Pu Kui glanced at Fu Bo with some amount of consternation and disbelief.

As for Zhang Lie, he didn't actually want to kill any of the nightdemons. The nightdemons were one of the four prime races of the Milky Way, as well as one of the four races that most contributed to the Milky Way's defense.

Although this young leader of a small subdivision of the race was likely insignificant in the grand scheme of things, Zhang Lie still didn't intend on slaughtering her in cold blood. Doing so would invite countless troubles.

He had just established himself on Earth, and his influence was rapidly growing there. He didn't want to cause trouble for himself in the tournament and have it spread back to Earth.

Furthermore, the young leader of the nightdemons had hardly threatened him at all; in fact, her decisions had helped Team Zenith advance to the next round more swiftly than it otherwise would have.

Even if he did want to kill her, he wouldn't do so in such a public setting. And with Fu Bo so conveniently taking on the blame for himself, Zhang Lie would go with what he said without bothering to confirm its veracity.

He raised a foot and stomped him into the ground.

"Remember this: as a member of the four prime races, you should act your part. I told you during the banquet, didn't I? Your domineering and bossy nature doesn't exhibit your strength—just your childishness! Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes!" Fu Bo replied, his mouth filled with mud, his skin lined with cracks, as he spat out two gulps of ink-green blood.

Even the nightdemons didn't dare say anything against Zhang Lie's treatment of Fu Bo. After all, Zhang Lie was far too strong for them to do anything about; even if they tried, they wouldn't be able to establish any form of effective resistance.

Fu Bo's strength was barely less than Pu Kui's, but a casual stomp from Zhang Lie had been enough to wound him quite severely.

"Since you seem to understand where you went wrong now, let's leave matters at that. Right—I do have to thank all of you for putting a bounty on us," he mocked.

"I apologize for the transgression, Mr. Zhang Lie! I was misled by my subordinate, but that doesn't excuse my behavior. After the tournament ends, I'll surely tender my deepest apologies." Pu Kui began to treat Zhang Lie like one of her elders, rather than her inferior.

"There's no need. Weren't you going to invite me to one of your banquets?  Let's have it tonight, then."

"Of course—I'd be very glad to do so!"

"Good, good, you've become far more pleasant to interact with than before. As a reminder, don't rely so heavily on your racial advantages—your genes are what will matter for your growth in the long run!

"Yes, sir!"

Zhang Lie and Pu Kui seemed, all of a sudden, like good friends. They had just been fighting each other to the death; how had such a transformation occurred? Even the other competitors present, in both the human and nightdemon delegations, weren't sure.

Once both parties had settled their disputes, neither team decided to amass more points; both left the tournament grounds immediately after acquiring enough points to guarantee their advancement.

By that time, the night spirits, windthieves, and other teams that had preyed on the competitors throughout the battle had all amassed enough points to advance, and they immediately did so.

As the first round of the galactic stage came to a close, the legend of Team Zenith and Zhang Lie began to spread throughout the competitors.

Although none of the hunters outside were able to communicate with the competitors, they had seen every competitor's performance. Zhang Lie's team of hunters from Earth was undoubtedly the one that had stood out the most in the forest quadrant.

"Did you watch the competition?"

"What—you focused on the desert quadrant, not the forest?!"

"The forest quadrant? Why would I want to watch the vicious nightdemons?"

"Haha, don't you know who won the forest quadrant? It wasn't the night demons—it was the humans!"

"What? The humans? You must be joking—they've always been eliminated in the first round in recent years!"

"Don't you believe me? Watch the recording of the match for yourself!"

One of the spectators showed the other his wristwatch, which began to display a holographic recording of what had occurred.

The scene was, of course, the showdown between Zhang Lie and Pu Kui. After watching the fight in its entirety, the youth who had focused on the fighting in the desert quadrant jumped up in surprise.

"Is this for real? This Zhang Lie hunter managed to take down Pu Kui in a single blow? Wait, zoom in—are those cracks on Pu Kui's arm?! What kind of monster is he? Should we have paid closer attention to the rumors about these so-called limit fragments from the solar system? Does this hunter, Zhang Lie, boast the strength of these limit fragments?"

The youth's mind was clouded with confusion, as was, indeed, every other spectator who had watched the spectacle. As the recording of that fight spread across the audience, Yan Long and Su Feng found themselves surrounded with people and flocked with messages.

When the two of them retreated to their hotel, the lobby quickly filled up to the brim with people. All those who had reached out to them wanted only one thing: to arrange a dinner with Zhang Lie.

After seeing the effects of these purported limit fragments for themselves, they knew they had to acquire them for the betterment of their race. Zhang Lie's dominating performance had spread the importance of limit fragments to a large fraction of the Milky Way, but this wasn't necessarily a good sign. After all, the theory of limit fragments had been pioneered and propounded by one person alone: Zhang Lie.

The more famous his theory, the greater the stress he would have to bear.

On Earth, or even in the Solar System at large, this level of stress was manageable; but they were currently at the heart of the Milky Way. Yan Long and Su Feng frowned as they glanced at each other.

"It's time to contact that person, isn't it, Yan Long?" Su Feng asked.

"That person?" Yan Long stilled. 'That person' naturally referred to the strongest authority on earth, the monarch Hong Tianqi. The next moment, however, he shook his head. "No, there's no need to contact him. He already knows about these limit fragments and our participation in the Void Cup. That means that he likely already knows what's going on."

"You mean that he's already warned the other authorities in the area about this?" Su Feng sighed in relief.

"At the very least, there's nothing that we'll have to worry about publicly. However, it's true that we're at the heart of the Milky Way, so there might be a few races who will try to get the information out of us by hook or by crook," Yan Long warned.

Indeed, with Hong Tianqi's assistance, the other races wouldn't dare do too much to them, but they might well try something in private.

Amidst their worries, a large clamor came from the lobby downstairs. Based on the noise alone, Yan Long and Su Feng both ascertained that Zhang Lie and the rest of Team Zenith had returned, and the clamor could undoubtedly be ascribed to the media and Zhang Lie's newfound fans.

Yan Long and Su Feng tabled their discussion. They messaged Zhang Lie to head to their suite at once and discuss what to do next.

Moments later, Zhang Lie stepped into their suite. "What's going on? Why the urgency?"

"What's going on?! What else could be going on? Didn't you say that you would keep a low profile over the course of the competition?" Yan Long snarled.

Zhang Lie winced even as he smiled. "Ah, sorry, I couldn't bear it."

"What are we going to do? We haven't prepared for this at all!" Su Feng added, frowning.

Zhang Lie could sympathize with their troubles to some extent. "I really didn't do it intentionally—I just wanted to try out my new technique!"

Neither commander knew what to say. In the past, their competitors were so weak that, no matter what they did, they couldn't make a name for themselves. This time, on the other hand, their competitors were so strong that they couldn't keep a low profile.

"In that case, what do you plan to do? After the results of your match with Pu Kui, I'm sure that your theory of limit fragments will quickly spread across the Milky Way, and we'll soon become a target!"