"In my training, there are no military rods, no corporal punishment! Even less is there room for regret! There are only two paths—life, or death! Those who fail before all of you have only these two roads!"

"From this moment until the training concludes, I am your supreme commander! During this period, you are permitted to obey only my orders! No one else! Remember, no one! Not even my Third Uncle, or even my grandfather, is an exception! Violators will be beheaded!"

"Drill at the appointed time; latecomers will be executed!"

"Anyone who harbors dissatisfaction and dares voice it will be executed!"

"Anyone who defies an order will be executed!"

"....Executed!"

"Executed!"

.........

A string of "Executed" words thundered forth, chilling the air with palpable killing intent! Jun Xie's own eyes became sharp and menacing with those final words! The three hundred stalwart men stood ramrod straight, every muscle taut, terrified of missing a single instruction.

Seated in his wheelchair, Jun Wuyi involuntarily felt his blood surge with heat at the relentless stream of "Execution" commands. Unconsciously, he straightened his upper body, as if transported back to the eve of a military campaign, receiving his father's instructions! The way he looked at Jun Xie at this moment held a trace of fanaticism; the fierce, iron-willed demeanor of a seasoned soldier, long dormant, had returned to him!

Jun Xie's impassioned command had transformed these guards, these iron-blooded men, back into fearless soldiers, their morale soaring to its apex! Jun Wuyi could only imagine the effect such a speech would have on soldiers before a battle—it would surely send every man charging toward death with smiles and heroic fearlessness! Undeterred by life or death, with no regrets!

How could an army led like this ever fail to conquer?

On the other side of the drill ground, concealed in the shadows, Old Master Jun’s face was flushed crimson. Even with his ingrained composure, he felt a fierce wave of excitement rush through him. Watching Jun Xie in the center of the field, his eyes were wide, his beard trembled, and his fingers shook slightly, revealing the depth of his emotion.

This is my wayward grandson? Could these words truly have come from his mouth? Such soaring ambition, such heaven-reaching mettle! Such... Old Master Jun rubbed his eyes in disbelief, only to find two tracks of old tears escaping.

Forcing down his surging emotions, Jun Zhantian suddenly turned. His once slightly stooped frame straightened abruptly, his gaze sharp as lightning and thunder, his demeanor radiating an invincible pride and confidence once more! In that instant, the butler, Old Pang, suddenly felt that the Great General who once commanded a million troops across the land, unmatched by any foe, had returned!

Old Pang had not seen this commanding presence in Old Master Jun since several generations of the Jun family had been spilled onto the battlefield. And now, it had resurfaced!

Yes, it was Jun Xie’s current bearing that gave the old man such a profound surprise and such towering hope! It made Jun Zhantian believe that the Jun family still had a future! Not just a glimmer of hope, but a massive one!

This grandson might just lead the Jun family back to glory. No, not might—he definitely would!

Heaven bless the Jun family!

"Issue my command: From this moment forward, anything concerning the Young Master—every word he speaks, every action he takes—is to be considered top-tier classified information for the Jun family! An A-level gag order! Violators will be executed without pardon! All nine branches of the family will be implicated and annihilated!"

"Immediately purge the spies we have identified from the other established families. Find ways to reassign anyone affiliated with the Imperial household. Furthermore: Dispatch the entire Shadow Guard unit to maintain strict control over the Jun estate, inside and out. If anyone is found passing information externally, they will be executed without pardon! We must seize this opportunity to clean house thoroughly, leaving no loose ends!"

Jun Zhantian’s tone was laced with unquestionable authority and absolute resolve! At that moment, Old Pang felt a dense surge of killing intent. He could sense how seriously Jun Zhantian was taking this matter; if anyone dared to leak anything, Jun Zhantian was prepared to initiate an indiscriminate slaughter!

Jun Zhantian had no idea what his grandson’s prior forbearance had been for, but he knew that since his grandson was acting this way, there must be a reason, something he aimed for! However, while Old Master Jun was pleasantly surprised and utterly taken aback by Jun Xie’s display today, the elder felt his grandson was still somewhat reckless! If news of this spread and fell into the hands of interested parties, it would inevitably draw intense scrutiny toward Jun Xie.

The Old Master wanted nothing to do with this interest, whether it proved beneficial or detrimental!

Thus, the first action of this wise old man was to clean up his grandson's mess! Issuing a gag order—an A-level one at that—with the penalty for leakage being the extermination of nine generations!

In truth, there was no forbearance, no hidden reason; the reality was that Mo Xie was no longer Mo Xie, but Jun Xie! The King of Assassins from another world, the Evil Lord of a generation!

In the training ground, Jun Xie's voice continued to ring out.

"Now, heed my orders! I give you ten breaths to prepare. The three hundred men must automatically divide into two major battalions! If you cannot accomplish this in ten breaths, everyone runs one hundred laps around the field! Begin!"

At his command, the formation instantly dissolved into chaos, then men wove through the ranks, and in an extremely short time, they were swiftly separated into two camps, one hundred and fifty men in each battalion.

"Good. One hundred and fifty men per battalion, divided into five companies, thirty men per company; then further divided into three squads! You now have the time it takes to burn half an incense stick—use whatever means necessary—to elect your respective Battalion Commanders! Company Commanders, Squad Leaders!"

"Remember! Since you chose them yourselves, you must obey the orders of your Captains and Leaders! Any one who dares to refuse or disrespect authority will be dealt with according to military law—executed!"

With that, Jun Xie ignored their chatter and turned toward Jun Wuyi.

Jun Wuyi watched him silently, then broke into a sudden smile, his eyes still holding deep astonishment. "Mo Xie, your performance today has truly startled Third Uncle."

Jun Xie rubbed his nose and smiled, "What does Third Uncle think?"

He didn't ask how he performed, but Jun Wuyi understood his intent. He grew solemn: "I intended to intentionally find fault with you to test you, but I genuinely cannot find a single flaw! If every man in our army could undergo this training, why should we fear sweeping the world clean!"

"Sweeping the world clean..." A dark line appeared on Jun Xie’s forehead: "Third Uncle flatters me. Only in this aspect, my starting point differs from yours. You train soldiers fundamentally for the Tianxiang Kingdom; I train soldiers purely for our Jun family! Solely for the safety of our clan! In this regard, there is a fundamental distinction!"

"For the nation? For the Jun family?" Jun Wuyi had once been a general utterly loyal to his country, but after the tragic events, being sidelined at home for ten years had slowly eroded that conviction. Jun Wuyi knew his family had served the Tianxiang Kingdom with immense merit, yet two older brothers and two nephews had died fighting on the battlefield, and his own life had been ruined. If they had lost honorably in battle against the enemy, Jun Wuyi would have accepted it; but several of these incidents were clearly riddled with suspicious doubts, and yet the Kingdom remained silent...

His father, Jun Zhantian, had conducted secret investigations for years, finding clues several times, only for them to be coincidentally cut off. If Jun Wuyi believed these events were not orchestrated by someone behind the scenes, he would be lying to himself. But the Kingdom's indifference had long since chilled his heart completely.

If he had heard someone say ten years ago that training soldiers was for one's own family rather than the nation's security, the full-blooded Jun Wuyi of that era would have been the first to jump up, arrest him, and charge him with treason! But now, that sentiment was gone, replaced by an infinite bewilderment.

Was it worth it? Was it truly worth it?

"The Jun family is too prominent, facing storms and instability, and the Kingdom itself is rife with hidden currents. The Jun family could be utterly destroyed at any moment! Otherwise, wouldn't it be easier to just be a useless, pampered layabout, living off consumption?... " Jun Xie sighed.

"Is that why you finally showed your true colors?" Jun Wuyi’s falcon-like eyes fixed intently on him. "If the family hadn't reached such a perilous state, would you have continued your frivolous antics? I genuinely doubt it—how could you possess such deep cunning at such a young age?"