Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 207: England's Three Wastrels

Zhang Lie was wholly unaware of what Su Feng and Yan Long were doing on his behalf, but even if he did, he wouldn't be terribly concerned one way or another.
The Zhang Lie of the present had nothing to fear from these major clans; it was far more important for him to assimilate his peak gene fragments and consolidate his own power.

The Void Cup wasn't a major event in the grand scheme of things, not compared to the disaster-grade lifeform that would soon appear. 

The evolution of his framework had given him an additional elemental attunement, but [The Boundless Blade] wouldn't be able to seamlessly incorporate all three elements properly.
The battle against the peak-grade moonlight wyrm had already been tough and drawn out, and he would need to find something better against the disaster-grade lifeform to come.

Fortunately, [Ninecarp Transformation] came with an auxiliary technique, [Ninesoul Dragonblade].
Studying this technique required that the framework be evolved twice, and Zhang Lie just barely met this requirement.
At his stage, however, he would only be able to launch the first of nine strikes in the sword art, and even this first strike would be difficult enough.

The requirement for the first strike was to consolidate the first three forms of the Ninecarp Transformation into a draconic form.
Zhang Lie had been repeatedly trying to synthesize the forms, but his attempts had always ended in failure.

Fortunately, according to his past life's memories, the appearance of the disaster-grade lifeform wouldn't be for another two months after the Void Cup, so he still had some time to work on amassing power.

The next day, even before dawn, crowds had already gathered by the center of Odinstadt, where a magnificent arena had been built.
Many hunters had arrived early in order to see the world's best at work, and the officials in charge of the tournament were already present and making their final inspection of the arena.

At 7:30 AM, the host of the worldwide stage, the mayor of Odinstadt, Ivan Hill, arrived at the scene with three assistants, and the worldwide stage of the Void Cup was about to begin in earnest.

As the first rays of light shone into Team Zenith's suite, loud knocks came from the door.

“Kids, it's time to get up! Don't be late for the opening ceremony!” Su Feng yelled, waking all the hunters within. 

“The competitors are required to be present during the opening ceremony.
You're all representing China, so I expect the best from all of you.
Assemble in the lobby within five minutes!” Yan Long added.

By the time they assembled at the lobby, everyone else was already present.
The He and Qian competitors had been disqualified from the worldwide stage because of what they had done within the national treasury, leaving China with only eight competitors to its name: Zhang Lie, Fang Yi, Sun Mengmeng, Li Feng, Zhou Ying, Sun Xiaowu, Chu Feng, and Yun Bing.

They left the hotel by a military hovercar already waiting for them outside, and traveling to the arena at the heart of Odinstadt took only a two or three minutes' drive.

Once they arrived, Yan Long, in his capacity as an assistant manager for the tournament, headed over to discuss matters with the mayor of Odinstadt, leaving Su Feng to lead the Chinese delegation to the preparatory area.

The opening ceremony would begin at 8 AM.
Because this was the worldwide stage, each country's competitors would all appear on stage, one country at a time, bearing their national flag.

“There's no need to worry.
You're just going to be parading across the stage—just act natural!”

“Commander Su, I wasn't nervous before, but now you're making me feel quite anxious,” Chu Feng joked.

“Oh please, I hardly doubt someone like you will have any trouble here.
If I recall correctly, you were present five years ago when your sister took part in the worldwide stage, so you already have some experience with this!” Su Feng seemed to be very familiar with Chu Feng, and he didn't believe his words.

On the other hand, he eyed the members of Team Zenith encouragingly.

“Don't worry, you'll get used to it.
It's normal to feel anxious the first time around,” Zhang Lie added. 

His tone seemed casual, but he too was also somewhat nervous.
After all, even though he was certain he would dominate over the other competitors given his strength, it was his first time participating in an international event in both his lives.
As the heart of Team Zenith, however, he couldn't act nervous in front of the other hunters.

Music began to blare, and the first representatives from Denmark took the stage.
Ten youthful hunters, under the eyes of tens of thousands of spectators, marched across the stage.

“Scholes!”

“Fromm!”

Those spectators from Denmark shouted their names out with all their might, causing the crowds to erupt in chatter.
Their names echoed throughout the stage, shocking the competitors who waited backstage.

There were only a hundred and one countries strong enough to participate in the worldwide stage, and Denmark was one of the ten strongest among them.
As the country whose participants were first in line, they generated considerable buzz.

A few other countries' teams then followed to rather middling applause and noise, until England's team showed up to tremendous roars of approval, with more noise than any other country that had gone before it.
Clearly, the English team was a fan favorite for winning the tournament.

Amidst the cacophonous cheering, the handsome Farrell, Fred, and Richard walked across stage in their signature red armor, confident and casually arrogant.

They waved at the crowd, summoning bout after bout of cheering.

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