Upon seeing the hunters' eager faces, Zhang Lie smiled. "Simple: just stay in my team for two months and let me observe your loyalty and latent talent. If I find you suitable, you'll meet me in the city of Ning and formally join Team Zenith. Then, I'll teach you how to exceed your own limits and obtain limit fragments."

The hunters gaped at him in disbelief. They had expected that they would need to undergo all sorts of trials and tribulations to obtain such a secret, but was Zhang Lie going to give it away so easily?

"Captain, are you sure you're not just drunk?" This time, even Sun Mengmeng didn't dare believe that Zhang Lie was serious. After all, considering the magnitude of the secret, Zhang Lie's selection process was almost like a joke.

"I haven't been with you guys for a long time, but when have I ever lied to you?" Zhang Lie grinned, no sign of drunkenness apparent on his face.

"You mean it?"

"Of course I mean it!"

Zhang Lie hadn't given them any reason to doubt him, and the hunters forced themselves to accept this reality.

"Captain, we've all heard you make this promise, so you'd better not renege on it in the future!" Fang Yi exclaimed.

The gathered hunters all made up their minds to give a good showing in the hunts to come, so as to gain Zhang Lie's favor.

Zhang Lie raised a cup in toast. "In that case, I'll wish you all luck in passing my inspection."

"Of course!"

Clink! They each downed another cup of fiery liquor.

Because the toad meat was all finished, the hunters could now consume the rest of the feast in moderation, chatting and laughing as they did so. During the feast, Zhang Lie had learned a little about all six of them.

Sun Mengmeng, from a middle-class family in the capital; cute and passionate, but surprisingly logical in decision-making.

Sun Xiaowu, from the capital; Sun Mengmeng's cousin; resilient and diligent, with a keen eye; a fanatic for genetic techniques.

Zhou Ying, from a middle-class family in the south; attentive but taciturn, with a fair appearance.

Fang Yi, Sun Mengmeng, Yang Ze, Li Feng, Sun Xiaowu, and Zhou Ying had all left a rather good impression on Zhang Lie after the feast. Once all the food was consumed, Zhang Lie gave them their first mission.

"Since you're all eager to get to work, I have a task for each of you.  The Void Cup's about to begin, and there's a very important prize for me this time around. As a result, I intend on personally participating in the Void Cup. In the next three months, I'll have to try to fill up my superior gene fragments to capacity. You understand what I mean, don't you?"

The hunters nodded earnestly.

"The Void Cup! It's something hunters like us can only dream about, but if it's you, Captain, I'm sure you'll do well. Don't worry. Within these two months, we'll try to scout as many superior-grade lifeforms as we can. Focus on cultivating and mastering your genetic techniques, and leave the rest to us." Fang Yi spoke for the rest of the team.

Sun Mengmeng and the others indicated that they would do their best to support Zhang Lie

Zhang Lie smiled. "What do you mean, something you can only dream about? I'm not the only one who will enter. I need quite a lot of resources, so all of you have to enter as well, and you have to aim as high up in the ranking as you can."

...they would be participating as well?

In the past, even the weakest competitor who had participated in the Void Cup had at least eighty superior gene fragments, and they had mastered at least three high-grade techniques.

And Zhang Lie was even expecting them to place high in the ranking too! What could they accomplish? They weren't even at the mutated gene capacity yet!

Perhaps it would be somewhat easier to deal with mutated-grade lifeforms now that they had a few superior gene fragments and useful mutated-grade soulshards, but they still needed some time, didn't they? And what about their genetic techniques? Of them all, only Yang Ze even had a pinnacle-grade technique.

Wouldn't they just get weeded out in the first round of the competition?

"Captain—"

"Don't worry. I don't intend for any of you to be sandbags, and I promise I'll train each of you well before the competition. Furthermore, even if you do end up as sandbags, surely you see that entering the Void Cup at all would be a great boon to your future.

"After all, while you'll be in direct combat against other hunters, your lives will certainly be protected during the competition. Is this a safeguard that you'd have out in the wilderness of the dimensional world?" Zhang Lie broke Sun Mengmeng off, anticipating her comment.

Sun Mengmeng thought for a moment, then nodded firmly. "Yes, Captain!"

The other hunters glanced at Zhang Lie, looking forward to training under him. Ever since their first meeting, Zhang Lie had given off the impression of being a truly strong and mysterious hunter, one that they would give anything to learn from.

"I've recorded here some known locations for a few superior-grade lifeforms, as well as a few remarks on their behavior and habits. Over the next few weeks, scout them out and figure out a plan for hunting them down. We'll begin in six weeks."

Zhang Lie retrieved a booklet from the potbellied-toad pouch and laid it on the table.

Fang Yi picked it up and flipped through it, only to find specifics for forty to fifty superior-grade lifeforms listed in agonizing detail. Most of them were creatures that Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng hadn't ever heard of, let alone seen.

Zhang Lie seemed even more mysterious than ever. 

He left them no further explanation. After handing them the booklet, Team Zenith's first feast came to an end. Subsequently, Zhang Lie handed Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng fifty thousand points for their scouting, got their contact information, and dismissed them.

They hadn't had much to drink, and although a few of the hunters were tipsy, none were drunk.

Zhang Lie prized a clear head over anything else, and while he'd tasted all sorts of excellent wine in his past life and present, it had never been to the point of drunkenness. After all, it seemed far more comfortable to drink in moderation than in excess.

Once the other hunters had left, he headed out of his suite, dressed entirely in black again, and began to wander around the Blacksteel settlement. By this point, news of Li Hong and his team's disappearance had likely spread to the Li clan, and they were surely going to make a move.

Zhang Lie had just ambled over to the settlement gates when he saw Li Jin rush out of the settlement with a large number of hunters. At the same time, the usual crowd gathered by the gates started to gossip.