The outcome of the battle at the runic forest spread through the dimensional world at a crazy rate, and even to the real world. 

Within Lingnan, at a manor right in front of a waterfall, a wizened old man in a long robe stood above the waterfall, glancing down at his surroundings.

"The Dragonwolf Zhang Lie has killed two promising members of my clan's younger generation, my clan's future."

"Head, this blood feud—" a guard by his side began.

"Wait!" the old man muttered, then turned to leave without saying another word.

The guard swallowed a gulp of saliva upon seeing the old man's cool expression. A small crack extended where the man's feet had been, one that affected the flow of the waterfall down below. The old man's features gradually distorted as he walked away, his weathered face seemingly transforming into that of a malicious demon, filled with endless hatred. 

"I'll make you pay for this!"

At the same time, when Li Mo heard that even Li Sheng had been killed by Zhang Lie, he barely avoided going insane. He began tugging on his own hair, his face filled with rage and madness, his eyes bulging and turning red.

"Head, for the sake of the clan's future, I advise that we stop provoking the Dragonwolf."

"Yes, Head, not only should we stop provoking him, we should let bygones be bygones and apologize to Zhang Lie instead. Otherwise, the future of our clan will be in danger!"

The elders were, incredibly, all in agreement about this point.

"Is that so? As hunters of the Li clan, have you all no shame?!" Li Mo glared at the elders with bloodshot eyes. He had lost both his sons to Zhang Lie, and now even his nephew! Was a blood feud something that could be dropped so easily?

When the elders saw that Li Mo was unrepentant, they had no choice but to take action.

"Li Mo, you alone do not speak for the clan!" the first elder of the Li clan spoke up in a threatening tone.

Li Mo turned to the first elder. Indeed, his position in the clan had become extremely insecure given setback after setback. The Li clan had suffered in his leadership, and the contentious issue regarding the white-grub cores had dramatically lowered his status in the clan. It looked as though he would be stripped of his position if he were to continue insisting on enmity against Zhang Lie.

"I understand." After inhaling deeply, Li Mo gave a response that the elders were satisfied with—however, despite his verbal agreement, his eyes were as red as ever.

A few of the elders began to console Li Mo. Li Mo nodded at the elders' words, but unbeknownst to them, he was muttering to himself as he did so. You weren't the ones who lost your sons. What could you understand?

The other clans that had made enemies of Zhang Lie were reacting similarly after hearing the news. Within the Qin clan, many Qin elders were cautioning Qin Zongming against his folly.

"Head, from now on, please stop all plans targeting the Dragonwolf Zhang Lie!"

"Hoh? In that case, who was it that supported my killing Zhang Lie?" Qin Zongming rebuked.

"That was in the past, Head! Zhang Lie's not a hunter we can touch at present."

"Please calm down, Head. We can't let the Qin clan end up like the Long or Li clans," the elders persuaded. 

Qin Zongming faced as much pressure as did Li Mo, and in the end, he had no choice but to accede to the elders' pleas and temporarily halt all his plans.

In the Wang clan, Wang Han faced much the same situation.

After what had occurred within the Runic Forest, many elders had changed their minds about Zhang Lie. Almost as one, they decided that Zhang Lie wasn't an existence that could be easily provoked, and suggested that an olive branch be extended to him instead.

Even the Zhou, Qian, and He clans of the capital clearly felt the same way.

The Chu and Yun clan heads regretted that they hadn't listened to their children's advice. If they had done so, then they would have had much to gain from Zhang Lie's ascension.

"Chu Feng, how's your relationship with Zhang Lie?" Chu Lin asked his son, a serious expression on his face.

"Ah, we're still on good terms, but it's nothing too special," Chu Feng replied honestly.

Chu Lin narrowed his eyes. He was certain that those who had attacked Zhang Lie at the Runic Forest—the Long clan, the Li clan, and a few dojos—would surely be unable to purchase white-grub cores from Zhang Lie any longer.

If they were able to purchase a large quantity of white-grub cores at a discounted price, it would be possible for all Chu hunters of the younger generation to experience this breakthrough, and hence allow the Chu clan to emerge at the forefront of the clans in China.

However, all these hinged upon Zhang Lie being willing to support the Chu clan.

"Can the situation really not be salvaged?" he asked, even as he came up with an audacious plan in his mind.

Just as the major clans reeled from the news of what had happened at the Runic Forest, Zhang Lie and the rest of Team Zenith returned to the Blacksteel Inn. 

It was naturally time to divide up the loot; they had earned far more than expected that day. Long Sheng, Li Sheng, and the various other hunters had given up over two hundred superior-grade soulshards in all, and everyone found quite a few that would be useful to them. Even Zhang Lie picked out a few choice soulshards that he added to his soulspace.

What the hunters of Team Zenith would need to do next was to acclimate to their newly acquired soulshards as soon as possible. As a result, once they had divided up their loot, they all returned to their rooms or the training chambers.

Zhang Lie collapsed under the side effects of the superior-grade blood ant soulshard. It was truly a double-edged sword, but the power it conferred was as incredible as the backlash. He couldn't help but sigh: activating the soulshard while sustaining [Eclipse] still took a huge toll out of his body.

After the attack that had decimated the enemy hunters, he was all but drained of genetic energy, and the rest of the battle had been nothing but careful pretense on his part.

"It looks like I'll have to try to induce the evolution of my framework now..."

The grade of his evolving [Ninecarp Transformation] had become the greatest limiter to his strength. He would need to have larger reserves of genetic energy; otherwise, he would only be able to use one attack while simultaneously activating [Eclipse] and [Ninecarp Transformation].

And if he wanted to evolve his framework, he would need additional gene fragments—but he had already reached his gene capacity in the first realm! 

This implied that, in order to go further, he would have to find another source of limit fragments. The foundational breakthrough and Potions #1 and #2 had built an excellent foundation for him, one that he would have to take advantage of. There was one avenue he knew of to access even more genetic fragments: defeating the peak-grade moonlight wyrm!

He would have to devote some time to devising a plan of attack against it in the future. However, before that, he had something more urgent on his plate, the Zenith Dojo.

Everyone in Team Zenith had now acquired a number of superior-grade soulshards, and there was no need for them to remain in the dimensional world. After a short rest, he immediately returned to the Zenith Dojo with the rest of the team.

It was midnight on Earth. As the teleportation array flashed, Zhang Lie and the hunters of Team Zenith appeared out of nowhere. Before they could walk off the array, however, a black figure darted before them.

"Damn it,  who's trying to frighten us all so late at night?!" Sun Xiaowu jumped up in shock.

Lin Xiu walked into the light. "Su Feng wants you to head to the Blackwind Fort immediately," he told Zhang Lie.

"Now?"

"6 AM the next morning," Lin Xiu replied.

"Excellent! I'll be ready by then."

It was likely that Su Feng wanted to speak with him regarding limit fragments. The affair with the dojo wasn't particularly urgent, so Zhang Lie agreed to the meeting without much thought.

As Lin Xiu nodded and left, Zhang Lie dragged his tired body back home. The next day, at daybreak, Zhang Lie and Lin Xiu walked out of the Zenith Dojo.

"Mr. Zhang Lie, this way please!" The moment they left the entrance, a suited chauffeur welcomed them into a camouflaged hovercar. "This is a hovercar that Commander Su has prepared specially for your use. If you're ready, we'll head to the Blackwind Fort immediately."

"Yes, let's go." Zhang Lie hadn't anticipated that Su Feng would go as far as to send someone over. He entered the hovercar, which shot off like a bolt of lightning.

The Blackwind Fort was so named because, from a distance, it looked like a black cyclone. The chartered hovercar approached the checkpoint to the fort within ten minutes. Because this hovercar had been requested by Commander Su himself, no one stopped them during their drive, and Zhang Lie was swiftly brought in front of Su Feng.

"Zhang Lie, haven't you forgotten our arrangement from before?"

"How could I? Only a single day's passed!"

They walked deep into the fort, to a series of ravines hundreds of feet deep. Amidst a whirring sound, a small warship emerged from the ravine, stopping in front of Zhang Lie and Su Feng. Su Feng stepped forward and motioned for Zhang Lie to follow him as they entered the ship.

It landed in what Zhang Lie now realized was the true heart of the keep, a sturdy earth-colored structure heavily patrolled by troops of armed soldiers. Several massive laser cannons poked out of the roof of the structure.