng was looking excitedly at the thin, somewhat dark-faced, yet quite capable-looking middle-aged man at the front of the conference room, a bright smile crossing his face.

This middle-aged man was the examiner Centurion Shi Jiewen, sent by the Flourishing Tang Empire to Tianhai University. His Primordial Force realm had already reached the Cloud Condensation Realm, qualifying him as a Great Yuan Warrior.

In this conference room, besides Jiang Xincheng, there were fifteen other Tianhai University students. Apart from Jiang Xincheng, all of them were third or fourth-year students. Besides Jiang Xincheng, the rest had strength at or above the Bone Tempering Late Stage, with two even being Primordial Warriors at the Cloud Condensation Realm. In comparison, Jiang Xincheng’s Primordial Force realm was the lowest, yet he was the most outstanding one present.

“I wonder if any of you have heard of the Flourishing Tang Empire?”

Looking at the fifteen students below, Shi Jiewen smiled. He was quite satisfied with the fifteen preparatory members recruited this time, especially since among them was a Pride of Heaven like Jiang Xincheng. After he reported all the detailed information about Jiang Xincheng to the Flourishing Tang Empire, the empire quickly gave an evaluation of Jiang Xincheng.

Talent and Potential: B-grade.

Combat Ability: S-grade.

Comprehensive Evaluation: Pass, Excellent.

Jiang Xincheng, a first-year student, was exceptionally accepted by the Flourishing Tang Empire. Shi Jiewen wasn’t surprised by this, but he was surprised by the empire’s evaluation of Jiang Xincheng as “Excellent.” Such an evaluation hadn’t appeared among the empire members he recruited for a long time, and once it did, it meant his bonus and Flourishing Tang Points would increase significantly.

Therefore, Shi Jiewen looked at Jiang Xincheng with a gentle gaze, a smile almost always on his face.

After hearing Shi Jiewen’s words, more than half of the fifteen students showed confusion on their faces. Clearly, they did not know about the existence of the Flourishing Tang Empire. The Flourishing Tang Empire was a semi-hidden organization that basically did not appear in major media or on television, so many people in the Shenxia Alliance were unaware of it.

However, not everyone was ignorant of the Flourishing Tang Empire. Some with certain status or those who had inadvertently learned about it through certain channels knew of its existence, especially many government agencies in the Shenxia Alliance, which were basically aware of the Flourishing Tang Empire. Its secrecy was mainly aimed at ordinary people.

Looking at the students with confused expressions, Shi Jiewen smiled slightly. “The Flourishing Tang Empire is a semi-hidden organization within our Shenxia Alliance. Its status is slightly higher than the military, and it holds great power. Its main responsibilities are to deal with evil Primordial Warriors and the Mowei Empire, which is hostile to our Shenxia Alliance.”

He didn’t say much, but with just a few simple sentences, he outlined a privileged organization, one that stood above the government and military. The Tianhai University students present were no fools; those selected by the Flourishing Tang Empire not only had strong strength but also the intelligence to match.

The Flourishing Tang Empire would not recruit trash.

Although Shi Jiewen spoke simply, all the students, whether they knew of the Flourishing Tang Empire or not, understood that they had encountered a rare and great opportunity—a chance to enter the powerful privileged class of the Shenxia Alliance. Many of them showed anticipation in their eyes.

Shi Jiewen was very satisfied with the students’ expressions. He smiled slightly and said, “After our careful review, you fifteen have been selected for our Flourishing Tang Empire’s preparatory member roster. Next, as long as you can pass our Flourishing Tang Empire’s assessment—which means simply choosing one of our Flourishing Tang Empire’s tasks and completing it—you can officially become members of our Flourishing Tang Empire, that is, Elite Soldiers.”

“Next, you can tell me your choice: whether you want to join the Flourishing Tang Empire, become preparatory Elite Soldiers of the Flourishing Tang Empire, and after completing one task, become official Elite Soldiers. Or you can choose to leave and join other forces. Please tell me your answer. The Flourishing Tang Empire does not force anyone to join, and it does not recruit trash. Now, you have one hour to decide. I will come back in one hour to confirm the number of people joining the Flourishing Tang Empire.”