contemporary romance
"That's not a Yang clan technique, but it's still surprisingly strong!"
"I heard Yang Ze joined Team Zenith—you know, the Dragonwolf Zhang Lie's team!" After a short pause, a hunter volunteered some information about Yang Ze's current situation.
"Dragonwolf Zhang Lie—you mean, the galaxy fighter? The lad who discovered limit fragments? Does that mean that Yang Ze returned to cut off his relationship with the clan completely, then?"
The Yang clan head, Yang Feng, was staring raptly at the fight, a curious gleam in his eye.
"Hah! Do you think a bastard like you would be able to best me? Die!" Yang Yao sucked in a deep breath as he struck with his spear, sending out missiles of wind that spiraled toward Yang Ze.
At the same time, Yang Ze released [The Boundless Blade], and a huge wave of water swept toward Yang Yao. Blinding light illuminated the battlefield as two rampaging bursts of genetic energy clashed against each other.
Most hunters were confident that the eventual winner would be Yang Yao, that his [Desolate Silence] would surely overcome Yang Ze's titanic wave of water.
"Die!" Yang Yao began to cackle, his eyes glinting with hatred. His distaste of Yang Ze was far stronger than anyone had expected.
The Yang clan head raised a hand, wanting to stop the fight, but he changed his mind at the last moment.
Everyone thought that Yang Ze was about to perish. With a last, dull crash, the violet light vanished completely, but the wave of water still remained. Winds scoured the arena. Yang Yao's gleaming [Desolate Silence] appeared far more impressive than it actually was; crashing against the waves, the attack lost all its momentum.
Yang Yao's confidence turned into horror as he gaped at Yang Ze. The technique he thought inferior and mediocre had crushed his own and was inexorably moving toward him. The spectating hunters rubbed their eyes in disbelief once the explosion from the clashing genetic energy had settled.
Had Yang Ze countered Yang Yao's strongest technique that easily? Even the Yang clan head's eyes widened as he clutched his armrests with visible shock. The outcome of the fight was far beyond his expectations.
Swept away by the tide frothing with sword energy, Yang Yao's armor was quickly sliced apart, and the waters around him turned bloody.
Yang Ze, just like Li Feng, was surprised by the strength of his own attack. Was it so easy to beat a hunter like Yang Yao? Yang Yao had received the best instruction and resources the clan could provide, and he was one of the top hunters in the settlement to which he belonged. How had he beaten someone like Yang Yao with a single blow?
Staring at the aftermath of the attack, the spectators were silent. Those hunters that had picked on Yang Ze in the past swallowed a gulp of saliva, afraid of his revenge.
"This is impossible!" Yang Yao, slumped on the floor and bleeding out, stared at Yang Ze with disbelief. Remnants of sword energy from Yang Ze's attack lingered in the air, and Yang Yao couldn't help feeling scared at the strength of Yang Ze's attack.
"Why should it be impossible? I said I'd step on you, didn't I? Watch me!" Activating [Mirrored Refraction], Yang Ze appeared by Yang Yao's side, then smashed his face against the ground with a brown boot. As he stomped Yang Yao's face into the ground, he glanced up at the Yang clan head in the stands.
"Yang Yao, where does the problem lie? With you, or with your father's foresight? Just look at how much of the clan's resources you've consumed! And yet you can't even handle someone like me? Aren't you too much of a weakling? Well? Are you going to surrender? Or will you let me crush you to death with my boot?"
Yang Yao's face was flushed scarlet with shame, embarrassment, and anger. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?
"Kill me if you dare! The Yang clan would never forgive you!"
"Ha! They, forgive me? Ever since my mother left, I've had no intention of forgiving the Yang clan. This is just interest on my part! I'll ask you one last time: will you admit defeat, or will you die at my hand?"
Yang Ze raised his broadsword and pointed it at his brother's head.
"Hold it!" Yang Feng shouted, no longer able to sit still. However, his shout accomplished nothing but to draw the crowd's attention to him.
In Sacred Fire, unless competitors admitted defeat, no one would be able to stop a fight to the death. Yang Ze's lips curled into a smile, but he didn't stop. His blade continued on its downward trajectory. If it were to land, Yang Yao's head would undoubtedly burst open.
"W-Wait! I admit defeat!" Yang Yao screamed out, unable to bear the pressure of impending death any longer.
By then, the tip of the broadsword was barely above Yang Yao's temple. If he had been any slower, he would have perished. When Yang Yao finally admitted defeat, Yang Ze smiled again as he sheathed his broadsword. "How does learning to behave like trash feel?"
Yang Ze turned and walked away without looking back at the defeated form of his brother.
The winner of arena #7—Yang Ze!
The overseer of the tournament coughed as the fight ended. "Send for the medics for Yang Yao!"
He turned to the Yang clan head, who was so embarrassed that he wished he could crawl into a hole. The Yang clan head glanced in the direction in which Yang Ze had departed before motioning for two Yang warriors to carry Yang Yao, who had lost consciousness from blood loss, away.
Amidst shocked stares, Yang Ze left the arena and returned to the stands.
At the same time, the other hunters of Team Zenith were celebrating the final two victories from their team.
The winner of stage fragment #598—Sun Xiaowu!
The winner of stage fragment #521—Zhou Ying!
The members of Team Zenith had all won overwhelming victories, and they, along with Zhang Lie, would be able to advance to the next round of the tournament. Such strength across the board was almost unheard of.
"His team has to be comparable to a special forces team from the military," Su Feng mused. He was very curious how a hunter who was barely in his twenties had managed to train such a strong team.
"Tomorrow, we'll proceed directly into the second qualifying round. The hunter who takes first place in the next round will head straight to the finals," Elder Bai explained, stroking his beard.
However, the hunters gathered in the plaza all shook their heads, uninterested in vying for that coveted position. After all, given Zhang Lie and his team's performance today, they were sure that it would go to one of the hunters of Team Zenith.
Ten thousand hunters in all had qualified for the second round; only a hundred would make it through to the third. The top ten hunters on the third day would each be awarded a prize, one that varied based on their placement. Given their performance, it seemed as though Team Zenith would take at least half of those top ten positions.
"Ah, let's leave! This must be one of the least exciting Void Cups in recent memory."
"Perhaps not—Zhang Lie and his team might be strong within Ning, but who's to say that other cities don't have their own freakishly strong hunters?"
"You must be joking! Don't you know just how strong someone like Wang Xuan is? He's surely capped out on gene fragments and superior-grade soulshards by now, but even he lost in a single blow! How strong could those from other cities be? I'm telling you, this Void Cup will be all about hunters who have broken through. I bet everyone from Team Zenith broke through long ago—Zhang Lie was the one who made the discovery, after all!"
"That's right, and I'm sure they've also found a way to make use of those limit fragments to the best of their ability. Compared to them, the rest of us hunters, who have just learned about these fragments, must seem like children—there's no way we can beat them! Ah, how I envy those hunters!"
Most of the hunters gathered in the plaza had lost their fighting spirit even though the Void Cup had barely begun. As they started to disperse, so did the spectators in the VIP stands. Wang Han was the first to leave.
"Indeed, you had better care for your son—what serious injuries he suffered!" the Heaven's Flame dojo leader mocked.
"Thank you for your concern, Dojo Leader. I'm sure you must be equally worried for your disciple, Sun Li. I can't imagine his injuries were any worse!" Wang Han retorted. He beckoned to his guards as he departed without looking back. "We leave now!"
As the crowds left, the plaza once again grew deserted. Zhang Lie and the others traveled back to the Zenith Dojo via hovercar.
"I didn't know we were so strong!"
"None of those hunters from the major clans could even beat us!"
Sun Xiaowu and Li Feng were both laughing at their 'newfound' strength. Their performance far exceeded their expectations, and it was only natural that they would behave in such a fashion.
Of course, they were the only two hunters behaving that way in their group of six. Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng both had a good understanding of their own strength, whereas Zhou Ying tended to be introspective and reflective.
"Don't get cocky just yet—don't you remember the target I set for all of you? Everyone performed well today, but we can't let our guards down just yet. There's a chance we might have to fight against each other.
To preserve your strength, let me set a rule for all of you: if you end up having to fight against each other, decide the victor with a game of rock-paper-scissors. In the second round, we'll each have to fight at least three matches, and as long as we don't encounter each other twice, we'll all be able to advance.
The third round will be a hundred-hunter free-for-all, followed by a series of placement matches for the top ten. If we work together, there's a good chance we'll all be able to make it. Do you all understand?"
"Yes, Captain!" everyone chorused.
In truth, the only opponents they were concerned about in the citywide stage were each other.
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