Chapter 166: The Citywide Stage Begins  

As the citywide stage of the Void Cup began, the hunters returned to the real world, and the dimensional world grew silent once more. Rays of shining green light shot out of the fountain in the central plaza of Ning, heralding the arrival of hundreds of airships. The gathered hunters made way for the new arrivals.

"Is the military handling the Void Cup again?"

"Who else do you think could handle this crowd?"

The hunters chatted away as they watched the airships land.

Military personnel from the world federation and Chinese government stepped out of the airships. The first one down was a sparkling, white-robed elder, his body seemingly glowing from within and releasing holy light. His demeanor was calm and placid, and his beard white and wispy with age. He seemed like a sage from a bygone era.

"Is this the world federation's Elder Bai?"

"Yes, apparently, he's the host for the first elimination round to be held in Ning!"

The gathered hunters continued to whisper to each other. Elder Bai was known as the top hunter in Ning, but he was apparently rather reticent.

"Elder Bai, you're here quite early!" Su Feng walked out from a nearby airship, his aura no less intimidating than Elder Bai's.

"You too, Commander Su," Elder Bai replied. From their interaction, it was quite clear that they were old acquaintances.

"The Wang clan has arrived!"

"The Heaven's Flame Dojo has arrived!"

The Wang clan and the Heaven's Flame Dojo's airships arrived in quick succession. In order to guarantee the fairness of the Void Cup, the military would call for local factions to help co-chair the event, each cooperating and supervising the other party, in order to prevent any collusion, bribery, or discrimination during the competition itself.

Wang Han strode down his airship, his face cold. After greeting Elder Bai and Commander Su, he stood still, a grimace on his face. The leader of the Heaven's Flame Dojo did much the same. As two of the top factions in Ning, they were naturally hoping for their disciples to give a good showing during the Void Cup, but their dreams were not to be.

A particularly eye-catching member of the younger generation had dominated over them all; indeed, none of the other hunters could compare to the brilliance he gave off. magic

"Since everyone's gathered here already, shall we commence with the trial?" Elder Bai asked, looking around him.

"Of course," Wang Han replied.

Elder Bai nodded. After Elder Bai and Su Feng each gave a speech, the citywide tournament began in earnest; the hunters remained silent as they watched the proceedings. "Captain, it looks like our debut will be near the end of the tournament, and there's no need for us to be rushing there now," Sun Xiaowu grumbled. Would that he could be the first on stage, the first to show off his newfound strength! He was deflated just thinking of how late he would be presenting.

"No need? Of course we need to be there early! It's a valuable opportunity to observe how our competitors fight—one of the only chances we have to obtain firsthand information!" Sun Mengmeng corrected him.

"What? You mean it's better to go near the end?"

"Of course! You don't want to go first," Sun Mengmeng emphasized.

"That's true. No one would want to reveal their trump cards early, so those hunters fighting at the beginning could easily be blindsided. Of course, the worst-case scenario is if they have to fight against stronger hunters. In that case, they'd either lose or reveal too much of their abilities beforehand." Fang Yi took over the analysis.

"There's this much that we should be considering?" Sun Xiaowu gasped in surprise, as did Li Feng and Yang Ze.

Zhang Lie mentally shook his head. The members of Team Zenith might have gotten some combat experience, but they still hadn't matured completely as hunters. It seemed as though he would have to train them more regarding such competitions.

"In that case, who's up during the first round of matches?" Sun Xiaowu asked.

Sun Mengmeng quickly pulled up the roster and began analyzing it. She suddenly exclaimed, "Ah, the captain's going up in the first batch!"

This time, even Zhang Lie was caught unaware. He was part of the first group of competitors? In truth, he hadn't paid close attention to the roster. Once he heard Sun Mengmeng's exclamation, he immediately pulled up a copy of his own.

The first round of the citywide tournament was a simple one-on-one elimination stage, with the victors progressing to the next round. To ensure that hunters didn't get eliminated early on due to bad luck, there were still a few losers' brackets available for those who lost in the first round. The tournament structure was designed to favor strength far more than luck.

There were two thousand hunters participating in each batch of fights, and Zhang Lie was in the first batch.

I almost missed registration, and now I'm almost going to miss the first match, too??Zhang Lie wondered at his luck.

Sun Mengmeng and Fang Yi found it quite curious that Zhang Lie would be slated to participate at the very beginning; after all,given his reputation, they were sure that his fight would be moved nearer the end.

With a big boom, a set of fireworks shot into the air, and a beam of green light pierced the heavens.

"The Void Cup's begun!" Sun Mengmeng cried out.

"We have to hurry, or the captain will miss his fight!" Fang Yi urged, as the hunters ran toward the plaza.

The matches would take place on an aerial stage that hovered in place above the plaza. The stage gradually segmented into a thousand pieces, one for each pair of competitors. Above them all were Su Feng and the others, there to oversee the competition.

"The Void Cup will now begin!" Elder Bai announced. The stage shone brightly, filling the entire city with light.

Su Feng and Wang Han both glanced around, and Wang Han bit down on his lips. Zhang Lie was to be among the first batch of competitors.

"The first round of the citywide stage will be by elimination. There are a thousand arenas in all, numbered from #1 to #1000! The winner of each match will remain to face winners of other matches; the losers will subsequently enter a losers' bracket to face off against other losers," Elder Bai continued. "Just as in past years, we'll still have a chance to advance even if we lose the first round!"

"That said, with Zhang Lie around, don't dream of taking first place."

"Who knows? What if he chooses not to participate in the tournament?"

The hunters began whispering to each other.

"Let's begin, Elder Bai. I'm sure all the competitors gathered here are quite familiar with the Void Cup by now," Su Feng murmured.

Elder Bai shook his head. It was true that the rules hadn't changed for quite some time, but he was still obligated to read them out at the very beginning.

"First batch of competitors, ready up!" he shouted.

Piercing green light shot into the skies amidst a wave of genetic energy. When the intensity of the light reached a crescendo, a green beam shot out of each of the thousand stage fragments.

Behind Elder Bai, a holographic screen rose up, announcing the competitors that would be participating on each stage fragment. Among the first batch, one specific name stood out: the Dragonwolf Zhang Lie!

His opponent seemed to be a hunter from a relatively small clan, Li Sanqing.

Several competitors sighed in relief.

"What an unlucky hunter, to be facing off against Zhang Lie in his first match!"

"Ha, looks like I'll be able to ascend to the second match safely, then."

"I wonder how the Wang clan feels about all this? They've dominated the citywide stage of the tournament in the past, but now..."

Li Sanqing gritted his teeth and sighed. It looked as though he would have no choice but to focus on doing well during the elimination stage.

.

"Competitors, ascend to the stage!" Elder Bai raised his arm.

The green glow emanating from each stage fragment would cut off once the named competitors had made it onto each fragment. Most fragments were no longer shining with light; notably, however, the first one still was.

On the first stage fragment, Li Sanqing's forehead beaded with sweat as he urgently awaited the arrival of his competitor.

"Where's Zhang Lie?" some of the competitors in the subsequent batches murmured to each other.

Zhang Lie was slated to fight on the first stage fragment.

As Li Sanqing glanced around nervously, he suddenly froze. If Zhang Lie had been present at the scene, the burgeoning burst of green light would have teleported him up to his associated stage fragment.

However, the fact that Zhang Lie still hadn't appeared meant that he was either not at the scene or had chosen to back out of the competition. The latter was unlikely, so there was only one possibility: had Zhang Lie forgotten about the tournament?

Li Sanqing gaped in disbelief. If that were the case, he would win this match without doing a thing!