"Let the tournament begin!" Yan Long announced.

Zhang Lie watched a trembling hunter in front of him skeptically; after the announcement, just as he was preparing to circulate genetic energy throughout his body, his opponent instantly surrendered.

Long Xiao and Li Mo watched the tournament for a few seconds before simultaneously standing up to leave, followed quickly by Wang Han. They didn't have the patience to watch such a one-sided match, nor the interest in Zhang Lie to warrant their doing so. Only the Qin clan remained; Qin Zongming calmly watched the tournament from his seat in the stands, unbothered by the departure of the other clan heads.

His gaze was fixed on a hunter on the second arena, one clad in black. His features were obscured by the hood that covered his face, and quite a few hunters were staring at him because of his odd getup. His opponent was none other than Fang Yi.

"So you're my opponent," the black-robed man murmured, his ice-cold voice filled with disappointment.

Fang Yi didn't speak. He clutched his black spear tightly in his hands as he circulated his genetic energy. Wind wrapped around him; lightning crackled.

The black-robed hunter slowly disrobed.

"Qin Xiao?!" Fang Yi cried out, seeing his pale, gaunt face.

"What? What's Qin Xiao doing here? Isn't he still being chased after by a few major clans? Look, the Zhou clan's right there!" The competitors in the arenas, as well as the hunters in the stands, immediately began to whisper to each other.

The Zhou clan head, Zhou Ruo, stared at Qin Zongming with an icy demeanor.

Qin Zongming shrugged off his stare; he had other things to worry about. This wasn't an opportune time for Qin Xiao to reveal his identity at all.

"Ha! You didn't expect it, did you? I was planning on revealing my identity only when it came time to take down Zhang Lie: be honored I'm doing it for you." Qin Xiao's voice suddenly turned hoarse.

"Do you think someone like you can take down our captain?" Fang Yi snorted. He pushed [Rondo of Wind and Storm] to its extreme as he prepared to launch a strike against Qi Feng.

"You've grown arrogant after your time with Zhang Lie, haven't you? Let me remind you, while you were playing in the mud as a kid, I was already the top hunter of the Blacksteel settlement! Die!" 

He licked his parched lips as he glanced toward Zhang Lie, who was leaving his own arena after winning his battle. However, all he saw was Zhang Lie's back. Despite the murmurs of all the hunters around him, it seemed as though Zhang Lie hadn't ever looked in his direction.

"I knew it was you, Qin Xiao!" On the seventh arena, Chu Feng glared at Qin Xiao; Yun Bing, on the third arena, also glanced his way after dealing with her opponent. The three hunters still had unfinished business with each other.

"Official Yan, what's going on? Why was this convict allowed to participate in the Void Cup?" Zhou Ruo questioned Yan Long.

Yan Long frowned. The Void Cup was open to all hunters who registered in the dimensional world; since everyone could participate, the officials had been rather lax when it came to confirming the competitors' identities. It wasn't strange that Qin Xiao had managed to fool the officials, but the fact that he had chosen to reveal his identity so publicly would make things difficult for them.

"According to the rules of the tournament, Qin Xiao is eligible to participate," Yan Long replied, taking a deep breath.

Zhou Ruo fumed: Qin Xiao had caused the death of his own son!

Qin Zongming glanced at Zhou Ruo, worried about what he was going to do next. However, after taking a deep breath, Zhou Ruo actually seemed to calm down quickly. "Very well. If these are the rules, then there's nothing I can do."

The commotion from Qin Xiao's sudden appearance gradually quieted down, and Qin Zongming sighed in relief.

"[Heaven's Judgment]!" Fang Yi's eyes glinted as he thrust his spear toward Qin Xiao.

[Heaven's Judgment] was a lightning-attuned technique. It caused flashes of golden light to flare throughout the tournament ground as Fang Yi struck, highlighting the potency of and the skill he had reached with the technique.

Fang Yi seemed to morph into a bolt of lightning as he shot forward. 

"[Thunder Raiment]!" Qin Xiao called out, coalescing a suit of thunder armor against his body right before Fang Yi struck.

A bolt of lightning seared the onlookers' eyes.

"Haha!" Qin Xiao laughed out loud. His armor technique was a perfect counter to Fang Yi's attack.

Nevertheless, Fang Yi's face remained as calm and impassive as before. His surety suddenly gave Qin Xiao a premonition of unease. "[Heaven's Judgment: Thunder's Wrath]."

The lightning-attuned genetic energy scattered about the arena coalesced into a ball of light, one which exploded against Qin Xiao's armor. Qin Xiao screamed as he was flung out of the arena, his body battered and bruised.

"This is impossible!" he shouted, his body smoking from the force of the lightning.

In the stands, Qin Zongming's eyes widened in shock. The strength that Fang Yi had demonstrated was far superior to Qin Xiao's, despite the fact that Qin Xiao had consumed a restricted potion even before taking the stage.

Why? Why were the members of Team Zenith so strong?

"Qin Xiao was defeated so easily—how could this be? Even if he's been expelled from the Qin clan, he was still once one of the top hunters in the Blacksteel settlement!"

"Just how strong are the members of Team Zenith?!"

Many hunters glanced cautiously at Fang Yi, still holding his spear beside him.

As he flew to the edge of the arena, Qin Xiao gritted his teeth and forced the pain aside as he firmly grabbed the edge of the arena to prevent himself from falling outside, but as he slowly got up, the wounds on his body began leaking fresh blood. Untied, his long, unkempt hair fluttered in the wind, giving him the demeanor of a crazy maniac.

"Ha! It's impossible, isn't it..." His once-handsome features scrunched up in a grimace. If he couldn't even beat one of Zhang Lie's teammates, how could he hope to beat Zhang Lie himself?

"Give up!" Qin Zongming thundered from the stands.

However, Qin Xiao didn't pay him any heed. He retrieved a test tube from his soulspace, one filled with a mysterious liquid.

"Is this a restricted potion?" Yan Long frowned as he glared at Qin Zongming.

"Today, you'll suffer as I have!" Qin Xiao pried open the test tube and drained its contents.

Fang Yi frowned as he turned back to Zhang Lie, but Zhang Lie didn't pay Qin Xiao any heed. From the moment Qin Xiao uncorked the test tube, Zhang Lie recognized it as a stimulant, one whose side effects were so deleterious that they were even worse than the superior-grade blood ant's soulshard. To add insult to injury, the boost it conferred, though rather significant, would only last for a short period of time.

His eyes turned bloodshot. After using two restricted potions in a row, regardless of the outcome of this match, Qin Xiao's cultivation would be forever stunted.

"Die!" Crackling lightning gathered on Qin Xiao's pitch-black polearm. His hair flying in the wind, his body temporarily bulging with muscle, Qin Xiao was a fearsome sight to behold.

Fang Yi faced his opponent seriously; given the potions he had consumed, Qin Xiao's strength might well rival his own.

"Relax. He won't be at your level, no matter how many potions he drinks! You can defeat him!" Zhang Lie shouted from a distance.

"Hah, dream on! The next one to die is you!" Qin Xiao shouted back. His body was thrumming with explosive strength, rendering him temporarily fearless.

Fang Yi sucked in a deep breath as genetic energy exploded from him.

Qin Xiao dashed forward using the Qin clan's footwork. The signature Qin framework and techniques all focused heavily on offense. After consuming the two restricted potions, Qin Xiao was able to use those techniques to their extremes.

The strength of his attack caused the entire arena to shudder. His eyes gleamed with light and his lips curled up. He was sure that even Zhang Lie, let alone Fang Yi, would be hard-pressed to defend against the attack. He could already sense himself taking down Zhang Lie and being crowned the king of the first realm.

As Qin Xiao approached, Fang Yi suddenly turned ephemeral with an activation of [Floating Clouds]. Though he remained visible, his body seemed to be trapped in a spatial distortion, unable to be touched. "[Heaven's Judgment: Pinnacle]."

White light flooded the arena.

Zhang Lie raised his head sharply: this was likely the technique that Fang Yi had been working on recently. "Using this to defeat Qin Xiao..."

Zhang Lie shook his head, no hint of worry in his features.

"Captain, don't worry, it wouldn't be a disgrace even if Fang Yi were to lose. After all, Qin Xiao consumed a restricted potion!" Sun Xiaowu shouted. Everyone except for Zhang Lie was watching the fight with rapt attention, as though the outcome was still yet uncertain.

"There's no doubt that Fang Yi will win," Zhang Lie announced confidently.

As he spoke, two streaks of lightning clashed against each other, enveloping the entire arena in a blinding flash of light. Not even bothering to shield his eyes, Yan Long observed the scene. "The victor has been decided."

As the light grew dim, revealing the competitors' figures once again, Fang Yi stood in the middle of the stage, a strange expression on his face. He had yet to use his full strength, and yet Qin Xiao had already fallen to the ground, struck by countless blows of lightning...

Qin Xiao lay to the side of the arena, his body spasming as blood seeped out of his orifices.

"Xiao'er!" Seeing Qin Xiao in such a state, Qin Zongming leapt from the stands directly onto the arena.

However, the moment he left the stands, Zhou Ruo, who was seated not far from him, quickly followed suit. Zhou Ruo blocked Qin Zongming's path forward. "Clan Head Qin, the match isn't over yet. Don't you feel like you're overstepping your bounds?" 

"Scram!" Qin Zongming shouted. Given the severity of Qin Xiao's injuries, he would surely die of blood loss if they weren't treated in time. If he couldn't even protect his own son, what was the point of his power and reputation?