"Are there any other teams around?" Zhang Lie asked.

"No, Captain!  I suspect they were just sent over here by the teleportation array."

"In that case, let's go!"

The members of Team Zenith rushed forward, followed quickly by Yun Bing and Chu Feng. 

Three kilometers away, the half-demon tawny foxmen competitors had just landed in the arena when they heard a whoosh of wind from their left flank. Before they could react, a firebird dove down toward them.

"Enemy attack!" one of the foxmen called out.

However, the firebird was only a distraction; the crackle of thunder came from all around them, and vines wrapped around their ankles like snakes. The foxmen began activating all manner of genetic techniques, but the vines that had wrapped around their ankles were far more resilient than they had expected.

It took two or three strikes before they finally broke apart, but more would creep out from the earth and continue holding them in place. Above them, the crackling of thunder grew closer and closer.

"[Heaven's Judgment: Rain of Thunder]!" As Fang Yi waved his obsidian spear around, masses of black lightning struck the foxmen with overwhelming strength. 

Two of the foxmen competitors, caught out in the attack, were only able to fend off two bolts of lightning even with their full strength; by the third bolt, they had fallen over unconscious, their fur charred and smoking. As the foxman leader blocked a fourth bolt, he called out in shock, "The opponents are too strong! Retreat!"

Based on the density and strength of their genetic energy, these competitors seemed more like peak second-realm hunters than first-realm ones. What could the foxmen do but run off and hope that they weren't caught?

The eight-men team hurriedly got into formation, wind-attuned genetic energy gathering by their feet. "[Warren of a Thousand Foxes: Wind's Charm]!" The eight foxmen stood in the eye of a whirling green tornado, which shot out blades of wind all around them.

Zhang Lie had to admit that all those who had made it to the galactic stage of the Void Cup were strong hunters, and he even praised how quickly the foxmen were able to respond to their sneak attack. Of course, it wouldn't be enough to save them.

"[The Boundless Blade: the River Lethe]!" An underworld river rushed toward the tornado, causing a whirling mass of desolation in the heavily forested area.

The tornado, formed by the combined efforts of the eight foxmen, resisted the river's force for quite some time, but before it could fully stabilize, a golden fist, along with a radiant dragon, shot toward its center.

As the attacks smashed into the tornado, the figures of the remaining eight foxmen could be seen running off in eight separate directions.

"Spread out and escape!" the foxman leader called out, but his final command was meaningless. Almost as he spoke, he felt a piercing pain by his shoulder, followed by a baptism of fire. 

Flaming arrows struck down each foxman, though their injuries were deliberately nonlethal. The foxman leader closed his eyes in surrender. Against such foes, they wouldn't be able to escape. Their participation in the Void Cup had come to an end.

Just who were they facing? What foe had vanquished them so easily? They were surely in the upper echelon of competitors even on the galactic stage, and the foxman leader was certain that the only foes that could defeat them in such a dominating fashion had to boast a strength near or comparable to the four prime races.

He could hardly hide his shock when Zhang Lie appeared in front of him. The Dragonwolf Zhang Lie, which almost all articles had pointed to as a clown, a foolish, egocentric man? It was him, it was the humans! The humans had been the one who defeated them!

"No, no, how could this be?" he murmured hoarsely to himself. Was he subject to some sort of illusion spell? Surely that had to be the case! Mankind had had a few rising stars, just as did any other race, but humans were generally thought to be one of the lesser races, and the foxman leader simply couldn't accept the reality that he had been bested by such foes.

Even Chu Feng and Yun Bing were shocked by Team Zenith's strength.

Everyone knew that Team Zenith was strong, but not how strong. In the intervening few months between the worldwide and galactic stages, the hunters of Team Zenith had taken a great leap forward in strength.

Chu Feng and Yun Bing turned toward Zhang Lie. It had taken him only three orders and five minutes to find an opponent team and decimate it entirely...

By the time Chu Feng and Yun Bing arrived at the scene, the fight was already more or less over. Even more frightening was the fact that this likely wasn't Team Zenith's true strength. None of the hunters appeared to be winded, and Zhang Lie didn't even have to lift a finger.

They were certain of one thing: breaking through the basic gene fragment capacity wasn't the pinnacle of the theory of limit fragments—no, it was just the beginning! They turned to Zhang Lie covetously.

"Before I change my mind, hand over your points!" Ignoring the scorching gazes from behind, Zhang Lie threatened the foxman leader.

"Well met, Dragonwolf Zhang Lie. We'll hand over our points!" he replied in defeat.

Zhang Lie motioned for Li Feng to step forward and to collect their wristwatches, which served as point counters. With a few quick manipulations, Team Zenith successfully obtained ten points, and the foxmen, who had lost all their points, were eliminated from the tournament.

Instead of leaving, however, Zhang Lie and the others chose to stay where they were, shrouding their surroundings in fog. Although the fight hadn't lasted very long, it had still caused a considerable commotion, one which would naturally attract competitors over. All they needed to do was to remain at the scene and wait for their prey to stop by.

As expected, not five minutes later, another team arrived at the scene. They were beast-type lifeforms, with the wristwatches hanging from a chain around their neck. Just as Zhang Lie and the others were about to deactivate their venombane scorpion soulshards, a commotion came from behind.

It seemed to be yet another team. Zhang Lie and the others decided to lie in wait a little while longer. After all, they would easily be able to handle both teams; it was just a matter of how much effort they wanted to spend.

The team that appeared next was also composed of beast-type lifeforms; from the interaction between the two teams, it seemed as though they had already had some prior conflict.

What happened next was obvious. The two beast teams began fighting almost immediately; once the victor was decided, Zhang Lie and the others preyed on the winning team. Surprisingly, the victors had already managed to defeat yet another team, and had already obtained 22 points.

As a result, Team Zenith was at a grand total of 52 points just ten minutes or so into the tournament.

Just as the hunters were starting to feel pleased with themselves, however, the tournament leaderboard updated, and the hunters felt as though a bucket of cold water had just been upended over their heads.

Forest Quadrant—00:10

1st: Nightdemons, 256

2nd: Windthieves, 204

3rd: Magma Demons, 182

4th: Ember-of-Night, 151

5th: Night Spirits, 101

6th: Yao Ling, 81

7th: Demonic Flame, 75

8th: Spiderweave, 62

9th: MIND, 57

10th: Zenith, 52

The first-place team already had 267 points! The hunters had thought themselves lucky to have defeated three teams so early on, but they were barely in tenth place!

As their self-confidence visibly diminished, the hunters of Team Zenith quickly began to search for more prey.