"Yes, if not for Young Master Long helping us out at a critical moment, we certainly wouldn't have been able to take down that last hunter so easily."

"Haha, that's right! I'm honored to have seen you in action, Young Master Long!"

"Not only that, if not for Young Master Long, we might not have dared to enter the desert at all—or become prey for other hunters!"

Everyone in the team seemed to be sucking up to this Young Master Long. His expression didn't change, but a hint of pride flashed through his eyes. Sensing that their bootlicking was having an effect, the team continued heaping praises on him.

"Alright, it's about time that we found our next prey."

Only when Young Master Long himself was getting embarrassed did the team finally start heading deeper into the desert. Wind and sand filled the air. There were quite a few hunters' skeletons that were half-buried in the sand, and patches of golden sand which had been dyed red.

"Be careful! We're already rather deep into the Desert of Silence, and the hunters that dare to hunt in this area are ones that we'll have to be very careful with," Young Master Long reminded.

Right after he spoke, they could sense fluctuations in genetic energy nearby, as well as a low howl.

"There's a team of hunters up in front," a hunter cried out.

Young Master Long frowned. He tried to analyze their strength from the fluctuations in their genetic energy.

"Let's go get our last prey for the day. They're exhausted after a long battle. I still have other things to do, so we'd better make this fast." He motioned to the group as he walked toward the source of the energy.

Sun Mengmeng, Fang Yi, and the others were panting as they took a momentary break. In just a single day, they had taken down seven superior-grade lifeforms in a row, but none of them had dropped a superior-grade soulshard. At the very least, however, they had all amassed sufficient flesh to reach the superior gene capacity.

"Damn it, how many lifeforms have there been? Just how hard is it to get a superior-grade soulshard?!" Sun Xiaowu tugged at his hair in abject disappointment.

"We already knew just how hard superior-grade soulshards were to get. Let's take a break and continue hunting down more lifeforms later," Fang Yi suggested.

"Fang Yi's right. You all know how hard the captain worked to get each and every one of his superior-grade soulshards, don't you?" Sun Mengmeng added. She had witnessed the growth in Zhang Lie's strength, as well as the trials he had overcome to achieve that growth. This had been the case both for his blood ant and forest wolfman soulshards.

"I'll admit that our captain has put in a lot of effort for his soulshards, but don't you think he's been quite lucky to date?" the reticent Zhou Ying suddenly volunteered, causing everyone else to fall deep in thought.

"Perhaps the captain's just a very lucky person!"

"If he can do it, then so can we! After all, we're Team Zenith, and our captain's Zhang Lie. We can't let him lose face because of us!"

"We'd better start preparing for our next target." Yang Ze stood up, brushed the sand off his armor, and prepared to get moving again.

Everyone else dragged their weary bodies up.

"Right, we have to hunt down superior-grade soulshards that'll fit us all. We can't disappoint the captain during the Void Cup!" Li Feng called out. Zhou Ying and Sun Xiaowu also perked up, their refusal to back down spurring them onward.

Suddenly, before them came another party of hunters, the sound of their approach hidden by the howling wind. Sun Mengmeng and Fang Yi immediately motioned for their team to stop as the other party emerged. 

They were all wearing dark red armor, with two shining jewels of genetic energy embedded by their shoulderguards. These jewels were relatively expensive and unaffordable to most. The word 'Godspath' inscribed on them revealed the hunters' identity.

"What are hunters from the Godspath settlement doing here?" Sun Mengmeng clutched her bow tightly as she prepared for a fight.

Fang Yi and the others also prepared for a battle, understanding that the superior-grade lifeforms weren't the only danger in the Desert of Silence. Not only did they have to be wary of superior-grade lifeforms, they also had to be careful with regards to the hunters that were roaming the area.

The hunters from the Godspath settlement stopped short. The sand beneath their feet shook; as the winds around them grew stronger and stronger, despite the fact that they were only ten meters or so away from each other, they couldn't even see each other's faces clearly.

"Oh, it's people from the Blacksteel settlement."

"What? The Blacksteel settlement, where Zhang Lie's located?"

"So what if they're from the Blacksteel settlement? With our numbers, even if Zhang Lie himself were here, I don't think he'd be able to best us. Even so, be careful—they entered the deeper part of the desert before us," Young Master Long whispered to his group.

Despite the wind and sand, Sun Mengmeng and the others could clearly feel the killing intent emanating from them. "Beware of them," Sun Mengmeng whispered.

"Hand over your soulshards and the beast carcasses you've hunted, and I might consider letting you go," Young Master Long shouted disdainfully.

Fang Yi's face went grim. These were likely hunters who specifically targeted other hunters in the days leading up to the Void Cup.

"Is this the quality of the hunters in one of the best settlements in the region? I hadn't expected to find so many cowards," Sun Mengmeng taunted them.

"The dimensional world's all about strength. There are those like us from every settlement you'll find—if you want something to blame, blame your lack of strength!" Young Master Long laughed, then began charging up for an attack.

"Be careful, this guy's strong!" Sun Mengmeng whispered again, sensing the fluctuation of his genetic energy.

Sun Xiaowu and the others prepared for a battle. However, after hunting down superior-grade lifeforms for an entire day, they weren't certain they could beat an elite team like this.

"Die! The weak don't deserve to live." Young Master Long licked his parched lips as he charged up an attack.

The other hunters from the Godspath settlement swallowed a gulp of saliva, excitement evident on their features. They knew that Young Master Long enjoyed killing; this was one of his ways of relaxing before a competition.

As Young Master Long removed his palms from the sleeves of his long robes, his nails began to grow at a rapid clip. Genetic energy surrounded his nails, elongating and honing them to a fine point, as though they were the claws of a dragon.

"You're from the Long clan?!" Sun Mengmeng shouted.

Before the hunters of Team Zenith could strike, he had rushed within attacking range. As he swung his claws about, the wind and sand responded to his motions. In a matter of moments, a draconic twister formed from sand and wind spun toward the beleaguered hunters.

"The Long clan's signature art, [Draconic Tempest]!" the leader of Young Master Long's temporary team cried out.

Sun Mengmeng and Fang Yi frowned as they tried to analyze the technique. As the sand dragon roared, releasing a bout of genetic energy, they stumbled backwards before they could release a counterattack.

"Xiaowu!" Sun Mengmeng hurriedly called out.

Sun Xiaowu stepped forward, a golden gleam rising above his skin and spreading over his body. When it covered Sun Xiaowu's body in its entirety, a dull thump emanated from it. At the same time, the sand dragon clawed towards him.

Sun Xiaowu rushed forward, golden scales appearing over his arm as he punched at the dragon. Young Master Long's grin widened as he directed the dragon to attack. 

Genetic energy in white and gold clashed in mid-air.

With a dull thump, Sun Xiaowu retreated, and the golden flash of genetic energy disappeared. 

Young Master Long was surprised: he had expected the claws to pierce through Sun Xiaowu's chest and to kill him instantly. How was it that Sun Xiaowu had only been pushed back? The other members of his temporary team were also taken aback. No other prey had survived that attack!

"Xiaowu, are you alright?" Sun Mengmeng hurriedly stepped forward. Sun Xiaowu had been wounded by the attack, but it wasn't anything serious.

"I'm fine! It's just a light wound. Everyone, be careful, this hunter's techniques and framework aren't bad!" Sun Xiaowu called out.

"Ant, how have you not perished?!" Young Master Long's face fell. How could he have failed to down his opponent in one hit?

"Kill them all!" Sun Xiaowu's injury enraged his older sister. The enemy team had attacked them first; they were certainly obligated to act in self-defense!

Fang Yi's eyes gleamed as he launched [Heaven's Judgment]. Streaks of lightning crackled on his spear.

Young Master Long narrowed his eyes. His illustrious background meant that he could identify the grade of the technique instantly.

"No wonder you guys were able to head so deep into the desert. All your techniques are high-grade or above, aren't they?" He smirked.

Sun Xiaowu had used [Adamantine Aegis], a legendary-grade framework, to defend against his blow. If it were any weaker, he might have perished on the spot. 

And Fang Yi's pinnacle-grade framework was even better. He had grown into a strong hunter in Zhang Lie's past life; he was growing even stronger in the present. The combination of [Rondo of Wind and Storm] and [Heaven's Judgment] shocked even Young Master Long.

"That defensive technique from just now was at least a legendary-grade technique, and this looks even more advanced! Could it be a pinnacle-grade technique?" His eyes gleamed with greed.

"Leader, should we attack them too?" The other hunters from the Godspath settlement all rubbed their hands in glee as they stared at the hunters of Team Zenith, as if all that the hunters of Team Zenith had would become theirs.

"Of course! Otherwise, Young Master Long will take everything. Charge!" he bellowed, motioning for his subordinates to attack all at once.

The two parties clashed, sending a flurry of golden sand into the air.