82: The old man is here already?

Just as he reached the entrance, Su Ze felt the sensation of being watched.

But unlike the merely scrutinizing gazes of the past, the gaze he felt this time was extremely aggressive and hostile.

"It seems Sun Hao was right. Not just positions like squad leaders, but every functional post has been replaced by the people Jiang Sheng brought along."

The person hiding in the shadows didn't show up to stop Su Ze, watching him as he walked into the camp.

Only after his figure disappeared did they emerge from the hidden sentry post and close the camp's main gate.

Su Ze was unaware of everything happening behind him.

He simply clenched his fists as he looked at the Great Xia Spirit Guards before him, who were collapsed on the ground from exhaustion during training, with blood even seeping from wounds reopened from previous battles.

"Every single one of you, is this all you've got? This is barely any training! Everyone, get up and run another thirty kilometers!"

A man looking like a Skinny Monkey spoke triumphantly from the side. Judging by the stars on the shoulders of his Great Xia Spirit Guard uniform, he was one of the new squad leaders appointed by Jiang Sheng.

"Damn it, didn't you hear me? Move it!" He made a move to kick a Spirit Guard who had collapsed in pain with a reopened leg wound, but was stopped by Su Ze, who could no longer bear it.

He shoved the Skinny Monkey to the ground and said, "With your sickly, monkey-like face, what right do you have to train others? Why don't you train your own 'third leg' to stand up properly first!"

"Ow, damn it! Who the hell are you? You dare lay a hand on me? I'm a squad leader now. The duty of a Great Xia Spirit Guard is to obey orders. Do you want to be kicked out of the Spirit Guard Army?"

As soon as the Skinny Monkey spoke, the guys who had been leisurely resting and watching the others train all gathered around.

They were all people brought by Jiang Sheng, and their goal was to thoroughly torment the others.

Seeing Su Ze and Sun Hao surrounded, the others finally reached their breaking point and moved to stand behind the two.

"Damn it, I'm done training! These guys don't do a thing themselves; they just sit there and keep adding to our workload. I've run dozens of kilometers since this morning without even a sip of water. I can't even squeeze out a drop of pee now!"

"That's right, no more training!"

"Let's go find Captain Guo. Only he is fit to be our captain. What the hell are these guys supposed to be!"

"Exactly!"

...Just as everyone began to respond and the situation was about to spiral out of control.

Suddenly, a powerful pressure descended from the air, making it nearly impossible for everyone to breathe. However, the guys on the opposite side were perfectly fine, even watching them leisurely.

"Oh? Did you just say you're quitting? For a Great Xia Spirit Guard to say such things, can I interpret this as you wanting to mutiny? Against traitors, every Great Xia Spirit Guard has the right and duty to kill them on the spot!"

A deep voice drifted from the depths of the camp, and those men instantly revealed their killing intent upon hearing the command.

"And since he produced team members like you, it seems Old Man Guo isn't clean either. Perhaps he conspired with the Fusang Dark Guards to murder my son!"

A gloomy middle-aged man with an aquiline nose, a balding head, and a sturdy build finally parted the crowd and walked over.

He was Jiang Tianlong's father, Jiang Sheng, and he was also Su Ze and the others' current captain.

"That's right, Captain! These guys wanted to slack off, and after I said a few words to them, they actually wanted to desert the Great Xia Spirit Guards. We really can't keep people like this!" The Skinny Monkey immediately scrambled up from the ground and spoke flatteringly.

He knew Jiang Sheng's goal was to avenge his son, but since these people were all Great Xia Spirit Guards, he couldn't just attack them. Thus, he needed to fabricate charges.

What they wanted was to force someone to make the first move!

Everyone was too suppressed by Jiang Sheng's pressure to argue for themselves. Only Su Ze could step forward, looking at the gloomy man and saying, "Captain Jiang Sheng, everyone is just complaining a bit because they're suffocating under the excessive training load. To call that a mutiny is just framing people, isn't it?"

Jiang Sheng looked at Su Ze, a very ugly smile squeezing onto his face. "Oh? You must be Su Ze? I didn't expect you to actually dare to come... Good, very good!"

"I recall you're also a Great Xia Spirit Guard. Since you're not trying to mutiny, then go train with them. The training load is doubled again!" He said, looking at Su Ze with a sneer.

Before Su Ze could speak, Sun Hao chimed in, "Brother Su Ze was recruited into the Great Xia Spirit Guards as an exception by our Captain Guo. Captain Guo personally said that Su Ze doesn't need to participate in any Great Xia Spirit Guard training or missions until he graduates..."

Jiang Sheng suddenly glared with his murky eyes and interrupted, "Captain Guo? Guo Linshan is no longer your captain! I'm the one in charge here!"

"What 'recruited as an exception'? What does he think the Great Xia Spirit Guards are? His personal playground? Everyone either trains obediently for me or gets the hell out of the Great Xia Spirit Guards!"

The Skinny Monkey immediately added, "Right, right! I was wondering why this kid was so bold as to defy his superior."

"Turns out he's just someone with connections. Too bad your connection has already retired."

Hearing these words from their mouths felt exceptionally ironic to Su Ze.

But Su Ze was unwilling to quit the Great Xia Spirit Guards as they wished. He liked the army's philosophy and respected the oath he took when joining.

For that very reason, Su Ze felt such intense loathing for the people before him; their actions were nothing short of a stain on the Great Xia Spirit Guards!

"Unwilling to leave and unwilling to train... your attitude makes things difficult for me. It seems you need some proper discipline!" Jiang Sheng said with a malicious sneer. Behind him, the silhouette of a massive black snake was gradually emerging.

Amidst the tense standoff, Su Ze had already made up his mind to have his nightmare clone hypnotize them all and then take them out in one fell swoop, leaving no witnesses.

At worst, he would just wait for Jiang Tianlong's grandfather to come looking for trouble and seek revenge for both his son and grandson.

But just then, a hearty voice familiar to Su Ze echoed from the air.

"Jiang Sheng, I dare you to try and make a move!"

Then, the white-haired Yu Shenghuo descended from the sky, crashing straight down between the two groups and separating them.

Xu Yao was also gently set down, carried by his battle beast, a Raging Flame Lion.

"President Yu? You were at the association? And Xu Yao, why did you come too? You could have just let President Yu come." Su Ze said happily, as this was indeed unexpected.

Xu Yao came to Su Ze's side and complained, "After I found President Yu, he immediately brought me here. Didn't you promise me you wouldn't make a move until I arrived? Why were you so impulsive? It was almost too late!"

Su Ze scratched his head awkwardly; he really hadn't expected Yu Shenghuo to be in the city this time.

Was the Jiang Family's move this time really so sloppy?

But this was a good thing. With Yu Shenghuo present, Jiang Sheng would have to think twice before acting.

From the pressure earlier, Su Ze could feel that perhaps due to a lack of talent, his strength wasn't very high—he wasn't even as strong as his son, Jiang Tianlong.

Not to mention Yu Shenghuo, who, after burning his life force to break through against the Fusang Dark Guards at Tianyun Volcano, had experienced an unstoppable wave of consecutive level-ups despite being in his twilight years.

He had reached the level of a Level 70 Beast Tamer. To continue leveling up, he would need to contract even higher-level battle beasts.

However, Yu Shenghuo could also sense that this was his limit, so there was no need to waste the country's high-level beast resources.

Since Jiang Sheng was no match for Yu Shenghuo, he could no longer act so arrogant.

After all, in the end, it all came down to strength.

As Su Ze expected, Jiang Sheng restrained his aura and looked at Yu Shenghuo, saying, "President Yu, this is an internal matter of the Great Xia Spirit Guards. It has nothing to do with your Beast Tamer Association. You have no right to interfere, do you?"

Yu Shenghuo laughed loudly and said, "Haha, stop trying to sound so high and mighty to save face. Everyone knows you're only here for revenge. Little Guo specifically asked me to look after Su Ze before he left, and I can't break my promise to him!"

Seeing this, Jiang Sheng stopped acting. He sneered and said, "Good, very good. One more person to be buried with my son! Yu Shenghuo, do you really think you're so strong that I can't do anything to you?!"

"In the end, you're all just frogs in a well from some backwater place. How could you possibly understand the heritage of a great family!"

Before he had even finished speaking, a person behind him, wearing a hood and an ordinary Great Xia Spirit Guard uniform with their head bowed, suddenly stepped forward.

He pulled back his hood, revealing a head of snow-white silver hair and a face full of wrinkles.

Could it be that Jiang Sheng's trump card was just a gray-haired old man?!

Jiang Sheng bowed very respectfully toward him, backing away as he said, "Father, your son is useless. In the end, I still have to rely on you to take action."

"Humph!" The old man snorted coldly and then silently began to summon his monster.

Accompanied by the flash of platinum light, a terrifying aura filled the entire area!