Chapter 1214: An Exhilarating Battle

To think Zhang Lie was this strong... he was hurling a nine-headed genetic lifeform that was nearly a hundred meters tall back and forth like it was nothing more than a scarecrow. This was an insane feat.

The nine-headed lion's arm suffered a compound fracture. The lion roared, tore off its arm and swallowed it, and a new white tiger's claw grew back in its place.

Zhang Lie frowned. "Are you supposed to be a lizard?"

The nine-headed lion flashed with white light. Gusts of wind surrounded it as it sent hundreds, thousands of tons of rock into the air.

It clashed against Zhang Lie once and again, claws against fist, as those rocks were sent flying all around the two combatants.

The lion roared, spraying out a burst of silver light. Killing intent filled the air. Zhang Lie blocked the attack with a burst of energy. Behind him, a mountain collapsed and exploded, the rock turning into smithereens.

A huge white claw slammed down on his body, but Zhang Lie dodged it. A huge trench formed where the claw landed, the bottom of which couldn't be seen from up above.

The lion attacked fiercely. After its battle to the death against Zhang Lie, it had grown accustomed to its post-monarch-grade body. Every part of its body could be used as a weapon—even with its back to Zhang Lie, it could strike at him with a flick of its tail.

Its ferocity shocked everyone.

Zhang Lie countered with his fists as he manifested a huge serpent formed out of annihilation itself. It shot toward the nine-headed lion.

The lion sprayed out a burst of white light, shining with metallic luster, as it charged at the serpent. A huge explosion rang out, and the land where they stood transformed into a swamp.

The lion howled, its eyes cold. It leapt up and pounced toward the serpent once more.

As a genetic lifeform, battle was imprinted in the core of its being. As it leaned into its intuition, its attacks turned fiercer, more domineering; no genetic hunter could match its instincts.

Zhang Lie smashed forward with a punch, causing both combatants to quake. A meteor's worth of energy exploded in mid-air, and the ground quaked as though a volcano were about to explode.

The members of Team Zenith watched the battle between Zhang Lie and the lion in amazement. They thought that they were already at the peak of the third realm in terms of strength, but they would surely have been vaporized immediately if they tried to jump into the battle between man and beast.

Even among the fourth realm, there were hardly any hunters who could match the intensity and raw strength of this battle.

The nine-headed lion roared again as 28 sharp blades grew out of its back at even intervals along its spine, each with a silvery-white sheen. Killing intent filled the air.

The blades stood like pillars separating heaven from earth, thick and ice-cold, giving the onlookers a chilling sensation. The blades were ridiculously massive, and unusual phenomena were occurring around them. Blood was starting to appear on each blade. It was a frightening sight.

The nine-headed lion roared as it pounced forward, and the 28 blades all turned toward their target. They gathered in a square around the lion and shot toward Zhang Lie simultaneously.

The bloodstained blades, suffused with an aura of calamity, approached Zhang Lie at breakneck speed.

Zhang Lie swung his own blades with the resplendence of dawn, defending against the sudden assault.

Light covered the land like an intense meteor shower. Formless ripples shattered rock and cleaved mountains, shocking all onlookers once more.

Guicang's blade was infused with the pitch-black energy of decay and corrosion, but the sharp blades that the lion had somehow grown seemed impervious to damage. Killing intent formed a thick aura around them, so concentrated that it could affect material form. However, Zhang Lie remained unaffected despite his proximity. He was resisting the blades' damage with his blades and with formless will.

The nine-headed lifeform roared, its eyes cold. It spat out a mouthful of white light, causing the blades to gleam even more brightly. They pierced through the pitch-black genetic energy shielding Zhang Lie and headed straight for his body.

The fight had reached its climax. Zhang Lie pursed his lips—the blades were too strong, and there were a whole 28 of them! It would be difficult to handle them all simultaneously.

The blades flew toward him and pinned him down with overwhelming strength, causing the land to crumble where they landed.

Each blade was like a thick pillar; if any were to strike Zhang Lie, he wouldn't be pierced through, but rather ground into meat paste.

As all 28 blades landed simultaneously, Zhang Lie barely dodged them one by one. Space around him warped and distended; 28 black holes formed, one around each blade, trapping him in an unavoidable attack.

Even so, the fighting spirit in Zhang Lie's eyes only grew more intense.

"[The Boundless Blade: Dragon's Wrath]!"

Zhang Lie thrust forward with Guicang, summoning a blood dragon.

A dragon's roar shook the void as the pitch-black genetic energy turned blood-red. The underworld river roiled, forming a gigantic blood dragon that flew at the nine-headed lion.

Resplendent silver light, like armor, blocked the blood dragon and the black genetic energy it commanded.

As Guicang glowed, the blood dragon roared. It tore apart the white light; fresh blood flowed.

The nine-headed lion grew incensed, and its aura strengthened even further. The 28 blades gleamed with killing intent and shot toward Zhang Lie once more, swamping the battlefield in white light.

"Come!" Zhang Lie shouted, unsheathing Hanguang. "[Syzygy]!"

A pitch-black sun appeared behind Zhang Lie, and a blood moon by his feet. His aura was magnified tenfold, and a halo of black sun appeared above his forehead. Natural law seemed to warp around him. Runes likewise appeared on the bloody moon by his feet, forming an intricate array.

Struck by the bloody moonlight, the nine-headed lion's radiance grew dim. Under the black sun, the fluctuations in Zhang Lie's genetic energy were enhanced.

Zhang Lie crossed his twin blades. The blood moon resonated with the blade in his left hand, and the black sun with the blade in his right. He simultaneously slashed forward with both blades, forming a huge celestial web.

Fresh blood sprayed once again as the nine-headed lion suffered another blow. It roared in outrage, spitting out a ball of hazy light, charged with skeins of radiant energy so bright they were evaporating in the air. A thousand rays of rosy light, in an endless stream, enveloped all that lay below.