Chapter 135: Stepping on Stage

"Ah, isn't that Qin Lan, the peak second-realm hunter from the Qin clan? And Qin Yao and Qin Dihu are here too!"

"The Qin delegation... looks a little unusual, doesn't it?"

Many hunters were murmuring to each other after seeing just how many strong hunters the Qin clan had brought to Zhang Lie's opening ceremony. The red-haired Qin Lan frowned at the crowd, which immediately went silent. His icy cold stare made them shiver involuntarily.

Zhang Lie observed Qin Lan carefully. Was this the hunter that the Qin clan had sent out to deal with him?

"What's the matter? Aren't you going to welcome me, Dojo Leader Zhang?" Qin Zongming walked up to Zhang Lie with a smile. A bystander not in the know might have thought the reunion to be one between friends who hadn't met for many long years.

Zhang Lie narrowed his eyes, somewhat disgusted by Qin Zongming's duplicity.

"If even the Qin clan head is unwelcome here, Dojo Leader Zhang, should we of the Wang clan also depart?" A number of blue hovercars landed, and a delegation in blue, led by Wang Han, strode forth.

Many of those hunters in the delegation were well-known hunters of the Wang clan in the second realm.

"So the Wang clan came prepared too..."

"It looks like we won't be lacking for entertainment today."

The crowd once again began whispering among themselves. Zhang Lie stood calmly as Wang Han walked toward him.

The crowd tensed in anticipation.

Chu Feng glanced at Chu Lin, who was watching Zhang Lie's display coolly. He had no intention of stepping forward; the Chu clan would remain neutral.

"Of course I'm happy to welcome both you and the head of the Qin clan, Clan Head Wang. After all, I specially sent invitations to both of you as honored guests. Please enter!"

"Good, good. I must congratulate you, Dojo Leader Zhang, for being able to found a dojo at your young age. You surely are talented! Here, a congratulatory gift." Wang Han handed over a small wrapped box.

"And here is mine." Qin Zongming also handed a gift over with a faint smile on his face.

Neither box was large, but both were exquisitely decorated. The crowd, well aware of the enmity between Zhang Lie and the two clans, didn't know what to make of the exchange.

"My thanks, Clan Head Wang, Clan Head Qin," Zhang Lie replied politely. The three of them glanced at each other blankly, and the tension dissipated almost as quickly as it had come.

"Sorry I'm late." Just then, a sleek red hovercar expertly parked itself by the entrance of the dojo. Dressed in red, Li Mo walked out, followed by a middle-aged man.

"That's Li Xin, a third-realm hunter!" someone shouted from within the crowd.

Li Xin was a genius, and there were only a rare few hunters from the same generation who could match his skill. He had just entered the third realm of the dimensional world; who would have expected that Zhang Lie's dojo's opening ceremony would be grand enough for him to make an appearance there?

Li Xin glanced disdainfully at Zhang Lie as he walked up to the entrance of the dojo with Li Mo, who strode forward with a gift.

"Congratulations on the opening of your dojo, Dojo Leader Zhang. May everything go smoothly for you today.

Zhang Lie accepted the gift with a smile.

Chu Lin and Yun Long also handed him a gift on behalf of their clans.

"Thank you, thank you. Please, head inside!" Zhang Lie thanked each visitor he received, but he looked toward the Yun and Chu clan heads with a curious half-twist of a smile.

The honored guests from the major clans entered the dojo in waves, and the once-crowded entrance of the dojo slowly became empty. However, this state of affairs didn't last long.

Shortly afterwards, a series of engine noises came from the distance, heralding the arrival of another dozen or so hovercars.

Zhang Lie narrowed his eyes.

As expected, these were the delegations from the remaining major clans of the capital: the Qian, Zhou, and Hao clans. The three clan heads gave Zhang Lie a customary greeting before heading inside, as though they were genuinely only present to celebrate the founding of Zhang Lie's dojo.

After the five major clans of the capital came a group of officials from the world federation, led by yet another familiar face: Zhang Quan.

Zhang Lie smiled. There was no doubt in his mind why Zhang Quan had come. After all, the two of them had clashed within the Eclipse Sage's ruins, and he was likely excited to witness Zhang Lie's downfall.

"Even the government sent people here?!"

"Isn't that nonsense? After all, the Dragonwolf Zhang Lie's a galaxy fighter!"

"But isn't that Zhang Quan behaving in a rather unfriendly manner?"

"It must be because of the Eclipse Sage's inheritance," some hunter whispered knowingly.

Zhang Quan ignored the dissipating crowd as he strode straight toward Zhang Lie. "Congratulations on the opening of your dojo—but be careful not to perish during the ceremony," he snarled, not hiding his animosity at all.

"Haha, of course I won't! In fact, I believe you'd sooner perish than I would!" Zhang Lie retorted.

Zhang Quan gave him a wicked smile as he walked through the entrance to the dojo.

"Hold on—where's your gift? As the head of the branch of the ministry of ruins in Ning, did you come to my opening ceremony without even preparing a gift?" Zhang Lie shouted in exaggerated fashion.

The crowd played along.

"What? Who's this? Isn't he shameless to be accepting the invitation without preparing a gift?"

"Looks like some government officials are just that shameless!"

The resulting murmurs from the crowd instantly caused Zhang Quan to flush red. After all, Zhang Quan wasn't any ally of Zhang Lie's, and he was only here today because he wanted to watch Zhang Lie's downfall. Why would he waste time preparing a gift?

And yet Zhang Lie, the shameless fool, had the gall to ask for a gift in front of the entire crowd!

"Ah, how could I have forgotten? I was simply in such a hurry to get inside!" Zhang Quan pulled out a glowing jade stone from his soulspace.

"My goodness, an origin stone! I really must thank you for your generosity, Official Zhang. Please, enter!"

The appearance of the origin stone was marked by envious stares from the crowd all around, and Zhang Lie snatched the 'gift' out of Zhang Quan's hand like a bolt of lightning.

The veins on Zhang Quan's head throbbed.

"We'll see just who has the last laugh!" Zhang Quan scoffed, turning away in a huff as he walked inside.

By then, almost all the VIP guests had gathered. The few guests that continued to trickle in were a few local factions from Ning, whom Zhang Lie nevertheless greeted and thanked with respect.

However, just as the opportune time for the opening ceremony drew near, and Zhang Lie prepared to head to the stage to officiate the event, three figures walked in from the distance.

They all seemed to be rather imposing hunters, but strangely, Zhang Lie had no recollection of any of them at all. And even though they tried to cloak their enmity, Zhang Lie could still sense it from a distance.

Zhang Lie frowned. Softly, he asked, "Do any of you recognize those three hunters?"

"Captain, these are all dojo leaders from the capital," Sun Mengmeng whispered back.

"From the dojos in the capital?" Zhang Lie relaxed; he could guess why they were here.

"Yes, Captain! The one in gold's Ren Tianlong, the current leader of Dragon's Ascent, a dojo well-known in the capital. He's an exceptionally strong hunter, and there have been reports of him taking on three sura by himself. Apparently, he hasn't been out in the public eye for quite some time. I wonder what he's doing here?" Fang Yi explained, glancing at the hulking figure in the middle.

"The other two hunters by his side are the dojo leaders of Heaven's Wolves and Mortal World, Xia Tong and Zhao Zhi. They're both famous third-realm hunters who generally prefer to avoid the public eye. I can't believe they're here for your ceremony, Captain!" Sun Mengmeng continued.

As a citizen from the capital, she was quite familiar with the three of them.

"May your dojo prosper." While Zhang Lie was speaking with Sun Mengmeng, Ren Tianlong had strode up to him and delivered a customary greeting expressionlessly.

The other two dojo leaders did the same, greeting him and delivering him a gift mechanically.

Zhang Lie narrowed his eyes again.

There were quite a few factions that had chosen to attend the opening ceremony for his dojo, quite a few of whom boasted members from the second or third realms of the dimensional world.

Given their strength, there were two predominant reasons they were personally attending: first, because they were impressed by Zhang Lie and wanted to develop a relationship with him, and second, because they were on inimical terms and wanted to put him in his place.

Given Zhang Lie's current reputation and popularity, the opening of his dojo must have caused some stress for the other dojo leaders in the vicinity, particularly in Ning and the capital. One place was where he had fought off the Kez invasion with his life on the line, and the other was his hometown.

With this in mind, it wasn't difficult to imagine why some dojos from the capital would attend his dojo's opening ceremony with visible enmity.

There were quite a few hunters who had come opposing Zhang Lie, but it was only the three dojos that Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng had pointed out that he paid much attention to. Those three dojo leaders were the only truly strong ones that he could sense.

"Captain! Everyone's gathered, and we're ready to begin the ceremony!" Sun Mengmeng called out.

There were only a few spectating citizens remaining by the outside of the dojo.

Zhang Lie nodded, motioning for them all to head inside. However, he left the entrance to the dojo wide open so that regular citizens would be able to see much of the affair from the outside.

The ceremony itself was slated to take place at the training ground. As Zhang Lie walked to center stage, the hubbub slowly died away, and everyone focused their full attention on him.

A key part of the ceremony was for the dojo leader to accept all challengers to prove his strength in front of the public eye, and it was for this reason that many of the dojo leaders had attended the ceremony for themselves that day.

Zhang Lie surveyed the crowd from where he stood, sensing a clear number of hostile stares.

Chu Feng swallowed a gulp of saliva in anxiety. Most of those who were intending to challenge Zhang Lie were peak second-realm hunters, and there were even a few third-realm hunters present as well. Furthermore, they were in the real world, not the Blacksteel settlement, where the combatants' safety was guaranteed.

Chu Feng found it very difficult to imagine just how Zhang Lie would survive all the challenges, but Chu Lin and Yun Long seemed perfectly tranquil, with no intention to step in at all.