The representatives' eyes bulged, then they rushed forward to grab a copy of the ingredients.

"There's no rush—everyone can get one!" Su Feng reminded them with an avaricious smile.

When they finally saw the herbs on the list, however, their faces changed. There were no fewer than a hundred different herbs listed, many of which they hadn't even heard of. In that case, they would need to trade over a thousand sprigs of herbs for one bottle of Potion #1. It was obvious that this was many times the number of herbs that would actually go into making the potion, but what could the representatives do?

They departed in droves after a hurried farewell, leaving Su Feng and Yan Long alone in the suite.

"I can't believe they were chomping at the bit to get their hands on such a terrible deal," Su Feng murmured.

"Who could resist the temptation of an unconditional fifty basic gene fragments? We'd do the same if we were in their shoes!" Yan Long cackled, overjoyed with how the tables had turned.

These fellows had all banded together to threaten him just a few hours ago, but now? Yan Long was pleased just thinking about their faces when they begged him for charity!

"Shall we have a taste of this potion for ourselves, then?"

After sending the representatives off, their part in this problem was all but finished. They had managed to acquire a potion each from Zhang Lie, though at no small cost. Because of Hong Tianqi's example, the two of them both promised Zhang Lie a favor in exchange for the potion; Yan Long even said that he would help be a matchmaker for Zhang Lie.

That one of the three most influential soldiers in the Chinese military would promise such a thing shook Zhang Lie to his core, but in the end, both commanders walked away with their own bottle of Potion #1.

As they downed the potions, their faces flushed red, and they barely suppressed the urge to moan in satisfaction. Two fearsome auras swept over the entire hotel, but which vanished the very next moment.

Both commanders settled down and began to cultivate in earnest, digesting the effects of their newfound strength.

The ramifications of Zhang Lie's discovery had subsided, at least for the moment. 

This event fundamentally changed the worldwide stage of the Void Cup. The competitors who had once been arrogant to Zhang Lie were now perfectly polite and respectful to him, and those teams that encountered the Chinese competitors in the teamwide round would surrender immediately.

They had given up on the top eight positions and were fighting for the two remaining slots to advance to the galactic stage instead. It took only a morning before Zhang Lie and the others were crowned as the top eight hunters of Earth, and after the remaining two hunters were chosen, the worldwide stage of the Void Cup ended in a rather comical fashion.

On Earth, Yan Long, Su Feng, and Hong Tianqi had stepped in to protect Zhang Lie and the other Chinese competitors; however, on Mars, Yang Ze had no such advantage.

After winning battle after battle on the worldwide stage, Yang Ze found himself surrounded by a number of Martian representatives, led by his own father, the head of the Yang clan, Yang Feng.

Yang Ze's face turned serious as he regarded the dozens of representatives before him. He had expected something like this to happen when he dominated the competition, but not so quickly.

"Yang Ze, won't you tell your father how it is that you've grown so much stronger than the other competitors despite the fact that you're all peak first-realm hunters?" Yang Feng questioned him carefully, his tone polite and caring, but shot through with undertones of self-interest.

In particular, his main goal was to identify the reason behind Yang Ze's strength.

"To be frank, I'm a bit disappointed to see you here, old man. I was granted this strength by my master, Zhang Lie, and I have no intention of sharing that information with you. You did house me for sixteen years, so I'll say one more thing: don't try to probe or pry into this affair, or you'll regret it."

"Hoh? Clan Head Yang, it looks as though the rumors are true indeed. Can't you even take control of your own son?" a bronze-skinned man beside Yang Feng spoke up, as if deliberately trying to provoke him. His name was Gu Tong, head of the Gu clan, which was on rather fractious terms with the Yang clan.

"There's no need to concern yourself with Yang affairs," Yang Feng replied acidly.

"Do you think I'm afraid of you, Clan Head Yang? Try me on if you dare!"

Yang Feng was about to retort when he was interrupted by another clan head.

"Shall we get back to business now? Really, the two of you have lived for over a century combined, so why are you still so childish? Yang Ze, explain your strength, or you won't be allowed to remain on Mars any longer!"

"Indeed, I had better leave. Aren't you embarrassed that you all—heads of the major clans of Mars—are ganging up on a lone hunter, a member of the younger generation, like me?"

"Yang Ze, as your father, please, listen to me. Answer our questions, and I can protect your life. Otherwise, even if you're the champion of Mars in this iteration of the Void Cup, you won't be able to survive!" Yang Feng urged, threat and genuine affection mingled together.

After all, if possible, he didn't want Yang Ze to perish here. Given his strength, he would surely be a pillar of the clan if he were willing to remain.

"Protect my life? My life is hardly yours to control, but if you insist, I'll share a few small details. You've seen Team Zenith on the news for killing a mysterious lifeform on the eve of the worldwide stage of the Void Cup, haven't you? Are you aware of the legendary moonlight wyrm in the first realm of the dimensional world? It turns out it's a peak-grade lifeform."

With that, the Martian clan heads turned silent, staring openmouthed at Yang Ze.

A peak-grade lifeform?! That was impossible—the first realm of the dimensional world only supported superior-grade lifeforms at best!

Many of the leaders thought that Yang Ze had to be lying, and that even the legendary moonlight wyrm could hardly have reached peak-grade. After a century of exploration, the rules of the dimensional world had been made clear, and there had never been any suggestion that they could have been broken.

Could the legendary moonlight wyrm really have overcome the boundary between superior- and peak-grade?

On the other hand, if Yang Ze weren't lying, everything would make perfect sense. If he really possessed peak gene fragments as a first-realm hunter, it was only natural that he would be able to dominate over the other competitors.

"You... really possess peak gene fragments?!" Yang Feng asked.

"Of course I do— but there's nothing for you to worry about. No matter what becomes of me in the future, it'll have no bearing or relationship to the Yang clan at all. Well, now that you all know the answer, feel free to leave. It's not a strategy that any of you can replicate, after all."

The gathered clan heads scowled. If Yang Ze was being truthful, then indeed, his route to strength couldn't be replicated.

Clan Head Gu cursed as he turned to leave, followed rapidly by many of the others. Indeed, they had all seen the news regarding Team Zenith, and the moonlight wyrm had been a legend even during their time in the first realm of the dimensional world. Quite a few of them had even dared to challenge it, but none had succeeded.

"Congratulations, Clan Head Yang! To have a scion obtain peak gene fragments in the first realm—why, his future will be immeasurable!" Several of the clan heads congratulated Yang Feng before they left; from their perspective, regardless of whether Yang Ze admitted it or not, the blood of the Yang clan still ran in his veins.

Just as they were departing, however, the clan heads' transceivers beeped almost simultaneously: the news regarding limit fragments had spread beyond Earth and straight to Mars.

They stopped and turned back around, glancing at Yang Ze, wondering what information they could glean from him. After all, he had claimed to be a disciple of Zhang Lie himself.

At the same time, Yang Ze's transceiver also began to beep.