Still, no one answered. Yet every man was panting, faces flushed crimson, as if engorged with blood! A profound sense of shame saturated every heart, instantly rendering them speechless with humiliation! Why?

Why could others achieve what we could not? Why could others break through where we were stalled? Comrades who once fought in the same trench now looked down upon them! And why couldn't they look down upon others?

“You might argue that those who achieved great merit and became Generals were simply overwhelmingly lucky! You might claim that those who advanced their Profound Qi cultivation possessed superior innate talent! That others didn't choose you was simply their lack of vision! I tell you, these are all excuses!

Luck? Why didn't you seize it? Those who claim their roots are poor have already admitted they are inherently useless! Complaining that others lack vision is the most ridiculously foolish justification!

If you were an employer, would you choose a failure or someone useful??” Silence gripped the crowd; every person gasped heavily, eyes burning red. “I say these things not to tear open your old wounds! But because your current lives are too comfortable, and you have lost your courage! There is a proverb: To know shame and then correct one's conduct, to be shamed into valor!

Making mistakes is not terrifying! What is terrifying is that you don't even realize your mistakes, yet you remain self-satisfied and arrogant!! That is unforgivable! And currently, not a single one of you has seriously considered what I’ve said.

If one had, he wouldn't be standing here right now!” “There are many driving forces for human advancement, but shame! Is forever one of the most potent! Do you wish to continue being trash? Do you want to keep muddled along, eating and waiting, merely guarding a house?

Do you wish to continue being trampled underfoot and insulted at will? Do you want to continue being so thoroughly berated by me that you can never lift your heads in shame?” With every word Jun Xie spoke, a massive roar of “No!” rose from below. At first, the shouts were scattered, but gradually, they became a tidal wave, everyone straining their might, screaming like the damned! Their throats were raw as if to tear them apart, the hot blood rushing to their foreheads!

“Excellent! This shows you still have hope, you can still be saved!” Jun Xie paced a few steps, then tilted his head suddenly: “Does anyone here want to say,” Jun Xie walked slowly, taking his time, “that no matter how useless we are, we are still better than you, a spoiled wastrel who does nothing and just muddles through life! Right? So, although you obey me under Third Uncle's orders, you secretly look down on me!

Is that the case?” Many looked up. Judging by the expressions on their faces, though they dared not speak, deep down, most of them thought exactly that. “Too bad your thoughts are wrong, profoundly wrong!” Jun Xie waved his hand: “I am merely a spoiled brat, while you are all battle-hardened veterans who have survived countless fights. But today I tell you, you cannot compare yourselves to me!

Why can’t you compare yourselves to me? It’s simple: because I have a good grandfather, because I have a good uncle, because I have a good father, and because I have two good elder brothers! It was they who paid everything to secure the Jun family as it is now! And you lack all of that!

Even if I, Jun Mo Xie, were a complete good-for-nothing rake, even if I killed someone, there would be people to smooth things over and stand up for me! And you lack that too! Therefore, you cannot compare yourselves to me! Heaven maintains balance; there is no reward without, and even a spoiled brat must pay a price!

And a very high price at that! Among common folk, there are no spoiled young masters! Because they lack the innate conditions; their fathers never paid the price, so even the insulting term ‘wastrel’ is denied to them, and forever out of reach!” “Putting everything else aside, there is the best example right before your eyes! My grandfather, the venerable Jun Zhantian, rose from common origins, joined the military, and fought a hundred bloody battles before establishing the current Jun family!

Did you think my grandfather, when he started out, was any stronger than you are now?” The rise of Jun Zhantian was practically a legend throughout the Heaven’s Fragrance Empire! These men knew his life story only too well. At the mention of it, passionate sparks ignited in their eyes! Some trembled violently, overcome with excitement!

Could we have a day like that?! “Alright, I’ve spoken enough to make my meaning clear! You were lucky enough to survive on the battlefield, and you have this peaceful life today, where you can even treat sparring as a game! However, what you have paid is only enough to qualify you to continue muddling along like this!

Nothing more!” Jun Xie suddenly stopped pacing, facing them, delivering each word deliberately: “I ask you only one question: Do you want to break through your current cultivation and become first-rate experts?? Do you want to surpass those who have progressed further than you? Do you wish to undertake greater, more important deeds rather than simply guarding the house and continuing to drift along? And…” Jun Xie smiled strangely: “Do you want your descendants to be carefree wastrels like I am now, instead of being bullied by others?

Have you ever considered that if you succeed one day, your success can provide your descendants with powerful assistance you cannot even imagine now, provided they have ambition? Have you considered that this might allow them to reach high positions with very little effort! Perhaps even become members of great houses like the Jun, Li, or Dugu families! The fate of your entire lineage changed by the effort of a single generation!” The beautiful prospect envisioned by Jun Xie caused everyone’s breathing to quicken instantly; fists were clenched so tight that veins bulged, and bloodshot fury filled their eyes!

Suddenly, in the ensuing silence, Jun Xie roared: “Do you want it? Tell me!” “We want it!” Three hundred voices roared in unison! The sound shook the heavens! Three hundred voices, echoing from the soul, shouted together!

It was as if heaven and earth themselves shuddered several times in that instant! “Since you want it! Then listen to my command now, and train according to my methods, and not a single complaint will be tolerated! I will ensure that your efforts yield the greatest harvest!” Jun Xie looked at them with cold intensity: “But everyone must remember one very important point: in my training, it is highly possible that some of you will die!

And there may be injuries and disabilities! This is a potential price you must pay. I give you a moment to consider. If you agree, step forward!

If you are afraid, remain where you are. I warn you, until my training concludes, no one is allowed to quit except through death! Therefore, you must make your choice right here, right now!” “I will count to three! You have this time to choose!” Jun Xie roared: “One!…” Before two and three could be uttered, all three hundred men, without a single exception, stepped forward with a synchronized, resolute air of marching toward death.

The force of their movement kicked up a cloud of dust, and the ground itself seemed to vibrate several times! Jun Wu Yi watched from the side, his eyes full of approval, and… admiration! With Jun Xie rousing morale like this, at this moment, even if these men were ordered to die, not one would hesitate! Jun Xie had boosted their morale to its absolute peak!

He had ignited the fighting spirit of these veterans to the extreme! Even General Jun Wu Yi, who usually specialized in rousing spirits, felt his own blood boil upon hearing those words, his breathing ragged. In that instant, it seemed the battlefield was before his eyes again—endless war, smoke everywhere, mountains of corpses, and seas of blood! A long, desolate horn seemed to sound again, resonating with a majestic frequency deep within their souls, carrying the cold indifference of a force resolved to die a thousand deaths, yet stirring the burning hot blood in the hearts of these men—no regrets for a hundred battles!

No regrets facing life or death! A bloodthirsty gleam! This was what flashed in the eyes of all three hundred and one people present, including Jun Wu Yi! In that moment, all three hundred felt that to escape this disgrace, even death was inconsequential!

Even Jun Xie himself did not know that today, forced onto this difficult path by Jun Wu Yi to take command of these men’s training, he would forge a troop in the future that would roar across the world, dominate all rivals, and strike fear and awe into the hearts of everyone under heaven—a squad of War Gods! The name of this troop would be: Heaven-Shattering Soul-Eaters (Can Tian Shi Hun)! The first guard force that the Heretical Sovereign would rely upon to conquer the disparate world, taking its nascent form today! A squad of War Gods born from extreme humiliation—what earth-shattering glory would they explode forth with!?