Chapter 178: A Dominating Victory  

The three brothers of Meng considered themselves contenders for Zhang Lie's throne. They were known as the three kings of the grasslands: the wolf king, Zhou Kai, the eagle king, Zhou Qi, and the horse king, Zhou Wan. They looked toward Zhang Lie with malice in their eyes, excited for the fame and attention they would receive for defeating him.

Just then, Yan Long finished his speech and announced the start of the nationwide tournament. The names of the competitors appeared on screen behind him.

"Those competitors whose names are on-screen, prepare for battle immediately!"

Curiously, Zhang Lie again found his name listed: he would be fighting in the first arena.

"Damn it, I'm facing Zhang Lie!" one of the hunters in the crowd shouted in vexation.

"Haha! ?Looks like it's time for you to surrender! Haven't you heard that every competitor that Zhang Lie matched up against chose to do so?"

"Right, what if he accidentally uses too much strength and kills you?"

Many nearby hunters began to tease the unfortunate competitor.

"Surely I'm not so scary..." Zhang Lie murmured, walking toward the first arena.

One black-robed hunter was particularly focused on Zhang Lie. "If only he were my target! But I don't have to worry—I'll eventually fight him if I win enough." The hunter cackled a few times, the malice and madness in his laugh causing those around him to give him a wide berth.

Once all the designated hunters were in their respective arenas, the first match of the tournament began. Except for Zhang Lie, the other hunters were all rather middling hunters, with nary an exciting fight among them. Naturally, attention piled up on the first arena, where Zhang Lie's opponent, recognizing that he would be no match for Zhang Lie himself, chose to surrender.

"As expected of the Dragonwolf, he won without having to fight once again!"

Amidst frenzied discussion, Zhang Lie shook his head as he left the arena, again the first hunter to do so.

"This fellow..." Yan Long's face spasmed.

"Hoh, when do you think he'll actually have to fight for once? If he gets the grand prize without doing anything at all, even I'd be jealous of him!" Luo Lie seemed to be recalling his own experience as a competitor of the Void Cup. Now that Zhang Lie had won his first match, he would be free for quite some time. There were only about thirty cities who were qualified to host citywide tournaments in China, and the top ten hunters from each city would qualify. As a result, there were three hundred participants in the nationwide tournament. Of those three hundred, the top ten would go on to participate in the worldwide tournament.

The first round of the nationwide tournament was a one-on-one battle; the winners would advance to the second round, and the losers would participate in a free-for-all for a few coveted positions to advance. Fortunately, none of the members of Team Zenith met each other in the first round, nor any hunters they were familiar with, and all of them successfully advanced to the second round.

In the capital, the first round had just ended; on Mars, the first round was just beginning.

In the Martian capital, Yang Ze found himself the object of attention. His competitors would shoot him curious looks from time to time, trying to identify just what was so special about the hunter of whom so many rumors had been spoken.

"So this is Yang Ze?"

"Yes, that's Yang Ze, bastard son of the Yang clan! Apparently, he became really strong after joining Zhang Lie's Team Zenith, and he defeated Yang Yao easily!"

"What? Yang Yao too?! Who on Mars can defeat him, then?"

"You never know—what about the geniuses from the Ma, Jin, and Mo clans?"

The spectators from the Yang clan frowned at the rumors and discussion that were circulating among the gathered hunters. Yang Ze's rise was undoubtedly a mark of shame against their clan; a bastard had defeated the most celebrated Yang scion in a single blow!

The Yang clan head looked toward Yang Ze with a complicated expression on his face.

"The tournament will commence shortly," announced a military officer from the Martian federation, a man with silver braids.

The rather parched Martian land suddenly began to groan as a robotic sound came from deep underground. A crack spread across the ground as an arena emerged from sight. Amidst a cloud of red dust, the large arena split into ten fragments, just as was done in China.

Yang Ze clenched his fists tightly.

"On the seventh arena, Yang Ze VS Mo Tian," the military officer read off.

Yang Ze sucked in a deep breath as he walked toward the arena. Watching him, the Yang clan head suddenly felt his heart wrench.

"The clan has made its decision," the first Yang elder murmured, sensing his errant thoughts. The Yang clan head sighed and nodded, his eyes clearing up.

As Yang Ze stood in the icy-cold arena, his opponent, Mo Tian, slowly strode up to him.

"Who would have expected that a Yang exile would be able to go so far? Your strength is indeed quite shocking," Mo Tian commented idly.

Yang Ze raised his head and smiled, looking him in the eye. "The first match begins now!" magic

Yang Ze circulated his genetic energy. There was no need to speak; his actions would speak for themselves. He launched [Fists of the Silent Sea], quickly followed by [Three-Wave Crescendo].

A thick, dense wave of water-attuned genetic energy headed in Mo Tian's direction, and Mo Tian reacted with a few attacks of his own. As he made to defend against Yang Ze's blows, Yang Ze suddenly leapt up, a gleaming sword somehow having made its way into his hand. "[The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!"

Water-attuned genetic energy doused the arena. A huge wave of water swept toward Mo Tian, followed quickly by waves of sword energy. Mo Tian was forced back stumbling by the wave of water; he had no defense against the waves of sword energy that followed.

As his body was flung out of the arena, Yang Ze became the first victor of the round.

"The winner of arena #7—Yang Ze!"

The Mo clan head frowned, his face darkening. Mo Tian was the last of the Mo elites still in the tournament, and his defeat now would lose the Mo clan all representation in the Void Cup.

The crowds were silent as they processed the shockingly fast victory. Before they could react, Yang Ze had already walked off the arena and back to the stands.

Back in China's capital, the tournament was progressing far faster than anticipated thanks to the overwhelming strength of the members of Team Zenith. The second day of the tournament posed no challenge to them; they continued to advance with overwhelming strength.

The spectators at the capital, just like those in Ning, found themselves speechless, as did Yan Long, Luo Lie, and Su Feng. How long had it been since such a superior hunter had appeared during the Void Cup?

Even if Zhang Lie were excluded, the performance of the members of Team Zenith were still far superior to that of any other faction represented at the tournament.

"Just what sort of monster is he?" Su Feng murmured, watching the tournament from his office in the Blackwind Fort. His special forces troops had adapted remarkably quickly to their new limit fragments after receiving personalized instruction from Zhang Lie.

That night, as the members of Team Zenith discussed the day's fighting, Zhang Lie stood alone and silent in the dojo's training ground, raising his head to look up at the radiant moon.

A cloud floated across the moon, momentarily shrouding the sky in darkness. Zhang Lie felt a sudden inspiration. He activated [Eclipse], positioning the moon of its domain exactly where it was in the night sky.

Dark clouds crept over the moon, slowly enveloping it in its midst.

As Zhang Lie continued releasing genetic energy, a dark serpent appeared around him. It ascended toward the moon, devouring it bit by bit. Zhang Lie felt a curious thrumming in his head, as though he had become the moon being devoured by the serpent. Subject to this curious sensation, Zhang Lie found the devouring process proceeding surprisingly smoothly, but his consciousness was likewise fading away.

"Desist immediately!" he heard from afar. Zhang Lie clutched his head and immediately awoke from his trance.

He had somehow managed to combine his consciousness with the domain of [Eclipse]. As the serpent devoured the moon, so too did it devour his lifeforce; if he hadn't canceled the skill, he could well have died where he stood.

Sweat dripped down Zhang Lie's back. He took a deep breath and turned in the direction of the shout: Lin Xiu was leaning against a pillar as he considered Zhang Lie. Zhang Lie was shocked—when had Lin Xiu arrived? He hadn't noticed him at all!

"Thank you," Zhang Lie called out.

Lin Xiu grunted noncommittally, then left after seeing that Zhang Lie was fine.

The next day, Zhang Lie arrived at the capital early. When he did so, there were only a few hunters in the tournament ground, all of whom frowned and stared warily at the members of Team Zenith: these members were whom the hunters would have to face if they wanted to advance.