"I'm just an ordinary hunter, nothing more— at least, nothing compared to your being one of the three wastrels of England!"

"Hoh? Well, it's no issue—I'll break your undefeated streak today, right here, right now!"

He immediately circulated his genetic energy as thunder crackled all around him. With a flick of his wrist, a rapier appeared in his hand, and his burgeoning aura swelled once more. As he activated a few more soulshards, moth wings sprouted from his back. A layer of black and white crystalline armor covered his body, studded with sharp spikes.

The crackling thunder felt more like something a second-realm hunter would possess; Fred had broken past the constraints of the first realm.

"Haha, do you see that? That's the true strength of Fred, royal knight of England! His aura's comparable to Zhang Lie's, isn't it?"

"You must be joking—he's far weaker!"

"Right, Zhang Lie was already stronger even during the Kez invasion than he is now, so the discrepancy could only have increased!"

Despite the heated shouts happening in the stands, the arena was surprisingly calm. Zhang Lie stood calmly facing Fred, not even circulating his genetic energy, let alone activating any soulshards.

If any other hunter were on stage, the crowd would think that that hunter had been scared stiff.

In truth, Fred was more scared of Zhang Lie than Zhang Lie of him. The more relaxed Zhang Lie was, the more wary he became; he didn't even have the courage to attack.

"What's the matter? Launch an attack already!" Zhang Lie called out.

"If you insist—take this: [Thunderflash Blade]!" Fred thrust forward with his rapier, seemingly teleporting to Zhang Lie's front in the blink of an eye, a blow that Zhang Lie countered with just one finger.

His finger struck the tip of the rapier with no visible genetic energy fluctuation or technique activation. The next moment, as the crowd watched on in shock, Fred's soulshards—his rapier, crystalline armor, and moth wings—exploded and vanished into the ether.

Spraying out a mouthful of blood, Fred thumped against the wall of the arena. The sound of a pin being dropped could have been heard in the resulting silence, and the image of Zhang Lie countering Fred's most dangerous blow with nothing more than a finger was imprinted indelibly on everyone's minds.

The silence persisted for a few more moments before the crowd erupted in shock and surprise.

Fred was one of the three strongest hunters of England, and yet Zhang Lie had burst him with a finger as though he were just popping a bubble!

"Dragonwolf Zhang Lie, Team Zenith!"

"Dragonwolf Zhang Lie, Team Zenith!"

A chant began to circulate among the crowd: it hadn't even been a minute since the match started, and it was already over.

"No, that's impossible! How could you be so strong?! You're cheating, aren't you? You have to be! Did you consume some restricted potion?!" After a momentary daze, Fred rushed up to Zhang Lie and began howling as though he were a wounded beast, unable to believe that his strongest attack had been unable to overcome a mere finger.

His organs had suffered significant internal injury, and he wouldn't be able to recover in time within five minutes, implying that his status as a competitor was over; he wouldn't be able to acquire enough points to move on to the galactic stage.

He simply couldn't conceive of a hunter with such strength as to dominate him entirely; after all, he was already at the limits of the first realm, with a successful foundational breakthrough, and his soulshards were highly compatible with his framework. Under this set of conditions, how could the disparity between him and Zhang Lie be so wide? He was still a first-realm hunter, wasn't he?

Fred's analysis would have worked for any ordinary first-realm hunter, but was Zhang Lie ordinary? Of course not!

Zhang Lie's only response was a smirk. After the battle, he returned backstage to the competitors' waiting rooms, while Fred was dragged off by the robotic guards. Zhang Lie's victory quickly spread across the entire arena, and just about everyone heard about his dominating victory instantly.

They knew that Zhang Lie was a strong competitor, but not how strong he was. His opponent was Fred, famed member of the English royal knights—but Zhang Lie had dispatched him in mere seconds, without any techniques at all!

Among the tournament hosts, the only one who remained unperturbed by the news was Yan Long, something that those around him noticed. General Hill smiled as he congratulated him. "Official Yan, it looks as though China has really given birth to an incredible existence."

Yan Long laughed. "Yes, he's not bad, isn't he?"

"Not bad?  Isn't Zhang Lie ridiculously strong for a first-realm hunter?" General Hill pressed. 

"Indeed, there are material limitations in the dimensional world, so even the strongest hunters are restricted in such a fashion. But hasn't Zhang Lie surpassed this limit by a little too much? Is the Dragonwolf Zhang Lie really a twenty-year-old first-realm hunter? Or, more specifically, is he really exhibiting his own strength?" England's Colonel Carrey added, his words becoming more and more pointed.

Yan Long slammed a fist on the meeting table. "Colonel Carrey, what do you mean? Every competitor must be tested by the artificial intelligence in the dimensional world to gain the qualifications to compete. Are you suggesting that you have a means by which you can obfuscate the results of this scan?"

Carrey frowned. "Regardless, Zhang Lie's strength is ridiculous! Is he really a first-realm hunter?"

Yan Long laughed. "Colonel Carrey, there's no restriction on how strong a first-realm hunter can be, is there? On what grounds do you judge Zhang Lie ineligible to compete? Because he's stronger than you expected?"

Yan Long's fiery gaze swept over the hosts from the other countries. China was one of the three countries that first entered the dimensional world, and it was certainly one of the strongest countries of the modern day.

The other hosts withered at Yan Long's words. It was true that Zhang Lie was overwhelmingly strong, but the most impartial judge of a hunter's eligibility, the artificial intelligence of the dimensional world, had ruled him an admissible competitor. What could they do?

Before the other hosts could come to terms with Zhang Lie's dominance, news of other competitors reached their ears.

On arena #39, Sun Mengmeng was glancing at Farrell listlessly, the fluctuations of his genetic energy so weak that Sun Mengmeng really had no interest in fighting him.

Farrell gritted his teeth. To him, her ennui was disdainful and humiliating— after all, he was a member of the English royal knights! Nevertheless, he graced her with a splendid smile. "You're the most graceful Eastern woman I've seen, so I'll give you a chance to admit defeat. Otherwise, it would prick my heart to wound you!"

Sun Mengmeng frowned. Her opponent was nothing more than a weakling, and even worse, a childish, naive, and arrogant one.