Everyone expected the young master to collapse at any second—in a moment, or the next. How could such a spoiled rake possibly endure training that resembled purgatory? Some even wagered that Jun Xie would give up within the time it took an incense stick to burn, but to everyone's astonishment, Jun Xie was swaying precariously from the start, and by breakfast, he was still swaying, albeit slightly paler.

He... had actually lasted! This outcome left everyone utterly dumbfounded.

Consequently, speculation arose: would the young master even participate in the morning training session?

The vast majority still believed that the sheer volume of training had exceeded the Third Young Master's capacity; merely lasting this long was already remarkable!

After breakfast, there was only a fifteen-minute rest period. Unbeknownst to anyone, Jun Xie wasted none of that time. Returning to his room, enduring the aching soreness of his muscles, he took out several bamboo tubes studded with steel needles and fixed them to a table. Behind those, he placed one plain bamboo tube without any needles. Only the width of a single palm separated each tube. His fingers had to strike the tube hidden at the very back without touching the adjacent spiked tubes. Furthermore, the requirement was that after threading through all three tubes, the final strike on the last tube had to produce an audible snap!

This small drill was specifically designed to cultivate extreme dexterity in his fingers! While this exercise appeared simple to execute, its difficulty was substantial! With needles densely packed, any slight excess or lack of force, or any momentary clumsiness, would result in needles piercing the flesh. That instant sting was enough to make anyone’s hand tremble, and that tremor would inevitably lead to several more needles embedding themselves...

Jun Xie, his face set in a grim mask, calmly inserted the hands he had been training all morning...

When the morning training commenced, the guards were stunned to find Jun Xie standing on the drill ground again. His fingertips were inexplicably bloody, red, and swollen, though his complexion had notably improved. And then, for the entire morning session, he managed to persevere, still swaying!

This result stunned every single guard!

Still, more than half maintained that the training intensity was beyond the Third Young Master’s limit; lasting this long was already incredibly commendable! Surely, he wouldn't push himself this hard in the afternoon, would he?!

However...

The afternoon proceeded identically.

This display finally ignited a fierce competitiveness among the guards: Could they, veterans forged in countless battles, truly be inferior to a pampered, delicate noble who had never known hardship?

This thought immediately propelled those already standing on the brink of purgatory directly into its depths! As long as Jun Xie himself did not stop, every guard held their breath, determined to endure until the end, even if it meant death. The result was that... every single one of them was too exhausted to feel anything but defeat...

Since Jun Xie was organizing the training, Jun Wu Yi naturally had to be present. Jun Xie had certainly galvanized everyone's morale, and Jun Wu Yi was very curious about the specific drills. But after observing the day's content, Jun Wu Yi felt a chill course down his spine!

His eyes widened when he saw the guards desperately running back and forth carrying massive logs, with absolutely no allowance for rest in between; but when he witnessed Jun Xie among them, also hefting a log and running, he couldn't help but rub his eyes furiously. He rubbed again, and again... Third Master Jun had managed to make his own eyelids ache from the friction!

If his eyes were not deceiving him, the sun must have risen in the North today—how could this be?! Was this truly his profligate nephew?! This was utterly preposterous!

By the end of the day, seeing Jun Xie finally stop and stand firm, the burly guards, whose physical prowess was superior, lay scattered like dead dogs, collapsed like mud heaps, mouths agape, panting heavily. Among the three hundred men present, barely a few still possessed the strength to stand!

The two captains were either bent over, gasping violently, or rolling their eyes while vigorously massaging their lower backs.

Jun Xie’s face was pale, and he looked on the verge of collapse, yet he stood ramrod straight. His sharp gaze swept over the men sprawled haphazardly before him, and suddenly he roared, "All of you, get to your feet for me! Within three breaths, anyone still down will be eliminated and should go commit suicide! Because they are unworthy to stand here! Anyone who can't even measure up to me, a dissipated spendthrift, has no face left to live!"

Instantly, everyone sprang up like springs, gritting their teeth and swaying precariously. Dozens of men nearly pitched forward again but were steadied by those beside them—it seemed they truly lacked the face to live if they were surpassed by the Third Young Master.

Jun Xie breathed heavily, watching them coldly, his voice rough. "Now, who still dares to claim they are useless? Huh? After just one day, you’ve become this pathetic! Even I, the rake, can stand here, yet you fell! Are you content to just lie there? Do you feel no shame?! Hundred-battle warriors? Hmph!"

Shame reddened the faces of all three hundred big men. They couldn't help but lower their heads. It was true; even the young master they had always looked down upon had endured, and he was still standing now. What right did they have to lie down?

Everyone had witnessed Jun Xie's training for the day; if maintaining this pace exhausted bodies as sturdy and imposing as theirs, how on earth Jun Xie had managed to endure it was utterly inconceivable! But everyone knew that for the delicate and precious Third Young Master, enduring this must have been infinitely harder than it was for them!

The look in everyone’s eyes as they regarded Jun Xie involuntarily gained a degree of respect and awe. This was because Jun Xie possessed absolutely no foundation in this regard! Whereas they were all seasoned veterans...

Jun Xie gave them a cold glare, then suddenly turned and walked away, tossing a final remark over his shoulder: "If this situation repeats tomorrow, all three hundred of you will be gone, not one left! The Jun family does not harbor the useless! Especially useless men inferior to a mere rake!"

Watching Jun Xie’s receding back, the observant ones noticed that Jun Xie’s legs, even every muscle in his body, were trembling minutely—an involuntary reaction only possible when fatigue reached its absolute limit! Yet, Jun Xie betrayed not a single flicker of it on his face! Merely this capacity for endurance was something none present could match!

If a rake could withstand such intense training, how could they, battle-hardened veterans, dare to claim they couldn't? Especially since their training load was exactly the same as the young master's—did they have the nerve to complain about hardship? They couldn't afford the disgrace! If they complained and were scorned by their peers, that would be one thing, but to be scorned by the Third Young Master—could they even continue living then!

However, if they knew that Jun Xie was secretly wearing eight sandbags on his body, what would their reaction be? Would they genuinely feel too ashamed to continue living?!

No one knew that Jun Xie had at least a dozen places on his body where the sandbags had rubbed his skin raw! Blood, almost mixed with lymph fluid, was slowly seeping out... The true total volume of Jun Xie's training for the day was estimated to be at least three times that of the guards!

This was a terrifyingly high figure! If not for the support of the Kaitian Zaohua Gong technique, given Jun Xie’s current physical condition, he would have been worked to death ten times over! But Jun Xie endured this precisely because he wanted to utilize the miraculous effects of the Kaitian Zaohua Gong to push through the boundaries of his physical limits via training that transcended life and death!

Although Jun Wu Yi was unaware of the extra sandbags, Jun Xie's astonishing performance that day was enough to move the great general who once commanded armies numbering in the tens of thousands!

Watching Jun Xie’s figure fade into the distance, Jun Wu Yi’s eyes held infinite relief, yet his heart was filled with suspicion: Could this truly be Mo Xie’s real self? This... is too cruel even to himself! Surely there won't be any accidents from this!

Iron must be forged hard by itself!