None of your damn business?

Kobei pressed his finger, which shimmered with a pale golden luster, against the center of Huang Dou's brow. Two golden pillars of light shot out from the system's disk, flowing along Kobei's finger straight into the depths of Huang Dou's sea of consciousness. In an instant, the memories of the Nine Yang Divine Skill and the Six Meridians Divine Sword were deeply engraved into the depths of Huang Dou's mind.

As the golden light flowed down into Huang Dou's dantian, a scorching internal energy belonging to the Nine Yang Divine Skill suddenly erupted within his dantian!

Boom!

Huang Dou snapped his eyes open, and two solid rays of light shot out from his small pupils!

Given Kobei's mastery at the grand completion realm of the Nine Yang Divine Skill, even just a tenth of its legacy possessed an internal energy about three times stronger than Kobei himself had possessed when he first mastered the first six levels of the Nine Yang Divine Skill!

"How does it feel?"

Kobei looked at Huang Dou's chubby cheeks, a faint smile curving the corners of his mouth as he asked with a calm expression.

Kobei was well aware that with his current mastery of the Nine Yang Divine Skill, even with only a tenth of it passed down, ordinary upper-tier Transcendent Realm beings would definitely be no match for Huang Dou. If the Six Meridians Divine Sword were added to the mix, Huang Dou would even be capable of putting up a fight against the top three figures on the Azure Dragon Rankings!

Huang Dou was merely a tier-two genetic enhancer, yet suddenly he possessed the cultivation of a peak Transcendent Realm expert! What kind of feelings could he possibly have? Aside from shock, astonishment, and excitement, no other words could truly describe his sensations.

"Boss! Thank you!"

Huang Dou's expression was more solemn than ever before. He bit his lower lip tightly, gazed at Kobei's smiling face, and bowed deeply!

Huang Dou knew very well that because of that single finger of Kobei's, his destiny had shifted onto an entirely different and much broader trajectory. Originally, he had only the cultivation of a tier-two genetic enhancer; barring any unforeseen circumstances, his cultivation would have at best reached the peak of a tier-three enhancer, and breaking through to the Transcendent Realm would have been virtually impossible.

Yet now, feeling the surging, scorching internal energy within his dantian, Huang Dou knew he had changed. Even against a lower-tier Transcendent Realm powerhouse, he dared to fight!

Huang Dou had no idea just how terrifying the Nine Yang Divine Skill and the Six Meridians Divine Sword passed down to him truly were!

In his world, the Transcendent Realm was an existence of boundless power. Therefore, although he could feel that he had grown stronger, he couldn't even begin to imagine that with his current strength, very few people—even among peak Transcendent Realm existences—would be his match!

"Haha, what are you thanking me for? You call me Boss, don't you? Shouldn't a boss help his brothers grow stronger?"

Kobei laughed heartily and patted Huang Dou on the shoulder.

"I can only help you this much. The rest depends on your own efforts. You must practice the Nine Yang Divine Skill every day without fail. As long as you can cultivate both the Nine Yang Divine Skill and the Six Meridians Divine Sword to the state of grand completion, no one below the God of War realm will be your match!"

"Understood!"

Hearing Kobei's earnest words, Huang Dou nodded heavily, a flash of determination cutting through his eyes.

............

"We've arrived at Lingfeng City!"

Outside the gates of Lingfeng City, a team of youths dressed in black battle garments, their brows carrying an air of arrogance, appeared before the city gates.

"Boss, will the God of Frost be willing to give us one hundred thousand people?"

A youth in a black battle garment with a flattering smile on his cheeks looked at the leading youth and asked.

"Who knows? We'll have to try. The God of Frost should show a bit of respect for my father. I only want ordinary people, so it should be fine." The leading youth had sword-like eyebrows and star-bright eyes, possessing a rather handsome appearance.

"Let's go!"

The leading youth cast a calm glance at Lingfeng City's not-too-tall walls, took a step forward, and led the way into the city.

The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, Kobei, accompanied by Huang Dou and the honest-looking, burly man Li Eryiu, slowly walked toward the bluestone plaza.

"So many people."

As the three of them reached the bluestone plaza, Huang Dou was instantly stunned by the sea of humanity gathered there.

Lifting his gaze, the entire bluestone plaza was filled with a dense crowd of bobbing heads; there had to be at least over three hundred thousand people.

"It's better when there are more people."

Kobei looked out over the dense crowd in the plaza, the corners of his mouth lifting into a faint smile. Kobei's goal was to build a city comparable to the third-tier bases, which required at least ten million people! With just over three hundred thousand people currently in the plaza, Kobei didn't feel it was many at all.

"Let's go!"

Kobei smiled faintly, his body rising gracefully into the air as he swept toward the battle stage in the center of the plaza.

"Right."

Huang Dou took a slight breath, channeling his internal energy. With a light stamp of his foot, he too soared toward the stage.

"I, I can't fly..."

Watching Kobei and Huang Dou glide away effortlessly, Li Eryiu grew somewhat anxious, a look of deep helplessness crossing his honest face.

"Forget it, I'll jump across!"

Li Eryiu gritted his teeth, clenched his fists tightly, and tensed all the muscles in his body in an instant. With a fierce stomp of his foot, a terrifying force exploded forth, and Li Eryiu's body shot through the air like a cannonball, flying diagonally toward the stage.

While Kobei and Huang Dou landed gracefully on the stage with effortless elegance, Li Eryiu appeared far more wretched by comparison. His sturdy frame plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily onto the stage and creating a deep crater with the massive impact.

"I, I'm here..."

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd and a billow of dust, Li Eryiu slowly crawled out from the pit.

"Damn it, maintain your image, Uncle Niu! Boss's image, you ruined it all!"

Looking at Li Eryiu, who was covered in dust and looked thoroughly disheveled, Huang Dou said with exasperated annoyance.

"I, I'll pay attention next time."

Li Eryiu smiled awkwardly, extending his calloused hands as if wanting to brush the dust off his body, but not daring to actually do it. That hesitant posture, combined with his honest face, made him look foolishly simple-natured to the core.

"It's fine."

Kobei looked at Li Eryiu's foolishly endearing appearance, smiled faintly, and then turned to face the crowd gathered in the bluestone plaza.

"Everyone!"

Kobei took a deep breath, channeling his breath into his dantian, and his rich, resonant voice echoed clearly in the ears of hundreds of thousands of people.

"I know many of you are still doubting, still hesitating. But it doesn't matter. Today, I will select ten people so that all of you can clearly and unmistakably see that I, Kobei, have the ability to make you stronger!"

"The slots are limited, but those who are not chosen should not be discouraged. Qitian City is waiting for all of you. As long as you go to Qitian City, and as long as you want to become stronger, I, Kobei, will definitely be able to make you grow powerful rapidly!"

"However!"

Kobei's gaze slowly swept across the crowd, his voice suddenly raising a notch.

"However, you must understand one principle: there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. I can give you an opportunity to become stronger, but the premise is that you must work hard at your cultivation!"

"I can personally help one person, ten people, a hundred people, but I, Kobei, do not have the ability to instantly grant everyone here strength that surpasses genetic enhancers!"

"If you want to become stronger, you must rely on your own diligent cultivation! All I can provide you with is a method—a method that can make you stronger. As for your future achievements, they will still depend on your own efforts!"

"Alright, let the selection begin!"

Kobei's eyes were sharp as lightning, quickly scanning the faces of the crowd. Just as he was about to select individuals with relatively good aptitudes to inherit his martial arts, a cold voice suddenly rang out!

"Wait!"

Following the delivery of this chilling voice, dozens of youths wearing black battle garments and carrying arrogant expressions in their brows suddenly dropped from the sky, their figures blocking Kobei's path directly.

These dozens of youths in black battle garments were geniuses hailing from the Gutang Base. They had arrived in Lingfeng City yesterday and met with the God of Frost. After stating their purpose, the God of Frost hadn't said much, merely demanding that they rely on their own capabilities to vie for people and forbidding them from using force for coercion.

When this group of geniuses from the Gutang Base stepped out of the City Lord's Mansion, they saw countless people gathering toward the bluestone plaza. Out of curiosity, they had followed them there. It wasn't until they heard Kobei's speech that they finally understood—Kobei was also here to recruit residents! Especially upon hearing Kobei's promise that he could make ordinary people stronger, the leading handsome youth felt even greater disdain, secretly mocking Kobei for stopping at nothing to achieve his goals!

Make ordinary people stronger? That was sheer nonsense!

An ordinary person was an ordinary person, and a genetic enhancer was a genetic enhancer; these things were ordained by the heavens! It was utterly impossible for an ordinary person to possess formidable power!

This notion was already deeply rooted in their minds! They simply could not believe that Kobei had the ability to make ordinary people stronger, assuming instead that Kobei was merely using this trick to fool these ordinary folk.

"Friends? What is the meaning of this?"

Looking at the sudden appearance of these people, Kobei furrowed his brows slightly, his low voice drifting out.

"Meaning? Heh, nothing special. We just can't stand so-called geniuses from the Jiujiang Base coming here to hoodwink everyone!"

The rather handsome leading youth wore a disdainful, cold smile on his lips. When he saw the silver uniform battle garment Kobei was wearing, he immediately recognized that Kobei came from the Jiujiang Genius Training Camp.

"Hmph, has the Jiujiang Genius Training Camp really taught you to act like this? If you want to recruit residents, rely on your own abilities. By resorting to deceitful tricks like yours, how many people do you expect to fool? Do you take everyone here for fools?"

The youth wore an arrogant expression between his brows, looking at Kobei with contempt as his cold voice rang out. He purposely raised his volume; his words sounded as though they were directed at Kobei, but in reality, they were aimed at the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people in the bluestone plaza. However, he had not expected the crowd's reaction to vastly exceed his expectations.

"Tricking people? Impossible, I saw it with my own eyes!"

"That's right! How could it be a trick? I saw it with my own eyes, damn it!"

"Get lost! I think you're the one who's a liar!"

"Get lost!"

"Get lost!"

In truth, only a few thousand people had witnessed Kobei transforming an ordinary person with their own eyes. Hearing the youth's words, those few thousand people immediately began shouting loudly. With someone taking the lead, the others—though they hadn't witnessed Kobei's miraculous feat personally—joined in the chanting as well.

In an instant, hundreds of thousands of voices merged into a single torrent, rolling outward like peals of thunder!

"Ignorant!"

Hearing the hundreds of thousands of people in the plaza shouting "Get lost" in unison, the youth's expression instantly darkened!

"Heh, the eyes of the masses are discerning. Besides, whether I'm hoodwinking everyone or not, what the hell does it have to do with you?"

(To be continued)