While Lian Zhengzhi and his team stood on high alert, Ye Thirteen called Qu Yi and the other two girls to his side.

His position offered a perfect vantage point—taking in the entire People’s Park, overseeing the whole scene.

Ye Thirteen had originally come as backup, ready to step in if the Imperial Capital’s reinforcements arrived too late.

Now that Lian Zhengzhi’s squad had arrived, his sole purpose was to let Qu Yi and the others broaden their horizons.

After all, Ye Thirteen expected Qu Yi to reach Monarch Rank someday and become a legend.

She’d inevitably face Medium Sky Rifts alone later—even join campaigns against Large Sky Rifts. A preview now was valuable.

Anyway, humanity was destined to win this battle.

This would also help Qu Yi believe: Soldier-Class or even General-Class Fiends were nothing more than monsters humans could slaughter.

Other teams’ instructors caught on and gathered their young students to watch.

Fifteen veteran Soldier-Class Demonhunters campaigning against a Medium Sky Rift? A rare spectacle. Close observation would benefit the students immensely.

The students were thrilled.

For many Demonhunter students, merely achieving Entry-Rank was a lifelong dream.

Consider this: Dragon Realm’s population exceeded 400 million, yet Demonhunters numbered just over 3 million.

One in a hundred might awaken—a true “one in a hundred.”

And only 6.33% of Demonhunters ever reached Entry-Rank.

Meaning fewer than 200,000 out of three million-plus had made it.

These 200,000 Entry-Rank experts were scattered across three frontier garrisons, nine major cities, thirty-two domestic Mystic Realms, and thirteen Abysses—leaving few anywhere.

Especially in Mystic Realms and Abysses, where only elites were needed.

There, Entry-Rank hunters were the main force; others were mere minions.

Even Entry-Rank hunters risked falling in battle.

Per classified data Ye Thirteen knew from three years ago: over the past decade, Dragon Realm lost over 10,000 Soldier-Class and 300+ General-Class Demonhunters in active service.

No recorded Monarch Rank or Saint-tier losses yet.

Beyond casualties, available Demonhunters remained scarce.

Mystic Realms and Abysses alone required 160,000 Entry-Rank experts; only 20,000 guarded the three garrisons and nine cities.

A few thousand unaffiliated Entry-Rank experts remained—some under the alliance, others within powerful clans.

Oh, and the alliance’s elite teams held quite a few too.

After layered assignments, Southgate Garrison had fewer than 3,000 Entry-Rank experts.

Most were Soldier Rank; General Rank were rare. Monarch Rank? Only Qu Xuelin.

(Admittedly, Monarch Rank experts were few and mostly stationed in Mystic Realms or Abysses.)

With so few, how could it be enough?

No wonder Qu Xuelin kept requesting reinforcements—and kept being denied.

Southgate Garrison was Dragon Realm’s southern gateway, yet critically understaffed.

This revealed how scarce Demonhunters were—and true elites, even rarer.

One silver lining: nearly one million of Dragon Realm’s 3+ million Demonhunters had awakened in the last three years.

This new generation would grow rapidly. Soon, fresh Entry-Rank hunters would replenish the ranks.

Another ten to twenty years of development should ease the shortage—*if* population growth kept pace.

Hence the legal marriage age was lowered to sixteen.

Beyond needing more births, Sky Rifts had subtly enhanced all humans’ physical fitness—even non-awakened ones.

Otherwise, the age wouldn’t have been lowered repeatedly. Rising national fitness made it feasible.

...

Under eager student gazes, the Sky Rift in People’s Park kept expanding.

Five meters. Ten. Fifteen...

Watching the widening fissure, students gaped in awe.

A ten-meter crack from a Minor Sky Rift had already stunned them.

They never imagined a Medium Sky Rift would be *this* massive.

Du Sina murmured, “Just how big *is* a Medium Sky Rift...?”

Ye Thirteen’s know-it-all tendency surfaced. He answered smoothly:

“Typically fifty meters tall, over ten wide.

Otherwise, it couldn’t withstand a General-Class Fiend’s emergence.

Even the smallest General-Class Fiend today stands over thirty meters.”

“Fifty meters?!”

Everyone froze in shock.

Truth was, even instructors lacked precise Medium Sky Rift data.

First time seeing one up close. They’d only ever known it was terrifying.

Students glanced at Ye Thirteen’s confident lecture, then their own instructors, and shot envious looks at Qu Yi’s trio.

Not that their instructors were weak—Ace Demon Hunters were already elite in their eyes!

Many Demonhunters never reached Ace status in a lifetime.

But Ye Thirteen was simply *that* exceptional.

Soon, the fissure stretched exactly as Ye Thirteen said: fifty meters high, over ten wide.

Visible even from afar.

Nearby residents, stunned, filmed and posted online instantly.

Sensational news—*Medium Sky Rift appears in People’s Park, City C*—exploded across the net.

Dragon Realm authorities quickly reassured the public: three Soldier-Class Demonhunter squads had arrived and would quell the rift. City C residents need not worry.

State media launched live coverage to calm nerves.

After all, a Medium Sky Rift in a city district was unprecedented.

But their prompt response turned it into a showcase of official strength.

Viewers soon recognized elites like Lian Zhengzhi, Shang Tiancheng, and Xu Hanhe.

Realizing they were nationally broadcast, Lian Zhengzhi’s team grew visibly excited.

Few refuse fame—especially positive, officially-sanctioned fame. Utterly irresistible.

Amid the joyful cheers, Ye Thirteen frowned slightly.

The Medium Sky Rift before him... seemed a trace taller than he remembered.

But from this distance—even with the full view—it was still too far for precise measurement.