Fa Hua never spoke from beginning to end. He simply followed silently at Lan Ge’s side, almost like a personal attendant.
By the time they entered the Five-Thunder Legion, Lei Mingyang was already inside the conference hall giving instructions to his officers. The moment he saw them arrive, his face darkened.
“Uncle Lei! Long time no see!” Lan Ge hurried forward with a bright grin.
Lei Mingyang’s expression sank. “This is the military. Address me by rank.”
“Yes, Grand Marshal.” Lan Ge immediately corrected himself, his smile completely unchanged.
Lei Mingyang snorted. “Your father really knows how to enjoy himself. Vanishes for three years and leaves all the trouble for me to clean up. Then the moment he comes back, he throws me a problem on purpose. Tell me, have you ever seen anyone less grateful than him?”
“Completely ungrateful!” Lan Ge said indignantly. “At least you knew he was cultivating in seclusion. I’m the one who truly suffered! Uncle Lei, you have no idea how miserable these past few years have been for me.”
“Oh?” Lei Mingyang looked surprised. “Miserable? You disappear for a few years and come back Ninth-Rank. What exactly are you dissatisfied with?”
Lan Ge gave a bitter smile. “You don’t know how much I suffered to get here.”
Lei Mingyang chuckled. “Go on then. Tell me so I can enjoy myself a little.”
Lan Ge’s face stiffened. “Can we have one normal conversation? Uncle Lei, if you don’t want me here, I’ll head back right now. I didn’t even want this role in the first place. I got forced into it. My father said you were going into seclusion, so I got shoved up here to fill the gap.”
Lei Mingyang laughed. “Fine, fine. My fault. Go on then. Let me hear how outrageous your old man really is.”
Only then did Lan Ge briefly explain how the Grand Elder and his parents had teamed up to deceive him. He skimmed over most of the details involving the Green Sea of Life and the Demon Domain.
After hearing everything, Lei Mingyang let out a long breath, his expression relaxing considerably. “You really had it rough. Now I feel much better. Compared to you, I didn’t suffer at all. If your father can be that ruthless to his own son, what am I supposed to say?”
Lan Ge raised a hand to stop him. “Uncle Lei, we’ve both been through enough. We don’t need to compare who’s had it worse.”
Lei Mingyang chuckled. “Fair enough. At least I’m not as heartless as your father.” He stood and walked over to him. “Alright, back to business. I built the Five-Thunder Legion with my own hands. You should already know a little about it. Having you come here as Military Overseer is also meant to train you. While I’m gone, you’ll hold the highest authority here and temporarily act in my place as Grand Marshal. All five battalions of the legion will answer to you.”
He paused before continuing.
“You don’t actually need to do too much. We already have our own training methods. The battalion captains can handle those matters themselves. What you really need is to understand how the legion operates—its structure, logistics, and how armies fight on the battlefield. After all, you’ll eventually inherit this position. You’re already Ninth-Rank at such a young age. Breaking through to God Rank in the future is very possible, so I don’t need to lecture you about cultivating harder.”
“This time, your father invited not just me, but Ninth-Ranks from every major city to the palace. He wants to share his experiences breaking through so everyone can search for a path forward together. If humanity had more God Rank experts, we wouldn’t be so weak. I don’t know exactly how long I’ll be gone. Just don’t turn the legion upside down while I’m away.”
“Understood.” Lan Ge nodded obediently.
Lei Mingyang immediately called over a messenger. “Summon the five battalion captains.”
Only then did Lan Ge remember Fa Hua, who had remained silent the entire time.
“Uncle Lei, this is Fa Hua, my good friend.” Lan Ge gestured toward him. “He’s from the Law Domain. My father wanted him to come with me this time to see whether any of the Law Domain’s military training methods could be integrated with ours.”
Lei Mingyang had naturally noticed Fa Hua long ago. His eyes narrowed slightly. “Why does he look familiar?”
Lan Ge coughed awkwardly. “He was the one I summoned onto the arena during the tournament. Actually…”
Lei Mingyang’s eyes widened. “Your Grand Summoning Spell? Hah! Kid, your ability to drag people into trouble is pretty impressive too.”
Only then did he carefully examine Fa Hua. At first glance, Fa Hua looked entirely ordinary, but there was something uniquely composed about his bearing.
“You know how to train soldiers?” Lei Mingyang asked.
Fa Hua shook his head. “No.”
Lan Ge instantly felt something tighten in his chest. “You—”
“I only know how to command them,” Fa Hua continued calmly.
Lei Mingyang laughed loudly. “Big words! Soldiers only respect strength. Talking well means nothing unless you can prove it. The Five-Thunder Legion’s five battalions are all fairly close in overall strength, though each specializes in different things. How about this? Pick one battalion. Then face another battalion in a simulated battle, limited to a hundred-man unit. Let this Grand Marshal see just how capable the Law Domain’s commanding talent really is.”
“Alright.” Fa Hua agreed without hesitation.
Lei Mingyang turned toward Lan Ge. “Prince, how about you command the opposing side?”
Lan Ge waved his hands frantically. “No, no. I’m genuinely terrible at commanding. Uncle Lei, you should do it yourself. Fa Hua’s actually very good at this, and he’s Ninth-Rank too. If you don’t personally take the field, it wouldn’t be fair.”
Ninth-Rank too?
Lei Mingyang’s heart stirred.
Fa Hua looked about the same age as Lan Ge. Reaching Ninth-Rank so young already made him a monster among geniuses. Lei Mingyang immediately grew more cautious. He really didn’t want to embarrass himself here.
At that moment, voices sounded from outside the hall.
“Report!”
“Enter,” Lei Mingyang replied.
The doors opened and five people strode inside. The moment they entered, the leading man laughed loudly.
“Boss, did the prince finally arrive?”
Fa Hua’s gaze swept across the group.
The one in front was by far the largest—well over two meters tall. He wore no armor, only a fitted combat outfit. His short black hair stood upright like steel needles, while his deep-blue eyes seemed to flicker with lightning itself. His entire body radiated explosive aggression.
The four behind him varied greatly in appearance. Two looked perfectly ordinary, almost indistinguishable from normal civilians. One was surprisingly small and lean, appearing only around thirty years old, with an entirely harmless smile. The most striking was the last—a woman. Tall and long-legged, with sharp eyes and a high ponytail, she looked around twenty-five or twenty-six and carried herself with fierce confidence.
“Prince!” the burly man boomed with a laugh. “I missed the Grand Competition because I was away on an assignment. Now that the champion’s here, you’ve got to spar with old Lei sometime!”
Lei Mingyang smiled. “Let me introduce everyone. This is the captain of the Hard Thunder Battalion—Lei Minglie. Also my younger brother.”
Your younger brother? You two don’t look alike at all, Lan Ge muttered inwardly.
Lei Minglie chuckled. “Boss, the prince isn’t leaving this time, right? Plenty of the younger soldiers practically worship him.”
Lei Mingyang nodded. “The prince is here to serve as Military Overseer, so he’ll be staying for a while. Stand aside first. I’m not done introducing everyone yet.”
As he spoke, he moved toward the second battalion captain behind Lei Minglie.
“This is Li Biao, captain of the Fierce Thunder Battalion.”
Average appearance. Average face. Average name.
Everything about Li Biao seemed ordinary, yet among the five captains, he appeared the steadiest.
“Prince.” He nodded respectfully toward Lan Ge.
Lei Mingyang continued.
“This is Meng Qiankun, captain of the Sky Thunder Battalion.”
Then he gestured toward the smaller man.
“This is Yun Baitian, captain of the Explosive Thunder Battalion.”
Finally, he stopped beside the female captain.
“And this is Leng Lan, captain of the Flash Thunder Battalion—the single flower among the Five-Thunder Legion’s sea of men. Don’t underestimate her because she’s a woman. She earned her position through pure ability.”
After introducing the five battalion captains, Lei Mingyang narrowed his eyes slightly.
“You all know the prince already. As for this one—his name is Fa Hua. He comes from the Law Domain and is a friend of the prince.”
“The Law Domain?” Lei Minglie blinked. “I heard that place is stiff as hell.”
Fa Hua did not respond. He simply nodded toward the five captains.
From beginning to end, he had merely observed in silence.
Calm observation was always the foundation of judgment.
Lei Mingyang said, “His Majesty’s intention is for Fa Hua to try working alongside the Five-Thunder Legion to see whether we can combine the strengths of both domains and increase our combat power. I’ll be heading to the palace shortly, so before I leave, I’d like everyone to familiarize themselves with each other.”
He looked toward Fa Hua.
“We’ve already discussed it. We’ll hold an internal exercise. Fa Hua will choose one battalion captain and command a hundred-man unit. I’ll choose another and command a hundred-man unit myself. We’ll conduct a live battlefield drill on the training grounds.”
As he spoke, even Lei Mingyang himself seemed eager.
He had always been curious about the Law Domain’s methods of command. During the Three Domains Competition, the Law Domain almost always won the group battles. He genuinely wanted to see what would happen if a Law Domain commander directed Blue Domain Elemental Warriors.
The five battalion captains immediately focused their attention on Fa Hua.
Aside from Li Biao, who remained calm and unreadable, the others all showed visible interest.
Lei Minglie especially looked as though he wanted to shout:
Pick me!
“Do you need to rest first?” Lei Mingyang asked.
Ever since meeting Lan Ge, Fa Hua had gradually grown accustomed to the Blue Domain way of doing things—straightforward, free-spirited, and sometimes completely unpredictable.
“No need,” Fa Hua replied.
Lei Mingyang nodded.
“Then choose.”