Of course, Su Feng didn't end up tying Zhang Lie up and dragging him to the capital. Not a few minutes later, Zhang Lie returned to the dojo, and everyone headed into the teleportation array.

In the capital, by the central teleportation array that connected to the capital, soldiers were already standing guard awaiting their arrival, as were Yan Long and a few important officials of the military.

By this point, Zhang Lie's status in China had reached a ridiculous extent, and even Yan Long and his superiors didn't dare treat Zhang Lie lightly. After all, not only was he the foremost researcher of limit fragments in the entire world, he had even gained the approval of one of the highest authorities of Earth.

"Zhang Lie, you're finally here! Do you know how long we spent waiting for you?"

Yan Long walked up to him in a hurry.

"How many? Isn't it just you, Chu Feng, and Yun Bing?"

"Hardly! Every country has sent a representative over—come with me!"

Zhang Lie frowned. Just what were these other countries doing here? Zhang Lie followed Yan Long and the other officials into a conference room in a nearby building. When Zhang Lie entered, the representatives from over a hundred countries worldwide all stood up.

"Mr. Zhang Lie!"

"Ah, hello," Zhang Lie replied, still somewhat unsettled by his newfound popularity.

"There's no need to be so formal, everyone—I've brought the man here, so tell him what you want!" Yan Long announced.

Thinking back to his past life's memories of the Void Throne, Zhang Lie had an inkling as to why everyone had gathered here today.

"Zhang Lie, it's good to see you. I'm Representative Federer from England, and I'm here today for two reasons: first, to meet you in person, and to exchange for more bottles of Potion #1, and second, to send you off. Representatives from 178 countries around the world have gathered here today in hopes that you'll win the Void Cup and ascend to the Void Throne!"

The solemnity and unison of the representatives shocked Zhang Lie. Was the Void Throne worth so much?

"Thank you for the well wishes. I will bring the Void Throne back to Earth!" Zhang Lie replied, not missing a beat despite his private doubts.

The representatives broke out in thunderous applause, then accompanied him all the way to the teleportation array, shocking the other members of Team Zenith, as well as Chu Feng and Yun Bing. As hundreds of people watched on, Zhang Lie and the others stepped into the array and took the first step on their long journey toward Ural.

Ural was a particularly prosperous planet, about ten times the size of Earth. The planet was divided up into hundreds of tribes and was controlled by the native Uraloids. The Uraloids came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but most were humanoid lifeforms.

Of the tens of thousands of races represented on Ural, the strongest four were the starbeasts, nightdemons, aquatic, and winged.

The galactic stage of the Void Cup would begin in just five days' time, and the strongest members of the younger generation from each of the four clans had long since made their way to the holy capital of Ural.

The Sufei Hotel in the capital was constructed out of massive bones, making it look as though its guests were walking into the maw of a great beast. In one of the penthouse suites, a member of the winged race, Phoenix, was glancing out the hotel. The winged were the most humanoid of the four prime races.

Behind him, four winged lifeforms stood stock-still behind him. Except for the wings protruding from their backs, they looked no different from humans.

"Have you obtained a roster of the competitors?" Phoenix asked, sipping a cup of amber wine.

"Yes, Highness!" The red-winged female bowed, then strode forward with a booklet in her hands.

"I can't be bothered to read it. Are there any opponents worth my time?" Phoenix glanced down at the booklet, then looked away.

The red-winged female replied, "No, Your Highness. If there's anyone new remotely worth looking into, it could only be one of Earth's champions, a hunter known as the Dragonwolf Zhang Lie."

"The Dragonwolf Zhang Lie? A human?" Phoenix smirked. "I don't think I recall them ever doing well during the Void Cup."

"That's correct, Your Highness, but the competitors this year look much better than the ones from before. Of course, it's possible that the footage we've seen has been manipulated..."

The red-winged female didn't seem to think too highly of humans, but it was only natural. Since the inauguration of the Void Cup, except for one particular year, the human champions would always be eliminated to the last in the first round.

"Haha, Hong Yu, you must be mistaken. How could those unevolved lifeforms ever hope to improve? The footage you've seen must be doctored!" the black-winged man beside her mocked.

Phoenix didn't say anything. He waved a hand insouciantly, motioning for his four attendants to step outside.