Chapter 239: Start of the Second Round

Ye Mo turned serious. "Let me explain. Three months ago, there was a coup in one of the subordinate clans of the night spirits race, the night mystics. Apparently, the reason behind it was that one of the children who was to be ritually sacrificed turned out to be of mixed human and night-spirit blood!"

"What? Mixed blood?" Zhang Lie glanced at Ye Mo, whose sharp spikes protruded from her body, and winced just thinking about it.

Ye Mo rolled her eyes at him. "Stop looking at me like that! Hear me out!"

"Ah, no, I was just wondering how they were even able to have children, or how that led to a coup..." Zhang Lie's idle curiosity left Ye Mo speechless for a moment.

"That's not the point, and I'm not aware of the specifics. What's important is that this child of mixed blood seems to have escaped to Earth, and the night mystics have requested to be transported to Ning to search for him."

Zhang Lie's eyes brightened. "He's in Ning, then?"

Ye Mo nodded. "As far as I can tell."

"In that case, you're hoping I can find that child and use him as a test subject for the night spirits' experiment?"

.

Ye Mo nodded again. "Yes, I think he'll be the best test subject we can possibly hope to find for this experiment. I'll handle the night mystics; after all, she'll die if she gets caught by them."

Zhang Lie frowned. "How old is the child?"

"Twelve or thirteen," Ye Mo replied.

"Do you have a description?"

"No—according to the night mystics, except for her tail, she looks no different from a regular human child, and this tail can generally be hidden within her body, as I'll demonstrate." Ye Mo's sharp, spiky tail aligned itself against her back, then vanished in a puff of smoke. Except for a tattoo-like mark on her back, there was no sign that her tail had ever been there.

"In that case, how am I supposed to find her?" Zhang Lie complained.

Ye Mo smiled. "You're from Ning, aren't you? I'm sure you can find her, but even if you can't, it's not such a big deal."

"Very well, I'll keep an eye out. Here I thought you came bearing gifts, but you've brought trouble my way instead!" Zhang Lie sighed and turned to leave.

"Please, wait!" Ye Mo strode up to him and bade him turn back. "I do have a gift for you, this night spirit pearl. It can increase the speed by which you can gather genetic energy at night, and it can save you considerable trouble while your subordinates search for the child."

"Oh? I'll accept this gift gratefully, then."

"With it around, you should be able to find the child as long as she's still in Ning. Please, I hope you'll give it your best!" Ye Mo's eyes shone. Although she had said that it didn't matter very much, she still hoped fervently that Zhang Lie would be able to find the girl, because she had a premonition that that girl would be the crux to unlocking limit fragments for the night spirits. As long as Zhang Lie could find her, it wouldn't be long until the night spirits could rise up as a race.

"Very well, I'll do my best. We both still have a competition to attend tomorrow, so I'll see you around." Zhang Lie turned around and walked off, while Ye Mo continued to thank him.

However, he had barely taken a few steps away when Ye Mo asked, unable to help herself, "Ah, Zhang Lie, are you aiming to become the champion?"

"Of course!"

Dawn in the capital of Ural was surprisingly splendid; the 'Sun' of their solar system was larger than that on Earth. It heralded the second round of the galactic stage of the Void Cup. This round would consist of five individual matches among those competitors who had managed to advance past the first round, and those who won three of those five battles would advance.

Of course, many competitors might not even be able to fight all five matches; the competition had very relaxed rules, and they might be severely wounded or killed after just the first match. Only a hundred competitors would be left standing after the second round, and each competitor would fight in an individual arena, much as had been done during the worldwide stage of the Void Cup.

By the entrance to the arenas, Yan Long and Su Feng watched as Zhang Lie and the other competitors headed inside. "Zhang Lie, I assume I won't have to remind you of anything—just don't cause too much of a ruckus. As for the rest of you, be careful. Apparently, Phoenix of the winged has at least five peak gene fragments, so if you encounter him, be ready to surrender at any moment. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Commander!"

"As for you, Yun Bing and Chu Feng, given the foundational breakthrough and Potion #1, you're likely no weaker than one of the mid-range competitors out there, so your objective will be to try to get into the top hundred. The Void Cup's prizes are extremely rewarding, and what you get from the competition could well last you a lifetime."

Everyone nodded at Yan Long's words. When they entered the arena, they could clearly sense the rising tension, as well as see how many fewer participants there were remaining. As they stepped into the tournament grounds, their names and IDs appeared on the large holographic screen before them:

#0121 Zhang Lie VS #3514 Gino

#0312 Sun Mengmeng VS #3114 Ji'er

#0445 Fang Yi VS #3121 Ghifu

#0401 Sun Xiaowu VS #2789 Spirit-o-wind

#0252 Yang Ze VS #3516 Cole

#0451 Zhou Ying VS #3718 Colin

#0452 Li Feng VS #3149 Casper

#0564 Chu Feng VS #2454 Fu'e

#0751 Yun Bing VS #5421 Fu Long

The strongest three hunters of the nine Earthling competitors were facing three nameless opponents, whereas the other six were facing relatively strong competitors from the windthieves and the magma demons.

The four competitors from Team Zenith would likely do well, given that they had peak gene fragments, but the situation would be somewhat more challenging for Chu Feng and Yun Bing, who neither had peak gene fragments or mutated limit fragments. Even if they were to win, it would be at great cost.

"Chu Feng, Yun Bing, don't force yourselves if you can't handle it. The windthieves and magma demons are top-tier competitors, and even if you win, you likely won't be able to do well during the next four fights. If you surrender here, you can still progress by winning the remaining three matches!" Zhang Lie advised them.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Got it, Captain! No matter the outcome of the match, I hope you'll allow me to join Team Zenith when we all return from the Void Cup!" Chu Feng replied seriously.

While Yun Bing didn't say anything, her ardent gaze alone made her intentions clear. Just like Chu Feng, when she returned to Earth, she would do whatever it took to join Team Zenith, no matter what her clan's response was.

Before the competitors could continue chatting away, their wristwatches began to beep, and they were teleported away to each their respective arenas in the next moment.

"On arena #601, Zhang Lie VS Gino. The fight begins in ten seconds!"

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

As the white, translucent membrane separating the two competitors turned more and more transparent, Zhang Lie and Gino were finally able to see each other's faces clearly. Gino looked like a statue studded with coral all over. He was over three meters tall, and while he looked more or less humanoid, he didn't seem to have ears, a nose, a mouth, or even fingers.

Just as Zhang Lie saw Gino, so did Gino see Zhang Lie. When he did so, he surrendered immediately, then cupped his hands and bowed toward Zhang Lie in unexpected Chinese style.

Zhang Lie's eye began to twitch. Were the unusual surrenders that had plagued him all throughout the worldwide stage going to happen here, too?!

From Gino's perspective, he could hardly have afforded not to surrender. Zhang Lie had managed to injure the nightdemons' young leader, Pu Kui, with nothing more than a single punch!

This was the first match; if Gino didn't surrender and got wounded badly, he would lose all chance of proceeding to the next stage. Surrendering was undoubtedly a safe, strategic choice.

In just ten seconds, Zhang Lie was announced as the victor of his arena, and he would have to wait quite some time for the next round to begin. In the meantime, however, he would be able to observe his teammates' matches.

Eight holographic screens appeared in front of Zhang Lie, showing the six members of Team Zenith, as well as Chu Feng and Yun Bing.

It was obvious that the hunters of Team Zenith, who possessed peak gene fragments, were easily able to overwhelm their opponents, and they were on the brink of winning already. On the other hand, Yun Bing and Chu Feng weren't faring very well.