As Zhang Lie left the bar, the will of the world announced in his mind, [The Void Cup begins in a week. You may register starting today.]

Everyone in the dimensional world had received this announcement.

"It's about to begin!"

"I'm going to win this Void Cup!"

"It's time to head back to the settlement and prepare!"

Hunters from each and every settlement were excited upon hearing the news, regardless of whether or not they intended to participate: it only happened once every few years, after all, and was essentially the equivalent of a major sporting event. Those hunters who were participating were naturally eager to get started, and those who were spectating wanted to place their bets.

The corporations of each settlement began setting up bets the moment they heard the news. Although the Void Cup was sponsored by the world government, these bets were all hosted by private corporations, and the government didn't have the means to police or prevent them.

Although there were nominally only five great clans left in the Blacksteel settlement, and the Zhou corporation had incurred significant losses after the night at the venombane glade, none of this seemed to have affected the betting at all.

What the bets would entail would be determined by the information that the three corporations managed to acquire.

Of course, none of this had much to do with Zhang Lie, who was rushing back to the Blacksteel Inn. Since the message had gone out to every hunter in the dimensional world, Fang Yi and the others would likely be heading out of seclusion right about now. They would surely have achieved some success with their new techniques.

However, by the time Zhang Lie returned to the underground training chamber, which he had gotten very familiar with after a month, he saw no one around. 

What's going on? Are they still training? Just as Zhang Lie was preparing to enter their individual training rooms to hunt them down, he sensed a fire arrow being launched nearby.

The attack was extremely rapid, but the moment it was launched, Zhang Lie could sense the fire-attuned genetic energy in the air. After all, having used a fire-attuned framework for years, how could he be unfamiliar with the sensation of fire-attuned genetic energy?

The arrow that Sun Mengmeng thought would surely hit him was neatly sliced in half with a flash of violet light.

"Captain, it looks like you've grown even stronger!"

"You're not bad yourself," Zhang Lie replied.

As she spoke, Sun Mengmeng dashed forward with [Flameburst Step]. A dark red sword struck toward Zhang Lie, but before the blow could land, Zhang Lie vanished like a bubble being popped.

"Captain, don't you think I know how to deal with your stealth by now?"

She gracefully converted her attack into a defense, sketching out a circular arc with her longsword and blocking herself off from Zhang Lie's counterattacks. At the same time, she surrounded the floor around her with dark red flames.

"Not bad, but this doesn't mean much to me."

"What?!" As Sun Mengmeng recoiled in shock, Venombane struck past the flames, the sheathed blade inches from her neck.

The longsword in her hands clattered against the ground, and the dark red flames surrounding her vanished with Zhang Lie's appearance.

"Not bad, but you need to keep working hard."

"Yes, Captain!" Sun Mengmeng headed to one side of the chamber to rest, whereas Zhang Lie stared warily around him. Although his teammates didn't have too many limit fragments and had just purged their techniques, they were quite adept at laying traps.

If he weren't careful and fell into one of their traps, he'd certainly lose face as a leader. These hunters were clearly trying to test out the results of their training on him, exactly what Zhang Lie wanted. This was the best way for him to see just how much they had grown during this period of time.

He was very curious about the fruits of their high-intensity training. Of course, he was most curious about Fang Yi and Li Feng's progress, because they were starting from scratch.

However, the next hunter that approached him wasn't either of them, but instead Zhou Ying.

"Captain, the four of them are waiting for you in the large training chamber. They claim that the common area is too small for the attack they want to launch, so..."

Zhang Lie smirked. They seemed to be quite confident in their own abilities.

"And you?"

Zhou Ying pursed her lips. "Well, if you insist."

A mutated-grade soulshard appeared in her hands. Zhou Ying favored an indirect style of attack. The moment Zhang Lie took a step forward, he became trapped in the illusion of a bamboo forest. She was a relatively shy girl, and this was reflected in her style as a hunter: she wasn't one to charge at someone head-on.

Zhang Lie glanced all around him, clearly impressed by her efforts.

"Captain, it's not a good habit to take your eyes off your opponents!" Zhou Ying warned, then thumped the flat end of her spear against the ground.

Beams of green light shot toward Zhang Lie from all angles.

Zhang Lie had spent the entire month hunting down superior-grade lifeforms, and while his abilities still weren't as strong as they had been at the peak of his past life, an attack of this magnitude wouldn't be able to touch him at all.

Contorting his body, he narrowly avoided a few of the green beams, then darted away.

However, just as he left the bamboo forest, countless bamboo leaves flew toward him, each one as sharp as a knife. Amidst the storm of leaves, Zhang Lie waved his left arm, genetic energy rippling from it like a shield, protecting him from the barrage.

As the ripples struck the bamboo leaves, they rebounded into the air, but precisely at that moment, a green needle shot toward Zhang Lie, camouflaged by the bamboo leaves that obstructed his vision.

Zhang Lie blocked it with just one finger and forcefully stripped it of its illusion: the needle was the spear that Zhou Ying had been using.

"With just one finger! Captain, you're—"

"Excellent performance, Zhou Ying. Your fighting style is very mature, and you've surpassed my expectations!"

Zhou Ying was quite disappointed that Zhang Lie had blocked her attack so easily, but before she could convey her disappointment, it vanished after hearing Zhang Lie's praise.

"Do you mean that, Captain? You're not just trying to console me, are you?"

She was naturally overjoyed to receive such high praise from him, but she wasn't confident enough in her abilities to take his word for it immediately.

"Of course! When have I ever lied to you?"

"Thank you for your affirmation, Captain! I'll make sure to keep working hard, and I won't let you down!"

Zhou Ying was quite touched by Zhang Lie's praise.

Zhang Lie eagerly anticipated what he would face next. Zhou Ying's performance had been surprising enough, so what about the four hunters waiting for him in the large training room?