"Ranks from lowest to highest are: first to third-tier Blade Catchers, fourth to sixth-tier Adjudicators, seventh to eighth-tier Judicators, and above ninth-tier is called Heaven's Punisher!"
"Most of these powerhouses aren't even on Blue Star, so don't bother thinking about something so distant for now."
"Our dojo only recruits thirty-six people annually, each one a top-tier genius. Your main mission is to train like mad and grow stronger."
"Our entire dojo's enemies are the Dark Hall, along with those anti-human organizations and deranged individuals. Beyond completing specific missions at designated times, there aren't many other obligations."
"It's quite free otherwise."
"Plus there are substantial benefits you'll discover later."
"Oh, you need to complete a mission now—slay an Exotic Beast or Monstrous Beast one tier above your current level. This mandatory evaluation should be child's play for you."
"..."
Compared to Meng Li, Yu Wentong was far more talkative and approachable.
Though appearing as an aloof powerhouse, he was actually quite easygoing beneath the surface.
He explained many things, all of which Zhou Luo carefully noted.
"One more thing—before this, the Liu family, the Mecha Alliance, and various other factions came looking for you. But my teacher and I sent them away."
Soon after, Yu Wentong departed.
Returning to his room, Zhou Luo retrieved the reward given by the principal.
A sixth-tier Mecha Master's ultimate skill—he'd been coveting this.
Entering the Battle King's Hall, he saw Swift Blade practicing spear techniques while muttering complaints about Fire Thunder and Zhou Luo.
Spotting Zhou Luo's arrival, Swift Blade hurried over.
"Master, when are you taking us out to fight? Staying here's making me rust!"
Zhou Luo broke into a sweat.
Big bro, you've barely been here any time at all.
"I'll take you out tomorrow, alright?"
"Fantastic! This time we're going deep into the county's wilderness zone. Those Exotic Beasts will flee twenty miles the moment they see Swift Blade coming!"
Zhou Luo ignored the braggart.
"Absorb this."
He handed the Ultimate Skill Crystal to Swift Blade—whatever Swift Blade learned would be shared with Fire Thunder anyway.
Recognizing its value, Swift Blade immediately inserted the crystal into his chest.
Threads of silvery-white energy intertwined across his torso.
Within minutes, Swift Blade fully assimilated the crystal's legacy, leaving it as an ordinary inheritance crystal drained of power.
Zhou Luo stored it away—this crystal could still be reused later.
[Swift Blade comprehended sixth-tier supreme ultimate skill: Godlike Power!]
[Fire Thunder shared ultimate skill: Godlike Power!]
Godlike Power: When activated, all attributes below sixth-tier Mecha triple in power. Once initiated, combat continues until the last drop of Combat Energy is expended, with no voluntary deactivation possible.
Zhou Luo now understood this skill's properties.
An enhancement-type supreme ultimate skill—to be used sparingly as a trump card only.
Both Fire Thunder and Swift Blade were already formidable enough in combat.
"The principal is truly generous, actually giving me his ultimate technique." Zhou Luo felt deeply grateful to Principal Chen in his heart.
This was the most precious thing a Mecha Master could possess.
The next day.
News spread that Zhou Luo had been recruited by the War God Academy, along with rumors that he had also joined the Heaven's Punishment Mech Martial Hall, causing an uproar.
No one had ever heard of someone being recruited by the Heaven's Punishment Mech Martial Hall before even starting their freshman year.
The most talented individuals usually only got recruited by the end of their first year.
This was enough to show how highly Heaven's Punishment Mech Martial Hall valued Zhou Luo.
It was understandable for Zhou Luo to join Heaven's Punishment Mech Martial Hall—any genius would aspire to become someone like the Adjudicator.
But what was the War God Academy thinking?
To shamelessly poach someone right from their doorstep, truly without any sense of decency.
For Zhou Luo, even the vice-principal of the Imperial Starry Sky Mecha Academy personally intervened. Upon learning that Zhou Luo had been snatched away, he directly confronted the War God Academy.
What happened afterward remained unknown.
In the spacious hall of the Canglan City Mecha Mall, Zhang Hao and his subordinates calmly sipped coffee while watching Zhou Luo's astonishing performance on the massive screen.
"Zhou Luo? Interesting." Zhang Hao smirked devilishly, showing great interest in this eighteen-year-old youth. "From what I know, his profession is Mech Battle King, right? Without a Destined Mecha."
"That's correct, Zhang Xulie," a sixth-tier Mecha Master nodded.
"Mech Battle King? The king of mecha combat? Could this profession possess the traits of a Mecha Master, with an inseparable connection to mechas, along with some hidden secrets?"
The fact that Zhou Luo's profession was Mech Battle King and that he lacked a Destined Mecha couldn't be concealed—all the teachers and students had witnessed it.
"We don't know about that. We've never heard of such a profession before."
"For now, stay away from investigating Zhou Luo. He's joined both the War God Academy and Heaven's Punishment Martial Hall, so he must have strong protectors in the shadows. Our main focus now is Liu Qingxue."
Liu Qingxue had escaped his grasp again, but he wasn't discouraged.
Honestly, he hadn't expected the operation to raid the Liu family and capture Liu Qingxue to go smoothly. After all, the Liu family was still an eighth-tier family with many powerful members.
The only regret was losing a sixth-tier Mecha Master.
What truly surprised him was that Liu Qingxue had chosen the Divine Martial Academy in Demon City.
As a sophomore at the Divine Martial Academy—his public identity—this made things much easier to maneuver.
"Once Liu Qingxue enters the Divine Martial Academy, she won't escape Zhang Xulie's grasp. She's already as good as ours."
"Premature celebration is the worst mistake. It's too early to rejoice now."
"For the time being, keep a low profile."
"Yes."
Meanwhile, Zhou Luo had already ventured back into the wilderness with Fire Thunder and Swift Blade.
After the second wave of beast tides, the number of Exotic Beasts in the wilderness showed no signs of decreasing, and Monstrous Beasts had even begun to appear.
"Vehicle Warriors, transform!"
Fire Thunder and Swift Blade shifted into their mecha forms.
"The hunt begins."
After Zhou Luo issued the command, Fire Thunder and Swift Blade charged off in separate directions, hunting independently. The doubled Combat Energy would allow them to level up rapidly.
Within a month, Zhou Luo was confident he could reach mid-tier second rank—maybe even late-tier.
Currently at peak first rank, early-tier second-rank Exotic Beasts posed no threat to him.
Now, what he needed to do was find a second-tier Exotic Beast to complete his mission early. Otherwise, once he reached the second tier, he would have to hunt third-tier Exotic Beasts and Monstrous Beasts.
That would be utterly impossible unless he could instantly kill a third-tier Exotic Beast.
In the vast wilderness, second-tier Exotic Beasts and Monstrous Beasts were relatively easy to find. And sure enough, Swift Blade soon spotted a second-tier Monstrous Beast—the Earth King!
This was likely the offspring of that enormous Monstrous Beast from before.
(End of Chapter)