Ying Bo Kong chuckled, a look of extraordinary pride on his face. "The progress has been remarkably smooth. All three hundred members of the Remnant Heaven Soul Devourers have already reached the Tian Xuan realm! Furthermore, five of them have even reached the peak of the Tian Xuan level, and as long as their state of mind stabilizes, they can attempt to break through to the Shen Xuan realm at any moment!"

"How is it so incredibly fast?!" This unexpected good news greatly astonished Jun Mo Xie.

It truly was too unexpected. To be frank, nearly everyone belonging to the Remnant Heaven Soul Devourers was a veteran soldier retired from the battlefield. These men possessed iron wills and an inherent, unyielding fighting spirit to become stronger when facing the powerful. However, none of them possessed truly outstanding natural aptitude, and they had all long missed the optimal age for cultivating Xuan Qi.

The primary reason for their current extraordinary achievements, besides their perseverance and refusal to give up, was the potent effect of the elixirs provided by Jun Mo Xie. Beyond that, the extremely high-intensity training they endured was also a crucial component!

Nearly every day was a grueling session of overexertion steeped in the terror of impending death! It was under this relentless, bloody training, constantly struggling at the boundary between life and death, that the subordinates of the Remnant Heaven Soul Devourers achieved their current success. Even so, Jun Mo Xie had never anticipated their advancement would be this rapid!

"It seems even you underestimated the efficacy of the Bone-Grinding Elixir!" Ying Bo Kong glanced at him. "Although the heaven-defying function of that elixir targets only the bones, you mustn't forget that the majority of the meridians run alongside the skeletal structure. As the body's bones become more coordinated, the meridians naturally adapt and change in response... This is inherently mutually reinforcing!"

Even Feng Juan Yun’s usually rigid face broke into a slight smile. "After everyone consumed the Bone Grinding Elixir and then endured the daily life-risking, exhaustive training, it was equivalent to fundamentally squeezing out every last bit of potential from each individual. While they paid a tremendous price, they simultaneously underwent repeated purifications of marrow and cleansing of sinews in an imperceptible way! By doing this, they achieved a transformative effect through an alternative route. The obstacles of innate talent that previously hindered their progress, though not entirely eradicated, have become significantly smaller! If you were to check their current aptitude now, all of them have transformed into at least the upper-middle tier, with some even reaching the very top tier! Thus, their current success is no accident!"

"That is truly wonderful! They were originally limited by their aptitude, capping their potential. Now, this unexpected transformation of bone and cleansing of sinews has given them far greater malleability. This is truly great news, momentous news!" Jun Mo Xie was overjoyed, his surprise exceeding his expectations.

"What about you two? How is your progress?" Jun Mo Xie looked towards Baili Luoyun and Leng Ao.

"We initially selected a thousand children! Three hundred were eliminated during the gathering at Tian Xiang. After this period of training, another six hundred and ninety-five were eliminated! Currently, the total number qualified to become assassins is only five! Adding the original Tian Can and Di Que—that makes seven people in total."

Leng Ao hesitated for a moment. "Additionally, three individuals selected by Luoyun at Tian Xiang were crippled during missions and were also eliminated... Including those three, plus the two of us, that brings the total to twelve people! This fully meets the basic criteria for becoming an assassin!"

Jun Mo Xie nodded calmly, quite satisfied. "Twelve people. That means besides the two of you and Tian Can and Di Que, eight others have been selected. Not bad, not bad. To yield eight assassins out of a thousand people, this ratio is already very good! It seems both Luoyun and Leng Ao, you two certainly have a knack for selecting assassins! I am very pleased with this result!"

Baili Luoyun and Leng Ao exchanged a look, clearly somewhat surprised.

The reason Leng Ao hesitated during his report was precisely because the number was so small. Both possessed rigorous personalities and a commitment to 'better to have too few than to have mediocrity.' After the great sifting, only those who met their standards remained. They had anticipated that Jun Mo Xie would be furious about the small number, especially since the Remnant Heaven Soul Devourers had not lost a single member, yet they were surprised that Young Master Jun was instead satisfied!

Although Baili Luoyun and Leng Ao were both prodigious talents, exceptionally gifted and supernaturally strong—Leng Ao even being a disciple of the supreme assassin Chu Qi Hun—they were limited by their experience and found it hard to grasp the principle that the masses are largely unremarkable.

One must realize that the word 'assassin' is easy to say, but how many truly outstanding assassins are there in the entire Xuan Xuan Continent? The methods for cultivating assassins are invariably secrets held and mastered only by great clans that have undergone countless trials.

Whether considering family background, mentality, personality, habits, temperament, or innate potential... those who satisfy all requirements are exceedingly rare, perhaps one in ten thousand!

It is not enough to merely know how to kill to be an assassin! The conditions to become a qualified assassin are even more arduous than those for historically selecting the top scholar for the Emperor!

Baili and Leng, with their exceptional talents and superhuman cultivation, possessed eyesight naturally superior to ordinary men, leading to a naturally more stringent eye for talent. However, any seedling that could capture their attention was guaranteed to be the most outstanding and the most capable of being molded.

To obtain eight individuals from a pool of a thousand—this ratio was already quite high. Young Master Jun himself was the most exceptional assassin and understood the difficulty of gathering high-caliber personnel; how could he not be satisfied!

"These eight individuals... including the two of you, and Tian Can and Di Que, will still need further tempering and elimination!" Jun Mo Xie said slowly. "Becoming an excellent assassin has never been an easy undertaking!"

His eyes took on a faraway look as he slowly continued, "Do you know what an assassin truly is? What a genuinely meaningful assassin entails?"

Hearing this question, Ying Bo Kong and Feng Juan Yun simultaneously burst into unrestrained laughter. Baili Luoyun and Leng Ao, however, grew instantly serious.

These two young geniuses born into the world of assassins simultaneously perceived the profound implication within that sentence.

This was both an examination set by Jun Mo Xie and a critically important lesson for the two of them!

Both understood that this was not a simple question but a prelude.

Because Jun Mo Xie would not wait for them to answer.

"Third Young Master, you speak like an amateur. In my view, every single Xuan practitioner on the entire continent is an assassin! As for Feng Juan Yun and myself, we can absolutely be considered the very cream of the crop in the assassin world!" Ying Bo Kong laughed heartily, his untamed long hair fluttering without wind, speaking with great self-satisfaction.

But after he finished speaking, he noticed the peculiar way Baili Luoyun and Leng Ao were looking at him.

It was a gaze tinged with amusement, pity, contempt, and even the look reserved for a buffoon...

"What is with you two? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you two planning to rebel against me?" Ying Bo Kong became angry, yet the anger quickly gave way to a flicker of unease under the assassins' scrutiny: Did I say something wrong? Didn't I put it quite well?

"In my view, there are truly only two genuinely qualified assassins on the entire Xuan Xuan Continent," Jun Mo Xie smiled faintly, his expression cool. "One of them is your master, the Assassin Supreme Chu Qi Hun!"

"The other one must be you!" Leng Ao stated with a touch of reverence. This was not mere flattery, but a recollection of his master’s own words, which matched what Jun Mo Xie said almost exactly!

That time after the Battle of Feng Xue Yin Cheng, when Chu Qi Hun returned, he told his disciple: "There is only one true assassin in the entire world! It is the person you currently follow! Even I feel ashamed and utterly inferior when compared to him!"

At the time, Leng Ao had asked: "Master, why do you hold such a high opinion of him? I have never perceived any assassin potential in him?"

Chu Qi Hun scoffed, "If you could see it, would he even qualify as an assassin? Let alone the King of Assassins? Boy, your experience is still shallow!"

Back then, Chu Qi Hun only offered two final remarks before quietly departing: "You can observe closely; he is naturally in a defensive posture at all times! Even in the safest locations, this is true. Moreover, this defensive state is never deliberate; it is simply habit, so ingrained that even he cannot change it. Unless one possesses the strength to imprison space, no one can successfully ambush him."

"There is another point: he can strike at any moment. This is also a habit, a natural one, an inherent instinct he cannot suppress! This... is only one aspect of his characteristics. Ponder it well."

Offense and defense—two opposing actions appearing simultaneously in one person, available at any time—this concept sounded not only absurd but impossible. Yet, why would his master say this?

Therefore, from that moment on, whenever he had the chance to interact with Jun Mo Xie, Leng Ao would observe meticulously. Through extensive observation, Leng Ao was horrified to discover that what his master said was, in fact, the absolute truth!

The seemingly irreconcilable opposing movements were truly merged perfectly, allowing for the most correct response at any moment, integrated into his very instincts. What a miracle this was!

No wonder that when his strength was far weaker, Leng Ao had resorted to using his soul-damaging ultimate assassination technique, yet he still failed to kill him, even when the defenses around Jun Mo Xie were extremely tight!

Jun Mo Xie smiled. "Some people assume that an assassin must always stand tall, erect as a javelin, every movement governed by strict rules; their faces perpetually expressionless, shrouded in killing intent, their eyes constantly scrutinizing others like wolves. Furthermore, assassins have no friendship, no love, no kinship, no friends... because these things become shackles for an assassin!"