Chapter 168: Creating an army future plans
"I will… I need more strength," he said with his ragged breathing.
"You are so malnourished and pathetic that if I left you out on the street, they would either make a slave out of you or you would die out cold outside. How can you have strength?" Lu Zhen said in a condescending tone.
Immediately, every child\'s back went cold upon hearing this. They despaired, realising that if the two twin sisters and the brother hadn\'t rescued them from the clutches of the bandits, they would have died a miserable death. Even after being rescued, they remained powerless, feeble children who might still face a grim fate.
With some hope, they looked at Lu Zhi, but seeing the resigned look on his face, their hope immediately died. Instead, they turned their gaze to Lu Qing, hoping for a glimmer of hope. However, she too shook her head with a sigh, causing them to despair.
"So, your choice is a little boy? I can let you all go back..."
"No, I want strength, and you will give me strength," the boy roared, looking at Lu Zhen with fiery determination.
Lu Zhen was stunned for a second before a small smile graced his lips.
"And what will I get for it? There is no free lunch in the world."
"Whatever you brought us here for."
Lu Zhen chuckled when he heard this. "What a smart boy," he couldn\'t help but think.
"Very well then, I will train you all to be strong. In return for making you guys strong, you will complete tasks for me. It\'s as simple as that. So, whoever is interested, come to my side."
A silence permeated the surroundings as nobody spoke for a long time.
The boy\'s eyes lit up when he heard Lu Zhen\'s words, and he immediately went to his side without flinching, carrying a fire in his eyes.
This set off a domino effect as almost all the children went to Lu Zhen\'s side one by one, like a hive.
Although the children hesitated for some time, they eventually chose Lu Zhen\'s side, seeing that he held a high status. They would get to eat and sleep, with the added benefit of getting stronger. This was a lucrative deal for most of them.
In this world, after a person reaches eight years old, they were already considered teens, and by the age of fourteen, they could be considered adults. Due to the cruel environment in which people lived, and with the presence of Qi in this world, even an average person breathing in this environment was naturally stronger than in Lu Zhen\'s previous world.
So most of them could already make some decisions for themselves.
"Alright," Lu Zhen nodded his head, looking at the two who had joined his side.
"You two can go now, as promised. I will let you go." He shook his head as he sighed.
The two children, a girl with purple hair and a boy with brown hair, left the palace silently, their eyes glinting with a strange light.
Lu Zhen frowned as he sensed something was wrong with his children, so his eyes turned golden as he looked at them, causing him to widen his eyes.
[Sui Yan]
[Race: Half human/ Half saint]
[Age: 12]
[Qi: level 1] (Martial trainee is level 1 of Qi)
[Trait: Sword Immortal]
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[Sui Yi]
[Race: Half human/ Half saint]
[Age: 11]
[Qi: Level 1]
[Trait: Genius]
"This boy and girl," Lu Zhen internally frowned; however, he didn\'t dwell on them for long. Since they wanted to leave, they could leave. He couldn\'t care less as long as they didn\'t get in his way.
"System, when did the trait become a thing?" Lu Zhen said in his head.
[As your strength progresses, more and more data can be collected from the world, and the system will progress along with the host\'s strength. Since you have reached the very peak of the third-stage martial realm, and your appraisal skill level has levelled up, you can see new information along with it. However, since it is not a major upgrade, the system doesn\'t need to be updated.]
The cold and mechanical voice rang in his ear, making Lu Zhen nod his head internally.
He turned towards all the people who had decided to follow him.
"Alright, I will give you good food, and the two twins will train you every day from now on. Expect the training to be harsh, and if you can\'t endure it, it is your fault as you chose this path," Lu Zhen said as he briefly glanced at everyone with his golden eyes before letting them go.
Almost all the people\'s talents were average or even worse, as expected. However, some of them were hidden gems under the dust, which surprised Lu Zhen.
After all, it was very rare for commoners to have talent for martial arts. Although they were numerous in number, a bloodline family wasn\'t made for no reason.
As for the talented ones, the children also had the "chance" to inherit the talent of their predecessors. Since the Lu family\'s predecessors were all terrifying powerhouses, most of the Lu family members were talented in martial arts, at least compared to an average commoner.
Of course, Lu Zhen was a different case due to his bloodline; however, that didn\'t mean others were inherently all talented. It was only a case of probability.
In simpler terms, the descendants of major families had a higher chance of being talented in martial arts than commoners.
This is how families were able to maintain dominance in the city to the point that the words they uttered became the rules of the city.