Lianna was quickly invited in. Just like Pu Kui, she was alone, and she came bearing a gift. She carried a small satchel in her purse, one which emitted a pleasant fragrance as she walked into the room.

"Congratulations on your victory, Mr. Zhang Lie! Ah, I see Pu Kui's here as well! It seems like I was slightly late, after all."

"Please, Lianna, join us. I couldn't resist coming over after seeing Mr. Zhang Lie's match, and I wanted to have a drink with him."

"Oh? What a surprise—I felt the same way! Phoenix has been an annoyance to my clanmates, and I have to thank you for getting rid of him, Mr. Zhang Lie. I'm here with a few crystal lotus leaves as a token of my appreciation."

These crystal lotus leaves were potent spiritual herbs, the specialty of the aquatic race, and were particularly difficult to obtain.

"Thank you for your kindness." Upon hearing that she had brought crystal lotus leaves with her, Zhang Lie himself stepped forward to take the gift from her hands, murmuring pleasantries while doing so.

"Please, have a seat." Zhang Lie motioned for her to sit down, pouring her a glass of wine and apologizing to Pu Kui for using her gift in this manner. 

"I'm afraid I don't have any food prepared save a snack, if you don't mind trying it out—moonlight wyrm jerky. Please, have a taste."

Both Pu Kui and Lianna were surprised by just what he retrieved. The moonlight wyrm was a legendary lifeform of the first realm of the dimensional world, and just about every first-realm hunter had heard of it at some point or another. There had been rumors that Zhang Lie and his team had killed a moonlight wyrm, but the two young leaders hadn't been sure whether or not to believe the news.

As a result, they were both quite surprised to see moonlight wyrm jerky being presented to them. Although the jerky didn't look particularly extraordinary, the two of them were somehow certain of its origins the moment they laid their eyes on it.

Meanwhile, the matches were still continuing, and a member of Team Zenith would be called out onto the stage from time to time. As time passed, more and more guests entered the humans' waiting room. 

Sun Mengmeng's match lasted three minutes; by the time she returned, there was one more beast and two more humanoids sitting at the table. The beast was naturally Xing Bai of the starbeasts, while the two humanoids were Ye Mo, from the night spirits, and Yao Yue, from the blood demons.

After Sun Mengmeng's match was Fang Yi's. He retuned to find even more aliens at the table, though the mood was surprisingly as convivial as before.

It was then that Yan Long and Su Feng finally realized just why Zhang Lie had been so unconcerned about the ramifications of Phoenix's death.

Of the four prime races, three were seated at this table, and there were quite a few representatives from other top races gathered as well. The number of guests had steadily been increasing; it felt as though Earth had suddenly gained an incredible number of allies.

None of the guests brought up the winged, but their very presence at the table clearly signified their attitude. Indeed, as Zhang Lie had mentioned, the winged wouldn't be able to do much against an alliance of this magnitude.

In the arena, the members of Team Zenith were still dominating their respective matches. Except for the match between Sun Mengmeng and Sun Xiaowu, in which Sun Xiaowu was knocked out, the other members of Team Zenith had won against every opponent they faced with ease.

By evening, the matches were over, and the twelve strongest competitors of the Void Cup had been determined. Zhang Lie's Team Zenith had taken a jaw-dropping six of the twelve spots, and the remainder were distributed among the other three prime races: three starbeasts, one aquatic, and two nightdemons.

Surprisingly, when Hong Yu of the winged faced Fang Yi, she had chosen to surrender, causing a stir in the gathered audience. They had expected that the humans and the winged would be clawing at each other, so why would Hong Yu surrender just like that?

Did she think her opponent was just far too strong?

No, of course not—although Hong Yu likely was weaker than Fang Yi, her surrender was meant to convey a friendly attitude toward the humans, primarily because of a comment Zhang Lie had made: he had promised that, as long as the white-winged were in charge of the winged race, he would never work with the winged to develop limit fragments for their race.

In other words, if the ruling clan of the winged bore him ill will, he wouldn't be willing to work with them.

Hong Yu's surrender was therefore a calculated decision to get into Zhang Lie's good books, as well as an indication that she wouldn't treat the humans as Phoenix had. She had succeeded in her goal—her tactful surrender left Zhang Lie with a much-improved impression of her.

With the end of the day's matches came the end of Zhang Lie's makeshift banquet. After all, those guests present would still be competitors the very next day.

"Mr. Zhang Lie, the nightdemons would like to formally recognize you, your team, and the human race as a whole as allies. We'll do our best to ensure your safety, even after you've left the capital of Ural. We have troops stationed by the major teleportation arrays into the capital, and even those of power among the winged will find it difficult to gain entry," Pu Kui informed him formally.

The other representatives made similar promises. Xing Bai of the starbeasts indicated that the nine-star guards of the starbeasts were patrolling the capital and keeping an eye out for any sign of the winged, and Lianna of the aquatic added that the elders of the aquatic were in position.

Yao Yue of the blood demons and Ye Mo of the night spirits made the same promise, shocking Yan Long and Su Feng.

The two commanders thought that these representatives were all present just to try to build up a relationship with Zhang Lie; they hadn't expected that everyone would be so sincere.

Zhang Lie thanked each of them individually, assuring them that, while their offer of assistance was appreciated, it would likely not be needed.

The winged were likely in a period of tumult as the rainbow- and black-winged clans sought to overthrow the white-winged, and they might very well drop the grudge entirely by the time the transition of power was over.

The moment Yan Long and Su Feng emerged from the humans' waiting room, they could sense a few subtle auras in their surroundings, a clear sign of the protection that the other races were talking about. They stuck closer to Zhang Lie as the group of humans returned to the Nike Hotel, but just before they were at its doors, a huge fluctuation of genetic energy came from behind them, followed by a bout of cursing.

"You damned Xing Zhou! My target's that lad—why are you stopping me?!"

"Your target's that lad? Conveniently, so is mine. Do you have a problem?"

"Damn it, I'll handle him! You guys, attack! Take down that lad!"

"Haha, do you think your motley group of hunters will stand a chance against us? Those of the aquatic, those of the nightdemons, step out! Let's make these arrogant fellows have a taste of despair, shall we?"

The fighting grew more and more intense as other factions were dragged in, before the noise gradually faded away and vanished entirely. Only then did the members of Team Zenith realize just how strong the protection afforded by the other races were.

"Zhang Lie, I have to admit that you're right once again. With the strength of these protectors, the white-winged won't be able to get anywhere close to us! But are you so certain that you'll be able to help them with obtaining limit fragments for their race?" Yan Long asked.

"I never guaranteed any success, only that I would try my best," Zhang Lie corrected.

Su Feng frowned. "But how can they be so sure that you'll be able to help, then?"

"None of the three other prime races know whether I'll succeed, but they don't want to fall behind in the event that I do. In that case, all of them will have to support me, and what I bring to the table is hope, hope that they can elevate their race above all the rest—especially after we've shown them just what these limit fragments can do. If they don't work hard now, who can promise that I won't slack off when helping them?"