After claiming his spoils, Zhang Lie personally headed to the altar, which wasn't too far from the capital of the sura. It was a tower that stretched so high it seemed to pierce the skies. There was a large platform at the very top, with an image of the human-faced mystical beast engraved upon it.

Following the ritual, Zhang Lie started by placing ten thousand sura corpses in an array that connected to an extradimensional pocket space. He would do this ten times in succession. On the tenth try, once the mystical beast had eaten its fill, it would be ready to defeat the sura's enemies.

The scent of the bloody sura corpses was thick in the air. In just a few moments, he could hear a strange birdcall far into the distance. A scarlet shadow zipped through the clouds, moving so quickly that Zhang Lie was only able to catch its appearance when it had stopped right in front of him.

Its beak was green, its face frozen into a rictus. Incisors poked out of its mouth on either side of its face, and a crown showed on its head. Its body was golden, its feathers red, its wings each half as long again as its body.

This was the sura's mystical beast.

As it approached, a gust of hot wind blew toward Zhang Lie. It had constrained its domain, but Zhang Lie still felt scorching heat all around him, as though he were standing in the middle of a blaze.

Unfortunately, Zhang Lie was certain that this wasn't truly a disaster-grade lifeform; it was possible that it was only a peak-grade lifeform about to transition to disaster-grade.

As the human-faced bird consumed the sura's corpses, Zhang Lie poured more out of his extradimensional storage, clutching Venombane tightly.

While humans all over the galaxy were cheering because of Zhang Lie, there was one man who was extremely upset: one of the highest authorities of the world federation, Amurong.

Deep within a secret chamber in the highest authorities' palace, Amurong asked, his face dark, "Is this all true?"

The shadow standing opposite him replied affirmatively, "Yes, sir, it's all been confirmed. Zhang Lie roused three thousand troops to invade the territory of the sura and managed to claim one of their capitals for himself. After that, he rescued ten thousand humans from captivity within the capital."

Amurong's face turned even more downcast. "How are his actions being received by the galaxy?"

"He's established a precedent for the humans—they're all calling him a true hero!"

"Very well. I understand. Continue keeping an eye on him and on all his activities."

"Yes, sir!"

Right after his subordinate left, Amurong flung the cup in his hand onto the floor, smashing it to pieces.

Zhang Lie's name and fame was rising at an even higher rate than when he had become the champion of the Void Cup. 

After issuing a bounty on the Musi clan, quite a few of the stronger hunters had been concerned about his actions, but now, after he single-handedly rescued Qi and invaded the territory of the sura, his reputation was soaring once again.

Furthermore, a rumor had even begun to spread that Musi Yu, head of the Musi clan, was a beloved concubine of the sura king, and the reason that the sura king had attacked Qi was to seek revenge for him. Apparently, Musi Yu was also the mastermind behind the Eclipse Sage's death, and the Musi clan had long since betrayed mankind. That was why Zhang Lie had issued a bounty on him.

Thus, Zhang Lie's selfish actions were reframed as a noble cause, one which garnished his reputation even further.

Given his sterling reputation, it would be dangerous for Amurong or anyone else to try to topple him now; a careless move could mark them as a public enemy of the world federation. And with Hong Tianqi backing Zhang Lie up, they would be hard-pressed to strike, even if they were daring enough to do so.

Hunters from all over the galaxy were still continuing to cheer for Zhang Lie.

"I really am grateful for the hero of Qi. My father spent thirteen years in the second realm without returning to Earth. We had thought that he had perished in a fight, but it turned out that he had been captured by the sura instead! Thanks to Zhang Lie and the other hunters of the expedition, my father, who has been missing for thirteen years, has finally returned!"

"My family had been taken by the sura as well. I hadn't expected to ever see them again, not until today! Zhang Lie is truly the savior of mankind!"

As the ten thousand hunters were teleported from Qi to their respective homes, those humans who found loved ones, once presumed dead, returning to them couldn't help but thank Zhang Lie from the bottom of their hearts.

The human-faced bird was enjoying its meal without identifying the killing intent emanating from the human right by its side. Just as it was at its most relaxed, Zhang Lie suddenly struck.

"[The Boundless Blade: Dragon's Wrath]!" A blood dragon flew out of Venombane and wrapped around the beast's neck as Zhang Lie thrust the blade into its head.

The human-faced bird flapped its wings and shook its head furiously as it tried to dislodge Zhang Lie, but Zhang Lie had such a firm grip that the mystical beast, try as it might, couldn't do anything about him. Instead, it activated its domain of hellfire, sending blood-red flames flaring all around its body and incinerating the sura corpses it had yet to consume to cinders.

At the same time, a wheel of black sun appeared behind Zhang Lie's back, and blood-red moonlight by his feet. The two domains clashed against each other with such a burst of heat that Zhang Lie felt as though his body was burning up.

As the mystical beast flapped its wings, the flames morphed into a gigantic, fiery tornado, one that seemed poised to swallow Zhang Lie whole. Suddenly, however, it screeched in pain, and the tornado dissipated in mid-air. The mystical beast spasmed as though it were in agony.

"How does the thousand-poison bloodsoul fruit taste? I found it in the sura king's treasury."

The blood-red fruit had an unusually strong corrosive aura, and it was evident from one glance that it would be uncommonly toxic. This was a fruit that was nourished by blood and only cultivated by bloodshed, and only a race as vicious and cruel as the sura would be able to grow it to maturity.

Even so, the fact that even the sura had only managed to grow one such fruit was a clear sign of its rarity.

As its name suggested, the fruit had a frighteningly concentrated poison that even a peak-grade lifeform's constitution wouldn't be able to handle it.

The human-faced bird cried out in pain as it coughed out a puddle of blood, but despite its severely weakened state, the poison couldn't kill it. Flames burned all over the bird's body, cleansing it of poison, and Zhang Lie knew that his window of opportunity was limited.

In order to kill this lifeform, he activated his strongest skills all at once.

"[Rune: Resonate]!"

The outline of a dragonturtle appeared before him as four runic tablets smashed down from the heavens, trapping the mystical beast. Zhang Lie's domain whirled as he set [Syzygy] to maximum output.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Hundred Dragons Soaring]!" With Zhang Lie's punch, hundreds of gigantic black dragons appeared, each roaring as they swooped down toward the poisoned mystical beast.